A Little Of This & That – Hometown View

A little of this and a little of that on a chilly Thursday morning.

So how bizarre has the weather been this winter? Well Seattle, Washington was virtually shut down Wednesday by a snowstorm that dumped as much as 8 inches in some parts of the city which was the biggest snowfall in some 30 years. Meanwhile in Buffalo, New York an annual pond hockey tournament has now been changed to a street hockey tournament because it hasn’t been cold enough to build the ice base they needed. Labatt Blue which sponsors the tournament has refunded the $250 entry fee to all 144 teams but the Canadian brewing company hopes they will trade ice skates for sneakers and still compete in next month’s event.

If you are a New York Mets fan (and are not ashamed to admit it) you are probably familiar with . For the last five seasons he has been SNY’s field reporter covering the Mets and is part of their TV broadcast crew along with Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez.

What you might not know is the 37-year old William Patterson graduate has lived in Point Pleasant for the last twelve years. I caught up with Burkhardt last night after he and Yankees broadcaster Jack Curry participated in a “hot stove” chat in Freehold. Kevin told me the commute from Point Pleasant to Citifield is a hassle but worth it. I have been a fan of his work for years and it’s only a matter of time before he becomes nationally known.

Burkhardt, who began his career working in radio in North Jersey, was the radio play-by-play man for the Dallas Cowboys national broadcasts this past season.

As for the Mets prospects this season…well getting tickets won’t be a problem.

It’s certainly no surprise the Class A South wrestling championship came down again this season to Jackson Memorial and Southern Regional because that’s become almost an annual event. It looked like the Rams were going to collect that title for most of last night’s dual meet between the teams at Jackson’s Joe Perry Gymnasium.

However the Jaguars won the last three bouts by technical fall, pin and major decision to eek out a 27-26 victory. 138-pounder Spencer Young’s 12-4 win in the final bout gave the Jags their 7th straight division championship and the first under new coach Aaron Gottesman.