Good news/bad news

Rutgers and UCLA have finalized a series! Unfortunately, it will not occur until 2016/2017.

The latest issue of Sports Illustrated this week has, in the letters section, a comment from one Joseph G. Susan Jr. of Princeton, New Jersey. He wasn’t writing in regards to Rutgers though; rather, it was a response to SI’s recent feature on the death of former Delaware quarterback Jeff Komlo. And what did Susan say? You’ll have to visit the SI Vault to find out.

Mike Fladell failed his physical, and the Jets turned around and waived him. Calvin Pace was also suspended for four games, which could help Jamaal Westerman’s chances of making the roster. Colts.com has an interview up with Eric Foster (video). He comes off very well, personally and as a representative of the Rutgers program.

Kenny Britt is a back flip expert (watch those hammies, K). Once again, Britt contributes positively to society, unlike that shameless grifter Hakeem Nicks. From that same Topps shoot, I also found this month old video interview.

Lots of great stuff at Beat Visitor lately; the cover of Life Magazine on the week of the 1929 stock market crash had a drawing of a woman with a Rutgers penant.

The Corey Math

Ok, I admit it, I lied. In light of Tuesday’s news that James Beatty had finally decided that Rutgers University would be an acceptable place to play Division I basketball over the next two years, I have been thinking a bit about how the basketball team will look next season. Presuming Beatty actually does make it to campus, they’ll certainly be better, owing both to a stronger roster, and a much weaker Big East. I don’t want to fall into the trap of expecting automatic addition by subtraction, because that almost never works out like you would hope.

I want to see a starting lineup featuring three guards, composed of Greg Echenique, Jonathan Mitchell, Corey Chandler, Mike Rosario, and James Beatty. Key reserves should be, say, Dane Miller, Hamady N’Diaye, and Mike Coburn. Everyone else will have to earn their minutes to start with.

“But wait,” you may ask. Doesn’t running that kind of lineup every night ask an awful lot out of every player not named “Mike Rosario”? Will it be able to compete in the brutal, physical, ultra-competitive Big East? And in response, all I can do is cover my ears, close my eyes, rock back and forth, and repeatedly chant “Villanova did it” in a cataconic trance before you inevitably mutter to yourself and walk away.

Rutgers doesn’t have a choice. Starting three guards is the only way to get the team’s best paper lineup on the floor. And you know what? I don’t care if this sounds like sour grapes, because it’s true: finding out that Earl Pettis was transferring instead of Corey Chandler in May was like getting a reprieve from death row. It soon came out that Pettis received extra, undeserved minutes last year in an attempt by Coach Hill to placate him into not transferring. If we’re going to lose, and we probably will next year, a lot; I’d rather lose in style. Lose 100-92 instead of the 80-65 snoozefests of the post-Douby era. For Rutgers basketball to have any chance of climbing out of the bottom of the Big East, they’ll need Chandler to emerge as a true scoring threat and team leader.

Anyone heard this name?

From the Spartanburg Herald Journal:

Byrnes quarterback Chas Dodd has received his first official scholarship offer from Rutgers.

Dodd (6-foot, 191 pounds) said that he attended a two-day camp earlier this week where he worked out for the Rutgers’ coaching staff.

He was extended the offer via phone call by Scarlet Knights head coach Greg Schiano on Wednesday morning.

“The coaches had been sending me letters here and there,” Dodd said. “A few weeks ago they called and wanted me to come to their camp. (During the camp), they told me that they liked me a lot.”

From the description, that’s a verbal offer, not a written one.

I’m posting this mainly to get the word out on checking Dodd’s official status. Until additional confirmation, I’m skeptical both of the offer, and whether it’s to play quarterback as opposed to another position.

It’s an election year

Pres. Barack Obama will be visiting the Rutgers campus on July 16th to campaign for Governor Corzine. Two thoughts:

1. I will be very, very disappointed in you all if at least one person can’t get Obama to pose for a picture in a Block R cap. Preferably, while shaking Coach Schiano’s hand. I already have Michael Moore, Wayne Rooney, and Hugo Chavez on my RU BINGO card, and just need one more square to win.

2. More important, substance-wise, will be an opportunity to hammer Corzine about the funding issue. He’s trailing Chris Christie in the polls as of now, and isn’t even bothering with subtlety in inviting Obama on to a college campus, with an eye on basking in his popularity. He will need that to run up margins on college campuses and in urban areas. It is an election year, so maybe Rutgers can finagle some sort of promise at a time when Corzine is not very inclined to say “no”.

Something new to follow

Tom Ciszek, the Rutgers University Athletic Department’s photographer, has started his own blog. Should be worth checking out from time to time at least.

edit: Tom’s photo archive is officially Rutgers porn.

Jets can’t get enough

Brian Leonard won’t just be hanging around Jersey for his football camp (and weighs in on Joe Martinek).

Leonard will spend the weeks before training camp working out at Rutgers, alongside fellow Scarlet Knight alums and NFL players Darnell Stapleton (Pittsburgh), Jeremy Zuttah (Tampa Bay) and Kevin Malast (Chicago).

“That’s what Coach Schiano wanted,” Leonard said. “Coach remembers the days back in Miami, when all the NFL players used to come back and the college players got to see how the NFL guys work out and where they could be in the future.”

Beat Visitor likes that the student section is moving to the end zone.

The Jets claimed Mike Fladell.

And James Beatty is a Scarlet Knight. I’m beyond caring at this point.

Ray Rice has switched agents.

Ryan Hart has filed suit against EA Sports for using his likeness without permission.

There’s no specific RU info to report, but all NFL rookies were required to attend the annual Rookie Symposium.

College funding woes are becoming the rule, not the exception: now Harvard is taking a hit.

6/30 Recruiting Update

Camp tally, so far: commits #4 and #5 are in the bag in linemen Jorge Vicioso (Passaic), and Frank Quartucci (Hamilton). Possibly more are to come. Nothing wrong with camp offers in June, or even sending them out after a big senior year. You worry when new offers go out on signing day in February.

We still need one more offensive lineman. Topping the list is Dan Foose, and if he is giving quotes like:

Rutgers: “I’ve visited them a bunch of times. I really like the people there and the weight room. They have a good thing going and its close to home. The coaches are great and they have some great stuff down there.”

Then you have to feel confident. He’s still planning a few more visits before pulling the trigger.

Staten Island Live spoke with Dominique Easley recently.

A decision on a school is not imminent, but over the summer Easley and Gambardella are planning on narrowing the list of likely destinations to five or six so that the distractions don’t get out of hand when the fall contact period arrives.

Of the big New York state prospects this year, Easley (from our home turf), and athlete Jordan Thomas (near Binghamton upstate) are the only two left. So, what about those rumors that Rutgers had suddenly jumped ahead with Easley? Even if they’re true, he’s still trying to keep everything under wraps for now.

When asked about a rumored upcoming commitment to Rutgers, Easley responded with one word.

“No”

Corey Brown accepted an invite to the Under Armour all star game on Thursday. Khairi Fortt was planning to visit Rutgers on Sunday, and right now is favoring PSU and UNC.

Have to say that I’m surprised that Bosco lineman Brandon Sacco committed to Pitt instead of Rutgers over the weekend. Their assistant Jeff Hafley has made inroads in New Jersey this year. Panther fans were melting down a few weeks ago over losing two legacy recruits to PSU, but they’re making up those losses out of state. It just goes to show that recruiting fortunes can change in an instant.

There was also bad news with Joe Brennan; his profiles don’t show Rutgers as a finalist now. Even with Savage on board, I think that it was important to bring in another QB, if only for recruiting purposes. On one hand, you’d hope that we’re the ones who backed off, but it makes me look foolish for harping on the importance of signing a QB so much. And the alternative (Brennan saying no to RU) would be worse.

And speaking of recruiting analysts posting bogus info, all of the apologia from the past week is null and void: T.J. Clemmings is not committed to anyone.

Magic Numbers

One consequence of a weak local crop of talent in the class of 2010 is that Rutgers will likely, once again, have to focus on importing difference makers at the skill positions from the state of Florida. As Rutgers fans are likely aware at this point, the Scarlet Knights used that playbook to great effect in the early years of Greg Schiano’s tenure. Rutgers bought several billboards, and ran popular (since banned, owing to rent seeking by Southern coaches) camps in the area. When the now-departed Darren Rizzi and Chris Demarest were on staff, Rutgers wouldn’t beat any of the “Big Three” in-state powers (Miami, Florida, and Florida State) for players, but would regularly go against the top ACC and SEC programs for recruits. Occasionally, they would even win.

Rutgers signed, literally, its biggest talent ever out of Florida last year with defensive tackle Antwan Lowery, but didn’t make all that much noise in the Sunshine State as a whole. Part of that owes to increased success at home (in a good year for New Jersey) and in the Philadelphia region, but I’d also credit not having Rizzi and Demo on staff opening doors. This spring, Coach Schiano hired Brian Jenkins away from Louisiana-Lafayette as his new receivers coach. Jenkins may very well be adept in that area, but his primary purpose is surely to get the Scarlet Knights back in play in the lucrative Florida talent pool. While Rutgers primarily focused on Southern Florida in the past, they now look to be extending more offers throughout every region of the state.

Musical Chairs

The class of 2009 was a banner year for quarterback recruiting. 2010? Less so, although there are quality prospects at the top like BYU commit Jake Heaps. There’s not a lot of depth this year, which means that any teams that weren’t able to sign a blue-chip player at the position last February are now under increased pressure to secure one while they still can. Several programs look to end up figuratively out in the cold, unable to land a top field general for multiple years in a row. Quarterbacks typically commit earlier than other positions, before their senior seasons, and use that status to help recruit the other members of each team’s class. They’re valuable far beyond the obvious reason that good ones help win football games.

This year, Penn State looks positively gluttonous. In the wake of not signing a QB for two years running, they pulled Kevin Newsome away from Virginia Tech (he originally was a Michigan commitment, but no one expected it to stick and it didn’t) to finish off the class of 2009 with a bang. The Nittany Lions have secured a verbal from Pittsburgh’s Paul Jones, and are believed to be leading for another top prospect in Michigan’s Robert Bolden. The case of Bolden is a useful one to illustrate the domino effect of one decision having repercussions far down the line. In theory, it’s simple; if a program does not go after an in-state prospect, that player is free, as a result, to consider other prospets. That’s a direct example of influence; what I’m referring to here is more of a Rube Goldbergian chain reaction, slinkying across the country further than one would think possible.

The Bolden story actually goes all the way back to Ohio State. After securing Terrelle Pryor (over faux-interest in Penn State and Michigan), the #1 player in the class of 2008, the Buckeyes saw several upperclassmen transfers thin their depth chart. In last year’s banner class, the bigger names were scared away from competing with Pryor. They had a chance to land Devin Gardner out of Michigan this year, but put all their eggs in the Nick Montana basket, and Gardner committed to Michigan long before Montana spurned OSU and Notre Dame for Washington (right after their top target Heaps was off the board). Ohio State subsequently lost their next option Andrew Hendrix to ND, before ultimately settling for Taylor Graham, who presumably will do a fantastic job of holding the clipboard for Pryor, and 2011’s Braxton Miller.

Michigan landing Gardner left Bolden without an obvious landing spot besides the other in-state option, Michigan State. However, Bolden’s flirtations with PSU lead Sparty to poach Joe Boisture (a good option, but highly overrated on Rivals due to his Boston College commitment) from BC last week, his lifelong MSU fandom overcoming the thin Eagle depth chart under center. Bolden is the biggest name left on the national board, along with Jesse Scroggins out of California. There are a few other solid options out there (including Joe Brennan, Anthony Gonzalez, among others), but the number is increasingly dwindling by the day.

This week in Tony Soprano-dom

More hurdles abound for the long planned theft of the New Jersey Nets, despite a sweetheart deal with the MTA.

Mr. Ratner’s highest hurdle may be in securing tax-exempt financing, which would reduce his borrowing costs by tens of millions of dollars. If he fails to meet the Dec. 31 deadline, Mr. Ratner would have a short grace period to secure more expensive conventional financing, but most officials and bankers say that that is unlikely given the still frozen state of the credit markets.Atlantic Yards could collapse if that happens.

“In the event they are unable to secure financing under those terms,” said Gary Dellaverson, chief financial officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, “the agreement is no longer valid and the M.T.A. would have to decide what to do with the property.”

Not only is another arena not viable, but there are too many as is.

“Five arenas is not going to work,” said Mark S. Rosentraub, a professor of sports management at the University of Michigan. “I don’t think four works, even in a market as large as New York. There’s competition in every direction and there aren’t enough events.”

In light of this news, it’s little surprise that the franchise is likely on the block again.

“It’s all up to negotiation,” said the source, emphasizing that all the interest is based on the promise of the Nets’ long-anticipated move from New Jersey to Brooklyn.

I don’t see how that is plausible given that Wall Street isn’t that keen at giving away other people’s money for frivolous sinkholes at the moment. The only realistic option is for the Nets to join the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark, under local ownership, run as an end in themselves, instead of an afterthought in an overblown real estate scheme gone south.

Meanwhile, the slime in Izod is far from the most rotten creature currently residing in the Meadowlands Complex. That would be its similarly unneeded, fellow speculation bubble mutant offspring, Xanadu. Fox 5 in New York ran an expose (click for video) on the struggling Xanadu Project several weeks back.

There is a mystery at Xanadu. Human feces was found in the entertainment complex. A labor leader tells Nevins-Taylor that he believes a group or one person or a few are sabotaging the job. Documents Fox 5 News obtained show state inspectors cited Xanadu for unsafe and unsanitary conditions with fixtures filled with human waste on several levels. They found buckets have been used as urinals throughout the complex.

Angry laid-off workers may not be the culprit. A representative for the Building and Construction Trades Council says “it’s very controversial and there are people who feel that it (the complex) shouldn’t be there.”

The culprit certainly shares my (and really, most residents of the New York City metropolitan area) sentiment, although his form of protest is almost as sickening as the sheer force of corruption necessary to get Xanadu off the ground in the first place.

And, I don’t believe our beloved Mr. Soprano would even stoop this low. If anything, I’m libelling Tony with this comparison.

Plans call for a giant ferris wheel like one in London. But state inspectors are questioning the design of the footing the pedestals for the giant wheel are in. They fear it’s too close to the NJ Turnpike. They are worried about an accident and evacuation procedures for people on the wheel. Public access underneath to the wheel is also problematic.

Fox 5 asked a construction safety expert to take a look. He says if a tanker truck or something catches fire or explodes, you could have those fumes blowing into the ferris wheel. And there is always the possibility that something from the ferris wheel could drop.

But that’s not all! Wondering about New Jersey’s new economic stimulus bill? Well, (emphasis mine)

Critics of the bill say it lets Elizabeth and Newark add a 5 percent local tax on rental cars, allows Trenton to add a $2 surcharge to admission tickets and parking fees at Sovereign Bank Arena, gives tax breaks to a Gerdau Ameristeel facility in Sayreville and Campbell’s Soup Co. headquarters in Camden and exempts the big Xanadu and Giants Stadium projects in the Meadowlands from developer fees.

New Jersey can’t pay its bills, yet turns around and squanders precious revenue.