Weekend Sports

You might take the kid out of the shore but you can’t take the shore out of the kid which is why University of Denver basketball coach Joe Scott was among the many enjoying another tremendous beach weekend. Regardless of where he is coaching Scott manages to find time to return to Pelican Island in the summer along with his wife and two young sons and spend as much time as possible on the beach in Seaside Park. A former three-sport star at Toms River East, he is really excited about the progress he’s made going into his third year as coach of the Pioneers, who improved from 11 to 15 wins last season and did so with the youngest team in all of Division 1 basketball. He did not lose any players to graduation and with only one senior this coming season the future looks very bright for Scott, who previously was the head coach at Air Force and his alma mater Princeton.

It’s unfortunate but the 2009 British Open in Turnberry, Scotland will be remembered as the tournament Tom Watson lost rather than Stewart Cink won. With Tiger Woods missing the cut the weekend belonged to the 59-year old Watson, who was seeking to become the oldest player to win a golf major or any PGA Tour event for that matter. A 5-time British Open champion, Watson could not complete a storybook ending when he bogeyed the 72nd hole and then self-destructed in a 4-hole playoff against Cink who came out of nowhere to win his first major. Watson’s bid may have come up short but it was nice to turn back the clock for a few days which is exactly what he did.

The speed and skill of Monmouth County proved to be the difference as they dominated Ocean County and collected a 30-13 victory in Friday’s U.S. Army All Shore Gridiron Classic at Brick Township High School. Led by Freehold QB Nick Tyson and Manalapan running back James Gilburn, the Monmouth offense was sensational in the first half when they bolted out to a 23-0 lead. Ocean rallied a bit to get close before Tyson hit former high school teammate Brandon Brown with a clinching touchdown pass in the final minutes. In the loss Ocean got a superb effort on both sides of the ball from Monmouth University-bound Justin Pandorf of Lacey. You can listen to the radio broadcast of the game by visiting shoresportsnetwork.com