It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City

I considered entitling this entry "The Best Laid Plans...", since mine went awry earlier this week. I had intended to get out and see the final day of the NBIL so I could post final standings and such, but because I started the Ultimate Weekend on Thursday -- explanation forthcoming -- I had to work late to meet my newspaper deadline on Wednesday, so no NBIL for me. Sorry folks, I'll see if I can get the info from one of the coaches later...

Anyhow, the reasons I opted against the "Of Mice and Men" reference were A) it reminded me of studying the orginial Scots poem in my high school English class, and how it just sucked all the fun out of that saying for me. "Gang aft agley"... darn you, Robert Burns. Darn you. Oh, and B) I like Springsteen and have been listening to Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. a lot recently. Sue me.

Now, as for the Ultimate Weekend... it has become a Bowling Reporter Guy tradition to spend the third weekend of every February as follows: take Thursday and/or Friday off from work... venture down the shore to see the family... watch my favorite sporting event, the Daytona 500, on the big screen... then leave on Monday morning and stop by Carolier Lanes on the way back home to spend Presidents' Day covering the State finals. Technically, the weekend doesn't wrap up until Tuesday at 2:30 p.m., when we air the yearly North Jersey bowling wrap-up on WGHT's Sports Overtime (1500AM on your radio dial! Sorry, had to). Anyway, it gives me a chance for a little mid-winter break and helps ease the sadness of the recently-ended NFL season. Note that I didn't say "Jets season." Ahem.

This year, the plans will be altered slightly, because the boys and girls team finals were separated onto different days. Lucky for me, my pals Jon & Marco have granted me an extra half-episode of Sports Overtime (and by half, I mean 5 minutes -- you take what you can get) to recap the boys finals a week from Monday... which reminds me, I have to add GHT to the blogroll.
So, if you're in the 1500AM listening area, remember: Girls bowling state finals recap at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 2/17... Boys bowling state finals recap at 2:30 p.m. on Monday, 2/23. Please note that all times are Eastern, and approximate (i.e. they may save bowling until the 2nd half of the show).

I'll have more time to do a full recap on the North 1A boys sectional finals tonight, but for now, congrats to the winners & state qualifiers... Group 4: 1. Old Tappan (3,000); 2. Bergen Catholic (2,882). Group 3: 1. Pascack Valley (2,972); 2. Ramsey (2,761). Group 2: 1. New Milford (2,799); 2. Leonia (2,743). Group 1: 1. Queen of Peace (3,156); 2. Park Ridge (2,838).

Individual Qualifiers: 1. Freddy Carlo (River Dell) 706; 2. Alex Prell (Wood-Ridge) 703; 3. Matt Priore (No. Arlington) 700; 4. Sean Carmody (Ridgefield Park) 696; 5. Mike Wuhrman (Park Ridge) 693 -- also had high game, a 286; 6. Rob Grippo (Bergen Catholic) 684; 7. Perrin DeFreitas (Hackensack) 682; 8. Gary Job (Lyndhurst) 682; 9. Steve Fernandez (Queen of Peace) 670.

More later on WBRG-FM...