By DM Livingston – TWT Sports Desk- Published Feb 22, 2026

Waterbury- There are people who cover high school sports…
And then there are people who elevate it.

In the Naugatuck Valley, that name has always been Mark Jaffee.

I had the opportunity to meet and speak with him during the Holy Cross vs WCA NVL Tournament semifinal—a game that had the gym buzzing, generations of players in the stands, and the next chapter of NVL history being written in real time.

But in that moment, it wasn’t just about the game.

It was about the man who taught us how to see it.

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A Conversation That Came Full Circle

As we spoke, I shared my roots:

• Wilby Football (1998) under Coach Boland
• Wilby Basketball (1999) under Coach Reggie O’Brien

We talked about the old days in which he recalled specific plays from nearly 30 years ago with the same passion as the very day he wrote about it.
We talked about the current state of NVL hoops.
We talked about the responsibility of telling these stories the right way.

And in that exchange, I realized something simple:

The way many of us approach thinking about sports in this city…
came from reading what Mark Jaffee had tell us about it.

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More Than Scores — Stories That Matter

For decades, Jaffee didn’t just write box scores.

He told stories about:

• The kid who came off the bench and changed a season
• The senior who finally got his moment
• The team that fought through adversity
• The city pride behind every jersey

He made sure that when a kid from Holy Cross, Wilby, Kennedy, Crosby, Sacred Heart, WCA, Torrington, Naugatuck, or Seymour stepped on that floor…

It mattered.

And because he treated it like it mattered—
the community did too.

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The Blueprint for the Next Generation

As someone now building TWT Sports Desk, I can say this clearly:

The mission is not to replace what Jaffee did.
It’s to carry it forward.

Because the blueprint is already written:

✔️ Treat the players like it matters
✔️ Tell the stories
✔️ Elevate the game

That’s it.
That’s the standard.

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Respect From One Era to the Next

Meeting him wasn’t just meeting a journalist.

It was meeting:

• A historian of our gyms
• A voice of our communities
• A bridge between generations of athletes

And as we shook hands, it felt like a quiet passing of responsibility—not of a position…

…but of a purpose.

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Final Word

In Waterbury, banners hang in gyms.
Trophies sit in cases.
Records live in books.

But the stories…
The stories live because someone took the time to write them with care.

For generations, that someone was Mark Jaffee.

And because of him, every kid who laced up in the NVL had a chance to be remembered.

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From one storyteller to another—thank you.

🖊️ DM Livingston
Founder, The Waterbury Times