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Help Jakey – Blood Drive This Friday, March 5th

Monday, March 1st, 2010

For those of you who can, please schedule some time to help a young boy in Mount Arlington who is suffering from A. L. Leukemia. There will be a blood drive taking place this Friday at The Hilton Parsippany located at One Hilton Court, Parsippany, Morris County, New Jersey. To schedule an appointment please call 1-800-247-9580. The blood drive will be held from 8:00am through 4:00pm.

Click Here to Download the Flier

Hey folks – if we can’t help each other out during our times of need, then who can we count on for help? If you are in the area and can spare the time and the blood (and I’m sure that many of you can spare both!), please make some time to attend the blood drive.

Posted in Local People & Politics | No Comments »

Reviewing Mount Arlington’s 2009 Election Results

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Looking at the Mt. Arlington Results

Looking at the Mt. Arlington Results

Like I did in 2008, I spent some time the other day looking at the election results from my home voting district of Mount Arlington in Morris County. Mt. Arlington is such a small town that it can be interesting to dissect its election results…that is if I can make any type of compelling statement on politics by reviewing these results!

Last year I tended to look at the power of the third party candidates to see whether or not it would be worthwhile for a third party to centralize its efforts in a single town. I thought I’d do the same thing for the 2009 results.

In Mt. Arlington, Chris Christie drew 1,130 votes for Governor while the then-incumbent Jon Corzine drew 512 votes. In total, 154 ballots were cast for third party candidates which includes 136 votes for Chris Daggett. In truth, that’s not that bad for the third parties during an election cycle that was pretty well-publicized and emotionally-charged in New Jersey. It is clear, though, that Mt. Arlington remains a strong Republican district and that whatever crossover support Corzine enjoyed in this particular district prior to the election evaporated.

In total, 1,808 ballots were cast in Mt. Arlington. Of those ballots, 1,732 were cast in person at polling stations and 76 were cast via vote by mail ballots. Again, this isn’t a bad turnout for the vote by mail contingent (myself included) and it shows that the intent of the change in election law to allow more people to use vote by mail ballots is being realized by the people. And though the percentage of the vote that came through vote by mail ballots was only 2.07%, I still think that if a third party could find a way to energize a local base, then it could enjoy some degree of success at the local level and possibly build on that success regionally, then at the state level, and then possibly at higher levels of government.

With the recent showing of Doug Hoffman in the NY-23 congressional district special election, it would appear that there is a real desire on behalf of the people to see something new from their politicians. The people want more choices than simply “R” or “D” and I still think that the building a strong base at the local level is the best way for third parties to pop up and begin providing more choice to the voters.

Posted in Local People & Politics, The State of New Jersey | No Comments »

Roxbury High School Beats East Orange Campus in State Championship Game

Saturday, December 5th, 2009

Congratulations to the Roxbury High School football team for beating East Orange Campus earlier today at Giants Stadium! The final score was 14 – 6 in a game that had some high points and low points, but that Roxbury absolutely dominated. Check out the pictures below for a view from the packed Roxbury portion of the stands.

As for some comments on the game…

The Roxbury Gaels celebrate after winning the North 1, Group IV state sectional title (photo from the Daily Record)

The Gaels celebrate after winning the North 1, Group IV state sectional title (Daily Record)

I was obviously glad that Roxbury won, but I had hoped for a more exciting game. Me and the other guys from the 1998 team that I was sitting with kept wondering how EOC was in the state championship game. For the bulk of the game, there wasn’t even any pressure-filled situations where EOC might overtake the Gaels and come back to win. EOC might be a good football team, but I think it’s clear that they’re not at the state championship level.

But I do think it’s necessary to say that EOC is a nice little team and they played GREAT football for about 5 minutes in the fourth quarter. That said, they had the worst special teams that I’ve ever seen on any football team, ever. Ever! If EOC’s punts made it 20 yards (including rolling after the ball landed), then that would be far. The truth is that EOC was outclassed in every possible way today. Granted, I take nothing away from those kids because I know from experience that you have to work very hard to get to the state championship game, but damn – I was absolutely shocked at how substandard their level of play was for most of the game. They weren’t really strong competition for Roxbury at all. It was shocking, really.

The Gaels celebrate (<em>Photo by Joyce Bambach</em>)

The Gaels celebrate (Photo by Joyce Bambach)

And the EOC coaches were calling some completely stupid plays, too. I don’t know why they kept going back to the screen pass when it only worked twice. You’d think after the third or fourth time after the play doesn’t work, that the coaches would put it away for a while. Plus, the EOC coaches made the most incredibly stupid call that I’ve ever seen in any football game in my entire life. It was at some point during the first half, EOC was a few feet away from a first down and it was the fourth down of the series. EOC can’t punt the ball and the Roxbury defense was standing tall so they didn’t want to “go for it” and risk turning the ball over on downs. So, the EOC coaches called a time out and went over a fake punt play with their players. Everybody in that entire stadium, including the 80 year old grandmother sitting in front of me, knew that EOC was going to call for a fake punt. In fact, the entire Roxbury sideline and crowd (including the grandmother) was yelling that the fake was coming, but the Roxbury team already knew as they lined up all of their players within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage.

Roxbury beats East Orange to win North 1 Group 4 NJ HS football final

And then the fake punt came and went nowhere – Roxbury got the ball back. When the entire stadium knows you’re going to go for a fake, then the surprise effect of the play tends to go away, don’t you think? Horrible play calling; definitely not state championship caliber.

Roxbury, on the other hand, did a good job on both sides of the ball as well as with their play calling. I’m sure that this wasn’t Roxbury’s best game that they’ve ever played, but the team definitely got the job done without question. The crowd was into it, the fans showed up in force, and EOC was an inferior opponent in every way. It was the perfect set up for Roxbury to bring home its second state championship in football! Congratulations to the new state champions – an accomplishment well deserved.

Final Score First Second Third Fourth Final
East Orange (7 – 5) 0 0 0 0 6
Roxbury (11 – 1) 7 7 0 0 14
RHS – Chris Biank, 1 yard run (John Cosgrove kick)
RHS – Kevin Baker, 7 yard run (Cosgrove kick)
EOC – Malik Walker 45 yard pass from Justin Laroda (PAT blocked)

And an additional congratulations to my friend and former teammate from the 1998 team, Justin, who is now an assistant coach for Roxbury. If I’m not mistaken, Justin is now the only person in Roxbury history to win two state championships in football – one as a player and one as a coach. We’re proud of you, buddy.

Click the pictures below to see a larger image.

Posted in Local People & Politics, Sports | 3 Comments »

Christmas Poem: The Real Meaning of Christmas

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

From time to time I receive some wonderful content from my readers. In the past, you’ve read poetry and other information written by Millburn’s Joseph P. Martino right here on JerseySmarts.com. Well, Mr. Martino has sent over some more of his great work. Please take a minute and read his poem, The Real Meaning of Christmas, below.

THE REAL MEANING OF CHRISTMAS
A Christmas Poem by Joseph P. Martino Copyright© 2003

Two thousand years ago the King of Kings was born.
‘The Lamb of God’ later made to feel the thorn,
If his words are accepted and not scorned,
They will make us all reborn.

Though God’s grace, Joseph and Mary presented
A gift to the world that day, which we can all repay
By living the ten commandments each and every day.

Try to remember and keep in your heart and mind
Jesus’s gospel while here on Earth,
Redemption not a life lived in constant mirth.
Peace on Earth, good will toward man
Everyone should try it, whenever they can.

The Lord gave us the option and choice of ‘free will,’
Now it’s up to us to fit the bill.

So when you’re Christmas shopping for family and friends,
And money is tight at both ends,
Remember that the greatest gift of all,
Is your love of Jesus in the manger stall.

I hope that you enjoyed the poem – I did!

Posted in Local People & Politics, Winter & Christmas Time | No Comments »

Congratulations to Roxbury High School Football!

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Congratulations to the Roxbury High School football team for going back to the state championship game!

Me with the 1998 State Title at Giants Stadium

Me with the 1998 State Title at Giants Stadium

12/5/2009 UPDATE: ROXBURY HIGH SCHOOL BEATS EAST ORANGE CAMPUS

Earlier tonight, the Gaels decimated Fair Lawn by 42 to 7 to earn a trip back to the state championship game for the first time in 11 years. Incidentally, the last time Roxbury was in a state championship football game, I was one of the starting defensive tackles – and we won (see the picture of me to the left holding the state trophy after we won the first on-field championship in school history). With that in mind, I was glad to read this in the Star-Ledger post-game report:

Chris Biank ran 11 times, gained 113 yards and scored four touchdowns for Roxbury (10-1), which will play East Orange Campus, its former rival from the Iron Hills Conference, for the state sectional championship in two weeks.

Roxbury will seeking its first title since it defeated Plainfield, 7-6, in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 final on that day in 1998. Plainfield is the Cardinals and its helmet is a replica of Arizona team’s of the NFL.

That was a good day back in 1998. I really hope that the current team gets to experience how great of a feeling it is to win a state championship. I haven’t watched a Roxbury football game in years – since my younger brother graduated from the high school a few years ago. But I’m looking forward to finding out where and when the state championship game will be taking place and being in attendance to watch my team bring that state championship back home!

Roxbury is going to be playing against East Orange in the state championship. I have to admit, when we used to play East Orange when I was playing for Roxbury back in the late 1990’s, we pretty much shut them out each year. So the fact that East Orange is in a state championship game is somewhat surprising to me. I can’t picture them as a championship caliber football club, but then again I’m basing that opinion off of a team that I last saw in action about a decade ago – when we shut them out my senior year.

The headline in one of the local papers after we won the state title in 1998:

The headline after we won the state championship in 1998

The headline after we won the state championship in 1998

In any event, I’m incredibly proud of the current football team and I know I speak for the rest of the guys from our 1998 team when I wish them the best of luck in the state game. We want these guys to win the state championship, break our record for wins in a season, and break the football state championship drought in Roxbury more than anyone else! Go for it guys – keep making us and the rest of Roxbury proud!

Posted in Local People & Politics, Sports | No Comments »

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