Leftovers from a week of hoops before jetting off to Costa Rica
Jeff Foxworthy created a comedy empire with his ‘You Might be a Redneck’ shtick.
Foxworthy says, “If you’ve ever made change in the church offering plate, you might be a redneck.”
“If you own a home with wheels on it and several cars without, you just might be a redneck.”
“You might be a redneck if the blue book value of your truck goes up and down depending on how much gas it has in it.”
For the record, the above comment qualifies me with red neck status. My Ford Focus still hums despite the duct tape. It’s the car of choice for living in Chambersburg. Been hit three times while parked without the offending driver even leaving a note.
Anyway, could start my own comedy skit based on Trenton Central High School fans who stayed until the final buzzer of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV boys game between top-seed Trenton and No. 16 Sayreville.
You might be an NBA All-Star fan if you stayed for that 118-47 decision. Left with just under four minutes remaining in the second quarter and Trenton up 50-something to 18. Had to beg the girlfriend to leave before we kept a date with an arugula and half sausage tomato pie at Rossi’s Bar & Grill.
With Rossi’s out of The Burg and Mike Rossi no longer a restaurateur, well, Rossi’s will never be the same despite having the best hamburger on Planet Earth. Here’s some leftovers from a week of basketball.
Senior Davontay Hutson scored 31 points against Sayreville and moved his career mark to 1260 points. Suddenly, Rasheed Wallace’s Trenton boys career scoring mark of 1316 looks reachable.
When and how did that happen? Probably while you were watching the NBA fiasco. By the way, The Tornadoes’ victory came just hours after a tornado touched down in Lawrence Twp. and possibly in West Windsor. Freaky.
Tornadoes in February rank as rare as Group IV state championships in the capital city. According to the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist, there have been only four reported tornadoes since 1950 during February.
Trenton claimed a rare state championship in 1961 when Coach Fred Price guided the Tornadoes (24-0) with Tal Brody and George Lee.
Former Trenton High Coach Len Carmichael attended the Sayreville contest. A Tornadoes player, too, Carmichael (1977-80) still talks a fantastic game about basketball.
“All right, here’s my top five Trenton High players of all time,” Carmichael said, a wonderful topic for Trenton basketball fans. Familiarity with Carmichael knows his ability for big talk. Big show. Carmichael attracted an entourage of several Trenton police officers, former Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer and Bill Rednor (bill@ wbcb1490.com.) of WBCB 1490.
“Brody and Lee. Randy “Big Cheese” Corker. Ken Nicholson. And, (drumroll) Nate “The Great from the Garden State” Armstrong. You must be a Trenton High basketball fan if Nate “The Great” rings a bell.
Armstrong, deceased (March 2015), raced as leading scorer for a 1963 team that won 25 consecutive games before losing to Hillside, 59-56, in the Group IV finals at Rider. Armstrong averaged 16.3 points per game that season and the streak remains the second longest in Trenton High history.
Tornadoes’ squads won 45 consecutive games from 1931 to 1933. Carmichael had high praise for Armstrong.
“The greatest guard to ever play at Trenton High, without a doubt,” Carmichael chirped.
Mentioned an upcoming article about the Trenton High boys basketball coaches top winning percentages and Carmichael noted, “I’ve got to be near the top.” Not exactly but definitely
unparalleled for bombast, conversation and memorable stories about The High.
A couple thoughts about the Mercer County Tournament for boys and girls basketball. Watched four games in one night last week at CURE Insurance Arena. One would think that our patriotism ranks as covered with one playing of the National Anthem.
Oh, say can you stop? Completely unnecessary. No person should be required to stand through four playings of this song.
Second, the MCT needs a new format although the top-eight teams and bottom-eight teams playing separate tournaments
seems perfect. Allow top-seeded teams to host quarterfinals and semifinals then play championship games in some gym other than CURE Insurance Arena.
Goodbye. Off for a vacation in Costa Rica. Will miss all semifinal and championship basketball games, including a potential state title run by several local teams, perhaps even Trenton High. You might be a basketball fanatic if checking New Jersey basketball scores on a sunny beach in Guanacaste invades vacation time.