Friday January 21, 2011

Friday, January 21, 2011

With bad weather outside and a lot to watch on television including Sundays football game involving the NY/NJ Jets, I have to communicate my thoughts on weekend events ranging from College Hoop games to a great HS event many might not be aware of in Northern NJ.

Lets start with College basketball and one of my favorite topics, Rutgers vs Seton Hall. This should be a very competitive game and one for bragging rights in NJ. In addition, this game will have a tremendous impact on recruiting based on environment and the competitive spirit that hopefully both teams will exhibit.

As I have said for many years this game should be standing room only regardless of the location being  Piscataway or Newark. Lets look at my rationale for feeling this way. Rutgers averages at least 4000 fans per game with many more fans who have a serious interest in beating Seton Hall. Seton Hall averages around 6000 fans and has many more very interested in beating Rutgers. In addition, there are thousands of others hoping for this game to become a natural rivalry. So why does this game not sell out? Marketing, marketing, and marketing!

I continue to wonder why the Newark Star Ledger does not get more involved with this game which could develop into a huge event! The Star Ledger Cup! I said this years ago and I think they do give a trophy out or something similar. But where is the marketing assistance needed to make this game an event and a sell out? The Star Ledger should have been running free ads daily for a percentage of the gate to go to a charity. Maybe open up the top of the arena and sell the tickets for $10 or even give them away to CYO programs throughout NJ.  But one way or another the attendance should be no less than 15,000  with proper marketing!

Game wise, if Rutgers fans can support their team by traveling the turnpike for 35 minutes, that would be an additional 3000 fans. Add the usual 7000 SHU fans and that would be 10,000. Now drum up interest via ads and marketing and give away 3000 $10 tickets for the upper level and any recruit in attendance will be super impressed. And that includes all the super recruits who love to attend local games to be wined and dined, but really have no interest in attending the school that is doing the wining and dinning. Trust me on this!  Imagine every year 15,000 for the annual Rutgers vs SHU game? With partial proceeds going to charity!

Well, we can only hope for this atmosphere. But even without, this game should be a dandy one and a great start to an interesting day of college basketball with some games that should be very competitive.

Other great games for Saturday include: Villanova/Syracuse, Tennessee/UConn, Marquette/Notre Dame, Cincinnati/St. Johns, Texas/Kansas, Temple/Xavier, Ohio State/Illinois, Virginia Commonwealth/Old Dominion, New Mexico/UNLV, and Michigan State/Purdue.   The interesting thing is all these games should be very good and extremely competitive and close. And we can even add  The NJ Tech/Chicago State game to this as a competitive game.

What a great Saturday for those  staying inside from the cold!  The great thing about the games listed is most are on Television.  Hope you enjoy all the action!

HS Basketball

Now for those of you who are not planning on staying in,  and interested in some great HS basketball there is a great event taking place at Dwight Morrow HS in Englewood NJ on Saturday and Ramapo College In Mahwah NJ on Sunday. And what an event this will be!  Sponsored by The NJ Gym Rats Organization and the Head Coach of The Dwight Morrow HS Girls Basketball program Donald Osbourne as a fundraiser for tuition assistance for players and entry fees for the Gym rats program, this event has everything true HS fans want to see. Great competitive games in a great atmosphere.

Well back to the event! On Saturday January 22 at Dwight Morrow HS in Englewood NJ some of the top HS programs from NY and NJ will be going against each other. Here is the Saturday Schedule:

Hackensack vs St. Anthony's Girls Game   2 PM
Dwight Morrow vs Bishop Kearney (NY) Girls Game 3:30 PM
John F, Kennedy vs Bishop Ford (NY) Girls Game  5 PM
Hackensack vs Bishop Ford (NY)  Boys Game 6:30 PM
Paramus Catholic vs Sacred Heart (Westchester) Boys Game 8 PM
Tenafly vs Dwight Englewood Boys Game 9:30 PM

Great games  to see and quite a few college prospects on display!

On Sunday the action shifts to Ramapo College in Mahwah NJ for some outstanding Boys contests with a number of very good division 1 prospects being on display. If you really wish to see teams that most people are not talking about yet have traditionally turned out good D1 players, with this year and next year being no different, you need to be here on Sunday! As many as 12 future division 1 players could be on display including a few good enough for the Big East, ACC, and The Big 10. Here is the Sunday Schedule:

Girls Game
Abraham Clark vs Marist  Girls Game  12 Noon

Strong Boys Games
Newark Tech (NJ) vs Pathways College Prep (With the number 1 Sophomore in NYC) 1:30 PM
Newark Central vs John F. Kennedy (Great NYC Program with 2 City Championships) 3 PM
Paramus Catholic (State Ranked) vs Wings Academy (Great NYC Program) 4:30 PM

The Final Game and a GREAT GAME folks have wanted for years!
Teaneck (State ranked and possibly 3rd best team in State) vs Cardoza (Great NYC Program and multiple NYC Champions with numerous D1 players as alumni and many more on present team)  6 PM

This weekend is action packed with hoops to watch on TV or in person. Personally?  I will be watching the HS games in NJ. I am so excited about the games, especially Sunday's Teaneck vs Cardoza game, I put off a business trip until Monday. Hope to see many of you at Dwight Morrow and Ramapo College.