Monmouth University Posts Basketball Schedule – Season Starting at 6:00am

Joe — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:30:20 +0000

Oh boy. After last year’s early morning away game against St. Peter’s College was aired on ESPN, the Monmouth University men’s basketball team is getting ready to get some more early morning national exposure from The Worldwide Leader in Sports. Late last week I popped over to GoMUHawks.com and looked up the men’s basketball schedule for the coming season. Turns out that not only will the Hawks be playing another 6:00am game on ESPN, but this time they’ll be home playing against Stony Brook University… and it’s the home opener!

That’s pretty crazy.

This, of course, means that I’ll be at that game in my first row seats bright and early at 6:00am. It also means that I’ll be getting up at about 4:30am that morning so I can be at the Varsity Club pregame area by 5:00am when it opens. Then from the game I’ll walk over to Bey Hall, teach the 8:30am course that I’m teaching this semester, and then head over to Trenton to go to work until I head back to Monmouth in the evening to teach my 6:00pm class. Talk about a full day!

These early morning games are pretty fun and a good way to get national exposure. However, as a big supporter of college athletes (and student athletes at all levels of education, really), I know that these games add an extra layer of stress to the players. Forget about the fact that the game is being broadcast on ESPN and, thus, all around the world; these students are waking up at an unreal hour and prepping themselves to get ready to play against some stiff competition. Add on the fact that it’s going to be the home opener and the pressure only continues to mount. I wish these guys the best of luck.

Anyway, I’ll be nice and bitter by the time I get to that 6:00pm class at night!

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!

JerseySmarts.com

Monmouth University Posts Basketball Schedule – Season Starting at 6:00am

Thoughts and Pictures from Monmouth University vs. Seton Hall University