My apologies, folks, but I don’t have any pictures or specific commentary from Wednesday night’s game. If you’re looking for a review of the game, then I would suggest heading over to the Monmouth University Athletics website and getting a recap there. Again, my gut feeling is that while Wednesday night’s victory was good (and one that the players really needed in front of the home crowd), this is still a season that needs to be forgotten as soon as possible.

Now, the reason why I don’t have any commentary from last night’s game is because I, along with some of my fellow Sigma Pi alumni, was invited to watch the game from President Paul Gaffney’s Box on the third floor of the MAC. Joining me in the box was one of our recent alumni (who occasionally guest blogs on JerseySmarts.com), one of our alumni from the mid 1990’s, and the national president of our Fraternity. We were also accompanied in the box by a member of the university’s advancement office and a whole host of folks that I met, but didn’t really know. It was nice to see President Gaffney again, though I doubt he remembers the previous times that we’ve met (I was actually one of the student members that interviewed him for the President’s position back in Spring 2003). Also, it was nice to meet the Athletic Director and some of the other university administration. We had a lot of fun conversations and covered a variety of topics (too many to go over on the blog). The whole experience up in the President’s Box was really fun and one that I hope I have an opportunity to repeat.

And while I don’t have much commentary on the game, I do have a few notes about being up in the President’s Box in comparison to my typical experience at the Monmouth basketball games…

First, the food in the President’s Box is really good. I think I’ve run the gamut of the various qualities of Aramark food that is served on Monmouth University’s campus. When I was an undergraduate, I was stuck with the portion of Aramark’s food where the quality was almost inedible. Seriously, when I was an undergraduate some of the food that was available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner was just revolting. In fact, I distinctly remember a few different occasions when I went into the dining hall and opted to not eat anything instead of forcing myself to have a meal of their gruel. Then – right before I graduated – I was invited to dinner at former President Rebecca Stafford’s house and I realized that Aramark actually could make a meal of phenomenal quality.

As a member of the Blue/White Club, I have access to the Varsity Club before the home football and basketball games. This season, the food up in the Varsity Club has been so much better than what it was last year. However, Wednesday night in the President’s Box reminded me that there is an even higher quality food at Monmouth – even if it was just boneless buffalo wings and pigs in a blanket.

Second, the view from the President’s Box is great. I still like my quasi-courtside seats because I’m a basketball fan and from my seats you can hear all of the nitty gritty stuff going on during the game, but I certainly have a new appreciation for the MAC after watching some of the game in the President’s Box. That MAC is pretty well put together.

Third and finally, the folks at Monmouth are really nice. Just like my experience with Aramark, I think I’ve also run the gamut in terms of dealing with the individuals who work on Monmouth’s campus. And, like the food services, the higher up you go the better it gets. I really thought that the university officials up in the President’s Box Wednesday night were really wonderful and very friendly – good people with engaging conversations.

And that’s the story of this past Wednesday night in the President’s Box. Hopefully, I’ll be invited up there to watch another game and I’ll be able to bring the fine readers of this blog a similarly positive report from the game. Until then, let’s hope the Hawks keep their winning ways going!

Dollar sales of store brands increased 10 percent during the 52 weeks before Nov. 1, compared with a 3 percent gain for branded products, according to the Nielsen market research company.

Store brands now account for nearly 22 percent of products sold at the grocery, up from 20 percent a year ago, Nielsen found. At Kroger, store brands account for 26 percent of grocery sales.

In this economic climate, the numbers suggest, many shoppers are willing to try the newly developed store brands. They also say it is hard to resist the low prices of store brands for staple goods like milk, sugar and cheese.

I buy some store brands. I buy Wal-Mart cheese and peanuts and they taste just as good as the more expensive name brands. I also buy Shop-Rite organic milk so I can save a dollar or so over the name brand organics. And there’s no difference between store brand canned vegetables and the name brand canned vegetables.

There can be a few hiccups with the store brands, though. We have a Wegman’s nearby and they have an entire area of the store devoted to foods that they make on-site. It’s a nice addition to the standard grocery store layout, but their foods have a tendency to have a similar taste. I’m not sure what that taste is, exactly, but I just refer to it as “this tastes like Wegman’s.” For anyone who went to Monmouth University, you know that one of the many jokes regarding the horrible Aramark food at the dining hall was that it all tasted the same. I find Wegman’s to be a much higher end version of the same phenomenon.

However, I keep buying Wegman’s sandwiches because they taste good.