JerseySmarts.com

Thoughts and Pictures from Monmouth University vs. Seton Hall University

Joe — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:40:09 +0000

After a rousing victory against Florida International University on Friday night, the Monmouth University Hawks came up slightly short against the Seton Hall University Pirates. A little earlier today, the Hawks went down 72 – 87 in a game that was much more competitive than a 15 point difference.

Monmouth wins the tip off against SHU

Seton Hall is a very tough, aggressive team with some stellar athletes playing for them. To their credit, they played a great full court press style of defense the entire game and it took the Monmouth players a little while to adequately fight back. I was impressed with Seton Hall’s overall team speed, too. They’re a quick bunch of guys and, as anyone who has played a competitive sport can tell you, speed comes in handy as the game goes on.

As for the Hawks, I was impressed with their overall cohesion as a team, but I’d like to see them start playing a little bit more aggressively throughout the game. They don’t need to generate a ton of fouls, but they shouldn’t be afraid of some physical contact with their opponents. And free throws. They have to hit their free throws. I’m not sure when the box score and statistics will be available for this game, but I would bet that they’ll show the Hawks missing a large percentage of their free throws. In fact, I bet that if they hit all of their free throws, the final score may have been a lot closer and possibly in their favor…

On a day when the Monmouth University men’s soccer team won the NEC Championship, the men’s basketball team came up a little bit short. But that’s okay. I’m sure the team will bounce back and have a great game against St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, New Jersey. That game is at 6:00am and on ESPN, so if you happen to be getting up early in the morning to get ready for work – look for it!

If you’re friends with me on Facebook, head over to my page to take a look at some pictures from today’s game. Enjoy!

Monmouth University Men’s Basketball Team Wins Home Opener Against FIU

Joe — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:29:41 +0000

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)

Bringing on Some Help For Usable Web Solutions, LLC

Joe — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:29:05 +0000

After some thought, I’ve decided to bring on additional consultant help for my website company, Usable Web Solutions, LLC. So I’m pleased to bring on Santi F. – a fraternity brother from Seton Hall and friend from back when I was in college. When I was running my chapter of the fraternity down at Monmouth University, he was running his chapter up at Seton Hall. We had a lot of good times with the two groups mixing around.

For those wondering, I now have over 30 clients in the website company and more than 10 pending requests (which would put me around 45 clients overall). For a part time gig, the website company really is heating up!

Recent Weekend Events – Sigma Pi Fraternity

Joe — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:57:00 +0000

This past weekend I was happy to have my Fraternity’s Assistant Executive Director, Educational Foundation Development Officer, and Director of Volunteer Support and Alumni Services come to my region of the nation and help educate both alumni and undergraduates alike on the great things going on in Sigma Pi. I was thoroughly impressed with the depth of knowledge and breadth of abilities that these men brought to New Jersey and I hope to have each of them back to the state in the near future!

The young men at our Theta-Delta Chapter (based out of The College of New Jersey) hosted our events on Saturday and they did a magnificent job. After a full day of workshops, they allowed us to go to their home and have a BBQ where more than 100 of the guys were able to enjoy some food and drink before going home. Very hospitable of the guys to offer up their home and property!

On Sunday, my guests and I traveled to our colony at Montclair State University and our chapters at Fairleigh-Dickinson University-Teaneck, William Paterson University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Seton Hall University. Visiting so many of the guys in a single day was both thrilling and exhausting, though I am glad that we were able to make the visits.

We have a good system for Sigma Pi Fraternity up here in New Jersey. For more on what we do in New Jersey with the Fraternity, feel free to visit our regional website!