Summer's Last Weekend

The calendar says there’s still another three weeks of summer but for many if not most of us this upcoming weekend really is the swan song of the summer season. While not as noticeable as it used to be many years ago, it’s still amazing to see how things change after Labor Day when tourists and most summer residents return home. There was a time when that meant the end of traffic but of course in most of Ocean County you might not even realize that a change is taking effect. Beach areas are the exception to that
and no matter what the weather next week finding a parking spot will not be a problem.

Even the most ardent fans and alumni will admit shock and surprise at how the fortunes of Rutgers football have changed in the last year. The Scarlet Knights opened the season Thursday Night with a 38-3 rout of Buffalo and expectations are very high in Piscataway where a football ticket has become a hot commodity. It was not all that long ago you could walk up the box office minutes before kickoff and get a good seat…now there’s a waiting list for tickets as all 8 home games are sold out. I was one of those who said for years that Rutgers would never be a big time football school but like others I’ve had to eat crow as Greg Schiano has made Red & White popular colors in New Jersey.

Those are also the colors of the Philadelphia Phillies who plan on making the month of September a memorable one in a city usually thinking only about the Eagles by Labor Day. Last Saturday they Phillies were 7 games behind the division-leading Mets but after sweeping New York they head into this weekend only two games out of first place. Citizens Bank Park is also no longer a home away from home for Mets fans as I found you yesterday when we were a small minority as compared to just a couple of years ago.

Toms River’s Todd Frazier has been promoted to the Cincinnati Reds single-A team in Dayton, Ohio and is 1-7 in his first two games with the Dragons.
Frazier batted .319 with Billings in the rookie league before the promotion
and when the season ends this weekend will report to the Reds instructional league in Sarasota, Florida. Another Toms River resident, Jimmy Principe
is also headed to the instructional league in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization after completing his season in Missoula, Montana.