YEAH THAT’S RIGHT – You waited all Spring and Summer, and finally, the only reason for getting out of bed early in the week is back: Justin McIsaac’s Top 10!

The Top 10 is brought to you by TJ’S in Portsmouth! My absolute favorite spot in Portsmouth to catch a game. Tell Bethany that McIsaac sent you.

10. I WAS 36% SURE I WAS GOING TO BE IN A PLANE CRASH SATURDAY NIGHT

36% might not seem like a lot but it’s more than 1 in 3, sooooooo. As the UNH football team and crew flew back into Pease Saturday, we knew the weather was lousy. I actually figured we’d be stuck in Philly overnight, but our pilot took a look at (I assume) weather charts that said “HEY THERE’S A LOT OF WIND IN PORTSMOUTH” and said “Eh, what’s the worst that could happen?”
 

So after one aborted landing attempt, we lined up for another, and you could feel the plane being blown around by the wind. Planes are heavy, as it turns out, so I’m pretty sure the wind was blowing 85 mph. Our man stuck the landing though, to applause from the cabin. It took another 15 minutes to get off though, since they didn’t have the stairs ready, presumably because they figured we wouldn’t need them after we crashed.

9. THERE SHOULD BE PLAYOFF GAMES ON FRIDAY NIGHTS

As I understand it (and I’m wrong a lot, so feel free to correct me), if both teams agree, a playoff game can be moved to Friday if both teams agree – but not on the weekend of SAT’s, which is opening weekend of the playoffs.

 I assume this is because the NHIAA wants kids to have the Friday night to study, but I can assure you that about 0% of the kids taking SATs on a Saturday are studying on a Friday, unless there’s some sort of “Brush up on math problems” mission on Red Dead Redemption 2 I haven’t heard about.

 Let them play Friday! Selfishly, this will be the 2nd year I see zero HS playoff action due to UNH commitments, but for everyone else, you have to pick one game and that’s it. That stinks. Change the rule.

8. PINKERTON AT LONDONDERRY IS THE BEST D1 PLAYOFF GAME

With apologies to Salem at Winny, which is also tasty. Londonderry earned the #1 seed in their cluster, only to see a team they haven’t beaten since before Toby Maguire was Spiderman coming to town. That should be a rowdy atmosphere, and normally I give all my picks in the Top 10, but you’re going to have to wait until our podcast this week to hear who I’m picking.

7. MILFORD AT ALVIRNE IS THE BEST D2 PLAYOFF GAME

Although they’re all probably worth checking out, even Hanover at Plymouth with the history of the D2 tourney having wild upsets the past few years. These two just hooked up Friday, with Alvrine getting the win after being down 15, and getting a go ahead 2 pt conversion with 12 ticks left. The rematch should be another barn burner.

6. LEBANON AT HILLSBORO-DEERING-HOPKINTON IS THE BEST D3 PLAYOFF GAME

The Raiders lost to the Red Hawks 14-7 back on 9/28, and the 4-5 matchup is always a coin flip, so if you had to pick one D3 game to go to (and you do, thanks to the stupid Friday night rule), this is the one. I don’t think the other 3 D3 games will be competitive.

5. FRANKLIN AT NEWFOUND IS THE D4 PLAYOFF GAME TO SEE

I mean there’s only 2 choices, but still. The Golden Tornadoes get a chance for revenge, this time on the road. Franklin has been shut out twice in the final 2 weeks, so they’ll have to get the offense going if they want a shot at the D4 Championship game.

4. BRETT LINDSEY GOT JUST ENOUGH

The Pelham Python running back needed 287 yards going into MY Python’s game vs West (BTW, me picking you this year has been the kiss of death. You WANT me picking against your team), and by gawd, Brett and his offensive line found a way to get him 288 yards. Congrats to Brett and the Pythons line on a great accomplishment!

3. DOES GOFFSTOWN HAVE A SHOT AGAINST BEDFORD?

Goffstown stumbled out of the gate, at 0-3, but have won 6 in a row, including Saturday’s 46-6 thumping of Keene to ensure a playoff spot in D1. The last time they lost was a 44-7 drubbing at the hands of Bedford, but that was back on 9/14, when it was probably 88 degrees, and the Patriots Season Was Over, according the most Boston writers. I think Bedford is a giant favorite against anyone else in D1, and I don’t think I have the guts to call for the upset, but I think Goffstown is going to give the Bulldogs all they can handle on Saturday.

2. SOUTH AND CENTRAL DECIDED THAT DEFENSE IS BORING

77-52 is a lot of points in basketball, nevermind football. We were discussing this final score Saturday morning in Philadelphia at UNH team breakfast, and even Coach Mac raised his eyebrows at that final, as he was mentally preparing for UNH’s game at Villanova in a few hours. Alex Hawkom threw 7 TD passes, which is awesome, unless you lose by 25, which is what happened. Jaylan Pacheco had an Abe Lincoln on the ground (four scores) to lead South to a 70 burger and a win to close out the season. Defensive Coordinators everywhere hid their eyes in horror.

1. RED SOX BAYBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

STEVE PEARCE! DAVID PRICE! NATHAN EOVALDI!!! MOOOOOOOOOOOKIE!

I will never take a World Series win for granted, sincefor most of my life, I was convinced I'd never see one. The best Red Sox team of all time! Enjoy, kiddos.

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Big win for Pinkerton, Yes I wan the Rocky steps and as it turns out there’s a lot more steps than I thought, SPAULDING WINS!, Farmington/Nute wins again!

Justin McIsaac writes the Top 10 every week (usually). He has 1,000 jobs, including radio color commentary for UNH Football, Producer of "NH Today with Jack Heath", HS play by play for MOSN, The McIsaac On Sports Network, college play by play for Dartmouth, St Anselm’s, UNE, Harvard, and whoever else will cut the check. Follow him on Twitter: @justin_mcisaac