New College Sports

Eight new Maine Sports Hall inductees shared love of the game

rich — Mon, 21 May 2012 06:14:19 +0000

BANGOR, Maine — They all may have done it in their own way, but for the same reasons.

The eight new members of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame were chosen not only for their numerous athletic accolades compiled over the years in their respective sports, but most importantly for their love of the game.

That was the common theme mentioned Sunday to summarize all the inductees at the Bangor Civic Center.

The class of 2012 included a diverse mix of different generations of Maine athletes who had excelled: University of Maine head football coach Walter Abbott, Cony High School and University of Maine tailback Phillip Coulombe, Mount View High School and UMaine basketball player Emily Ellis, University of Southern Maine basketball player and Dexter basketball coach Ed Guiski, Lake Region High School and Colby College basketball player Matt Hancock, University of Maine baseball player and Bangor youth baseball coach Dennis Libbey, Bowdoin College head football coach Howard Vandersea, and Husson College basketball player Dana Wilson.

The 86-year-old Coulombe was the first to be introduced and received a rousing ovation from the crowd. The former bruising tailback, who helped UMaine win the 1949 Yankee Conference championship, was unable to climb up on stage to receive his award.

Master of ceremonies and former Colby College coach Dick Whitmore brought the celebration to Coulombe, walking down to the inductees table to allow him to take it all in.

Wilson was surprised to receive the nomination to the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, noting it couldn’t have been for anything good he did.

“When I got the notice, I thought they had put me in for a new category: most shots attempted,” the all-time Husson points leader, quipped.

Wilson, who scored 34.9 points per game in his senior season at Husson, credited his success and ability to his coaches as well as fellow hall of fame members Keith Mahaney and Dick Giroux.

Vandersea, who coached Bowdoin to a share of six Colby-Bates-Bowdoin titles, was fond of his time coaching for the Polar Bears and in New England.

“Football in New England autumn is something special,” he said, noting the various sights and sounds that come with it. Vandersea continues his work with Maine football as the Northeast Coordinator of the Maine State Chapter of the National Football Association and College Hall of Fame.

Whitmore had the pleasure of introducing one of his former players in inductee Hancock.

“The most potent force I have ever had the pleasure to coach,” he said of Hancock, going as far as saying he may have been the best college basketball player in the history of Maine.

Hancock, who ranks in 15 categories in Colby College’s record books, led his team to an 80-24 mark over his four years. He loved comebacks and being in tight situations, as he would thrive off them, and it would lead to superior play.

“There was nothing I loved more than to be in a situation to do that,” he said, with fellow inductee Guiski falling to one of those comebacks in the 1984 championship game between Guiski’s Dexter team and Hancock’s Lake Region squad.

“It isn’t about the moments, but more about who you share them with,” he said, after explaining how he couldn’t have been so successful or gotten to this point without the help of others.

Guiski stepped on the floor with the likes of Jerry West and Oscar Robertson to try out for the 1960 Olympic basketball team. He noted his relationship with his players at Dexter High School and the many coaching connections he made, such as with mentor Bryce Beattie and others.

“People will forget what you did and forget what you said, but not what you meant,” he said, explaining the influence he felt he has had would outweigh his accomplishments in getting to the Maine Sports Hall of Fame.

Ellis, who is the only female to have her number retired at UMaine, was the most inspiring of the inductees. Her playing days came at a time when women’s basketball was just starting to grow into its modern-day model.

“She was a pioneer in establishing a level of competitiveness and skill in the game for women,” Whitmore said.

Ellis gave high praise to the establishment of Title IX, which provided equal opportunity for any education program or activity receiving federal aid. It was with that program that Ellis gained an education and played basketball at UMaine. She found lots of success from it.

She credits her athletic prowess and perseverance to her success in life off the court.

“It has given me the tools to succeed in the big game — life,” she said, as she has gone on to own her own construction and real estate company.

UMaine and Husson coaching legend John Winkin summed up Libbey in one sentence for Whitmore.

“Gotta keep him off them bases!” he said of Libbey, who led UMaine in stolen bases once his career ended in 1973.

“One of the proudest moments of my life,” said Libbey of his induction, which came in front of many family and friends who made the trek down from Aroostook county for the event.

Abbott was the last to step to the podium, but received the loudest ovation. His work with UMaine football has been well documented over the last several decades.

“Someone who has had a remarkable impact on the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s,” Whitmore said upon introducing Abbott.

Abbott credited his first encounter with Sam Sezak as a moment that changed his life’s direction and purpose.

“It made me want to work with people,” he said.

He took that encounter and ran with it, becoming a prolific head coach and a prominent figure within the UMaine community, as well as other Division I athletic programs.

“A kind word and a little love can put kids in the right direction,” Abbott concluded.

The hall also recognized four scholar-athletes and presented two President’s Awards.

Wayne Lawton and Keith Mahaney, both of Bangor, received the President’s Award. Both were longtime members of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame board of directors.

The scholar-athletes honored were Seth Sweet of Madison, Carylanne Wolfington of Hall-Dale in Farmingdale, Jordan Hersom of Leavitt of Turner Center and Patrick LaChance of St. Dominic of Auburn.

College Sports: Stabilizing roster the priority for new Binghamton U. men's basketball coach

rich — Sat, 19 May 2012 11:37:22 +0000

VESTAL — Binghamton University Director of Athletics Patrick Elliott has reportedly interviewed at least two candidates to replace Mark Macon as the men’s basketball coach.

The Trenton Times reported Thursday night that Elliott had targeted current Rider University coach Tommy Dempsey, who was expected to be on the BU campus Friday. Rider Director of Athletics Don Harnum confirmed that Elliott had been granted permission to speak to Dempsey, who is under contract with Rider.

“We are in the process of conducting a national search for a new head men’s basketball coach,” Elliott wrote in an e-mail. “Since this is a confidential search process, I am not prepared to discuss any of the particulars, including candidates’ names. When we are ready to name a new head coach, we will make a public announcement. At this point, I can’t give you a timetable on that announcement, but we are hoping to have someone in position over the coming weeks.”

Dempsey could not be reached for comment Friday.

Macon compiled a record of 23-70 and 13-35 in the America East Conference in three seasons before being fired April 30. The Bearcats were 2-29 last season, and they endured a program-record and conference-record losing streak of 27 games (dating back to the 2010-11 season).

Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com posted on Twitter on Friday that New Jersey Institute of Technology coach Jim Engles had interviewed for the BU position on Thursday.

The new coach will have to work immediately to stabilize the roster. He’ll also be behind schedule for recruiting as the NCAA spring signing period concluded Tuesday.

DeMatha Catholic guard Marcellous Bell, a sharpshooter from Bowie, Md., had given a verbal commitment to the Bearcats, but he had not signed a National Letter of Intent when Macon was fired. He signed a letter of intent this week to attend Jacksonville University.

“(The coaching change) was a big deciding factor; the uncertainty and things being unsure,” Bell said of deciding not to attend BU.

Harrisburg High School boys basketball coach and athletic director Kirk Smallwood said all-state scoring phenom Haiishen McIntyre, who averaged 24 points per game as a senior, signed a letter of intent to attend High Point University this week. McIntyre had given a verbal commitment to BU, but canceled a press conference announcing his decision after Macon was fired.

Three of last season’s freshman class have been released from their scholarships in order to transfer.

Freshman forward Ben Dickinson confirmed Friday that he will transfer to Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Forward Omar Richards and guard Chris Longoria both said Friday that they still intend to transfer.

Dickinson, a 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward, finished second in scoring (13.5 points per game), and led the team in rebounding (6.1 per game) last season. Dickinson eclipsed Lazar Trifunovic’s program Division I record for most points in a season by a freshman with 405, and set a freshman record for points in a game with 27 in his debut against Colgate.

“I really like the coaches out there and enjoyed the school, and I really got along with the players,” said Dickinson, who visit will sit out next season because of NCAA transfer rules.

Longoria, a 6-foot-4 guard, played in 31 games (15 starts), and he averaged 6.5 points per game. Richards, a 6-foot-8 220-pound forward, played in 27 games (nine starts), and averaged 5.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

Longoria said he has visited the University of Georgia as well as North Georgia College and State University, and he plans to visit as many as four other schools. Richards said he will either transfer to a junior college or a Division I school on the west coast. Longoria and Richards said they plan to make a decision within the next two weeks.

Sophomore guard Rob Mansell, the team’s top scorer last season (14 ppg), suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the second to last game of the regular season.

Mansell’s older brothers, Harris and Patrick, both played for Dempsey at Rider. Patrick played his final season at Rider in 2010-11. Mansell was recruited by Rider before he decided to attend play for the Bearcats.

Head impacts in contact sports may reduce learning in college athletes

rich — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:39:54 +0000

ScienceDaily (May 16, 2012) — A new study suggests that head impacts experienced during contact sports such as football and hockey may worsen some college athletes’ ability to acquire new information. The research is published in the May 16, 2012, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study involved college athletes at three Division I schools and compared 214 athletes in contact sports to 45 athletes in non-contact sports such as track, crew and Nordic skiing at the beginning and at the end of their seasons. The contact sport athletes wore special helmets that recorded the acceleration speed and other data at the time of any head impact.

The contact sport athletes experienced an average of 469 head impacts during the season. Athletes were not included in the study if they were diagnosed with a concussion during the season.

All of the athletes took tests of thinking and memory skills before and after the season. A total of 45 contact sport athletes and 55 non-contact sport athletes from one of the schools also took an additional set of tests of concentration, working memory and other skills.

“The good news is that overall there were few differences in the test results between the athletes in contact sports and the athletes in non-contact sports,” said study author Thomas W. McAllister, MD, of The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Lebanon, N.H. “But we did find that a higher percentage of the contact sport athletes had lower scores than would have been predicted after the season on a measure of new learning than the non-contact sport athletes.”

A total of 22 percent of the contact sport athletes performed worse than expected on the test of new learning, compared to four percent of the non-contact sport athletes.

McAllister noted that the study did not find differences in test results between the two groups of athletes at the beginning of the season, suggesting that the cumulative head impacts that contact athletes had incurred over many previous seasons did not result in reduced thinking and memory skills in the overall group.

“These results are somewhat reassuring, given the recent heightened concern about the potential negative effects of these sports,” he said. “Nevertheless, the findings do suggest that repetitive head impacts may have a negative effect on some athletes.”

McAllister said it’s possible that some people may be genetically more sensitive to head impacts.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment.

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‘Call Me Maybe’ lip-sync craze hits college sports teams

rich — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:39:54 +0000

Being a college athlete often means spending hours on the road in a bus or van, heading to or from games at far-flung schools. And what do these students do to kill time? Apparently, learn all the words to Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit song, “Call Me Maybe,” choreograph a dance and then film a lip-sync music video to share online.

Carly Rae Jepsen: The singer who has inspired college athletes everywhere to dance, lip-sync and possibly embarrass themselves. (MARIO ANZUONI – REUTERS) It’s mostly a women’s sports trend, as it appears that nearly every women’s lacrosse team in the country has filmed their version of the peppy song. But the guys are getting into it, too: The Harvard men’s baseball team filmed its version in a van, while the University of Florida team did so in a bus.

Which ones are the best? I’m definitely not going to wade into that debate. But here’s what we can learn about the lives of college athletes from these videos:

1) Life on the road is not exactly glamourous. The women’s lacrosse team at Kean University in New Jersey filmed its video during spring break in March — which they spent on a bus traveling around Virginia. Scenes include hotel rooms and hallways, a Cracker Barrel front porch and a McDonald’s parking lot.

And take a look at the exciting countryside passing by the windows of the Harvard baseball team’s van:

2) You don’t want a hotel room on the same floor as a women’s lacrosse team. Based on the evidence presented in these videos, apparently these teams spend a decent amount of time jumping on hotel beds and playing leap-frog in hotel hallways. Case in point:

3) Coaches seem to have a good sense of humor about team fads. Sports teams are like large families filled with every type of personality, and these videos seem to be a way to recognize and celebrate those personalities. So most of these videos feature a cameo of some sort from the head coach, assistant coaches, trainers or other adults. Often this cameo involves awkwardly dancing or accepting a cell phone number from a college coed.

4) What boundaries? I have seen numerous videos that feature female athletes dancing in bikinis beside a pool or towels in locker room showers. One team ended their video by listing off everyone’s Twitter handle. Maybe it’s worth a chat about putting some basic boundaries on these morale-boasting, team-promoting exercises?

5) Big sports at big schools get a lot of love very easily. Many of these videos are obviously the result of hours and hours of brain-storming, planning, filming, editing and all-out dedication. Meanwhile, a few members of the Syracuse University men’s basketball team filmed a low-key version of “Call Me Maybe” that involves, at most, some bobbing back and forth. How many views has that gotten? As of right now, more than 27,500 views.

6) Teams also do homework and study while on the road. To be fair, one of the most difficult parts of being a college athlete is finding the time to be a college student. Being on the road often means missing class and studying in not-so-ideal conditions. So props to the Duke University women’s lacrosse team for showing one player with her notebook and laptop out in an airport terminal as her teammates dance around.

Has your team also filmed a “Call Me Maybe” video? Share the link in the comments section below.

For even more higher education news, you can follow me on Twitter and Facebook. And here are some other posts that might interest you:

[VIDEO] American University graduate pops the question at commencement (May 2012)

BYU ‘mathletes’ film rap video ahead of March Madness (March 2012)

University of Maryland student behind @FakeWallaceLoh outs himself (May 2012)

Study finds head impacts in contact sports may reduce learning in college athletes

rich — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:39:53 +0000

Public release date: 16-May-2012
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Contact: Rachel Seroka
rseroka@aan.com
651-695-2738
American Academy of Neurology

MINNEAPOLIS � A new study suggests that head impacts experienced during contact sports such as football and hockey may worsen some college athletes’ ability to acquire new information. The research is published in the May 16, 2012, online issue of Neurology�, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The contact sport athletes experienced an average of 469 head impacts during the season. Athletes were not included in the study if they were diagnosed with a concussion during the season.

A total of 22 percent of the contact sport athletes performed worse than expected on the test of new learning, compared to four percent of the non-contact sport athletes.

McAllister said it’s possible that some people may be genetically more sensitive to head impacts.

###

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment.

To learn more about concussion, visit http://www.aan.com/patients.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 25,000 neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to promoting the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care. A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing, treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, migraine, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Media Contacts:
Rachel Seroka, rseroka@aan.com, (651) 695-2738
Angela Babb, APR, ababb@aan.com, (651) 695-2789

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 16-May-2012
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Contact: Rachel Seroka
rseroka@aan.com
651-695-2738
American Academy of Neurology

The contact sport athletes experienced an average of 469 head impacts during the season. Athletes were not included in the study if they were diagnosed with a concussion during the season.

A total of 22 percent of the contact sport athletes performed worse than expected on the test of new learning, compared to four percent of the non-contact sport athletes.

McAllister said it’s possible that some people may be genetically more sensitive to head impacts.

###

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment.

To learn more about concussion, visit http://www.aan.com/patients.

For more information about the American Academy of Neurology, visit http://www.aan.com or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube.

Media Contacts:
Rachel Seroka, rseroka@aan.com, (651) 695-2738
Angela Babb, APR, ababb@aan.com, (651) 695-2789

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| Share

]

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Contact sports may reduce learning in some college athletes, study finds

rich — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:53:20 +0000

The effect that concussions and head injuries have on athletes has been a rising concern in the past few years. But does simply playing a contact sport have lasting repercussions on memory and cognition?

A new study published in the American Academy of Neurology has revealed that impacts to the head during contact sports like football and hockey may lead some athletes to experience a decrease in their abilities to remember things or acquire new information.

“We were interested to see if even if [these athletes] had not identified with having a concussion, maybe it affects some cognition from hitting their head over and over throughout the sports season,” Dr. Thomas McAllister, a professor of neurology at The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Lebanon, N.H. and the study’s author, told FoxNews.com.

“In prior studies, we used helmets that monitor the frequency and magnitude of impacts,” McAllister said. “A lot of people have very hard hits that we can record that exceed the threshold at which you should have a concussion – but they don’t have the concussion. So it was reasonable to ask if they’re suffering this cognitive impairment.”

For this study, McAllister and his team monitored two groups of college athletes from three Division 1 schools – 214 athletes in contact sports and 45 athletes in non-contact sports. The contact sport athletes played either football or hockey, while the non-contact athletes played sports such as track, crew or Nordic skiing.

Each athlete took thinking and memory tests before and after their respective sports’ seasons. All of them took the imPACT test – a computer-based screening of attention that is widely used by colleges and sports teams to determine if players who have suffered from concussions are ready to return to play. A subset of the athletes took an even more extensive set of tests that measured concentration, memory and other skills.

In theory, the athletes should show improved results if no damage is happening to their heads.

“What’s important to realize is if I gave you these tests and then repeated them three months later, you’d do better on it because you’ve seen it before,” McAllister said.

Upon initial analysis, the results were positive for the athletes.

“In the pre-season, there were no systematic differences between the two groups,” McAllisters said. “The contact sports and non-contact sports athletes looked similar. And these athletes have been hitting their heads for many years until that point, so there wasn’t a significant deterioration after each season.”

“Then when we tested them again at the end of the season, the two groups looked pretty similar,” McAllister added. “It appeared that hitting your head over and over again did not have a bad effect on memory and attention.”

However, McAllister decided to see if any of the athletes performed significantly worse than expected. Upon further examination, a total of 22 percent of the contact sport athletes performed worse than expected compared to just 4 percent of the non-contact sport athletes.

“It raises the question: Is there a subgroup of contact sport athletes whose learning skills are affected by the end of the season?” McAllister said. “Maybe it’s not bad for everybody but for some people, it really is harmful. Efforts should be directed for determining for whom it is bad and why.”

To further investigate their results, McAllister hopes to perform another study using neural imaging to determine which category each athlete falls into. He also wants to do extended retesting to see how the athletes are faring mentally over the course of several years.

In the meantime, McAllister said the results of the study pose both good news and bad news for football athletes and their fans.

“There’s been a pervasive concern that playing contact sports is uniformly bad for people,” McAllister said. “These study results don’t support that. Some of the attention may be on the one in four or five doing worse. If this is true, then maybe the preventive approach is not to stop the sport but to identify those who are at risk for adverse consequences for it.”

Related Stories: Study links vets to brain disease seen in athletes

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College looks into new Springdale site

rich — Thu, 17 May 2012 10:09:53 +0000

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College pitcher Chris Gilmore wins $1 million in MLB 2K12 ‘Perfect Club’ challenge

rich — Tue, 15 May 2012 18:05:28 +0000

Bryce Harper hits his first big league homer in Nationals’ win http://t.co/JbnJZml5

InBrief Local Sports: High School, College and Auto Racing

rich — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:23:55 +0000

HIGH SCHOOL

• Wheeler’s Ashley Iorio and Stonington’s Amy Manning were the two local female recipients of the Scholar-Athlete Program award.

One male and one female student from each school in the CIAC are honored with this award annually.

Honorees given this award for have demonstrated excellence both in the classroom and on the athletic field.

COLLEGE

• Mystic’s Brianna Turegon has been named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team for softball.

Turgeon played center and right field for Fordham. She made just one error and was second on the team in home runs with nine and RBIs (34). She hit a game-winning home run to beat No. 3 Alabama last week.

Fordham finished the regular-season 31-24 and is the No. 2 in the A-10 tournament.

Turegon attended Fitch High.

• Mystic’s Kelsey Butta, a junior at Marist College, rowed two-seat for the women’s varsity eight that placed second in time of 6 minutes, 50.24 seconds at the New York State Collegiate Rowing Championships on May 5 at Whitney Point, N.Y.

Butta also rowed two-seat for the women’s varsity eight boat that advanced to the second round at the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta on May 11 in Philadelphia.

She is a 2009 graduate of Fitch High.

AUTO RACING

• Ian Brew of Wood River Junction finished second in the 25-lap Mini Stocks feature Saturday night at the Waterford Speedbowl.

Ken Cassidy of Lisbon, Conn. won the race.

Garrett Denton of Hope Valley was fourth, Bill Leonard of Charlestown sixth and Dale Sherman of Charlestown 17th.

Ashaway’s Kyle James took third in the 35-lap SK-Modifieds feature. Joe Perry of Ashaway was right behind in fourth.

Rich Staskowski was third in the 30-lap Late Models event.

New Jersey’s 5 Best Sports Bars

rich — Mon, 14 May 2012 19:00:52 +0000

Here are our picks for New Jersey’s best sports bars, ideal for NHL playoff action. By Emily Tamburri.

Sharky’s Wings & Raw Bar

545 Highland Ave
Clifton, NJ 07011
(973) 473-0713
facebook.com/pages/Sharkys-Wings-Raw-Bar/

Top notch beer selection and daily happy hours make this sports bar one of Jersey’s best. Sharky’s has a full bar with a wide variety of beer to choose from, and, if you happen to be around on Monday through Friday between 3pm – 7pm, you can grab a $12 bucket of domestics. Not to be outdone by beverage alone, Sharky’s also offers $0.40 wings and clams, along with an array of other appetizers on the cheap. The TVs are always turned on to any and every sport imaginable, from your typical season showdowns to the world series of poker.

Redds Restaurant

(File photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

317 Washington Ave
Carlstadt, NJ 07072
(201) 933-0015
reddsrestaurant.com

Not ar from MetLife stadium, Redds is a favorite for Giants and Jets fans during NFL games, but the food and drink specials and 25 different flat screens will serve fans well during any sporting event. Watch your favorite college and pro teams every Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday with $2 domestic pints and pizzas, $1 hot dogs and $0.35 jumbo wings.

Miami Mike’s Sport Zone

(credit: Miami Mikes Sports Bar/Facebook)

130 Rt 10 W
East Hanover, NJ 07930
(973) 887-1300
miamimikes.com

Miami Mike’s caters to the needs of any and every sports fan, not just those loyal to the New York sports teams. It also prides itself on not being limited to the traditional football/baseball sports bar—featuring flat screens for UFC, boxing, soccer and any other sports related event. To top it off, Miami Mikes offers a menu of sports themed cuisine, like the Penn State Chicken.

Allendale Bar and Grill

(credit: AB&G Sports Bar)

67 W Allendale Ave
Allendale, NJ 07401
(201) 327-3197
allendalebarandgrill.com

The Allendale Bar and Grill, or AB&G, is a great local bar offering a wide range of food and huge bar area with a laid back, fun feel. There are always new and seasonal beers on tap as well as many other bottled varieties and a full stock of liquor. The homey vibe is a great atmosphere to gather with your friends and watch the games on the big screens above the bar. Accompanied by speedy service and an ever so friendly bar and wait staff, AB&G is the perfect spot for a low-key sports night.

Black Bear Bar & Grill

(credit: Black Bear/Facebook)

205 Washington St.
Hoboken, NJ 07030
(201) 656-5511
blackbearbar.com
Reviews & More Info

If you secure a spot inside this Hoboken hotspot, you’re set. With two floors and 50 flat screen TVs, you’d be hard pressed to find a more ideal location when it comes to sports bars. Get there before the game for happy hour, and you can score half off on drinks and appetizers. But arrive early – lines sometimes form outside the bar before game time.

For the latest on the Tri-State area’s bar and nightlife scene, follow us on Twitter!

Emily Tamburri is a New Jersey-based freelance writer.