Jersey City Board of Ed drops ball with ridiculous budget cuts

It got lost in the shuffle recently, but it was a move that will have major ramifications to the kids of Jersey City for many years to come.

The Jersey City Board of Education voted recently to eliminate all freshman athletic teams in an attempt to save approximately $1 million in the district’s overall costs. In addition to slicing all freshman teams, the Board of Education totally wiped away golf and bowling as varsity sports, cut the number of assistant coaches for each athletic team and eliminated any further spending in terms of new uniforms and equipment.

What that all adds up to is an absolute screw job to the kids of Jersey City.

This move is an absolute disaster, both on and off the playing fields.

First, from a competitive standpoint, how in the world does a football program intend to get better without having a freshman team? How does a player develop and improve without having a chance to be nurtured and learn, playing and competing against kids their own age? Especially in a sport like football, having a good freshman program is essential if you want a varsity team to be successful.

Teams like Lincoln, Ferris, Dickinson and Snyder will be at a disadvantage from now on, facing teams that had the benefit of a nurturing freshman program. The Board of Education is essentially throwing these kids to the wolves and asking them to compete against schools and teams that have solid freshman programs.

Totally eliminating golf and bowling as cost-cutting moves is just an imbecilic gesture. Especially now that there is a legitimate, professional nine-hole golf course in Jersey City that could be used for development. I remember the Lincoln golf team getting the chance to play at the luxurious Liberty National Golf Course in the past, but I don’t think that was a regular opportunity. However, the nine-hole course right off Route 440 is an outstanding course and would have been a perfect locale for a Jersey City kid to learn to play the game. 

Not anymore.

And bowling? Are you kidding me? How costly is it to field a bowling program? The teams are not big to begin with, with nine, perhaps 10 kids to a team. The people at Hudson County Lanes in Bayonne are glad to accommodate the high school teams. It’s another move that made absolutely no sense.

Some critics of the cuts have stated that it might lead to a rise in the crime rate, that kids will have more free time on their hands and get into trouble instead of playing sports.

That remains to be seen.

But just from a common sense angle, we should want to encourage our youngsters to participate in sports. Playing high school sports is a healthy, extracurricular activity that encourages teamwork and unity and togetherness and camaraderie. We should do anything and everything in our power to want kids to play sports, not take the chances away from them simply because of budgetary reasons.

There should be a way to have the freshman sports continue. There should be a way to have the kids who play golf and who bowl to continue playing the sport they love. It should be a priority to keep athletics going, not eliminated simply to make line items on a spreadsheet balance out.

High school sports are essential to the development of our youth. Memories are made playing high school sports that last a lifetime. You cannot put a price tag on the importance of high school sports. It’s totally immeasurable, regardless of who wins and who loses. Just from the social angle alone, high school sports are vital.

There should have been a way for the Jersey City Board of Education to realize that high school sports should be a priority, not a line item elimination. When a budget is introduced, high school sports should be just as important as purchasing new textbooks or updating the information technology in the school’s computers. It should be just as essential.

There should never be a day where the powers-that-be determine that the way to have a budget more palatable would be to hack away at athletics.

I have an idea. Why not start hacking away at the ridiculously high salaries that the administrators all receive? Why not take a few thousand away from those already collecting better than six figures in their annual take? 

That would be a better way of attacking a budget problem instead of punishing innocent teenagers.

But of course, that will never happen.

If no one hears or learns of these cuts, then the Board of Education will take the approach that no one is complaining about it, so it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

Guess what? It is a big deal. These cuts will be felt by the results of the teams down the road, who simply cannot fairly compete against other schools, programs and teams that field competitive freshman teams.

But these cuts hurt the ones that should matter the most in the Jersey City Board of Education. These cuts hurt the kids, the ones we’re supposed to be educating. How do these elected officials actually justify these cuts? That they had no other choice? That they reluctantly had their hands to the fire and were faced with the dilemma of finding the cuts from some place?

Well, athletics should not have been the place where they looked to save a few bucks. Plain and simple, there should have been a better way. These cuts were nothing short of moronic and simple minded. Shame on the people who were elected and entrusted to take care of our youth. They have basically turned their backs on these teenagers.  It’s an absolute disgrace.

It’s only two weeks into the new NFL season, but the Giants sure look like a complete disaster.

Thanks to new general manager Dave Gettleman and new head coach Pat Shurmur, the Giants entered this season with eternal optimism that Saquon Barkley was the savior at running back, that Eli Manning had found the Fountain of Youth, that the newly formed offensive line was going to be sensational and the defense would be revitalized and rejuvenated.

Well, two weeks in and Big Blue is a big mess.

Let’s start with the offensive line, because it’s probably the most glaring problem right now. Gettleman and Shurmur were convinced that Ereck Flowers would need nothing more than a shift from left tackle to right tackle, that the former first round draft pick just needed a change of scenery to jump start his career.

Well, on the first play from scrimmage this year, Flowers was called for an idiotic tripping penalty. On the third snap, he was flagged for holding. He’s been beaten at least 15 times in two games trying to make a simple block and he’s whiffed badly, like Gary Sanchez wailing at an outslde slider.

It’s safe to say now that Flowers is a complete bust. The Giants would never say that they wasted a first round draft pick three years ago on a guy who can’t play. But I’ll say it for them. Ereck Flowers cannot play the game of football. He’s slow, clumsy, has worse feet than Herman Munster, can’t block Betty White and worst of all, he will not admit to the fact that he’s been absolutely lousy since he mistakenly put on a Giants uniform four years ago. It would be easier to just cut bait, release him and admit he was a mistake, but the Giants won’t do that because they don’t have a viable backup on the roster.

Poor Eli Manning will have to continue to take the brunt of the Giants’ mistake of drafting Flowers.

But Flowers is not alone with his horrific play thus far. You have to wonder what In the world the Giants were thinking when they gave Nate Solder a four-year, $62 million contract ($35 million guaranteed), making Solder the highest paid offensive lineman in the NFL. Well, after two weeks, that contract is downright offensive, because Solder has been dreadful. He’s missed block after block. I can’t even begin to think what he’s graded out the first two weeks, but it can’t be pretty.

The Giants drafted Will Hernandez in the second round to play left guard next to Solder, giving the Giants what appeared to be a dynamic left side of the line. But the rookie has been brutal as well, forcing Eli to run for his life every time he drops back to pass.

The Giants have electrifying offensive players like Odell Beckham, Jr., Sterling Shepherd and Evan Engram, but if Eli doesn’t have more time to drop back and allow these receivers some time to get down field to run their routes, their talents are wasted. Beckham was thrown to a total of five times against Dallas. He has to touch the ball a lot more than that. Eli used the safety valve so many times that Barkley set a new team record for receptions in a game. The rookie had 14 catches. For 90 yards. That gives new meaning to the “Dump down” pass.

Here’s my slap at Shurmur. Yes, he’s only coached two games, but he made a glaring mistake in the Dallas game that I think changed the face and complexion of the entire game.

Dallas scored the first touchdown early and led 7-0. The Giants then got the ball and were moving the ball methodically up the field. They get to just outside of midfield where the drive stalls, giving the team fourth down and inches. And when I say inches, it wasn’t like a foot’s worth of inches. We’re talking two, maybe four inches tops.

Instead of rolling the dice early, Shurmur elects to punt the ball. It was a pooch punt by Riley Dixon (who looks like a keeper in the early going) that gets caught for a fair catch at the 25-yard line, a 27-yard punt that didn’t exactly pin the Cowboys back on their heels.

Shurmur had to go for it there. He did later in the game on two QB sneaks by Eli that worked.  But he should have done it right there. It would have shown that he was in control, willing to take a chance and shown that the Giants meant business. If it didn’t work, then the Cowboys got the ball at midfield and the Giants would have to suck it up a little and play a little harder.

But it was a chance for Shurmur to show he was in charge. And he muffed it. The Giants had to go for it there. It changed the entire game.

I could go on and on like Stephen Bishop (bad 70’s music reference there) about the Giants, but I’ll say this: 

They now have to win this Sunday against the Houston Texans. On the road, against J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney and the Honey Badger and Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins.  That’s a very good football team the Giants are facing. Very good. Winning on the road in the NFL is never easy and beating a very good team that is also 0-2 in their building is a pretty tall task.

So we will see, but I think it doesn’t look good for the Giants this week.

I’m also going to say that it doesn’t look good for the Jets as well. In fact, I think the Cleveland Browns’ awful losing streak comes to an end Thursday night against the Jets. Just a feeling I have.

But the picture that is being painted isn’t a rosy one for the locals.

You can read more of my stuff at www.hudsonreporter.com and www.theobserver.com

Just wondering, as we honor the life of Sen. John McCain

It’s been a while, so I decided to go back to the roots of my writing career and fire off another version of “Just wondering,” Labor Day style.

Just wondering if anyone gave a good thought about Sen. John McCain’s funeral services over the weekend. I found the entire ceremony to be classy, respectful, joyful and loving. I found all of the eulogies to be picture perfect, from the emotions of his daughter Meghan, to the former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, to his friend and colleague Sen. Joe Lieberman. They painted a splendid verbal portrait of the man, of who he was and how much he truly loved our great nation.

I don’t seem to care now that the President was not there. And shame on the clowns that were questioning Ivana and Jared Kushner’s seating in the church. Are you kidding me? It wasn’t like they were pushed to the 47^th row. They were in a place of prominence and I give them credit for even being there.

But the one thing that I got out of the whole ceremony was this. Political parties were tossed aside to honor a true American hero, a servant of our great nation for more than 60 years of his life. Democrats shook hands and greeted Republicans. George Bush was clowning around and giving candy to Michelle Obama. Comments were issued by both parties. It was a day that brought everyone together.

And especially in this tumultuous and trying time in America, isn’t that a great message to derive from Sen. McCain’s passing? In the immortal words of the late Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?” There’s always someone who has to bring up politics on a day like that, but sorry, when we’re all saying farewell to an American hero, it’s time to put politics on the backburner and just honor him the way he truly deserved that honor.

I mean, I’m a Democrat through and through, but I watched John McCain’s funeral start to finish and honored him by singing “America the Beautiful” at the closing of the ceremony. I still believe that should be the national anthem and sung only by Ray Charles, but what do I know? I think it serves the great nation better than the bombs bursting in air and the flag still flying.

So maybe, just maybe, both political parties can try to get along with each other, like they all did on Saturday in the National Cathedral, when they were all saying farewell to an American hero. Maybe we can put our differences aside for a little while and focus on the matters at hand that mean the most. After all, everyone wants to see America to be a better place than it is. No one likes the backstabbing and biting that is going on back and forth between the two parties. No one likes the hatred that is certainly fueled by the man elected to be the 45^th President of this great nation.

In honor to John McCain, patriot and hero, let’s all try to get along better in the months and maybe years to come. If we can all do that, then that will be John McCain’s eternal legacy. Although he was pretty damn good when he was the host of Saturday Night Live in 2002 and again in 2008 after the election.  So that’s an eternal legacy as well.

Just wondering if all the Giants fans are over the fact that the team cut Davis Webb on Sunday, admitting that the second-year signal caller from California wasn’t the future like everyone believed he was going to be.

Webb showed during the preseason that he had a ton of flaws. He overthrew practically every receiver on every route, either the little screen or mid-range slant to the long ball. He had almost a robotic release, like he was the QB on the old Electric Football game. He wound up and tried to throw the ball. Everything in football is supposed to be precise and quick. Webb was slow and predictable. He also was slow afoot and took too long to get in proper throwing position. All in all, Webb wasn’t any good and it proved to be a waste of a third-round draft pick.

Kyle Lauletta, although a little smaller in height and weight the NFL wants quarterbacks to be these days, has the potential to be a good backup to Eli Manning. But this all proves that last year’s removal of Eli as the starter was a total disaster and was the perfect reason to send Ben McAdoo packing. It also proves that the new regime of Pat Shurmur and GM Dave Gettleman hope that Eli is able to stay around for three, four maybe even five years.

Just wondering why the Jets took so long to announce that Sam Darnold was going to be the starting quarterback to start the season. Once the team shipped Teddy Bridgewater to the Saints, it was clear as a bell that Sam was the man.

And it’s evident that the team believes that Sam is going to be the face of the franchise for the next decade or so. He’s a keeper and they all realize it. But there was really no suspense In the fact that Darnold was going to start Week One. Head coach Todd Bowles should have said so officially weeks ago.

Just wondering if anyone else has gone to the movies to catch BlackKKKlansman yet. It’s a cinematic gem, an absolute wonderful trip back to the early 1970s and the troubled times our country faced in terms of the divide between the races. I’m not going to reveal the plot or anything else, other to say that this was Spike Lee’s best picture ever (although Do The Right Thing is close). Obviously, producers must trust Spike these days, because the budget for this one had to be high.

Anyway, Denzel’s son John David Washington was brilliant as the leading man and watch closely at the end to see if you catch a little of the old man in John David. I also like him because he had a brief stint as a running back with the Rams in 2006. But this movie will catapult John David into stardom.

Adam Driver was also excellent and will be worthy of Best Supporting Actor nominations come January. And Topher Grace from “That 70’s Show” was spot on as David Duke, the grand wizard of the KKK.

It’s a must see for all movie fans. It’s so well done and I was blown away with the overall brilliance.

Just wondering if anyone else is convinced that Jeff McNeil is the second coming of Daniel Murphy and can actually be our second baseman of the future. The kid can definitely swing the bat and I just wonder why it took so long to get him to the big leagues.

And the Mets are just so backward in their thinking of not promoting slugging first baseman Peter Alonso to the big club, just because they don’t want his free agent clock to start ticking a year early. It’s just so backward and not the way to conduct a Major League team. Shame on the Wilpons for their backward thinking.

The fans deserved to see Alonso and not traipse the dreadful Dominic Smith and all three of his RBI back to playing first base for the last month of the season. I’ve seen enough of Smith to realize the kid just can’t play and also doesn’t give two enough to deserve the attention he gets.

It should be Alonso at first with McNeil at second for the last 30 games or so and see what they can do as we look toward 2019.

And please, oh please, oh please, can they leave the starting pitchers alone? They are all pitching lights out right now, even the scary bad Jason Vargas, who we have to keep for next season. But please, leave deGrom, Syndergaard, Wheeler and Matz alone for next year. I don’t think there’s another team in baseball with a better four-man rotation than those four. I kid you not. They are all that good. The records don’t indicate that because the offense doesn’t score any runs.

I think the Mets could be pretty good next year if they spend money to construct a bullpen and get rid of the pile of dog doo they have out there now. Keep Lugo and Gsellman. I think Drew Smith has some potential. Maybe the lefty Daniel Zamora has a shot. But the rest are God awful and they have to address that as the main priority going forward.

They also need a catcher big time. They could also use a third baseman if someone would take Todd Frazier off of our hands. And hope and pray that a healthy Jay Bruce can return to the Jay Bruce who hit 30 homers for us for three-fourths of 2017.

If all of that happens, I think the Mets could be pretty good. But that’s a big if.

Just wondering if anyone is as excited for the start of the football season as I am. After all, I am a true-blue dyed in the wool long-time suffering Los Angeles Rams fan and I truly believe we have the team that could make a legitimate run at the Super Bowl this season. The pieces are all there. They just have to make sure that Todd Gurley stays healthy.

I’m the defending champion of my fantasy league and I have the first overall pick in this year’s draft. I’m not letting out any secrets in saying right now that my first pick will be the one and only Gurley man. There’s no reason for suspense like the Jets  did with Sam Darnold. I’m going Gurley.

So let’s go Rams and let’s go Gurley, early and often.

Just wondering if that’s enough for this blog. Yeah, I think it’s more than enough.