A Night of Favorites and Days of Soggy Fields
Random notes and thoughts on this first Monday of March.
No real surprises during last night’s Academy Awards which for the most part was void of any suspense as favorites ruled the evening with the major Oscars going to The Shape of Water, Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell and Allison Janney.
Host Jimmy Kimmel was his usual self and kept things moving but for the most part the nearly four-hour telecast was nothing special and rather bland.
I thought the funniest moments came from presenters Tiffany Hadish and Maya Rudolph who told the audience not to worry about the apparent focus on minorities because there were plenty of white people still to be featured.
It sure seems like the high school athletes who compete in spring sports get the short end of the stick when it comes to the weather and this year is turning out to be no different. Spring practice officially began Friday which of course featured a long day of rain, snow and wind.
Fields were obviously wet and it was cold all weekend and here comes another storm into the mix on Wednesday. Of course this on the heels of an unseasonably warm February which already seems a distant memory.
Toms River South’s Cole Corrigan was the Shore Conference bright spot at the NJSIAA Wrestling Championships in Atlantic City this weekend. Corrigan was the only one of the five shore wrestlers who advanced to the finals to emerge a state champion as he claimed the 152 pound title to finish an undefeated senior season.
The 8th state champion in TR South history, Corrigan is headed to Columbia University next fall.
It was quite a weekend at the NFL Scouting Combine for Penn State tight end and former Southern Regional three-sport standout Mike Gesicki. Gesicki was clearly the star among the 17 tight ends with some jaw-dropping performances that have no doubt raised his status for the NFL draft in late April.
Several experts said they expect him to go in the late first or second round which would earn the Manahawkin native a nice rookie contract.