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Posts Tagged ‘Asbury Park Press’
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Good grief… When you read a book like this one, you really begin to understand what a disaster of a state we live in here in New Jersey. The Soprano State, authored by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure, details about as much of the Garden State’s seedy underbelly that any one person can stand without dropping the book in frustration. Seriously, it took me a little bit longer than usual to read this otherwise short book (336 pages) because I would get so discouraged while reading it that I’d put it down for a few days at a time.
Look, we all know that there is corruption inherent in the government. What we do not know is if the system that corrupts the politicians or if it is the politicians that corrupt the system. After going through this book, I don’t think that I’m any closer to answering that question than I was before reading it, but I do think that I am convinced more now than I ever of one thing…
I’m registered as an independent voter due, in part, because I don’t want the Republican or Democratic parties in New Jersey to think that they can always bank on my vote. Well, after reading The Soprano State, I am convinced that staying on the rolls as an independent voter is the right thing to do in the Garden State. Why, you ask? Simple. Backroom deals and the utter waste of taxpayer dollars has been perpetuated by both political parties in this state.
The Soprano State goes in depth on many of the political backroom deals that drive the voters in this state crazy. But what I really liked was when I went to The Soprano State’s website and noticed that the authors have added, free of charge, updates on more political garbage that you can only expect to find in the Garden State. Here is a sampling from the book’s website:
New Jersey’s long-suffering taxpayers deserve better. Newly sworn-in Gov. Chris Christie said it took him two hours to learn that instead of a $500 million surplus, he was inheriting a $1 billion revenue deficit for the budget year ending June 30. The kicker is that Gov. Corzine, also in his last week, sent by wire transfer $121 million in special municipal aid to five cities. Add that to the news that in his final week, Corzine transferred $1 million to the Legislature. Most of the money, $800,000, went to the Democratic controlled Assembly where salary accounts had been overspent in 2009. This kind of behavior is what cost the Democrats the governor’s seat.
- Michael Symons, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 24 and Jan. 20, 2010
Lee Solomon stepped down from a county judgeship to become president of the Board of Public Utilities. Solomon has worn a lot of hats over the years: assemblyman, Camden County freeholder, county prosecutor, and first deputy U.S. attorney. The Soprano State (chapters 5,6 and 7) does not have warm and fuzzy things to say about Solomon. But this is his chance to make a difference, to end globetrotting at the BPU, to scrutinize its bank accounts, its audits and its files and to hold people accountable. It’s time to give citizens of New Jersey some confidence in the board that regulates utilities. Seems like a judge and a prosecutor would be the perfect person to do it. We shall all see if Solomon fits the bill.
- Bob Ingle, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 22, 2010
Don Norcross, brother of South Jersey political boss George Norcross, has leapfrogged into a state Senate seat. When Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts decided to depart, Norcross got his Assembly seat. As soon as Norcross was sworn in, he was tapped for the Senate seat left vacant by the departure of Sen. Dana Redd, who became mayor of Camden. Don Norcross said he’d draw from the experiences and advice of Roberts and new Senate President Steve Sweeney. The message to taxpayers: nothing is going to change.
- Jeremy Rosen, Courier-Post, Jan. 19, 2010
- Bob Ingle, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 18, 2010
Ahhh…nothing like wasting taxpayer dollars to help your family and friends get ahead in New Jersey, huh? If you’re interested in learning more about the politics of New Jersey, then I suggest reading this book. From my perspective, I think that The Soprano State is required reading for all New Jerseyans.
Posted in Book, DVD, Movie, & Media Reviews, The State of New Jersey | 1 Comment »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Last night, the Monmouth University Hawks lost a home game to the Mount St. Mary Mountaineers (also known as “The Mount”) in front of 1,238 fans at the MAC Center in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Unlike Monmouth’s recent 66 – 63 loss to FDU, last night’s game (for the most part) didn’t maintain a close score. The Mount was more effective at scoring points and they won the game – very simple.  Shadow's Entrance Video However, even though the final score wasn’t close that doesn’t mean the Hawks stood still and took a beating. Not at all, actually. Instead, they came out in the second half and played with the type of desire and energy that you would expect of a championship team. Unfortunately, the Hawks just couldn’t get the ball in the basket and without doing that, you can’t win the game (there’s my John Madden moment for the day). The worst showing came in the three pointer stats where the Hawks were only 16 percent last night. Not good. I don’t have The Mount’s three pointer stats, but they were slamming them left and right in the very beginning of the game and towards the end of the game. Overall, the Hawks only shot 29 percent. Watching the team miss so many shots made the first half drag on; it’s not fun to watch so many missed opportunities for the home team. Hawks Captain Whitney Coleman commented on the missed shots during the post-game press conference (courtesy of the Asbury Park Press):
“Losing is miserable,” said Monmouth fifth-year senior Whitney Coleman. “We need to make shots.”
Coleman’s right – if Monmouth could sink a few more of the shots that they are taking each game, they’d be beating teams like FDU and The Mount. It was encouraging, though, to see the Hawks not give up after being down by double digits at the half. That shows that there is a lot of heart and determination on this Hawks team.
The Asbury Park Press has some great articles about last night’s game where you can get all of the notes, statistics, and quotes from the players and coaches. I’d suggest checking out Tony Graham’s column or Steve Edelson’s column. Mr. Edelson, in particular, focuses on how the team has been hurt by not having Travis Taylor playing for the last seven games. Lucky for Hawks fans – Taylor is back starting Saturday night against Wagoner. The Hawks have also had a great deal of difficulty penetrating their opponents’ defenses. Hopefully, with Taylor returning they can find more success in that area, too.
In the coming days (possibly tomorrow), I’ll be posting some random thoughts about my visits to the MAC Center to watch Monmouth basketball this season. Particularly, I have some comments on The Varsity Club at the MAC. Until then, though, below are 30+ pictures from last night’s game. Enjoy!
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The Final Score
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Cheerleaders Waiting for the Team
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Shadow’s Entrance Video
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The Tip-Off
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Hawks Cheerleaders
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Hett Drives to the Hoop
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Mount Foul Shot
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Hawks on Defense
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Hawks on Defense
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DelTufo Foul Shot
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DelTufo Foul Shot
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Letting the Clock Run Out
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Hawks Strategy Session
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Full Court View
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Full Court View
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Full Court View
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3 Point Shot
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Hawks Set Up Defense
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Waite Foul Shot
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Waite Stats
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Waite Foul Shot
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Hawks on Defense
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And the Whistle Blows
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3 Point Shot
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MAC Center Says Get Loud
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Hawks Strategy Session
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Mount Strategy Session
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Hawks on Offense
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Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
As I was thinking about President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address that we will all be listening to tonight, I couldn’t help but become a little bit frustrated by what we will all hear after the State of the Union – the spin doctors. It really aggravates me that in 2010 we will have to be subjected to two completely different “fact-based” opinions on what the President said during his Address. What also bothers me is that every single Democrat or left-leaning media person will praise Obama like he’s the Second Coming (like they did during the election cycle) and every single Republican or right-leaning media person will decry his Address saying that he completely missed the point.
Frankly, in 2010 in America – that’s disgusting.
I’ll be watching the speech on FOX News and probably listening to their post-Address wrap up and thoughts. The reason why I choose FOX News is because they will at least bring on both Democrats and Republicans to give their points of view. While their standard slate of commentators (note – commentators) tend to lean to the right on most issues, at least I know that by watching FOX News I’ll be able to hear both sides of the story and that I’ll have a greater chance of getting a news person acting as a fair and impartial arbiter of the discussion. You can’t find that on MSNBC or CNN (though CNN has come a long way).
As for the speech itself, let me turn to the Asbury Park Press which published an article today that said the following:
It has been widely reported that Obama will announce programs aimed at the middle class on issues such as student loans. However, those measures will have limited appeal if unemployment remains high.
“He can do all he wants on college loans. But for those in dire straits, he has to go farther,” Greenberg said.
FYI – David Greenberg is an associate professor of history at Rutgers University. I’m interested to hear what Obama has to say about student loans. Those of you who frequent this blog know that I write about my student loans – a lot (see yesterday’s post). While I have created a plan of my own to repay this debt, by doing so I am effectively taking myself out of the for-sale housing market for the next two years.
Now, a few years ago I would say that I was an extreme example of how student loan debt could possibly hurt and stifle the middle class economy. Today, however, I think there are a lot more people in my situation (albeit at lower dollar amounts) than people may think. Sure, one guy in New Jersey who is handcuffed by six figure student loans is an extreme example of how one person can’t contribute to the economy’s recover…but when you multiply that times let’s say one person in each state, you now have 50 people that aren’t contributing. Then when you consider that there might be 10 people in each state in this situation (a likely figure), now you’re at 500 people that have good paying jobs, but cannot contribute to the economic rebound. Up that to maybe 1,000 people per state (again, not unreasonable when you consider the total population) and now you have 50,000 people not participating.
Simple math: 50,000 people x $250,000 (cost of each person buying one home) = $12,500,000,000 in new home sales
That’s a lot of zeroes, huh? And those are just numbers that I’m pulling out of the air. I’m confident that there are more than 50,000 college graduates who are stifled by their student loan debt and I’m sure that people would be buying more/other things besides new homes – like new cars, clothing, electronics, etc.
Also from the Asbury Park Press:
Recent Republican victories have been attributed in part to economic issues, with unemployment in double digits.
“The challenge is to frame a policy to create jobs, while cutting the deficit,” said Joseph Patten, an associate professor of political science at Monmouth University.
“Traditionally, you stimulate the economy by spending more. It’s difficult to do that when you have a spending freeze,” Patten said.
I had to include Dr. Patten in this entry because he used to be one of my Professors at Monmouth and the guy knows what he’s talking about. I wouldn’t want the task set before President Obama – find a way to generate new jobs while cutting the deficit and still finding a way to appease your ultra-liberal base by spending more money on more programs. Good grief!
Let’s see what Obama has to say tonight.
Posted in Student Loans, United States Politics | No Comments »
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
If you decided not to go to the Monmouth University home game against the Bryant University Bulldogs last night, then you missed a very competitive, very good college basketball game. In the end, the Monmouth Hawks won by a slim five point margin, but anyone who was at the game last night has to be impressed with the tenacity of the Bulldogs both on offense and defense. I can’t believe that Bryant hasn’t won a game yet because they looked great at the MAC Center in West Long Branch last night.  Justin Sofman on Defense However, as a Hawk fan I was glad to see our guys win. Overall, I thought the Monmouth defense was sluggish in the first half, but much better in the second half. It seemed like some of the players may have taken Bryant for granted and thus didn’t expect to be behind by almost ten points a few minutes into the game. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that some of the Hawks didn’t seem to have their heads in the game for the first half. On that note, if you head over to The Hawk’s Nest blog on the Asbury Park Press website, you’ll see that there are some interesting “notes” for the game. One of the notes says that Dutch Gaitley started for the Hawks last night because Freshman Ed Waite came late to the pregame shoot around. Frankly, Waite’s play seemed to be affected by his not starting the game. Some of that may be age-related, but since I don’t know the entire story of why he was late to the pregame shoot around, I can’t be sure of the circumstances.
Yet it wasn’t just Waite who seemed distracted last night. Another Hawk walked off the court after being substituted out and yelled, “Fuck!” because he wasn’t happy with his performance. The same player did the same thing a little bit later in the game. That’s not acceptable. Being a college athlete is not an easy responsibility to shoulder and I understand that pressure. However, there’s little that can be said to defend a player when he walks off the court and yells “Fuck!” twice in one game.
At the end of the day, though, Monmouth is on a four game winning streak and making waves in the Northeast Conference (NEC). Their next home game is on Thursday, January 21st against Saint Francis of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, I will not be at that game because – fortunately – I will be teaching that night. I’ll be back watching the Hawks and taking pictures on Saturday, January 23rd when the Hawks take on Robert Morris – a game that will be broadcast on MSG.
Some other thoughts from the game…
One of the pictures below shows some Bryant fans with signs supporting their team. I thought that was great – even though the team is down 18 straight games, their fans are making the trips to away games and bringing signs to show their support. That’s great. I’m always impressed with Head Coach Dave Calloway and the way that he commands his team on the court. He’s got to be the hardest working coach in the NEC, hands down. Also, Travis Taylor started off the game a little bit slow, but I thought that he did a great job on defense. Take a look at one of the pictures below where Taylor blocked a Bryant player’s shot like it was no big thing. Taylor is a tough player and a great asset for the Hawks. Not enough good can be said for Will Campbell and his consistent levelheadedness under pressure. Campbell sunk five separate three point shots, two of which were in the last few minutes to seal the victory for the team. Very impressive. Some more on Campbell’s game-winning pair of three pointers from The Hawk’s Nest:
Campbell, who ended with a game high 19 points, sent Monmouth in front 64-62 connecting from the right corner with two minutes left.
With 15 seconds remaining Campbell struck again from the right wing after Monmouth coach Dave Calloway called time with seven seconds showing on the shot clock.
“Obviously on that last play there, we’re looking for Travis (Taylor) or Will,”
Calloway said. “Those were the two calls.”
Bryant (0-16, 0-4), which has lost 18 games in a row dating back to last season, double-teamed Taylor and point guard James Hett got the ball to Campbell.
“James made the right decision and went towards Will and Will hit a big shot,” Calloway said.
Below you’ll find nearly 30 pictures from last night’s game. I’ve been trying to refine the pictures a little bit more than from the first few games so that they all don’t look exactly the same (it’s a basketball game and I have a stationary seat, what do you expect?!). Enjoy.
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Monmouth Wins!
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Ewok and Creep Show
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Pregame Warm-Up
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Pregame Warm-Up
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The Pep Band
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Opening Video
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Taylor on the Tip Off
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Hawks on Defense
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Gaitley Pass
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Bryant Foul Shot
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Waite Foul Shot
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Hett Leading the Offense
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Hawks on Offense
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Bryant Fans with Signs
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Justin Sofman on Defense
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Taylor on Offense
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Hawks on Defense
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Hawks on Offense
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Hawks on Defense
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Taylor: “Get it out!”
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Finkel Lights the Crowd Up!
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Hawks on Defense
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Taylor Foul Shot
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Bryant Foul Shot
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Gaitley Foul Shot
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Hawks on Defense
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Monmouth Wins
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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Earlier tonight, the Monmouth University Hawks won their fourth game of the season by defeating the Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi Islanders by a final score of 65 to 51. For the majority of the game, the Hawks maintained a strong lead over the Islanders. However, at some point in the fourth quarter the Islanders took over amid what looked like a defensive breakdown for Monmouth. And when the Islanders took over, their fans – who were silent for most of the game – responded enthusiastically. But it wasn’t long before the rest of the meager crowd (all Hawks fans) had something to cheer about as the Monmouth defense shored up their play while the offense went on a bit of a scoring run, putting up some 18 points in the final few minutes of the game.
The Asbury Park Press interviewed Monmouth University head coach Dave Calloway earlier in the week and one comment he made about his team is that they have to be more consistent. Tonight, Monmouth fans almost saw the return of the inconsistency that has plagued the Hawks during the second half of most of their games. They almost saw that return… The run that the team went on in the final minutes was great and I hope that they continue to bring that level of aggressive play to the second half of each of their games.
Enjoy the thirty something pictures from the game below.
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Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Earlier tonight, the Monmouth University men’s basketball team won their home opener (and their first home game ever in the MAC Center) by beating Florida International University 99 – 70. As a season ticket holder, I was at the game and I have to say that it was absolutely phenomenal. The Hawks soundly beat a team coached by NBA Hall of Fame member Isiah Thomas and they beat them with no questions about who the better team was – the Hawks dominated, hands down.  The final score of the MU vs. FIU game In my view, the Hawk players of the game were #10 Will Campbell, #25 Travis Taylor, and #5 Whitney Coleman. Taylor, in particular, was dominant for most of the night. The FIU team played aggressively with a few minutes left on the clock and I’m sure that their aggressive play with help them in future games. However, the Hawks managed to not just to win, but to win by 29 points and nearly broke the 100 point barrier in their first game of the season! It really was a great win for the basketball team and, as an alumnus of the university, it was great to see such strong (and vocal) student support. That’s the type of experience that many of my fellow alumni and I never had the opportunity to get while we were undergraduates, but I like that the current generation of students have this great facility and a great team to cheer on!
And on that point, there are a bunch of Monmouth University alumni from the late 1990’s/early 2000’s that have some degree of bitterness towards the university for a variety of reasons. As someone who was always aggravated that the college completely botched my graduation back in the spring of 2003, I have to admit that I was very impressed with the production tonight. It all went off perfectly and the entire show made me slightly proud to be from Monmouth. And for those of you that know me, you know that this statement means something else coming from my mouth! For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you can check out over 50 pictures from the game.
I can’t wait for the big game against Seton Hall this Sunday afternoon – if you’re in the Monmouth area you should check it out!
Mainstream Coverage of the Monmouth victory over FIU: Miami Herald | The New York Times | Asbury Park Press (PDF Download)
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