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Talkin' Baseball! Season Debut · NorthJerseySports.com

0:00
The season debut of talking Baseball on North Jersey
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sports.com is brought to you by Coaches Corner Deli, a new spot
0:08
on Washington Ave. in DuMont. One O 3D Washington Ave. in
0:13
DuMont to be precise. They got sandwiches of all kinds
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and if you know, you know it's all about the bread.
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Coaches Corner Deli in DuMont sponsoring Talking Basement.
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We are talking Basement North Jersey sports.com's original
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multimedia series talking all things baseball across North
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Jersey. This is the long-awaited, highly
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anticipated first show of the season.
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I am Corey Dovak, being joined by a man of many titles but less
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than he had last year. He is Joseph Terra.
0:58
What's going on, Joe? What's up buddy?
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It's been a long time. Lot of lot of text messages.
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What are you guys doing? There was even some doubt that
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we were doing doing the show anymore core.
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Well, we took a pounding on social media, through text,
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everything else, you know. I mean blasted, blasted.
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But it was all good though. It was, it was good because it
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was because people were like, you know what, what are you guys
1:21
doing? Like, let's go.
1:23
You know we're here waiting, hanging on every minute because
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you know, when we get on the air, Corey, people hang on our
1:31
words. Every word, I mean, when you
1:33
start every the the judge smells memes going around on Twitter
1:37
about we're waiting, yeah. I mean, then you know that that
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people are serious about getting this thing going.
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So. Here we are, right?
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And we're only it's a week into the seasons, you know, we got
1:46
miles together before we sleep. Yeah, they what they need to
1:49
understand we needed things to get started like you know what
1:52
you got to see like who's coming out, like who's playing well
1:55
early, who's out of the gate strong and you know those type
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of things. And you know, you need some kids
2:01
to get some, some numbers, some batting averages, some ER as and
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you know, it's, it's, it's, it's all process.
2:09
We we know what we're doing, despite what many think.
2:12
Right. I mean, I we have changed
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everything around here too. So now all of these shows are
2:17
available on all of the major podcasting platforms, and even
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some of them that I never heard of, I signed this up for too.
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So we're on the Spotify, we're on the Apple Podcasts, we're on
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Apple Radio, We're on. Yeah.
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So a couple other technologically sounding things
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too. So, you know, we got that.
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So I didn't even I'm saying this is a whole new era, a whole new
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start to talk in baseball. So usually I do this is season
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blah blah blah episode. Yeah, who gives it?
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No one cares about what season it is.
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They just want the show. But let me ask, you cost you
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money to sign up for all those things?
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Or is it like you just go and sign up for iHeartRadio that no
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one listens to anyway, but iHeartRadio and Spotify and all
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that, like, is that free? Or can you just create an
3:05
account? Or do you do you have to pay?
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Because you know, I know you bought all this new, you know,
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your podcast microphone and all that other stuff you, you spent
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money on yourself on, on the business.
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So what does that cost? Let the public know that you're
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spending money to make a a better product for them.
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Yes, that's thank you, Joe. Thank you for that opportunity.
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You're welcome. I hope the podcast sounds
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better. I had it with our basketball
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podcast over the winter season and that towards the end I
3:35
really did splurge. New headphones, new podcasting
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microphone, new editing software.
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So if you go from the beginning of last, you know the basketball
3:45
and you listen to one there versus one at the end, the sound
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quality, at least for me, is about 100 times better.
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So I'm hoping that you go to baseball, to this baseball show
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as well and that stuff. I don't know if it costs
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anything because I am a Spotify guy anyway, so I have a
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subscription. So I don't know if the ability
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to start a podcast is included in that subscription or if I
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didn't have a you know, I listen to podcasts and my music on
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Spotify. So I pay for it regardless and
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would even if I didn't do a podcast because I think it's a
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great service. So and then through Spotify,
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which I didn't know and it took me, you know, I'm an old dog.
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So I had to learn some new tricks and I always like I
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always said, I got to get it on all the other platforms.
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And then, you know, days go by and it's so you don't feel like
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messing with technical aspects of, you know, the nerdy stuff.
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What I've turned into the kid that I would have beaten up in
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high school, Joe, I'm sitting there trying to figure out what
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an RSS feed was. But then once I did figure it
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out, I could just be like, oh, iHeartRadio, Oh, yeah, I'll take
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Apple Podcasts. Yeah, sure.
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Give me Spotify. So.
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What about Pandora? What about Pandora?
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Are we? Are we on Pandora?
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I don't know if we're on Pandora, but you know what, Joe?
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As soon as this is over, I will effort to find out and if you
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want to be on Pandora now that I have an RSS feed, I'll just.
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Put it off the door. Too.
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There you go, no problem. If you would have told me 10
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years ago that one day you would have an RSS feed, I wouldn't
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have believed you. Oh my God.
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Spelling RSS but anyway so here we are it's a dawn of a whole
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new day on talking baseball on North Jersey sports.com and you
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are right we did we let the season come to us and now that
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it has happened we have some things to talk about and I think
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the first one is because you alerted me to it and then I took
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it from there I was this this is again my crusade to bring high
5:49
school sports back into the realm of it being a community
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supported and community based system of events more than a
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preparatory whatever you want a system for collegiate and
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professional sports is things like what happened on Saturday
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at Emerson high school. I was there.
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You told me about it. I think you were there for a
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scrimmage or whatever it was. But Emerson hosted Hackensack.
6:19
Now Emerson has a brand new facility.
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It's beautiful. Emerson.
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Yeah. Emerson for years had one of the
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best, best grass fields in North Jersey.
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They used to host the quarter final round of the Bergen County
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Tournament back in the day. Joe, if you remember when they
6:34
had four different sites when you had Emerson, Lyndhurst,
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Demarest and then, you know, Bosco was in there and some
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other places pinged in and out. But it now they've redone it to
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be a turf surface. There's great sight lines.
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It's in that back of, you know, in the back of the parking lot.
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Beautiful. And it was a fitting place to
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celebrate the life of Steve Romagli, a long time volunteer
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assistant, first at Emerson under Bob Karsich and then at
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Hackensack with his son Nick under Frank De Lorenzo for seven
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years as an assistant coach and one of the real good guys in
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North Jersey baseball. And he passed away in November,
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so I was glad. Yeah.
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Yeah. No, I.
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Mean anybody that that knew Steve was, you know, he was
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baseball guy through and through.
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You know, you were, he was always there with a handshake.
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You know, when you went up back in the day when I was at New
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Milford, you know, we would, we would show up there and, and it
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was always, you were always talking baseball with the guy.
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He was, he, he lived and breathed it and you know, and
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everybody that that he came in contact with had had nothing but
7:46
positive to say about him. You know, he's synonymous.
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If, if you're a Bergen County baseball guy and you've been
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around not only the, the, the Bergen County tournament, but
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you know anything about Emerson Hackensack, you know about him
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and, and, and how he, how he was the type of guy.
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He was just an overall solid dude from, from a very solid
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family. You know, they're all really,
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really great guys. And, and it was something when
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I, when I was at the scrimmage, the Emerson scrimmage, we were
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scrimmaging them, DuMont was scrimmaging them.
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I was talking with Somerhalter pretty much the whole game.
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And he said, hey, you know, we're doing this thing for
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Steve. And I said, you know, let me
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text Corey right now. And you know, as you always do,
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you immediately booked it and, and got it done.
8:35
You know, you're not just good for booking photo OPS at
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schools. You you do other work.
8:39
I'm actually mad at that. But what I thought it was, I
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thought it was a great, I, I thought it was a great tribute
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to him, you know, not only as as a, as a baseball guy staple in
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the baseball community, but but an overall, you know,
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outstanding, outstanding guy. You know, it was a great
8:58
baseball game. So that was the best part about
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it is that Steve R Magley would have loved trying to, you know,
9:03
match wits and try to help Bob Korsich or, you know, his son or
9:09
Frankie Lorenzo try to get it a little advantage of a great
9:11
game. That was 11 going into the 7th
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inning and Hackensack starter had a little stomach issue that
9:18
he fought through for two innings and then they turned it
9:20
over to Luis. Luis Hernandez came on to the
9:24
third Inn for Hackensack and the kid throws hard.
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I. Mean yeah, he's he's up there.
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He's one of the he's one of the leaders in strikeouts.
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I think he's got 17 already. Okay.
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And I think he had 888 and six and five and 2/3 against, so
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that tracks. Or 8:00 and 4:00 and 2/3 against
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Emerson the other day. So he was good.
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Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, no, no, no, he, you know,
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it's just, you know, Hackensack's actually Speaking
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of them. They're, they're out to a, a
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pretty good start at 3:00 and 1:00.
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You know, I, I'd love to have De Lorenzo on the show and then he
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can tell us they're not that good because you know, he's,
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he's, he's famous for that. We're not that good.
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But no, it's baseball, huh? The Chris Gaskin of baseball.
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How are you going to be this year?
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Chris AL going to struggle. You know, I, I said no, no, he
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didn't say that last year. He didn't say that last year.
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I saw him. Yes, I saw him yesterday at the
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at Ridgefield Park. We played Ridgefield Park.
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What a salt of the earth guy he is too.
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Great guy. Yeah.
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No, he's a he doesn't. Chris Gaskin doesn't sandbag.
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He he tells it like it is. He tells it like it is.
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Yeah, well, you know, we, we see well.
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Maybe we should have, maybe we should have him on the show and
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and you could, you could call him out immediately, you know,
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in person, call him out. It's I got you back asking.
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I got you back. He's got a lot more free time
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nowadays than since he stepped out as the head coach of
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Richfield Park basketball after 24 years as the.
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Head basketball. Basketball, listen, I, I, I,
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it's, it's just not going to be the same without Gaskin coming
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here. It's not going to be the same.
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It was so entertaining to watch him coach and he was, you know,
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obviously a very good, very good at it too.
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Yeah, well, I'm glad to hear it's true.
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Again, we'll go off on a tangent here, but we've lost a lot of
11:19
legendary figures in North Jersey sports, not just, you
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know, it's the life cycle. And I guess, Joe, this is our
11:26
generation going through it. You know, like a, a career in
11:30
education is, you know, 2530 years and then every, you know,
11:34
you know, it turns over and our generation is starting to turn
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over a little bit here with guys leaving and, you know, guess
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it's still going to coach and be around and everything else.
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But it, you know, you just, I started the site 26 years ago
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and there's, you know, other than like, you know, Brian Dunn,
11:49
you know, Chris Gaskin was one of the guys, but very few guys
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that are still in their positions from when I started
11:55
doing this all those years ago. And it's great.
11:56
It's opened up opportunities for a lot of young coaches that I've
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gotten to know and I'm happy to be able to do it.
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So, you know, that's just the way sports go.
12:03
But we should recognize that there are some great people who
12:06
are moving on. Yeah, no, I mean, you know, it's
12:11
it's we got off a little bit there with, you know, talking
12:15
about basketball and and Gaskin. But I think, you know, just just
12:19
as you know, every, every a guy like him deserves a a few a few
12:24
minutes of of talking about him, his program and that then and
12:29
that Bergen County basketball lost it lost a good one.
12:32
But I'm sure he'll be around. Maybe he'll join the Jamboree
12:34
committee. Maybe, maybe he'll do that.
12:37
You know, we'll get some, we'll get some common sense and and
12:40
get a good guy in there. Well, I don't know.
12:42
I don't know if you know my history with the Jambo
12:44
committee, especially my recent history, but I have 0 pole over
12:47
there. Yeah, they don't like you very
12:50
much over there. I got a better chance.
12:52
It's not like the better chance of fighting in the parking lot
12:55
with one member of the Jambo committee that I do, of helping
12:57
somebody get fun. To the Oh well core.
13:01
Oh well, you know you. Judge me, but oh, by the way.
13:06
Our show our show, we probably should have said this at the
13:08
beginning. Our show, we have a sponsor now.
13:11
Well, for the for this, for this episode, our sponsor is the
13:18
Coach's Corner deli just opened up in DuMont.
13:25
It's it's on Washington Ave. one O 3B Washington Ave. in DuMont.
13:32
It is when I say out of this world, it is a sandwich that
13:38
they have a lot of same. I think they have about like 16
13:40
or 17 different types of sandwiches you can get.
13:43
But when I say like, see what people don't understand around
13:45
here, the bread, Corey, it's all about the bread.
13:48
I. Love the.
13:49
Bread And I'm telling you, if you're in the DuMont area, you
13:52
have to go to this place. 22 guys from DuMont.
13:57
I won't mention their names in case anybody out there doesn't
14:00
like them and they want to go throw eggs at their house or
14:02
something. But you know who they are?
14:05
They're they're great guys. They're entrenched in the
14:07
community. They took their time.
14:09
You know, they did this the right way.
14:11
And it is a fantastic deli. That's Coaches Corner Deli, 103
14:15
B Washington Ave. in DuMont, NJ. That is a great that's I will
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run that at the beginning of the show too.
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So you know, because again of great editing software, I will
14:27
go back and I will put this that.
14:28
You see, that's awesome. Now it doesn't matter what we
14:31
say because you could just cut it and now it's not going to
14:34
take you an hour to go do this anymore.
14:36
It's a lot of work involved in the past.
14:38
Yes, Joe. So I will be able to go back and
14:41
put at the beginning the particulars about the Coaches
14:44
Corner Deli in DuMont. And between now and the next
14:48
episode we have to tell them to get a logo because I just went
14:50
online to for it and all there is is a picture at the front of
14:53
the store. So I'll use that for their.
14:55
I have, I have, we have a logo. I just, you know, I, I could get
15:02
that to you. By the way, I don't know if the
15:04
public, the public knows that we're sitting here talking about
15:07
all your high tech and all the money that you spend to upgrade,
15:10
to upgrade your, to upgrade your upgrade equipment.
15:20
And ladies and gentlemen, Corey dropped the phone call was
15:24
dropped and picked up for Google Voice because it saved all of
15:29
our conversation. You dropped the call, man.
15:37
I got this awesome equipment. We're on Spotify, They could
15:40
hear us in China, but I can't hold on to the phone call.
15:45
But. Trying to keep between the world
15:49
and corner and do my high school.
15:51
You got those? It's so bad.
15:55
Oh. That's great, man, That's great.
15:57
Talk about some baseball. All right, Steven Bagley, rest
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in peace, brother. We we happy to celebrate you
16:03
this past weekend and we're going to talk about what you
16:05
would have loved to hear about. So let's just go into some of
16:08
these teams like, you know, we'll pull up the the stats page
16:11
and and talk about some of these teams that are off to a a fast
16:14
start, a surprising start, a less than a generous start maybe
16:19
as we talk about it here. Yeah, you know, and you're
16:22
looking at the standings. One thing you know, I do want to
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start with, I want to get your opinion about it because this is
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the first year that you're doing it and it's in the NJIC.
16:31
And you were at Glenrock when they were NJIC, right?
16:35
It wasn't BPSL when you were there, you were in the NJIC.
16:37
No, it was. It was.
16:40
It was BPSR. OK.
16:46
But anyway, so now in the NJIC they have moved to a model where
16:53
no longer are the divisions geographically based or however
16:58
they used to be based in the NJIC enrollment or whatever else
17:01
it is. Now it's based on last year's
17:03
win total or maybe it's the cumulative of two.
17:06
But anyway, it has made for some interesting in like in the
17:11
basketball season, you know, all the better teams are grouped
17:14
into the top bracket, at least the traditionally better teams.
17:17
You know, you're going to have like one or two outliers who,
17:20
you know, have a good two year run, then get moved up and lose
17:22
all their seniors and struggle. But you know, for the most part,
17:26
the stronger traditional programs are now playing in the
17:29
same league. And in baseball, you know, Glen
17:32
Rock, Rutherford, Woodridge, you name it, it's a lot different in
17:37
the NJIC now, which helps them in a lot of ways as far as
17:41
PowerPoints go and qualifying for the Bergen County Tournament
17:44
goes and all those other things. So I don't know, have you had a
17:48
chance to even digest what that looks like?
17:50
Because if you look at the top division now, which would
17:54
probably be the Meadowlands Division, that probably is the
17:56
Meadowlands Division. You got Dwight Englewood,
17:58
Midland Park, which went to a state final last year,
18:01
Woodridge, Rutherford, Emerson and Butler.
18:05
So that's a pretty good small school league, even though we
18:09
are missing out on some geographical fun rivalries of
18:13
the days of Yeah. I mean it, it is and, and I
18:15
think it's, you know, some you got to see like really how it
18:20
works because, you know, you look at some teams that that may
18:25
have had, you know, an outstanding year last year.
18:27
You know, let's just we'll we'll take, I don't know Emerson, you
18:32
know what, what did they do last year?
18:34
But now, you know, you know, as well as I do the, the, the high
18:39
school athletics, like, you know, you graduate a ton or, and
18:44
now you have a bunch of inexperienced kids.
18:46
But because you had a really good year last year, you know,
18:50
we're going to throw you in with other schools that had a really
18:53
good year. But it's, it could turn into a
18:56
down year for a school because of where they are, you know,
18:59
with their personnel and, and the kids that are coming back.
19:03
You know, I, I get the, the attempt to, to balance the, the
19:11
competitiveness, you know, and if you look across like, like
19:15
you were saying, like, you know, Dwight, Dwight Englewood,
19:18
Midland Park, Woodridge, Rutherford, Emerson and and
19:23
Butler, I mean that, you know, that's, that's a pretty, pretty
19:26
good league. And then, you know, you go up
19:29
and you have Glen Rock, who had, you know, an outstanding year
19:32
last year. You know, Saint Mary's,
19:35
Lynnhurst is, is going to be, is going to be tough, especially
19:38
when when they throw their kid Herman and Pompton lakes.
19:42
Like, you know, it's funny, you mentioned geographics,
19:45
geographical rivalries and stuff.
19:48
I mean, that's, that's a tough look.
19:50
Look at that. Like Woodridge going all the way
19:52
out to play Butler, you know, in a league game.
19:55
And then you got Cresskill going all the way out to play to play
19:59
Pompton Lakes. Like, you know, it doesn't
20:01
necessarily jive 100% geographically, but I think it's
20:04
very difficult to ever get that close to close to perfect.
20:09
But let's let's see how it goes. You know, it's, it's the first
20:12
year. And, and we'll see how it plays
20:15
out, but it's it's, it's definitely thinking outside the
20:18
box a little bit for sure. Yes, I mean, in basketball, I
20:22
did love it because you lose the rivalries.
20:25
Like, you know, Park Ridge. To me, Park Ridge, Cresco and
20:28
Emerson have to play each other twice a year in every sport.
20:31
I mean, just, you know, they're Yeah, and, you know, and, and
20:36
Woodridge and Lyndhurst should too.
20:38
Or Woodridge, I'm sorry, Woodridge and Hasbro tights
20:41
should too. Lyndhurst and Rutherford should
20:44
too, you know, throw back in there, you know, Route 17
20:47
corridor and. And yeah, again, it's on my
20:50
soapbox of keeping high school sports as community based
20:53
athletic events. But yeah, you know, we'll,
20:56
we'll. See, I actually think Linhurst
20:58
and Rutherford did schedule a game.
20:59
I I think they feel the same way, too.
21:01
They'll always play each other, I think.
21:03
I think Linhurst beat them two. Nothing, 1.
21:04
Nothing. Something like that.
21:06
But no, I, I yeah, absolutely. You know, we were, I forgot who
21:10
I talked to the other day, but you know, we were talking about
21:12
the old I was Doctor Cirillo. Paging Dr. Cirillo.
21:18
I talked about old Yes, doctor. Cirillo at the Paramus at the
21:21
Paramus game and and we which do we would, by the way, yes, we
21:26
did in the very, very well played baseball Game 2 to one
21:31
very, very, very, very good game.
21:35
And and Joe and I were talking about like the old leagues, like
21:41
the old BCSL Olympic that him and I both coached in.
21:45
You had 18, you played 18 league games.
21:49
And and, you know, it just seems like we get it, you know, the
21:53
competitive balance, but but that kind of it's, it's a much,
21:56
much different, different animal, different world now, you
22:00
know, with with with the way divisions are and, you know.
22:04
The BCSL was great The BCSL was great because the.
22:07
Americans. Oh, it was great.
22:08
You know, some so some towns were quote UN quote, you know,
22:12
baseball town, baseball school and they, you know, played well
22:15
in baseball and made it got hammered in basketball or
22:17
whatever. But if you if you had a chance
22:19
to compete and if you were bad, you would get hammered by your
22:21
rivals, which made you want to get better.
22:23
And, you know, but in the NJIC is a different has a different
22:27
dynamic because of, you know, the small schools seem to be
22:31
getting smaller and there is some consolidation.
22:33
You know, like Town Park and Ridgefield now are one baseball
22:38
program, which years ago would been unfathomable for kids from
22:42
those two towns to be able to play together nicely.
22:46
Right, Right, right. It changed.
22:47
But. They have, you have a lot of
22:49
those, you know, like they did. There are, there are a lot of
22:52
teams that have, have, you wouldn't think would have ever
22:56
merged. But you know, I, I think in the
23:00
interest of doing what's right for kids, put everything else
23:03
aside and, and, and, and do the right thing.
23:07
You know, like look at Richfield Park Pagoda.
23:10
You know, they, they, they've been doing it now a few years
23:15
and, and you look at who's the other, which one in the NGIC
23:18
Corey, that's oh, shoot. You got a bunch.
23:23
I mean, I don't, I don't know about about baseball and
23:25
everything else, but I mean football is consolidated.
23:27
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I was right.
23:30
Specifically baseball. Oh, yeah, I don't know, it's
23:36
Richfield, Richfield, Richfield, Powell Park and and I think it's
23:40
Hawthorne Christian and Eastern Christian, but not, you know,
23:44
not never mind. Anyway, that's a little
23:47
different. So yeah, I mean, you know, you
23:50
got a a new thing in the NGICI think people are just having to
23:54
give it give it time, see what happens and core I'm they're
23:59
this is something they're going to do year to year.
24:01
So you know not. Two years.
24:04
Okay, no, I I think this is, this is the first year.
24:06
So the next, yeah, it's a two year rotation, I think.
24:10
I'm not sure. I'm not sure, but yeah, you
24:13
know, everything is status quo in the big North.
24:17
Yeah, everything is status quo in the big North.
24:18
And the one thing I want to mention, one of the teams also a
24:21
good start is New Milford, which after an opening day loss to
24:25
Teaneck, has won five in a row. I know that because they've been
24:27
tagging us on Twitter and I appreciate being able to be kept
24:31
abreast of the results as they come in here too.
24:34
So tag us. Yeah, they are out.
24:36
You know they're out. Five and one, New Milford, five
24:38
and one. Playing their games, you know,
24:43
out they, they lead. I think they're, they're, they
24:45
lead the county in in games right now with six played.
24:48
It's crazy. Yeah, so moving over to the Big
24:51
N you were out yesterday and obviously you've been watching
24:54
DuMont. Your son is playing for DuMont.
24:57
Well, first of all, give us an update on your other son, Oh
25:00
Joe, the other the other Joe Cetera who went to William
25:04
Patterson and. Yeah, much better than baseball.
25:08
But he's on the baseball roster at William Patterson University,
25:10
so that's different for you, too.
25:11
I know you're trying to get to as many games there.
25:14
You got James playing at DuMont. Yeah.
25:17
You know, so you're you're a baseball, baseball, baseball
25:20
everywhere. But give us an update on Joe.
25:22
And he's, you know, he's doing well and you know, they, they,
25:26
they're, he's doing exactly what, what they expected him to
25:29
do and they're bringing him along exactly how they told him
25:32
they were going to bring along. You know, they, they were very
25:34
transparent with him. He's got 4 appearances right
25:37
now. They, they really like the way
25:39
that, that he's throwing the baseball.
25:42
You know, right now they're asking him to go out there and
25:44
get 3 outs and in, in situations where there's, there's not a lot
25:48
of pressure, you know, and pitching in the end, Jack is, is
25:52
not an easy thing to do. He was, I think he appeared
25:55
wanting at the Montclair game a few, a few days ago, last week,
25:59
you know, and they, they told him this this week, you know,
26:02
they told him to be prepared. So I, I think they're looking to
26:07
increase his appearances, but he's doing well.
26:10
You know, he's developing. He put put about 15 lbs on and
26:16
you know, he's just looking to constantly improve.
26:17
He just, he just works and works and he's loving the experience
26:21
up there and and, you know, looking forward to A to a bright
26:26
future there. I mean, that's crazy.
26:29
That's crazy that he's, he's got college innings under his belt
26:31
already. That's pretty cool.
26:33
Yeah. I mean, listen, everybody would
26:35
want more. Everybody wants more.
26:37
But you have, you have like 16 arms there, you know, and, and
26:42
there's it's, it's, it's the game of baseball now.
26:45
You know, you're, you're not going to be needed every day.
26:48
The situation is not going to call for you every day.
26:51
And you know what, what, what I talk about with him was that,
26:54
you know, he went from getting the ball in every big game for
26:58
the last two years in high school and, and now you're, you
27:03
know, in, in, in college and you're not getting the ball
27:07
every single day. You're, but you need to, you
27:09
need to do your, your, your side work.
27:12
You need to get in the, in the weight room.
27:14
You need to, and when you're called upon, if it's three outs,
27:17
go get 3 outs. And you know that, that, that's
27:20
what he's been doing. And, and it takes a certain mind
27:22
to, to do that. Like he loves relieving.
27:26
He, he, he absolutely loves coming out of the bullpen, you
27:30
know, and, and like again, all the schools that he saw, you
27:34
know, William Patterson was, was the most upfront.
27:37
They just didn't say you got a roster spot, you know, welcome
27:40
here or promise anything. You know, you, you got to work
27:44
for it. And these are the opportunities
27:46
we're going to give you. This is our plan for you.
27:48
And he's made the most of them. You know, they're, they're very
27:50
happy with with where he is right now.
27:53
So, you know, and he's chasing, he's living in a stream, man,
27:56
you know, 19 years old. It's great out of the house.
28:01
He's out of the house constantly, but not but not, you
28:05
know, hasn't stopped asking for money.
28:07
You know that that's that just never ends.
28:09
But no, he's good, man. He's really good.
28:12
That's awesome. So.
28:14
So like I said, you've been sure you've been a, you know, the
28:16
travelling baseball watch party. And yesterday you were at an
28:20
interesting one too. Our boy Joe Gambardella has
28:24
taken over at the poll this year and we will have him as a guest
28:27
a little bit later in the season.
28:28
We're going to save. Yeah.
28:29
We got to do it from the garage though.
28:31
We got we apparently we got to do it from the garage.
28:33
We'll do it. I got new.
28:34
I don't know if I've mentioned before, but I got new reliable
28:36
equipment. Can you?
28:39
Does it drop phone calls? Not that I know of.
28:43
And. We will have games on later in
28:45
the year, but Depaul's going to be playing some big games later
28:48
on. But you went to an early season
28:50
big one in the big North and that was DePaul.
28:54
They were at Saint Joe's yesterday.
28:56
Yeah, they were at they were at Saint Joe's yesterday and, you
29:02
know, there was a lot of of errors in that in that baseball
29:07
game. It was very, very
29:11
uncharacteristic of, of, of DePaul.
29:14
I know more about them than I do, you know, Saint Joe's.
29:17
I know that, you know, what I saw yesterday was was a very,
29:22
very talented DePaul team that you know, their strength is if
29:29
if you got to try to find a weakness with them, I I don't
29:32
know what it what it would be. You know, yesterday you would
29:35
say, oh, it was defense, but you know, they they kicked it around
29:38
a little bit late, but they just had a way of of, you know, not
29:43
panicking. It was a four one game.
29:46
They kicked it around a few in the in this in the 6th, but
29:50
never panicked, you know, and then they come up.
29:53
It was 4142 after the the the the defensive inning that that
29:57
didn't really go the way they would have liked.
29:59
And they come back and go back-to-back homers to make it 6
30:02
two and all the air that that, you know, Saint Joe's maybe had
30:06
had gotten the momentum was just was just taken away.
30:10
I mean, they do they do everything well.
30:12
I mean they I've never seen a team with more.
30:15
They they run the bases very, very well.
30:18
You know, the, the the speeds in that line up is is just insane
30:23
top to bottom. You know, we know about their
30:26
arms. You know, the kid Chris Morano
30:29
through yesterday and and really, really gutted out his
30:35
start Yesterday wasn't wasn't really easy conditions to throw
30:39
in. But you know, he went five, gave
30:40
up two hits, you know, struck out 11, you know, and then and
30:45
then you know, you're not done there.
30:47
They, they bring in the Agando kid who who throws 25 and, and,
30:52
and strikes out one again. And he was on the mound when,
30:56
when things went a little bit crazy with defense and, you
30:59
know, never flustered. And then you have they, they
31:01
closely came with Jason, Jason and Albert.
31:05
You know who you know, it's like it was, it was an impressive, an
31:10
impressive atmosphere with all the scouts there.
31:12
And, you know, Saint Joe's did a real good a a, a real good job
31:18
staying in that game. They they had a few rallies that
31:20
they just couldn't get that one big hit when when the game was
31:23
close and then Saint DePaul was able to put it away with the
31:29
back of that homers in the in the in the sevens.
31:31
So I mean, the kid that started for Saint Joe's to Tomasi,
31:35
Matthew Tomasi did did a great job.
31:39
And you know, well, good baseball game between, between,
31:42
you know, two programs that that you would expect to have a, a
31:46
good game from. So the ball being #5 so great
31:51
things to come for that team, I'll tell you that.
31:53
Yep, and we will hear about it with games later on and they'll
31:56
play the back end of that with Saint Joe's in Wayne on
31:59
Wednesday. So.
32:00
Yeah, Wednesday. Yep.
32:02
Yeah, I mean, the poll off to a four and I'll start.
32:04
Rich Barton covered him for North Jersey sports.com against
32:07
Passaic Tech on opening Day and that was a good way to get the
32:09
season started. Yeah, that's a good blog.
32:12
That's a good game. Yep.
32:13
Four and O start the year and in that league, you know, Bosco,
32:17
Joe's Burden Catholic and Paramus Catholic, which is on
32:21
the ascent under Mario over there too.
32:24
That's as always a crazy league, you know, and we'll be yeah,
32:30
that's who goes along too. So.
32:31
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you got a lot of teams
32:34
in there that are that, you know, and then you have Burton,
32:36
Burton Catholic, who I think was one in three heading into the
32:39
Bosco game yesterday. And, and they beat, they beat
32:42
Bosco yesterday. I I think it was 95 or 858585.
32:50
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, I hate to use the word
32:54
surprise, you know, but because baseball more than any other
32:58
sport, you know, you go into it and you go, this team should
33:02
win. But you know, the ball is round
33:05
and and you you never know, you know which way it's it's, it's
33:09
going to bounce. And the better team always
33:11
doesn't come out where the team that you think is going to is,
33:14
is or should win doesn't always come out on top more so than any
33:17
other sport. So I agree.
33:19
That's why I agree. You know, I tell you who else is
33:21
out to a good start. River Riverdale's out.
33:24
Looks like they got they have a lot of arms this year.
33:26
They they came out three and one, you know, W Westwood's four
33:31
and O all the pan 4 and O. Westwood, I mean both the pans,
33:37
both the pans got arms with Cole Quebec and Dave Brennan of those
33:43
two. And then they have a younger kid
33:45
who I haven't seen yet, but they have three arms to play with.
33:49
You know, that that's that's a great public school league at
33:52
the top when you're talking about old Japan and Pascag
33:54
Valley. I mean, some of the best arms.
33:56
I did a a feature story over last summer, which is fun now to
34:00
watch because it was the five kids with at least some tie to
34:05
Rivervale. So it was Chris.
34:07
We were talking about Chris Gaston before.
34:09
His nephew is the number one at Pascag Valley this year going to
34:14
Fordham. Jack Pintarelli from Bergen
34:18
Catholic who's going to Franklin and Marshall Collins from Don
34:23
Bosco Prep is going to pit. I mean, that's a great story
34:26
too, because that kid, Joe, he he only got a few innings of
34:29
varsity baseball last year for Bosco and Bosco won everything
34:32
and he was seen at a showcase, you know, the Garden State games
34:36
and pits item. So big time baseball.
34:41
Yeah, a kid out of the dugout at Dalbosco Prep.
34:43
But Wank is from Pascack Hills and I'm missing one that I
34:47
can't. Oh, and Cokeback was the other
34:48
one who's going to Columbia. So those five guys and, you
34:51
know, sprinkled now throughout Bergen County as some of the top
34:54
arms in Bergen County. I'm really looking forward to
34:56
seeing how it all plays out. So you have Gasket at Pascack
34:59
Valley. There are two and two start and
35:01
some of the losses, I mean, like you said, things will, you know,
35:05
the cream will eventually rise to the top, but we don't know
35:08
where the, you know, exactly where that is yet.
35:10
I mean, Pascack Valley will certainly be there, but you
35:13
know, they had a surprising loss to Demarest.
35:15
I mean, they lost at to say Tech, which is not a bad loss.
35:18
And you know, they also have two wins where they scored in double
35:21
figures. So they're on the level, but
35:23
maybe not the kind of start they were looking for or that we'd
35:27
expect them being, you know, one of North Jersey's consistent top
35:32
teams in public school baseball. And of course, they probably
35:35
will end up there anyway. I'm just saying, yeah, I mean,
35:38
but all depends on Four and O Westwood, Four and O, you know,
35:41
almost like usual suspects. Here we go again.
35:43
But you say that like Cliffside Park has a high expectations
35:48
this year and they toppled Ramsey, which, you know, OK,
35:51
anybody can beat anybody on a one off.
35:52
But I think that final was a 15 to two final.
35:55
For Cliff, yeah, I think it was yeah, I think it was 50.
35:58
Yeah, I think it was 15 three. They they lost to yeah, they
36:03
they, they beat Ramsey 15-3 and then they, they lost to
36:08
Rutherford, they lost 43. And and, and New Milford, they
36:11
spotted they, they were up for nothing on New Milford.
36:14
And then New Milford just kind of chipped away.
36:17
I talked to Mike Scarzafather, the head coach at Cliffside
36:20
Park. He said, you know, they're a
36:22
solid team. You know, they, they swing the
36:23
bass and they, they chipped away and and came back with a, with
36:27
A7 four after being down 4 nothing.
36:29
So you know, Cliffside, Cliffside Park's got four year
36:34
starters throughout the lineup. You know, they they've all been
36:38
experienced. They've all been tested.
36:40
You know, they're they're a solid baseball team.
36:42
Ridgefield Park saw them yesterday.
36:45
You know, they hit one through 9 and and the kid that threw
36:50
against us yesterday, Garcia, you know, talking to some of
36:53
their coaches, he might not have been that sharp, but if his not
36:57
that sharp was yesterday, that was he's he's must be pretty
37:00
damn good when he is sharp because I thought I I was pretty
37:04
impressed by him. And, you know, getting back to
37:06
that league, you know, Fort Lee is is 3 and O, you know, and,
37:12
and they're battle and all three of those schools, all three of
37:14
those programs, you know, had these expectations coming into
37:18
coming into this year, you know, with the experience and the
37:22
returning players that they have.
37:24
So I'm not surprised by by anything that these three teams
37:29
are going to do. And, and we're, you know, DuMont
37:32
is, is sitting at 2:00 and 2:00, you know, had a nice win over
37:36
over Paramus slipped up bad yesterday against Richfield Park
37:41
Pagoda. But, you know, it's baseball.
37:44
You get an opportunity to come back on on tomorrow and, and see
37:47
what you can do. But, you know, getting back to
37:49
Pascack Valley, I think you know that.
37:53
Yeah, they, they're two and two. But what, you know, one of their
37:55
losses is the BCTI, right? They lost 442.
37:59
You know, they, they, they did beat Demarest the day, the day
38:02
before or two days before 10/1 and just had a little bit of a
38:06
hiccup. But again, that, that's
38:07
baseball. Yeah.
38:08
That that's, that's, that's the game.
38:10
So I, I think they're, they'll full and full and ready when,
38:14
when the time comes. He's, you know, he's always got
38:17
them prepared. I will never count out a Will
38:19
Lynch team at all. I mean, especially, especially
38:22
one week into a season so. And they're all guys.
38:25
JT Durizo, Speaking of kids that are doing well in college.
38:29
He's having he's having some, he's having a lot of innings and
38:33
and he just gets outs, man. They the kid is just he's a
38:36
competitor. So so he's really having having
38:40
a job. You know, we talked about my
38:41
son, but JT Deriso, one of the Will Lynch disciples is, is
38:47
doing a a great job that at William Patterson.
38:51
So I just thought I would I would mention that as well.
38:54
Yeah, that was crazy. We talked about it I think last
38:56
year, you know, Deriso said he wanted to stay close to home.
39:00
He got an offer from William Patterson.
39:02
He said I'll take it. And you know, I thought last
39:04
year that he was under recruited because I saw that kid throw
39:07
great games against great high school lineups and I thought he
39:11
could have gone further. But happy that he, you know, and
39:14
there's in in this day and age, there's opportunity to do that
39:17
later on anyway. But good to see that he's.
39:20
He's a pitcher. He's he's a pitcher.
39:21
He reminds me, he reminds me a lot of I, I think he's, he
39:25
reminds me a lot of, of PJ Sapirito, You know, in their, in
39:29
their styles, you know, the three, just every pitch they
39:34
make, every pitch that Theresa makes is a competitive pitch.
39:38
And, and that's, that's, you know, in, in the end, Jack to,
39:43
to see what he's doing there on a daily basis.
39:45
He's, he's pretty effective. So kudos to him.
39:48
Yeah, last couple things here. I mean in the freedom Division I
39:52
saw again Hackensack off to a three in one start with a lone
39:55
start emotional day in Emerson. So that was, you know, their
40:00
their only hiccup Ramapo off to a two and two start.
40:03
I saw Garrison Ward last week when I was up at Ramapo and talk
40:08
to him briefly. Of course we'll get to them as
40:10
the season moves along here. But you know, they they schedule
40:13
as tough as they can and as tough as anybody in the state of
40:16
New Jersey. So like their first two games,
40:18
they went on the road and played at Allentown, lost 541 run game
40:22
at Allentown, then come back two days later and play Bosco at
40:26
Bosco. So.
40:27
They were owing to to start. They have since rebounded with
40:29
two quality wins once again, one against Glen Rock and one
40:33
against Ridgewood to open their league schedule.
40:36
And then they have a back-to-back, you know,
40:37
tomorrow, Wednesday being tomorrow as we take this hunt
40:40
Tuesday afternoon at Ridgewood tomorrow so and then at Ulta
40:45
Penn. So they they're running the
40:48
garment. They're at Ridgewood, They're
40:49
their next. Their next 5-6 games are at
40:54
Ridgewood at Ulta, Penn, Bergen, Sack, Hackensack, Hackensack.
41:00
Yes, so I, I remember, you know, I have written the story many
41:03
times about how round PO when the Bergen County tournament is,
41:06
round PO is always either the eight or nine seed because they
41:09
don't play the kind of schedule when they're going to be 15 and
41:11
one at the cut off. They're going to have some
41:14
losses because they play everybody.
41:15
And then, you know, they they move into the quarterfinals and
41:19
they get the number one seed in Bergen County Tournament, just
41:21
the way it goes. You know who doesn't have to
41:24
worry about county seats anymore?
41:25
Corey. Well, that's the last thing I
41:27
wanted to bring up on the season debut of the of talking baseball
41:31
North Jersey sports.com. So for those that don't know, I
41:35
mean Joe Cetera in the last few years we've he's been the man on
41:38
the inside of the Bergen County tournament.
41:40
We got all we're going to have to cultivate some new sources
41:43
because you and Mike Carson have set that relinquished running
41:48
the Bergen County Baseball Tournament and all that comes
41:51
with it. So, yeah, it's got to be a
41:53
relief for you. I I don't know, you tell me why.
41:57
And then how do you feel about it?
42:00
I just think it was, it was, it was time to just, you know, not
42:05
do it anymore. It was it, you know, it was just
42:07
getting to the point where I, I had done it.
42:11
You know, we, we, we wanted to kind of Mike and I wanted to
42:15
kind of bring the tournament to, to a different level, move the
42:20
tournament forward. And, and I think we had a lot of
42:22
ideas that confronted obstacles. And I just think that, you know,
42:29
in, in, in a lot of ways, our, our, we felt like our hands were
42:33
tied in terms of, of moving the tournament in a, in a different
42:37
direction. You know, whether it be
42:41
streaming the tournament or you know, we, we using fields for
42:47
different rounds and things of that nature.
42:50
I, I mean, Mike and I thought we, you know, we gave everything
42:53
we had to that tournament. We, we, we loved it.
42:55
We know that the coaches appreciated it.
42:59
You know, the, the majority of them, I'm sure there's, there's
43:02
a couple that always thought that we sucked at what we did,
43:05
but you know, you're not, you're not going to make everybody
43:08
happy. And Mike and I, you know, on
43:11
the, on the, it really, the, the tournament meant a lot to us.
43:14
It, it really did the, the integrity of it, you know, the,
43:19
the direction that it was going. We were always saying, what can
43:21
we do different, you know, how can we make it better?
43:25
You know, the rules and, and, and things of that nature.
43:28
And I, I think we just, you know, we didn't talk about it
43:32
like, hey, we're going to do like, you know, Mike went and,
43:35
and then I just said, you know what, I, I think it's time for
43:37
me to go too. And you know, now we could, we
43:40
could sit here and you and I can say how bad the season was.
43:43
It won't matter. Yes, yes.
43:45
It won't. It won't.
43:47
It won't matter. But you know what does matter,
43:48
Corey? You know what does matter?
43:49
You know what? I wanted to bring your
43:50
attention. Go ahead.
43:53
It really like I was at baseball game yesterday and not only that
43:59
baseball game, but I was at my son's games and like when did it
44:05
become a part of baseball? Like to and I'm not like
44:11
softball has their little niche, right?
44:13
Even in college at at in the SEC, you know, there's chanting
44:18
in the dugout almost almost like little songs that the girls are
44:23
singing in softball as motivation and positive.
44:28
When have you ever seen teams do like a a mock cheer, like clap
44:38
their hands while the pitchers delivering bang the fence and
44:42
then yell some inaudible statement as the pitchers
44:46
delivering the ball like like where is that integrity to the
44:50
where is that respect for the game?
44:52
Where where does that come from? Like, because now that I've been
44:56
to, I would say 20 or so college baseball games and I've been
45:01
able to sit between both dugouts, very rarely do they
45:05
direct anything like that to the other team.
45:09
Like when their team does something, well, they'll
45:11
celebrate in the dugout, they'll do something.
45:14
But as the kids delivering the ball now the cool thing is to
45:18
bang on the fence and then clap and then ultimately come to this
45:24
crescendo as the pitchers delivering the ball.
45:26
Like where do where do coaches and where do upper level
45:32
athletes think that that's that's a good thing to do?
45:35
Like it just like, what are you doing?
45:38
What are you doing? I agree 100%.
45:42
And you know, and then it becomes.
45:44
And the whole taking your health, taking your health
45:46
halfway down the baseline, you know, as you're as you're
45:50
approaching home plate and jumping in the air and the whole
45:55
team yelling boom, like, what are what are we doing?
45:58
Where is the game going? Well, it it, it, it's going, you
46:05
know, they've loosened the rules at the top and no more like the
46:10
bean ball is no more is not really a part of the game
46:13
anymore. And, you know, it never was in
46:16
high school for the most, but but the, you know, and the major
46:20
leagues, if you ever showed up, the opposing pitcher, the next
46:24
guy up took one, you know, in the small, you know, right
46:27
between the shoulder blades. And that has, you know, now it's
46:32
pitchers are just as bad, you know, when they do the arrow and
46:35
they put the gun in the holster and all, all those kind of
46:38
things. So it's just bad sportsmanship.
46:41
It's terrible. It's it's terrible.
46:44
And it puts an undue onus on the umpires because, you know,
46:49
everybody wants to talk about how you blew this call, you blew
46:51
that call. But, you know, they're like, oh,
46:53
how come you're not doing anything about like, you got to
46:56
police your own dugout. No, no, I I listen right you
47:00
have. To have a little, you have to
47:01
have a little respect for the opposition and for the game.
47:04
I agree with you. It's terrible.
47:05
It's terrible and they it's. The more and I agree with you, I
47:10
agree with the umpire. Yeah.
47:13
And I agree with you with the umpire policing it.
47:15
Like if I'm like, you know, I if I'm the opposing coach, I just
47:19
tell my kids block that out, you know, focus, let it go.
47:22
Control what you can control. And if I'm an umpire, it's like
47:27
I'm looking at that and going what a clown show that is.
47:30
Like it's not my job to stop it. If if, if the coach wants to let
47:35
it go on, then that's on them. But but it's an it's an absolute
47:39
embarrassment. You know, it's it, it really,
47:43
really is the whole look at me type.
47:44
It's just, it's it there's there's no more respect for the
47:50
game or, or it's less and less each.
47:54
I shouldn't say there's no more if there's, there's less and
47:56
less respect for the game. At the high school level, every
48:00
time you step on, you don't see very many teams doing it the
48:04
right way from top to bottom. Whether you're a good team with
48:08
a winning record, bad team, you know, a struggling team, it's,
48:12
it's very, it's very rare that you see, you know, a team hit a
48:16
dog like, you know, they do it here too.
48:18
We hit a double and we get the second base and it's like, what?
48:21
What are you doing? Have you never hit a double
48:23
before in your life? And by the way, you're down for
48:26
nothing. This call is now being recorded.
48:34
Ladies and gentlemen, we, we just stopped being recorded.
48:37
Once again I I know you will not be able to tell, so I'm making
48:41
you aware. Yes, I thought.
48:43
No, it was good, Good man. So.
48:44
So far I just learned that if you hit the space bar it stops
48:48
the recording. So you did 3-4 twice today,
48:53
Yeah. All right, I'm still learning
48:56
too, Joe, you know. What?
48:57
That's right. It's early in the season for me
48:59
too, but I'm glad we got this thing off and running.
49:01
I'm glad that you have seen a whole bunch of teams.
49:03
I am trying to do the same. And in the next couple of weeks,
49:07
it will become more and more as photo shoot duties and and game
49:12
coverage begins. So, all right, so that's episode
49:16
one. We will have, of course, guests
49:18
on as events dictate, and we will be moving.
49:23
We'll talk about all of it next time.
49:26
I'm talking baseball. Follow the leader.