Weekend Binge Watching

Random thoughts on this first weekday in March as we close the books on one of the coldest February’s on record and a month that might have only been 28 days but it felt more like 28 weeks.  

While March is not off to a great start there might be some light at the end of the tunnel as the forecast for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Seaside Heights Saturday is bright and sunny with temps in the 40s.  Unfortunately it was not very nice for the 42^nd annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Belmar but despite snow and cold the show went on as it always does on the first Sunday of March.

Not only was I at the Shore Conference Basketball Tournament Finals on Friday night at Monmouth University but I had a courtside view as we broadcast the games on the Shore Sports Network. With that said I still don’t believe what I saw in the boys championship game as top-seed and heavily favorite CBA was outscored 31-5 in the second half and was blown-out by Rumson-Fair Haven as the Bulldogs won their first-ever SCT title. 

Outside of the Rumson faithful there weren’t ten people who gave their team a chance which is why the game is played on the court and not on paper.  Junior Brendan Barry, a distant relative of Hall of Famer Rick Barry, put on an unforgettable show scoring 25 of his 27 points in the second half.  In the girls final Manasquan defended their title with a relatively easy victory over St. Rose behind Marina Mabrey’s 29 points.

I spent Saturday at the Region 6 Wrestling Championships with thousands of wrestling enthusiasts packing the Pine Belt Arena.  As I’ve said before high school wrestling fans are a different breed. They know the sport and are not casual fans.

The top three place winners in each weight class move on to this week’s state championships in Atlantic City. Special congratulations to Brick Memorial’s Cliff Ruggiero, who won the 160 pound weight class with pins in his semifinal and final matches and was named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler.  His coach Mike Denver was also honored as the Region 6 Coach of the Year.

So with a rare day off Sunday the plan was to go to the movies.  However as the snow started falling my wife and I settled in to a “Breaking Bad” marathon as we’ve been binge-watching the former hit TV show ever since we got Netflix a couple of weeks ago.  We made it through season 4 yesterday and have watched 46 of the 62 episodes. It helped us get through the worst and longest month of the year.