Rumors strongly persist that three of the four Jersey City public school football coaches, namely Rob Maffia at Dickinson, Eric Piccolo at Snyder and Adonis Blue at Lincoln, will not be retained.
Only Wilbur Valdez at Ferris will survive the purge of head coaches in the Jersey City school system.
Now, there’s no need to belabor this point, especially when head athletic director Michael Venutolo is set on his ways and wants the trio gone, but is it really these coaches’ fault for the Jersey City public schools’ hideous performance this season?
I know for a fact that Piccolo was out working with whatever kids he had in the middle of the baking hot July sun, trying to get them ready for the season. It certainly wasn’t because of a lack of effort that the Tigers were not a good team this season.
But be it as it may, the merry-go-round of coaches in the Jersey City school system will continue with the hiring of three new faces.
Funny, but even when these schools had good coaches, like when Dickinson had Joe Marsella or when Ferris had Harry Lerner, or when Lincoln had Jeff Wiener (did I just mention Jeff Wiener?), the Board of Education did nothing to keep them there.
So a bunch of new faces come in, then those faces depart. Round and round, much like the merry-go-round.
It’s also interesting to hear rumors that the Jersey City Board of Education is actually considering petitioning the state to form ONE football team for the four schools next season. The participation numbers are so poor at some schools, like Lincoln, that it’s hard for the school to field a team, so they’re considering merging the four schools and making one team, much like what happened this season in East Orange.
Well, if that happens, you can rest assured that the line for interested head coaches would begin somewhere around High Point and end in Cape May, because that would be an absolute gold mine. Would the NJSIAA allow it? Probably not. But it certainly is interesting…
Speaking of the NJSIAA, check this one out for size.
If you visit the NJSIAA’s website, which is www.njsiaa.org, there is a feature that posts all the brackets for the state football playoffs.
Included among the brackets is a link, where the Internet user is asked to predict the state playoffs. The feature is called "Predict It," and it is located just above the brackets of each group and classification.
When you click on "Predict It," a message pops up.
It reads, "Welcome to the Predict It! feature. Here anyone can predict any bracket posted OR create their own bracket to be “predicted.” The Predict It! feature is great for office pools, family pools (all done over the Internet, so geography is not a limit!) or just to show off your predicting talents."
OFFICE POOLS? For high school football playoffs? Are we actually encouraging gambling on high school games? Sure looks that way…
Just as predicted, the HCIAA Coviello soccer title game will be played Sunday between Emerson and North Bergen. It should be an excellent game, but considering the way the favored Bulldogs lost in overtime to West Orange in the state playoffs Tuesday, you can rest assured that the Bulldogs will be loaded for bear. And if you’re loaded for bear, who best to hunt than Bruins? Emerson wins the title game, 3-1…
There is another rumor floating about that the HCIAA has made a decision how to punish Hudson Catholic for leaving the league, then looking to return. The rumor said that the league will fine Hudson Catholic a substantial amount monetarily, but will also ask for a two-year probation for all sports, which means that Hudson Catholic would be unable to compete for an HCIAA title for two years.
The first part of the penalty is fine, but to punish the kids who didn’t make the decision to leave for two full years is a bit ridiculous.
One of the members of the HCIAA ad-hoc committee to discuss the Hudson Catholic situation told me that it’s not true, but most rumors that float around Hudson County are true.
If the HCIAA comes back with a two-year probation, that’s a ridiculously sick slap in the face, simply because Hudson Catholic had a change of heart and thought better… — Jim Hague