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Monmouth Comes From Behind To Beat Canisius in MAAC Play

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Earlier today, the Monmouth University Hawks came from behind to beat the Canisius College Golden Griffins at the MAC in West Long Branch, New Jersey. The game wasn’t very exciting or thrilling until the final few minutes when Monmouth came from behind to beat the number one ranked team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with just one second left in the game. Instead of me trying to explain the excitement of that moment, take a look at the video below and you can see for yourself:

I’m not sure if the video adequately captures the excitement in the MAC when Andrew Nicholas sunk that 3 pointer to seal the deal for Monmouth. The place was electric. I’ve never seen the type of sheer excitement in the MAC as I saw after the game today. Even Monmouth Head Coach King Rice was jumping up and down, hugging Assistant Coach Rick Callahan the entire time. It was a great, well-deserved “feel good moment” for Monmouth.

There were a lot of players that came together with good performances to help push Monmouth ahead. You can read more about those performances in Josh Newman’s writeup over on the Asbury Park Press’ The Hawks Nest blog.

Pictures and Video from Monmouth’s Home Opening 91 – 62 Victory Over Hofstra

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Last Friday night, the Monmouth Hawks welcomed the Hofstra University Pride at the MAC in West Long Branch, New Jersey. This game was Monmouth’s home opener and it saw the home team win the game by a 29 point margin as they defeated Hofstra 91 – 62. As a fan in the stands, I enjoyed watching this game for a few reasons. First, during the opening few minutes and the last few minutes Monmouth really played with a lot of aggression. They didn’t play with an aimless, angry aggression. Rather, they played with a focused intensity and it was exciting to watch.

Second, Sophomore Andrew Nicholas had a career night with 28 points. It was really something great to watch. In fact, he was named the Northeast Conference’s Co-Player of the Week for his effort.

This is a Monmouth team that has a lot of fan support and a lot of fan investment in the team. One of the primary reasons for the renewed support isn’t just the dedicated players on the court, but the great coaching changes that were made before the beginning of last year’s season. The biggest of those changes was bringing in Head Coach King Rice to help rebuild the program from the bottom up. Rice is an enthusiastic coach and seems to have a very positive, strong connection with his team’s leaders. Here are some of his post-game comments followed by some comments by Nicholas on his career game:

I don’t have much more commentary on the game because you can find much more information at the links below. However, I have a few pictures from the game that I figured I’d post here in case anyone was interested in taking a look. The Asbury Park Press reports that there were some 2,307 fans in attendance last Friday night and it certainly looked like it (and sounded like it). Here’s hoping that the excitement and attendance continues to grow at the MAC.

Normally, I wouldn’t make the full-size images available for viewing (I usually cut these things down in size so that they are easier on my server). However, since I only have six pictures to post, I left the high resolution images available for you to look at if you want. Enjoy!

Read more about the Hawks’ home opening win on Tony Graham’s blog and the Monmouth Athletics website.

A Poem to Get You in the Spirit of the Olympic Games

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In honor of the 30th Olympiad which is taking place right now in London, England, we welcome back Joseph P. Martino. This time Mr. Martino bring us some verses on why he loves London. Enjoy!

At Buckingham Palace, view the “Changing of the Guard”…
Loved by one & all and held in high regard.

Make a point to visit Madame Tussaud’s wax museum, on Marylebone…
Later, enjoy a delicious meal and scone.

The London museums and galleries are among the world’s very best. ..
I offer a partial list, I’m sure there’s more that I might have missed.
The Science Museum, British museum, Museum of London, The Victoria and Albert museum,
The National Gallery and the Natural History museum just to name a few…
Art & antiquity in a great and cultural milieu.

Make the “rounds” with your “circle” of friends at Piccadilly…
This at first may sound silly.
Visit the Sherlock Holmes museum of 221b Baker Street…
You will be in for a very special treat.

Catch a play, or “theatre”, as they say…
Maybe even a Shakespeare play.
Oscar was simply “Wilde” about the Theatre Royal Haymarket
Premiering his first comedy, “A Woman of No Importance” in 1893 for all the world to see.
Attend the “National Opera” at the London Colisseum…
Your total opera experience will end on a very “high note”.

The beefeaters greet you while standing guard, at the Tower Bridge…
Ever-vigilant and protective of the Crown Jewels…
Come, behave, but don’t break the rules.
Take in a grand performance at The Albert Hall…
So regal, so “Royal”, you’ll have a ball.

Purchase the finest hand-made custom suits and apparel on “Saville Row”…
Their tailors make a Prince or King out of the average Joe.

You can find, buy and purchase some of the finest quality merchandise
In our shoppes and department stores…
Harvey Nichols, Liberty, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason are some of the very best on my list…
There are many other fine world class london stores that exist.
When in Knightbridge, shop at Harrod’s department store…
Who could ask for anything more?

London shopping is not discreet…
You will find loads of shoppers on every street.
Among the more prominent streets and areas. ..
Bond Street, Oxford & Regent Street, Carnaby Street, Kings Road,
Portobello Road and Leicester Square among many, many others.
I cannot begin to name them all…the list would be too thick and tall.

London’s transport, underground tubes, will whisk you around in no time fast…
The tubes and tunnels are deep and were built to last.

From Piccadilly Circus, stroll down toward Trafalgar Square to Whitehall’s government row.
Pass 10 Downing Street and continue along …
The cabinet war room bunkers and allow your mind to conjure up images,
Memories, whispers and echoes of years gone by…
Of Sir Winston Churchill, as he bravely and heroically commanded his World War Two armed forces.

Then on to the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey…
While there, make “Big Ben” your compass, landmark and “towering friend”.

London’s hotel accommodations are all quite superb, both modern and classic in design…
Some are so modern and luxurious, they’re hard to define.

There’s a good time to be had in swinging London…
Top-flight entertainment, a most exciting night-life…bring your girlfriend, or your wife.
Plenty of things to see and do…
By day, visit our beautiful parks and the Regent zoo.
Hyde, Green and Regent are the largest, most beautiful and most famous of London’s parks…
There are many other lush and beautiful vest-pocket parks spread across the city to discover, stroll leisurely hand in hand with your lover, and if time allows, the experience will surely inspire your awes and wows.

City of light, many delights, fine pubs, restaurants and great cafes…
To while away your nights and days.

Take a cruise along the River Thames or a ride in the sky on the london eye over the river Thames.
Have a “good” time in Greenwich “mean” time.
Come aboard the clipper “Cutty Sark”…
Now permanently in dry dock along the river bank.
You’ll sing a song of “sixpence” when conducting business at the nearby bustling financial centre… Canary Wharf, an 800 ft. tower of power named Canada Square…
Stands proud & tall, her grace, magnitude and stature is beyond compare.

The Eurostar train leaves from Waterloo station via the Channel Tunnel
To Paris, France, arriving in three hours time…
You’ll find the train clean, tranquil and sublime. copyright joseph p.martino poet,writer,world traveler

And before you leave – let’s go U.S.A. in the Olympic Games!

Random Pictures From The 2011 – 2012 Monmouth Men’s Basketball Games

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For some reason, this entry has been left lagging in the “Drafts” folder of the blog for several months now. I’m not sure why I didn’t post this earlier considering that the season ended back in the winter, but the pictures are here for you viewing pleasure anyway. I must have intended to add some captions to these pictures so you knew what it was that you were looking at, but I guess I didn’t get around to it.

I hope that you enjoy flipping through some of these pictures – I know that I enjoyed attending the Hawks’ games last season and I’m hoping for a better season next year. It’s a shame that a talented guy like Austin Tillotson decided to leave the team and the university, but if the kid didn’t feel comfortable in the program and wanted to go to a good academic school, then he has to make the right decision for him. And for Tillotson, that decision was to go to Colgate. If those are his reasons for leaving, I don’t think you can really blame him for making the move. Colgate is a nationally-ranked academic school while Monmouth has a modest ranking at a regional level. Colgate has about half of the enrollment that Monmouth has, so it seems to fit what the kid was looking for in his college experience.

Good for him – I wish him luck. And now, enjoy the pictures!

The Monmouth Hawks Fall to the Rider Broncs, 74 – 62

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A group of friends and I have season tickets to the Monmouth Hawks basketball games. Sometimes going to the games is a lot of fun and sometimes going to the games is a bit of a chore. Last week, Monmouth played against Rider University’s Broncs in only their second home game of the season and it was one of those games that was a chore to watch. There were a few reasons that the game just wasn’t that good (for the players or the fans), but I think the quote below sums up what the problem was the other night – the kids went home for break early. In fact, at one point I turned to my buddy and said, “It looks like the team already went home for Christmas break.” Here is what head coach King Rice and leading scorer Ed Waite had to say after the game:

According to Rice the Hawks (2-10) had departed for the holidays prior to tip off.

“Our players already left, they weren’t here tonight,” Rice said. “They were already gone on break.”

“We didn’t come to play today,” Monmouth junior forward Ed Waite said.

Special thanks to The Hawks Nest blog on the Asbury Park Press website for the quotes. Coach Rice and Waite hit the nail on the head – those kids just weren’t into the game the other night. If you haven’t already, I suggest reading through the article that is linked to The Hawks Nest because in the comments section there is some discussion about how the pre-conference schedule might have impacted the players.

In short, these guys must be worn out.

Not only have they already played some 12 games, but they played against a high level of competition for the Monmouth program. In their pre-conference schedule alone, Monmouth played (and was beaten by) the following teams: Villanova, Virginia Tech, George Mason, Albany, Brown, Vanderbilt, Navy, and Rutgers. That’s some pretty stiff competition for a program that is coming out of a stifling stagnation from the last few years.

Most former athletes and sports types will tell you that you only get better by playing against better competition, but there’s only a little bit of truth in that statement. A team gets “better” by playing against better competition when one of two things happens. First, it raises the consistency and performance of the players to a higher level. Second, it elevates the program in the national perspective and allows them to bring in higher level recruits. There’s no way for us to know whether the latter has happened yet, but given the poor performance against Rider one might be able to argue that the former isn’t happening (yet).

Rider came into the MAC and beat Monmouth, 74 - 62

In fact, one might say that there is something about being consistently beaten by higher level competition that actually has a detracting effect on lower level teams. I guess we’ll have to see how the Hawks perform in the Northeast Conference before making that final determination.

And yet still, I think there is a lot of potential in this young team, their new coach, and their new system. There is at least hope in this system, which is something that was totally lacking over the last few years. Part of the problem that Coach Rice has to be running into is the fact that he hasn’t yet felt the impact of any of his recruiting efforts. At times the other night I got the impression that Rice was frustrated with his players checking out for Christmas before the game was over. Towards the end of the game it appeared like he was rotating his players in an effort to get at least one of them to up their game – and it wasn’t happening to any remarkable level at all.

Finally, aside from the poor end result I thought that Austin Tillotson played very well (he’s an aggressive player – as a fan I’m glad he’s on the team). Also, I thought that Jesse Steele had an okay game. Sure, it wasn’t as good as his performance against Fordham University last week, but the entire team played well against Fordham so it was easier for Steele to elevate his own play.

Here’s looking forward to a “W” on January 5th when the Hawks take on Mount St. Mary’s at their next home game. And here’s looking forward to much better scheduling next year – only two home games before the new year? Really?!