For those of you who are uninterested in football, you can skip this post. For those of you uninterested in Rutgers - how do we know you and why are you on our blog?
Thursday evening was a magical night for Rutgers University - not just the football team - but the entire institution. We have long suffered the ill effects of having an unsuccessful football program, not the least of which were lack of attention and funding from a sports-minded state government, competition for students from Michigans and Penns that offered a comprehensive university experience, and a lack of pride that permeated the students, faculty, alumni and entire state.
Thursday evening was a magical night for Rutgers University - not just the football team - but the entire institution. We have long suffered the ill effects of having an unsuccessful football program, not the least of which were lack of attention and funding from a sports-minded state government, competition for students from Michigans and Penns that offered a comprehensive university experience, and a lack of pride that permeated the students, faculty, alumni and entire state.
Now, if you look up the Empire State Building on Wikipedia, a portion of the profile reads:
"It was once even lit Scarlet red for a Rutgers University football game on November 9th, 2006, when they played the University of Louisville in what would result in the biggest win in school history.[10]"
And in the midnight hour on Friday morning we all raised a glass to a certain coach who has chipped away at this image..."Chopping Wood" as the entire campus now says...and who on that wonderful night finally split the log of doubt that has hindered our arrival on the national stage.
I'm blessed to be able to attend all of the games through my job, but nobody was working on Thursday night...we were all just fans...crying, high fiving, and staring at the score board that told us that on Monday morning, we would awaken to a top ten listing. And as the Bowl representatives milled around, we continued our chanting so that they saw that the persistence of our players is shared by their fans.
I'm blessed to be able to attend all of the games through my job, but nobody was working on Thursday night...we were all just fans...crying, high fiving, and staring at the score board that told us that on Monday morning, we would awaken to a top ten listing. And as the Bowl representatives milled around, we continued our chanting so that they saw that the persistence of our players is shared by their fans.
What's more, we have not sacrificed anything to grow our football program. What has not been reported by the newspapers is the fact that our football team, under Coach Schiano's leadership, is ranked 3rd by the NCAA in their academic performance rate, behind Navy and Duke. It is not every winning team - football or otherwise - that can claim that EVERY ONE of its players is on track for graduation. Rutgers can. It may not make the news...but it makes winning that much sweeter.
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