New Jersey is hosting the Super Bowl in 2014!

Whether you’re the type of New Jerseyan who loves that the Super Bowl is coming to MetLife Stadium or whether you hate it, there are some undeniably great impacts coming our way. To begin with, the general rule of thumb is that Super Bowls can provide up to $500 million in gross economic activity for a host city. Half a billion dollars? That’s not too bad for a few days of mayhem!

What’s better than the $500 million economic impact, though, is the fact that there will be a variety of part-time and temporary jobs available to help set up for, manage, and break down from the Super Bowl and its pre-game festivities. Those types of jobs aren’t segregated to New Jersey alone, either. Those are the types of jobs that folks in New York City can benefit from as well as New Jerseyans living in the central part of the state. I believe that this is one of the best impacts from hosting the Super Bowl because it provides an opportunity for an unemployed or underemployed person to make their own, professional impact on a company that is looking to hire more people. In other words, if you’re one of those people who thinks all they need is a chance at a job so they can impress an employer enough to want them to be hired full-time, then this is that chance!

A third benefit from having the Super Bowl in New Jersey is the fact that we get to show off the real New Jersey. No, not that stereotype-laden image that most of the rest of the country has of us as fist-pumping, loud-talking, self-obsessed members of the mafia. We get a chance to showcase the real New Jersey – a place filled with optimistic people, caring families, and intelligent discussion.

Alright, well most of the discussion is intelligent!

However, before we get to experience the economic and social impacts that come along with hosting the Super Bowl, New Jerseyans have a chance to realize more than $200 million in economic impact from hosting another global event… WrestleMania XXIX!

Are you ready for WrestleMania XXIX next year?!

If you read this blog, then you probably know that I used to be a big wrestling fan many years ago and am still somewhat of a fan today (though to a much lesser, rather passive degree). However, since I have that latent wrestling fan mentality I fully intend on attending WrestleMania next year (and the Super Bowl in 2014 for that matter) because it’s going to be so close to home. Aside from the fact that I plan on attending one of the major annual global sporting/entertainment events based in America (i.e. the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Finals, NCAA Championships, WrestleMania, etc), I think that this gigantic wrestling show presents a much more exciting opportunity for those who are without jobs.

As I wrote above, there are going to be a lot of staff ramp-ups leading into the Super Bowl. Well, there are going to be a bunch of staff ramp-ups leading into WrestleMania as well. Not only does the stadium have to transform into the spectacle that Vince McMahon creates every year, but there is usually a week-long series of events all around the host city (or, in New Jersey’s case, the host region). Sometimes, the events leading up to the actual show can bring in as many or more visitors than the show itself.

And that’s another item to consider. Currently, MetLife Stadium can hold about 82,500 fans. However, WWE has a history of extending attendance capacities in football stadiums by the thousands since they utilize the field for seating space, too. Chances are that WWE is going to try to figure out how to pack as many people into MetLife Stadium as possible. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were 95,000+ people in that stadium for WrestleMania when all was said and done.

Anyway, the point of this entry was simply to acknowledge that there are two major events coming to New Jersey in the next few years and we all should be pretty excited about the opportunities that come along with hosting these events. There is an economic impact with dollars spent at local business, there is a professional impact with jobs being created for the unemployed or underemployed, and there is a social impact that will allow us to show the rest of the country and the world all of the great things about New Jersey.

From Garfield High School...

After the game, a Facebook page that purports itself to be Austin’s official page had this to say:

My passion for football began at Garfield.. not sure why yall are so upset that I repped them for once instead of Monmouth. Yall should know I love MU and always will.. But without Garfield and the support I received there, I woulda never made it to Monmouth. Kids need to know that high school is a time to find your talent or passion and run as far as you can with it.

Now, I’m not sure if this is Austin’s real Facebook page or not, but the blurb above makes sense in my world. Of course, before Austin posted this on his Facebook account, I commented about how hilarious I found the whole situation. In the comments following my blurb, I wrote the following:

[My Roommate] and I figured that thousands of MU alumni started laughing out loud when he said “Garfield High School” while dozens of MU employees and administrators were confused as to why someone would do that in the first place!

And this point is the crux of this entry. I guarantee that all of the idiot “yes men” ass kissers that I went to college with had no idea why Austin wouldn’t even consider announcing himself from Monmouth during that opening game. I also guarantee that some exorbitantly paid administrators at Monmouth who are so full of their own bullshit started to panic after hearing “Garfield High School” during what should have been the shining moment of their delusional impressions of my alma mater. The fact is that many of the folks working in the administration at Monmouth are out of touch with the student body. And when they need to get student opinions on issues and items, they choose their “yes men” and ass kissers to provide feedback for the general population. It’s useless.

Oh, and I speak for a super-majority of the current students and alumni from the school? How do I know that? Very simple. I looked at a copy of Monmouth University’s most recent results on the National Survey of Student Engagement. One of the questions asked, “How well do students get along with administrators and staff?”

The answer?

Some 35% of first year students find the administrative personnel and offices helpful, considerate, and flexible. Gah! If 35% of my clients thought that I was helpful, considerate, and flexible to their needs I’d get fired on the spot! Because if 35% think that you’re great, then 65% want to bang their head into the wall each time they deal with you!

Anyway, for the reason that Austin stated in his Facebook update and because of the results of the national survey – and for the many less-than-pleasant encounters I had with the administrators over there when I was an undergraduate – I’m glad that Austin said he was from Garfield High School instead of Monmouth University. It serves them right. There’s clearly a disconnect that the university isn’t addressing and, quite frankly, doesn’t seem to know how to address.

So for this Giants fan, my favorite Cowboy is Miles Austin. And that’s in light of the fact that Tony Romo and I are in the same fraternity (Sigma Pi Fraternity)!

• Quality Time at the CSA Farm: In the next day or two, I’ll be posting some pictures of our recent takes from the local CSA farm. Spending time at the CSA farm is fun and a great way to be out there in a beautiful, rural area of New Jersey.
• Asbury Park Boardwalk: One of my goals during this vacation from work was to spend some time laying on the beach. Well, I didn’t quite get to lay on the beach due to a rushed schedule, but I did get a chance to walk up and down the Asbury Park boardwalk, which was a lot of fun. Hopefully, we’ll have another warm day before the leaves change and I’ll be able to get to the beach for a final time this season.
• Personal Planning: I’ve always wanted to take a week off from work to spend that free time focusing on me and what I’d like to do with the next X months/years of my life. I managed to squeeze in some time to consider those thoughts on Tuesday of last week, but I didn’t want to rush the situation, so I let it go for the time being. My next full week off from work is after Christmas, so that might be a good time. What I did come to a personal conclusion about, though, is how I need to start working out again with the same vigor that I had back in 2004 and 2005 (when I dropped 125 pounds before gaining 100 back). More on that one of these days.
• Went to a Baseball Game: Going to a baseball game was high on my list of “do this before the summer ends” activities. This past Thursday night I went up to a Newark Bears game and had a really good time. So check that off the list!
• Begin Teaching: Another reason why I wanted to take this time off was because it was the first week of school at the local college where I teach a political science class. This semester is the first time that I’m teaching at 8:30am instead of 7:25pm (big difference, huh?) so I wanted to give myself some time to get used to the campus atmosphere at that time of the day. Plus, I wanted to spend some extra time preparing my classes and reviewing my previously prepared presentations. I also began teaching three online courses at the local online university, too.
• Say Thank You and Fundraise: Another reason why I opted to take this particular week off was because the Chief Operations Officer of the foundation where I serve as a Board Trustee and the Board Treasurer was in town this week. I was happy to host him in my home and travel with him around New Jersey on Wednesday through Saturday to say thank you to some of our donors from New Jersey. In addition to saying thank you, we were also able to host some meetings to educate some of our foundation’s volunteers and raise some additional funds around some of our initiatives. By my quick count, we raised about $22,000 in commitments and first-year pledges. Not too bad for three and a half days, huh? Plus, one can never be sure about any additional funds that may come in due to folks simply being excited about hearing “thank you” regarding their previous donations.
• Worked with Local Chapter: I’ve noted numerous times on this blog how I work with the local chapter of my fraternity. In short, I act as a mentor to some of the undergraduate leaders and provide them with insight on how to operate their chapter in an efficient manner. Anyway, this was their first week back at school so I had dinner with some of their leaders, attended one of their meetings, and met with the entire chapter for lunch on campus. What’s even better is that I met with a young alumnus of the chapter that wants to do this job in my place – so I’m providing him with some training so that one day he could take over and act as the local chapter’s advisor. Great stuff.

Unfortunately, though, I was not able to accomplish all of the things that I planned on accomplishing during this staycation. For example, I wanted to renovate the syllabus for the class that I designed and taught for the first time last spring; just didn’t have the time to do that in the past week. Also, I wanted to finish up at least three of the books that I’m in the middle of reading at the moment – didn’t even pick up any of the books that I’m reading (too busy running around the state). With respect to JerseySmarts.com, I have some material that was sent in from some young writers and musicians that I wanted to review during the last week, but I’m going to have to push that off for another 10 – 14 days. And as for Usable Web Solutions, LLC, there were two major projects that I wanted to complete during the last week and I didn’t have a chance to start on either one of them.

But all of that is okay – I’m ready to get back to work and focus on hitting a couple of home runs in the office before the end of my company’s fiscal year on September 30, 2010! As for the rest of today, though, I’m heading over to a former roommate’s house to watch some football!

As for some comments on the game…

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

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 (Photo by Joyce Bambach)

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.

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.

Please note that I’m not looking at the top five most popular search terms – that would be a different entry altogether. I’m looking at the last five search phrases that landed someone on JerseySmarts.com. It should also be noted that the last five search phrases brought readers here from a Google search engine.

Searched Phrase: terry weldon new jersey 2009
Ah. Nice one. For those of you that don’t know, Terry Weldon is the former (scumbag) Mayor of Ocean Township in Monmouth County. He was also a public employee of the City of Asbury Park. This man is as corrupt as the day is long. The JerseySmarts.com page that this searcher landed on talked about how Terry Weldon was the epitome of a scumbag.

Searched Phrase: comcast customer care number
Over the summer I had some issues with Comcast’s customer care. Something wasn’t quite right when I was looking for FOX News HD on my cable box. You can read what this particular searcher found on JerseySmarts.com by clicking here.

Searched Phrase: diet books for men
It was only a few days ago that I posted my review of The Eat-Clean Diet for Men. In case you missed it (or in case you can’t scroll down the screen here…), feel free to head on over via this link. I’m probably the happiest about this particular search phrase because it shows that the content that is placed on JerseySmarts.com quickly rises up the ranks in the search engine world. You listening to that, advertisers?

Searched Phrase: guys trip to nashville
Every once in a while one of my entries has something to do with an event that someone else is planning. Clearly, this searcher was looking for ideas for a trip to Nashville for he and his buddies. Well, when he Google’d this phrase he landed on JerseySmarts.com and an entry that I uploaded over the summer reviewing my most recent trip to Nashville.

Searched Phrase: roxbury high school football
Go Gaels! A few days ago I made it very clear that, as a member of the 1998 State Championship football team from Roxbury High School, I am completely behind the current team as they prepare to play against East Orange Campus High School this weekend at Giants Stadium. I know that I speak for the entire 1998 team when I say good luck! Many of the guys will be in the stands and we want to see that state title come back home. The guys on the current team have made all of Roxbury Township proud with their excellent performance this season. We’re all pulling for them to win the big one this weekend and they can definitely do it!

Whoever searched for that term found my congratulatory post to the current team (as well as some pictures of me from when we won the state championship 11 years ago) when they landed on the page linked here.

And there you have it – the last five searched phrases that brought some of YOU to JerseySmarts.com. If you happen to be someone who landed on this page thanks to Google or another search engine, please feel free to leave a comment telling us what you were looking for and if the search engine that you used gave you the right answers.

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

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!

Maybe I’m biased as a Giants fan, but I thought last year’s SuperBowl was much more intense and a better game overall. I have to think that this year’s game will be among the lowest rated in recent history. Anyway, the Steelers make history with six SuperBowl championships and the Cardinals go home and start thinking about next year.

And America wonders how/why a 9 – 7 team managed to be in the SuperBowl in the first place!

The Giants, Titans, and Eagles are all better teams. Hell, the Cowboys and Patriots are better teams and they both make me sick! That said, I’m looking for the Steelers to make a mockery out of the Cardinals and send them back to Arizona in no time at all. In truth, it’ll be interesting to see how the NFL will play the Roethlisberger vs. Warner match up. That said, I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’m really not that interested in the match-up.

For those of you who are attending a party or SuperBowl gathering tonight, remember to be safe on the roads and don’t be stupid by drinking and driving. Other than that, enjoy the night!

On the other hand, I can see where a Giants fan would be disappointed that the Giants lost to the Eagles in one of the poorest post-season performances that I’ve ever seen out of Philadelphia. If the Giants were playing like defending SuperBowl champions, they would have beat the Eagles by three touchdowns because the Eagles really aren’t that good when compared to the other post-season teams. However, the Giants have been playing so bad lately that the Eagles were good enough to beat them and advance.

Watching this game it boiled down to the fact that you could see in their performance that the Eagles wanted it. The Giants? They didn’t wait it. Tom Coughlin certainly wanted it as he became beet red on more than one occasion, but his team? I didn’t see anything indicative of defending SuperBowl champions.

As a Giants fan, I hope that the team continues to grow stronger and work on their cohesion. Eli needs to continue to develop his on-field leadership and the Giants need to go out and get some more impact players so that they can make the big plays that they just didn’t make today.

The Giants have not been creative enough in their play calling and with Eli Manning having a so-so game so far, it would be a good idea for Kevin Gilbride to pull some type of card from up his sleeve. I’m not talking about trick plays because I hate that shit in the NFL, but something other than Jacobs this way and Jacobs that way.

The other observation I have about this game is the penalties. I hate when the referees become a third team on the field. Let the Giants play the Eagles and stay out of the damn way, for Christ’s Sake. There’s nothing worse than when two good teams like the Giants and Eagles get together and the game is marred to any degree by the officiating staff.

Anyway, here’s hoping for the Giants to rally and take control in the second half!