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Comparing polls/other hoops and fball news 'n notes
Here's a look at the NEC coaches poll compared with that guy from Lindy's Northeast Conference Lindy's 2006-07 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll 1. Monmouth (6) 1. RMU 2. Robert Morris (5) 2. Monmouth 3. Long Island 3. LIU 4. Central 4. Wagner Connecticut St. 5. Quinnipiac 5. CCSU 6. Wagner 6. Quinnipiac 7. Fairleigh Dickinson 7. SFNY 8. St. Francis, N.Y. 8. FDU 9. Sacred Heart 9. Sacred Heart 10. Mount St. Mary's 10. SFPA 11. Saint Francis, Pa. 11. Mount First place votes in parentheses 2006-07 Northeast Conference Preseason All-Conference Team Name School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown/High School Marques Alston Monmouth F 6-4 230 Sr Neptune Jarred Frye Sacred Heart G 6-4 190 Sr Maspeth, NY/Mt. Luther A.J. Jackson Robert Morris F 6-6 230 Sr Monessen, PA/Monessen (E. Tennessee St.) Obie Nwadike CCSU F 6-4 224 Sr Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony James Williams Long Island G 5-10 185 Sr DeSoto, TX/DeSoto Lindy's preseason team Only difference in Lindy's was Jeremy Chappell G (RMU) made it and Nwadike was second team Was at practice today for a little bit and had a Blake Hamilton sighting. Blake is working out with MU while looking for a pro job overseas. He said he will not be going back to Poland. Was nice to see him. He said Dwayne Byfield is working in Manhattan and is no longer playing ball. Barlow (ankle) and Simpson (shins) were in uniform but not practicing yet. Dave said something today during the media conference call about Bunch and Hallett playing a little more together than they did last year when they were almost never on the court at the same time. MU will scrimmage Lafayette Wednesday evening at Boylan Gym. The scrimmage is closed to the public and even the media. I will talk with Dave at some point Wed night or Thursday and have his take here for you. MU football injuries: Fred Weingart (knee) out for the year; Bryan Bischoff (ankle)game-time decision Saturday; Matt Hill (concussion) is OK. Again..key scenario. Barring upsets or the like MU needs (two wins) and an RMU win over Albany to set up possible three-way -tie for first place which would enable MU to host the Gridiron Classic via highest Sagarin ranking. Either way MU can clinch at least an NEC record tying fifth co-championship if it wins out. RMU won five from 1996-2000. Upcoming Press coverage: Thursday - MU women's media conference call report with comments from coach Baxter, MU football feature touching on the eight fifth-year seniors playing their final game (maybe) ay Kessler Field Saturday. Friday: NEC Tournament Glance Boxes men and women. Saturday: MU men's soccer coverage with Steve Edelson on the case though I hope to be there at some point. MU women's coverage via Monmouth and Eddie Occhipinti (from now on he's EO, that was an easy nickname wasn't it?) e-mail report. Last call for your soccer predictions!.Who advances?..MU men, women, both, neither. If either team wins I will do an advance (s) for Sunday and will cover the men if they are playing. EO at women. Saturday: MU football advance. Sunday: MU football coverage. Monday: MU football folo and possible soccer coverage Coming late next week: MU hoops features (men and women). Men is on Delic. Women..not sure yet, but I have an idea I first have to check on. Anyone going to Cox Classic? Let us know and give us reports. I will be at high school football game (s) and possibly MU football on the 11th. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
More on MU men's hoops preseason
Northeast Conference 2006-07 Men's Basketball Preseason Coaches Poll 1. Monmouth (6) 2. Robert Morris (5) 3. Long Island 4. Central Connecticut St. 5. Quinnipiac 6. Wagner 7. Fairleigh Dickinson 8. St. Francis, N.Y. 9. Sacred Heart 10. Mount St. Mary's 11. Saint Francis, Pa. First place votes in parentheses 2006-07 Northeast Conference Preseason All-Conference Team Name School Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown/High School Marques Alston Monmouth F 6-4 230 Sr Neptune Jarred Frye Sacred Heart G 6-4 190 Sr Maspeth, NY/Mt. Luther A.J. Jackson Robert Morris F 6-6 230 Sr Monessen, PA/Monessen (E. Tennessee St.) Obie Nwadike CCSU F 6-4 224 Sr Jersey City, NJ/St. Anthony James Williams Long Island G 5-10 185 Sr DeSoto, TX/DeSoto e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU men hoops picked first
In NEC pre-season coaches poll with six first place votes, RMU second with five. It may be that close all year. Marques Alston picked first team All-NEC preseason. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU news n' notes
Football Hawks remain No. 2 in Sports Network Mid-Major Top 10, also received 11 votes in the national poll where Pioneer leading San Diego (8-0) is up to No. 16 (and remains #1 in Mid-Major). MU is one of five 1-AA teams nationally with as many as eight wins, but only one with all eight wins over established 1-AA members. The list : Charleston So. 8-0 (Big South) W 13 in a row San Diego 8-0 (Pioneer) W 16 in a row Appalachian St. 8-1 (Southern) Hampton 8-1 (Mid Eastern) Monmouth 8-1 (NEC) Hard to beleive Saturday is final home game (at least regular season) for Brian Boland and the MU 5th year seniors. Some seniors including Adam San Miguel will probably be back for fifth years in 2007. Men's preseason NEC hoops coaches poll is out tomorrow and women on Wednesday. Men's poll I have a hunch will be RMU No. 1, MU #2. Women: MU probably be ranked mid to lower half due to graduation of Niamh Dwyer. Both teams' season openers are hurtling towards us a week from Friday, Nov. 10. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Monnmouth U women's hoops recruit
Liz Kudirka, a 6-2 senior at Plainview JFK High School, Plainview, N.Y. (Long Island) has made a verbal commitment to Monmouth University according to her high school coach Lance Homan. Homan said Kudirka averaged 16 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks for the Lady Hawks (that's ironic) last season when they went 6-12 and when she earned All County honors. Homan said Kudirka had also drawn interest from Sacred Heart and Stony Brook among others. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU men's soccer on radio
For the first time WMCX (88.9 FM) will be broadcasting Monmouth soccer. They will be covering the NEC men's tournament at 11 am on Friday at Monmouth and again on Sunday if MU is in the championship game. Again..that's on 88.9 FM and www.wmcx.com. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU men's/ women's soccer win/Brookdale downs OCC for Region 19 title
With info from the MU web site and looking for comments from you: is MU going to win both titles? If so, why? If not, why not and which one does MU win? I'll be optimistic. MU sweeps behind Holloway and Lopez. The Monmouth University men's soccer team will host the Northeast Conference Tournament for a second year in a row. Sunday Steven Halloway's chip shot in the 68th minute gave the No. 15 Hawks a 1-0 victory over Sacred Heart and the top seed in the 2006 event when Fairleigh Dickinson slipped to No. 2 with a 1-0 loss at Mount St. Mary's. Friday at 11 a.m. Monmouth (12-3-3, 7-0-2) the top-seeded team in the tournament, will face fourth seeded Robert Morris (9-6-4, 4-2-3) in a rematch of last year's title game won by the Colonials in overtime, 3-2. FDU and St. Francis, Pa. will play in the other semifinal at 1:30 p.m. IN WOMEN'S SOCCER Monmouth defeated Wagner Sunday, 3-1, as NEC Rookie of the Year candidate freshman forward Andrea Lopez (Ocean Township) scored twice for the Hawks (13-3-2, 7-1-1) to help put away the Seahawks (2-16, 2-7) on Staten Island. No. 2 seeded Monmouth, which bowed to No. 1 seed Long Island Friday, will play No. 3 Central Connecticut State (8-2-2, 5-2-2) 1:30 p.m. Friday in a 2006 NEC Tournament semifinal game at LIU after the Blackbirds (11-7-1, 8-1) play Sacred Heart (6-1-2-1, 5-3-1). The championship game will be Sunday at LIU at a time to be announced. Freshman Alessandra Detata (Brick) assisted on Lopez' second score. Also: In junior college soccer Kim Thompsen scored in the 36th minute to lead the Brookdale women's team to a 1-0 victory over Ocean County College in the NJCAA Region 19 Division III championship contest at Mercer County College. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Please use this on MU football thoughts..forgot to enable comments on the other one
Ok..here's how we see it now....MU beats SFPA next week and Stony Brook beats Wagner.and then MU beats Albany on the last week...all these scenarios have MU winning the last two games.... BUT wait... I just realized this, MU needs an RMU win over Albany this week so that RMU then beats Sac Heart on the final day and finishes with one loss to MU..and MU beats Albany on the last weekend forging the necessary three-way tie with MU, SBU (which beats CCSU) and RMU.. But if RMU loses next week to Albany that means MU, Albany..and SBU are probably tied going into the final week...But if MU beats Albany it knocks Albany out of a three-way tie and if SBU wins over CCSU they win the tie-breaker with MU. Is this for real? Ouch. So MU could beat Albany and hand SBU the Gridiron Classic berth. Wow. Of course if SBU loses its final to SBU, MU wins outright. Of if there are upsets next week or the last week it further complicates matters. This is not etched in stone..anybody see it any differently?? As for today..MU could have won like by 40-7 or there abouts. Game had disaster written all over it until the very near end. MU has rolled up over 700 yards of offense the last two weeks but has scored only a total of only 36 points. Defense has been outstanding and was truly on another level today. One more thing. Many folks came up to me mentioning the Middle South-Ocean game Friday night. I know this is a college blog but was anyone happy to see the MS streak end?.. Sad? ...any thoughts on that? e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Mu football thoughts II..Please use this..forgot to enable comemnts on the last one
Ok..here's how we see it now....MU beats SFPA next week and Stony Brook beats Wagner.and then MU beats Albany on the last week...all these scenarios have MU winning the last two games.... BUT wait... I just realized this, MU needs an RMU win over Albany this week so that RMU then beats Sac Heart on the final day and finishes with one loss to MU..and MU beats Albany on the last weekend forging the necessary three-way tie with MU, SBU (which beats CCSU) and RMU.. But if RMU loses next week to Albany that means MU, Albany..and SBU are probably tied going into the final week...But if MU beats Albany it knocks Albany out of a three-way tie and if SBU wins over CCSU they win the tie-breaker with MU. Is this for real? Ouch. So MU could beat Albany and hand SBU the Gridiron Classic berth. Wow. Of course if SBU loses its final to SBU, MU wins outright. Of if there are upsets next week or the last week it further complicates matters. This is not etched in stone..anybody see it any differently?? As for today..MU could have won like by 40-7 or there abouts. Game had disaster written all over it until the very near end. MU has rolled up over 700 yards of offense the last two weeks but has scored only a total of only 36 points. Defense has been outstanding and was truly on another level today. One more thing. Many folks came up to me mentioning the Middle South-Ocean game Friday night. I know this is a college blog but was anyone happy to see the MS streak end?.. Sad? ...any thoughts on that? e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU football thoughts
Ok..here's how we see it now....MU beats SFPA next week and Stony Brook beats Wagner.and then MU beats Albany on the last week...all these scenarios have MU winning the last two games.... BUT wait... I just realized this, MU needs an RMU win over Albany this week so that RMU then beats Sac Heart on the final day and finishes with one loss to MU..and MU beats Albany on the last weekend forging the necessary three-way tie with MU, SBU (which beats CCSU) and RMU.. But if RMU loses next week to Albany that means MU, Albany..and SBU are probably tied going into the final week...But if MU beats Albany it knocks Albany out of a three-way tie and if SBU wins over CCSU they win the tie-breaker with MU. Is this for real? Ouch. So MU could beat Albany and hand SBU the Gridiron Classic berth. Wow. Of course if SBU loses its final to SBU, MU wins outright. Of if there are upsets next week or the last week it further complicates matters. This is not etched in stone..anybody see it any differently?? As for today..MU could have won like by 40-7 or there abouts. Game had disaster written all over it until the very near end. MU has rolled up over 700 yards of offense the last two weeks but has scored only a total of only 36 points. Defense has been outstanding and was truly on another level today. One more thing. Many folks came up to me mentioning the Middle South-Ocean game Friday night. I know this is a college blog but was anyone happy to see the MS streak end?.. Sad? ...any thoughts on that? e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU football thoughts
Ok..here's how we see it now....MU beats SFPA next week and Stony Brook beats Wagner.and then MU beats Albany on the last week...all these scenarios have MU winning the last two games.... BUT wait... I just realized this, MU needs an RMU win over Albany this week so that RMU then beats Sac Heart on the final day and finishes with one loss to MU..and MU beats Albany on the last weekend forging the necessary three-way tie with MU, SBU (which beats CCSU) and RMU.. But if RMU loses next week to Albany that means MU, Albany..and SBU are probably tied going into the final week...But if MU beats Albany it knocks Albany out of a three-way tie and if SBU wins over CCSU they win the tie-breaker with MU. Is this for real? Ouch. So MU could beat Albany and hand SBU the Gridiron Classic berth. Wow. Of course if SBU loses its final to SBU, MU wins outright. Of if there are upsets next week or the last week it further complicates matters. This is not etched in stone..anybody see it any differently?? As for today..MU could have won like by 40-7 or there abouts. Game had disaster written all over it until the very near end. MU has rolled up over 700 yards of offense the last two weeks but has scored only a total of only 36 points. Defense has been outstanding and was truly on another level today. One more thing. Many folks came up to me mentioning the Middle South-Ocean game Friday night. I know this is a college blog but was anyone happy to see the MS streak end?.. Sad? ...any thoughts on that? e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
My MU hoops report
First thanks for that super report earlier on the blog...since I got up at 7 this morning (the crack of dawn for me) let me add a few things.. Teams were divided into the White coached by Mark Calzonetti..the "Cals Cats" (hey, they need a name) of many of the experienced players...Bunch, Coleman, Nunner, Marques, Shipman, Delic, and a rookie in Dobriansky .. Then we had the "Krayl Kids" coached by Ron Krayl of Hallett and Coleman and the rest were the kids...Youngblood, Crews, T.J. Tibbs, Dutch Gaitely.. Sean Barlow (ankle ) DNP..out a few days and Yaniv Simpson (shins) DNP - he is out another two weeks so we can't expect much from him for a while... Calz team won a pair of two ""game" halves...38-29 and 32-24... First game...Calz got 11 points from Marques who becomes more and more of a point forward..can really find Bunch down low and , eight from Bunch were the top scorers...Hallett - 13 points..topped the Kids team..as earlier blogger said..Corey looked very good... Next game Delic erupted scored 14 , Shipman eight, and Bunch six for the Calz team. Youngblood had eight, Hallett seven, and Coleman six for Krayls Kids.... I agree with the person on the prior blog ..very astute observations by him/her/whoever.. I think the MU starting..we'll say six including Bunch and Hallett rotating at center is as good if not better than any NEC team.... So now who comes off the bench? I had relegated Nunner to the back of the bus but he looked good in his role and with Simspson out for who knows how long he moves into the guard rotation along with Youngblood, a talent who will only get better. As the other person stated.. a little out of control right now..needs to run the offense better, but he has a chance to be very good... The question is.. who comes off the bench at forward...I had Barlow figured in here after what I thought has been an impressive preseason..but is he only a center? can he play the 4?..remains to be seen I guess. I also had ""Rickie the Rookie" in there..but he has struggled with the offense and defense though he has worlds of talent. Gailtey is being redshirted and Dobriansky now about 50-50 after today though it would be better for him and MU if he does redshirt, in my opinion. Again..he's mainly a five. ..MU can go three guaards if it has to..... I would say the rotation beyond the top six is definitely not set yet.... e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Post game football notes and quotes, etc. from the CCSU game
The Northeast Conference victory by Monmouth (8-1, 4-1) over Central Connecticut State Saturday opened a few doors for the Hawks to host the Dec. 2 Gridiron Classic matching the NEC and Pioneer League winners. Monmouth would probably host via a higher Sagarin ranking if it wins its last two games vs. St. Francis, Pa. (2-7, 1-4) Saturday and Nov. 11 at Albany (6-3, 4-1) and finishes in a three-way tie for first place with Robert Morris (6-3, 4-1) and Stony Brook (4-5, 4-1). Monmouth would also win any tiebreaker with Robert Morris via its head-to-head win over the Colonials but would lose any tiebreaker with Stony Brook which handed Monmouth its only defeat this season. Stony Brook had been alone atop the NEC until Saturday when it lost to Robert Morris, 21-6. Stony Brook travels to Wagner (4-5, 0-5) Saturday and Nov. 11 to CCSU to conclude the season. Robert Morris hosts Albany Saturday and ends its season at Sacred Heart (2-7, 1-4). Quotes On the 44-yard CCSU TD pass: ""They're a good option team. They were going option right, the back kind of squeaked out the back side,'' said safety Matt Hill. Hill on the Mohawk haircuts of some members of the defense, ""We decided to change up a little bit after last week and have some fun. You kind of have to have a different mentality to play defense.'' Brian Boland on his running the ball: ""They were pretty much all designed (runs) today. We just thought we had an advantage in terms of blocking.'' On a Monmouth goal line situation in the first half when David Sinsi ran wide and was tracked down for a loss: ""He wasn't supposed to take it that wide, he bounced the play outside, he needs to stay a little tighter,'' said coach Kevin Callahan. Callahan on why MU went for two points when it was ahead 12-7. ""Then (at 14-7) it takes a touchdown and extra point to tie you." Callahan on why MU went for one point when it was ahead 18-7 late in the game: ""By the card it says "Go for two" at that point. However if you go for two and don't get it, a TD and two-point conversion and a field goal and they can tie you (by scoring 11 points). If you kick one and get it than they need two touchdowns to beat you. I didn't think there was enough time and the way they weren't moving the ball I didn't think they would be able to drive and get two scores (touchdowns).'' e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU football/hoops
Please post your comments on today's CCSU game and the MU men's hoop scrimmage this morning (if you attended, I did) here. I'll be back later... e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU football/hoops
Please post your comments on today's CCSU game and the MU men's hoop scrimmage this morning (if you attended, I did) here. I'll be back later... e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Mens Hoops USA Today
They agree with the guy who writes for Lindy's picking Robert Morris No. 1 in the NEC. As mentioned earlier, three other national publications picked MU. NEC coaches poll out Tuesday.. We will have a story of course. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Homecoming stories any one? My MU-CCSU prediction
Anyone have any MU homecoming stories they would care to share with us? Remember this is a family blog. A particular game? A particular story of general interest?..seeing former classmates..etc, etc.??? Actually ..I have one. Around the late 90's or so..as I arrived for the game somehow I got caught in my car in the home coming parade. So there were all these vehicles decked out in homecoming attire and me unable to break free from the middle of the procession as it wound around the parking lot. As I passed by Boylan gym..I'll never forget.. a women's basketball player - Erin Adessso - shouted to me, "Nice float Tony.'' As for this year's game with CCSU Another critical game (have we said this before?) for the Hawks. We have a smash mouth running team in CCSU and a more balanced and better defensive team in MU and rain and wind on turf to further complicate the matter. MU was successful in rain earler this year..remember Fordham? Key in this game is for MU not to fall behind and let CCSU and Justise Hairtson control the tempo and the clock. If MU can forge the lead it takes CCSU out of its game. Especially in wet, windy weather turnovers could affect the outcome and who has the wind in the fourth quarter. If I was Adam San Miguel I would definitely think about fair catches in this game. My record: 4-1. MU could lose this one but I think CCSU kicking game, which has been erratic this season, could suffer in bad weather. MU, 14-13. Due to personal obligations I will not be around Friday until I cover a high school football game Friday night. So I will not be able to blog from later tonight probably until late Saturday. I hope to attend the men's hoops scrimmage Sat morning. If so I will offer my comments on it here Saturday evening. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
A wet homecoming??
ZONE FORECAST PRODUCT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY, NEW JERSEY 324 PM EDT THU OCT 26 2006 NJZ014-025-026-270945- EASTERN MONMOUTH-COASTAL ATLANTIC-COASTAL OCEAN- 324 PM EDT THU OCT 26 2006 TONIGHT MOSTLY CLEAR. LOWS IN THE UPPER 30S. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. FRIDAY INCREASING CLOUDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS IN THE MID 50S. NORTH WINDS 5 TO 10 MPH...BECOMING SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF RAIN 50 PERCENT. FRIDAY NIGHT PERIODS OF RAIN. BREEZY WITH LOWS 45 TO 50. SOUTHEAST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 25 MPH...INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT. CHANCE OF RAIN 100 PERCENT. SATURDAY PERIODS OF RAIN. WINDY WITH HIGHS IN THE LOWER 60S. SOUTHEAST WINDS 25 TO 30 MPH...BECOMING WEST IN THE AFTERNOON. CHANCE OF RAIN 100 PERCENT. Question..does wind and rain favor the running team (CCSU) or not? e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Latest on the MAAC
This from our news reporter who covers WLB....Carol Gorga Williams Monmouth University on Tuesday won the dorm case (note to all..this has nothing to do with the MAAC) at the trial court level. The short answer is that means they can build. But wait a minute. The citizens who lost said they would appeal, which I think postpones the actual construction again. The case was unrelated to the MAAC application. Now tonight (Thursday), at 7:30 p.m. we have hopefully what will be the first of two meetings that will conclude the presentation of the case for the MAAC. But no vote is expected. My take..from talking with Carol...the locals opposing the dorm have no chance at winning their appeal vs. the dorm...as the trial court judge slammed them... There is less reason for opposition to the MAAC than the dorm, with only the traffic issue seeming to matter. After MU presents its traffic expert Thursday Carol feels the vote on the MAAC will be at the November meeting. I have to feel the WLB zoning board will approve the MAAC and local opposition to it is far less organized than the dorm issue. Even if a vote favorable to MU is appealed I would think there is no chance of that appeal being upheld ... though it could delay construction unless MU decides to go for it anyway. I mean we're talking traffic at at 7-9pm in the dead of winter and not miuch more than there is now....please ..my sanity (what's left of it) is being tested. Marilyn McNeil told me recently from ground breaking to opening the MAAC doors would be about 18 months( with good weather, etc.)... Sooooo.. if ground breaking is this spring..than I estimate MU would have a shot at playing in the the MAAC at some point, if not the beginning, of the 2008-2009 season. This means, if I am following this correctly, this year's sophs could play in the new arena. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU soccer and Mount St. Mary's hoops rookie
This from the MU web site... MEN'S SOCCER HOSTS FDU IN MAJOR NEC CLASH ON FRIDAY No. 15 Hawks welcome FDU to The Great Lawn at 3 p.m. October 25, 2006 WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University men's soccer team, ranked No. 15 in this week's NSCAA/adidas National Poll, hosts in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson, in Northeast Conference action on The Great Lawn on Friday afternoon. Friday's match, set for 3 p.m., marks the Hawks' first game as a ranked squad in program history. The conference contest carries postseason implications as well, as the winner has the inside track to the 2006 NEC Regular Season title, and home field advantage in the upcoming NEC Tournament, which both teams have already qualified for. FDU, tied with the Hawks atop the latest NEC standings, brings with it a seven-game unbeaten streak. Not unfamiliar with national rankings, the Knights, ranked as high as No. 7 last season, feature the scoring duo of Samson Malijani (18 points) and Alejandro Bedoya (15 points). Monmouth counters with the forward pair of Steven Holloway (Hamilton, New Zealand/Hamilton) and Tom Gray (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South), who have combined for 19 goals, 18 assists and 54 points. Monmouth, which is carrying a 17-game unbeaten streak in league play, is on a nine-game unbeaten streak of its own. The Blue and White have also posted a 4-0-1 record at home this season. The two squads are currently ranked one-two in the league in goals allowed, goals against average and shutouts. Admission to the game is free. I asked this before..anyone care to issue a scouting report on this game and a prediction?? Regarding below..I heard this kid was very good... By Stan Goldberg News-Post Staff EMMITSBURG -- The coaches at Mount St. Mary's brought guard Jeremy Goode to the school because of his ability as a playmaker. In Tuesday's Blue-White game at the Knott Arena, the 5-foot-9 freshman showed he could do a lot more. Goode was the game's high scorer with 19 points and top rebounder with six. He also had a game-high six assists. "He's a basketball player, you throw the ball up and he goes out and plays," Mount coach Milan Brown said. "It's going to be fun to see him develop." The freshman made 7-of-12 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. "They left me open and I got a couple of shots off," Goode said. As a high schooler in Charlotte, N.C., Goode said he played both guard positions and small forward. "I had to score, play defense and rebound," he said. "They brought me here to be a playmaker and that's what I will try and do." "He's quick and very good in the open court," Brown said of Goode. "He needs to learn how to control, run the team. When he played in high school, he was the team." MU men's hoopps has three regula season TV games scheduled and the women one... TV: at Fairleigh Dickinson University 2/5/07 7:30 PM TV: (H) Fairleigh Dickinson University 2/12/07 7:30 TV: (H)Sacred Heart University 2/23/07 7:00 PM - women's game on TV at 5 p.m. My take: I guess having MU-FDU is a "local rivalry" but I would have rather the NEC put the game on with Robert Morris (Jan. 27 at MU) on TV By the way: NEC pre-season hoop rankings are next Tuesday and Wednesday... e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Typo in story and CCSU preview
Please note..this was e-mailed in by a reader that - There is a typo in the “Hawks hoping for shot at postseason” article which ran Thursday.. Under Scenario No.1, RMU is listed as ranked 122 instead of the correct 222. Also..in case you are unware this game is on FSNY.. CCSU scouting report from MU game notes from Greg (I hate Matt Bryant) Viscomi and from yours (one of the worst Philadelphgia Eagle regular season losses I have endured since I became a fan in the late 50's) truly.... Senior Justice Hairston, who transferred this season from Rutgers, is the nation’s leader in rushing yards with 1,398 yards. Marist and Albany have been the only two teams to keep him under 100 yards rushing, BUT Monmouth has the NEC’s best rushing defense, holding opponents to 96 yards rushing per game. More Justise from the Hartford Courant: Hairston leads Division I-AA in average rushing yards a game (174.8) and average all-purpose yards (216.5). He's atop the Central record book in rushing yards (332) and carries (49) in a game. Also: Central’s 299 total offensive yards is 12th in the country, with Ryan Holmes taking the majority of snaps under center. Holmes has 688 yards on 36-of-59 passing with four touchdowns. Last week, Holmes was a perfect 10-for-10 with 179 yards in Centrals win over Wagner. Four Blue Devil receivers average over 15 yards per reception, led by Nicholas Colagiovonni, who has 10 receptions for 196 yards. My comment: CCSU is 3-2 since Holmes took over for injured and shiftier QB Aubrey Norris. He runs the ball about 10 times per game. They mainly throw off play action but MU has to be aware of flea-flickers etc. and maybe a halfback option..MU has been burnned on this several times this year including last week's RMU flea-flicker Defense: Central is fifth in the Northeast conference in scoring defense, allowing 15.9 points per game. The Blue Devils’ have given up an average of 127 rushing yards per game, which is also fifth in the eight-team conference. Central owns a +6 turnover margin, which ties Monmouth for second in the NEC behind Stony Brook. NOTE THIS: Special Teams: Freshman Ryan Heeney has struggled in 2006, hitting just three-of-eight field goals this season. Senior Chris Rose handles the punting duties for the Blue Devils, averaging 34.1 yards on a league-low 26 attempts. Hairston handles the punt return duties, averaging 9.2 yards per return. Hairston also returns kickoffs with a 22.4 average on seven attempts. Despite rushing the ball 83% of the time, CCSU is fifth in the NEC in T.O.P., controlling the ball 29:16 through eight games. My comment: MUY should have the advantage here but has had a few FGs and PATS blocked this season. More than one is not good. Interesting facts: With his TD against in the fourth quarter against RMU, Dave Sinisi extended his scoring streak to eight games, every game that MU has played this season. It will not be easy for the redshirt freshman as Hawk running backs have not scored a rushing touchdown against Central Connecticut since the 2001 season. Former Monmouth running back Chris Reed owns the school record for most consecutive games with a touchdown with nine. David Jiles needs one pick for a career school record 12th. Miles who? ..MU receiver Adam San Miguel needs six catches to set the Hawk single-season mark at 61 .....I am just kidding folks (about Miles). THIS WILL BE IMPORTANT THIS WEEK: Monmouth’s offense has been controlling the ball and the tempo of the game to the tune of 33:21 per contest this season, which is fifth in all of Division I-AA. Not one of MU’s eight opponents have led in time of possession in 2006. This N' That: MU’s 16 points last week marked the first time all season that Monmouth has not scored at least 17 in a game. IT WOULD have scored more but a successful PAT attempt was negated after a holding call. The ensuing kick, this time from 10 yards further, was blocked.• Junior cornerback Ayo Falae had a career-high eight tackles in the game, including six solo stops....• Brian Boland needs just 24 passing yards to become the NEC’s third quarterback to record 7,000 career passing yards. • e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Brookale/Ocean women in Region final
The Brookdale Community College and Ocean County College women's soccer teams are poised to meet for the second time this month with a championship at stake. Wednesday both advanced in the NJCAA Region 19 Tournament with semifinal round victories as host Brookdale (12-2), ranked No. 5 among Division III junior colleges, defeated Gloucester, 4-0 behind three goals by Kim Thompsen , while No. 10 Ocean (9-2-2) prevailed at Camden, 2-0. The teams will meet in the Region final noon Saturday at Mercer County College in a rematch of the Oct 12 Garden State Athletic Confernece championship game won by Brookdale, 2-1. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Brookale/Ocean women in Region final
The Brookdale Community College and Ocean County College women's soccer teams are poised to meet for the second time this month with a championship at stake. Wednesday both advanced in the NJCAA Region 19 Tournament with semifinal round victories as host Brookdale (12-2), ranked No. 5 among Division III junior colleges, defeated Gloucester, 4-0 behind three goals by Kim Thompsen , while No. 10 Ocean (9-2-2) prevailed at Camden, 2-0. The teams will meet in the Region final noon Saturday at Mercer County College in a rematch of the Oct 12 Garden State Athletic Confernece championship game won by Brookdale, 2-1. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
More MU Men's soccer
I received this via e-mail... There's a buzz building up in Kearny, NJ. Home of Coach McCourt. I have seen about 20 to 30 emails going around as it is from Kearny folk all over. Hopefully the school turns around and gets some support in the next few games and conference tourney. Lets get the Hawks in the NCAAs. The Hawk is an honerary mascot in Kardinal land. Good post. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU men's soccer
I am a little miffed there hasn't been more reaction to MU soccer being nationally ranked. Now..I know it's not hoops or football..but we're talking national ranking here. When was the last time this happened in the D1 era at MU...Answer? Never, as far as I know. It's quite an achievement. Yes? e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU men's hoops
Confirmed with Calloway today, 8-am blue-white scrimmage Sat is open to the public. But, he says, space to view will be limited especially later in the morning when the football teams check in. But it is open and will give folks a chance to see the team under game conditions..albeit against each other Went to MU hoops practice today for about 45 minutes. Mainly was watching some 2 on 1 drills. Was very sloppy at times. John Bunch, meanwhile, looked good in that he was moving well and dunking to finish some breaks. Everyone practiced. A person with substantial knowledge of MU hoops today expressed these concerns about the team: 1) outside shooting 2) depth Am not overly concerned with outside shooting as this isn't going to be a team depending on the 3 anyway..if it shoots 15-20 3's per game that's waaay too much..though the long range percentages of the returnees could be better....Alex Nunner, and I look for freshman Yaniv Simpson to be good from deep ... Whitney Coleman, Deki, Marques can hit the 3 SCORING GP FG-FGA FG% 3FG-FGA 3PT% FT-FTA FT% PTS PTS/G -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ALSTON, Marques..... 34 145-304 .477 23-77 .299 81-113 .717 394 11.6 DELIC, Dejan........ 31 120-311 .386 67-204 .328 74-103 .718 381 12.3 KENNY, Chris........ 34 97-248 .391 47-142 .331 52-66 .788 293 8.6 COLEMAN, Whitney.... 34 88-194 .454 25-58 .431 31-43 .721 232 6.8 AZZARELLI, Tyler.... 24 75-165 .455 28-82 .341 42-69 .609 220 9.2 BUNCH, John......... 25 76-144 .528 0-0 .000 47-89 .528 199 8.0 HALLETT, Corey...... 34 75-166 .452 1-6 .167 17-29 .586 168 4.9 SHIPMAN, Mike....... 27 52-106 .491 10-31 .323 34-49 .694 148 5.5 WILSON, Brent....... 33 32-72 .444 0-1 .000 13-20 .650 77 2.3 NUNNER, Alex........ 27 13-33 .394 10-25 .400 As for depth..the concern here is more valid, I think, in that while there is young talent it is young. Unless fifth-year senior Steve Bazaz (the pride of Shore Regional) moves into the fringe rotation (not that remote a possibility) all the top reserves are first-time college performers...""Rickie the Rookie', Jhamar ("The Jet) and Sean Barlow....Here is where perhaps they could have used a Tyson Johnson. This remains to be seen. There will be no seniors on the team next year as there are no juniors this year. Somehow MU went blank on a whole class of recruits. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU soccer news
This from the MU web site...from Chris ( I don't have a nickname for him yet..any suggestions?) Tobin.. Also please note in the Asnury Park Press Steve Edelson has a feature running Wednesday on the MU men's and women's soccer teams (good timing I would say!) Here is the news: One week after “receiving votes” for the first time in program history, the Monmouth University men’s soccer team earned a No. 15 national ranking in this week’s NSCAA/adidas Division I poll, on Tuesday afternoon. The national ranking is the first in program history for the Blue and White. Monmouth (11-3-2, 6-0-1 NEC), which extended its conference unbeaten streak to 17 matches after its 2-0 week, has won four consecutive matches, and have been triumphant in five straight road contests. The Hawks stand in a tie with Fairleigh Dickinson atop the Northeast Conference standings with similar 6-0-1 records and 19 points. The two schools face off on Friday afternoon on The Great Lawn at 3 p.m. Senior Steven Holloway (Hamilton, New Zealand/Hamilton), who scored two more goals this week to increase his team lead to 15 scores, currently ranks third in the nation in goals per game (1.0) and fifth in the country in points per game (2.27). Holloway is joined by junior Tom Gray (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South), who was named the Brine/NEC Player of the Week and BigAppleSoccer.com Player of the Week, while also being named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week. Gray, who played a role in five of Monmouth’s six goals on the week tied a school record and established an NEC single-game season high with four assists against the Blackbirds. In the win over the Terriers, it was Gray who sent the ball into the box that was eventually misplayed by the St. Francis keeper in the 95th minute, resulting in an own goal. The forward leads the NEC with a career-best 12 assists and is second with 22 points. He also stands third in the country in assists per game (0.75). In his career, Gray has totaled 19 assists in 34 career games at Monmouth. Monmouth’s junior goalkeeper Daniel Schenkel (Campo Verde, Brazil) ranks eighth in the NCAA in goals against average, registering a 0.54 GAA, and 12th with his .855 save percentage. The Hawks, who have surrendered nine scores on the season, have posted nine shutouts, and currently rank sixth in the country in team goals against average (0.53). Monmouth’s week also propelled the Blue and White to the top of the North Atlantic Regional Poll, flip-flopping with former top-seeded Fairfield, which currently ranks 24th in the country, according to the NSCAA. Monmouth returns to action on Friday with a home NEC contest versus FDU at 3 p.m., on The Great Lawn. As for the women: The Monmouth University women’s soccer team moved up to No. 11, in the latest SoccerBuzz Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll. The Hawks posted a 2-0 week, with wins over NJIT and Mount St. Mary’s, to move up the list. Monmouth, 12-2-2 overall, is also 6-0-1 in NEC play, and has increased its unbeaten streak to 11 matches, the longest such streak since 1994-1995 when the Hawks strung together 17 consecutive wins. Monmouth returns to action on Friday with a critical road match at Long Island University, which currently stands in second place in the NEC standings. The NEC contest is set for 6 p.m., in Brooklyn. My comments..I have always felt it would be a smoother path for MU to be nationally ranked in men's and or women's soccer than other sports....and now it's happened. Anyway.. it's quite a feather in MU's cap. Also...if MU and FDU (men) were to tie Friday and then both win or lose Sunday it appears FDU would get the top seed in the NEC Tournament via a tie breaker as it would have defeated the next highest team in the standings (SFPA) which Monmouth tied. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Another Miles Austin article sent to us (Bergen Record)
Austin quietly showing Parcells he has what it takes Sunday, October 22, 2006 By KEITH IDEC SPECIAL TO THE RECORD Miles Austin missed an assignment during a training-camp practice, prompting Bill Parcells to direct one of his infamous insults at the rookie receiver. "He said, 'You're like a ball in high grass, son. You're lost,' '' a laughing Austin recalled. Two months later, Austin is slowly but surely finding his way playing for the demanding Dallas Cowboys' coach. The Garfield High School graduate was inactive for his first four NFL games, but showed enough practice progress to make his regular-season debut a week ago against Houston. He didn't participate in any offensive plays, but Austin made two special-teams tackles in his first official action since making the improbable jump from Monmouth University. Parcells took notice and said Austin will be active again for the Cowboys' nationally televised game against the Giants on Monday night. Austin is the Dallas receiver you never hear about, but Parcells predicted that'll change, too, once Austin acclimates to playing at this elite level following four years of Division I-AA college ball. "He is just big and fast,'' Parcells said, "but I didn't know how tough he was. He can catch very well. He's just young and he's green. He doesn't quite know what he is doing. But he has tremendous, tremendous physical potential. This guy has ability now. I'm telling you, he's got it. I don't think I could miss that.'' The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Austin always has been an imposing physical specimen, so he has had little difficulty adapting to the NFL's physicality. He has concentrated mostly on learning nuances of the Cowboys' offense and the intricacies of his position. Monmouth's all-time leading receiver has become better at running routes and making breaks, but he realizes much more improvement is needed to become a polished player. Nevertheless, Austin's inclusion in the Cowboys' 34-6 victory over the Texans reinforced that his hard work hasn't gone unnoticed. "Before that, I was helping out in practice and I was on the sideline [during games],'' Austin said. "But I didn't really feel like I was helping come game time. I felt like I was helping during the week, with practice and the scout team. But during the game you kind of want to help, so it was great to be out there.'' Being around Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn every day has helped Austin understand what it will take to become a Pro Bowl-caliber receiver. "T.O.'s a real great guy, and he's been nothing but welcoming and open to me and the other receivers,'' Austin said. "In practice, I ask him all the time about the way he gets out of his break in a certain route, and he'll explain it to me without any question. So he's just been a tremendous help in my progress as a receiver.'' e-mail tonygsports@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MU football information
I was asked earlier today about what happens in a three-way NEC first place tie and who would host the Gridiron Classic if: MU wins out and RMU hands Stony Brook its only defeat (this weekend). According to the NEC it then comes down the the Sagarin Poll at the end of the NEC regular season. Remember: MU loses any two-way tie with SBU via the head-to-head SBU win Here is the latest Sagarin poll in which MU is 177, S Brook is 193, and RMU is 222. San Diego (7-0)of the Pioneee League (keep these guys in mind) is No. 94. 173 Buffalo A = 47.17 1 6 63.98( 106) 0 1 | 0 1 | 42.12 192 | 50.56 158 174 Charleston Southern AA = 46.67 7 0 33.20( 232) 0 0 | 0 0 | 55.43 133 | 32.18 219 175 Stephen F. Austin AA = 46.53 1 6 59.16( 127) 0 0 | 0 1 | 41.55 193 | 49.84 162 176 Alabama A&M AA = 46.24 5 2 43.07( 204) 0 0 | 0 0 | 47.56 158 | 43.66 181 177 Monmouth-NJ AA = 45.75 7 1 32.31( 233) 0 0 | 0 0 | 47.33 159 | 42.86 187 178 Lafayette AA = 45.73 2 5 51.12( 168) 0 0 | 0 0 | 44.62 177 | 45.71 176 179 Tennessee State AA = 45.54 4 3 46.01( 193) 0 0 | 0 0 | 46.87 162 | 42.96 186 180 Albany (NY) AA = 45.50 5 3 39.73( 213) 0 0 | 0 0 | 44.14 179 | 45.73 175 College Football 2006 through games of October 22 Sunday the BCS uses the ELO_CHESS from here HOME ADVANTAGE= 2.82 RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR 181 Brown AA = 45.30 2 4 50.27( 171) 0 0 | 0 0 | 44.64 176 | 44.84 177 182 Cornell AA = 44.64 2 4 49.98( 176) 0 0 | 0 0 | 43.75 182 | 44.40 179 183 Delaware State AA = 44.23 5 2 35.31( 225) 0 0 | 0 0 | 45.63 171 | 41.55 192 184 Northwestern State AA = 43.90 3 4 51.51( 164) 0 0 | 0 0 | 43.67 183 | 43.01 185 185 Jackson State AA = 43.81 5 2 41.15( 209) 0 0 | 0 0 | 45.97 165 | 40.19 196 186 McNeese State AA = 43.75 3 4 51.66( 163) 0 0 | 0 0 | 43.06 188 | 43.31 183 187 Liberty AA = 43.24 3 4 50.35( 170) 0 0 | 0 0 | 33.81 217 | 49.10 165 188 Temple A = 42.84 0 8 72.25( 36) 0 2 | 0 2 | 39.85 197 | 44.48 178 189 Ark.-Pine Bluff AA = 42.71 4 3 44.25( 201) 0 0 | 0 0 | 44.35 178 | 39.72 200 190 Florida A&M AA = 42.64 4 3 44.66( 199) 0 0 | 0 0 | 43.78 181 | 40.24 195 College Football 2006 through games of October 22 Sunday the BCS uses the ELO_CHESS from here HOME ADVANTAGE= 2.82 RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR 191 Bucknell AA = 42.60 4 4 44.30( 200) 0 0 | 0 0 | 43.39 186 | 40.60 194 192 Southern Utah AA = 42.24 3 5 53.40( 154) 0 0 | 0 0 | 39.54 199 | 43.64 182 193 Stony Brook AA = 42.07 4 4 45.11( 197) 0 0 | 0 0 | 43.05 190 | 39.86 199 194 Central Connecticut AA = 41.79 6 2 28.87( 236) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.45 204 | 43.71 180 195 Eastern Kentucky AA = 41.47 3 5 47.65( 185) 0 0 | 0 0 | 39.72 198 | 42.04 189 196 Dartmouth AA = 41.37 1 5 52.24( 161) 0 0 | 0 0 | 40.10 196 | 41.50 193 197 Drake AA = 41.32 6 2 40.24( 210) 0 0 | 0 0 | 47.08 161 | 31.53 222 198 Miss. Valley State AA = 41.21 4 4 47.17( 186) 0 0 | 0 0 | 43.32 187 | 37.58 207 199 Duquesne AA = 41.07 6 2 26.45( 240) 0 0 | 0 0 | 42.73 191 | 38.02 205 200 Texas State AA = 40.42 3 4 46.36( 190) 0 0 | 0 0 | 37.64 210 | 41.86 191 College Football 2006 through games of October 22 Sunday the BCS uses the ELO_CHESS from here HOME ADVANTAGE= 2.82 RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR 201 Columbia AA = 39.98 3 3 39.01( 214) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.65 203 | 40.17 197 202 Nicholls State AA = 39.90 2 5 55.18( 146) 0 0 | 0 1 | 40.47 194 | 38.12 204 203 Bethune-Cookman AA = 39.66 4 3 36.01( 223) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.29 206 | 39.87 198 204 Western Carolina AA = 39.61 2 5 48.22( 182) 0 0 | 0 0 | 35.55 213 | 42.02 190 205 Southern U. AA = 39.56 3 5 39.97( 211) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.69 202 | 39.31 201 206 Tennessee Tech AA = 38.89 2 5 48.83( 180) 0 0 | 0 0 | 40.45 195 | 35.92 213 207 SE Louisiana AA = 38.31 2 6 51.50( 165) 0 0 | 0 0 | 39.04 200 | 36.35 209 208 Missouri State AA = 38.08 1 7 57.65( 135) 0 0 | 0 0 | 29.12 227 | 43.17 184 209 Morgan State AA = 37.89 4 4 41.48( 207) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.28 207 | 36.32 210 210 Alcorn State AA = 37.87 4 3 38.78( 216) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.37 205 | 36.17 211 College Football 2006 through games of October 22 Sunday the BCS uses the ELO_CHESS from here HOME ADVANTAGE= 2.82 RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR 211 Alabama State AA = 36.86 3 4 41.41( 208) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.87 201 | 33.24 216 212 Indiana State AA = 36.37 1 7 57.79( 133) 0 0 | 0 0 | 32.24 221 | 38.75 202 213 Winston-Salem State AA = 35.71 3 5 35.60( 224) 0 0 | 0 0 | 31.33 223 | 38.23 203 214 Samford AA = 35.68 3 5 45.19( 196) 0 0 | 0 0 | 31.63 222 | 37.99 206 215 Northern Colorado AA = 35.54 1 6 52.46( 160) 0 0 | 0 0 | 37.89 209 | 31.39 223 216 Norfolk State AA = 35.20 3 4 38.90( 215) 0 0 | 0 0 | 33.25 220 | 35.93 212 217 Georgetown AA = 35.11 1 6 45.54( 194) 0 0 | 0 0 | 33.66 218 | 35.40 214 218 Davidson AA = 35.00 4 3 34.72( 226) 0 0 | 0 0 | 38.14 208 | 29.53 224 219 SE Missouri State AA = 34.93 3 4 48.36( 181) 0 0 | 0 1 | 33.61 219 | 35.09 215 220 Texas Southern AA = 34.65 2 5 41.93( 205) 0 0 | 0 0 | 35.71 212 | 32.28 218 College Football 2006 through games of October 22 Sunday the BCS uses the ELO_CHESS from here HOME ADVANTAGE= 2.82 RATING W L SCHEDL(RANK) VS top 10 | VS top 30 | ELO_CHESS | PREDICTOR 221 Murray State AA = 34.57 1 7 51.24( 167) 0 0 | 0 1 | 30.37 224 | 36.96 208 222 Robert Morris AA = 34.45 5 3 31.61( 235) 0 0 | 0 0 | 34.54 216 | 33.21 217 223 Fordham AA = 32.83 2 5 41.69( 206) 0 0 | 0 0 | 35.04 215 | 28.80 226 224 VMI AA = 32.66 1 7 51.67( Here is this week's TSN Poll The Sports Network I-AA Top-10 Mid-Major Poll Team (First-place votes) Record Points Previous Rank 1. San Diego Toreros (25) 7-0 250 1 2. Monmouth Hawks 7-1 223 3 3. Central Conn State Blue Devils 6-2 175 5 4. Drake Bulldogs 6-2 174 2 5. Albany Great Danes 5-3 140 6 6. Duquesne Dukes 6-2 126 7 7. Robert Morris Colonials 5-3 115 4 8. Stony Brook Seawolves 4-4 85 8 9. Davidson Wildcats 4-3 55 9 10. Jacksonville Dolphins 4-3 31 10 Others receiving votes (in order of points): None. As of October 23, 2006, at 01:08 PM ET I am thinking if any team from the NEC-PL group receives an at large 1-AA bid (not likely but you never know) it might be San Diego ..11-1 last year and ranked No. 20 in the latest TSN Top 25 1-AA National Poll. San Diego posted a quality win at Yale (5-1, 3-0 IVY)this year, 43-17. That would send the No. 2 PL team currently 4-3 Jacksonville to the Gridiron Classic vs. the NEC champion. Soo..this weekend...if you're a Monmouth fan you should be rooting big time for RMU to down Stony Brook (and of course MU must defeat CCSU). e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Kevin Owens update
I received this via e-mail..... Tony, just to let you know about MU alum, Kevin Owens. Following 3 years in the NBA Developmental League, he’s now playing in the Australian NBL for the Cairns Taipans www.taipans.com and is averaging about 13 and 9 a game. from : Don Hatcher e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Miles Austin article
Coach Callahan sent me this story which was sent to him..am not sure of its origination..thought you would all enjoy reading it... Todd Archer: Austin lands on NFL's biggest stage IRVING - The first NFL regular-season game Miles Austin ever attended came last year when his high school buddy, Luis Castillo, a first-round pick of San Diego last year, got him tickets to see the Chargers play the New York Jets. The second game he attended was last week at Texas Stadium. He was playing in it. Austin made three special teams tackles in his NFL debut. He is still waiting for his first catch, but just to get to this point is an accomplishment. He did not play high school football until five games into his junior year at Garfield (N.J.) High School. He was more of a track athlete and basketball player (he scored 1,028 points in his career). And then he attended Monmouth, hardly a training ground for NFL wannabes. "I'm the first," Austin said. Even when coach Bill Parcells told him he would play against Houston, Austin was cautious. "I called my parents and told them I might be playing," Austin said. "You never know what's going to happen, so I didn't want to tell them and then if I ended up not playing I'd feel bad for them." So on the opening kickoff, in front of a sellout Texas Stadium crowd, much, much larger than anything he played in front of at Monmouth, Austin does not really remember running down the field as much as flying. "I was just thinking, 'Get down there as fast as I can and hit the wedge,' " Austin said. "That's it." Making the final roster was somewhat of a surprise, considering Austin's lack of work in the preseason. He caught just one pass but it was good for a 48-yard touchdown against the Saints in front of a national television audience. "I'm going to tell you, you are going to hear about this guy now," Parcells told the Giants' media on Wednesday. Parcells has a soft spot for all things New Jersey. He especially has a soft spot for undrafted receivers from Garfield. Wayne Chrebet became one of Parcells favorites when he coached the New York Jets. As he likes to say, he knew Chrebet would be with him on Sunday. He is starting to figure some things out about Austin. "Well, he is just big and fast but I didn't know how tough he was," Parcells said. "He can catch very well. He is going to play Monday night. He played the other night. He is just so green; he's just young and he's green. He doesn't quite know what he is doing. But he has tremendous, tremendous physical potential. This guy has ability, now. I'm telling you, he's got it. I don't think I could miss that. But he just doesn't know quite what he is doing yet. That's all. He's just inexperienced." Growing up not far from Giants Stadium, Austin never really considered himself a football fan. His favorite team was the Raiders because that was his father's favorite. When he was younger, he followed the Giants more, but once Chrebet made it to the Jets, "everybody became a Jets fan." Maybe some people back home will be conflicted. Austin won't be. He'll be bouncing up and down just before the kickoff, hoping to hit the wedge. "You finally get to help the team out on Sunday, that's great," Austin said. "I would always help during the team with the scout team and in practice, but it feels better to help when the game really counts." e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
A closer look at Saturday's NEC football results and more MU news
With Monmouth (7-1, 3-1) still trailing Stony Btook (4-4, 4-0) in the NEC here's what Saturday's results mean. Stony Brook pulled awayin the fourth quarter Saturday to defeat Sacred Heart, 38-21, and will have to lose two of its final three regular season games to leave the door open for the Hawks to host the Dec. 2 Gridiron Classic vs. the Pioneer League champion. MU loses any tiebreaker with SBU to SBU's head head-to-head triumph over MU. SBU's final three games are Saturday at home vs. Robert Morris (5-3, 3-1) , then at Wagner (4-4, 0-4) and at Central Connecticut (6-2, 2-2). Monmouth needs to win out to keep its hopes alive beginning at noon in Saturday's homecoming game vs. Central Conn. State , then hosts St. Francis, Pa. (1-7, 0-4) before traveling to Albany (5-3, 3-1) for MU's regular season finale. MU could lead the NEC in wins with 10 and have no championship or post season to show for it. But it would still be a heck of a year, and give MU an NEC best 36 wins over the last five years, if MU wins out. Is it me or is MU getting too many FGs and PAT's blocked this season. RMU got to one of each Saturday. In other news: Brad Newman, Manasquan's standout tight/end tackle listed Monmouth among the schools have that offered him scholarships. "I've been offered by Delaware, New Hampshire, Towson, William & Mary, and Monmouth,'' Newman told the Asbury Park Press after Saturday's victory over Raritan. ""And I'm looking at some Ivy Leagues and a couple of D1 schools,'' he said. As for who leads in search of his commitment? ""Delaware, William & Mary, New Hampshire, and Penn,'' he said. ""I'm' trying to narrow it down, but not really,'' he said. In the game Raritan tight end/ defensive end Brian England, who is also believed to have drawn interest from Monmouth, snared a pass for the Rockets' lone touchdown. Monmouth's game Saturday with Central Connecticut will be televised by Fox Sports New York. MU hoops men's practice: repeating their schedule for this week...each day at 3pm at Boylan Gym followed by the 8-am Blue-White scrimmage Saturday. All are open free to the public. MU women's and women's soccer still very much in the first place hunt in the NEC. Men have a big home game Friday vs. FDU. I beleive MU columnist Steve Edelson working on a feature on MU men's soccer coach Robert McCourt for this week. My schedule for this week: Follow story on MU - RMU game Monday. You may see some of this blog in it. At football, hoops, and maybe soccer practice Tuesday for football stories Thursday and Saturday. Am going to try and make it to Saturday morning hoops before the football game. Anyone with me???? e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Your Robert Morris report
If you attend the game in person and would like to comment on it....or comment on it even if you do not attend, please post your thoughts here at some point after the contest... Thanks... TG also any time: e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
MU-RMU football preview, news from the NEC, and my prediction
Key info from MU football game notes from Greg (I hate the New Orleans Saints) Viscomi (plus my comments): RMU preview: Colonials are averaging 196 yards per game, edging out Monmouth by two yards per game. RMU quarterback Erik Cwalinski has completed 60% of his passes this season with 15 touchdowns and almost 1350 yards. Jarvis Powers and Michael Rogers lead the team in receiving yards with 303 and 301 yards per game. Powers has grabbed a team-high 22 balls and scored five touchdowns. Defense: By the numbers, the RMU defense is one of the best in the country. The Colonials are third in all of I-AA in pass defense, fourth in total defense, eighth in sacks and third in passing defense, all categories in which they lead the Northeast conference. Mike Niklos is one of the league leaders in interceptions with three on the season. Linebacker Jeff Rommes leads the team in tackles with 55 total on the season. Defensive End Ray Gensler has 17 tackles for a loss, which is second in the nation while picking up 47 total tackles. Gensler also ranks second in the country in sacks, dropping opposing quarterbacks nine times. Key stat: • The Hawks have intercepted a league-leading 10 passes this year and the Colonials have thrown a league-high nine interceptions this season. Also: MU • QB Brian Boland needs just one touchdown pass to become Monmouth’s all-time leader in career passing touchdowns with 53. CB David Jiles needs one pick for a school record 12th career INT. David Sinisi carried the ball a season- high 23 times against Wagner and scored for a seventh game in a row. The school record is nine (Chris Reed). Joe Migliore was the last Hawk to carrie the ball that many times (30 vs St. Francis, Pa. on 11/13/04)• Junior Chris Kiley caught his first touchdown pass of his career on Saturday, a 40-yarder in the third quarter. This was announced Thursday by the NEC: The Northeast Conference and Pioneer Football League have changed the selection procedures regarding participating teams and the date of the Gridiron Classic. The Gridiron Classic, an exempted postseason football game that will match the champions of the two I-AA football conferences, originally was scheduled to be played November 18 at the Northeast Conference champion. However, the date of the 2006 game has been moved to December 2 to provide an opportunity for either league’s regular-season champion to participate in the NCAA I-AA Football Championship if selected as an at-large participant. In the event the regular season champion of either conference is selected to participate in the NCAA I-AA Football Championship, the two leagues agreed the second-place team from that conference will participate in the Gridiron Classic: My take: Doubt if any NEC team will get an invite. But San Diego (6-0) of the PL may be a possibility. Joe Arneth sighting soon? Coach Callahan told me this week the rookie DB from Jackson is very close to playing. And without further delay: my prediction. Gave serious thought to picking RMU. But I look for MU secondary to neutralize RMU air game and Colonials don't run the ball well. Another key factor: RMU came within a whisker of losing to Wagner and MU dominated the Seahawks. An MU must: MU must keep the RMU sack pack off Boland. My record: 3-1. Final: Monmouth 24, RMU 14. Since I will not be attending the game I will open a blog Friday for anyone who attends to offer first hand comments. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Picking up the thread
From the last blog and comments. All of you made excellent choices. At least one of you (or more) may have been to as many games as I have! Anyway...I would pick..as the major turning point in the program..................(drum roll please)........... The 64-60 win over FDU back in 87-88, Szoke's first year. Why? Until then MU had been marginally competitive in D1 and struggling to beat teams in the NEC. FDU and Marist might have as well have been in the Big East compared to MU. And MU was struggling at the time that first year under Szoke. Had just been blown out at LIU and another long season loomed. But.. when MU won that game..I gave Carol Szoke a big hug (I wasn't going to hug Wayne) and said, ""All right. It's going to happen for Monmouth! The program is on its way." That win was really the beginning of success for MU in D1 when it showed it could be a factor in the NEC. I remember thinking to myself (Chris Monasch was then the commissioner)..:"When he hears this score on radio he might just drive off the road!" Certainly there have been other bigger and more spectacular games..all key to the rise of the Hawks in D1..but this victory got the ball rolling in my opinion. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Steve Edelson's column
In today's Press. I thought it was well done and to the point..a snappy re-cap of Calloway's 20 years at MU and the fact MU men's hoops reached its highest level yet with its NCAA performances last season. Any comments on Steve's article? Post them here and he will see them. I have a question for you - what MU men's basketball game either turned the program around and or established it at the D1 level. Here are my nominees: First win over then mighty (by NEC standards) FDU in 87-88 at home..before then, MU couldn't even compete successfully in the NEC. A big 3 by Calloway in the last minute helped seal the deal. The same year: the win at Miami or the one over Marist and Rick Smits. The win over Rider in '96 to earn MU's first D1 NCAA berth. The overtime win at home in '97 over Charles Jones and LIU. Pick what game you think was the most important and why. You may add any others as well. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Simpson MRI result
The MRI news on MU men's hoops freshman Yaniv Simpson is sort of mixed. Coach Calloway gave me the result today. There is no stress fracture.. but there are signs of one starting and Simpson will see the doctor again Thursday. I guess that means he stays off his feet for a while... Simpson is the 6-3 guard from Israel, 21 years old, who was first looked at by Seton Hall and recommended to MU by former Monmouth assistant Geoff Billet, now at SHU. Simpson is a deadly 3-point shooter and polished player who would, I believe, make an impact this season off the bench at the 2 or 3 positions. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
OOPS!!..MU Men at Middle School, not the high school
Please note: MU men's hoops practicing Tuesday and Wednesday at the Long Branch Middle School..just behind the high school, not the high school. My bad. For future reference if anyone plans to attend an MU practice probably a good idea to call MU at 732-571-3400 (ask for the athletic office to confirm times, sites, etc.) just in case there are any late changes. Very sorry for the confusion today. Thanks for your patience. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
OOPS!!..MU Men at Middle School, not the high school
Please note: MU men's hoops practicing Tuesday and Wednesday at the Long Branch Middle School..just behind the high school, not the high school. My bad. For future reference if anyone plans to attend an MU practice probably a good idea to call MU at 732-571-3400 (ask for the athletic office to confirm times, sites, etc.) just in case there are any late changes. Very sorry for the confusion today. Thanks for your patience. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
OOPS!!..MU Men at Middle School, not the high school
Please note: MU men's hoops practicing Tuesday and Wednesday at the Long Branch Middle School..just behind the high school, not the high school. My bad. For future reference if anyone plans to attend an MU practice probably a good idea to call MU at 732-571-3400 (ask for the athletic office to confirm times, sites, etc.) just in case there are any late changes. Very sorry for the confusion today. Thanks for your patience. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
A bunch of things: MU hoops, football, the MAAC
First, if anyone was thinking of attending an MU men hoops practice MU will be at Long Branch High School 3-30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday as Boylan Gym is being used for some sort of a concert (You can't make this stuff up!) MU Asbury Park Press coverage this week: Tuesday: Columnist Steve Edelson with a story on Miles Austin's first action with Dallas. Wednesday: Steve on Monmouth, how MU men's basketball is truly arriving as a Division I program. Thursday: Yours truly with MU football story on first full season of recruiting with scholarships. I hope to talk with some local high school football coaches on who MU is showing interest in. (Thursday night: I'm on 1160 AM talking MU football with Kevin Williams and Ed "the jinx" Sarluca Saturday: Press advance on MJU at Robert Morris football game. Sunday: coverage of the game. I will not be making the trip in person but will talk with coach Callahan after the game for the story. Also...if any of you attend the game I'll set up a blog for Sunday where you can talk about it. Monday: follow up of the RMU game. Also..on the MAAC. I can't speak for Monmouth but, if youre an MU fan aren't you getting a little impatient with the borough of West Long Branch. How long is this dawdling going to go on? I have a thought. This may be way off (well, why not?) but what about building the MAAC in a town that might appreciate it? Neptune? Ocean? Seton Hall doesn't play on campus and it's not the only college that plays off campus. If Monmouth can't build the MAAC on campus build it somewhere its host town will welcome it......just a thought folks. This problem has been going on for over 10 years. I believe MU was lax on the MAAC or not acting as efficiently as it could during the Rebecca Stafford administration but is now ready to get the ball rolling and WLB is holding it up big time. Hey..it's not my MAAC. But if I were an MU alum, etc, I'd be getting peeved about these incessant delays. e-mail tonygports@aol.com
Miles Austin plays for Dallas
The rookie wide out of the Dallas Cowboys from MU made his professional debut Sunday on special teams where he tied for the special teams lead with two tackles. He is the first former MU player to participate in an NFL game.
Having looked at the MU football possibilities we just discussed
Do you think? MU football wins out, SBU loses two, and MU hosts the Gridiron Classic. MU wins out but SBU loses just one game. MU would share the championship in this instance but would not host the Classic game via the head-to-head tiebreaker MU wins out, but SBU goes unbeaten in the NEC. MU loses at least one more NEC game this season. MU loses two of its final four games. You may only pick one.... e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Was Saturday MU's best game of the season>?
The stretch run, latest on the MAAC, Manasquan vs. Midd. South football
Starting this week MU football (6-1, 2-1 NEC ) is at Robert Morris (5-2, 3-0), then it's MU homecoming vs. CCSU (5-2, 1-2) and home with SFPA (1-6, 0-3) before ending at Albany (4-3, 2-1). For a while Saturday SFPA was giving Stony Brook (SBU) a game but the Brook pulled away, 30-13. For MU to win the league outright and host the Gridiron Classic MU stll needs SBU to lose two games. In that scenario MU must win out and that's still going to very difficult considering the games MU has left beginning with this next game at RMU. SBU's remainng games: 10/21/2006 Sacred Heart Stony Brook, NY 1:00 pm 10/28/2006 Robert Morris Stony Brook, NY 1:00 pm 11/4/2006 at Wagner Staten Island, NY 1:00 pm 11/11/2006 at Central Conn. St. New Britain, CT 12:00 pm SBU should beat S Heart and Wagner. RMU and at CCSU will be more difficult. Monmouth just has to keep winning and hope for the best. Talked with MU president Paul Gaffney today about the MAAC. He's hopeful that maybe the West Long Branch Zoning Board will vote by December. MU was hoping to hold ground breaking cermonies this football season. Now it looks like hoops season at the earliest. Briefly looking at local high school football..having seen them both play - I would pick Manasquan over Middletown South in a close game, say 21-14. Squan's size and under rated passing game would do it, in my opinion. Squan would clamp down on MS tailback Dave Dosil and it's fierce pass rush would bother South air game. The game will never be played so all we have is speculation. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Football and hoops
Football: Hawks jelled in all areas Saturday. After dropping a few passes last week Shane Sharpley (3 catches for 32 yards) bounced back with some clutch and tough receptions Saturday including a dandy 14-yarder over the middle that highlighted MU's first TD drive. I get the feeling Shane read last week's blog. He really did well today. And tight end John Nalbone, who also had a rough time last week, looked more like himself Saturday with three catches for 31 yards. Dave Sinsi set career highs with 19 carries for 107 yards. In case you were not aware Brian Boland's two TD passes tied the school career mark of 52. Had Monmouth notched the shutout it would have been its first back-to-back since 1995. After Eddie Occhipinti spent hours (well minutes) looking this up for me, naturally Wagner scored. Well...you can't have everything. Big game at RMU (5-2, 3-0) next week. In hoops: I spent about an hour at practice and everyone took part though Simpson still has a foot MRI scheduled Monday. It was defense, defense, defense that was stressed in the first practice (and likely will be just about every practice). There's a reason MU almost always leads the NEC in defense. A few folks (mostly coaches I thought) showed up. But MU had extra chairs ready and issued rosters to those on hand. Now, if they'd just issue coffe and doughnuts! It was nice to see Tom Manzo again. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
A busy day
Am preparing to motor up to Wagner. May try and catch some MU men's hoops on the way. Anyone who happens to attend hoops practice or MU football and would like to comment on either or both please do so here. I'll return to the blog at some point this evening. Enjoy your Saturday! e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
high school football talent
I saw some quality players at Manasquan-Point Boro game tonight, the Manasquan line and the Point Boro receiver Matt Puorro who MU should definitely be pursuing, in my opinion. Manasquan's Mike Mele has already made a verbal commitment to Syracuse.
My prediction on MU at Wagner football
I would think MU defense will game plan for Wagner WO Chris Turner, try and take him out of the game as much as possible. MU must also stay away from a situation where Czech can damage them with a field goal. MU should be able to score on a Wagner defense which built most of its numbers in winning four games against MAAC teams. Prediction record: 2-1. This week: MU, 21-10. Your predictions? you may also e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
National magazine NEC hoop picks
Went by a newstand today and was checking out the national magazine men's hoops NEC picks. Latest out are The Sporting News, and Street and Smith's. They have Monmouth winning the NEC..as does Athalon. Lindy's picked Robert Morris with MU second. I wouldn't worry about that. The guy who does the NEC for Lindy's is never right.
Brookdale wins showdown with OCC in women's soccer
Ally Mullaney's free kick, a 19-yard blast with two minutes remaining Thursday, carried Brookdale Community College to a 2-1 win over Ocean Thursday in women's soccer. It gave the Jersey Blues (9-2-1), winners of nine in a row, the Garden State Athletic Conferenc championship and the top seed in the NJCAA Division III Region 19 Tournament. Mullaney is a sophomore graduate of Howell High School. Kelly Ackerman (Freehold) gave Brookdale a 1-0 lead in the first half before Ocean's Nicole Laureigh (Lacey) tied the score on the first shot by the Vikings (7-2-2) in the second. The teams could meet again in the regions.
Comment here on football
On the Wagner-MU preview (and anything else)
Monmouth-Wagner football preview
With game notes highlights from Monmouth's Greg (I love the Philadelphia Eagles) Viscomi and from Wagner SID Todd Vatter and a few comments from yours truly: Head Coach: Wagner is led by Walt Hamline who holds a 179-88-2 record in his 26th year at the helm of the Seahawk program. Wagner shot out to a 4-0 start this season but has dropped two straight, both NEC bouts, to fall to 4-2 overall and winless in the conference. Hamline is also the Director of Athletics at Wagner. My comment: Hameline is a real good guy who I know pretty well and is also a Colts Neck resident. I don't envy him making that drive to Staten Island every day. (He must know a short cut to beat the BQE. Offense: Wagner’s offense puts up an average of 24 points per game, which is second in the NEC. WC’s Matt Abbey has 1,126 yards on the season with a 50.6 completion percentage and has tossed nine touchdowns compared to throwing five interceptions. Converted defensive back Jason Butler paces the Seahawk ground attack with 443 yards on 90 attempts with three touchdowns. Aliga Betts also has been worked in at times, with a pair of scores and 285 yards on 60 touches. Preseason All-Americans Chris Turner and Joe Kinard are a legitimate one-two receiving punch at their widout and tight end positions. Turner has 425 yards on 28 catches with a league-leading seven TD receptions. Kinard is averaging 12.0 yards per catch with 12 grabs in the five games in which he has seen action. My comment: Turner is one TD catch from tying Miles Austin at 33 for the NEC record and thus two from breaking it. Can the Hawks defense prevent this? Defense: The Seahawks boast one of the conference’s top defenses, leading in two team categories, scoring defense and rushing defense. Wagner is holding opponents to just 10.7 points per game (MU is second in the NEC), and has allowed only 73.8 yards per game on the ground. Junior outside linebacker Bryan Brand paces the Seahawks on defense with 51 total tackles and two forced fumbles. Sophomore Adrian Adderly leads the defensive line with 22 tackles including three for a loss. Defensive end Kevin Maroney’s five sacks on the season to led Wagner, but he will be sidelined for the remainder of the season. My comment: Wagner beat four MAAC teams to start the season. The NEC may not be the Big 10, but the MAAC isn't the NEC. Special Teams: Kicker Piotr Czech is one of the finest in the NEC, setting a new conference record two weeks ago when he hit a 54 yarder, the second longest in I-AA history. Czech has hit 75 percent of his kicks his season, including going 2-3 on kicks over 40 yards. Czech also handles the punting duties, with a 38.2 average and 13 of his 32 kicks landing inside the 20. My comment: Czech is a Keyport High School graduate who was supposed to go to Duke. When that didn't happen he landed at Wagner. A very good recruit for them. Monmouth info: Wide receiver Adam San Miguel needs just 31 receptions to become MU’s all-time leader in career grabs. San Miguel has led the Hawks in receptions in every game this season and his 47 receptions leads the NEC. He is also second in all of I-AA with 7.8 receptions per game.• Senior defensive back Jamaal McClintock snagged his first-career interception against Sacred Heart. My comment: When is Ron Lauch going to catch his first collegiate pass? (I'm just having some fun here. Ron is a great kid and he's gonna get one (and more) maybe soon. MU redshirt freshman running back David Sinisi led all backs in last week’s game with 85 yards on 18 carries. Sinisi also picked up his seventh rushing touchdown of the season, giving him eight overall on the year. Sinisi has scored in every MU game so far this season.• After missing his first game since freshman year against SBU, senior safety Matt Hill recorded a team-high seven tackles, six of which were solo against Sacred Heart. My comment: Sinisi and Ryan Skorupka look like the backs for 2007. Sinsi could be a very productive uip back in the I. Monmouth back up quarterback Brett Burke came in late in the game last week, completing four out of six passes for 35 yards. Burke is now six-of-nine on the season with 56 yards. • After starting the season only hitting three out of his first seven field goal attempts, kicker Fred Weingart has been a perfect three for three in his last three games.• MU’s 200 passing ypg is 1st in the Northeast Conference. My comment: Burke is the heir apparent to Brian Boland who is now 2 TD passes from Dan Sabella's MU school career record of 52. My prediction - I am 2-1 so far, is tomorrow. Feel free to make yours any time.
Comments here for MU open practice and anything else
Darn that comments button!!! In football - looks like freshman Daniel Catelano (6-3-260) replaces the injured Shawn Wright as a back up guard.
Open MU Men's hoop practices
This is in response to a recent blog inquiry and I thought more people might see it here if I put it out front. Yes, MU Men's hoop practices are open to the public beginning with Saturday's 9am first of the season. Just talked with Calloway to confirm this. He said mostly a few high school and some collge coaches show up, especially to the early practices. This week's practice schedule is Saturday 9am, Sunday at 1230 pm..and weekdays from 3 til about 5 pm or so, all at Boylan Gym. Remember..this is always subject to change. I would imagine if suddenly about 50-100 or so folks start showing up for practice MU would have to make some adjustments because there is sometimes limited space to observe when the men and women are practicing at the same time. As I said on a prior comment - Practices can be boring for fans..best times to observe are probably the individual work outs so you get an idea of a player's abilities and of course the scrimmages are good to watch and should be this year because of the high level of talent. The best time of the season, probably, to observe practice is when the men (and women) are playing at home home because then the stands are rolled out and practice is only on the main court. Calloway said Sean Barlow (ankle), Mike Shipman (foot), and Yaniv Simpson (foot) will have ""limited practice" Saturday and that a bone scan is scheduled for Simpson for Monday to check out what are hopefully only shin splints. John Bunch is scheduled to go full practice Saturday, Calloway said. ENJOY!! (I I don't make it tell me who they looked!)
Open MU Men's hoop practices
This is in response to a recent blog inquiry and I thought more people might see it here if I put it out front. Yes, MU Men's hoop practices are open to the public beginning with Saturday's 9am first of the season. Just talked with Calloway to confirm this. He said mostly a few high school and some collge coaches show up, especially to the early practices. This week's practice schedule is Saturday 9am, Sunday at 1230 pm..and weekdays from 3 til about 5 pm or so, all at Boylan Gym. Remember..this is always subject to change. I would imagine if suddenly about 50-100 or so folks start showing up for practice MU would have to make some adjustments because there is sometimes limited space to observe when the men and women are practicing at the same time. As I said on a prior comment - Practices can be boring for fans..best times to observe are probably the individual work outs so you get an idea of a player's abilities and of course the scrimmages are good to watch and should be this year because of the high level of talent. The best time of the season, probably, to observe practice is when the men (and women) are playing at home home because then the stands are rolled out and practice is only on the main court. Calloway said Sean Barlow (ankle), Mike Shipman (foot), and Yaniv Simpson (foot) will have ""limited practice" Saturday and that a bone scan is scheduled for Simpson for Monday to check out what are hopefully only shin splints. John Bunch is scheduled to go full practice Saturday, Calloway said. ENJOY!! (I I don't make it tell me who they looked!)
Tyler Azzarelli sighting, etc.
Was over at Monmouth Wednesday afternoon to wrap up the football story for Thursday and, of course, took in a little pick up hoops as well. And who was there, running the point as crisply as ever? Tyler Azzarelli. No he doesn't have another year of eligibility. Tyler told me he is a graduate assistant at Villanova. I guess Villanova figured since Tyler almost beat them he'd better join them (kidding!). Tyler said he almost got a job on the Temple staff but eventually landed at 'Nova and hopes this is the first step in a coaching career. A bright young man like Tyler I would think has a great future along with his back court buddy, Chris Kenny, who will be hired officially later this year on the Monmouth staff. It seems like yesterday that Tyler was a freshman and I was watching him in the gym..as I was observing Jhamar ""the Jet"' Youngblood, Rickie ""the Rookie"" Crews, and some of the other frosh and some of the rest of the team Wednesday. As of late afternoon football coach Kevin Callahan had not yet decided as to who will replace freshman guard Shawn Wright (broken leg) on the depth chart. I will not see MU again in person until the football game at Wagner Saturday (am still pondering attending the 9am hoops practice). I am looking forward to seeing the Point Boro-Squan game Friday night which will be Game One of the Press' RallyCast weekend doubleheader. But it's gonna be collllllld. Here's what we have coming in the Press the next few days on MU - Thursday: Feature on the football PALS program, former MU players mentoring the current freshman and sophomores. Very worthwhile program started by Callahan. Friday: Women's hoops practice preview. Saturday: Men's hoops practice preview featuring interview with Corey Hallett. Football advance on Wagner game. Sunday: Monmouth-Wagner game story. Monday: Monmouth-Wagner follow story. Tuesday I'll be back at MU to check out football and hoops practice. e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Did it again re:latest football and hoop news!
Well, I forgot to enable comments on that blog, too. At least I'm consistent. Anyway, feel free to comment on that and other recent blogs here. Thanks for your patience. TG e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Latest football and hoops news
First football....though it didn't look serious at the time back up right guard freshman Shawn Wright (6-2, 275) broke his leg vs. SHU Saturday... he's done for the year. MU will, in my opinion, probably look into a medical red shirt possibility. Also, for those of you who are following this stuff, back up frosh left guard Derek Rosinski has played this season bringing the total of frosh used to five far as I know. Don't know yet who will replace Wright..will ask Callahan. Am doing a story for Thursday on PALS..that's the group of Aaron Edwards, Cornell Key, and Dana Webster who are running a football specific mentor type program for the freshman and sophomores ..some interesting stuff.... Now Hoops...Calloway has changed the time of Saturday's first practice. Sorry, no mid night madness. ""It's 9-am Madness,'' he told me. Will start at 9am sted of 10am. This (Mid Night Madness) is something you as fans have to take up with him. MU has all these pre-game and post game gatherings for season ticket holders. That might be a good time for some of you to speak with him about it, but it's not happening this season. Calloway said John Bunch is expected to practice Saturday. Saw him working out today..doing a lot of running. Looked OK. Mike Shipman will practice..maybe not full tilt but he will practice. Saw him shooting around today. You'd never know he was hurt. As I mentoned on a recent comment Yaniv Simpson will not practice this weekend and will have a bone scan Monday. MU is hopeful he is being bothered by shin splints and not a stress fracture. I belieive Marqus Alston will be practicing, not sure though, in the wake of the death of his father. I will double check with Calloway and let you know. I will not be at practice due to traveling to Wagner for football. Will probably check out practice next week on Tuesday. (Hmmmmm...I suppose I could get there at nine and leave for Wagner about 1030am...how bad do I want to kill myself after covering a hs football game Friday night? and will it be worth it if they don't scrimmage while I'm there??? ) To quote Allen Iverson...""Practice, we're talking practice".
Mid Night Madness comments or any others for most recent blogs
Please post them here. May have forgotten to hit that little enable button again!!! E-mail tonygsports@aol.com
Midnight Madness at MU?
Would anyone like to see MU hold a Mid Night Madness for men and women hoops for first practice. Women would do it. Have held their own Madness practices in the past. Dave Calloway and I have gone round and round on this for some time (not that he ever listens to me which is normally a good thing). He believes in a serious practice right from the get go. Nothing wrong with that but, especially coming off such a season in 2005-2006 I was wondering if a Madness might not have been a rousing way to launch 2006-2007. It's not going to happen this year but what about future seasons. Comments? Thoughts?
Just chime in
Drats. Forgot to enable comments on the last two posts. My error. Off to MU today for another look at football and hoops. Getting some material for hoops stories for this weekend as practice tips off. Women Friday night, men at 10am Saturday. Yes hoops is almost here. I know it's the middle of football season but where do you think MU men's hoops finishes in the NEC??..and does it have a shot to produce another scare..or dare we say it..a first round NCAA upset? Who is MU's biggest threat in the NEC. Robert Morris? CCSU? Wagner? Oh, well. We're getting a tad ahead of ourselves. Lots of well thought out comments by you folks on the "interesting conversation" blog.
Sean Dennis
Got NEC special teams player of the week award. I mention this because he was finally booming some skyscraping punts in the last game, of the height and distance we had all become used to the last few years.
Condolences
Go out to Monmouth U. basketball player Marques Alston and his family. Alston's father, who coach Dave Calloway tells me was only 43, passed away recently. Services were held today and the team attended.
Soccer keeps rolling
Both the MU men and women remain entrenched in first place in the NEC standings after posting 1-0-1 weekends. Both teams are also undefeated at home. MU men are hoping for a national ranking when the poll comes out this week. Andrea Lopez could be in line for her zillionth Women's Rookie of the Week award after tallying twice including the game-winning goal Sunday at CCSU.
Interesting conversation
I had today with a member of the Sacred Heart athletic administration. He said SHU gave out five new scholarships of the 30 available to NEC schools this year (MU offered less than 10) and Stony Brook claims to have given 27 among 38 players (they are leaving the NEC after this year). Coach Callahan said MU does plan to eventually offer the max of 30 scholarships at any one time. But this person said SHU will never go to 30, voted against it, and that he thinks Stony Brook (which we know is leaving the NEC) and that at least Monmouth and Albany will also eventually go more than the 30 currently allowed by the NEC. He feels the NEC may cease to exist in football in five years as MU and other members out grow it and leave and that some of the NEC schools (SHU, SFPA, etc.) may opt to join the MAAC (Marist, LaSalle, St. Peter's, etc.) which does not emphasize football nearly as much as the NEC. Just his opinion, but food for thought none the less.
What Satuday's results may mean...a review of the MU game
MU fans should have been rooting for Albany Saturday to deal Stony Brook a league loss. But SBU won, 33-21. Remember MU loses a tiebreaker to SBU due to last week's result. So now who's gonna beat SBU? Maybe CCSU at the end of the season? Does MU no good though as far as hosting the Gridiron Classic unless MU wins out and SBU loses another NEC game. MU and CCSU still have to face two teams of what I consider the Big Four (MU, SBU, Albany, CCSU ). MU has to play CCSU and Albany. CCSU has to play MU and SBU. Albany and SBU have already faced two of theBig Four. So MU at the least needs Stony Brook to lose twice. Two former Shore Conference players - SBU's Cory Giddings (Ocean) returned two fumbles for touchdowns in the first half Saturday and Josh Dudash (TR South) threw for 236 yards vs. Albany. MU is probably looking at running the NEC table to have a title shot which, in my opinion, with the schedule facing it, is going to be difficult. Saturday's game review - My take: . MU looked very good in the first half..then seemed to take its foot off the gas in the second, but it's defense had Sacred Heart under wraps all day. Was that really four sacks for MU? I was counting blitzes or trying to for a while and jotted down what I thought were three in the first quarter, not many (any?) there after. No need to blitz when you're winning by multi scores. I hate to pick on players - and it's certainly not personal - but Shane Sharpley has got to catch the ball a whole lot better than he has and TE John Nalbone, who I believe doesn't drop a whole lot, had a few today as well, though I thought Boland missed him high in the end zone early. Just my opinion here but I'd like to see MU give big Ronnie Lauch a look at WR. This is not because he's a local kid (Wall). I wouldn't care if he's from the Great Wall of China or Wall, Montana. I felt he looked good in the preseason scrimmages I saw (that was waaaaaaay back of course) and I really have no idea how he's fared in daily practice since. I just think MU could use another reliable WR, no matter who it is, as teams attempt to zero in on Adam San Miguel and, no, I do not advocate activating any freshman who are being red shirted. Brian Boland, I felt, had another strong day overall, running and passing. Dave Sinisi, who had a teriffic run for a 27-yard play after a catch on MU's second TD drive, always seems to me about one step from breaking a long one. Did you notice? A Boland 14-yard run was the longest play on MU's 90-yard TD drive. You could have gone and had lunch and come back and that drive would have still been going. It was a 19-play march that consumed over eight minutes. That's ball control.
No problem today
Impressive first half..somewhat sloppy second, but MU was coasting.. Boland was out with 11 minutes left..your thoughts? I'll be back later. SBU and Albany in a wild one. SBU leads 33-31 in fourth quarter.
Prediction, etc. Let's try this again
Hit the wrong button a few moments ago..story of my life... Anyway.. Hello....anybody home out there? Man, they lose one game and the comments vanish faster than a snowflake in August. Talk about abandoning ship... MU has got to get some pressure on the Sac Hrt QB, if not another long afternoon could loom. But if you look at last week..the turnovers skewered the entire game..made MU look much worse than it is..and SBU probably a little better than it is though am not taking anything sway from SBU, Cutino, or Dudash, and the Seawolves. But MU is now in a "must win" situation and it will stay that way for the rest of the season. So they can't afford to over look even the Toms River Pop Warner if it was on the schedule. Sacred Heart defense, especially the pass defense, is suspect. By the way, one time I'd like to see MU try a bomb to Bilal Morris..fastest kid (well quickest) on the team Prediction record: 1-1. This week MU, 28-13 (I think). Your thoughts?
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