The Jersey Benchwarmer's Guide to Sports

So, the New York Knicks are NBA Champions. Pain. The past two weeks for me as a Brooklyn Nets fan have been exhausting. Everyday, I’ll be on Twitter or Instagram doomscrolling and seeing stuff about the Knicks winning the championship and how it brought everyone together. Seriously, there were people I know who don’t even watch the NBA who posted about the Knicks winning the Finals.  Even at work, I can’t go one second without a bunch of managers laughing at my face because the Knicks won the title.   Then, I read about the Nets and yikes. I’ve seen everything from people calling them "irrelevant," to telling them to relocate, to telling them that no one in the area will ever choose them as their NBA team now.  I had to listen to Stephen A. Smith, Bill Simmons and Adam Schein criticize the Nets and at this point, it’s beyond annoying. When I watched Schein’s video suggesting the Nets should cease operations after not taking Darius Acuff Jr. in the NBA Draft, I was no...

Kevin Callahan is a Monmouth University icon. A legend some might say.  The college football community often praises those who have played an important role in the sport’s history. Whether they created a scheme, invented new ways to develop their players, or were simply just amazing at winning, those who helped the game deserve to be honored. For Callahan, his legacy is one that will forever be cherished at Monmouth.  The Hawks’ first season of college football came in 1993. For the first 33 seasons of the program's history, Callahan was the program’s only head coach.  In the 33 seasons with the program Callahan essentially built, there was so much success to be found. Seven conference titles, multiple Coach of the Year honors, many All-Americans, a few appearances in the FCS Playoffs. All of this came under the leadership of Callahan.  Notably, Callahan coached Pro Bowler Miles Austin, who was a standout during his time in West Long Branch.   Looking back ...

A few weeks back, I made my way down to Trenton to return something and oh my goodness I wanted to leave immediately. Truly, I was shocked with how the city looked and that was probably the last time I will ever go there.  On my way back, I ended up going through a town I have grown very fond of in recent months. For the second time in like two months, I drove through Princeton. Honestly, I was fine with that.  Growing up in Sussex County, whenever my family drove on Route 206 to go to Chester for example, I was always super happy. When my family drove down it to get to the shore in the summer, I was always elated. Now as an adult, I have driven on that road to get to places like Princeton. I don’t necessarily remember when I first went to the home of one of the most prestigious universities in the world, but it was either in fall of 2013 or 2014. I was definitely playing a Pokemon game on the way down I know for a fact.  The first time I visited the town, it was a p...

During my sophomore year of college, I took a course on the history of television and radio. As someone who adores media, this was an amazing class and it was one of my favorites during my time at Seton Hall.  As long as I can remember, I was someone who loved to memorize dates of movie releases and network TV schedules. I was the kid who would go on Wikipedia everyday and read about anything related to film, music and of course, sports.  Literally, if you put me in a normal history class and made me learn about something like the Vietnam War for the hundredth time, I would go to sleep. Now, if you put me in a class like the one I mentioned earlier, I’m going to be locked in.  There’s another type of history I adore greatly and that’s the history of college football. Whether it’s on the history of a program or an offensive scheme, I’m devouring that content. As a result, that information is now ingrained into my brain forever. Naturally, with my curiosity of TV and colleg...

I’m sure for any New Jersey native reading this, you have traveled south on I-287 at some point in your life. Over the course of the past year, I have lost track of how many times I have gone down it.  For some reason, I have always enjoyed driving on it. When I reach Somerset County and head to places like Bridgewater Commons, I adore it.  Recently, my travels down that road have led me to Middlesex County more frequently. The reason, Rutgers’ athletic programs needed showcasing.  As a Seton Hall grad, I felt out of place there. To me, Rutgers’ campus felt rather large and complex. Seriously, parking there was a nightmare and confusing to the point where I questioned my intelligence.  Anyway, despite being on campus multiple times over the past few months, none of the times involved football. The only instance where I was there for anything football related was back in August 2019 for the Rumble on the Raritan. For your information, Seton Hall Prep took down Archbis...