Iron Hills Sports

WE'VE MOVED!!!

2008-02-16T06:58:00.000-08:00

Just in case you are getting here from our blogger domain (http://ironhills.blogspot.com) we have moved to a new location. We are still at the same normal domain which is www.ironhillssports.com. We've upgraded to a better platform which will allow for a lot more interaction. Don't worry, we will still have the same old craziness and smack talk! But we have a new look.

Just go to: www.ironhillssports.com and join the fun!

MCT FINAL FOUR Preductions

2008-02-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

Mt. Olive vs. Delbarton

This first game is a hard game to guess...and since I am 11-1 in my picks I do not want to guess wrong. If this were the NCAA Tournament, I would be about to freaking retire with my predictions. Of course gambling is bad and wrong...and it is doubly bad when you are gambling on a Jesuit school). The point is, when I guess these games I really put a lot of analysis into this. And this game has all the makings of a great game. Mt. Olive has a few losses this season but they are all to big named programs like Seton Hall Prep and Columbia. In fact, they have no losses to sub par teams. However, Delby has tripped up a few times. Don't get me wrong, losing to DePaul and West Side don't count in my book. But losses to Madison and Montville create a lot of questions.

To win, Delbarton will need this superstar Monsignor Paddy O'Sullivan (I love this kid) to be his regular awesome self. But the Green Wave (by the way, they need to change their name to the Irish Bull Fighters or something...the name "Green Wave" just doesn't do much to scare opponents) needs to get their supporting cast involved. They need more than Jon Leanos creating magic too. They need big games out of Harry Marino, Andrew Waldele and Ben Tolkowsky. To me, Delbarton will win if Logan True takes more shots from three-point land. He can drain them, he just needs someone to pass him the ball.

But to be honest, Mt. Olive has a little more going for them though. Of course they have an answer to Delbarton's Sullivan in the way of Russell Holloway. But while Sullivan will take the game into his own hands when the game is on the line, Holloway is not affraid to dish the ball to his teamates. Holloway is one of those players that makes other players better. If you notice, in games where Holloway does not put up bigger numbers, guys like Jerod Hatcher and Andrew Haduck are scoring bigger numbers. And other guys like Brian Bublitz, Matt Bratter and Jared Grubow get open to make opportune shots. The x-factor for this game is Brian Drury though. He gives the depth the Mauraders need and has no problem sinking a bomb from the tre when called upon.
PICK: Mt. Olive (forgive me Father)

Mendham vs. Chatham

This is the game that I want a front row seat at. Chatham has owned Mendham this year beating them twice. But Mendham only has three losses in total including another one to Weequahic. The problem with Chatham is they have flaked out a few times during the season with losses to Summit and Weequahic. This game will surely have all the makings of a great match.

But the reason Chatham has been dominating this series is they just match up well to Mendham. Chatham's Billy Oliver has the size of Mendham's Mark Cisco with the skill of Mendham's Rob Berish. Oliver is just dominate on both sides of the ball underneath the paint. His defense is the reason why Chatham has been so good this year. That and the fact that guys like Pat Butler and Burton Gildersleeve step up nicely on D as well. Mike Sweeney and Josh Toolajian add much needed offensive prowess. Chris Conroy and JP Carlton also give much depth on the bench to make Chatham a nicely rounded team.

But if you remember, the NY Giants lose two games to the Dallas Cowboys in the regular season this year. But when it game down to playoff time, the Giants came through. Just like the Giants, I have seen the Minutemen really mature through this season. In fact, one of this sites new favorite players is Marky Mark Cisco because of the way he has grown this season. Cisco is a much different player than he was in the first two games vs. Chatham. I think Oliver will be caught off guard at how much smarter Cisco is playing now. If Oliver is forced to keep his eye on Cisco than Mendham wins and in a big way. Rob Berish could single handedly take one a Chatham team without Oliver. But he won't have to because guys like Chris Hanson (NOT the guy from Dateline NBC...just to clear it for the record), Chris Campisi and Max Ferri are solid on both sides of the ball. Mendham is very solid with their depth as well with Mike Salerno, Caleb Demoss, Colin McAleeney, Kent Poges and Conor Tinquist. Mendham has just been playing too good lately to let this game slip away.
PICK: Mendham

Start 'em & Sit 'em

For those of you Fantasy players out there here is who you should sit and start this week.

Start 'em:

Pat Sullivan, Delbarton: Sullivan will be good for 25 points this game. Although I think the team will lose, he likes to have the ball in his hands when the ball is on the line.

Mark Cisco, Mendham: I just see Cisco having a big game. I see him putting up over 20 points in this game.

Sit 'em:

Russell Holloway, Mt. Olive: In leagues that give points for assists, definately start Holloway but Holloway has creates a lot of openings for the rest of his teamates. That is great for his team but takes big offensive points away from his offensive point totals.

Billy Oliver, Chatham: Actually, I see Oliver having a big game but I would sit him in leagues that give points for defensive points. I don't see him putting up the big defensive numbers because of the way Mendham will match up to him this game. I bet he puts up about 20 points which is worthy of a start. But if you are counting on his regular 10 blocks, it ain't happening this night.

This site no way condones playing Fantasy Basketball with HS Players. Start 'em & Sit 'em is just for fun and no way meant to demean any player (which this site will NEVER do). This site is designed to be fun for all the players, fans and parents.

GIRLS B-Ball: MCT Final Four Predictions

2008-02-13T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well well well...we have four teams left in the Girls MCT. Who will move the finals? Who will pack their bags? Every team is very deserving of getting this far. HP has been the real deal all season. But can they take down the bigger, badder West Morris Highlanders (which by the way is the best mascot name in the conference). Or will WMC show HP that they their lowly Hills Division is no match for their Iron talent.

Then you have the Evil Empire known as Morris Catholic who has just been demolishing teams all year. Will Chatham be another casualty of MoCath's Dark Side?

The fun starts on Friday Night at FDU. See who we think will be moving closer to the MCT Trophy!!!

6:30pm Hanover Park vs. West Morris Central

Hanover Park's heroin last week was Ashley Addison who battle back from flu symptoms to help the Hornets to move forward to the Final Four of the MCT. I really like HP's chances here not only because they only have one loss all year but because of the play of the whole team. Jenna Wortman has ben terrific all year while Lindsey Singer and Ashley Merwin can be deadly if left alone. Even Beth Esposito has been helpful in drawing fouls at the right time. But I do feel coach Doug Wear will not be able to take the Hornets past WMC. The Highlanders are for real this year and already have their sites on the mighty Morris Catholic. Emily Peel is just one of the most fabulous players in the Iron Hills Conference. And Haley D'Angelo does it all too. She drops three's, draw's fouls and even has a knack for blocking shots. What the Highlanders has that will be the x-factor is their depth. Their bench would be starting on most teams in the league. Julia Scanlon and Alisa Greco and can steal the ball, while Mary Consol and Eleni Kozas have no problem drawing a much needed foul. It's back-up players like Lindsey Sullivan that will wear HP down.
PICK: West Morris Central

8:00pm Morris Catholic vs. Chatham

Julia Moorehead runs the Cahtham offense with ease. She gets a lot of help from key players like Lindsay Atchison and Jenna Dunleavy. What is nice about Chatham is they play like a total team with Annie Weichert who plays both D and O will very nicely and Caroline Murphy who is deadly from all over the court. Cougars Caroline Connors and Sara Cox are brought in to give a breather, but are just as potent as the rest of them...expecially late in the game. But Chatham has not seen a team like Morris Catholic yet. Kathleen Schuckers is one of the finest players in the county. Cara Hurly (Bobby's younger sister) is absolutely money from down town. Amanda Kreuder, Ashley Bays, Jenny Fitzgerald, Jeane Drury and Lily Calo look like they have been playing together since Kindergarden. The x-factor for Morris Catholic? Their secret weapon? Well it's Casey Schuckers...also known as "Lil' Shuck"!
PICK: Morris Catholic

Special Report: Sportsmanship and the Lack There Of

2008-02-11T13:31:00.000-08:00

Sportsmanship Monument at the State University of Florida

In my years of being involved with high school sports, there have been many times where I am completely amazed at the level sportsmanship that I witness. Whether it is football, wrestling, baseball, girls lacrosse...it doesn't matter. Most kids are very resillient. In fact, most kids could show adults a thing or two about sportsmanship. That is one of the exact reasons I like high school sports so much.

In his post game interview after losing the Superbowl to the Giants, I was really dissappointed in Bill Belichicks lack of sportsmanship. During the questioning, I intentionally was waiting for him to give a little credit where credit was due. The Giants beat his Patriots fair and square...but he could not tip his hat to Big Blue. He just solomnly wallowed in why he lost. At that exact moment, I lost all respect for him.

Even Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady gave the Giants a nod for their effort. One of the first things Brady said was, "You have to give the Giants credit for this win." Bang! What was so hard about that?

But what has gotten my goat in the High School world was a little display of un-sportsmanship that I saw a few weeks ago. I was attending a high school wrestling tournament and witnessed a big display of sore losership.

Here is the story: What basically happened was a wrestler was beaten at the tail end of his match. His opponent was able to get the points needed to win with a late move and the match ended. The loser of the match gave a look like he felt he was cheated out of the match. The referee had to force him to shake his opponents hand and the kid stormed off the mat, stomping his feet as he went.

As just a casual observer, I thought the kid was being a baby (to be honest) but I could see how he might be upset. In fact, I love the emotion of the game so I gave him an initial pass.
But then I heard some other high schoolers in the stands chatting that that particular wrestler has a knack for being a bit of a "cry baby" after losing matches, to put it in their words.

Then a mother of another wrestler leaned in and gave me a little more information about Mr. Crybaby. Aparently, the week before her son wrestled him and beat him. It was a big blow to the kid because he was either undefeated or only had a loss or two at the time.

After the match, the kid gave the same display of un-sportsmanship behavior. He stomped around the mat, barely shook the hand of his opponent and whined to his coach. In fact, after the match this woman's son made an even bigger effort to give props to his opponent.

The winner of the match walked over to Big Baby and said something like, "Way to wrestle hard." But Baby replied some kind of snied remark like, "I would have won if you didn't cheat." or something just as retarded as that.

If he said that to me I would have shown Cry Baby who won all over again. But in a true act of class, the winner of the match just walked away and went on with his life.

The bottom line, and the point I am trying to make, is "sportsmanship" is part of sports. Whether you win or lose, giving a sincere handsake to your opponent and looking him in his eye is part of the game. That is all you have to do. You are basically telling the other team or player, "Thanks for a great match!" or "Way to play hard!" or "You really showed us how good you are, thanks!"

Remember folks, if that guy, girl or team doesn't show up, you don't even play. So at the very least, just say "Thanks for coming!" even if they do beat you.

When you don't show sportsmanship, you just make yourself look like an ass. Why not show a little props to the guy or girl who beats you? What are you just so freaking arrogant that you need to act like nobody in the world is better than you?

I realize kids need to cool down after a game...especially when they lose. I am not talking about that. Emotions fly and athletes need to decompress. I am the worst with that. When I lose a basketball match, even if it is a pick up game, I have to literally walk away for a time so I can cool down (unless I am completely out of shape...then I go enter into a whole different kind of funk).

But decompressing is one thing...showing a complete lack of respect for an opponent is uncalled for. In fact, I think they should suspend a kid for not showing the proper post game sportsmanship. In Russia, if you don't shake your opponents hand after a wreslting match they chop of your hand (I just made that up...but I am probably not far off).

But what Belichick did (or I should say, "didn't do") after the Superbowl should be penalized somehow. And what this un-named wrestler did after his losing matches should be penalized as well. If you don't shake the hand of an opponent, you should get at least a one game suspension. If you storm off the mat, whining like a baby, you should be banned until you grow up.

Overall I am really amazed by High Schooler's resilliency to bounce back. I have interviewed kids after big losses and in most cases they tip their hat to the other team. In fact, a lot of times they will highlight some of the great things the other team did. To me, that is sportsmanship at its pinnacle.

Basically, the basic message for high school athletes is this: Keep doing what you are doing! And when you come across someone like at that wrestling match, just walk away (and then tell me so I can write about it).

As for you Bill Bellechick, you should take some guidance from these high schoolers (except Mr. Baby Loser Boy from the wrestling match). Plus, you will probably end up replacing all your old 30-something linebacker crew for a bunch of young studs and will be back in the Superbowl next year anyhow.

Need For Speed

2008-02-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

Folks sorry for the late post, but I think it warrants mentioning that the IHC-HILLS has a new North 2 Group II State Sectional Champion:

Mendham High School Boys Track. If I am not mistaken, I think this is the first team title in MHS winter track history.

You can read about the detailed performances here and a nice Kuty art here.

Mendham's placers:

55m - Steve Tamburello (2nd) who missed first by .01 seconds.
Joe Riposta (6th).

400m - Jack Robinson (3rd).

800m - Thomas Kearny (6th).

1600m - Mike Franklin (2nd).
James Frick (3rd).

3200m - Mike Franklin (1st).
Jon Riley (4th).

55m Hurdles - Matt Mendonca (5th).

4 x 400m - Mendham (3rd) (Robinson, Tamburello, Mendonca, and Ian Mead).

Boys, Congrats on your first Title; I expect at least another one next year as there are only 2 seniors on your team.

Now, about that Group II overall...kick it.

Morris County Tournament Results (Boys and Girls)

2008-02-10T01:58:00.000-08:00

What a day in at the Morris County Tournament! No suprises though. I predicted every single game correctly (both girls and boys). In fact, I am 11-1 in correct predictions for the boys in this tournament. What does that mean? Nothing. Except for the fact that if I could gamble on this stuff I would be writing this article on my brand new I-Mac Air from the back seat of my pimped out Aston Martin V8 Vantage yelling at my driver to get the ECT tournament so I can cash in on more $$$.

But enough about me and my really great predictions. Lets get into the real action. Seriously, there were real no suprises but we did notice some gutsy play...which we love. So we have decided to hand out some "Player of the Weekend" Awards.

The girls Player of the Weekend goes to Ashley Addison of HP. Addison was actually pulled out of her game by Coach Wear because he thought she was too sick (fighting the this illness that is going around...which I have as well by the way). But in true competitive fashion, Addison told the coach to put her back in. He did and what did she do? She dropped 15 and moved the Hornets into the Semi's. We love that kind of stuff here at IronHillsSports.com.

The boys Player of the Weekend goes to my main man Mark Cisco of Mendham. Cisco was unfreakingbelievable yesterday for the Minutemen under the post. He ended up dropping 17 and he was just all over the place. I have been saying Cisco has been improving every week and he really has. Ealier in the season he had a bad habit of taking a pass under the post, dribbling it once and then shooting. The dripping once part was killing him because smaller defenders were able to get to the ball (We notice everything at this site Cisco). But Cisco corrected that. In fact, he seems like a much different player from even a month ago. If Cisco can play with the fire he did yesterday, I see Mendham going all the way in the MCT Tourney.

Lets get into yesterday's action...

BOYS RESULTS

Mountain Lakes 30, Mount Olive 43

No suprises here. Russell Holloway dropped 11 and Jarod Hatcher added 10 as the Maraurders hammer the Mt. Lakes Lakers. Mt. Olive is rolling here but they haven't played anyone yet. Their biggest test is next week.

Mountain Lakes 30

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Chris Blackwell 0 1 2 5
Mark Dobrosky 1 0 1 3
Dillon Hamill 0 0 0 0
Jack Reilly 2 0 1 5
Jim Renehan 0 2 0 6
Jake Tripucka 1 0 2 4
Chase Winter 3 0 1 7
Totals: 7 3 7

Mount Olive 43

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Brian Bublitz 0 1 0 3
Jared Grubow 4 0 0 8
Dan Gutman 4 0 0 8
Andrew Haduck 0 1 0 3
Jaleel Hatcher 0 0 0 0
Jerod Hatcher 1 2 2 10
Russell Holloway 4 0 3 11
Totals: 13 4 5

Mount Olive (14-4) 10 4 17 12 43
Mountain Lakes (11-9) 9 4 7 10 30

Mo-Beard 52, Mendham 61

Mo-Beard is a good team in my opinion. Alganan Jones, Larmond Jr. and Ken Monteith are all solid players. In fact, Monteith is freaking gold from the 3 point land. But with that said, Mendham is just plain good. Rob Berish is just a superstar. And Cisco is just playing terrifically. But they also have the supporting cast of Chris Hanson (not the guy from Dateline) and brothers Chris Campisi and Steve Ciampaglio (they sound like brothers at least) who can be deadly if left unguarded. I really am starting to like this Mendham team to take the MCT Crown.

Morristown-Beard 52

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Carter Daly 0 0 0 0
Sean Fetterman 1 0 0 2
Travis Franz 0 1 0 3
Brandon Jefferson 3 0 0 6
Aljanan Jones 2 1 4 11
Colin Larmond Jr. 5 0 2 12
Kenneth Monteith 0 5 3 18
Adrian O'Connell 0 0 0 0
Jiyon Ruffin 0 0 0 0
Totals: 11 7 9

Mendham 61

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Rob Berish 7 2 0 20
Chris Campisi 0 1 2 5
Steve Ciampaglio 1 1 0 5
Mark Cisco 7 0 3 17
Caleb DeMoss 2 0 2 6
Chris Hanson 1 1 2 7
Kent Poges 0 0 0 0
Tore Vicarisi 0 0 1 1
Totals: 18 5 10

Mendham (15-4) 19 14 11 17 61
Morristown-Beard (12-8) 10 13 8 21 52

CHATHAM 50, MORRIS HILLS 38

What the hell Morris Hills!!! Well, I actually picked Chatham to win but for some reason I have an affinity to MoHills. But I was secretly hoping for an upset. I just like those guys because they seem like a gutsy bunch. But you need to see what Chatham is doing here. Oliver was his same old great self but Pat Butler stepped up nicely yesterday as well. In fact, Chatham has a nice supporting staff to Oliver. They could have a chance to take the MCT tournament. But in my opinion, it will be an uphill battle with Delby and Mendham in the mix.

Morris Hills (38)
Adam Katz 5-1-2-15, Andrew Zelnick 2-0-0-4, Justin Doniloski 2-1-0-7, Dan Kellner 0-1-0-3, Matt Marotta 3-0-1-7, Shane O'Shea1-0-0-2, Joe O'Shea 0-0-0-0, Billy Bowan 0-0-0-0. Totals 13-3-3-38

Chatham (50)
Burton Gildersleeve 1-1-0-5, J. P. Carlton 0-0-0-0, Josh Toolajian 0-1-2-5, Billy Oliver 7-2-3-23, Mike Sweeney 2-0-0-4, Chris Conroy 1-0-0-2, Pat Butler 3-0-5-11 Totals 14-4-8-50

Morris Hills 6 8 11 13 -- 38
Chatham 12 11 14 13 -- 50

Records: Morris Hills 13-6, Chatham 16-4

Delbarton 39, Roxbury 37 (OT)

I didn't think Roxbury would be a push over and they did not dissapoint. In fact, they put up a really good fight. Mangiro put up 16 and Alex Szarejko (AKA the Eastern European Nightmare) was deadly from three point land. But they could not hold off Father Paddy O'Sullivan and the Green Wave of Delbarton. I like Delby's chances of taking this crown too. But they will need to get active from the "three" to get past Chatham and Mendham.

ROXBURY (37)
Kevin Ahern 1-2-0-8, Matt Bodnar 0-1-0-3, Casey Harris 0-0-0-0, Angelo Mangiro 6-0-4-16, Brian Mohr 1-0-0-2, Jared Ndiba 0-0-0-0, Eric Vaccacio 0-0-0-0, Alex Szarejko 0-2-2-8, Tommy Rosatelli 0-0-0-0. Totals 8-5-6-37.

DELBARTON (39)
Pat Sullivan 8-0-10-26, Jason Ramirez 0-0-0-0, Will Gesicki 0-0-0-0, Tim Kwilos 0-0-0-0, Jon Leanos 2-0-4-8, Harry Marino 1-0-0-2, Jason Seifert 0-0-0-0, Ben Tolkowsky 0-0-1-1, Logan True 0-0-0-0, Andrew Waldele 1-0-0-2. Totals 12-0-15-39.

Roxbury 8 9 9 6 5 - 37
Delbarton 6 13 7 6 7 - 39

Records: Delbarton 15-7, Roxbury 10-9.

GIRLS RESULTS

Parsippany 38, WMC 56

Whoa!!! Take it easy West Morris, no need to run up the score. Actually, I say why not run it up? We love Elena Noonan at this site because she is a really nice player for Parsippany. We also noticed Noelle Grande's play in this game. But they could not hold off the mighty Highlanders. Emily Peel was just superb in this masterpiece. WMC could make it all the way in this tourney. But getting past MoCath will not be easy.

PARSIPPANY (38)

Courtney Ford 1-0-0-2, Kayla Picinich 2-0-0-4, Elena Noonan 5-0-6-16, Aysun Malta 1-0-1-3, Lindsey Loboda 1-0-0-2, Noelle Grande 3-1-2-11. Totals 13-1-9-38.
WEST MORRIS (56)

Emily Peel 7-0-6-20, Lindsey Sullivan 0-0-0-0, Julia Scanlon 2-0-0-4, Haley D'Angelo 6-1-3-18, Eleni Kozas 3-0-0-6, Kelly Maguire 1-0-0-2, Alisa Greco 1-0-0-2, Mary Consol 1-0-2-4. Totals 21-1-11-56.

Parsippany 3 9 11 15 - 38
West Morris 18 15 14 9 - 56

Records: Parsippany 13-7, West Morris 18-2.

Boonton 32, MoCatholic 66

Carly Foesel was great in this game sinking 18 points. But Morris Catholic plays like they are pissed. Kathleen Shuckers drained 19 points, Cara Hurley nailed another 11 and four other players scored 6 or more points. I actually don't see the need for MoCath to have to play any more games. Just give them the MCT Trophy now.

BOONTON (32)
Carly Foesel 5-0-8-18, Jen Vasta 0-0-2-2, Cynthia Shanahan 0-1-0-3, Diane Dearie 1-0-1-3, Renee Norton 0-2-0-6. Totals 6-3-11-32.

MORRIS CATHOLIC (66)
Kathleen Schuckers 8-1-0-19, Amanda Kreuder 1-0-0-2, Ashley Bays 0-2-0-6, Jenny Fitzgerald 4-0-0-8, Jeane Drury 3-0-2-8, Cara Hurley 1-3-0-11, Lily Calo 2-1-2-9, Casey Schuckers 0-1-0-3. Totals 19-8-4-66.

Boonton 8 6 3 15 -32
Morris Catholic 25 15 17 9 -66

Records: Boonton 12-8, Morris Catholic 22-0.

Mt. Olive 32, Chatham 58

Lindsay Atchison(14), Jenna Dunleavy(18), Annie Weichert(9) and Caroline Murphy(10) would all be superstars on any other team. But they are all on the same team which is why I like their chances in taking the crown (forget about what I said about MoCatholic). Chatham is good solid. In fact, this tournament can go in any direction. But Chatham has a legitimate shot at taking Gold.

MOUNT OLIVE (32)
Kim Cochran 3-0-0-6, Amanda Dizinno 0-1-0-3, Nichole Muller 0-0-4-4, Autumn Harnish 3-0-1-7, Celesia Rouson 2-0-1-5, Britney Gulick 2-0-1-5, Krista McDonald 1-0-0-2. Totals 11-1-7-32.

CHATHAM (58)
Julia Moorehead 2-0-0-4, Lindsay Atchison 5-0-4-14, Jenna Dunleavy 8-0-2-18, Annie Weichert 3-0-3-9, Caroline Murphy 4-0-2-10, Caroline Connors 0-0-1-1, Sara Cox 1-0-0-2. Totals 23-0-12-58.

Mount Olive 10 09 08 05 - 32
Chatham 16 11 20 11 - 58

Records: Chatham 17-3, Mount Olive 4-16.

Hanover Park 45, Morris Knolls 33

Morris Knolls put up a valient effort but the Hornets of HP were just money all night. Besides Ashley Addison's heriocs Ashley Merwin played solid and Jenna Wortmann was her superb self. I don't know if HP has what it takes to get past the next round, but maybe they can prove me wrong.

MORRIS KNOLLS (33)
Katie McMahon 3-0-2-8, Alyssa Meola 0-0-0-0, Melissa Abrahamsen 2-0-0-4, Jaclyn Bertos 2-0-3-7, Brynn Abrahamsen 3-0-4-10, Eve Rodrigues 1-0-0-2, Jen Biondi 1-0-0-2. Totals 12-0-9-33.

HANOVER PARK (45)
Lindsey Singer 1-0-5-7, Jenna Wortmann 4-0-2-10, Beth Esposito 1-0-1-3, Allison Campbell 0-0-0-0, Ashley Addison 5-1-2-15, Ashley Merwin 1-0-8-10. Totals 12-1-18-45.

Morris Knolls 6 10 5 12 - 33
Hanover Park 7 8 12 18 - 45

Records: Morris Knolls 10-8, Hanover Park 17-1.

MCT Hoops Predictions (Girls & Boys)

2008-02-07T14:38:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well...here we are at the MCT Quarter Finals. What can I say? No suprises yet, except for Roxbury's defeat over HP. I really thought HP would be able to pull that off. But maybe Roxbury has something to prove. Well, if they can beat Delby this weekend, then they have my attention. Until then, they are this far by mistake. If that upsets Roxbury, than prove me wrong.

Also, you need to take note that Mendham's Rob Berish has been polishing himself up for the MCT Tourney by dropping a league high 42 points in a Tuesday Night regular season matchup.

As for the rest of the teams, no suprises. The girls B-ball has even gotten my attention. My new favorite girl b-baller is Noonan from Parsippany. She is all skill and no frills!

Well, that is enough gibber jabber, lets get right to it:

MCT Quarterfinals(at Randolph H.S.)

Roxbury vs. Delbarton, noon
Roxbury did a nice job by knocking off a pretty good HP team. But they will be no match for Father Paddy O'Sullivan and the rest of the Green Wave.
PICK: Delby

Morris Hills vs. Chatham, 5
Love this match-up. Adam Katz has the guts and the heart to pull this one off for Morris Hills. But they just have been too shakey, and I have stuck my neck out for MoHills too many times this year. Plus, Billy Oliver and the Chatham Cougars are just playing great.
PICK: Chatham

Mountain Lakes vs. Mount Olive, 2
Mountain Lakes has been having a nice run. But Russell Holloway could care less. He will put on a spectacle as he takes his Maraurders to an easy win.
PICK: Mt. Olive

Morristown-Beard vs. Mendham, 7:30
This has the making of a really good game. Both teams really match up terrifically together. Colin Larmond Jr. has been too distracted this week while officially signing his letter of intent to B.C. as a wide receiver. But while he was doing that, Mendham's Rob Berish was dropping a league high 42 points in regular season play. Between Berish and Marky Mark Cisco, I don't see Beard getting past this round.
PICK: Mendham

Girls basketballMCT Quarterfinals(at Morris Knolls H.S.)

Mount Olive vs. Chatham, noon
Mt. Olive has gusto and the ability to play well in this tournament. But Julia Moorehead and Lindsay Atchison have been rolling lately.
PICK: Chatham

Parsippany vs. West Morris, 1:30
Parsippany's Elena Noonan has earned a spot in our "favorite player of the week" category for her guts. She just plays really tough and I think she is a real gamer. But the problem is she needs the rest of her team to step up. But they will need a real miracle because Lindsay Sullivan, Eleni Kozas and Emily Peel gel like nobodies business.
PICK: West Morris

Morris Knolls vs. Hanover Park, 3
Jaclyn Bertos and Brynn Abrahamsen can work magic for the Knolls. But there is no better tandum in the league than HP's Ashley Addison and Jenna Wortmann. Coach Wear has brought HP's Girls Hoops back!
PICK: HP

Boonton vs. Morris Catholic, 4:30
Boonton's Carly Foesel, Jen Hesse and Cynthia Shanahan do have what it takes to take down the mighty Morris Catholic. They also have the coolest mascot name in the state in the Bombers. But behind Lily Calo, Jeane Drury and Jenny Fitzgerald Morris Catholic is an amazing 21-0. There is no way the Bombers pull this one off. Plus, I am not stupid to pick an upset over an undfeated team like that.
PICK: MoCath

Thursday Night Girls Hoops Predicitions

2008-02-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

This Thursday Night brings a heck of a lot of craziness to Iron Hills Girls Basketball. Well actually not really, but there is a lull before this weekends MCT games so I figured I'd pick these games.

Here you go:

Morris Hills at Chatham 7
A rematch of this past weekend's MCT matchup. Laura Urbanowicz and Colleen Kelly 4-0want revenge. But only one problem...Julia Moorehead and Lindsay Atchison could give a flying flipper. Chatham is not 14-2 (or close to that) for nothing.
PICK: Chatham

Dover at West Essex, 7
Wessex girls are really rolling and hard. They just shoved it to Summit a few weeks ago and are on a winning streak in the ECT. I'd like to see Dover get out of the slump...but it ain't happening this night.
PICK: Wessex

Summit at Hanover Park, 7
Ashley Addison and Jenna Wortmann will combine for 32 in this game blood bath.
PICK: HP

Parsippany Hills at Parsippany, 7
The only thing you need to know is Elena Noonan's name of Parsippany. Say it out loud. Write it down. Yell it from your roof top. Now sit down and watch the easiest prediction of the night.
PICK: Parsippany

Morris Knolls at West Morris, 7
Haley D'Angelo and Emily Peel are going to destroy the Knolls. Sorry to be that blunt. I am actually trying to wake up the Knolls.
PICK: West Morris

Randolph at Morristown, 7
Christina Epps and Amani Ladson of Mo-Town would love to shove it to Randolph. But I see Leah Papalia and Breanne Maughan holding them off.
PICK: Randolph

Columbia at Roxbury, 7
It is not a matter of if Columbia will win. It is a matter of Roxbury getting out of the game without any serious injuries. Columbia is just too good.
PICK: Columbia

Weequahic at Mendham, 7
I like the way Mendham matches up to Weequahic behind Katie Gomeringer and Sassy Weinstein. But I really think Jade Wilson and Jasmin Mott are in a different league.
PICK: Weequahic

Boys Basketball: MCT Results

2008-01-31T06:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in getting the MCT tournamet results to you. I was in church all day yesterday praying for the Giants to win. Which they did of course! Congrats to them!

And moving right along. I am sure you would be amazed to know that I picked a stellar 7 of 8 games correct. If gambling on HS sports was legal, I would be a very rich man right now.

At any rate, lets get into the games. Here is how they played out:

Morris Knolls at Delbarton
You have to love the NCAA Tournament when a sub par teams upsets a big name like Duke or Kentucky in the first round. This game has all the makings of an upset. Actually, I am only kidding around. To be honest (and seriously not trying to be mean), Knolls is lucky to have an invite to this tournament. Knolls b-ballers' Pete Lionetti will be playing hard and Cardio will be solid on defense. But prepsters' Pat Sullivan, Ben Tolkowsky and Jon Leanos will combine for 40 in this blood bath.
PICK: Delby

Of course, I already knew Delby would win this. But I didn't know Father Paddy O'Sullivan would drop 29 points. Is that kid nuts or what???

MORRIS KNOLLS (45)
J.J. Boylan 2-1-6-13, Sean Pauls 4-3-1-18, Pete Lionetti 1-0-4-6, Brandon Danzy 1-0-0-2, Kellan Cardio 2-0-2-6, Mike Boylan 0-0-0-0, Mark DeFeo 0-0-0-0, Chris Diaz 0-0-0-0. Totals 10-4-13-45.

DELBARTON (56)
Pat Sullivan 8-0-13-29, Jon Leanos 1-1-4-9, Harry Marino 1-1-4-9, Ben Tolkowsky 2-1-1-8, Andrew Waldele 0-0-1-1, Jason Ramirez 0-0-0-0, Jason Seifert 0-0-0-0, Logan True 0-0-0-0, Tim Kwilos 0-0-0-0. Totals 12-3-23-56.

Morris Knolls 11 7 20 7 -45
Delbarton 11 12 20 13 -56

Records: Morris Knolls 4-15, Delbarton 13-6.

2Morristown at Mount Olive
I've gambled on Morristown too many times this year to fall for them again. I really thought they would be one of the best in the area behind Georgie Bass and Mike Colvin, but this is just not their year. I just think Mount Olive is way too stacked starting with my vote for the area's best b-baller Russell Holloway. Andrew Haduck, Brian Bublitz, Jerod Hatcher and Dan Gutman are not too shabby as Holloway's supporting cast either. I actually like Olive's chances of making it to the finals.
PICK: Olive

Again, I am really not trying to gloat here but I am a freaking HS B-Ball guru when it comes to picking these games. I just new Holloway and company would be too much. But I give Timmy Breeman major props for his offensive output.

MORRISTOWN (54)
George Bass 0-1-0-3, Justin Pearson 2-0-2-6, Kurt Davis 2-0-3-7, Mike Colvin 0-2-1-7, Tim Breeman 7-0-5-19, Tom Breeman 1-0-2-4, Mike Bailey 0-1-0-3, Jarret Neely 2-0-1-5. Totals 14-4-14-54.

MOUNT OLIVE (61)
Andrew Haduck 1-2-5-13, Brian Bublitz 0-2-0-6, Jerod Hatcher 1-2-4-12, Dan Gutman 4-0-8-16, Russ Holloway 3-0-4-10, Jared Grubow 1-0-0-2, Jaleel Hatcher 0-0-0-0, Matt Bratter 0-0-2-2, Alonzo Rael 0-0-0-0. Totals 10-6-23-61.

Morristown 12 18 10 14 - 54
Mount Olive 19 13 17 12 - 61

Records: Morristown 4-14, Mount Olive 13-3

5Montville at Mountain Lakes
Montville's Rob Jagesser and Matt Vinci will really give it their all in this game. But the Mustangs do not have an answer for Jake Tripucka. Tri-Puck (which I just legally changed his name to) is money from all over the court. On the rare occasions when he does miss? Well, the 6'5" Chris Blackwell taps them in.
PICK: Mountain Lakes

I am good. Period. I just pick these games like I see the future. I want to give props to my boy Tri-Puck (just trying to give myself some street cred). He drained 11, including two bombs from downtown.

MONTVILLE (39)
Ryan Gajdos 1-1-0-5, Matt Vinci 2-0-0-4, Chris Lacey 0-0-0-0, Jordan Gajdos 0-0-0-0, Rob Jaggasar 1-0-1-3, Eric Toporoff 3-0-0-6, Joe Kim 1-0-0-2, Travis Warech 6-0-7-19. Totals 14-1-8-39.

MOUNTAIN LAKES (43)
Jake Tripucka 2-2-1-11, Mark Dobrosky 3-0-2-8, Dillon Hamill 2-0-0-4, Chase Winter 2-0-4-8, Jim Renahan 0-1-0-3, Chris Blackwell 2-0-5-9. Totals 11-3-12-43.

Montville 8 14 6 11 - 39
Mountain Lakes 12 9 4 18 - 43

Records: Mountain Lakes 10-7, Montville 11-9.

7West Morris at Chatham
I love this match up. And Jared Washkau is to this site what Brett Favre is to John Madden. We love this kid. He's a 6'6" transfer student from Long Island who almost single handedly took down the mighty Columbia Cougars. He gets a lot of credit for moving from the city to the back woods of Long Valley. God Bless this kid for that alone. Hey, we're only kidding Long Valley...sort of. But you know what? As much as we love Washkau, I don't think they will be able to sqeak one out vs. Chatham. Chatham has heated up and at the right time too. They are coming off a big win vs. Mendham which gives them nice momentum. Billy Oliver has just been outstanding lately.
PICK: Chatham

I just didn't think Washkau could pull it off. But he gave a nice effort dropping 19 in the loss. Josh Toolajian stepped it up big in helping Oliver to make easy work of WMC.

WEST MORRIS (50)
Josh Boyd 1-0-0-2, Jared Washkau 4-0-11-19, Matt Wehrhahn 1-0-0-2, Derek Kambour 1-0-1-3, Brent Roehrich 4-0-0-8, Anthony Germinario 1-1-0-7, Brett Bonnono 4-0-0-8. Totals 14-3-13-50.

CHATHAM (67)
Billy Oliver 7-0-5-19, Josh Toolajian 2-4-4-20, Burton Gildersleeve 0-2-1-7, Pat Butler 2-0-0-4, Mike Sweeney 1-0-5-7, Chris Conroy 2-0-4-8, J.P. Charlton 1-0-0-2. Totals 15-6-19-67.

West Morris 9 10 20 11 - 50
Chatham 17 14 16 20 - 67

Records: West Morris 7-10, Chatham 14-4.

Morristown-Beard at Morris Catholic
To be honest, I am not quite sure who to pick here. Morris Catholic is fiesty as all get out. They also have a fairly tough schedule, which explains their 7-9 record. Steve Kreuder is an animal under the boards, while Tim Williams a nasty at pick pocketing the ball away from opponents. I think Colin Larmond Jr. will not let this one slip away, but he is going to need Kenny Monteith to be money from outside three point land and Al Jones to stick to his style of play.
PICK: Beard

Mo-Beard showed a lot of gumshen in this game. Of course Larmond Jr. shows why he is the team leader. Jefferson did great by adding 15.

MORRISTOWN-BEARD (61)
Aljanon Jones 5-01-1-14, Brandon Jefferson 3-0-8-14, Ken Monteith 0-1-2-5, Travis Franz 1-2-0-8, Colin Larmond Jr. 8-0-0-16, Sean Fetterman 2-0-0-4. Totals 20-4-11-61.

MORRIS CATHOLIC (57)
Steve Kreuder 3-0-1-7, Paul Logiudice 1-0-3-5, Tim Williams 6-2-1-20, Travis Williams 4-0-0-8, Brett Bially 1-5-0-17. Totals 15-7-5-57.

Mo.-Beard 11 18 18 14 - 61
Morris Catholic 10 9 14 24 - 57

Record: Morris Catholic 8-9.

Hanover Park at Roxbury

I love the fact that Roxbury's center, Angelo Mangiro, is a frosh. Not only that, but he is good. I think Roxbury will be very good the next few years behind Roxbury's answer to Shaq. But they won't be getting past Greg Baruka Hornet's with stinger's Pete Nagy and Phil Gatti. I see this Hornets team going far into this tourney.

PICK: HP

Nagy, please shut the door. Kids, turn the channel for a few minutes. Thank you, now HP: What the F happened!!!! I have been sticking my neck out for you guys all year. I picked every game right this past weekend, except one game. Do you know which game I got wrong...yours!!! Okay, settle down Unruly. Take a breath. Calm down. Okay, I am calm now. Listen HP, I love your style of play. I love the grit you guys play with. I really think you guys can be fiesty enough to take down Chatham, MoHills and Mendham. Now, I am not giving up on you guys yet. But I need some more gumshen from you guys. This game is over...forget it. Move on. Lets focus on the Big 3 now. Your job now is assisin. You pick off all three of those teams and you move to immortal status on our site.

HANOVER PARK (51)
Phil Gatti 2-0-1-5, Pete Nagy 2-1-6-13, Greg Baruka 4-0-2-10, Chris Seery 7-0-2-16, Nick Pravatta 0-1-0-3, Mike Geisser 1-0-1-3. Totals 16-2-12-51.

ROXBURY (60)
Alex Szarejko 4-1-2-13, Kevin Ahern 1-0-2-4, Eric Vaccacio 1-2-5-13, Brian Mohr 2-0-1-5, Angelo Mangiro 4-0-4-12, Casey Harris 0-0-1-1, Tommy Rosatelli 2-0-3-7, Matt Bodnar 0-1-2-5. Totals 15-4-21-60.

Hanover Park 10 16 14 11 - 51
Roxbury 11 11 12 26 - 60

Record: Roxbury 9-7.

7Parsippany Hills at Morris Hills
I will not count out Par Hills to pull of an upset behind Greg Solomine, Blake Cruz , and Greg DePugh. All three of them can score into the high double digits. However, MoHills has got some steam to burn off after nearly losing in double overtime to 0-16 Dover. Adam Katz wants a MCT title too bad to lose this early in the tournament. To be successful, Justin Doniloski needs to get off the shneid a little bit and Matt Marotta needs to get more boards. And Kellner and Doug "The Dude" Dudek have been way too quite. If all these guys hit on all cylinders, nobody can stop them. Katz can't do it himself! Actually he probably could, but he shouldn't have to.
PICK: MoHills (lets get it going!)

Readers of this blog must say, "how does he do it?" I am not talking about Justin D., I am talking about me. How do I pick all these games so accurately? Well, since you asked I will say only this, I am just that good! But with Justin D. stepping it up, which I asked him to do, it makes it easy to pick.

PARSIPPANY HILLS (22)
Greg Solimine 0-2-2-8, Jon Jablanka 0-0-2-2, Bryan Becher 2-0-0-4, Majamandor 0-0-0-0, Reinhard 0-0-0-0, Kesselmen 0-0-2-2, Menzel 0-0-0-0, Carger 0-0-2-2, Hurt 2-0-0-4, Justin Thomas 0-0-0-0. Totals 4-2-8-22.

MORRIS HILLS (46)
Adam Katz 2-2-3-13, Andrew Zelnick 0-0-0-0, Justin Doniloski 5-0-11-21, Dan Kellner 0-0-0-0, Matt Marotta 1-0-0-2, Shane O'Shea 1-0-0-2, Joe O'Shea 1-0-0-2, Tom Reeves 0-0-1-1, Billy Bowan 1-0-0-2, Doug Dudek 1-0-1-3. Totals 12-2-16-46.

Parsippany Hills 2 5 5 10 - 22
Morris Hills 9 9 11 17 - 46

Records: Parsippany Hills 4-11, Morris Hills 13-4.

7Whippany Park at Mendham, TBA
Ashok Vegesna is the only senior on Whippany Park, has shown some spunk! Especially last week when they put a three point clinic in a win vs. Madison. Eric Cipolla, Nick Lucchesi and Mihir Jain will all be ready when they take the Minutemen. But it will be all for not. The Minutemen roll in this one. The Minutemen suffered a tough loss to the area's top team Chatham this week. That loss actually helps them to loosen up heading into the MCT. There is no better tandum than Mark Cisco (who just gets better every game) and Rob Berish (probably the best talent in the Hills Division).
PICK: Mendham

Geez, what a blowout. I am starting to lean toward Mendham taking this tournament. However, they have a lot more of good teams left to play.

WHIPPANY PARK (33)
Ashok Vegesna 2-1-1-8, Mirhir Jain 1-1-1-6, Eric Cipolla 0-0-2-2, Chris Jones 0-0-2-2, Nick Lucchesi 2-1-2-9, Louis Passero 0-0-2-2, Pasquale LaBracio 1-0-0-2, Robert Gelosa 1-0-0-2. Totals 7-3-10-33.
MENDHAM (59)
Rob Berish 9-1-6-27, Chris Campisi 0-1-2-5, Tor Cedarall 0-0-1-1, Mark Cisco 5-0-4-14, Max Ferri 0-0-1-1, Chris Hanson 0-1-0-3, Colin McAleney 2-0-0-4, Ken Poges 0-0-2-2, Tore Vicarisi 0-1-0-3. Totals 16-4-15-59.
Whippany Park 6 9 8 10 - 33
Mendham 15 17 18 9 - 59
Record: Mendham 13-3.

Wrestling: Morris County Tournament Predictions!

2008-01-29T03:21:00.000-08:00

As we get ready for the Morris County Wrestling Tournament, I wanted to take a moment and honor Jim McLean who was one of the area's best wrestler's in the early 90's. McLean died tragically in a skiing accident in Colorado. McLean graduated in 1993 and went on to to wrestle at Rutgers where he was a team captain. After that he went on to become a doctor of Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation. He was 33 years young.

Thanks for the memories Jimmy!

Being a huge competitor, I am know McLean would be really into this tourney. And I know all the kids below will not disappoint his memory. This will be a really great tournament and there are tons of talented boys competing this year. But we've been watching all these kids and feel we have some nice predictions below. Remember, our motto at this site is heart counts more than winning. So I am really looking to see some great matches! Good luck boys and here are our predictions:

103 -- Steve Godine (Whippany Park) vs. Mike Intile (Montville)
Godine is having a nice season and deserves to represent himself at the 103 weight break. But Mike Intile will have more points when it is all said and done.
PICK: Intile

112 -- Dave Arbelaez (Morris Knolls) vs. Eric Fajardo (Boonton)
Arbelaez beats Jeff Canfora of Delby to get to the finals. Then Eric "Mr. Fantastico" Fajardo will take down Arbelaez.
PICK: Fajardo

119 -- Clint Donnelly (Kinnelon) vs. Kevin Collins (Randolph)
Kevin "Phil" Collins earns a birth in the final round. But Clint "Eastwood" Donnelly gets the win.
PICK: Donnelly

125 -- Dan Herr (Morris Knolls) vs. Dmitri Gizas (Dover)
Dmitri Gizas squeaks into the final round of the MCT. But Dan Herr takes the prize.
PICK: Herr

130 -- Joe Ficchi (Whippany Park) vs. Tom Glancey (Mendham)
Ficchi is nursing injuries. But just like Ralph Macheo in the final round of the Karate Kid, he will save his best moves for last. Glancey has made a name for himself this year and I see him making it to the final round. But the Feech wins in dramatic fashion.
PICK: Feech

135 -- Jude Tropona (Pequannock) vs. Kyle Hussey (Parsippany)
Jude Tropona has wrestling in his blood. But Kyle Hussey is a total gamer. I see this as one of the better match's in the MCT. Hussey's dramatics over HP last week will keep him rolling.
PICK: Hussey

140 -- Kyle Bieg (Randolph) vs. Rich Szymczak (Hanover Park).
Bieg will have a tough time against Rich "The Polish Pinner" Szymczak. But he comes away with the MCT title at this weight break.
PICK: Bieg

145 -- 1. Nick Bach (Parsippany) vs. Chris Tracy (Hanover Park).
Nick Bach will upset Ponomarev to get to the final round. But Chris Tracy will take down Bach.
PICK: Tracy

152 -- Andrew Conley (Madison) vs. Jake Gruebert (Hanover Park)
Both tough wrestlers. I think both these guys are deserving of a win here. But I am picking Conley sqeaking out more points.
PICK: Conley

160 -- Zach Garripoli (Roxbury) vs. Kevin Orchard (Mendham).
Garripoli gets to the final round with ease. While Orachard works hard to eek into the final round. But I am calling Orchard works too hard to make it to the finals to let one last match get by him.
PICK: Orchard

171 -- Kyle Kaufmann (Madison) vs. Will Larusso (Roxbury).
Will Larusso has been strong all year. He will deservedly make it to the finals. But Kyle "Killer" Kaufmann will make sure Larusso stays in second place.
PICK: Kaufmann

189 -- Chris Lloyd (Morristown) vs. Brian Byrne (Mendham)
I see Sal Carfaro of WMC getting far but Byrne and Lloyd face off in the final round. Lloyd is the looming favorite in this match. But no wrestler is hotter or has been working harder coming into this tourney than Byrne. This will be one of the best matches of the night, but I see Byrne's quickness being the difference.
PICK: Byrne

215 -- Mike Suk (Randolph) vs. Adam Hodge (West Morris)
Hodge is having as nice of a high school athletic career as you could ask for. Just a tough kid with the skill and smarts. But Suk is like Mr. Perfect of the WWF in the early 90's. Every aspect of his game is polished. He will make sure he gets this year's title at the 215 weight.
PICK: Suk

Hwt -- Joe Serrao (Parsippany) vs. Doug Meringer (Hanover Park)
Serrao beat Meringer earlier in the year. But Doug "Macho Man" Meringer learned a lot from that match. Lucky for Serrao there are no top ropes in HS wrestling. But I still see Meringer winning in dramatic fashion.
PICK: Meringer

Mid-Season Hoops Awards

2008-01-26T11:27:00.000-08:00

I thought I would give you all a sneak peak into how we are ranking the boys b-ballers so far. There actually is quite a bit more of ball left to play, so a lot can change. But if the season were to end today, this is where they are right now.

There are a ton of talented players out there. We are taking notice of all of them. Even the kids on losing teams. So if your team stinks, don't give up! We are still watching.

Enjoy where the awards are right now (remember these are not set in stone):

Mad Skillz Team (Iron Division)

Sterling Gibbs - Seton Hall Prep (awesome ball handling skills)
Ashton Gibbs - Seton Hall Prep
Russell Holloway - Mt. Olive
*Jameel Grace - Columbia
*Yvon Raymond - Columbia

*Not fair these two are on the same team.

Mad Skillz Team (Hills Division)

Adam Katz - Seton Hall Prep (this kid plays harder than anyone in the league...Hills and Iron)
Steve Connolly - Parsippany
Rob Berish - Mendham
Billy Oliver - Chatham
Dashawn Eagle - Weequahic

All Unruly Team
(where heart means more than skill)

Chris Kehoe - Summit (knocking off Chatham and MoHills wins you this award)
Justin Doniloski - MoHills (reminds me of Russell Crow in the Gladiator)
Jared Washkau - West Morris (awesome job in Columbia loss)
Mark Cisco - Mendham (this kid amazingly improves every week...love a kid that listens to his coach)
Phil Gatti - HP (this kid had me at hello...just a gritty, tough player...I would take 5 of him any day)

Who Will Make Noise Down the Stretch?

Matt Wehrhahn - West Morris
Burton Gildersleeve - Chatham
Dan Gutman - Mt. Olive
Kevin Ahern - Roxbury
Chris Jung - West Essex
Greg DePugh - Par Hills
Tariq Yaqoobi - Parsippany (Love that kid's name!)
Frank Vasquez - Dover
Greg Baruka - HP
Kyle Aiken - Randolph
Ben White - Livingston
George Bass - Motown
Fakehead - HP (I am just seeing if he is paying attention)

Morris County Tournament PICKS (and Results as they come in)

2008-01-25T01:37:00.000-08:00

Friday Night

Madison at Whippany Park, 7
Who will win between these two perienial power houses. You have Whippany Park, who is arguably playing better than ever. But then you have to consider Madison and their agressive style of play. Which one will win? Who know's, but I will tell you this...someone will. (sorry for such a crappy recap, I really don't know anything about either team).
PICK: Madison (for postarity reasons)

I stand corrected! Whippany pulled it off by draining 8 tre's. Good job Whip! But hang on because you will not be facing any more teams with losing records.

Whippany Park 58,
Madison 49

MADISON (49)
Darnell Evans 4-2-2-16, Ralph Sandello 1-2-3-11, Connor Smith 0-0-0-0, Luke Delavan 0-0-0-0, Arsolan Smalls 4-0-1-9, Kyle Goldblatt 2-0-1-5, Andrew Novack 3-0-0-6, Aaron Fant 1-0-0-2. Totals 15-4-7-49.

WHIPPANY PARK (58)
Ashok Vegesna 0-4-8-20, Eric Cipolla 4-0-3-11, Nick Lucchesi 2-1-3-10, Chris Jones 3-1-0-9, Mihir Jain 1-2-0-8. Totals 10-8-14-58.

Madison 15 12 7 15 - 49
Whippany Park 7 16 13 22 - 58

Records: Madison 4-11, Whippany Park 6-8.

Saturday

Boonton at Hanover Park
Boonton should be doing better than they are doing. Steve McKinnon will put up his regular 10 points but his supporting cast needs to step up. But seriously, there is no use. I see Pete Nagy, Phil Gatti and Greg Baruka making it deep in this tournament.
PICK: HP

Holy Shnickies!!! Did Boonton even show up for this game??? Who didn't score for HP?

HP 69
Boonton 35

BOONTON (35)
Sabani Gazmend 3-0-1-7, Jon Duque 0-0-1-1, Tucker Reed 3-0-1-7, Matt Sheehan 0-0-1-1, Shane Dencker 0-1-0-3, Mac Reed 0-2-0-6, Steve McKinnon 0-1-0-3, Travis Vargo 0-0-0-0, Besnick Rustemi 0-0-0-0, Ron Prophete 2-0-3-7. Totals 8-4-7-35.

HANOVER PARK (69)
Phil Gatti 3-0-1-7, Pete Nagy 0-2-3-9, Greg Baruka 6-0-0-12, Matt Rawson 4-0-3-11, Chris Seery 3-0-2-8, Alex Gialanella 1-2-1-9, Nick Pravatta 1-0-0-2, tim Daire 2-0-0-4, Mike Geisser 1-1-0-5, Steve Chan 1-0-0-2. Totals 24-3-10-69.

Hanover Park 22 21 16 10 - 69
Boonton 9 13 8 5 - 35

Records: Hanover Park 7-6, Boonton 1-13.

2Kinnelon at West Morris
Guard Pete Ciolino will do his thing for Kinnelon. But West Morris is really starting to come together as a team led by Jared Washkau. Matt Wehrhahn is also coming on strong. I think WMC is the best kept secret going. Their best accomplishment so far? Doing the "Rope-a-Dope" to Columbia a few weeks back. Even though Columbia won, the Highlanders have been a new team ever since.
PICK: WMC

Who is hotter than West Morris Central? No one is. This is why I love HS Hoops. No other sport can a team catch fire like b-ball. I think I might officially endorse the Highlanders as the team to take the MCT Crown.

Kinnelon 41
WMC 81

Kinnelon 41

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Peter Ciolino 2 0 4 8
Kirk Davidson 0 1 0 3
Paul DeMartinis 1 0 0 2
Steve Grembowic 0 1 0 3
Doug Jenne 1 0 3 5
Matt Jenne 0 0 0 0
Andrew Lobosco 0 1 0 3
Wil Prall 0 0 7 7
Chris Severino 0 1 0 3
Ben Tabor 1 0 1 3
Dan Walco 2 0 0 4
Kyle Wiedemann 0 0 0 0
Totals: 7 4 15

West Morris 81

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Brett Bononno 4 1 0 11
Josh Boyd 4 0 0 8
Nick Famularo 1 0 3 5
Anthony Germinaro 1 3 0 11
Derek Kambour 0 1 0 3
Brent Roehrich 2 0 0 4
Justin Sapir 2 0 3 7
Jared Washkau 4 1 4 15
Matt Wehrhahn 2 0 1 5
Tim Drzewinski 3 1 0 9
Brendan Thomas 0 0 0 0
Chris Donovan 0 0 0 0
Joe Shoemaker 2 0 1 5
Totals: 25 7 12

West Morris (6-8) 16 24 25 16 81
Kinnelon (3-11) 11 7 6 17 41

2:30Dover at Montville
The question in this game is how many points will Travis Warech have. I say, 25. I bet two Montville players will score more than the whole Dover team. Sorry to get your feathers ruffled Dover but if you you need to start winning games.
PICK: Montville

Does anybody know a bookie that would take bets on these games. I am a freaking guru when it comes to picking HS b-ball games. I am like 90% all the time!

Montville 51
Dover 36

Dover 36

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Michael Brown 4 0 1 9
Jacquan Jones 0 0 2 2
Raymond Negron 2 0 0 4
Lenny Quiceno 0 0 0 0
Ben Rodriquez 0 0 0 0
Henry Saltos 4 0 8 16
Sotiris Spiliotopoulos 0 0 0 0
Anthony Tobar 2 0 0 4
Frank Vazquez 0 0 0 0

Totals: 12 0 11

Montville 51

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Aakash Dheri 0 0 0 0
Jordan Gajdos 0 0 4 4
Ryan Gajdos 0 0 2 2
Robert Jagessar 1 1 0 5
Brian Keane 0 0 0 0
Joe Kim 2 0 1 5
Justin Kuriawa 0 0 0 0
Chris Lacy 0 0 0 0
Derek Margiotta 0 0 0 0
Rob Simeonglou 0 0 0 0
Eric Toporoff 3 0 1 7
Matt Vinci 5 0 3 13
Travis Warech 4 0 7 15

Totals: 15 1 18

Montville (10-7) 16 12 6 17 51
Dover (0-15) 5 5 6 20 36

Rebounds: Montville (Travis Warech 6, Joe Kim 5, Chris Lacy 4, Matt Vinci 4, Eric Toporoff 2, Aakash Dheri, Ryan Gajdos, Robert Jagessar) .
Assists: Montville (Joe Kim 5, Ryan Gajdos 4, Travis Warech 4, Matt Vinci 2) .
Blocks: Montville (Ryan Gajdos, Chris Lacy, Eric Toporoff, Travis Warech) .
Steals: Montville (Travis Warech 5, Joe Kim 2, Ryan Gajdos, Matt Vinci) .

5Randolph at Morristown
Kyle Aiken needs to get his team going. The MCT is a new season. This tournament can heal a team up. Randolph couldn't ask for a better match up either. Morristown has been having a tough year, despite having the talent. But Georgie Bass and Mike Colvin have been starting to get their groove on lately.
PICK: Morristown

Morristown actually has an outside chance of taking this tournament. They have been under achieving all year long mostly bc of injuries. Now they are starting to play like everyone thought they would.

Randolph 58

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Kyle Aiken 8 3 4 29
Brian Berger 0 0 0 0
Rich Embden 3 0 1 7
Mike Harris 1 0 0 2
Scott Kralstein 6 0 1 13
Saban Mrkulic 2 1 0 7
Totals: 20 4 6

Morristown 74

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Mike Bailey 0 0 2 2
Drew Barone 0 0 2 2
George Bass 5 3 1 20
Tim Breeman 6 0 2 14
Michael Colvin 2 0 2 6
Kurt Davis 4 0 2 10
Jarett Neely 4 0 2 10
Justin Pearson 4 0 2 10
Totals: 25 3 15

Morristown (4-11) 21 19 16 18 74
Randolph (2-12) 13 14 15 16 58

5Morris Knolls at Pequannock
Morris Knolls should be playing much better than they are. I know Knolls is a hockey town, but come on. I would like to see Knolls get it together a little bit and give their fans something to cheer about. But there are two reasons why they won't on this day: Nick Buonforte Jordan Tabackman.
PICK: Pequannock

Wow, Knolls actually suprised me with this one. I am glad they actually decided to show up. They played strong all game. That is the type of thing we take notice of at this site. Keep it up Knolls. If you played like you did yesterday, you may catch someone by suprise next week.

Pequannock 51
Morris Knolls 57

Morris Knolls 57

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
J.J. Boylan 4 0 2 10
Kellan Cardio 2 0 1 5
Brandon Danzy 2 0 1 5
Mark DeFeo 0 0 0 0
Chris Diaz 2 0 0 4
Pete Lionetti 5 0 6 16
Sean Pauls 0 5 0 15
Matt Trivigno 1 0 0 2
Totals: 16 5 10

Pequannock 51

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Matt Breen 3 0 0 6
Nick Buonforte 5 1 3 16
Martin Kelly 1 0 3 5
Jordan Tabakman 5 0 7 17
John Vedovino 0 0 2 2
Alex Hemler 2 0 1 5
Totals: 16 1 16

Pequannock (6-10) 13 15 14 9 51
Morris Knolls (3-13) 13 18 14 12 57

Rebounds: Morris Knolls (J.J. Boylan 11, Pete Lionetti 11, Brandon Danzy 5, Sean Pauls 4, Kellan Cardio 2, Mark DeFeo, Matt Trivigno) .
Assists: Morris Knolls (Brandon Danzy 3, Sean Pauls 3, Kellan Cardio 2, Chris Diaz 2, Pete Lionetti 2) .
Blocks:
Steals: Morris Knolls (J.J. Boylan, Brandon Danzy, Chris Diaz) .

5:30Butler at Morristown-Beard
Don't bother staying up late to watch this nail biter. By the way, what the hell is a beard? Is it like facial hair? That doesn't make sense. Seriously, where did that name come from?
PICK: Beard

Still no clarity on the origins of Beards name. But I was money with this pick. Larmond seems to be continuing his atletic dominence over their at Beard.

Beard 66
Butler 38

Butler 38

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Jeff Adubato 1 0 0 2
Mike Fitzpatrick 1 0 0 2
Charles Gripenburg 4 0 1 9
Ken Jablonski 0 0 1 1
Brendan Kelly 3 2 0 12
Ryan Lowry 3 2 0 12
Totals: 12 4 2

Morristown-Beard 66

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Carter Daly 2 0 0 4
Sean Fetterman 2 0 0 4
Brandon Jefferson 3 0 0 6
Aljanan Jones 4 1 5 16
Colin Larmond Jr. 6 0 8 20
Kenneth Monteith 0 1 0 3
Adrian O'Connell 1 0 0 2
Jiyon Ruffin 2 1 2 9
Totals: 20 3 15

Morristown-Beard (8-6) 8 14 26 18 66
Butler (0-14) 5 5 13 15 38

7Parsippany at Parsippany Hills, TBA
I actually think this will be the best game of the prelims. Cross town rivals aside, Steve Connolly and Tariq Yadababbaqoobi have really been gelling lately. They can score with anyone. All they need is to keep the opponents score down and their record is a lot different. But my boy Peppy DePugh is doing the job for the Vikes. I see Hills winning, but Parsippany won't suprise me if Parsippany pulls it off.
PICK: Hills

You may be asking your self, "Self, how is Unruly so good at picking HS Hoops games?" The answer is simple folks, I am just that good! :-) Actually, there are really no suprises this early in the tourney. The big upsets come next week and the week after. Sorry Par Hills, but I don't see you moving past the next round.

Par Hills 53
Parsippany 41

Parsippany 41

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Steven Connolly 4 0 2 10
John Kaminski 0 1 0 3
Ameen Kandil 1 0 0 2
Will McLean 0 0 0 0
Matt Mundanchira 2 1 0 7
Tariq Yaqoobi 1 3 4 15
Ross Schultheis 0 0 0 0
Nick Tsintadze 0 0 0 0
Totals: 8 5 6

Parsippany Hills 53

Name 2-pt. 3-pt. FT Total
Brian Becher 2 0 1 5
Blake Cruz 2 0 1 5
Greg DePugh 1 0 1 3
Greg Solomine 1 5 4 21
Justin Thomas 6 0 4 16
X Karger 0 1 0 3
Totals: 12 6 11

Parsippany Hills (5-9) 14 16 7 16 53
Parsippany (3-12) 11 15 6 9 41

Morris Area Scoring Leaders

Pat Sullivan Delbarton 21.0
Russell Holloway Mount Olive 20.5
Rob Berish Mendham 20.1
Billy Oliver Chatham 17.8
Adam Katz Morris Hills 17.8
Jake Tripucka Mt. Lakes 17.6
Jared Washkau West Morris 17.4
Sam Mushman Pope John 16.6
Ryan Gresik Newton 16.1
Travis Warech Montville 15.8
Steve Connolly Parsippany 15.7
Scott Wagenblast Lenape Valley 15.7
Nick Buonforte Pequannock 15.6
Matt Tobin Hopatcong 15.6
Jordan Tabackman Pequannock 15.5
Mark Cisco Mendham 15.4
Derek Hall Jefferson 15.3
Justin Doniloski Morris Hills 15.2
Dave Crawn Newton 14.9
Nick Lenker Sparta 14.3
Kyle Aiken Randolph 14.1
J. T. Wilson Pope John 13.9
Kevin Ahern Roxbury 13.8
Tim Williams Morr. Cath 13.8
Phil Gatti Hanover Park 13.6
Kyle Mascilak Sparta 13.2

ABC's of the Iron Hills Conference: Mid-Winter Edition

2008-01-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

A. Alan Buzbee gets the nod here. This stellar athlete would be getting tons of press right now but because of an early football season injury he had to sit out his entire football and basketball season. Still he got a D1 scholarship to University of New Hampshire based solely on his junior year. Ashton Gibbs misses him on the B-Ball court. Just remember Buzbee's name. You might be hearing it on a national level some day.

B. Sarah Bella, Mendham's record breaking shot putter. Every week she is breaking meet records. Actually, the only records left to beat are her own...which she is doing.

C. Columbia Boys B-Ball. What can you say? Ranked 7th in the State and Undefeated. Nothing is fazing this group.

D. Chris Dart, Chatham Swimming. Just qualified of the Olympic Trials in the 100 meter backstroke.

E. Elena Noonan is kicking butt for Parsippany Girls Hoops averaging 19 points per game.

F. Mike Franklin from Mendham track. Franklin is running distance races in blazing times.

G. Asthon Gibbs of Seton Hall Prep. Already heading to Pitt on a full ride and having an outstanding season.

H. Also known as the LeBron James of the Iron Hills (at least on this site he is), Russell Holloway of Mt. Olive will be scoring his 1,000 in the next few games is averaging 21 points per.

I. Emily Peel has brought her West Morris Central girls hoops team to an outstanding 14th rank in the state.

J. Jared Washkau of West Morris Central almost single handidly took down the undefeated Columbia Cougars the other night under his home court.

K. Adam Katz has already broken 1,000 for the Morris Hills Scarlet Knights.

L. Chris Lloyd of Morristown is one of the better wrestlers in the area at 189.

M. Morris County High School Sports (aka: http://www.mchss.net/) just does a fabulous job of providing awesome footage of the local coverage in Morris County. He also sells pictures of kids in action. And he is very affordable!

N. Nick Vena, also known as the Freshman Pheonom. Vena has broken the freshman record for the shot put in the country. That is the United States record.

O. Billy Oliver averages 18 points per for his Chatham Cougars.

P. Morris Hills' Sean Pohorence is rocking Winter Track for the number one ranked team in the conference.

Q. Question? How is it that Columbia has two of the most talented kids in the conference in Jameel Grace and Yvon Raymond? Its not fair.

R. Mendham's Rob Berish has broken out of his shell, bringing his team to the number one team in the County. Mark Cisco's help is not hurting.

S. Seton Hall Prep Hockey: 4th best in the state at 6-4-2.

T. Roxbury Wrestling is the twelfth ranked team in the state at 11-1.

U. Hanover Park's Girls B-Ball coach Doug Wear secured his 100 victory of his career last week. He is following in the footsteps of his father, Wendle, who was the girls head man for decades.

V. Mendham distance runner Laura Vigilante is getting stronger as the weeks go on. At only a sophomore, Vigilante has forgotten how to come in anything besides First Place, as she has done several times this year in the 1600 and the 3200.

W. The West Morris girls b-ball team is a whopping 10-0 and ranked 16th in the state.

X. Ali Mix has taken his E.O. team to 7-3 and has the talent to pick off Columbia if they play their cards right.

Y. Roxbury girls hoops star Cori Younghans is draining 16 points per game. She might very well be the most talented girls hoops player in the conference.

Z. ZZZ...that is what the Morris Knolls and Randolph boys basketball teams have done to me this year.

Racism Go Away!

2008-01-20T08:22:00.000-08:00

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

That is my favorite Martin Luther King, Jr. quote of all time. It just says so much about who Dr. King really was and what his dream was. He wanted equality for man kind. He was not just talking about black and white either. He was talking about the whole human race. He really wasn't talking about American when he was saying nation. He was talking about the world.

I actually think in the U.S. we have come a long way. At least from the 1800's. And compared to other countries. But we do have a long way to go to get to where Dr. King was talking about where we should be.

But I really would like to talk about one thing that seems to something that helps us to forget about racism and inequality. Something that helps us to see the same color and not see religious differences. Something that helps us just be together as humans and enjoy ourselves.

That something is SPORTS.

A few years ago I was coming home from a business trip in Boston. On the way come, cutting through Connecticut, I was listing to the Stephen A. Smith radio show on ESPN Radio. He was talking about how crappy the Knicks were doing. I had a long stretch of CT to drive through so I decided call in and join the vent-fest of callers.

I must have waited on hold for 45 minutes. The call screener kept coming on the phone and telling me to hang in there, so I did.

Meanwhile, Stephen A.'s topic switch from the Knicks to some stupid comment that Bryant Gumble said on HBO about racism. I forget what the details of the story was, but it was maddening that Gumble was bringing it up because he is more white than I am.

But I digress. While I was on hold the call screener came back on my line and asked me if I could talk about this topic. He said I had about 15 more minutes. So I had time to think about it.

So I really tried to think about racism and why we were talking about it on sports radio. But as I thought about it, I thought that sports seems to have a way to neutralize racism. I thought that in sports I never hear somebody say, "he's a pretty good player, for a black guy" or "that Chinese guy can really run". It is more like, "Michael Strahan is a freaking great." The thought that he is an African American just doesn't come up.

Finally, Stephen A. came on the line and I was the first caller after he gave his rant of whatever Gumble commented on. I was able to blurt out to Stephen A. my thoughts of racism and that the topic does not belong on sports radio.

He commented that Gumble had some good points and blah blah blah. I remember telling Stephen A. that it was a dull topic and that we should rather be talking about bad the Knicks are.

Then I remember Stephen A. commented to me that racism will not go away and that we all need to talk about it more. Then I remember I got one last comment on the air and I said in annoyed voice, "It's a boring topic!"

But don't get me wrong, I am not saying that racism is boring or should be ignored. All I am saying is that a better topic would be that sports has done wonderful things for racism. In fact, if it weren't for sports, we would probably still be 75 years behind where we are today.

Think about it, the negro baseball leagues had such talented players that Major League Baseball could not help to want that those players in their leagues. Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier but he wouldn't have if he stunk. Same thing with football. Arther Ashe was such a great tennis player that he because a pioneer to force people to consider African Americans has prospects.

But after my call with Stephen A. I thought about what he said. "We need to talk about it more.", is what he said. I really pondered what he said. But then I thought, maybe he needs to talk about it more, but "we" do not. If he needs to get past hurts to him or his ancestors, than by all means, talk about it. But I think in the setting of therapy or a support group would be better, not on the radio.

Again I am not trying to be cold. I just think amongst the industry that he and I are in, we should celebrate what we have done for race. I think Dr. King would smile and nod at what sports has done for racism.

Morgan Freeman was on 60 Minutes a few years ago. Mike Wallace asked him some questions about racism. Freeman grew up in the poor sections of Mississippi. He grew up in the heartland of the Klu Klux Klan. But Freeman, did not stop smiling when asked about racism.

In fact, Freeman said something I will never forget. He said, "Racism will go away when we stop talking about it."

At the time, I thought that was a funny thing to be coming from an African American. But it made sense. If we don't talk about it, it doesn't exist.

I don't think Freeman was talking about stuffing it under the rug. I think what he meant was if we constantly bring it up for unwarranted reasons, than we are just fueling anger. What is the point of that? That is not what Dr. King was talking about.

However, racism is real...we cannot forget it, ever. Dr. King never wanted us to forget it. But we have to remember what his dream was about; "To be judged not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character."

But today, on Dr. King's birthday, instead of pondering about racism, why don't we think of how far we have come? I say we celebrate sports today, and sports role in fighting racism!

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND-UP

2008-01-19T03:59:00.000-08:00

Columbia 63, West Morris 62

Jared Washkau had just an amazing game scoring 31 points in a near defeat of the undefeated Columbia Cougars. The Wolfpack stunned the Cougars all game, and held their leading scorer Jameel Grace to only 7 points.

West Morris came on strong in the fourth quarter outscoring Columbia 25 to 9. "We knew if we could hold Raymond and Grace to less than 20 points a piece we could hang in there. We feel we did that. We made a big push after the game, but it was just too little too late." Washkau said after the game.

Even though they lost, the Wolfpack should consider this a moral victory. This would have been a devastating blow to the 11-0 and 9th state ranked Cougars had they lost.

"Whew", Raymond said after the game. "That was way too close. I think we were just too nervous to be this far in the woods. Next time we face them on our home court, it will be a blow out." (Raymond did say any of that...although, they were probably nervous being that far in the woods of Long Valley)

West Morris (3-8) 14 14 25 9 62
Columbia (11-0) 21 18 15 9 63

Morris Hills 64, Mendham 74

The stars are really starting to align for Mendham. When I say stars I mean, Rob Berish and Mark Cisco. After playing a very agressive b-ball game vs. the mighty Morris Hills, the Minutemen took the win and has now improved to 9-2. The Itailian Stalions Steve Ciampaglio and Chris Campisi are also stepping up huge for the Minutemen. Campisi drained four 3-pointers for his team.

What happened to Morris Hills? Well they were not push overs in this game, Adam Katz drained 25 points, including 11 from the line. Justin D. added 11 and Kellner drained another 15.

Mendham's strategy in this game was agressive and to foul and foul often and let Mo-Hills beat them at the line. MoHills just could not keep up. "They came into this game with an agressive game plan and it worked for them." Katz said after the game. "Cisco had a really big game for them and the Itailian Stallions were too much for us" (Katz didn't say any of that)

MORRIS HILLS (62)
Adam Katz 4-2-11-25, Andrew Zelnick 0-0-0-0, Justin Doniloski 5-0-1-11, Dan Kellner 5-1-2-15, Matt Marotta 2-0-1-5, Shane O'Shea 0-0-0-0, Joe O'Shea 2-0-2-6, Billy Bowan 0-0-0-0, Doug Dudek 0-0-0-0. Totals 18-3-17-62.

MENDHAM (74)
Rob Berish 7-0-8-22, Mark Cisco 11-0-4-26, Chris Hanson 0-0-3-3, Steve Ciampaglio 3-0-4-10, Caleb Demoss 0-0-0-0, Chris Campisi 0-4-0-12, Kent Poges 0-0-1-1. Totals 21-4-20-74.

Morris Hills 18 14 11 19 - 62
Mendham 19 16 20 19 - 74

Records: Mendham 9-2, Morris Hills 9-3.

Dover 36, Chatham 64

Dover continued their streak after their loss against Chatham last night improving to 0-10. Sotoris Spiliotopolis, also known as, The Greek God, scored 8 points while Anthony Tobar drained another 19.

Of course, Billy Oliver scored 19 and brought his team to an impressive 9-3. But the real story is the streak.

Tobar said after the game, "Our goal was to keep the streak alive. We are just happy we were able to do that. It was fairly close going into the fourth quarter, but coach only allowed us to score four points in the fourth to ensure the streak would stay intact." (Tobar didn't say that...nor would he probably ever say that)

DOVER (36)
Jaquan Jones 0-0-1-1, Anthony Tobar 8-1-0-19, Sotoris Spiliotopolis 4-0-0-8, Henry Saltos 0-0-1-1, Alejandro Hernandez 2-1-0-7. Totals 14-2-2-36.

CHATHAM (64)
Billy Oliver 5-2-3-19, Burton Gildersleeve 2-3-0-10, Josh Toolajian 0-3-1-10, Pat Butler 3-0-0-6, Mike Sweeney 3-0-0-6, J.P. Carlton 2-0-0-4, Kirk Thiel 1-0-0-2, Kevin Murphy 2-0-3-7. Totals 18-7-7-64.

Dover 6 13 13 4 - 36
Chatham 17 12 16 16 - 64

Records: Dover 0-10, Chatham 9-3.

Seton Hall 60, Roxbury 54

Ashton Gibbs scored 26 points (boring), while his freshman brother added 11 more in a win vs. Roxbury. Roxbury made a big push in the fourth quarter, scoring 19. Kevin Ahern was money from out side draining 4 tre's. But they just could not hold off the Gibbs Bros.

"We have a good system, my brother Sterling passes me the ball and I score." Ashton Gibbs said after the game. "Sometimes I pass it back to him and he scores. It seems to work for our team." (Gibbs didn't say that)

SETON HALL PREP (60)
Ashton Gibbs 8-1-7-26, Jimmy Burke 2-1-2-9, Tony Peters 3-0-1-7, Rahmaan Patton 2-0-3-7, Brendan Kirby 0-0-0-0, Sterling Gibbs 1-3-0-11. Totals 16-5-13-60.

ROXBURY (54)
Alex Szarejko 3-1-0-9, Eric Vaccacio 1-2-0-8, Brian Mohr 2-0-0-4, Kevin Ahern 2-4-0-16, Tom Rosatelli 1-1-0-5, Angelo Mangiro 4-0-2-10, Matt Goss 0-0-2-2. Totals 13-8-4-54.

Seton Hall 17 14 17 12 - 60
Roxbury 13 12 10 19 - 54

Records: Seton Hall Prep 8-4, Roxbury 6-4.

Randolph 50, Morris Knolls 40

Randolph would be undefeated right now...that is if they didn't lose 9 other games. But they are 2-9 now. I am fighting trying the desire to be incredibly sarcastic so I better just move on to the next game.

RANDOLPH (50)
Kyle Aiken 4-1-4-15, Mike Harris 2-0-0-4, Rich Embden 2-0-2-6, Brian Berger 0-1-1-4, Saban Mrkulic 3-2-0-12, Scott Kralstein 1-1-0-5, Kevin Farrell 2-0-0-4. Totals 14-5-7-50.

MORRIS KNOLLS (40)
Sean Pauls 4-3-0-17, Brandon Danzy 4-0-2-10, Kellan Cardio 2-0-0-4, Pete Lionetti 3-0-1-7, Marc DeFeo 1-0-0-2. Totals: 14-3-3-40.

Randolph 14 7 14 15 - 50
Morris Knolls 6 13 5 16 - 40

Record: Morris Knolls 2-12, Randolph 2-9.

Hanover Park 55, Parsippany 49

Chris Seery comes out of obscurity to drain 19 points in this win vs. Parisppany. Phil Gatti added 19, including three from down town. My boy Pete Nagy also added 11 points.

HP was too much for Yabbadabbaqoobi and the Redhawks. Steve Connolly played impressive, draining 23 points, but couldn't hang on vs. the Hornets.

"Seery was on fire in this game." Gatti said of his teamate. "He was money from all over the place. We needed someone to step up and he answered the call." (All fake quotes)

HANOVER PARK (55)
Phil Gatti 2-3-5-18, Pete Nagy 4-1-0-11, Matt Rawson 2-0-0-4, Chris Seery 7-0-5-19, Tim Daire 0-0-0-1, Mike Geisser 1-0-0-2. Totals 16-4-11-55.

PARSIPPANY (49)
Tariq Yaqoobi 2-2-0-10, Jon Kminski 1-0-1-3, Steve Connolly 9-0-5-23, Ameen Kandil 0-1-0-3, Matt Mundanchira 0-2-0-6, Donnie Allieri 2-0-0-4. Totals 14-5-6-49.

Hanover Park 14 16 11 14 - 55
Parsippany 6 17 15 11 - 49

Record: Hanover Park 5-5, Parsippany 1-10.

Mount Olive 60, East Orange 54 (OT)

Four of Mt. Olive's starters scored double digit numbers in their suprise win over the EO Badgers (or whatever they are called). Russell Holloway was his superstar self nailing a whopping 29 himself.

Sir Mix A-Lot only had 7 while David Lowery added 17 in the loss. Isiah Johnson made a showing with 12 points but it was just not enough.

"We really wanted to shut down Sir Mix A-Lot." Holloway said after the game. "He was tough to contain, but we were just happy to have the win." (all fake quotes)

EAST ORANGE (54)
Ali Mix 2-1-0-7, Dayjin Williams 0-1-2-5, David Lowery 4-2-3-17, Isaiah Johnson 5-0-2-12, Jerel Antley 1-0-0-2, Akeem Cummingham 0-1-1-4, DeShaun Jones 0-1-0-3, Kester Klean 2-0-0-4. Totals 14-6-8-54.

MOUNT OLIVE (60)
Andrew Haduck 3-0-4-10, Russell Holloway 11-0-7-29, Jerod Hatcher 3-1-1-10, Dan Gutman 4-0-3-11, Jared Grubow 0-0-0-0. Totals 21-1-15-60.

East Orange 15 9 16 11 3 -54
Mount Olive 10 12 11 15 12 -60

Records: Mount Olive 8-3, East Orange 7-3.

FRIDAY NIGHT HOOPS: Unruly's Picks

2008-01-18T01:03:00.000-08:00

7Dover at Chatham
This is my upset of the week. I am picking Chatham going down hard in this. Dover wakes up out of their winter slumber and shocks Billy Oliver and Burt Gildersleeve. Psych! Just kidding. I say Chatham scores 50 in the first half. Toolajian drains 5 tre's too.
PICK: Chatham (in a laugher)

7Hanover Park at Parsippany
My main man Phil Gatti and his buddy Nagy seem to play well together. They will need to do just that tonight. If Tariq Yaqoobi and Steve Connolly get rolling, HP will be in for a suprise. Parsippany is starting to play well. I still think HP will fend them off, but the Red Hawks will not be a push over.
PICK: HP

7Parsippany Hills at West Essex
Greg Solimine, Blake Cruz and Greg DePugh can all score solid points. They really need one of them to break out a little bit more. If one of those guys gets 17 points or higher, this game is in the bag. These two teams match up well. Jeff George has the home court on his side. But I think Par Hills has lost too many close ones to let this one slip away.
PICK: Par Hills

7Randolph at Morris Knolls
This match up is being billed as the "Match-Up of the Century"! Who will win, the 1-9 Randolph Rams travel up the hill to face the 2-10 Morris Knolls Green Hedgehogs (or whatever their called). Who will win? I think the question really is, who will show up? They'd be lucky if the teams do.
PICK: Who cares!

7Morris Hills at Mendham
Ahhh, this is the matchup I have been waiting for. My two favorite teams in the Iron Hills Conference. Lets see, you have the 9-2 Scarlet Knights of Morris Hills vs. the 8-2 Minutemen of Mendham. Both teams are riddled with talent. But both teams play different styles of hoops though. The Scarlet Knights have a lot of talented kids in Justin D., Doug "The Dude" Dudek and Dan Kellner. Then you have their quarterback, Adam Katz who has just been having an awesome season. But you have to look at Mendham who looks like they have two college sized players in Rob Berish and Mark Cisco. The Hills had trouble vs. Chatham's big men. I think it will be close. But I see the home team prevailing. And I see my boy Mike Salerno providing some off-the-bench heroics late in the game.
PICK: Mendham

7Morristown at Livingston
I see George Bass' ancle heeling up and him breaking Morristown out of their slumber tonight. Livinston has been slumping lately. A win would really wake them up. But it won't happen tonight.
PICK: Motown

7Columbia at West Morris
The only thing West Morris has in their favor this night is that for the first half Columbia will be nervous of all the pig squealing they will be hearing up in the woods of Long Valley. But once Jameel Grace and Yvon Raymond settle down it will be pretty much over. And beleive me, when this game is over these city boys will be running on that bus and getting the hell out of there.
PICK: Columbia (not even close)

7Seton Hall Prep at Roxbury
This has the making of a great game. The 9-3 Roxbury Gaels (they really need a new mascot name) vs. the 5-4 Seton Hall Pirates. Rumor is that the rest of the team is starting to play around Ashton Gibbs. Gibbs is no doubt a superstar, but he needs his supporting cast to step up. But Roxbury is playing with a ton of confidence. Eric Vaccacio and Kevin Ahern do not have D1 scolarships, but them and the rest of the Gaels play great "team" ball. Plus, they have a great coach. I just don't see SHP getting past Roxbury on Gibbs alone.
PICK: Roxbury

7East Orange at Mount Olive
Mount Olive is 7-3. And Russell Halloway is the Iron Hills' LeBron James. This kid drains buckets all day and can score over 30 points no problem. But individuals do not win games alone. EO is 7-2. And they have quite two nice weapons in Larby & Johnson. And their point man is Sir "Mix" A-Lot. Mount Olive is on a roll but EO has taken down some pretty solid opponents in Roxbury and Seton Hall Prep. Plus, they only lost to mighty Columbia by one or two points.
PICK: EO

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: With all this steriod talk in the MLB I just want to send a public announcement to our student athletes. I have been reading a lot on this subject and the long term effects of them. Some of these long term effects are really scary and should be taken into consideration. First off, steriods and HGH work in making you bigger. Not only do they make your muscles bigger, they also make all of your internal organs bigger. And those internal organs don't shrink. If you look at a guy who has taken steriods, you will notice that their stomachs stick out. That is bc their organs are too big. The scariest defect is the percentage of defects in offspring raises dramatically if you take these drugs. Listen, if you are taking these performance enhancing drugs, stop NOW. If you are thinking of taking them, DONT. Just work out harder and take natural supplements. You will regret taking them. D1 athletes are D1 athletes because of two reasons, 1) they have the natural ability and 2) they work extremely hard. If you want to be a D1 player, then work your ASS off. But don't take these drugs. And if the guy selling you these drugs say they are not harmful, don't listen to him. He just wants his money...beleive me. Good advice is always FREE. Bad advice always has a price, remember that. I will be doing a big article on the harmful effects of these drugs, but in the meantime, STAY OFF THEM. Have fun in your sport.

Well Now, Here's a Novel Idea

2008-01-16T18:16:00.001-08:00

Ben Johnson. 100m, Seoul 1988.
Gold Medal stripped for doping.

Marion Jones. Barry Bonds. Bill Romanowski. Lyle Alzado. Mark McGwire. Roger Clemens. The list goes on and grows daily.

As many of you know, I am against steroid use* and have written about it previously on this blog.

Many gifted athletes seem to be going down in infamy lately, more and more for using "banned performance enhancing substances".

Just riddle me one thing...how is it that the Illinois High School Athletic Association "gets it" and NJSIAA doesn't? (click here to read the article)

Kids use 'Roids.

They shouldn't.

It is bad for their health, and it is cheating (if it is written in a rule book that it is so).

If you are going to make it illegal, then you must have a credible threat to deter them from doing it (criminal justice 101 people) and suitable, swift punishment, or they will just ignore you and do it anyway, just as they are doing now in NJ.

The crux of the problem is that if you are going to have something like steroids be illegal, you need to have a threatening enforcement and punishment effort to go along with it, or you might as well just not even have it on the books.

If the NJSIAA really cares about the health of our athletes and fairness in competition, they need to "brass up" and get tough. Period.

Illinois is on the cutting edge of this...I expect other states will soon follow...as they should.

*Note: I don't think steroids (or other performance enhancers) are patently/inherently wrong. If they were: 1) not ILLEGAL/against the rules and 2) certifiably safe, then athletes should be allowed to use them. If those two factors were removed from the equation (never going to happen) then I would have no problems with their use.

Basketball Roundup: Tuesday Night Action

2008-01-16T13:51:00.000-08:00

Mendham 54, Par Hills 53

Rob Berish scored his standard 22 points (boring). Cisco drained an additional 17 in the win over a spotty Par Hills team. Is Par Hills good or aren't they? Not even they know the answer to that one. This Mendham team has some grit and I like that. But can they hack it against Weequahic and MoHills? We'll see. I would like to see Dateline's Chris Hansen and runningback Mike Salerno get more action.

MENDHAM (54)
Rob Berish 9-1-1-22, Steven Ciampaglio 1-2-0-8, Mark Cisco 8-0-1-17, Chris Hanson 2-0-0-4, Chris Campisi 0-0-0-0. Totals 20-3-2-54.

PARISPPANY HILLS (53)
Greg Solimine 5-1-2-15, Blake Cruz 4-1-2-13, Justin Thomas 4-0-1-9, Bryan Becher 2-0-0-4, Greg DePugh 5-0-2-12. Totals 20-2-7-53.

Mendham 13 14 11 9 8- 54
Par Hills 10 13 11 13 6- 53

Records: Mendham 8-2, Parsippany Hills 4-6.

Weequahic 94, Morris Hills 77

Adam Katz scored 29 in this duel vs. Weequahic. Justin D and Kellner combined for 31 but they were no match for Jashaon Mixon (23) and Dashawn Eagle (18). I like this Weequahic team because they have tons of weapons. Amad Bogar and Shahid Brown can both drain the deep ball while their bench is very deep. Plus, they have cool uniforms. I have a feeling these two teams will be meeting in the post season.

MORRIS HILLS (77)
Adam Katz 6-3-8-29, Justin Doniloski 1-3-5-16, Dan Kellner 3-3-0-15, Matt Marotta 2-0-4-8, Doug Dudek 2-1-2-9. Totals 14-10-19-77.

WEEQUAHIC (94)
Amad Bogar 5-1-3-16, Shahid Brown 6-0-1-13, Nadir Williams 0-1-4-7, Daveon Jones 2-0-3-7, Jashaon Mixon 5-2-7-23, Dashawn Eagle 7-0-4-18, Duke-Smith Obasy 2-0-1-5, Everett Martin 1-0-0-2, Avent Hoston 1-0-1-3. Totals 29-4-24-94.

Morris Hills 15 25 13 24 - 77
Weequahic 25 21 16 31 - 94

Records: Weequahic 8-3, Morris Hills 9-2.

Chatham 65, Parsippany 56

Billy Oliver was the man in this game scoring 19, swatting 30 balls and taking down 55 boards. Parsippany just couldn't hang in there despite Tariq Yabadabadoobi draining 19, including 5 tre's. But it did look like Parsippany was starting to find their way a little bit. Chatham is starting to hit their stride.

CHATHAM (65)
Billy Oliver 6-0-7-19, Josh Toolajian 0-2-0-6, Burton Gildersleeve 2-2-1-11, Pat Butler 8-0-1-17, Mike Sweeney 3-0-1-7, J.P. Carlton 2-0-1-5. Totals 21-4-11-65.

PARSIPPANY (56)
Tariq Yaqoobi 2-5-0-19, Jon Kaminski 0-1-0-3, Steve Connolly 6-0-4-16, Ameen Kandil 2-0-0-4, Matt Mundanchira 0-2-0-6, Donny Allieri 4-0-0-8. Totals 14-8-4-56.

Chatham 7 20 21 17 - 65
Parsippany 11 15 16 14 - 56

Records: Parsippany 1-9, Chatham 8-3.

Columbia 65, Morris Knolls 39

Jameel Grace (remember that name) and Yvon Raymond (and that one) combined for a whopping 42 points in a shilacking of Morris Knolls. Columbia is seriously one of the best teams to come this way in a long time. They are 10-0 and their games look like a college team playing a high school JV team. I don't see them getting beat for the rest of the season, Seton Hall Prep and all.

COLUMBIA (65)
Jameel Grace 5-3-0-19, Yvon Raymond 10-1-0-23, Temes Boreland 0-1-1-4, Jamal Reynolds 1-0-0-2, Willie Sumner 0-1-1-4, Floyd Melvin 1-0-1-3, Kenny Rubenstein 0-1-0-3, Sean Glenn 0-1-0-3, Bryant Long 2-0-0-4. Totals19-8-3-65.

MORRIS KNOLLS (39)
Sean Pauls 5-0-2-12, Brandon Danzy 2-0-2-6, J.J. Boylan 2-0-1-5, Kellan Cardio 2-0-3-7, Pete Lionetti 3-0-0-6, Chris Diaz 1-0-1-3. Totals 15-0-9-39.

Columbia 19 15 16 15 - 65
Morris Knolls 11 13 10 5 - 39

Records: Columbia 10-0, Morris Knolls 2-10.

Seton Hall Prep 85, Randolph 39

The Gibbs bros. combined for 34 points while Tony Peters drained another 12 points. Gibbs, who is the superstar of the team is starting to get help from his supporting cast and this SHP team is realling starting to gel.

SETON HALL PREP (85)
Ashton Gibbs 4-4-0-20, Jimmy Burke 1-0-4-6, Sterling Gibbs 7-0-0-14, Stephon Treadwell 3-0-0-6, Tony Peters 6-0-0-12, Matt Berka 2-0-0-4, John Caprio 2-0-0-4, Rahmaan Patton 4-0-3-11, Mike McGetrick 4-0-0-8. Totals 33-4-7-85.

RANDOLPH (39)
Kyle Aiken 2-0-0-4, Saban Mukulic 0-1-0-3, Scott Kralstein 5-0-2-12, Mike Harris 1-2-0-8, Rich Embden 2-0-1-5, Mike Schaffer 1-0-0-2, Brian Berger 1-1-0-5. Totals 12-4-3-39.

Seton Hall Prep 22 28 23 12 - 85
Randolph 12 6 10 11 - 39

Records: Seton Hall Prep 7-4, Randolph 1-9.

Mount Olive 65, Morristown 38

Russell Halloway is just playing fabulous and his counterpart, Dan Guttman is not doing too shabby as they combined for 48 of the 65 points for Mt. Olive. Morristown continues to dissapoint. At least they are dissapointing me. I picked them to go far this year and I hate having egg on my face. But, to be fair, George Bass did have a big injuring coming into the season and my feeling next year they will kick a**.

MOUNT OLIVE (65)
Andrew Haduck 0-0-0-0, Brian Bublitz 2-0-1-5, Russell Halloway 10-0-8-28, Dan Gutman 7-0-6-20, Jared Grabau 2-0-2-6, Jerod Hatcher 0-2-0-6. Totals 21-2-17-65.

MORRISTOWN (38)
George Bass 1-2-0-8, Mike Bailey 2-1-1-8, Mike Colvin 1-0-0-2, Tim Breeman 5-0-2-12, Kurt Davis 3-0-0-6, Aaron Aiken 0-0-2-2, Tom Breeman 0-0-0-0. Totals 12-3-5-38.

Mount Olive 10 21 16 18 - 65
Morristown 10 8 10 10 - 38

Records: Mount Olive 7-3, Morristown 2-8.

Mendham has Strong Showing In Iron Hills Freshmen Sophomore Tournament

2008-01-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

-Story by contributing writer.

On December 28, 2007, 24 Mendham fencers competed at the Iron Hills Freshmen and Sophomore tournaments. Mendham had a particularly strong showing with 14 of the fencers winning medals and the freshman winning first place in four of the six events.

In the Freshmen events, Mendham dominated women's foil with Ryan Western 1st, Bea Jacobson 3rd, Kayla Loree 4th, Rebecca Canipe 5th, Sophie Kaplan 9th, Elizabeth Donato 12th and Masha Lamb 16th of 24 fencers. Megan Wallace finished 1st of 8 epee fencers. Dina Krannich finished 1st of 8 saber fencers.

For the boys, Kyle Doyle, Steve Dabal and Patrick Lee competed in foil with Kyle finishing 1st of 18. James Flannagan finished 7th in epee. Max Weiner finished 4th of 10 in saber.

In the Sophomore tournament, Alexis Grant, Kim Morsch, Sydney Fondots and Brielle Runyon competed in epee with Alexis placing 3rd and Kim 5th of 14 fencers, Megan Holmes finished 9th in foil. Sarah-Emma Graham was 4th of 14th in saber.

For the guys, Alex Levielle was 6th and Thomas Wetherington 8th of 20 saber fencers. John Graham was 10th and Kyle mesce 11th of 15 epee fencers.

Since its first season Mendham has traditionally competed and done well in the freshmen and sophomore tournaments, These tournaments provide valuable experience especially for fencers who have not competed in tournaments before.

This year Mendham again had a very good overall showing in the freshmen and sophomore tournaments.

B-BALL ROUND-UP: Friday Night Results

2008-01-12T02:15:00.000-08:00

Morris Hills 65, Hanover Park 43

Adam Katz "Meow" and the rest of their State Contending football team bounced back from their first loss of the season against Chatham earlier in the week to take down the feisty Hanover Park Hornets. Katz drained 15 in the vicotry while Quarterback Dan Kellner and Linebacker Matt Marotta combined for another 15. King Justin (Fullback Justin D.) must have been under the weather bc he only had 4.

"We knew we needed to bounce back from the Chatham game. We just needed to come here tonight and play Scarlet Knight basketball, " Katz said after the game (he didn't actually say this, but he probably would have.)

Phill Gatti and his partner in crime Pete Nagy combined for 14 in the Hornets effort. Greg Baruka drained another 14 himself. Gatti added, "We know these guys were down from the Chatham game and we wanted to capitolize on that. We just couldn't pull it off." (Again, Gatti didn't say any of that, but it adds nice color to the peice.)

HANOVER PARK (43)
Phil Gatti 4-0-3-11, Pete Nagy 1-0-1-3, Greg Baruka 7-0-0-14, Matt Rawson 3-0-0-6, Nick Pravatta 1-0-1-3, Chris Sery 1-0-0-2, Tim Daire 1-0-0-2, Mike Gersser 1-0-0-2. Totals 19-0-5-43.

MORRIS HILLS (65)
Adam Katz 6-0-3-15, Andrew Zelnick 2-0-0-4, Justin Doniloski 1-0-2-4, Matt Marotta 5-0-1-11, Dan Kellner 2-0-0-4, Shane O'Shea 0-0-3-3, Joe O'Shea 4-0-2-10, Tom Reeves 0-0-1-1, Brent Dukin 0-0-4-4, Billy Bowan 2-0-0-4, Doug Dudek 2-0-1-5. Totals 24-0-17-65.

Hanover Park 14 11 5 13 - 43
Morris Hills 19 8 17 21 - 65

Records: Morris Hills 8-1, Hanover Park 4-4.

East Orange 84, Randolph 49

East Orange improves to 6-2 while they say, "Are you kidding me!" to the Randolph Rams after clobbering them with an 84 point out put. Sir "Mix" A-Lot was all over on D while David Larby drained 23 in the win. Johnson added another 15.

Kyle Aiken and Mike Harris combined for 33 in the loss. Aiken added after the game, "Sir 'Mix' A-Lot' was out of control tonight and Larby was money from all over the place. A win tonight would have really gave us confidence moving forward. We don't think we are as bad as our record indicates." (Aiken said none of this)

Mix took the mike after the game and broke down the game from his point of view, "Even though the Rams have a bad record, they came out and played tonight. We didn't expect such a good effort. Those two guys (Aiken and Harris) hit all their shots. The rest of the team played well too." (Mix didn't say that)

EAST ORANGE (84)
Mix 1-1-1-6, Taylor 3-0-0-6, Williams 1-0-1-3, David Larby 11-0-1-23, Johnson 7-0-1-15, Cunningham 0-0-1-1, Anthony 1-0-3--5, Martin Johnson 1-0-0-2, DeShaun Jones 1-0-0-2, Klein 5-0-1-11, Kanter 2-0-0-4, Joseph 1-0-0-2, Eli Joseph 1-0-0-2, Toney-El 1-0-0-2. Totals 36-1-9-84.

RANDOLPH (49)
Kyle Aiken 5-1-4-17, Mike Harris 2-0-4-0-16, Rich Embden 2-0-1-5, Brian Berger 1-0-1-3, Tony Decaro 0-0-2-2, Greg Fahey 0-1-0-3, Scott Kralstein 1-0-0-2, Vlade Boscor 0-0-1-1. Totals 11-6-9-49.

East Orange 21 14 25 16 - 84
Randolph 17 11 14 7 - 49

Records: East Orange 6-2, Randolph 1-8.

Summit 51, Parsippany Hills 46

Chris Kehoe, Ken Baker and Jordan Healey have woken up! They should call them the Summit Fourth Quarter Wonders (it wouldn't be a stretch from the Hilltoppers). Baker drained three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to nail down their second win in a row. "The Chatham game (earlier in the week) just gave us so much confidence." Kehoe said after the game. "The fourth quarter just seems to be our time. I don't know what happens, but we just play really well when everything is on the line." Then Kehoe said, "I just want to give a shout out to my grand mamma down in Florida, my Aunt Bunny who has a light form of diabetes and my Uncle Jerry, this win was for you." (Kehoe didn't say any of that)

Greg Solimine added a personal record 23 points in the loss. Solimine said after the game, "Summit is hot right now. We needed this win to get momentum ourselves. We feel we can be a contender this year. This was a tough loss." (Didn't say that, but he probably would have said something close to it.)

DePugh was out because he needed the extra time to do a science project. (That is code for, where was he?)

PARSIPPANY HILLS (46)
Greg Solimine 7-3-0-23, Blake Cruz 2-1-0-7, Justin Thomas 4-0-0-8, Brian Becher 1-0-0-2, John Jablonka 2-0-0-4, Scott Kesselman 0-0-2-2. Totals 16-4-2-46.

SUMMIT (51)
Chris Kehoe 6-1-2-17, Ken Baker 0-4-0-12, Jordan Healey 1-2-0-8, James Kennedy 1-0-3-5, Andre Torres 0-1-0-3, Adolfo Arrieta 2-0-2-6. Totals 10-8-7-51.
Par Hills 8 6 19 13 - 46

Summit 5 10 11 25 - 51

Records: Summit 4-5, Parsippany Hills 4-4.

Mendham 69, Dover 35

The Dynamic Duo of Berish and Cisco (sounds like a law firm) combined for 38 as they continue their winning ways. "We are thinking of being partners in law after we finnish our schooling.", Berish said of Cisco after the game. (No he didn't) The running back who plays like a full back, Mike Salerno punched in two 2-point conversions to add another 4 points for the Minutemen. In total, 10 players were able to score for Mendham.

MENDHAM (69)

Rob Berish 11-0-0-22, Chris Campisi 0-1-0-3, Tor Bedarvall 2-0-0-4, Steven Campaglio 3-0-1-7, Mark Cisco 8-0-0-16, Caleb Demoss 1-1-0-5, Colin McAleney 1-0-0-2, Mike Salerno 1-0-2-4, Connor Tinguist 0-1-0-3, Tore Bacarifi 0-0-3-3. Totals 25-3-6-69.

DOVER (35)

Daquan Jones 0-0-1-1, Henry Saltos 4-0-0-8, Sotoris Spiliotopolis 1-0-0-2, Michael Brown 2-1-2-9, Harriel Lacy 1-0-0-2, Anthony Tobar 5-1-0-13. Totals 13-2-3-35.

Mendham 18 17 24 10 - 69
Dover 4 7 13 8 - 35

Records: Dover 0-8.

Mount Olive 61, Livingston 21

Mount Olive is now 6-3 after sqeaking by the Livingston Lancers 61-21. Russell "Simmons" Halloway nailed 23 points in the win while wide receiver Brian Bublitz added 7 more, including a 3-pointer. "Basically, it was really close in the beginning of the game. In fact they tied us 0-0 for a while. But then their was the opening tip off and the game was basically over." Bublitz said about the blow out. (Easy Livingston, I just made that up...Bublitz didn't say any of that...but he was probably thinking it.)

LIVINGSTON (21)
Cory Eisen 1-1-0-5, Ben White 0-0-3-3, Zack Selmly 1-1-1-6, Matt Sung 2-0-3-7. Totals 4-2-7-21.

MOUNT OLIVE (51)
Andrew Haduck 2-1-1-8, Brian Bublitz 2-1-0-7, Russell Halloway 9-0-5-23, Jerod Hatcher 1-2-1-9, Dan Gutman 4-0-0-8, Jared Grabow 1-0-0-2, Kyle Haduck 0-0-1-1, Matt Quagliana 0-1-0-3. Totals 19-5-8-61.

Livingston 08 01 06 06 - 21
Mount Olive 15 18 20 08 - 61

Records: Mount Olive 6-3.

Roxbury 57, Morris Knolls 40

Roxbury continues to quietly improve their winning ways after moving to 5-3 with a win over the Knolls last night. I will tell you way Roxbury is sneaking up on everyone. Because everybody scores. Last night, six players scored 5 or more points. There is not one superstar. That is a sign of good coaching and disciplined players.

Eric Vaccacio, who drained five 3-pointers last night said of his team, "Our coach is very detailed in his approach. We have all bought into the 'team effort' game plan and it is paying off. We like the fact that we are under the radar. It will help when we play teams like Columbia and Seton Hall Prep" Vaccacio said after the game. (All made up)

MORRIS KNOLLS (40)
Sean Pauls 0-0-1-1, Brandon Danzy 2-0-0-4, J.J. Boylan 7-0-3-17, Kellan Cardio 2-0-4-8, Pete Lioneth 1-0-0-2, Tyler Daniel 2-0-0-4, Matt Trizigno 1-0-0-2. Totals 16-0-8-40.

ROXBURY (57)
Alex Szarejko 3-0-2-8, Kevin Ahern 4-0-2-10, Eric Vaccacio 0-5-2-17, Tommy Rosatelli 1-0-0-2, Angelo Mangiro 1-0-0-2, Brian Mohr 2-0-1-5, Casey Harris 3-0-1-7, Matt Bodnar 0-2-0-6. Totals 14-7-8-57.

Morris Knolls 06 14 08 12 - 00
Roxbury 19 13 15 10 - 00

Records: Morris Knolls 2-8, Roxbury 5-3.

Seton Hall Prep 70, W. Morris 49

A day after his grandfather announced his retirement from the Washington Redskins, Ashton Gibbs answers by draining 20 to defeat the West Morris Wolfpack. Rahmaan Patton added 10 more points and took down 12 boards to improve their record to 6-4.

"Grandpa's press conference was a big distraction this week." Gibbs said after the game. "I am happy for him, but it distracted me and Sterling from practice. But we were able to get focused by game time and get the win." (Gibbs did not say this...and I am pretty sure he is not the grandson of Joe Gibbs...I just made it up).

WEST MORRIS (49)

Josh Boyd 2-0-0-4, Derek Kambour 1-0-0-2, Jared Washkau 5-2-0-16, Matt Wehrhahn 4-0-1-9, Anthony Germinario 3-1-0-9, Justin Sapir 0-0-2-2, Brent Roehrich 1-0-3-5, Nick Famularo 0-0-2-2. Totals 16-3-8-49.

SETON HALL PREP (70)

Ashton Gibbs 7-2-0-20, Jimmy Burke 1-1-0-5, Tony Peters 5-0-3-13, Rahmaan Patton 5-0-0-10, Brendan Kirby 2-1-0-7, Sterling Gibbs 1-0-4-6, Mike McGetrick 2-0-0-4, Matt Berka 1-0-0-2, John Caprio 0-1-0-3. Totals 24-5-7-70.

West Morris 7 9 20 13 - 49
Seton Hall Prep 25 15 20 10 - 70

Records: Seton Hall Prep 6-4, West Morris 3-6.

Summit Up-Ends Chatham!!!

2008-01-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

Kehoe! What was that? Kehoe! Is someone clearing his or her throat? Kehoe! What is that noise? Kehoe! Stop, please!!!

That was an excerpt of Billy Oliver’s dream last night. Okay, obviously it was not but you cannot deny that Chatham’s armor is not as high tech as was anticipated at the beginning of the season. Or perhaps, Summit has decided that they are better than their record indicates.

This past Friday night, Billy Oliver and the Chatham Cougars were handed their second loss of the season by losing to Chris Kehoe and 3-4 Summit. Kehoe and Jordan Healey combined for 33 points and drained 7 from 3-point land.

Summit came out of the box strong scoring 19 points in the first quarter. But then Billy Oliver rallied the Cougars by out scoring Summit 12-1 in the second.

Things evened out in the second half but Summit outscored Chatham 27 to 25 and hung on for the win.

“We feel we are starting to gel now. We felt there were some close games that we should have won. Beating Chatham will be something we can build on. (This is a fake quote. But if he probably would have said something like this. I am just spicing up the article.)

Summit will be able to test their confidence in the next few games as they face a solid Hanover Park team and a rallying Par Hills team.

“Momentum is on our side.” Healey said. “If Kehoe and I can hit three’s like we did tonight, we can beat any team in the league. (Healey didn’t say that either.)

Chatham, on the other hand, has to rally because their tests are just getting harder. This Tuesday night they face an undefeated Morris Hills team. Morris Hills is brimming with confidence behind their stud forward Justin Doniloski and shifty point guard Adam Katz.

“This was a tough loss.” Chatham scoring leader Billy Oliver said after the game. “But we will need to pull up our boot straps and get ready for MoHills. They are on fire right now and it will be a great confidence booster if we could beat them.” (Oliver said none of that.)

OTHER STUFF:

Mid-Season MVP Awards:

Hills Division: Justin Doniloski (a.k.a. King Justin). Justin is just emerging this year as the total stud of the Hills division. He also has a great supporting cast but he is just making the most of every opportunity. He is the major reason his MoHills team is the only undefeated team in the division.

Iron Division: Jameel Grace (a.k.a. J.G.). Grace is arguably one of the best b-ballers in North Jersey. His team is undefeated and I really cannot foresee any teams that can pick these guys apart. Between Grace, Yvon Ramond and Kenny Rubenstein this team has the depth and skill to take it all the way.

Teams To Make an Impact in the Second Half of the Season:

Hills Division: I like H.P. because of the grittiness. Any team that has Phil Gatti and Pete Nagy has heart. And that is what fans love. I also like Weequahic and think they have a chance to go all the way. Weequahic should definitely be on MoHills radar. Two names you need to know for Weequahic; Dashwan Eagie and Shahid Brown. Another team that is really coming together is Mendham. Rob Berish is getting better with every week. Mark Cisco is big, strong and tough under the boards. They actually have the team and the coaching to make a push for a title.

Iron Division: Roxbury has been making noise all year. But the big names like Seton Hall Prep and Columbia over shadow them. Kevin Ahern is good and they have good coaching. Seton Hall Prep will also get their act together. They have come out of the box slow with a few tough losses. But the Gibbs Bros will change that with a nice second half run.

What Happened??? Award:

Morristown gets this for the first half. I am hoping they get things going. The reason for their collapse? Their superstar Georgie Bass has been playing on an injured ankle that he carried over from football season. Their run and gun offense cannot get going with Bass not able to gun or run.

Mo' Titles for MoHills and MoTown

2008-01-05T17:51:00.000-08:00

Morris Hills continues to dominate the IHC-Hills in track, winning their fifth straight on Friday night.

Morristown wins the Iron reviving a long tradition.

Congrats to both teams and all the individual winners.

Here's how it shook out:

HILLS BOYS

1) Morris Hills               103     
2) Mendham                    88
3) Hanover Park               59  
4) Chatham                    43
5) Parsippany Hills           37  
6) Summit                     5
7) Parsippany                 4  
8) Weequahic                  2

IRON BOYS

1) Morristown                  75  
2) Randolph                    62
3) Seton Hall Prep             51  
4) Mount Olive                 44
5) West Morris                 36  
6) East Orange                 22
7) Columbia                    21  
8) Roxbury                     16
9) Morris Knolls               10.50
10) Livingston                 3.50


HILLS GIRLS

Teams:

1) Summit                      95  
2) Hanover Park                60
3) Mendham                     57  
4) Morris Hills                30
5) Parsippany                  28  
6) Chatham                     25
7) Parsippany Hills            18  
8) Dover                       15


IRON GIRLS

1) Columbia                    96   
2) Randolph                    50.75
3) Roxbury                     48.50
4) Livingston                  44
5) Morristown                  41.50
6) West Morris                 26
7) Morris Knolls               22  
8) Mount Olive                 6.25
9) East Orange                 6                                     


I think there should also be a "combined" title crowning winners for a boys
and girls teams' combined score.  This would be more reflective of a schools'
overall effort and program status.
Here's how it would have looked had such an award/title been in place:

HILLS Combined:

1. Mendham (145)
2. MoHills (133)
3. HP    (119)
4. Summit     (100)
5. Chatham
6. Par Hills
7. Parsippany
8. Dover

IRON Combined:

1. Columbia (117)
2. Motown    (116.5)
3. Randolph (112.75)
4. Roxbury   (64.5)
5. WMC
6. Mount Olive
7. Livingston
8. Knolls
9. E.O.

So, it actually looks like Mendham has the overall strongest program
in the Hills this year and Columbia is thus in the Iron.

As an aside, I thought Columbia had no athletes in the school...but I
guess they just can't play football??

Thoughts??

Vigilante, Franklin "pass" on 2nd place

2008-01-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

Laura Vigilante (So. - 11:25.86) and Mike Franklin (Jr. -10:02.71)

show their bling from Passarelli on 12/31/07.

Listen up. If you are competing anywhere in Morris county or even the tri-state area, in HS track and you run the 3200, you had better be able to beat Mendham's Dynamic Duo.

Run outside. Do a tractor pull. Pound creatine. Drink Raw eggs. Whatever. You can't fake it on the track...either ya got it or you don't...and if you run distance and want to be competitive, you had better have a work ethic that beats these two. And just to give you an idea...Vigilante lapped the whole field and was about 5 seconds shy of the record. So if you are a girl, you have you work cut out for you. By the way, Vigilante has two more seasons and Franklin will see you next year too, so have fun with that...

All of this, not mentioning the litany of other threats Mendham poses in the other events...

Of course, then, if you like to get smoked...the two cats below would be happy to add you to their list as well:

IN THE BLOCKS

Aeron Gilson 2nd from left (So.- Mount Olive); Steve Tamburello, second from right (Jr. - Mendham)

Aeron Gilson won the 55m (again) for the day with a time of 6.72 seconds, but I think that there are other threats in the area he hasn't encountered, that being said, who will it be to challenge him? It'll be tough, for sure.

Steve Tamburello, also depicted above in the 55m, holds Mendham's 55m Freshman record (6.80), beating the previous record holder, Andrew Schofield (currently of Michigan State), who had a time of 6.81. Tamburello also ran the 300m at the Passarelli, and finished in what looked like first, but was later DQ'd for a move to the inside lane in turn 5 (last) in which he rubbed shoulders with Yannick Jones (Union; 37.66) the eventual winner. What will Steve run at the IHC's on Friday?

All in all, it looks like coach Hamblen has been secretly assembling a threat to MoHills track dominance...I guess we'll see.

New Jersey Wrestling Certification: The Holes in the System No One is Talking About

2008-01-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Back in early 90's, when I wrestled in high school, wrestlers were required to weigh in before every wrestling match. This was to secure eligibility at the desired weight break. Sometimes there would be hours between weigh-ins and the actual match. So athletes were able to basically starve themselves for the weigh-in, then gorge themselves so they would have their energy and few extra pounds to wrestle at.

In an attempt to stop athletes to feel pressure to go to these drastic measures, the NJSIAA has implemented a system in which requires every athlete be certified at a certain weight break by the organization at the beginning of the season.

But many parents and officials are still critical of the NJSIAA and say these new testing measures are not enough. They are crying out that there still is plenty of room for kids to put themselves in danger.

To get a closer look at the effectiveness of this new system, we dove in to get an athletes first hand look a the testing. Mendham High School wrestling captain Brian Byrne gives us his experience with this system and his thoughts on its effectiveness. Here is what Byrne had to say:

The NJSIAA requires every wrestler to undergo a certification which permits a wrestler to compete in a certain weight class. At the start of the season, the team rides a bus to the testing site where each kid is asked to strip down and get in line to give a urine sample, which is supposed to demonstrate hydration. Then, another line later, the wrestler waits to have his (or her) height and weight taken. These numbers are used to calculate body fat. If a wrestler has more then 7% body fat, then he is allowed to lose weight until he drops to 7%. If the wrestler has less than 7% body fat, he can’t cut more weight.

The certification process is a great idea. Cutting too much weight can impact performance and health. In fact, wrestlers have died from trying to lose weight pre-season.

But this process isn’t working. The problem is that a guy who’s been working hard off-season isn’t going to give up on wrestling his weight class easily. Some guys add toilet water to their urine cups. Some guys add their own spit and some guys use eye drop bottles filled with water to add to the cup. One year, I even had a couple of guys ask to use my urine for the test.

Wrestlers even cheat on the height test. If you wear baggy sweat pants, you can bend your knees and appear shorter. This means more body fat, which means more weight you’re allowed to lose.

I didn’t cheat. Not that I’m not any more moral than the next guy, I’m just naturally skinny and usually trying to gain weight, not lose it. But even without cheating, the process doesn’t work. I am 6’2’’, 189 pounds. During certification, these numbers were plugged into a scale which said I had 18% body fat—meaning I was allowed to wrestle at 171.

If I lost that much weight, I couldn’t walk, forget wrestle. A few days later, my high school trainer used a pinching calibrator and estimated my body fat to be 6%. If I tried to lose weight to wrestle at 171, I could’ve been in serious trouble.

I think the certification process needs to be changed. There needs to be better supervision and better equipment. New Jersey wrestlers are losing too much weight and putting themselves in too much danger.

Brian Byrne - Mendham Wrestling

Will we have to wait for more kids to die from losing weight before the NJSIAA comes up with a better certification process? Can the NJSIAA come up with a better way to protect high school athletes? What can schools do to help this process? It seems their are too many question marks surrounding this topic and not enough answers.

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The 2007 ALL UNRULY TEAM

2007-12-28T05:57:00.000-08:00

It took me a while, and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I finally put together my All Unruly Team. There were tons of great atheletes and kids with heart this year. I had to consider a lot of different factors to come up with this list.

What I did was compile all the notes from the other writers of this site, viewed video's from many of the games I did not see, asked people what they thought, looked at stats, read all the news clippings, etc. I took all that and then I said to myself, If I was going to create one team from a pool of all of the players in the Iron Hills Conference (both Iron and Hills Divisions), who would I want on my team?

Then I started to come up with names. Many of names who are not on the list below came up. But I wanted to make one team so I had figure out who to keep. Then I decided that players who were on winning teams would get extra points.

So without further ado, please welcome your 2007 All Unruly Team:

OFFENSE

QB - Dan Kellner - Morris Hills: Tooks his team to the State Finals. Pure Leader. 3,000 career passing. He is the team leader I would want.

QB - Akeem Cunningham - E.O.: Won his team a State Final. Probably the best QB in the league. Cunningham is the guy I want if Kellner goes down. Reminds me of Vince Young.

RB - Eugene Fowler - Par Hills: In my opinion highly under rated. Fowler is a pure runningback and a real football player.

RB - George Bass - Morristown: Love this kid. Suprisingly he does not have flat out blazing speed but has incredible ability to stop on a time and gun it to full speed in a blink of an eye.

FB - Joe Riposta - Mendham: Runs like a gazelle, yet will run you over like a train. Without him, Mendham does not go 7-2.

WR - Jerry Carter - Morristown: Carter and Colvin were like Manning and Harrison this year. Very deserving of this honor.

WR - Mike Agrifolio - West Essex: Very fast and a total gamer. In my opinion Agrifolio is the glue that kept the Knights together. Not that they were falling apart, but hewas just a very important part of that team and I would love to have this kid on my team.

TE - Luke Mirabella - Morris Hills: I beleive Mirabella had the most receptions for MoHills (if not he was a close number 2). He was just a big target for Kellner and did not go down easily. Very reminesent to Mark Bavarro.

OL - Adam Suckno - Morris Knolls: Suckno also gets the Tough as Nails Award for just being a bully of a blocker while playing with torn tendon in his knee all year. If we made any money at this site we would buy him a Ford F150 for being so tough.

OL - Aaron DeWitt - Mendham: DeWitt was the emotional leader of this team. Not the most talented kid in the league but I would take 11 kids with the heart he had any day.

OL - Brendan Ward - Chatham: Ward took his job seriously all year. Many times he would block three or four guys on one play.

OL - Andy Fender - Par Hills: Fender serves more pankakes than I.H.O.P. I never saw a high schooler put more kids on their back then this guy. And he had fun doing it.

OL - Andrew Sklover - Mendham: Sklover was the big man in the middle for the Minutemen. His size and ability to block down field helped to pave the way for full back Riposta to rush for over 1,000 and his QB Schermerhorn to throw for over 1,000.

Utility - Doug Dudek - Morris Hills: "The Dude", as we so effectionally call him on this site, is the perfect utility guy. This guy just has a knack for being at the right place all the time.

K - Cory Mundt - Morris Hills: Put Cory and Mundt together and you get "Money". And that is what Mundt was all year. He was the Adam Vinetieri of the Iron Hills Conference.

DEFENSE

DL - Chris Zarkoskie - Seton Hall Prep: SHP's defense began with Zarkoskie. I see big things for him in college.

DL - Chris Lloyd - Morristown: I think Lloydd had at least an assist on every tackle this year. It seemed, "Chris Lloydd on the tackle" was the most frequent phrase to come out of the Mo-Town announcers mouth. He also had 11 sacks...which is pretty sick.

DL - Nick Lusardi - Morris Hills: Lusardi was to MoHills defense what DeWitt was to Mendham's offense. This guy added so much heart into this D. The kid of guy you need to be successful.

DL - Tom Bianchi - West Essex: Bianchi's play is reminds me of Osi Umenyiora. Just a fast and vicious defender.

LB - Evan Picariello - Hanover Park: I might have to check this guy's birth certificate because he has been playing for HP for the last 5 years or so...or at least it seems it. Picariello has been playing since his sophmore year and just a fabulous talent. This guy can compete at the next level any day of the week.

LB - Anthony Hayek - West Essex: No name exuded more fear than Hayek's. Just saying his name to opponents gave them goose bumps. And he didn't dissappoint. He had a great year and a marvelous varsity career (which started as a freshman). Hayek walks away with three State Championship rings. Not too shabby.

LB - Keion Wade - E.O.: Wade is a sheer talent. One of the biggest reasons E.O. has a ring this year. He will be playing big time college ball.

DB - Dan Thomsen - Randolph: 50 years from now they will be talking about all of the interceptions Thomsen had this year. I think he had 25 picks...I don't know, who's counting anyhow. Dispite a dismal season for his team, Thomsen had one of the best years of any kid in the state.

DB - Phil Gatti - Hanover Park: Gatti is another one of those guys who I would want on my team. He blocks punts, catches passes, intercepts passes, runs the ball, causes fumbles, recover fumbles, etc. You name it, he does it.

DB - Daniel Stover - E.O.: Stover deserves this better than anyone. He plays like a pro and I would want this guy on my team in a heartbeat.

KR - Rason Vines - Weequahic: Vines reminds me and plays like Devon Hester of the Bears. He is also as deadly as him on the return. Problem is, teams stopped kicking to him because he was so dangerous. Any single player who gives his team good field position by not even touching the ball will earn a spot on my team any day.

TEAM AWARD: I am giving this award to Dover. The Tigers has a dismall season going 1-9. That much losing would kill the spirit of any team. But they did not quit on themselves or their coach. That says a lot about the character of those kids. I see Dover suprising a lot of people next year.

PHOTO CREDIT goes to www.mchss.net. They have the best photo's at the most reasonable prices in the Iron Hills. They do a fabulous job of taking pictures and video's. They are really great people and extremely reliable and easy to deal with.

Tyson Ambrose and His Dream

2007-12-24T19:19:00.000-08:00

A STORY OF A MAN'S DREAM OF MAKING IT TO MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL...AT 33 YEARS OLD

Do you remember the story of Rudy Ruettiger? Of course you do, but I am going to remind you anyhow. That was the story of a 26 year old iron worker from Ohio who decided to quit his job and chase his dream of playing football for Notre Dame. Of course, they made a movie out of it called Rudy and it is probably the best movie ever made.

If you remember, he was declined admittance to Notre Dame two times and played on their practice squad for four years until his coach put him in on the final play of his final game. He ended up sacking the quarterback on his only play and to this day he was the only Notre Dame player to be carried off the field.

If you liked that story, sit back because you are in for a real treat. This is a story of a 33 year old Bernardsville resident who is a father of three and has spent the last 12 years in the automobile industry who, and get this, is trying to make it into Major League Baseball. And get what else? He hasn’t played baseball since he quit his sophomore year of high school.

Many long time Morris County residents might remember the name Tyson Ambrose. He was an All-County basketball player who graduated from Bayley Ellard in 1992. Ambrose was famous around in Morris County for having blazing speed and for being able to make his 5’4” frame dunk a basketball...and without much effort. He was just a stellar athlete.

But after a respectable two year career at Brown Mackie College in Salinas KS (a Division 1 Junior College), Ambrose decided it was time to start working. He began at car dealerships, learning how to operate and manage service centers. In the past 12 years he has worked for companies like SAAB and Infinity have a successful career managing the service centers at these companies.

But all the while, Ambrose had a slow burning fire inside him that he couldn’t put out. It was his dream of becoming a Major League Baseball player. Then two years ago, while sitting at the car dealership, he made a decision that would change the course of his life. It was the decision stop working and dedicate himself to make it to professional baseball. “A few years ago, I just woke up and knew I needed follow my heart.” Ambrose said about his moment of clarity. “I felt if I was going to do this the time was now.”

But Ambrose’s dream doesn’t come out of the clear blue sky. His story actually starts a long time ago. In fact, at one time, many people thought Ambrose had the natural ability, drive and smarts to be a hot prospect for the majors. In fact, he was even being groomed from a young age to do so.

You see, Ambrose is actually the son of Victor Ambrose, a former 2nd basemen for the Cleveland Indians. Baseball is part of the Ambrose family. “I grew up watching my dad play in major league baseball stadiums. There was no question that I was going to play baseball too. It was just what I was going to do.” Ambrose said about his youth.

“As a small kid I would be on the baseball field before games throwing the ball with major leaguers. I even remember being woken up one time by Chris Chambliss of the Yankees who was my dad’s friend.” Ambrose said about growing up with a pro-baseball dad.

Ambrose grew up in Morristown. In Little League he was dominant and brimmed with confidence on the field. “Most kid’s dads were just regular guys tossing the ball to their sons in their backyards. My dad was a professional second baseman playing for the Cleveland Indians.” Ambrose said about his early years. “I would come home from Kindergarten and my dad would be there with a bat, hitting me ground balls. And they would be hard too.”

Ambrose excelled at baseball. He was a nifty hitter, and a great fielder. But his real talent was his speed. For High School he went on to Bailey Ellard for High School and the baseball coach was licking his chops at the idea of having Tyson Ambrose on his team.

But during the early high school years, things started to change for Ambrose. His parents divorced and Ambrose grew defiant. Right in the middle of his sophomore year, Ambrose quit baseball all together.. “When you get older you can look back. Baseball was me and my dad’s connection. So when they divorced, quitting baseball was my way of acting out.”

Ambrose decided to focus all his energy on basketball. “My father didn’t know much about basketball so it was a way of putting distance between us. I always liked it. When I was in high school I told myself that the first sport I get a (college) letter for, I will go to college to play that sport.” Sure enough, a letter came from a college basketball coach interested in Ambrose and baseball was all but forgotten.

But basketball did not come as natural to Ambrose as baseball did. Being 5’4” did not help, but Ambrose immersed himself into the sport. “I focused all my energy to be the best basketball player I could be.” His hard work paid off too, because he received All-County honors and was went on to play at a Divion 1 leve in college.

However, all this time he was focusing on basketball, he was ignoring the promise of a possible pro baseball career. “My father thinks that if I never quit baseball that I would be on a major league baseball team as we speak, enjoying a long career.”

But Ambrose took another path. And now, with his physical ability still in tact, he is trying to go back in time to correct the past. Ambrose actually thinks he has a good 3 to 5 years to perform at a high level. “I don’t have any wear and tear on my body so I still feel like I am in my early 20’s physically. Right now I am in the best shape of my life.”

Ambrose’ enthusiasm could light a room. His energy and drive is so inspirational that you just don't doubt that he will fullfill his dream.

When Ambrose made a decision to follow his dream, people started to come out of the woodwork to help him. “It’s funny, when I decided to follow my dream, all of these guides started came into my life.

The first was Lee Rousan, former New York Giant football player. “Lee just came into the dealership one night and we hit it off.” Rousan, who happens to help people follow their dreams gave Ambrose some much needed advice. “He asked me, ‘Do you know who you are?’ He said, 'don’t answer that question to me, but answer it to yourself.'”

Then Rousan told Ambrose a story about a player he met at a High School All-Star football game back early 80's. He said he went up to him and asked him who he was. The boy responded by saying, “I am the best wide receiver of all time.” Rousan told Ambrose that player was a young Jerry Rice, who ended up being the NFL’s all time receiving record holder.

On His Talent

When Ambrose was in high school he had the speed that major league teams salivate over. Florida Marlin scout Brian Guilianna says, “In high school Tyson was running right around 6.5 in the 60 (yard dash). The league average is 7 seconds. That is Jose Reyes speed. If Tyson played in high school he would have definitely been recruited by a major D1 school, no doubt.”

Ambrose has been working really hard and believes he still has the speed and the skill to play baseball at a very high level. For the last year he has been working out hard for 6 hours a day, seven days a week. “I actually was timed right around 6.5, 6.6 in the 60 a few months back.” Ambrose says of his physical condition. “I have been working really hard so that if I do make it, I will be in the condition of playing the grueling schedule of baseball.”

“Physically, I can do anything. What hurts me not playing all these years has been the lack of repetitions needed to build a good skill set.” Ambrose actually had a few tryouts last year with the Reds and Brewers. “I got a lot of good feedback and encouragement there. The one thing that I lacked was the reps.”

“I don’t just want to play, I want to be successful. If I make it onto a team, I will do everything I can to help myself get better. I will be the first guy at the ball park and the last guy to leave. I will study film, whatever I need to do, I will do.”

“I would like to make it to a pro team. But even if I make it into an independent league to start, that will be great.” If he does make it to an independent league, a guy with his speed could be picked up by a pro team mid season.

Guillianna thinks Ambrose is good enough to play baseball at a high level. “Tyson is in unbelievable shape right now. Do I think he could make it to the pro’s? I think he could get picked up in an independent league at this point. He needs the structure of playing to develop his arm.”

“Tyson is a really inspirational guy. I think no matter what, Tyson could really make a career out of helping young athletes stay on the right path. He could be an inspirational speaker.” Guillianna said about Ambrose.

That would be fine for Tyson too, because according to him he does not seeing himself returning to the automobile industry anytime soon. “I will never work behind a desk ever again.”

“I hope my story inspires young kids to stick with what they are doing. When I was young, I didn’t know that my actions would affect my life down the road. If someone sat me down and told me of the impact of not sticking with baseball, I might have made a better choice.”

Ambrose’s Son

Life has a funny way of repeating history. Ambrose was given the gift of having an athletically gifted son as well. Ambrose’ son, Sean David Ambrose, is only five years old and is glowing with the talent that reminds dad of himself.

Even pro athletes have taken notice of Sean David. “I have never seen a kid, at such a young age, have that much talent.” Said Sam Garnes, former New York Giant and Jet who works out at Parisi Gym where Ambrose works out as well. “Tyson will hit the ball hard to him, and his son gets right in front of it with his whole body and makes a perfect throw. I have never seen a kid with talent like that at such a young age.”

“He is one of my biggest inspirations.” Ambrose says about his son. “One of my biggest goals is for him to see me with my uniform on in the setting of a major league ball park.”

Ambrose’ big test starts in a few weeks. January will begin workouts and tryouts in front of scouts and teams. He will find out if all of his hard work will take him to the next level. And just like Rudy, nothing seems to be getting in the way of Ambrose of at least giving it his all!

Mendham H.S. Fencing Team Poised for Successful Season

2007-12-23T03:22:00.000-08:00

The Mendham High School Fencing Team seeks to build upon an impressive third year as it begins its fourth season. The program had humble beginnings three years ago with much enthusiasm. The girls’ team had one win and the boys team none in the first year. In the second year there was tremendous progress with the girls 6-6 and the boys 5-7. Last year was the breakout season for the team with the girls 10-2 and ranked third in the State and the boys 8-4 and ranked in the top ten in the State. With much hard work in the off season by many team members, they are looking to build on this success.

The team continues to be coached by Laura Pelizzoni, who has generated enormous enthusiasm for the program. She is supported by three volunteer assistants who have considerable fencing experience: Tom Tishman, who once trained with the Olympic team, Dr. Steve Dultz who fences all three weapons, and Meimee Persau, who has fenced foil.

Leading the girls’ team is Janelle Krannich, captain of the saber squad. Janelle is a D rated fencer in foil, the only team member who is nationally ranked and was second team all State last year. She will be supported by new starters E rated fencer Julia Melvin and Genele Streitz.

The foil squad should be strong, led by Shannon Cooley and E rated foil fencer Ryan Western. Alice Jacobson who was a strong part of the squad last year rounds out the starting trio.

The entire starting epee squad from last year has graduated. New varsity ans starting fencers are Kimberly Morsch, Alexis Grant and freshman Megan Wallace.

The boys team has several returning rated fencers, with at least one at each weapon.

The saber squad boasts two rated fencers. Chris Bonner is a D rated saber fencer who has been very active in the off season and should have a major impact on the team’s success. Brian Stellingwerf is an E rated fencer and returning starter from last season. They will be joined as starters for the varsity by Will Bruno.

The foil squad also has a strong foundation with two rated fencers. Andy Jung is a C rated foil fencer – the second highest rated fencer on the team. And foil squad leader Michael Striano is a D rated fencer. Both return from outstanding seasons last year. They are joined on the starting team by Adam Brozynski.

Salim Short heads the epee squad. Salim is a B rated fencer – the highest rated fencer on the team and has the top position or A strip in epee for the third consecutive season. He is joined by starters Tim Hains and Hao Du.

Each team will have challenges. The girls’ team lost two top fencers Jill Mahen and Jess Wallace to graduation and their loss will be felt. Janelle Krannich has enjoyed tremendous success in the off season and she will be looking to help lead this year’s team to similar success.

The boys’ team has some very stiff competition in its conference and district including a number of perennial powers starting with State Champion Columbia High School and the previous year’s State Champion Bernards High School. The boys’ team has five rated fencers – Short, Jung, Bonner, Striano and Stellingwerf. Still, it will need support from all other members of its squads if it seeks to improve upon last year’s top ten rating.

That the teams are even in a position to seek such success in only the fourth season is the result of the effort of Coach Pelizzoni and a very knowledgeable and supportive trio of assistant coaches.

Unruly & Fakehead's Boys Basketball Picks

2007-12-20T10:48:00.000-08:00

Welcome to another addition of the End of the Week High School Boys Basketball Picks presented by your own IronHillsSports.com. If you haven't told a friend about this site then it is time you do. Link us up to your MySpace pages and text your buddies with our link. This site should definately saved on your "Favorites".

Every week I, Unruly Jets Fan, and Fakehead (my friend since Catholic grade school...yes Fakehead went to Catholic grade school) will weigh our predictions on the end of the week Boys Basketball games.

I will also do a beginning of the week, I will make predictions for another sport (either Girls Basketball, Wrestling, Track, etc.). Plus, we will add another post in the middle of the week (a player profile or something like that) as well to keep the content fresh.

This site is gaining more and more popularity and we appreciate all the emails and feedback you are providing. I am a writer for one of the local papers in Morris County and started this site as a goof. But since it is gaining momentum I have decided to keep it going.

I have employed my long time buddy, Fakehead, to add color commentary. Some people have commented that Fakehead is nuts. Well, I know he is. But he is my friend...and I just don't ditch friends because they had to make a few visits to the Funny Farm.

But we are doing our best to keep this site entertaining and somewhat accurate. If you feel we are missing something or dissagree with what we are saying let us know. Feel free to comment or email us.

Okay, enough with the mushy stuff...lets get into the games!!!

Thursday

7 Columbia (2-0) at East Orange (2-0)

Unruly: This is the biggest game of the year so far in the Iron Hills Conference. Ali Mix has some major skillzzz for East Orange and is money from the 3 point line. Dajuan “Wagner” Williams and Kris “Kross” Taylor help to solidify this team. But I have gotten more emails and phone calls about this Columbia team in the past few weeks it is crazy. People think they are the flat out best team in the conference. And Jameel Grace and Yvon Ramond fell asleep while beating Seton Hall Prep twice last week. I think this has the making of a good game. But Jameel Grace will drop 25 while taking his Cougar team to 3-0.
PICK: Columbia

FAKEHEAD: I don't know if Sir-Mix-A-Lot can help carry the day for East Orange in this early season game of the week, but either way I heard he likes girls with some junk in their trunk. Seriously though, Ramond and Grace are going to show that Columbia is no joke and beating Seton Hall Prep wasn't a fluke. Look for Columbia to win by at least 5 points, it's going to be a close one and a good game.

PICK: Columbia

Friday

7Weequahic (3-0) at Dover (0-1)

Unruly: I like a team that has a lot of people who can score. And that is what Dover has. Henry Saltos, Harriel Lacy and Jaquan Jones can all put up big numbers. Michael Brown can be deadly from the perimeter. But there is one problem, Weequahic is freaking good. Dashwan Eagie can put up 20 points while sitting on the bench. Jashon Mixon can put up 20 points while going to the bathroom. Shahid Brown, Naeem Gayles and Everette Martin hurt ya when you focus too much on Eagie and Mixon. Weequahic is not ready to give up their undefeated status just yet.
PICK: Weequahic

FAKEHEAD: Weequahic rolls in this one. I have nothign at all against Dover High School or their hoops' players, but Dover itself has problems. Like, for instance, I have started a recycling program at work and on three separate occassions I put out the f*cking recycling and it has not been picked up. I spoke to Dover officials three times and they tell me to just keep putting out on the curb. Meanwhile, it is a ton of sh*t, bottles, newspapers, cardboard, magazines, it is an office for Christ's sake. Dover has done nothing to help me out in my effort to "Go Green." Therefore, I have no choice to boycott all things Dover until this is resolved. The Quac are going to win big.

PICK: Weequahic

7Chatham (2-1) at Hanover Park (1-1)

Unruly: My Alma Mater always has a special place in my heart. And I loved what Phil Gatti and Pete Nagy did on the football field this year. Gatti is just explosive on the basketball court as he was on the grid iron. Greg Baruka is good too. I also like Andrew Walsh from downtown. But I am going with my gut and not my heart on this one. Chatham is too many go to guys, and the coach to boot. They begin with Bill Oliver who shoots like J-Mac did in his two minutes of glory. Even if Oliver was not on the team, Chatham would be a real contender with the likes of Josh Toolajian and Pat Bulter (both of whom can put down 15 points a game). Mike Sweeney and Burton Gildersleeve (who might just have my second favorite name in the conference…next to Sassy Weinstein of Mendham girls b-ball) add the perfect support for this team.
PICK: Chatham (Gatti puts up 22 in the loss though)

FAKEHEAD: The "Telfon Guard" Phil Gatti is going to light it up, but I don't know if it will be enough to beat those guys from Chatham. Rumor is, the rats in Chatham have grown so large they scrimmage the boys' hoops' team. Uncovered video footage showed that the Rats almost beat the boys last week. I'm not sure but I think the Rats would beat Dover. (Kidding!)

PICK: Chatham

7Summit (0-2) at Parsippany (1-1)

Unruly: I don’t want to be mean, but I am not exactly going to be calling up PayPerView to make sure I don’t miss this one. I am saying this to call out these two teams to wake up a little bit. I think they have the talent to be better. Kehoe and Baker of Summit can put up the points. Healy can hit from the outside. But basketball consists of defense as well. Parsippany is not going to get off easy hear either. Sean Connolly needs to rally his troops and start playing some ball. And Tariq Yaqoobi needs to have his name in the paper more. Bro, if they pass it to you just shoot it. I don’t care if you are open or not. Just start draining them from down town. Your name needs to be in print more.
PICK: Summit

FAKEHEAD: My brother is buddies with a guy named Steve Connolly, I doubt there is any relation to the Connolly on Parsippany, but I heard that kid is pretty good. I mention Connolly because he owns a bar in Boston that is pretty popular. I always wanted to own a bar but he said it is tough because the bartenders are constantly giving drinks away and getting hammered on the job. It almost convinced me that it wasnt' a good idea, but I think the "Iron Hills Bar" would be pretty successful. Of course, no althletes in the conference would be allowed to drink. Sorry kids, you got about 4-5 more years of being underage. (That being said, I see more kids doing coke and percocets in high school than I even imagined - not for nothing but getting caught with that stuff will f*ck up your whole life, trust me - don't do it).
Regardless, Kehoe and Baker have been bright spots for Summit so it's going to be a close one, but I think the Parsippany Red Storm is going to prevail. (I have no clue what Parsippany is called).

PICK: Parsippany

7Roxbury (1-1) at Morristown (0-2)

Unruly: What is up with my favorite player Georgie Bass??? He must be under the weather. I had one guy email me and tell me that G. Bass was the best player in the league. I love this kid, so I didn’t doubt it. But I need to see more. Georgie, I am calling you out. This is your team pal; let’s show Roxbury what MoTown b-ball is all about. Colvin and the Breeman boys need to get off the schnyde as well. To me, this is Morristown’s playoffs. Because Eric Vaccacio, Alex Szarejko and Tom Rosatelli of Roxbury can all score and gel on D. Brian Mohr is a freaking animal too. But, I am going on a limb here and seeing if the Colonials can answer my call.
PICK: Morristown

FAKEHEAD: The "Vac Attack" is going to lead Roxbury over Motown this week. That's right, Eric Vaccacio has been playing great thus far and will continue to do so, even against Unruly's favorite player of all time, George Bass.

PICK: Roxbury

7Morris Hills (2-0) at Parsippany Hills (1-2)

Unruly: Can somebody please tell me if the “The Dude” plays basketball or not? Is he sick or something? I don’t know why I like Morris Hills so much. Maybe it is because their whole football team basically plays hoops. They really do have the making of a good team this year. They have the perfect point man in Adam Katz, who reminds me of Bobby Hurley of the early ‘90’s Duke team (which I just realized most of the readers weren’t even born for so scratch that analogy). Andrew Zelnick, Dan Kellner & the Marotta bros make a pretty good team. But what makes this team special is King Justin (aka Justin D., The Big D, J-Dog, J.D., Snoop Donilosky, Air Donilosky). King Justin actually swallowed a basketball one time at a party. He is just crazy sick (or whatever the kids say these days) on the court. Hey, I am not taking away from what Par Hills has either. I like them. Justin Thomas can put up some solid numbers. Greg DePugh plays good D. Blake Cruz is money from downtown and Brian Becher can get it done. But not on this night.
PICK: MoHills (King Justin scores 30…18 in the first half)

FAKEHEAD: What is about Mo Hills this year, they are just playing well in everything. I'm not sure how their chess or debate teams are doing but damn, they are good in the majors. Look for Donilinsky and Katz to be like Shaq and Kobe in the early 2000s this year. I respect Par Hills, but they won't score more than 45 in this one.

PICK: Morris Hills by 15

7Morris Knolls (0-3) at Seton Hall Prep (1-1)

Unruly: Morris Knolls is beginning to look like they can get out of their funk with Sean Pauls leading the way. But they need Steve Bellani, JJ Boylasn and Brandon Danzy to be more consistent. They need a win in a bad way to start to build on something. But unfortunately it won’t be this night. Ashton and Sterling Gibbs are about to begin their tear through the IHC. I think this is just he beginning of a 10 game winning streak. Stephon Treadwell and Rahmaan Patton will be adding the much need support on the boards and from the field.
PICK: Seton Hall Prep (don’t bother taking your coats off, it will be over before it starts) *That little remark is to wake you up Knolls!

FAKEHEAD: What the heck is going on with the Prep? It seems unbeliveable that Gibbs and Company are 1-2 but they will certainly even out their record against an overmatched Knolls team this Friday. Look for the Prep to romp, and maybe get some confidence back.

PICK: Seton Hall Prep

7Randolph (1-0) at Livingston (1-0)

Unruly: Kyle Aiken is making a name for himself in the IHC. He is on a nice path to All County honors. Justin Foster seems to be on that same path as well. But I haven’t seen enough of this group to see if they can go anywhere as a team. And Livingston might actually be a real contender this year behind Corey Eisen, Ben White, Zack Lomita and Mike Helweil. The problem for Livingston is they play in a tough division with the likes of SHP, Columbia, Morritown and Mt. Olive to contend with. But I just don’t know if Randolph is in the same breath as those I just mentioned.

PICK: Livingston

FAKEHEAD: Somebody's going to be .500 after this game. I think that Kyle Aiken (I hope to God for his sake he is not related to Clay) and Justin Foster are going to prepel Randolph over Eisen, Lomita and company this week. But it's going to be damn close. Should be a good one.
PICK: Randolph

7West Morris (0-2) at Mount Olive (2-0)

Unruly: I would like to see West Morris start to get good at basketball. I know they live in the boondocks, but come on already. First of all Jared Washkas cannot play all the positions. He needs Josh Boyd and Derek Kanbour to play better defense. And I am giving Famularo to start to take more shots from outside. But Mt. Olive is rolling. The Highlanders/Wolfpacks are led by Brian Bublitz. You may remember him from from football season. Bublitz has an easy job because all he needs to do is dish it off to Russell Halloway who is a scoring machine. In fact, Halloway might be the best in the league from downtown. Gerod Hatcher and Danny Gutman also have the ability to put big numbers.
PICK: Mount Olive (Hatcher & Holloway combine for 38 points in the win)

FAKEHEAD: Dannny "Guts" Gutman and Russell Simmons Halloway are just a few of the weapons Mt. Olive has in its arsenal. Washkas at West Morris is carrying the team right now, and unfortunately it's too big for his shoulders. Look for Mt. Olive to roll, especially if they manage to get Washkas in some foul trouble early.

PICK: Mount Olive

7Mendham (1-1) at West Essex (1-1)

Unruly: This should be an awesome game. Jeff George, who comes with much fan fare, and his West Essex Knights will host the Minutemen of Mendham. Josh Sigler and Chris Jung are scoring threats while Rocco Carnevale and Even Elberg can really pound the boards. There is no team the league who tosses up more three’s than Wessex. But Mendham has a strategy. What they do is lure opponents into their kitchen under a false premise. Then they introduce their point guard who comes out to great you. “Hi my name is Chris Hanson. We are doing a story on basketball teams who have too much hype surrounding them. After squirming around in the chair for 10 minutes, Hanson lets them know they are free to leave. When they walk out the door, Rob Berish and Mark Cisco jump on them, cuff them and drop 20 points a piece on them.
PICK: Mendham (This is the beginning of a long winning streak for the Minutemen too)

FAKEHEAD: Mendham is feeling "Berish" after starting the season 1-1 and they have their hands full with a stocked West Essex team. That being said, I think the "Bear Man" as Rob Berish is affectionally referred to as by his fans, will play his heart out, score 20 and take Mendham above .500 this week. By the way, I had no clue Jeff George is now playing hoops for West Essex. The last time I heard of that guy he was quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. This guy will never stop playing sports. Good for him, but somebody might want to make sure he is taking classes at WE.

PICK: Mendham

Best Boys B-Ball Teams Voted by You

1. Chatham (17% of votes)

2. Seton Hall Prep (16%)

3. West Essex (12%)

4. Morris Hills (9%)

5. Mendham (7%)

Best Boys B-Ball Players Voted by You

1. Jeff George - West Essex (23%)

2. Billy Oliver - Chatham (16%)

3. Ashton Gibbs - Seton Hall Prep (13%)

4. Moss - Livingston - Livingston (7%)

5. Chris Kehoe - Summit (5%)

*Keep voting if you disagree. Or if there is someone else, put their name in the "other" field. Keep voting all season long.

Girls Hoops Picks (Monday & Tuesday Games)

2007-12-17T11:53:00.000-08:00

Monday

7Morris Knolls at Newton
We finally get to see what the Knolls has got in their ranks. They have a lot of returning letter-women but it is all question marks right now. But I think all that experience last year will help the Knolls this year. Look for Alyssa Meola and Nicolette Radovic to gel too.
PICK: Knolls

7Columbia at Westfield
Westfield should not even come out tonight. Columbia shouldn't even have to get off the bus. It is not a matter if JJ Sullivan and the Columbia Diva's will beat down on you, it is how bad. Columbia is my pick to go all the way. They are a true team. Abigail Martin has the best game of her career tonight.
PICK: Columbia (easy)

Tuesday

4Chatham at Mendham
Chatham is good...or shall I say Julia Moorehead is good. They broke how big against Par Hills in a 58-24 shilacking. But Mendham is not too shabby behind Kathleen Wiese and my favorite player in the league (strictly because of her name) Sassy Weinstein. But Chatham is too good.
PICK: Chatham

7Morris Hills at Dover
Jessie Bertolli and Coleen Kelly will try to gather the troops to lead a victory over Casey Boyle and the Dover Tigers. But Stephanie Salterelli will be the x-factor in this game.
PICK: Dover

7Hanover Park at Parsippany Hills
Ahh, my Alma mater...back in the '80's nothing was better than HP Girls Hoops. I think they are making a resurgence with head man Doug Wear. Especially when you consider having one of the best girls hoopsters in the conference in Ashley Addison. Lindsey Singer is not too shabby either. Jessica Zabito of Par Hills is no slouch, but what about the rest of the team. They need more than one person scoring to win games.
PICK: HP

7Morris Knolls at Livingston
For the second night in a row Knolls runs wild and beats Livingston. Nicolette Radovic decides she is the best player on her team and leads the team in scoring in this one. Alyscia Zulauf (any relation to the poet from Succassuana anybody?) is good, but she can't play every position.
PICK: Knolls

7Weequahic at Parsippany
Kenyadah Mitchell and Jade Pinkett (Will Smith's wife) will prove to work well together this year. But Parippany has one thing to say to Weequahic, "Elena Noonan", will will unload for 18 in this one. Aysun Malta will also add another 10.
PICK: Parisppany

7Morristown at East Orange
Morristown is good. Teresa Towns and Caitlin McGuire will put on a show this game. However, putting on a show will not get it done. Especially when Shaleah Alston puts up 25 in her best game ever. Ava Burke lets Morristown know that she is not to be messed with as she pulls down 8 boards in this battle.
PICK: E.O. (in a close one)

7Randolph at Mount Olive
Candace Shpock and Kathleen Naddaff both have the ability to put up 15 points a game each. And they will need to both do that if they want to beat the mighty M.O. Autumn Harnish (10pts a game is just too powerful. Plus teammate Breanna Mitchell will be having a breakout game.
PICK: M.O.

7Roxbury at West Morris
Sarah Gage will score 14 and Cori Younghans will score 13 in this battle. The problem is that Haley D'Angelo will score 20 and Emily Peel will score 15 and have 5 rebounds in this Iron Division battle.
PICK: West Morris (but it will be a battle)

8Summit at West Essex
Some people think Ali Cassara is the best in the Iron and the Hills division. I am not sure I can disagree. And Colleen Caprio is perfect in the supporting cast role. I don't know what they are feeding kids in North Caldwell but they seem to be dominating every sport these days. Alex Reese and Jenna Wilson will try to knock Wessex off their perch. But Wessex is too big of a bird.
PICK: West Essex

TOP 5 GIRLS B-BALLERS VOTED BY YOU:

Player - School Votes %
Julia Moorehead - Chatham 137 39%
Ashley Addison - HP 42 12%
Alyscia Zulauf - Livingston 29 8%
Ali Cassara - West Essex 23 7%
Cori Younghans - Roxbury 22 6%

We Had to Add a Few Players since the Daily Record Clearly forgot a Few guys!

2007-12-14T12:28:00.001-08:00

Okay, we know that the Daily Record is the ugly step sister of the Star Ledger, but common! There are a few major holes in this year's All Daily Record football picks. Oh, I will not take anything away from the kids who are on this list. But I have a few problems with who is NOT on this list. And since this is the Iron Hills Sports website, I will address all of the Iron Hills boys who are not on the list and who definately should be on the list.

The first major problem I have is why is Dan Kellner on there as a Punter??? If Joe Hoffman had something to do with this list, he dropped the ball big time here. Is Kellner even the punter? First of all, the guy is one of the best QB's and team leaders in the league. I am not going to rattle off all his stats but the freaking guy threw for over 3,000 yards his entire football career. The Daily Record wrote about him every week. And he took his team to a 10-2 record and played in the State Finals. Plus he was a great defensive back. If you need to fill in the blank, then put him as honorable mention. Don't disgrace us by giving Kellner That right there is a travesty!!!

Kellner is the man. Kellner definately deserves more respect. He shouldn't be getting it from here. I will give it to the Daily Record for putting "The Dude" on the first team. I would completely protest the Daily Record for a very long time if they dissed the Dude.

Another guy who I feel went completely under the Radar was John Wiskow from Mendham. He started out the season having a TD in the first three or four games. But he made some really spectacular catches and runs. I saw one real athletic move against West Essex that most kids would have not even caught. But he caught it and made a really nice move to get it in for six. And although the team lost, his play gave them a much need spark. He should have at the very least gotten Honorable Mention.

Also, another guy who should have gotton some props is Frank Vasquez from Dover. That kid makes every catch and every tackle. He was definately deserving of an Honorable Mention here, at the very least. I think he might be an underclassmen as most of that team was, I hope he is so he can get on this list next year. Actually, I like that Dover team. Even though they stunk. But I say that in a good way. This team did more losing than anything else, but they never quit. And you know what, that says a lot about the character of those kids. Beleive me, Dover will be tough next year.

Fowler was probably the best all around back in the Hills Division. Their QB should have gotten an honorable mention. I forget his name, but he is the guy who broke his leg in the middle of the season. Oh yeah, Joe Scialampo. He should be on there because he was a solid guy. In fact, I was sure that was it for their team when he went down. But DePugh who came up in back up did a great job too. He will be solid next year. But Scialampo should at least get a Honorable Mention.

Of course, this is basically Morris County teams and they didn't include West Essex. But if there were I am sure Hayek, Agrifolio and the rest of the New England Patriots would have been mentioned.

Allgood from Chatham, anybody? This guy made every freaking tackle for Chatham. What the hell??? I am not asking for a First or Second Team pick but how about an Honorable Mention?

Anthony Prior from H.P. He comes from a long line of tough Prior boys. For that alone he should have gotten and Honorable Mention. Let me tell you, I saw this guy play a few times. He caught my eye and I wasn't even looking for him. Any player who fearlessly puts his head in front of a steam rolling running back deserves something. I hope Prior is an underclassmen bc I want to see more of him next year.

More on Mendham, Calavero should also be on the Honorable Mention list. He was a major part of that line. Aaron DeWitt definately deserves the First Team. I am glad he got that. He was always the dirtiest player by the end of the game. I see that kid being a coach one day. He was like Chad Pennington on the side lines they way he cheered everybody on.

Also, Mike Salerno should be up there for Honorable Mention. Riposta should have gotten at least Second Team honors. And Santomo is a First Teamer, NOT A QUESTION.

Seton Hall Prep is not on there. But one guy who should have been named but probably won't be is Allen Buzbee. He won't be named because he didn't play. But that was only because he broke his leg in a preseason game. But he was so good he got a D1 scholarship basedon his junior year. He is going to U. of NH. For what I just said, he deserves something. Beleive me, it sucks to lose your last year of HS football.

Well, the point is...is there are tons of great players in our Iron Hills. I know I really didn't touch much on the Iron Division.

With that said, next Football Season, this site will be the number one resource for all of your Iron Hills Football needs. I know it sort of favored the Hills divison for the most part, but the Iron will get its due coverage next year. I will spend the rest of the Winter and Spring Sports getting the kinks out.

If you have some feedback, please take the 10 Question Survey on the right hand side. I really value what you have to say and will make changes based on what you say.

*****Also, and this is the most important. If you are creative and are interested in journalism. Or even if you just like talking smack, and want to say something about teams in the Iron Hills, then this is the place for you. Seriously, I am looking for some writers to contribute to this site. The pay is great and the working conditions are very nice. Okay, the pay sucks (it actually doesnt pay anything) and you work from home. But this will be great for your college resume. Even if you are a dad or a mom, just send me and email and I will lay down the ground rules (which is basically no swearing). You will have all the creative freedom in the world. All interested parties send me an email at unruly@ironhillssports.com. Thank you!*****

FRIDAY NIGHT BASKETBALL PICKS

2007-12-12T09:50:00.000-08:00

Okay basketball fans, basketball is back in business starting this Friday Night. And for your reading enjoyment I hired Fakehead to make his much anticipated selections for this Friday Nights' games.

As you know, Fakehead brings his love of the game, knowledge of the Iron Hills and relationships with the players and coaches to the table here. Okay, he doesn't have any of that. But the guy is hilarious. Plus, he picked 75% of the games correct in '06.

Here are Fakehead's Picks for Friday Nights' Games:

Chatham at Parsippany Hills, 7
FAKEHEAD: I don't know if you can say it's a preview to the playoffs this early in the season. Par Hills has always been pretty good at hoops, weren't they coached by Mr. Guiliana or something? Those Guiliana kids could play. Regardless, I'm not sure where Chatham is, (the township or the borough), but last summer Chatham had a rat problem, so just out of the gross out factor I'm going with Par Hills.

Hanover Park at Dover, 7
FAKEHEAD: HP, HP, HP! As many of you can tell, like most people who analyze sports, I was not the best athlete in high school. I only played hoops one year out of the three I tried out. My JV squad was f*cking awesome. Me, Figgs (he occassionally comments on this site), some kid called Goldberg, an indian kid who thought he was black, and some other characters. Our coach was probably 103 years old. Nice guy, but old. We were pretty damn bad, but I have to say that I had a good time and everyone liked one another, so it was cool. I have a great basketball story about my brother at HP but I'll save that for later in the season. Oh yeah, I don't know much about HP hoops, or Dover, but I am going to have to go with HP on this one. For one, it always seemed like Dover had raw talent but couldn't get it together to win when I saw them play. Second, HP is going to be decent this year, I have a feeling.

Morris Hills at Parsippany, 7
FAKEHEAD: Honestly, the "Dude" is officially my favorite player in the Iron Hills Conf. The Dude is going to abide by scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 boards in a Morris Hills victory.

Mount Olive at Morris Knolls, 7
FAKEHEAD: I would never say anything bad about Mount Olive, my work is connected to that town and from what I hear it is very nice, especially if you like country music. On a serious note, why do they call it Morris Knolls? Can anyone explain the Knolls part? I understand Hills and Tech and Prep, but Knolls? Maybe I'm dumb but I don't get it. Mount Olive will win because Knolls makes no sense.

Morristown at Seton Hall Prep, 7
FAKEHEAD: Morristown is going to lose, by at least 12 points by the time it is all said and done and the last foul shot swishes through the net. Let's face it, Georgie Bass can't play every position on the court and besides the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s I've never seen a one-man team win consistently. That's not to say Motown is a one-man team, but they can't hang with the Prep's depth. Plus, I know 5 kids who went to Prep (not counting my cousin). One of them had one leg and didn't play hoops. Two of them were too busy chasing girls to focus on sports (or their schoolwork), one of them was like Michael from the American version of the "Office" in the basketball episode, which, if you haven't seen it you should, it is f*cking hilarious. Anyway, the character Michael literally throws the basketball at the basket like a baseball when shooting and it totally bricks off the backboard. It was funny. That guy ended up being my roomate in college (not the fake TV person, the Prep kid) and finally, a tall guy who actually played hoops while at Seton Hall. The dude was a great hoops player throughtout his life but even he didn't play that much for SHP while he was there. That's how good they were, and that is the point of my long ass story. SHP is good at sports, I guess because the kids just focus on sports instead of girls all day. I wish I could just focus on work instead of stupid blogs and women all day, but I digress.

Randolph at West Morris, 7
FAKEHEAD: Randolph will win this game by 7 points. Why? Well, Randolph has the kid with the two arms and two legs who wears a number on his jersey that is pretty damn good. And West Morris is bascially Sussex County, and we all know how feel about Sussex County. "Deliverance" anyone? Kidding!!!!!!!!! Don't get upset West Morris, I'm just busting your b*lls. Unfortunately, I'm not kidding about Randolph in a close one.

Roxbury at East Orange, 7
FAKEHEAD: I'm a big fan of East Orange after hearing the football coach talk to the media after the State Championship game. What does that have to do with hoops? Nothing, but I don't give a crap. East Orange by 18.

Summit at Mendham, 7
FAKEHEAD: Isn't Chris Hanson that guy from "To Catch a Predator?" That f*cking guy is so young! He looks much older on TV. Plus, they let a guy who hasn't graduated high school yet confront kiddie touchers? That's messed up. Assuming Chris Hanson doesn't have to work in Florida at some f*cking mansion luring pedophiles out to set them up, I think Hanson's team will win.

FANTASY CORNER:

There are five people you need to start on Friday Night. First, is Billy Oliver of Chatham. He should be worth 18 points minimum.

Secondly, if you have George Bass on your team, Start 'em. He might not get the high point totals but he should be good for at least 10-14 points but his value comes with steals.

Ashton Gibbs is a no brainer starter. His value as a fantasy player will just go up as the year moves on.

Alot of people are saying Jeff George is a must starter. But I like Justin D. of Morris Hills for his blocking ability and his jump shot.

My fift pick your fantasy team has got to be Jameel Grace of Columbia. I think he could get some major points and get some blocking and steeling points as well.

Fantasy predictions are basically for fun. This site does not condone playing fantasy sports for high schoolers. The fact that I even have to write this makes me sad for our country.

Unruly's Top 10 B-Ballers (Boys)

2007-12-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

1) Seton Hall Prep
2) Chatham
3) Morris Hills
4) West Essex
5) Morristown
6) Columbia
7) Mendham
8) Par Hills
9) East Orange
10) Summit

ANALYSIS: Okay, here is my reasoning for the this Top 10. First, why did I pick Seton Hall Prep? Easy, the ability to recruit. Ha, just kidding. Ashton Gibbs is my main reason. Depth is the second. And Chris Hines is my third. I thought Allen Buzbee would making a huge impact this hoops season. SOB, the freaking guy re-injured the same ankle that forced him to miss the entire football season. That kid cannot catch a break. But don't worry, he'll have plenty of time up at UNH to get his senior HS year out of his system. But beleive me you, if Buzbee was playing hoops this year, SHP would be one of the best teams in the state.

As for not picking Wessex with the number two pick? Well, they could actually be there. But they are so good at football they need to lose at something so I am punnishing them with the four spot. But they do deserve the second ranking here and could even end up in the top spot by the end of the year. Jeff George is as studly as they come...but I am not so convinced about the rest of the team.

But the reason Chatham is number two is because of standout Billy "The Freaking Man" Oliver. B.O. as I will refer to him as for now on has the experience, surrounding players and the coach to take his team all the way. But for now, they will remain at number two.

Here is the reason why I have Morris Hills at number three: TEAM. This is a true team and it is full of guys who have been playing together since childhood. Plus, Rockaway kids are tough and have a lot of heart. Doug "The Dude" Dudek is like Brett Favre the way he plays hard and has fun. Justin Doniloski is a tough SOB and Adan Katz is gold from the perimeter. I see these guys going far. They are one of those teams that could take the title because of their heart.

The "Dude"

Morristown is at number five because of my man Georgie Bass. I don't know why I love this kid so much. I don't even know him. I did actually hear from a friend of a friend of a friend type of thing that his family is really nice. So maybe that is it. I saw Bass score 5 touchdowns during a freshman football game once. That could be why I like him. Plus his brother Dewey was just awesome on the court. And rumor has it is that Georgie is better than his bro.

Columbia gets the number six spot. But you know what, they might actually be better than that. But they always stuck in the shadow of their ugly step sister, Seton Hall Prep. I know some coaches who tremble a little when you mention Columbia.

Mendham gets the seven spot. But they might surprise people too. Mike Salerno is one of the shiftiest guys in the league. Plus, he is one of the hardest working athletes at this level. Between him, Rob Berish and Chris Hanson (formally from the pop group Hanson) this crew will get it done. Plus they have a tall b*stard who I cant think of his name right now.

You know what? It is really difficult to pick a Top 10 in the Iron Hills. Actually, I think I have all the right teams in the Top 10 but the order is hard to predict. I am going with Par Hills with the eighth spot, but you know what? I am not sure now. We'll stick with eight right now, but I think Par Hills has the skills to get into the Top 5. Eugene Fowler is one of the best athletes in the conference. Dan DePugh is a heady athlete too. Add Brian Eswood to the mix and you have a contender I am telling you.

At nine we got E.O. Why? Easy, one reason Akeem Cunningham. I think his sister plays on the girls team actually and is probably better than half the boys in the league. But I see Cunningham making a lot of things happen this year.

And with the tenth spot I am putting Summit. I see Chris Kehoe having the best season of his life.

In summary, I definitely see SHP, Chatham and Wessex in the top 3. I know I put Morris Hills in the number 3 spot. But if Wessex wants that spot they are going to have to earn it. For now, Morris Hills gets it because I like them. But with that said, I see the second tier teams being Morris Hills (I know I am confusing you, shut up!), Mendham, Par Hills, Columbia and Morristown.

But what is so great about HS Hoops is that you never do know until the players take the court. Good luck teams! *I will be predicting all Iron Hills B-Ball games all year so stay tuned.

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This Weeks' Hockey Picks

2007-12-10T06:55:00.001-08:00

Monday, December 10th

Mountain Lakes vs. Randolph
The defending Champs roll here after beating Mendham Friday night. I also call Matt Nowicki has a big game.
PICK: Randolph 4-1

Mount Olive vs. Roxbury
Ryan Doll comes up big as Roxbury wins a close one.
PICK: Roxbury 3-2

Tuesday, December 11th

Chatham vs. Morristown-Beard
Mo-Beard usually puts together a solid squad. But Chatham could be the real deal this year behind studs Jeff Keating and Paul Ughetta. Besides having a great hockey name, Ughetta will be one of this conferences' stars.
PICK: Chatham 5-2

Wednesday, December 12th

Morris Hills vs. Morris Knolls
AKA: "The battle of the Rockaways" Knolls usually puts up the better squad and definately has the depth. But I like MoHills taking this one and sending a early message to the league. Dave McAndrew has the biggest game of his career as well.
PICK: MoHills 2-1

Roxbury vs. Montville
Ryan Doll and company keep up their winning ways.
PICK: Roxbury 3-2

Randolph vs. Pingry
Randolph shows some humanness as they get over taken by their first non-public of the year.
PICK: Pingry 5-4

Thursday, December 13th

Parsippany vs. Par Hills
Also known as the "Battle of Route 46". Tough call here. But I always felt like Parsippany Hills Hockey has a chip on their shoulder...and Parsippany always wants to knock it off.
PICK: Parsippany 4-1

Kinnelon vs. West Morris
The only way W. Morris loses this one is if they beat themselves. And after a lackluster football season, the Highlanders/Wolfpack are tired of losing.
PICK: West Morris 6-5

Season's End Shizzle

2007-12-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

Ok folks, you have heard me rant and rave for weeks on end now on how much the NJ HS football scene needs fixing. So, I have assembled my thoughts for all of you to crucify me or laugh - mock me if you must - but dammit...consider what I am saying!

But for real dawg - consider this:

1. The VanZile Plan. Mike Van Zile of Walkill Valley gets the BRASS BALLS award for the 07 season.

Yeah, I know, he's whining right? No WAY!! He is merely the one who has the courage to bring to the table the issues that have been f-ing up NJ football for many years. The NJSIAA rulebook says that "schools may not recruit for athletic advantage" (or something like that - YOU can look it up, ok?). Well, guess what - that is the source of all the real problems with HS sports in this state, especially basketball, Football, and Baseball. (Nobody f-ing gives a shizzle in America about "soccer", so get it through your thick pansy skulls ok? - but more on that later.) Private schools can give "scholarships" to anyone they wish, from anywhere in the state with impunity, and it has been happening for years.

The NJSIAA has neither the will nor the means to enforce this on the privates, and they never will. (as an aside, if I was the parent of a kid in Paterson, and I had the opportunity to send my kid to Delbarton on a ride vs. Eastside High - the decision is no brainer - I don't blame the kids or the parents - nor the schools for providing the opportunity). But the problem is real when i comes to athletic advantage...the publics just can't compete with the privates, especially when it comes to playoffs. Simultaneously, publics are scrutinized annually for possible recruiting violations. It is simply unfair.

Goats: NJSIAA (for having their thumbs up their asses)

Villains: Every AD who voted against the VanZile Plan.

Heroes: Mike Van Zile. Those who voted with him.

Victims: The athletes. All of them.

Aftermath. It looks like the NJSIAA finally got off their Herodic asses and put together a team to study how to work out a compromising plan addressing many of the issues. If you ask me, Steve Timko (the "Pete Roselle" of the NJSIAA) just doesn't want to get a pink slip, but at least he recognized that there is problem here, which is more than can be said about his predecessor (whoever the hell that chump was).

2. Why are the NJ state football trophies so lame (in design)? Hey, Robbinsville...WAKE UP. It is 2007. Time to redesign that lame ass trophy that you cheap bastards issue! Gimme a break. You want inspiration? Take a look at the Lombardi trophy. These kids broke their asses for god knows how long and all you can do is issue that lame piece of wood? Football is the premier, distinct, unique, American sport. Act like it and step up. 'Nuff said.

3. Steroids testing. This is where the NJSIAA demonstrates it's biggest amount of authority and where they could have the biggest impact at leveling the playing field. Imagine how the playing field would change if no one used 'roids? Inerestingly enough, this dovetails with the recruiting problem, and is exacerbated by it.

How? Consider this: you live in smalltown A and the genetically best athletes you had ended up going to Seton Hall, and then you still have to play them and expect to be competitive, what are you going to do? If you live in Smalltown B, and you play innner-city schools who have a much larger genetic pool to choose from, what is your alternative to be competitive? Both cases can lead to using.

The current NJSIAA policy only tests a random 2 players from each team in each Championship game. Really. Is that a deterrent? F-NO. If you are a user, you have less than a 5% chance of getting caught - IF YOU ARE ON A FINALS TEAM. That number falls DRASTICALLY (about nil) if you don't make it to the finals because it is basically left to the coaches. The vast majority coaches don't want to know or can't ask if their players are users, because it would cease competitive advantage or is otherwise procedurally or legally limited to ask. On a personal note, I played with at least one kid who was an obvious user - everyone knew it - the coaches looked the other way; he was, of course, a standout. How would he have been had not used? Probably average.

So how do we fix this? By issuing a policy that is ACTUALLY A THREAT TO THE USERS!

Example 1: Test a random sample of 1-2 players, from 20% of teams each week during the regular season and larger samples in the entire postseason.

Example 2: Test all players on all teams in the finals.

Example 3: Test 1 random player from every team prior to every regular season game and all players in all finals.

The bottom line is this. There is still roids use among many HS athletes, especially football players. In order to discourage it propoerly, we need a policy that actually has teeth to stop it. If you are serious about stopping it, then you need to get serious with your policies. The current policy is as useless as the paper (or electrons) it is printed on. It stops no one.

4. Religion and Football.

a. Amazing Grace. Supposedly, according to the mighty Joe Hof, the Mount Olive band played Amazing Grace during one of its home games early this year. Good for them.

b. Team Prayers. Apparently their are some atheistic a-holes out there who make it their mission in life to remove any reference to religion from public life including that of any public high school football coach making any reference to God or prayer during, before, or after a game. My message to you - get a life, and put down the doobie. Remember, it is precisely our Judeo-Christian moral heritage/traditions in this country that instruct us to be tolerant of other religions (or no-religions). Remove that and the tolerance baseline goes bye-bye too.

c. F-The ACLU. American Communist Lawyers Union.

5. The Sissification of America. Here's something I have been preaching for many years. The kind of kids that play football are the kind of kids who would have been the warriors 10-6000+ years ago. You want to sissify this country? You want to let other people conquer us? Start watering down our contact sports, start playing more soccer, take the hitting out of lacrosse, outlaw boxing...and so on. We'll end up with Lesbian-Amazons in charge and we'll be slain by third world a-holes like UBL and AlQaeda.

American Football is one of the last bastions of true masculinity being allowed on a mass level. Football helps our boys become men and has many rewarding life-lessons that cannot be understood well enough unless you have played it. Start messing with the rules on contact and keep participation levels down at the low levels and in the words of Jesse Ventura in PREDATOR, we'll end up with a bunch of "slack-jawed, fagg!t$ 'round here".

6. Racism, Football, and Recruiting. The Mighty JoeHof had an excellent, Pulitzer Caliber, article in the Daily Record, about midseason, speaking to the systemic racism against white men in college football recruiting. Nice job Joe...you are the brass-balls award runner up, for having the courage to speak truth to power, and stand up to the Race-baiters, etc. If you haven't read it, you need to. The brief synopsis is that standout white players have a much harder time getting scholarships to play football, especially at the skill-positions. One things though Joe: You mentioned Martinek in that article...he is poor example of one of these cases as he is not the talent that you wrote him up to be in High School (IMHO). Yeah, he broke* the NJ state rushing record, but he is certainly not anywhere near the level of Craig Heyward (Passaic '83?), Willie Wilson (Summit '73?), etc. If Hayek and others had been starting at RB since they were Frosh as well, where would they stand in total yards? Schiano had good reason to switch him to DB.

7. Iron Hills Divide. There should be a Iron Hills championship game to decide an Iron Hills Champion. The Iron division Champ should play the Hills division champ annually, this would solve any questions about which team the best in MoCo annually (yeah, I know there are other conferences in the county, but who cares? - just kidding).

8. The Star-Ledger. For the love of Peter, DOES THE STAR LEDGER WEBSITE BLOW OR WHAT??? They took a bad site and made it worse. It is the most frustrating site I have ever had to navigate.

9. Thanksgiving Day Games. Bring em back. Especially where you can keep or revive rivalries by doing so, like an annual Mendham-WMC game.

10. West Morris Central. What in the name of Mike is going on at WMC?? Has that program imploded or what? 3 losing seasons in 4 years or something? They should be much better next year, but I feel bad for those kids.

11. (Omitted/Classified)

12. Par Hills. Congrats to their coach for turning that program around, but you need to work on your sportsmanship...remember you set the example...and that is why you are known as the dirtiest team in the Hills.

13. Mendham. You had a great year. You got robbed of a playoff berth. You should have killed Ridge in that consolation game. Next year is probably your best shot at a state-run in 10 years...take advantage...you have the talent...spend your off-season in the Gym and work hard...it is yours for the taking but you have got TO WANT IT BAD ENOUGH TO GET IT. I have hunch you have a few dry years coming up after the '08 season...just a hunch.

14. West Essex. 1) Great Season, and congrats on both titles. 2) You need to find other teams to beat up on than the Hills (see recommendation of an IHC title game above.). 3) Stop paying off the Refs. It's old, and you don't need to do it. ;)

15. Randolph. Lusardi. Suk. Dunn. Good lord. I don't know what the truth is over there, but it sure as hell smells like something stinks over there. If there is corruption, it needs to be addressed. ...And NO SUK is clearly not DI talent...at least not based on his performance this year. (of course neither was Mendham's QB in '06, but he is amazingly playing D-III college ball. Go figure.)

16. HP's Jerkoff annonuncer. This guy is an embarassment to every legitimate announcer out there. Get a life you f-ing loser. A good game announcer's affiliation should be transparent...announce the yardage gain...who carried the ball...who made the tackle...etc. that's it. None of this "another HP [pause] first DOWN!!" crap. A-hole.

17. Joe Hofmann and the Daily Record. Joe, you and the Daily Record, for the most part did a fine job this season. I give you a B+/A-. You get the A- if you want to argue your grade and you can get Megan Fox to show me her breasts...OK, I'll settle for a hooters girl shoeing me her cleavage if I can do the "motorboat".

18. "Mr. Dunn". If that actually was you all year on JH's blog, you need to get a life. I actually sympatized with you early on, but your unintelligible, ridiculous, cruel rantings have jeopardized your credibility. Leave the kids alone. Stop drinking. Shut up.

You are the recipient of the Trojan-ENZ, boner of the Season award. Congrats.

An Interview with Sam Garnes

2007-12-05T08:39:00.001-08:00

Former NFL defensive back Sam Garnes spent some time with me this week talking about something that he feels very strongly about; helping young athletes to be the best they can be.

The 6’3, 225 lbs Garnes spent 7 years in the NFL from 1997 to 2004. He was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round and played with them for five years. He was a big part of their defense when they played in the Superbowl in 2000. Then he spent the remaining two years as a part of the Jets, helping them to make the playoffs as well.

Within a few minutes of talking to Garnes, I realized that football was not something that he just fell into, but something he worked really hard at achieving. Garnes’ message he wants to get across to young athletes is that if they want to move to the next level they need to work for it.

He said that many people he played with in high school were at the same talent level as him but didn’t have the right guidance to take it to the next level. “Our running back was Sheldon Cooper. He was definitely good enough to play in the NFL.”

Currently Garnes spends a lot of his time running clinics, camps and one-on-one trainings to help players get to that next level. His approach is all about teaching fundamentals so athletes can improve their skills necessary to excel in football. His goal is to help the people like Cooper who with the right direction and coaching can make it to the next level.

Garnes would really like to see football have more resources dedicated to it in the tri-state area. “In Texas they play football year round. There are so many talented players in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. If there were more focus on developing these kids, this area would put out a lot of great players to colleges and pro's.”

“There is so much money pumped into this area and they should really allocate more to sports for kids. In the city, kids either do battle on the streets or on the playing field.” Garnes said. “When the season ends, the kids go back to the streets.”

Garnes works in partnership with Primo Sports in Florida, NY and Legends Resort & Country Club Vernon, NJ to help youngsters learn skills from a real professional. His football academy is set up for youngsters from 9 to 14 years old. “We want to get them started young before high school because at that level the coaches bring them to football camps in the summer.”

Garnes also spends time doing private training lessons for many local high school atheletes who are serious about excelling. “Being a defensive back, you get to know about every position. I help quarterbacks with their three-step drops. I teach running how to run. We teach runningbacks how to run. We teach the right fundamentals so when they are on the field it just comes as an instint.”

Earlier this year, he helped out with the Montclair High School football team, which ended up making it to the State Finals in Giants Stadium.

When Garnes was in High School at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, he was a defensive back and a wide receiver. Then he was given a scholarship to go to the University of Cincinnati. “I considered myself a wide receiver. I thought I was going to be the next Al Toon or Jerry Rice. But in college they thought I would be better at defensive back.”

Garnes attributes his attitude to his success on the field. “When I was in college, I had an edge that since I was from New York I was tougher than everyone. Not that that was necessarily true, but that was the motivation I used. Our coach said to use whatever motivation works for you, and that is what I did. I told myself that I was better than the kids from Texas and Florida, because I grew up in New York City.”

On his vision to get to the NFL, Garnes said, “I knew I was good enough to play in the NFL. When I was in college my friends used to bust on me because I was so confident about getting to the NFL. It wasn’t a question of ‘NFL or bust’; it was ‘I am going to the NFL’. I didn’t matter, I was going to work as hard as possible and do whatever I needed to do to get to that level.”

Once in the NFL, Garnes made the most of his opportunity. In his first game as a pro, he intercepted a pass and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown vs. the Eagles. “That moment let me know that I could play at this level.”

He also discussed what it was like playing at the Superbowl. “I can’t even describe in words. It was just a dream come true. The two weeks before the whole country is just focused on the game you are about to play. It was really amazing to watch all those camera flashes coming from the stands during that first kickoff.”

Garnes also talked about how he understands how deflating it was to lose that big game. “It was like you worked so hard and played at the highest level you possibly could to get there. I understand how difficult it is for teams to come back and do it again.”

Garnes actually retired in 2003 after starting every year for the seven years he played. “I played a very emotional and physical type of game. My mind and passion were still there, but your body just cannot bounce back as easily when you get older. It was really hard to retire.”

Now Sam lives in New Jersey and is dedicated to using his experience to helping others. If you are interested in talking to Sam or getting private or group training from him just go to his website at http://www.samgarnesfbc.com/ or email him at sg@samgarnesfbc.com.

Van Zile Foiled Again

2007-12-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

You have to give Walkill Valley's Mike Van Zile some credit for trying...but his plan to move away from the Power Point system didn't pass for a second time today. But the margin is getting closer. Seven years ago the NJFART voted 4 to 1 against his proposal. This year, they voted 209 to 155 which I think is closer.

At any rate, his plan which is basically designed to get away from the Power Point system and move to a giant playoff platform reminiscent to what the NCAA does for collect basketball. What would happen is they would put all of the high school teams into a big 64 team bracket and let them battle it out to see who would be the champion.

At least that is the gist of it. If I am wrong you can blame NJ.com because that is were I get all my info. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to navigate their website.

The one thing I love about the Daily Record and Star Ledger's coverage of this plan is that they make Mike Van Zile to be some crazy nut who is proposing all these preposterous ideas. My understanding is that he is not a nut at all. But those articles are like, "Here comes Crazy Old Van Zile with another crazy proposal again!" Read those articles and tell me they are not out to get Van Zile.

OTHER NEWS:

*Put on your swim cap because HS Swimming starts up today! Van Zile has a proposal for HS Swimming as well. He basically wants to keep swimming a winter sport, but wants every team to compete outside instead of indoors. His idea is that would allow more schools to participate in the sport. Normally Van Zile has some crazy ideas, but I see this one passing.

*Hockey starts this week as well. Van Zile's proposal for Hockey is to change from ice hockey to roller hockey. This way every school can play in their school gymnasiums. But that is just crazy old Van Zile stirring up the pot again.

FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD (Updated All Weekend)

2007-11-30T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hayek, Keegan and Agrifolio too much for MoHills

West Essex 27 - Morris Hills 6

What can you say? It was too hard for Morris Hills to come back from a 20-0 deficit in the first quarter. Dan Keegan was the early spark plug, dashing for a 48 yard gain on the second play of the game. He finnished with 78 yards on the ground. Hayek carried the ball for 90 yards and two TD's (big suprise!). Agrifolio, who I think is the best all around athlete on the team, added two more TD's.

The big suprise here is where was Morris Hills? I picked Wessex to win it, but only in a nail biter. MoHills was never in this one.

Hey, you know what? Two teams play and somebody has to win. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the better team. Morris Hills had just a great season. All of their boys They have nothing to be ashamed of. You got to love their cast of characters (Justin D., Mirabella, Kellner, Dudek, etc). Great season guys! Hey 10-2 is something to hang your hat on. Only a few teams in the state get to play in Giants Stadium and you were one of them.

But what can you say about my boys? The West Essex Knights. Big bad Anthony Hayek and all. You guys just had a great season! You truely were the New England Patriots of the Iron Hills Conference this year. You didn't let up more than one TD in any game and had 12 shut outs or something like that. Let me tell you, going 12-0 is no easy feat.

And you have to give major props to Coach Drozjock for an oustanding career so far. He has 4 State Titles out of the last 6 tries. What are they feeding those kids in Caldwell? (don't answer that)

Big congrats to both teams on having such great seasons. And way to go West Essex and congradulations on a fabulous season!!!

E.O. 31 - Montclair 13

I don't want to say "I told you so, but I told you so." Harvey had three TD's and this game was never in Montclair's control. Great job E.O. on a great season!

West Side 20 - So. Plainfield 0

West Side learned real quickly that as soon as you start winning championships that you get some un-invited hanger ons as Newark Mayor comes out of the wood work to congradulate the Rough Riders. Anothony Basker threw for one TD and they got two more on the ground from Cox and Quallis. Qualis was actually for 69 yards. Congrats West Side!!!

Hunterdon Central 23 - Piscataway 13

Hey I am actually glad Hunterdon beat Piscataway. Only because Fakehead's wife's old boyfriend went there. Congrats Hunterdon!

Don Bosco 42 - St. Peter's Prep 14

Will Hill stretches for a TD after a 7 yard run. He also threw a 70 yarder to Oliver on a 80 yard pass. But Don Bosco was too much as Jones ran for two TD's (19 and 41 yarders), Romain added another on a 1 yard punch and Proscia added two more as well (one 20 yard reception and another on a 29 yard interception return). I thought Will Hill and company could hang in there a little better but Bosco is just too good. They won their second straight title and also won their 24 game in a row. Great season to both teams and good luck to Hill at Florida. Congrats to Bosco!!!

Wayne Hills 27 - Wayne Valley 7

Dan DeCicco and Carlton Marcin combind for 157 yards on the ground to win the State Title and also win their 40th game in a row. These seniors never lost a varsity football game in the four years they have been at the school. Both teams had just great seasons and I tip my hat off to both squads. Congrats to Wayne Hills!!!

Paterson Catholic 28 - Morristown Beard 7

Colin Larmond and Mike Betz were out played by the mighty Paterson Catholic. Too much talent on the other side of the ball. Larmond now can focus on working out for B.C. Paterson Catholic's Wayne Mack and company just did what they did all season. Congrats Pat Cat!

ALL PHOT CREDITS GO TO WWW.NJ.COM.

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTIONS (All North Jersey and some South Jersey)

2007-11-24T05:17:00.000-08:00

Well, it is that time of the week again. Time to check out who Unruly Jets Fan thinks is going to win this week's football games. So far in the playoffs, I am 10 for 13 games. So basically if bet $100.00 on each game I predicted you would have $700 dollars in your pocket right now, minus bookie fee's. Not that I condone gambling in any way. In fact, I think betting on football is the devil's workshop. Betting on H.S. football games buys you a one way ticket to hell. So don't do it. Ever. But if you cannot resist the urge, you've come to the site that gives the best advice.

OK, back to reality here. I am really excited! This is the last week of high school football and there are some terrific match-ups across the state of New Jersey. This is what dreams are made of here. This is like March Madness for high school football.

I have gone out of the bounds of the Iron Hills Conference and basically am giving my predictions for all of the State Championship games for all of North Jersey.

And I have a VERY special treat for this post. I have included commentary from every body's favorite, Fakehead. Believe me, this post has some vintage Fakehead too. Val Halla will also weigh his opinion on these match-ups.

**DISCLOSURE: All commentary and predictions are all in good fun and not intended to offend or discriminate anyone. All of the writers wish all the boys good luck this weekend and hope they all build some great memories. Also, please do not be offended by Fakehead. He was just released from jail.***

GAME OF THE WEEK (North 2, Group 2 State Finals)

Morris Hills (10-1) vs. West Essex (10-1)

The Iron Hills Conference always comes up with a way to put some juice into the State Finals. This weekend the North 2, Group 2 Finals will pin the 10-1 Morris Hills Scarlet Knights vs. the 10-1 Knights of West Essex. (Photo courtesy of the Daily Record)

What makes this match-up so great is that it is really hard to predict a winner. Both teams have very good coaching staffs and are loaded with talent. They actually played each other earlier this year at the fourth game of the season. West Essex basically man-handled MoHills, beating them 28-7. But that was eons ago and a lot has happened since. So we will need to dig deeper into theses to teams to see what we come up with. Lets analyse this game piece by piece:

QUARTERBACK: Anthony Romandetto is West Essex's signal caller. He has thrown for 506 yards and 5 TD’s. He’s also added 318 rushing yards and another 4 rushing TD’s. He is really the glue that holds the offense together. Even though Wessex relies mostly on Anthony Hayek and Andrew Cross to carry their running game, Romandetto has been clutch when he needed to be. I actually saw him pick apart Mendham when the Minutemen had shut down their running game. Without some heads-up plays by Romandetto, I don’t see them winning that game.

But Dan Kellner is a real QB and gets it done with his arm and his feet. He has been playing varsity ball since his freshman year. He has been the starting QB for two years. During his tenure at head man, he has thrown for over 3,000 yards. That is a great feat for an offense that throws a lot. But Kellner threw for all those yards in a Wing-T offense.
ADVANTAGE: Morris Hills

RUNNING BACK: Morris Hills has three running backs Justin Doniloski, Derric Torres and Colin Be. Each one of these guys would be a starting running back at any other school in the conference. Colin Be actually lines up at full back in the Wing-T while Torres and Justin D. are the halfbacks. What is so dangerous about this set up is that all three can rush for 100 yards easily. In fact, any two of them can get a 100 yards on any given Sunday (or Saturday for that matter). Last week both Be and Doniloski rushed for over 100 yards a piece.

But West Essex has arguably the most feared player in the league in Anthony Hayek. Even when you say his name you start to year the music starts when Darth Vader comes on the screen in Star Wars. Last time these two met, Hayek ran for 235 yards and 3 TD’s. Hayek is just that good. But it doesn’t end there for Wessex. They also have Andrew Cross actually has more rushing yards than Hayek this year (mainly because Hayek missed two games). Cross is the lighting to Hayek's thunder.
ADVANTAGE: West Essex

WIDE RECEIVER: Wessex has probably the most explosive receiver in the conference in Mike Agrifolio. He has 21 catches for 309 yards and 2 receiving TD’s. He also added another 380 yards and 6 TD’s on the ground. When MoHills makes their game plan, this is one guy they cannot forget about. He has the break out speed that can change a game in an instant.

Morris Hills has Doug Dudek, also known has "Mr. Everything". Dudek just has a knack for always being at the right place and is always involved in the big plays. He is got the speed and the hands to be a First Team All Conference player (which I guarantee he will be). But he also has the brains and fire which makes him double dangerous. Plus, Kellner also has a big Target in Luke Mirabella who actually has more catches than Dudek. Mirabella is the Mark Bavaro of this team…except he can spell.
ADVANTAGE: Morris Hills

OFFENSIVE LINE: This is a tough one. Behind every high powered, high scoring team, there is an offensive line that gets no credit. You can say that about both these teams. The last time West Essex played Morris Hills, they ran for 434 collective rushing yards. That was all behind the front line of Anthony Bower, Paul Rundo and Dan Silverman..

But Morris Hills' front five is a major part of the success of the Wing-T. Nick Lusardi and John Ellis make up the tackles. Tim Drake, Eddie McClain and Joe Dodd make up the guards and center. Ellis is just a sophomore and has some really great speed. Also Matt Morotta lines up at TE to help out in blocking schemes. He is a really strong kid and is like putting two OT’s on one side. They also do a terrific job with pass blocking.
ADVATAGE: Morris Hills

DEFENSIVE LINE: Sophomore John Ellis lines up at the defensive line position along with Matt Morotta and Drew Ledet at the ends. Ellis can really move for a big man and junior Drew Ledet has made a name for himself this year. In fact, I am telling you right now that the 6’3” Ledet will be THE most feared DE in the league next year. He is tall but put 10 more pounds of muscle on this kid, watch out! But I am not taking away from what he is doing this year. He is nothing less than great. Next year, he will be sick (as the kids say)!

But, West Essex has a tough D-Line. Tom Bianchi and Anthony Bower completely disrupt opponent’s offensive game plans. The linebackers get most of the tackles and accolades, but this front four is the reason they have had 7 shut outs and no team has scored more than 7 points on them.
ADVANTAGE: West Essex

LINEBACKER: Bill Goble doesn’t get his name in the paper every week but he is a big reason why Morris Hills only gave up 79 points all year.

But, Sal Tobia, John Locascio (45 tackles) and Anthony Hayek are nuts and have about 500 tackles between them..
ADVANTAGE: West Essex

DEFENSIVE BACK: As I said, Mike Agrifolio is probably THE most explosive players in the conference. Put in Anthony Romandetto, Jared Rakotci and Dan Keegan and you have a fine defensive back field. In fact, put these guys together and you get 10 interceptions and a couple of fumble recoveries and even a blocked kick.

But Morris Hills gets the edge here with the teams two best athletes playing in the defensive backfield in Dudek and Kellner. You also have Joe Casale, who is also known has “Little Dudek”, who is just sophomore. Taran Singh also adds depth to the d-back position.
ADVANTAGE: Morris Hills

KICKING: If West Essex has a weak spot it is kicking. But when you score 29 points per game and you have had 7 shut outs and never let up more than 7 points, a missed extra point here or there doesn’t mean much.

As for Morris Hills, all I have to say is Cory Mundt, period. If the game is on the line, you want Cory Mundt with his foot on the ball.
ADVANTAGE: Morris Hills

COACHING: This is the 5th time out of the last six years that Coach David Drozjock had taken his West Essex Knights to the North 2, Group 2 Finals. He has three championship rings out of the last 5 tries. He has just a superb resume.

I believe Mike Sabo is an up-and-comer and will be here for a long time. Sabo is actually a former player for Morris Hills and brought them to the playoffs the last time they were there in 1989. Sabo has a lot of gusto and I see him putting Morris Hills on the map as a football powerhouse for years to come. But you cannot deny Drozjock’s Bellechick-esk coaching style. He is just running a heck of a program from top to bottom.
ADVANTAGE: West Essex

WHAT WEST ESSEX NEEDS TO DO: West Essex needs to establish their running game. If they can do that, they will put up their points. They cannot get away from their game plan and rely on Romandetto alone. Hayek, Cross and company need to do what they do best and that is run all over the field. Their defense cannot get lazy. Not that they have been. Like I said, 7 shut outs and not letting up more than 7 points in a game is freaking great. But they cannot get complacent. Morris Hills will take any opening they get. West Essex also cannot let this game get close. Morris Hills’ kicker Mundt is the “X-Factor” here if Wessex lets this game get too close. Lack of kicking was the only thing that handed Wessex their only loss this year. But basically, Wessex just needs to do what they have been doing all year and they will get their 4th ring in six years.

WHAT MORRIS HILLS NEEDS TO DO: MoHills needs to do a few things here. First, they need to relax. Get to Giants Stadium at like 6am, watch all the other State Final games and get all the butterflies out of their stomach. Secondly, they need to make tackles. In their first match up vs. Wessex, lack of tackling was a major problem. Thirdly, they have to stop the running game and force Wessex into throwing situations and let Dudek and Kellner play center field.

Realistically, I don’t see anyone stopping Hayek and Cross. But they can be slowed down. HP did it twice. Morris Hills’ game plan should be slow down those two and play mistake free football. If they can keep it relatively close, I see Morris Hills bringing Rockaway their first State Title in 75 years (or whatever it is) by way of Cory Mundt’s foot.

IN SUMMARY: This is one of the best match-ups I have seen in a long time. What makes this so intriguing is that there are so many factors you have to consider. Hayek is back but is he 100%? Can the young coach out wit Bill Belechick? Who will emerge as the State Champ of 2007? Watch and see
PICK: West Essex 18-15 in O.T.

Fakehead: Holy sh*t, I've seen less analysis about the f*cking Super Bowl. Here is the deal, although I have been rooting against them all year because they are so good, I have to submit and acknowledge that nobody is going to stop the train that is West Essex. While their QB is pretty good and doesn't make many mistakes, it is Hayek that the Mo Hills Crazy Hens have to look out for. (Not sure what their mascot is). Hayek came in for one f*cking play against HP and scored a TD. While I don't think he is 100% yet, his 87% is enough to beat most schools. But the West Essex Flying Monkeys, (what are they again?) have one of the best defenses in the State, whether or not Hayek is on the field. That is going to be tough to overcome for the Hills. Not to mention the fact they only scored one TD against WE the first time they met this year.
The one player I think could make a difference for the Hills? None other than "The Dude" Doug Dudek. He can beat on offense for a score and his defensive prowess makes him a threat to pick one off and run it back. Rumor is the Dude is also a very good bowler, and likes to hang with a crazy guy who wears sunglasses all the time.
Anyway, unfortunately for the Crazy Hens, I think the Flying Monkeys are going to win this one. I'm thinking it's going to be 24-15 in the end, with Mo Hills scoring a late TD to make it seem closer than it really will be. To be honest, I didn't see HP losing to anyone in the playoffs but the eventual state champs anyway.

Val Halla: I don’t care about all the hype. The bottom line is that when two teams of this caliber meet for a second time, the game becomes closer – always. West Essex is tough, but the soft underbelly of the Dragon was pierced by an inferior HP team. MoHills can exploit this gap and press it home if they can play sans mistakes.
PICK: Hills 14-13.

NORTH 1

Group 1 State Finals

Hasbrouk Hts (10-0) vs. New Milford (8-2)

Unruly: New Milfords only losses are from Hasbrouk Hts and Wood-Ridge. Hasbrouk Hts has been perfect so far, I don't see that changing it.
PICK: Hasbrouk Hts 21-10

Fakehead: Guess what? Nobody's perfect! Hasbrouk Heights is going down in my "Upset Special" of the week. The New Milford Wild Dogs have one thing on the mind, REVENGE. These kids are still sore over their loss to Hasbrouk Heights earlier in the year, (15-12 on 9/20) and they have waited for the rematch. Sure, the Heights Running Chickenheads are a tough team, but I think they are expecting to walk over the boys from the country and it's not going to happen. I think New Milford wins 12-7 in a close one. History favors New Milford, who beat the Heights in the 85 and 86 playoffs while Def Leopard was playing in the background.

Val Halla:
PICK: Hasbrouck, 21-14.

Group 2 State Finals

Pascack Valley (7-3) vs. River Dell (12-0)

Unruly: Pascack Valley lost to Ramsey, Northern Valley and Wayne Hills. Wayne Hills I could see, but they lose points for losing to Northern Valley and Ramsey. Plus River Dell has come too far to not finnish this one off. Consider this the ninth inning of a Yankee's World Series and River Dell is Mariano Rivera. They will close this one easily.
PICK: River Dell 25-7

Fakehead: I agree that River Dell is going to roll. They are stocked with offensive weapons (Dan Chiarello, Shane Fowler, Blake Crouch) and I don't see how Pascack Valley can keep up. River Dell 32-6. Maybe I'm just crazy, but where the hell is Pascack Valley? No offense to them, but I've never heard of it and I think the NJ State officials would look into whether or not it is even in NJ. Maybe it's in PA or something.

Val Halla: I don’t see PV putting up much of a fight here. Look out for the Steam Roller. The Pick: River Dell 21-7.

Group 3 State Finals

Wayne Hills (11-0) vs. Wayne Valley (11-0)

Unruly: Even if you are from Wayne, this one is tough to pick. Both teams just had great years making it to the State Finals with perfect records. Who will win? I say Wayne. Just kidding! Valley seems too big and fast. Plus they play to win and nothing else. Head coach Brian O'Conner brought is alma mater Hanover Park their first state title as a player in the early 90's. Plus they have some real players on the team, including a D1 material. With his experience and his teams talent, I see them bringing home the title to the valley.
PICK: Wayne Valley 12-7

Fakehead: "The Hills Have Eyes 3, The Hills Still Have Eyes" was the movie Sideshow Bob was hired to direct if you watched the Simpsons last Sunday. O'Connor must be doing something right at the Valley to have his team in the State Finals with an undefeated record. For those of you who don't know, I would guess that Unruly's No. 1 Job Choice besides authoring this blog and writing for the Mendham Bee is to be a High School Football Coach. The only problem is, a requirement for such a job is that you have to graduate high school (and not have any felony convictions) Keep working on that GED Unruly! ha ha

Seriously though, I think the Hills will win this one in a nail-biter, 7-6.

Val Halla: Unless you are a soccer player or your name is Rip Van Winkle, you know that this one is gonna be a down and out no holds barred, slap your mama backyard knife fight. This is the case study in why people play, watch, and come back to see their HS football teams.
PICK: (toss up?) Hills: 14-12.

Group 4 State Finals

E. Orange (10-1) vs. Montclair (8-2)

Unruly: E. Orange's only loss came to a very good Morristown team. And QB Pendelton and WR Cunningham are just too talented and too much for Montclair. (Photo courtesy of the Daily Record)
PICK: E. Orange 24-14

Fakehead: I used to live in Montclair, so I think that alone warrants my prediction in their favor. But I have to say that East Orange is a very good football team, they beat Motown, who I thought was unstoppable. Of course, I don't know shit. If I had to go with places I'd rather live, it would be Montclair. Hmmmmm...... Montclair 14-7

Val Halla: I have to go with the underdog here. Despite their record, I think Montclair is better coached and more motivated, and will play smarter ball.
PICK: Montclair 21-17.

NORTH 2

Group 1 State Finals

Belvidere (9-1) vs. Cedar Grove (10-1)

Unruly: Cedar Grove just blew their perfect season against Verona in their annual Turkey Bowl. This happened a week after they beat Verona in the State Playoffs. The same thing happened 5 years ago and Cedar Grove ended up losing their State Final game. I see history repeating itself and in a bad way. I see Mr. Belvidere doing some real house cleaning in this game.
PICK: 42-24

Fakehead: Belvy is stacked on offense with QB Ian Schreffler, who threw for almost 2000 yards and 22 TDs. Let's not forget about Mike Mottola, who had over 1500 yards and 22 TDs as well. Cedar Grove is good and had a great season with Risimini and DiMattia (on O and D) but Belvy is going to win this one handily. Let's face it, Verona would have matched up better against Belvy and it's going to show this Sunday.
Belvy 38-17

Val Halla: A pissed off Cedar Grove Rebounds here.
PICK: Cedar Grove 21-10.

Group 3 State Finals

S. Plainfield (7-4) vs. West Side (9-2)

Unruly: Yusef Josef's spirit is alive and well in the West Side football team. Josef, a former West Side player who was shot in 2005 would have been a senior this year. Although he is physically on the team, he lives in the hearts of this team. Between Baskerville's arm, Aunt Kim's Mac & Cheese and Josef's spirit, West Side will be delivering a whooping to S. Plainfield. I am calling a total blow out. (Photo courtesy of the Daily Record) PICK: West Side 55-14

Fakehead: I have to go with West Side, they beat Motown and they have a ton of heart and are playing for something besides glory. Wow, I just sounded serious there for a minute. I want one of those tshirts with Josef's picture on it if they win. West Side 38-7

Val Halla: Sorry, Rules, I have to go with South Plainfield here. I don’t care if Newark lost a player during the season, SP is on a roll. I think SP is gonna play possessed because NO ONE has been picking them all season and they hate the media more than most folks hate Katie Couric.
PICK: South Plainfield, 21-14 OT.

Group 4 State Finals

Piscataway (11-0) vs. Hunterdon Central (10-1)

Unruly: Hunterdon Central only lost to Imaculata who is 11-0 and in the Group 3 Non-Public State Finals. Piscataway, well they are just good. This will be a battle to the end. But, I say the perfect team stays perfect.
PICK: Piscataway 19-14

Fakehead: My wife graduated from Piscataway and she played in the band there, along with her friends and her ex-boyfriend, who is a complete f*cking loser. To that end, I have to root for Piscataway only because my wife went there, not because the lame weird creepy ex-boyfriend went there. F him.
Piscataway 24-14

Val Halla:
PICK: Hunterdon, 20-14

NON-PUBLIC

Group 1 State Finals

Paterson Catholic (9-0) vs. Morristown Beard (6-4)

Unruly: Mo-Beard does have a player who signed a letter of intent to B.C. in wide out Colin Larmond. They may have a few more losses than Paterson Catholic but they play better teams.(Photo courtesie of the Daily Record)

PICK: Morristown Beard 21-20

Fakehead: What kind of f*cking preview is this? I learned more about this f*cking game on the back of my Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal box than I did with Unruly's "preview." I don't think they played on Turkey Day but I don't see Paterson losing to Morristown Beard. In fact, there is no chance, BC-bound player or not. No offense to Beard but I know some people who are actually retarded and graduated from there. Or was that Bailey Ellard? I can't remember. Come to think of it, HP wasn't stocked with geniuses either. Anyway, Paterson 21 - 8

Val Halla: Paterson Catholic stays perfect in yet another state final. Beard is WAY overrated and their QB has been on ice for too long to come out here and win. That being said, The Non-Publics need to be condensed into 3 or 2 groups only, for playoffs at least.
PICK: PC, 21-7.

Group 2 State Finals
Holy Cross vs. Gloucester

Unruly: Not sure about these teams but I am going with Holy Cross because they just seem like a much better team. Plus they are bigger and faster. And they have a guy who runs a 4.3 forty. Plus Gloucester's team never lifted weights in the off season. OK, I just made all that up. But I am still going with Holy Cross.
PICK: Holy Cross 40-2

Fakehead: What is this South Jersey? Who cares. I refuse to make a prediction.

Val Halla: 4.3 forty?? BS. You are putting me on: Deion Sanders ran a 4.29; Santana Moss 4.35. Still, I got Holy Cross over Gloucester ‘cause Gloucester lost their Turkey day game.
PICK: H.C., 28-14

Group 3 State Finals

Holy Spirit (10-0) vs. Imaculata (11-0)

Unruly: Holy Spirit should go to confession for all the score running up they had done all year. Here are some of the "points for" they had this year: 70, 55, 61, 48, 47. They clearly have been running up the score on teams this year. Which, to be honest, I am all for. Why hold back your team? It is fun for the team and builds confidence. Who cares if it upsets the other team. They should be punnished for sucking so bad. By the way, the coach of Holy Cross told me that. But Imaculata isn't perfect either. And they must have gone to the same Catholic grade school which teaches to not only murder your opponents, but stab them after their dead 500 times and then play soccer with their heads. All of Imaculata's games have been complete blowouts too. I don't know what to say, besides so will just pick.
PICK: HOLY SPIRIT 82-76

Fakehead: I prayed to God and asked him to give me advice as to who would win this game. God told me to go F myself and pray for something more important. So, without any input from the Man Upstairs, I am going to have to go with the Immaculata Holy Rollers in this one. Holy Spirit is going to be punished for running up the score all year, I think it says that in the Book of Job or something. "Thou shall not run up thy score against sh*tty opponents." Let's face it, the real reason why I am picking Imac is because teams like the New England Patriots run up the score, and I hate them with a passion. Seriously though, nothing against the kids at Holy Spirit, I'm only kidding, but I see Imac winning 38-30.

Val Halla: Unruly you are Crazy. The Pope doesn’t care about running up scores against other Catholic schools. Besides, Immaculata has a winning team now.
PICK: Holy Spirit, 28-21.

Group 4 State Finals

Don Bosco (11-0) vs. St. Peter's Prep (10-0)

Unruly: This is basically the BCS championship game. Whoever wins this game is the State's number one team. Both these teams are completely stacked and both have real schedules. This game would be hard to pick for most people but I am going with Will Hill and St. Peter's. Will Hill committed to Florida a month ago and wants to just bring his Jersey City team a little love before he goes.
PICK: St. Peter's 20-17

Fakehead: Will Hill is a great player and he is going to a great college football school. That being said, I can't stand Florida ever since I laid eyes on Yanik Noah, or whatever the f*ck that guy's name is. You know, the basketball player who thought he was the sh*t with that f*cking hair? Somebody should have taken him by his hair and thrown him on the ground. That somebody would have to be a tall motherf*cker though. I wanted that guy and the University of Florida to lose every sporting match since I saw Noah play. How the hell did Florida become national champs in two sports in the same year? It boggles my mind. What happened to "The U?" Florida State has been on the decline for years, but Florida? I do like their Mascot though.

So what was I doing again? Oh yeah, a prediction. Well, this is the game of the year, no question. Does St. Peter's College have a football team? If they do they should try to recruit some of the Prep players. I wonder if I am the first person suggesting that, but it seems to me that the Prep team is pretty damn good. Regardless, nothing against Will the Thrill Hill but because I dislike Florida I am going with Don Correllone Bosco in this one, 23-20.

Val Halla: Will Hill. Whatever. I could out play him on my worst day in H.S. Pretty soon he’ll be saying, “just gimme the damn ball”, like our illustrious former Jets talent. Bosco gets payback.
PICK: Bosco, 29-28.

MORE FROM FAKEHEAD: Finally, Unruly neglected to mention Asbury Park (10-1) v. Keansburg (10-1); Rumson (9-2) vs. Carteret (8-3); West Deptford (9-2) vs. Point Pleasant Boro (10-1); and Paulsboro (9-2) vs. Glassboro (11-0). I'll say a few words about these games:

Asbury Park v. Keansburg:

I don't see how Asbury Park loses this one, simply because AP is where Bruce Springsteen used to hang, and that is all that matters to me. The man is a legend. I don't even know where the fuck Keansburg is. Regardless, another reason why AP is going to win is because they dominated Keansburg last time the teams met (this year) 42-26 and Keansburg is going to have problems stopping the Wing-T offense AP deploys. Keansburg just got their top runningback back from an injury (Justin Laguna) and he should help, but it won't be enough.
Asbury Park 34-14

Rumson v. Carteret

Speaking of Bruce Springsteen, I think he lives in Rumson (or Colts Neck, one of the two), so that is all I need to predict Rumson in this game. Not to mention the fact that Rumson knocked off a undefeated Holmdel in the playoffs to get to the championship game. Carteret is no slouch either though, having won 7 of 8 games and losing its 3 games by a combined score of 5 points (and knocking off a heavily favored Rahway). But Rumson is going to carry some "magic" into this game and win it in a close one, 14-8

Paulsboro v. Glassboro

Maybe my fact checker is wrong, but I think Unruly went to Rowan or Glassboro State for a semester or two. Either way, it was a disaster. Seriously though, Paulsboro's only losses this year were by forfeit since they played an ineligible player for those games. According to the Star Ledger, the players "papers were not filled out correctly." That means somebody is dumb or playing dumb at Paulsboro. Regardless, they were punished for their misdeeds and still made it to the championship. It looks like they have something to prove. Look out Unruly's alma mater, you are going down hard, 28-21

West Deptford v. Point Pleasant Boro

WD just lost to fucking Paulsboro by 14 points, and turnovers killed them. While Mikey Carbone is a standout on defense, they better hope Point Pleasant doesn't find a way to put him in the meat truck for this game. (See Goodfellas if you don't understand). Point Pleasant has a decent option attack, but if the past serves as any predictor for the future then PP is in trouble, as WD has beat them in the playoffs 2 of the last three times they have faced each other (all in the last 5 years).

I think it's going to be close and I'll say PP wins it 38-27 just because my son likes the Boardwalk and South Jersey should be part of PA.

GOBBLE, GOBBLE!

2007-11-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

Verona just played a game that they will remember for years to come. A week after losing to Cedar Grove in the sectional playoffs, Verona beats them in the annual Thanksgiving Game handing Cedar Grove their first loss of the season.

Verona, gave up a school record two saftey's, scored their only points on a 66 yard interception return for a final score of 7-4...and squashing Cedar Grove's hopes for perfection.

Cedar Grove heads back to the practice feild to prepare the State Finals vs. Mr. Belvidere. While Verona ends their season with a big fat collective smile on their face.

OTHER SHIZZLE:

-Mike Van Zile's proposal to get away from the Power Point system in HS football is up for a re-vote on December 3rd. It looks like there is a good chance that this could get passed. This basically will get rid of the BCS and go to a formal playoff system. Actually, this will make it so teams like Mendham who went 6-2 at the 8 game cut off would have an automatic playoff spot. If this does get passed, it will be amazing that the high school level can get a fairer system set in place faster than the NCAA for the college level.

-The battle for the state's number one team will be next weekend between Don Bosco Prep vs. St. Peter's Prep. Both teams are 11-0. Who will win? Don't know. But I will tell you what, this will be a great game. But my early prediction will be St. Peter's. I just can't see Florida commit, Will Hill be nothing less than spectacular...and I don't see him losing this one.

-Wayne Valley vs. Wayne Hills, both 11-0, will be another awesome State Finals game. I am not shy about picking Wayne Valley solely because Head Coach Brian O'Conner is a former Iron Hills star who played for Hanover Park and a '92 grad. He is also a former State Champ as a player when he helped the Hornets capture their first State Title in '90 vs. Rozelle in a 55-14 romp. O'Conner also had a fine college career at Boston College. He also had a short pro career before being over come by injuries.

-Me and my idiot friends had our annual Turkey Bowl yesterday. The only thing I can move right now are my fingers to write this article. But six of us showed up and we played a bunch of former Delbarton soccer players...who also happened to show up. Our team had its cast of characters. We had Fakehead, me, a 44 year old British guy, his two sons (who were covered in tatoos and nipple rings), and a Jewish guy who is known only by "Rothman". The team we played was made up of 22 and 23 year old Delby grads who were faster and in much better shape than us. We played to 13...touchdowns that is.

The game started and we were on fire. I ended up with 10 throwing TD's. Fakehead was his usual stellar self at WR, making his usual tough grabs. Rupert, the British guy pulled down two TD's and so did his sons. Even the Jew got into the action with a TD. In fact, all of our receivers had good days. We were beating the Delby boys most of the game until they figured out that all they had to do was hand it off to any one of their guys and score virtually at will. Actually they had one guy named Zach who was their powerhouse. The would hand it to him and he would break 50 yard runs every time. We called it the "Zach Attack" play. Zach was too much for us and we ended up losing 13 to 11.

But it was fun just the same...even though I will not be able to walk for the next month.

Stay tuned for our big State Final Prediction Post which will be coming out on either Tuesday or Wednesday.

Monday Morning Notes

2007-11-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well, well, well...what can I say, the playoffs are not for weak of heart. You Generation Y'ers are getting a taste of life here. This is not "everybody gets a trophy" any more. You kids are going to have to sit with the fact that some times life goes the other way. A team like Morristown knows just what I am talking about.

What a season! They hadn't had a loss since Week One. They make it all the way to the second round of the playoffs and Anthony Baskerville and West Side come in and pull the rug right away from them.

But what a week like this teaches you Y'ers is that adversity makes you stronger. Set backs make your mind tougher. Losses give you experience.

What West Side gave Morristown is a gift, not a loss. And given the fact that the core of that MoTown team is coming back next year, they will be reciprocating that gift to some poor sap team next year. It is called the Circle of Life. What is freely given to you, you freely give to the next guy.

As for Morris Hills, they came through when it counted. You really have to tip your hat off to them beating Chatham this week and making it to the State Finals. They beat some really good teams to get where they are now. They have a host of characters that make that team and a great leader in Sabo, the coach.

What is scaring me though is they are all concerned with playing at Giants Stadium, and don't seem to be focusing on the monster that looms in the Meadowlands, the West Essex Scarlet Knights. The Knights seemed to be the New England Patriots of the North 2, Group 2 section.

Can Morris Hills even play on the same field as Wessex? I don't know. We will find out. They have two weeks to prepare and good thing, they will need all that time. I hope their coaches believe in studying game tapes. Because I think they need to key in on Wessex weaknesses, however few their are.

As for E.O., they proved their are the real deal too in front of a bitter MoKnolls fan base. Knolls fans booed more than they cheered as E.O. moved to the State Finals in the North 1, Group 4 section. But can they play with the big boys of Montclair? Montclair will be by far their toughest opponent of the year.

There are a lot of question marks here. The good news is we have two whole weeks to talk smack about it!

OTHER SHIZZLE:

*Being a die hard Jets fan is like having an incurable disease. Every year, you think this is the year they will have a cure for it. But you are punished with constant disappointment. And even when they win like they did yesterday, you realize that they are actually ruining the chances of getting the top draft pick for next year. It is like a never ending nightmare.

*I think it is so stupid that schools do not have Thanksgiving Day football games. It is not stupid, it is un-American. I remember going to Thanksgiving Day games as a kid. It was just part of the day.

*So for the last 20 years, me and my idiot friends get together and play a game of tackle in the morning and we call it the Turkey Bowl. Then we spend the 4 weeks before xmas healing from being sore. Fakehead plays.

*We actually made a rule called the "Fakehead Rule". We actually named it by his real name but since we don't want our jobs to know that we spend 30 hours a week maintaining this site, we'll just call it the "Fakehead Rule". The "Fakehead Rule" was developed because Fakehead has a knack for making some really spectacular catches (a la Doug Dudek) on the sideline. Many times he was technically out of bounds when he caught the ball. But since Fakehead laid himself out to make the catch so bad that we always ended up giving his the the ball where he caught it. So we started calling it the "Fakehead Rule". Now, whenever anybody makes a good catch and it is iffy weather or not he was inbounds, we implement the Fakehead Rule. Any questions on it, just email me and I will clarify it better.

*I actually just emailed the NJSIAA to see if they would consider the Fakehead Rule for HS footall.

*I actually cannot wait for this year's Turkey Bowl. We might end up calling it the WOPS vs. the WASPS Bowl because half the guys will be Itialian and the other half will be White Anglo's.

*This video is classic Will Farrell and it needs to be shared and viewed by the readers of this blog.

SECOND ROUND PLAYOFF PICKS (And Analysis After the Games)

2007-11-15T05:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, it is your favorite column of the week for all you problem gamblers. As most of you know who did take my advice last week, that I was a clean 8 for 8 in picking the Iron Hills Playoff winners. Ok, I was 7 for 8 but who is counting the Wessex vs. Madison game? I added a disclaimer when I gave that pick. I picked Madison with my heart not my gut. Don't worry; there heart felt picks this week.

At any rate, you have to agree that I am a freaking HS FOOTBALL playoff picking guru when it comes to picking these games. I am like Mathew McConaughey in that movie Two for the Money where he is this former college star who gets injured and gets into picking football games for some gambling firm. He is like the stud of the firm and in the end all he does is flip a coin to make his picks.

By the way don't ever see that movie. It was the weirdest movie with Al Pacino as his boss and Rene Russo as Pacino's wife. There was like no plot and the whole time Pacino was trying to get McConaughey to sleep with his wife (Russo), or at least that is what I think it was about. Pacino just kept yelling the whole movie and I just wanted McConaughey to sleep with his wife so Pacino would just shut up. I actually left the theater before the movie ended.

I am like McConaughey in that movie all the way except for the fact that I didn't play in college, I don’t walk around with no shirt on and I never flip a coin to choose my picks. All my picks are based on sheer stats, knowledge of the game, inside information and the occasional coin flip (ok, sometimes it’s too close to call).

But enough yipping, lets get right into the thick of it.

MORRISTOWN VS. NEWARK WEST SIDE

What do you say here? In my opinion this is the hardest game of the week to pick so lets get it over with. Why, well you have Morristown who is having just an incredible year having won every game by a margin of 18 points. The only exception is their one loss against Seton Hall Prep at their first game. And, Motown should have won that game if it wasn't by an incredible play by a SHP d-back when Colvin was passing for a two point conversion to win the game.

But West Side is 8-2 with their two losses coming at the end of the season. You might say that West Side had been slipping. Two reasons why their not though! One is that both their loses were to two playoff teams, Wayne Valley and Irvington. Secondly, they had been without their stud Quarterback, Anthony Baskerville since October 20th with a colarbone injury. Baskerville finnally game back and just in time. He just came back last week for their first round playoff game vs. Union Hills. How did he do? Well, he only was named the Star Ledger's player of the week and was 10-15 with 300 yards and 4 TD's.

West Side also has a very intense and fast defense led by linebackers Tahir Whitehead and Carlos Cox. Whitehead, Cox and company have held opponents to only 12 points per game which has been more than enough for their offense (25 points per game) to secure their wins.

But, Morristown has all the tools. Michael Colvin is the real deal at only a junior and has been a major threat in the air with his gun slinging arm and also with his feet. Wideout Carter will be a big pest for West Side because they will always have to know where he is.

Meanwhile, while West Side will be keying in on Colvin and Carter; enter in...

...SUPER GEORGIE!!!

Georgie Bass is just too electrifying for any team to stop, let alone West Side. This kid has just mad skillz and my favorite Iron Hills player to watch. I just think MoTown is just too stacked.

PICK: Morristown 31-27

REAL SCORE: West Side 12-7

Hey, you have to tip your hats off to West Side. I thought this game would be an offensive score fest. But I did warn you about West Side's D. Congrats West Side. As for the rest of the Iron Hills, the bad news for you is the core of the Morristown team are only juniors. And now their pissed. They are already my pick to go all the way next year.

HANOVER PARK VS. WEST ESSEX

Hanover Park has a few things in their favor this game. Fist, West Essex may be without their leading rusher and tackler Anthony Hayek who has been recovering from an MCL injury. Secondly, they are the only team this year to hand West Essex a loss. And thirdly, and probably the most important is they have the "NOTHING TO LOSE" factor.

HP has some swagger. They have one of the craziest offenses which can only be described as an option, I-formation, shotgun, running, passing offense. But they make it work. It is hard for defenses to key on all their different weapons. QB Alex Ardolino is as nifty a passer as they come and he can also run very effectively. And Ryan Hinton is probably one of the fastest running backs in the Group II Iron Hills Conference.

On Defense, the Hornets truly do swarm to the ball with Defensive leaders Pryer, Nagy and Gatti.

But, West Essex has one good thing going for them: They are just awesome! They have won three out of the last four State Titles. The Knights have had six shutouts this year and in three games they did not let up more than 7 points. And they have the "New England Patriots" factor going for them.

Even without their star, Hayek, the Knights other players just plugged in the void with stellar play. They are a true team with Andrew Cross handling a lot of the running in Hayek's absence. Mike Agrifolio is stellar in the WR position and also has 11 pass deflections and 4 interceptions on defense. They are also joined by stud Defensive Lineman Tom Bianchi who has 6 sacks and Sal Tobia who is the second leading tackler (next to Hayek).

To Fakehead's dismay, I just don't see Wessex getting stung by the Hornets!

PICK: West Essex 18-15

REAL SCORE: 12-0

Hey, you have to hand it to HP. They really pulled out all the stops. Wessex could not unload on them but they beat them. And you have to hand it to Wessex to over come adversity without their star player and keep rolling. Although I have personal ties to HP, Wessex was the better overall team and deserve to move onto the finals. Now we'll just have to wait till tomorrow to find out who they will be facing. I am sticking to my prediction of Chatham.

EAST ORANGE VS. MORRIS KNOLLS

You got to love playoff games that are against regular season opponents. Why, because you can say, "Hey E.O. beat Knolls once, they will do it again." In most cases I would tend to agree.
But you cannot discount the fact that Knolls just initiated Bellville last week 50-27. And no team is running the option better these days than Knolls with Nick DeRosa at QB and Kellan Cardio and Dan Herr running the ball. Last week this trio almost put up 300 yards rushing between them.

But then you enter E.O. They have one of the most talented QB's in Quadir Pendleton (which if I have another kid will be his name. Not just Quadir, but Quadir Pendleton.) And position players Akeem Cunningham who is one of the best WR in the league and RB Hakeem Harvey have been getting it done all year. E.O.'s strength lies in their defense. Their defense have held opponents to 9 points per game this year. They also posted 3 shut outs and three times held teams to 7 points or less.

This game is another really hard one to pick. But defense wins games. And I think E.O. is disciplined enough to slowdown Knolls ground attack.

PICK: E.O. 24-16

REAL SCORE: E.O. 20-14

I told you. EO was just too good. And Knolls maybe showing their true colors with some really poor sportsmanship, cheering when EO's number 8 went down with an injury so loud that you would have thought they scored a TD. Common Knolls, what is with that? That is not my grandfather's Knolls. Where is the class?

MORRIS HILLS VS. CHATHAM

Why do I like this match-up so much? I don't know. I really feel Morris Hills is the real deal this year. I love their coach and what he has done with the program. The Scarlet Knights are no doubt here to stay.

This year they just have it all, starting with the Three Amigo's in the back field in Colin Be, Justin Doniloski and Deric Torres. Their QB, Dan Kellner, is regarded one of the best in the conference. And two way starter Doug Dudek has the skillz and the fire to make this team a real contender.

And MoHills' strength is in their defense that has held teams to 7 points or less six different times.

BUT...nobody has had the tough breaks Chatham has had. And I am not making excuses for them but you need to consider a few things. First, they opened the season to route a good Par Hills team in the first game of the season. Only to have Par Hills have a fluke come back in the last two minutes. Then they controlled Mendham in the second game of the season, only to have Mendham tie the game on an interception return, and then win it in over time.

Take away those two losses and Chatham is 8-2 coming into this game, with losses to Morris Hills and West Essex.

Chatham is good. Trust me. And MoHills needs to pay attention here because they match up almost perfectly with them.

Quarterback Jamie Pinaire is as much of a leader of this team as Kellner is to MoHills. And Kyle McDonough, James Brennan and Kevin Allgood are Chatham's "Three Amigo's". Billy Fenwick is a dangerous receiver. And Campbell Wood is the answer to Doug Dudek.

I have smelling this upset for a few weeks now. I just can't help seeing MoHills get stung here and hard. Just watch Chatham match up perfectly in this big battle. The difference? Cam Wood and in the form of a kickoff return or punt return.

PICK: Chatham 23-21

REAL SCORE: Morris Hills 26-0

Hey, crow tastes best when it is eaten the soonest. Okay, I bombed this pick. Chatham you son of a b**ches! I stood by you till the end. I still feel they got some really tough breaks and that they are a good team. But you know what, Morris Hills is good. And they just taught me and the West Essex a big lesson: That next will is going to be one bad mother f'n game between West Essex and Morris Hills. I have no idea who to pick for that one now. I would go with the home field team but I think this one is being played at Giants Stadium. Which sucks because when I played in my State Championship game (blatant bragging by me here) we had to play on our field. We ended up romping on Rozelle but it would have been much sweeter if it were in Giants Stadium. Good job Coach Sabo and your gang! But just like the Chatham coach said last week, "One more game!"

Do you disagree with my picks? Yeah, well then tell me why.

Photo's of Morristown's Bass, HP's Hinton and MoHill's Kellner courtesy of http://www.dailyrecord.com/. Chatham Photo courtesy of http://www.mchss.net/ where you can purchase photo's of yourself or your son for a very reasonable price.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct

2007-11-14T19:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, I was gonna save this one for my end of season wrap up but, due to recent events (ex: Ridge fans riding this website), I am putting it up now in this short post.

SEVERAL folks have reported to me that they overheard multiple unsportsmanlike comments from Ridge fans/parents/coaches in the vicinity of both home and away bleachers after the game.

Examples:

"Like taking candy from a baby." A reference to Ridge's "dominance" over Mendham.

Excuse me? What the hell game were these guys at, cause it wasn't the one I saw. Did you not see it was an overtime ball game?

"[blah blah blah] ...taught those rich Mendham kids a lesson...[blah blah blah]".

What!?!?!?!?! Horsesh1t!

1. See first response above.

2. Do you not live in Bernards township, aka "Basking Ridge"??? Last I checked it is just about as expensive to live there (or more) as the Mendhams and Chesters. This is the definition of hypocrisy.

I almost didn't write this because it is hearsay, and that is historically unreliable but this isn't MoCo municipal court either.

So, there it is. Now all you Ridge fans can comment away and say what an arse I am etc...so have at it.

But I will tell you this, if either of those quotes are true, your football folks need to go down to Greystone for a free checkup from the neckup. 'Nuff said.

The West Essex Knights Are Going to Get Stung Under the Lights This Friday!

2007-11-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

That's right, I am predicting another Hanover Park victory this Friday night in West Caldwell for the Hornets. Let's face it, West Essex is missing their star player (who, by the way, was playing when HP beat them the first time) and the Hornets are pumped and ready to rock it out in this match up. I know West Essex killed Madison last weekend but Madison isn't that great and HP has already played WE and won once this year and they have only gotten better (albeit with one slip in the Mendham game) since then.

And again, I know West Essex is undefeated at home this year and has only allowed 4 TDs all freaking year, but HP scored one of those TDs and held WE to their lowest point total of the year (6 when they average 31 a game) when they last played.

As far as HP goes, they are peaking at the right time. Again, that loss to Mendham was an aberration, (especially when you look to what happened to Mendham since then, missing the playoffs and losing to Ridge - although that may have been the result of getting the shaft in the playoff picture and a loss of focus and desire), HP is peaking at this point and is going to make a game of it on Friday. If they keep it close they can win. Let's face it, not many teams can stop Hinton. Gatti contributes in several different ways, and HP's QB, Alex Ardolino, has been playing very well and doesn't make many mistakes. However, HP cannot squander opportunities to score like they did against Ridgefield Park last week. Anytime they get into the red zone they better put something on the board, or WE is going to make them pay.

Let's not forget that Ridgefield Park was bigger than HP but HP outplayed them. HP is quick as a team on both sides of the ball. Their defense has been playing well all year, and as their coach Dan Gregory's defensive gameplan, "Our philosophy is to tackle well and run to the football" makes complete sense. I only wish the New York Jets applied that logic when playing, maybe they could stop a team from scoring 25 points or whatever a game against them!

Finally, these HP kids have some grit and some heart, and that is what it is going to take to beat the heavily favored Knights. That's not to say WE doesn't have heart, they are playing like the Patriots of the Iron Hills Conf., kicking ass and taking names. And don't think for one second revenge won't be on their minds come Friday. That being said, HP has been up against adversity before and performed. They will do it again this Friday!

HP 13

WE 7

Go Hornets!

RANDOM NOTES:

--Mendham's fall from grace was completed after they last to an inferior team last Saturday. It was a disappointing end to an otherwise good season. They will have to get them next year!

--Nobody is stopping Morristown this year.

--I know it is out of conference, but Verona had some revenge last weekend against Beardley, who beat them for the State Title last year. Although they are underdogs, I don't seen anyone standing in their way on their quest to a State Championship.

--Finally, East Orange is going to roll and Chatham doesn't have a chance this weekend. Write that shit down. I don't need to give scores because it is a bunch of bullshit anyway. If you want me to pick numbers out of thin air I could, like Unruly, but I don't like to put my sweeping generalizations down to simple numbers.

-- Oh yeah, one last thing. Many of you want to know what Unruly looks like in person. Well, I was lucky enough to graduate High School (HP in the house!) with him and here is his senior year yearbook photo. Nobody ever made fun of him because he was nuts in High School.

Beginning of the week preview for this weekends Playoff's

2007-11-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Ok folks, this week shaped up as expected for the most part. Number 1 seed East Orange moved on and now will be facing the 4 seed Morris Knolls. The North 2, Group II section has all Iron Hills teams left in the bracket. And Morristown gets to play Newark West Side at home.

Who will win? Who knows, but lets take a closer look for now:

Morristown vs. Newark West Side

Quarterback Mike Colvin really looks like the real deal. He is like a younger version of Steve Young (or Vince Young for your younger folks). He has a really strong arm and is fast enough to be a runningback. And they are stacked in the showoff positions. Carter is a big play maker at the wide receiver. But their real star is the 4'10" standout Georgie Bass (I am just kidding he is not that small). Bass is my favorite player in the Iron Hills. He reminds me of a Barry Sanders. There is just nothing more exciting than watching Georgie Bass explode from zero to 60 in 3.2 seconds.

But Newark West Side are no slouches. They went 7-2 this season. But can they play with the big boys? They have two losses to playoff teams in Irvington and Wayne Valley. This game has question marks all over it.

Morris Hills vs. Chatham

This North 2, Group II matchup pins these two regular season rivals against each other once again. Morris Hills beat Chatham in the regular season by a margin of 6 points with a 13-7 final. Doug Dudek and Luke Mirabella are big targets for QB Kellner. And no defense has played as tough as MoHills with only one loss to Wessex.

But I have been saying this all year. Chatham has been getting tough breaks all season. And I think Chatham is done playing "catch-up" and now they hitting on all cylinders. I am not picking this game yet, but I have already said that I am voting on Chatham taking home the State Title.

Hanover Park vs. W. Essex

Hey, they suprised them and the rest of the converence a few weeks ago by beating Wessex 7-6. Will HP doe it again? They definately have the play makers. They have a host of them in Hinton, Ardolino, Gatti and company.

But Wessex is swallowed Madison 40-6 in the first round this past weekend. And although they are without their star linebacker/fullback Anthony Hayek they do not seem to be missing a beat.

E. Orange vs. Morris Knolls

Quarterback Pendleton and wideout Cunningham are just gelling as the number 1 seed in the North 1, Group IV section. But they worry me in that they didn't run up the score more against 8th seed North Bergen.

They meet a Morris Knolls team that just beat the hell out of Belleville 50-27. Quarterback DeRose is looking poised as ever, while Kevin Cardio just treadmilled (sorry I couldn't resist) over Belleville for 7 touchdowns or something crazy like that.

All Picks will come out Friday Morning so stay tuned!

PLAYOFFS: First Round Predictions (AND UPDATES)

2007-11-09T13:19:00.000-08:00

Here we go! It is playoff time. Everyone has been waiting for our predictions and now...it is time! Here they are:

Morristown vs. New Brunswick

Morristown is the 2 seed in this North 2, Group III matchup. New Brunswick was on the ropes last week against a weak JFK Iselin team. They are lucky to even be in the playoffs. This will basically be a blood bath. Look for Georgie Bass to score three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving). Colvin will add two throwing TD's and one running.

Pick: Motown 41-7

REAL SCORE: Morristown 34-20. Motwn is rolling just like I said. Stick with me and you will win your office pools every time.

Par Hills vs. Wayne Hills

I am actually nervous for Par Hills in this matchup. They are starting a sophmore QB vs. Wayne Hills who is one of the most talented teams this state has seen in a long time. Look for Georgie Bass to have a few TD's in this game too. I know he doesn't play for Wayne Hills but you just have to love that little guy. Wayne Hills has an excellent coaching staff, headed by former HP grad Brian O'Conner.

Pick: Wayne Hills 41-7
REAL SCORE: Wayne Hills 49-0. See, what did I tell you. Good season Par Hills! Nothing to be ashamed of this year. I am telling you, this Wayne Hills team is just sick!

E. Orange vs. N. Bergen

Sorry this is just going to be another blow out. EO is just too good this year and N. Bergen has no business being in the post season. E.O.'s Cunningham is going to have a field day. I predict a three TD day for EO's star.

Pick: E. Orange 41-7

REAL SCORE: E. Orange 20-6. I am not doing too shabby with my picks, huh? I thought they would run up the score more but trust me EO will make it through the next round too.

Belville vs. Morris Knolls

OK, this one will be much closer. Belville is no joke this year and Knolls had a few tough breaks. Knolls has been rolling lately and have the experienced coaching staff.

Pick: Knolls 13-12

REAL SCORE: Knolls 50-27. I am literally a freaking guru when it comes to picking HS football games. Anybody out there who needs help filling out their tickets, just email me. I charge a 20% retainer on all winnings. Kids, I am totally kidding. I do not condone gambling at all and gambling for total losers and you should never ever ever gamble no matter what. Parents, if you are interested just email me.

Morris Hills vs. Bernards

This will be a scrimmage game for Hills as they prepare for later rounds. Kellner and company will be playing target practice vs. Bernards. Hills will need the practice too bc the later rounds will prove to be challenging.

Pick: Hills 28-3

REAL SCORE: Hills 56-13. WOW! You think Mohills doesn't want a State Title?

Chatham vs. Caldwell

Chatham is the Rocky of the Iron Hills Conference. They are rough and tough. And no one has had more tough breaks than the Cougars. Cam Wood, Pinaire and Brennan have a big chip on their shoulder. Chatham is actually my pick to go all the way. And that means they are going to go through W. Essex and MoHills to get there. I am calling Wood will ruturn two kickoffs and a punt. And he better come through because I promised a sick kid that he would. Gooooo Chatham!

Pick: Chatham 43-15

REAL SCORE: Chatham 33-8. Not sure how many runbacks Wood have but there will be a very unhappy sick kid if it is anything less than 3. No pressure Wood. And how about a hand for me for picking every single game this playoffs except the Wessex/Madison game which was an admitted wishful thinking prediction on my part? Thank you, thank you! I must say, I am a freaking guru.

Hanover Park vs. Ridgefield Park

HP was hung over from their double over time loss to Mendham this past week. But after some sloppy play that resulted in costly penalties, the HP coaches have nailed down a good game plan. Look for HP to bounce back in a big way and Gatti to get two pick offs. He better come through because I promised the same sick kid that he would.

Pick: HP 33-23

REAL SCORE: Hanover Park 16-0. I haven't seen the stats yet, but Gatti better have had two picks he will have some explaining to do to a little sick kid!

Madison vs. West Essex

Madison is rolling and W. Essex is a little banged up. Wessex is without their stud runningback Hayek. I think Wessex will end up getting suprised for their second, and most costly, loss of the season.

Pick: Madison 21-19

REAL SCORE: West Essex 40-6. DUH, I hate it when I try to pick upsets. This is the exact reason why you shouldn't gamble kids.

Seton Hall Prep vs. Don Bosco

As much as I like our fellow Iron Hills teamate, I just don't see Seton Hall pulling this one off. They are the 8th seed vs. Don Bosco's 1 seed. They have a nice story too in that Buzby makes his dramatic return after breaking his foot in the preseason. I know this show is not supposed to be biased, but I hope they do pull it off because of the whole David and Goliath thing. I say Buzby has a great game but I don't see it happening.

Pick: Don Bosco 34-18

REAL SCORE: Don Bosco 49-14. Good luck next year Pirates! I saw a junior JV'er named Johnny Moo on SHP who was a man amonst boys in that level. Look for him to make a big impact next hear for the Pirates.

This Week in Iron Hills Sports

2007-11-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

1) He was the inspiration for the "running boom" in the 1970's. He invented the modern day running shoe by taking a waffle iron to his sneakers for better grip. He was famous for not only wanting to beat his opponents but smoking them. His name, Steven Prefontaine (a.ka. "Pre").

Photo credit (http://www.dailyrecord.com/)

This year's Pre Award goes to Poh, also known as Morris Hill's own Sean Pohorence. Poh, which I just declared his new knickname to be, won the County Tornament earlier this week, then won his team the North 1, Section III tornament this weekend. This kid is just an absolute stud inm the local running scene. After the Section Tornament he told the Daily Record that not only did he want his team to win his team to win the match, but they wanted to dominated it. Prefontaine would have wiped a tear off his cheek if he heard Poh say that.

The scary part? Poh is only a Junior. The scarier part, if Poh wasn't around, Mendham's Michael Franklin would be winning this award. Franklin is always right in Poh's rear view mirror. Trust me, Franklin wants the Pre Award next year and these two will be battling it out in Winter and Spring track as well. These two are really fun to watch...stay tuned!

2) Caitlin O'Keefe and the Morristown field hockey team are playing Scotch Plains in the North 2, Group III semi finals this week. O'Keefe has been the back bone of that team and wants to bring Morristown a title. They will have to face a West Morris team that is on a roll. But not if O'Keefe has anything to do with it. The Pick: Morrsitown will take the crown.

3) The Annoying Anouncer Award goes to the guy over the P.A. at Hanover Park. His trademark is the pause he makes after the Hornets get a first down. This allows the the HP fans yell out, "FIRST DOWN". Just so you get how annoying it is, when HP gets a 1st down, the announcer goes, "And that will be another Hornet...pause for crowd to yell "first down"...First Down!" You can't knock the guy for trying to be creative. But something about it is just incredibly annoying. I suspect even the HP people hate it.

4) This past week, Seton Hall's Alan Buzzby committed New Hampshire on a scolarship. The amazing thing about this is Buzzby was recruited solely based on his Junior performance. Buzzby broke his foot in the pre-season. Congradulations to Buzzby! He is actually supposed to be back this week for Seton Hall's first playoff game vs. Don Bosco. If they ever could use his services, it is now.

5) The New York Jets are basically the most pathetic team in the NFL. I know this has nothing to do with the Iron Hills Conference. But I feel I am doing my readers a diservice if I am not keeping them up on events around the world. The only thing the Jets should play for now is a first round draft pick in '08. I don't know why I am plagued with being a die hard Jets fan. It is like having some kind of incurable disease.

6) Back to real news: Eight Iron Hills football teams made it to the post season this year. Mendham beat four of them and ended up with a final record of 7-2. They got completely screwed this year. This is a very talented and well coached team. The problem for the rest of the league? They are mostly juniors. But they will need to replace both sides of the line. Which will not be an easy task as the seniors filling those spots were not only big but suprisingly fast. Great job Mendham, sorry the NJSIAA has some major holes in their system.

7) For those of you needing some help filling out your office pool brackets, here is how it fares for the rest of the Iron Hills teams in the post season:

Par Hills is the only Iron Hills team in the North 1, Group III bracket. Beleive me, definately take Wayne Hills (their first oppenent) with the points. Wayne Hills, who is coached by former Hanover Park and Boston College tackle Brian O'Conner, is crushing teams this year. They average 79 points a game. This whole bracket needn't even play. This will definately be a Wayne Hills / Wayne Valley Championship Matchup. Both teams are undefeated and hate each other. Par Hills is without their starting QB. They had a nice run...but it is over. Sorry guys!

East Orange and Morris Knolls represent the Iron Hills in the North 1, Group IV bracket. Look for E.O. to romp. Take them all the way to the end. They are having just an awesome season!

Morris Hills, Chatham, Hanover Park and West Essex all represent our Iron Hills Conference in the North 2, Group III bracket. Who will take this crown? For me, I am taking Chatham going all the way. They have been getting tough breaks all year. They have a solid QB a good couple of RB, a nice defense and they have KR and Defensive Specialist Cam Wood. It is a little stretch but considering W. Essex insn't the healthiest, Hanover Park hung over from their double over time loss to Mendham, Morris Hills tiring out from a long season, I see Chatham rising to the occasion. Might be a bit of a long shot, but I say put all your money on them. Plus, the lower the odds, the bigger the payout!

(photo credit http://www.mchss.net/)

As for Morristown, who represents the Iron Hills in the North 2, Group III bracket (the one Mendham should be in), they have a shot at this title. Georgie Bass, Colvin, Carter and company are no slouches. However, Irvington has been playing on all cylinders are not going to let a bunch of boys from the country come and push them around. But Bass is so elusive and Colvin just been maturing each week. Too close to call. I would say if you are a betting man (or woman) stay away from this one. I could see Mo-town getting hot. But they have never seen any of these teams they are playing so it is too hard to predict. Ah what the hell, I pick Mo-town going all the way! Why the hell not!

8) Mendham will get a consolation game as a reward for their good season. Big whoop! They should drive the NY Jets down for a little Friday Night Lights. I seriously bet Mendham would give them a run for their money. The Jets are just pathetically aweful!

9) That's it! But before I go, I thought I would share some photo's of the teams that Mendham beat that are going to the playoffs (by the way, this is a knock on the NJSIAA not the teams below):

Morris Hills (photo credit http://www.mchss.et/)

Par Hills (photo credit http://www.mchss.net/)

Hanover Park (photo credit http://www.mchss.net/)

Chatham (photo credit http://www.mchss.net/)

Buy photo's of you or your son from http://www.mchss.net/. The best action shots in the conferences are available there.

*Disclaimer: This blog, the people who write for it and Blogger do not condone gambling. References to gambling are made solely for entertainment purposes. We are 100% confident that our readers already knew that but you never know.

Flash Update

2007-11-03T01:45:00.000-07:00

Bishop Ahr has lost. Perth Amboy has won. If JFK Iselin beats New Brunswick (extremely unlikely), Mendham's clinches a playoff bid. If JFK loses, Mendham's hopes die with them. Any hope Mendham has of Section 2 Group III berth rests on the shoulders of a JFK Iselin victory today.

Any o'you Mendham boys going to drive to Iselin and cheer on Kennedy? It might help. I would if I were you...the whole daggone team - freshmen and all.

Results from Friday (picks in bold):

Mendham 27, HP 21 (2 OT)

WEssex 21, Chatham o

Dover 20, Parsippany 0

Irvington 30, West Side 8

Morris Hills 41, Summit 6

WMC 10, Morristown 31

Weekend Notebook

2007-11-01T02:53:00.001-07:00

Here's my take on some key match ups this weekend...

HILLS: (all teams complete through 8 games; no bearing on playoffs)

Chatham (5-3) @ West Essex (7-1)

This should be a great game. Two playoff teams, Chatham who has been improving all season is probably more like a 6-2/7-1 caliber team than anyone else in the 'Hills who isn't. West Essex is supposedly still without the services of standout RB/LB Hayek, but that seemed to be transparent last week in their DRUBBING of banged up ParHills...did anyone else hear that message that was sent through the IHC??? It was WEssex saying "We still own this show, so step off." MoHills and Mendham are actually hoping WEssex drops their second here so they can get a share of the IHC-Hills crown...it will be close...and I usually pick one upset a week (which I know is more than statistics bear out)...so here it is:

Chatham breaks out: Cougars 15 - Knights 14

Mendham (6-2) at HP (5-3)

I know Unruly showed his true colors this week despite the fact that he claims he is all Mendham to the bone now that he lives in Brookside. It's ok buddy, I understand.

Two more playoff teams.

HP is riding high because Hinton is back in the lineup, and they took down the mighty Knights 2 weeks ago. But they should have DESTROYED Parsnippany and they did not. This makes me wonder how good they really are.

Look for the Minutemen to be pissed off that they dropped their second game. There is no "Homecoming dance interference theory" at play here. Riposta and Salerno will combine for ~200 yards rushing, Schermerhorn passes for another 100, D adds another Santomo INT and Puglisi or "BamBam" DeWitt sack, and Special Teams (which has been solid all year) continues with a slight chance of a breakout TD.

The Forecast (revised)? : Minutemen 21, Hornets 10.

Summit (2-6) @ MoHills (7-1)

Summit was hoping for a breakout year this year, trying to restore their team to former glory days. In a way, they have kind of succeeded - they already have one more victory than last year. Look for Vitale to play possessed in his last game in High School. If I was MoHills defense I would be afraid...very afraid.

MoHills is coming off of the hard fought win over Mendham in which they are no doubt, still nursing their bumps and bruises. Nevertheless, they showed a great performance in holding off another potent offense in what ended up a totally defensive struggle. They have got to be riding high, and this game means absolutely nothing to the post season. No doubt Sabo has been preaching to avoid the trap all week. It is must win if they want at least a share of the title though. Almost a classic "Trap Game".

Mendham is hoping th Knights drop this one so they can get a share of the 'Hills crown one more time.

Summit threatens, but comes up short: Knights 21, 'Toppers 14.

Parsippany (0-8) at Dover (0-8) - AKA "Toilet Bowl III"

Parsippany is actually a little better at football than they are at naming their athletic teams. They have some decent receivers and backs who might be able to do some damage and improve their prospects for next season. QB Pohlman and RB McFadden could be in a tight one for the first time this season.

Dover has their best shot at their first victory here, but I just don't see them doing it.

Both teams' coaches were secretly looking to next year 4 games ago. So...how's that Junior class looking??

Parsnippany ends it on a good note: Hawks 20, Tigers 14

Note: Maybe JoeHof can do a nice charity piece on the winner after the game like he did for WMC last week...then again...looking at the box scores...maybe not. (according to Douchebaggius Maximus who lurks on JoeHofs blog and constantly posts anonymously with the same points over and over, its not worth looking below the boxes)

IRON

West Morris (1-7) at Morristown (7-1)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAHAH....MUwahhaahaahhaa....ohhhhhhhhhh!!

If WMC scores it will be in the second half when Morristown is up 28-0 and Coach Hull decides he needs to rest his 1st string.

Colonials 35, 'Pack 7

Morris Knolls (6-2) at East Orange (7-1)

If you to see some football, this one is gonna be every bit as good as any playoff game the week after. In fact, it's entirely possible these two could see each other in the playoffs, so this could just be a preview.

Ok, so I lied. I am picking another upset:

Iggles 21, Jaguars 20.

OTHER:

Irvington (7-0) at Newark West Side (7-1) - AKA "The Rumble on the Raritan"

These two towns are ~ 4 miles apart down Springfield Ave.

Newark West is coming off a schooling at the hands of the impeccable Wayne Valley squad who hasn't lost a game in like three years or something. I have a feeling they are going to look to make a statement here, and try to take away that #1 seed from the Blue Knights.

Meanwhile, Irvington has had a steady diet of minced meat from mashing up Group III and IV teams in the Watchung league all season long. If Irvington wins they clinch homefield advantage for the playoffs. Who can stop this juggernaut??

Westside becomes dog meat and Irvington is a Junkyard Dog...sorry boys, you are just, well - next.

Blue Knights 35, Roughriders 21.

Mendham vs. Hanover Park - the game of the week!

2007-10-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

Well sports fans, it's come down to this the Minutemen of Mendham vs. the Mighty Hanover Park Hornets. Who is going to win? I can say that either way it's going to be a close one under the Friday night lights, but I have to go with my alma mater (surprise) Hanover Park.

With Hanover Park already headed to the postseason in Group II and Mendham's playoff future clouded in uncertainty, the game doesn't have much resting on it besides pride. I believe that one of HP's old motto was "Pride Before Pain". That is part of the reason why I think this game means a lot to the old black and gold. They don't want to let Mendham revenge the TWO losses the Park gave them last year on two consecutive weeks on November 3rd and 10th, 2006. The first game Hanover Park dismantled Mendham 23-6 but the second was closer, 20-19, but still ended the Minutemen's season.

This year Mendham has improved vastly, as they are currently 6-2 and 3-1 in their conference. However, they are coming off a disastrous loss to Morris Hills where they got shut out. Hanover Park is sitting at 5-3 (2-2) but they are on a two-game win streak after having upset West Essex (7-1) and destroying Parsippany 24-6.

Momentum and history are on Hanover Park's side for sure. However, when you look at the teams' similar opponents, Mendham has a small advantage. I say small, because they beat two teams that beat HP, and HP only beat one (West Essex by 1 pt) that beat Mendham (WE beat the Minutemen by 2 TDs). Mendham beat Chatham and Par Hills when HP lost to both (Chatham by 7 and Par Hills by 12). Other than that, they all beat their opponents by close to the same amounts.

There is no question that Mendham is stocked with offensive weapons Colin Schermerhorn is a decent QB, having a rating of 96 with 9TDs against 5 interceptions, but the running tandem of Salerno and Riposta really "carry" the offensive load. Riposta averages 88 yards a game while his counterpart Salerno averages over 60. Each has scored at least 5 TDs this year and they are a force to be reckoned with. On the defensive side, Tony S., or Anthony Santomo is the Ray Lewis of the Iron Hills, averaging 11 tackles a game.

However, when you check out HP's weapons, it appears that they can deal with the running game and score some points when they need to as well. Alex Ardolino, HP's QB and standout running back Ryan Hinton (recently back from a thigh injury) guide the offense. Throw Phil Gatti and John Nagy into the mix and the Hornets are "buzzing" with offensive threats. And as coach Dan Gregory has stated, HP's mantra has been "to improve each and every week." That they have, especially after being 1-2 after a 21-14 loss to Chatham, they have gone 4-1. On defense, Evan Picariello and Mike Papa, both linebackers, run all over the field and make plays at will. Dan Allocca, defensive end, has also excelled on "D" for the Hornets, who have only allowed 6TDs in their last five games.

All this being said, it's going to be Hinton that runs roughshod all over the Minutemen, leading the Hornets to victory. The Hornets' defense will keep Salerno and Riposta under wraps (or at least keep their damage to a minimum). However, the key to the game, from HP's perspective, is to shut down Mendham's QB. From looking at the stats of the Minutemen's QB, it would appear that the team rises and falls with his performance. In Menhdam's two losses, he was 8 for 23 with 153 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. If HP shuts him down, the game won't even be close. However, I don't know how easy that is going to be if Salerno and Riposta are getting 4-5 yards a carry, so first things last, HP needs to slow down the running game and put some pressure (both mental and physical) on the QB. I honestly think either way it's going to be close, and I'm calling it at:

Hanover Park: 24

Mendham: 21

Look for both Nagy and Hinton to score, and don't count out Gatti running a punt back.

Updated Playoff Picture [Expanded]

2007-10-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

---UPDATE---

2 NOV update

From the Mighty JoeHof [emphasis mine]:

"Mendham is seventh but don't figure to remain there by Saturday night. The Minutemen will be rooting for JFK-Iselin to stun New Brunswick, which is not at all likely to happen. Since New Brunswick is a prohibitive favorite in that one, Mendham must hope for underdog Bishop Ahr to defeat Carteret. If Carteret wins, South Plainfield will get one residual point, tie Mendham, and then win the tiebreaker, according to coach Doug Kirk.

"One of those two has to go our way for us to get in," Kirk said. "I hope I'm wrong in these calculations, but I'm pessimistic. At least three 5-3 teams will get in ahead of us, a 6-2 team. That means my kids would have had to go 7-1 to get in. That's the way it goes -- no complaints -- we like our league and some years it's different. This year we're in a tough section."

So I guess it is a little more complicated than I thought. Total B.S. 7-1 to qualify the playoffs? Somebody shoot the person who invented the power points system. How 'bout a shot at North 1 Group III instead?? I'm pissed.

10-31-07:

I have had some requests regarding the status of other teams in IHC and MoCo. A quick look:

North 2 Group II:

The field is basically set here. Rd1- #1 MoHills v. #8 Bernards etc. You can check it out at the link below. The only possible change is that Madison has not yet played its eight game and could move up a little with a win over Orange this week.

North 1 Group III

This one is a little more interesting, but mostly set. Wayne Valley has clinched homefield at no.1. Old Tappan could move from #4 to #3 with a win over Mahwah. But what is interesting here is that Montville is 11th in Power Points but will likely get a playoff berth because #8 Roxbury, #9 Rampo, and #10 Teaneck all don't have a .500 record or better. Not sure if that is a credit or not to the system...

The expanded scenarios in North 2, Group III for Mendham are as follows in order of likelihood of occurrence:

IF Irvington beats Newark West and New Brunswick beats JFK, (#8) Mendham plays at (#1) Irvington in round 1.

IF Newark West beats Irvington, and NB beats JFK, (#8) Mendham plays at (#1) Motown in round 1.

IF IRV beats NW and JFK beats NB, (#7) Mendham plays at (#2) Motown for round 1.

IF NW beats IRV and JFK beats NB, (#7) Mendham is at (#2) Irvington for round 1.

Note: While I believe Newark West has a 30-40% chance of beating Irvington, it is extremely unlikely that JFK beats New Brunswick, therefore, I predict Mendham has a 60% - 70% chance of facing Irvington in round 1.

...and yes, as a reminder, the outcome of the HP game has no bearing on the playoffs, however a loss would statistically eliminate Mendham's chances of a shared conference title.

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Mendham has 41 power points and South Plainfield has 40. Both teams are complete through game 8 of their schedule(s).

As it stands right now, I don't see how Mendham can drop below 8th, regardless of what happens next week with the rest of the field below who has not played their eighth games. So Mendham has clinched a berth in North 2, Group III (by one point).NOPE

You can double-and triple check my math here. Please let me know soonest via comments if you find any errors.

That is the good news.

The bad news is, no matter how you slice it, Mendham will be playing a road game for Round one of the playoffs...most likely at Irvington or at ~~Newark West Side~~ Morristown.

Morristown will be bumped from the current #1 seed to #2 seed if Irvington defeats Newark West this weekend (11-02).

If New Brunswick (4-3) Wins next week against JFK (Iselin) (1-7) and they most likely obviously will, Mendham will be bumped from the current #7 position, to #8.

If Mendham plays Morristown, I will have a whole lot to write, so standby.

Conference Title

Regarding the conference title thing...obviously Mendham has to win next week vs HP which will be a tough game, but both WEssex must lose vs. Chatham (possible) and MoHills must lose versus Summit (hmmm...uhh...100 to 1 odds on that one I think). If WEssex loses and MoHills wins, MoHills takes the conference.

Friday Night Notebook

2007-10-26T01:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick look and commentary on some of Tonight's games around MoCo and the IHC:

Randolph (2-5) at Morris Knolls (5-2):

Knolls is a better team than their record suggests, while I think Randolph is worse than their record suggests. Look for them to open a can of whoop ass on the Rams.

Golden Iggles, 28-14.

Immaculate Conception (0-6) at Boonton (3-4) :

When did Boonton decide NOT to cancel their football program? Oops sorry, did I say that out loud?

The Bombers: 21-7.

HP (4-3) at Parsippany (0-7):

The Hornets are coming off of an extremely hard fought win versus WEssex. While Pars-nip-pany on the other hand is still trying to crack the code on what the H-E-dubblehockeystix they need to do to get a W in this league. Here's a suggestion: try renovating your football field so that when it rains you aren't swimming.

And another thing...and I am sorry for sidetracking, but this has to be said.

WHY IN THE HADES DID PARS-nIP-PANNY RENAME THEIR TEAMS THE RED HAWKS???

When I played it was the "Redskins".

First of all that (Red Hawks) is kind of a stupid name.

Secondly, AIM is a bunch of losers. If you go to their website, take a look at their commentary section...most American Indians hate this sports team renaming effort and are EMBARR-ASSED by this organization, and they are right there telling them so.

Third, how did this go unnoticed by the MoCo press corps?? Hoffman, if you are reading this, please tell me you gave them a rash of shite over it, and my dumbass just missed it.

Fourth, the one lawsuit that was actually filed on all of this renaming nonsense was on the behalf of the University of North Dakota AGAINST the NCAA. I haven't checked the status of it lately but the UND "Fighting Sioux" had a very strong case. Parsippany AD and Super, message for you: Just because the NCAA is a bunch of spineless, politically correct nit-wits, does not mean you have to follow suit. For Pete's sake, HOW MANY INDIANS LIVE IN NJ?? You know, I don't see D.C. renaming their NFL team anytime soon, and they certainly have one whole heckuva lot more visibility.

To the Parsnippany AD and Super at the time of the change: You are either hyper-sensitive (read: ruled by emotions), or cowardly. Either way this is no precedent to set for your athletics teams...but then, I have a feeling you figured they were already in the toilet, so why does it matter? Some things never change.

The Pick: Look for HP to be playing their 2nd and 3rd string early (if the rain doesn't slow things down). Hornets, 28-7.

Morristown (6-1) at Livingston (5-2).

I think Livingston has a chance for an upset here. Morristown is fast, but Livingston is smart (oops, did I say that out loud too??). Well, anyway, it should be close, but I give the edge to Morristown cause I want them to move up in the Seedings for North 2, Group III.

Colonials, 21-20.

Columbia (0-7) at West Morris (0-7).

AKA the "Toilet Bowl II".

Hey, somebody's gotta win right? Well, I think West Morris is actually better than their record would lead one to believe (they have actually dropped some close ones), despite the fact (word has it) that their entire Senior class walked off the team last season. (No, I am NOT letting that one go). They have a talent pool that should be having them at 6-1. You do the math.

They lost an RB/LB Captain (Saum) in the Knolls game to a head injury, who just returned from MMH this week. One of their best players is Tyler Dannenbaum who makes things happen on special teams.

Meanwhile, Columbia has allowed opposing teams' JV squads more time towards that coveted Varsity letter than any other team in the Iron. These guys are a favorite among 2nd and 3rd stringers at Knolls, East Orange, and Morristown (combined totals of those games? 130-6. Yeah, I needed a calculator.). If I were the AD at Columbia, ~~I would~~ ...never mind.

Look for the F I mean ~~Highlanders~~ I mean Wolf-pack to pick up their first W here, vent some angst and win one for Saum.

WMC, 21-14.

Parsippany Hills (5-2) at West Essex (6-1)

Par Hills -

- Pissed off cause they lost a heart breaker to Mendham, 15-14 (in case you live in a vacuum).

- Starting QB Scialampo out for season...very decent backup in DePugh.

- Playoff insurance/survival on the line.

WE-

- Pissed off cause they lost a nail biter to HP, 7-6 (in case you are a soccer player).

- Starting RB/LB Hayek out 3-4 weeks.

- #1 Seed on the line. IHC-Hills championship probably in jeopardy.

This is a close call, but if Par Hills' coach doesn't get tossed for arguing with the zebras (who you know WE alumni will at least try to pay off before the game - which doesn't work against HP by the way - too many Italians on both sides) for making "unfair" calls, I think the Vikings have a chance. Plus, I would like to see WE go down [again]. Look for PH RB Fowler to have a great game.

Vikings, 21-17.

---UPDATE---

You can read the latest on this ongoing saga of the DOPEY AIM agenda here.

And, for the record, I am not opposed to the movement of removing the name "Redskins" specifically from a list of available sports monikers, as it is, very mildly IMHO, offensive.

HOWEVER -removing the name from teams who have 1) no intent of disparaging their players or anyone else, and 2) changing the name of your team you have had for many years to satisfy the WHINING of the very few, is an entirely different story.

Pars-n-ippany could have picked about 2000 better names...just "Hawks" for that matter would have been better.

BTW- My wife is part Lenape, and of course so are my children. So, I don't want to hear any dopey comments about how I am bigoted...'cause I am obviously not. 'Nuff Said.