Ponder the Thought

Public v. Non-Public

                THE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

DEBATE RAGES ON

By John Leon                                                                                    

On December 3^rd, the powers that be will meet to vote on and maybe implement, a new structure for the High School football programs in New Jersey. You’ve all heard of the debate between Public v. Non-Public for months now, and the debate couldn’t be hotter. The Playoffs are here and with the traditional Thanksgiving Day games having come and gone, it may be time to investigate another scenario.

Instead of Public v. Non-Public, how about just grouping all the teams by enrollment into four groups in North, Central and South Jersey? Do away altogether with the Public and Non-Public designations. Seems reasonable enough and think of the match ups.

Group 3 South Jersey would have Holy Spirit vs. Shawnee instead of traveling to Rutgers to take on Immaculata, which is 30 minutes away for them. St. Joseph’s of Hammonton would have a better draw because they wouldn’t have just 4 teams qualify in their Group 2 bracket.

The credit for this brainstorm came from a respected CAL assistant coach who after losing on Thanksgiving was livid in his remarks about the recruitment of athletes.

“We have a better coaching staff in my mind, no question, but the playing field isn’t level,” he said. “So why don’t we just throw all the debate out and start over and group everyone the same whether it be Non-Public or Public. This way the playing field would be more level and the Publics would have equal footing for the athletes.”

Make a lot better sense than splitting teams that wouldn’t be able to play each other like Spirit/Mainland, etc. It would be better especially if Spirit would be put in Group 4 South. It is easily done and more reasonable with travel. The way it looks now, they would travel to Edison, Toms River, Newark and Delran. That would be more expensive than new uniforms every year and besides the families, who’s going to watch that?

It just makes sense and it would enable the re-forming of local rivalries that have gone by the wayside. Hammonton could be in there along with St. Augustine and put St. Joe’s in the mix in Group 3 South and a Shawnee/St. Joe match up would draw big.

It makes sense and wouldn’t take much to get going except for some cool heads and thought out scheduling. Teams would be able to compete for the same athletes knowing they could show that they play a competitive schedule and could prove that it doesn’t mean a kid has to go to a Non-Public school to get noticed due to the tough schedule that they play. It would force the Publics to improve their skills at recruitment and not to EXPECT the kids to go to your school just because they live in the district. Start working as hard as the Non-Publics and see what happens.

It’s another way to think this out, because if the plan were implemented as read to the NJSIAA, it may mean the abolishment of some smaller Non-Public programs due to expense, and that would be a shame.

Not that the Public schools would care about their Non-Public neighbors, but in the sense of fair play, it would be a boom to all. It’s a win/win situation for everybody and would make the playing field fair for all.

History

WATCHING HISTORY UNFOLD BEFORE OUR EYES

By John Leon                                                                                    

Everything in sports is judged by history. Stats, events, championships games are all realized in our memory by the historical significance of that era. 2007 may be such a year as to be put in the history books as one of the best of all time.

On a national level, we saw milestones reached by no fewer than 5 baseball players, reaching milestones of historical significance. Records that were set many years ago or milestones that are considered to be the Holy Grail of sport. The home run record, 500 homers, 300 wins and players that reached 3,000 strikeouts all this year.

The New England Patriots are on pace to shatter every offensive record in the NFL and along with it may match the undefeated team of the Miami Dolphins in 1972 of 17-0. They have a chance to equal and surpass the mark.

On a local level, a high school football team has already shattered every school record for points in a season, points allowed and one of the backs holds the all-time mark for yards gained in a season, along with touchdowns and scoring for a single season. They are also league marks as well.

It is history unfolding right before our eyes and the debate begins with,” Is it the best team of all time” at the school. History that may or may not happen again or if it does, for a very long time. Years like this only happen every 20 years or so, and they are significant in their time and place.

Opposing coaches stand in awe and we should have stood up and taken notice after the very first game, when the losing coach said that this is the best team he’s faced in decades. He should know, he is an alumnus of the school and played for them.

Coaches are their own worst critics and to a man, they never want to degrade or downplay the significance of the game that lies ahead. Clichés abound when asked questions so as not to put any ‘bulletin board material’ up to give any more incentive to the opposition.

One has to take notice of the men who teach and groom the young men at the local level though, when they all mention that their team has to match up or play their best, just to stay in the game with a history making team. Teams do not like to mention how good the opposition is for fear of downgrading their own team, so the words are measured carefully.

The media however, can put the terms clearer than the coaches, because we are the ones that write the stories and enhance the legend. We can place the team in historical perspective and often do, choosing to begin debating the best of all-time. It makes for good conversation but when the season is over and all the numbers are put in print, the debate still rages on. Comparisons are made and friendly arguments are talked about over certain teams and players.

The perspective grows with time and as the final line in “The Man who Shot Liberty Valance” says,

“When the truth isn’t as good as the legend, print the legend”.

In this case the truth AND the legend will be right there for all to see in the history books, and they are both as good as printed.

South Jersey

                SOUTH JERSEY OR SOUT JOISEY?

By John Leon                                                                                    

I have been living at the Jersey Shore area all of my life, having grown up in Brigantine and now reside in a suburb of Atlantic City, which now encompasses a half a decade. There’s been one thing that’s really bothered me all these years and it’s when people refer to different parts of South Jersey. There’s only one South Jersey and it’s the place I live in.

It’s been made famous by Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City”, songs like “Under the Boardwalk” and “Wildwood Days”. Springsteen himself hailed from the Asbury Park area on the shoreline of Jersey, but not South Jersey.

However. Let’s delve a bit deeper shall we? The Jersey Shore is NOT: “Down ashore” and it’s CERTAINLY not anywhere remotely west of Hammonton.

Voorhees, Cherry Hill, Marlton, Blackwood, Williamstown, etc., is NOT, I repeat NOT, South Jersey. They are suburbs of Philly and if you don’t want to believe me, just listen to the South Philadelphia accents on these people.

“Hey yo, you goin’ to Sout Josiey this weekend?”

They consider themselves part of South Jersey but are Camden, Burlington and Gloucester Counties really considered south? South of where?

Are the residents of Atlantic City, Ventnor, Sea Isle, Wildwood, Cape May, etc., living in Southern New Jersey? Seems like South Jersey to me doesn’t it? Seaside Heights, Asbury Park (Sorry, Bruce), Long Beach Island are not South Jersey. They are on the coast of CENTRAL JERSEY!

I don’t want to hear about how geographically they may be, let’s be honest here; they are NOT the real South Jersey. They’re just not.

News and weather reporters always refer to the Shore area, but never reference the South Jersey area. Athletes who play for the professional sports teams in Philadelphia apparently live in South Jersey but again, Voorhees, Cherry Hill, etc.

They always show you the “Harrah’s Cam” for the morning weather and the only time they make the trip down here is when there’s a hurricane coming or there’s some kind of charity walk/run, or major catastrophe, etc.

In the midst of it all are the Shoobies, again people that think they are from “South” Jersey who invade the REAL South Jersey area during the summer months and make the locals crazier than we already are. Try driving on the Expressway or Parkway during a Friday afternoon or Sunday afternoon and look to see how many Pennsylvania tags there are or how many Cherry Hill or Audubon car dealerships are on the trunk lid.

It’s getting ridiculous and I just want what’s due to us, the respect of being the REAL South Jersey area and everyone west of Mays Landing should just cut it out.

Even Mays Landing, Egg Harbor City and Hammonton are pushing the limits of South Jersey but we’ll keep them in for now. Mays Landing is the Atlantic County seat so we have to keep them in. All of Atlantic, Cape May and Ocean County are South Jersey, THAT’S IT!

Everyone else can make up their own name but just don’t say it’s South Jersey because it’s not. The Eastern Suburb of Philadelphia would work. It’s just the same as North Jersey being the suburbs of New York City. Come on now; tell me it’s not! How else could you have the New York Giants and New York Jets playing in New Jersey and not feel that way. At least the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils had the decency to change their names, and don’t tell me about the tradition of the Giants. If they kept to their tradition, they wouldn’t be building a new stadium in, ready….. NEW JERSEY! Go back to Yankee Stadium; they’re tearing it down anyway. The Jets can go back to Shea, because the Mets are building a new stadium right next door. If you’re going to name your teams the New York Giants/Jets then play there for crying out loud.

We here at the Shore, and I do mean the South Jersey shore, would appreciate it if everyone would just allow us to live here and everyone else can stay out, Take your goofy names and live in the Philly suburbs. Visiting is fine but know when to go home, like soon.

It’s like the slogan says,” Welcome to South Jersey, now GO HOME!”