A Great Weekend in Baltimore

While it’s not always easy because of my schedule I make sure to attend at least one Penn State football game every fall and to keep that streak going it was off to Baltimore this past weekend where the Nittany Lions played Maryland at M&T Bank Stadium which is home of the NFL’s Ravens.

Our group of eight included my family and my brother’s and we had a great time from walking around the Inner Harbor to a well-planned tailgate on game day and then finishing up with Sunday breakfast at the very popular Miss Shirley’s Café. The weekend would have been ruined by a Penn State loss but they managed to squeak by the Terrapins 31-30 in a game that I did not enjoy until it was over. Of course we’ll take the win.

Being away this weekend meant I missed my assignment as the public address announcer for Monmouth University football and I almost missed the greatest win in program history. For those who don’t follow the Hawks they lost to the #1 ranked FCS team in the nation, Coastal Carolina 23-20 on a field goal as time expired.

More than 4,500 fans packed Monmouth Stadium and saw quite a show and while there’s no such thing as a good loss. This one was pretty close and makes you believe the program is heading in the right direction.

Shore Conference football alum Al Golden was fired Sunday as head coach at the University of Miami, a day after the Hurricanes lost 58-0 to Clemson, the worst loss in program history. A Colts Neck native and former standout at Red Bank Catholic and later Penn State, Golden turned around the football fortunes at Temple before landing the high-profile job with the Hurricanes.

He had to deal with all kinds of off-the-field issues and NCAA sanctions and cleaned up the program in his 4 ½ years but simply did not win enough. At age 46 don’t expect him to be out of work too long.

Belated congratulations to Andy Chase and all of those involved in last week’s Ocean of Love Billboard Radiothon on our sister station 105.7 The Hawk. For the eighth straight year Andy lived on a billboard in the Target/Lowe’s Shopping Center in Toms River imploring listeners to donate to the Toms River-based organization dedicated to supporting local families in the ongoing fight against pediatric cancer. It was a great week as the weather was perfect, Andy saw his Mets advance to the World Series and best of all more than $119,000 was raised for a truly great cause.