February’s supposed to be a slow month, but …
Not so with a potpourri of items on the slate
The so-called sports experts believe that February is a slow month in the sports world. After all, the Super Bowl is history – and that’s good news for Giants fans. Spring training is still a few days away from the pitchers and catchers reporting. The pro basketball and hockey seasons are a snore, with fans longing for the playoffs to begin.
There was even a column in this week’s editions of Sports Illustrated about the very same topic.
Well, these people obviously don’t live in Hudson County. Because in these parts, the sports circle keeps spinning and never gets boring.
We’re going to try to cover as many local topics as possible in a short space, so without further ado, here’s this week’s potpourri of sports items.
On Wednesday, the national signing day for high school football players, Chris Baker of Marist and Brad Cunningham of Hudson Catholic signed their national letters of intent to attend Rutgers. At the same time, Brandon McGowan of Lincoln signed with the University of Maine, along with Kurt Bulwith of Bayonne. Ed Ratyniak of St. Peter’s Prep may follow suit, as former Prep standout Bryan Hawkes, an assistant coach at Maine, is working wonders as the "Pied Piper," luring local kids to Orono…
But it goes to show one thing. Football talent is always found in Hudson County. The college recruiters always come calling, even in so-called "down" years…
Speaking of local talent, Hoboken’s Keeon Walker will get a chance to come home again in August, when Syracuse faces Georgia Tech in the Kickoff Classic in Giants Stadium on Sunday, August 26. Walker is the starting free safety for the Orangemen, coming off a very successful season as the starter. Let’s hope that Walker’s return to his old stomping grounds will be better than his buddy Rashard Casey’s was last season with Penn State…
On the topic of football, former St. Peter’s Prep standout safety Pedro Cirino is headed to Europe to play in the NFL Europe league, with the hope of hooking on with another NFL team. His tryout with the Jets last spring was aborted quickly, when Cirino was struggling with a groin injury. Now healthy, Cirino will look to get a chance to shine in the European setting…
And former Hudson Catholic standout Dwayne Sabb made his debut in the XFL last weekend, as the starting defensive end for the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. We watched the opener with great anticipation, hoping that Sabb would do well, which he did.
As for the quality of the league, ouch! But obviously, with 54 million people watching nationwide, they did something right…
At the 65th annual New Jersey Sportswriters Association awards banquet last Sunday, locals Bobby Hurley and Mike Granelli were honored. Hurley was inducted into the association’s Hall of Fame and Granelli, the long-time St. Peter’s College women’s basketball coach, was named the Women’s Coach of the Year.
Hurley, who has retired from professional basketball and is focusing on his new career as a thoroughbred racehorse owner, said that his prize three-year-old, Songandaprayer, will race in the Fountain of Youth Stakes in Hialeah in Florida on Feb. 17. If the horse does well there, then Hurley plans on taking him to the Florida Derby, then possibly the Kentucky Derby in May.
"If that happens, we’ll have to run a trip for all the people from Jersey City to come to the race," Hurley said. He’s not kidding…
And Granelli was definitely the speaker of the day, with his very witty jokes about his so-called "legendary" status…
It was interesting that the recent upset win by St. Mary’s over state-ranked St. Peter’s Prep was deemed "unbelievable" and "amazing" by some local newspapers. Hey, for many years now, I’ve believed that anything that the respected "Bell of St. Mary’s," namely coach Tom Lalicato, does with his program is far from unbelievable.
Not to mention, "Tommy Bell’s" Ramblers have knocked off some other impressive teams inside their humble confines many times in the past. So it’s really not so unbelievable at all…
And Dickinson has come back from the depths of despair to climb back into both the county and state playoff races. It’s amazing that the Rams, once 2-7 and thought to be dead, are now 10-8 and headed for the HCIAA playoffs. Chief stat man Charlie Straub was quick to point that out to me at the Sportswriter’s luncheon Sunday…
And if North Bergen’s Paul Williams can continue the play he’s shown lately, with 32 points and 20 rebounds in one game lately, then the Bruins could make some noise. Williams will get his chance to showcase his talents at the Prime Time Shootout in Trenton this weekend…
Harold Bautista is now eligible to play for Emerson and that’s not good news for the rest of the league, but it is good news for Bulldogs’ coach Drew Morano…
It appears as if we’re headed for a showdown in the HCIAA girls’ title game between St. Dominic Academy and Marist and if that happens, it should be the most exciting girls’ title game in history…
Former Lincoln track standout Takara Wilks won the NJSIAA Indoor Meet of Champions 55-meter dash last weekend for the second straight year, now competing for Queen of Peace of North Arlington.
Rumor has it that St. Peter’s Prep assistant coach Rich Nesbit is the frontrunner to become the new baseball coach at Lincoln. If he gets the job, he would do a great job, considering the fine work he’s done with the Stars of Tomorrow in the past…
And the Hudson Catholic baseball program will only benefit from its two most recent additions to the coaching staff, namely Willie Costigan and Tom McCann, who will run the Hawks’ freshman team. There hasn’t been a better combination working with youngsters in quite some time…
Everyone is raving about the swimming talents of St. Peter’s Prep’s Greg Couillou, who has been a one-man aquatic wrecking crew for the Marauders. I’ve received three phone calls from people who think he’s the Mark Spitz of Hudson County…
In closing, I was watching the madcap comedic masterpiece, "It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," on Turner Classic Movies recently, and wondered if that was Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney searching for the lost loot, or was it really The Faa and West Side Avenue businessman Mousey Hahner? Just wondering. There were striking similarities….