Saturday, June 19, 2010

RAMSEY'S NORTH 1, GROUP 2 STATE TITLE CELEBRATION

Boys’ Sports Coach of the Year:
Vic Tribuzio, Ramsey Football
Ramsey appeared poised for a big season with quarterback Rob Archetti leading the way. But on the team’s first offensive snap of the season, Archetti went down with an injury and was subsequently lost for the season, putting the Rams’ chances of a state playoff berth in jeopardy.

That forced Tribuzio to alter his gameplan both offensively and defensively by using the running game more. The Rams became a ball control team, using the clock to shorten the game to keep his aggressive defense fresh. The strategy worked as, after a one-point loss to Pascack Valley dropped them to 1-1, the Rams went on a tear and were barely tested the rest of the season.

Led by Zach Donnarumma and a stout defense that thrived on forcing turnovers, Ramsey won all but two of their final 10 games by double digits. They grinded out a tough 14-11 win over a strong West Essex team in the North 1, Group 2 semifinals, then romped past River Dell to claim their first section crown since 2003.

ERNIE YENCO

Runner-Up: Ernie Yenco,
Mahwah Lacrosse
Yenco came over from the head post at Ramapo and inherited a talented, but incredibly inexperienced team at Mahwah. The Thunderbirds were in just their second year of existence as a varsity program, but broke through in a completely unexpected way this spring.

Mahwah ripped off 16 straight wins to start the season and, with a 10-6 win over Bergen Catholic, became the first Group 1 school ever to win the Bergen County title just 13 months into being a varsity program.

Honorable Mention:
Bob Hurley, St. Anthony’s Basketball
Jim Fucci, Cliffside Park Soccer
Greg Toal, Don Bosco Football
Garry Luciani, Elmwood Park Football
Joe Yurko, Westwood Baseball
Damon Wright, Paterson Catholic Basketball
Drew Gibbs, Ramapo Football
Joe Iwanski, Dwight-Englewood Tennis
Mike Doto, Cresskill Basketball

TARA MADIGAN

Girls’ Sports Coach of the Year:
Tara Madigan, Northern Highlands Soccer
Northern Highlands has been one of the most consistently successful girls’ soccer programs since Madigan took over in 2003. After graduating the entire midfield from the 2008 team and leading scorer Sam Fiorenzo being lost with a knee injury for most of this past season, there were some questions of what the expectations should be for 2009.

But Madigan has structured her teams to not just have a talented 11 on the field, but to have depth so when injuries and graduation tend to deplete rosters, the Highlanders have players ready to step in and fill those roles.It was plug-and-play for the Highlanders and it led to another highly successful campaign.

They went undefeated through a tough NBIL schedule and suffered their only loss of the season to IHA in the Bergen County final. Northern Highlands then dominated the game, but finished with a 0-0 tie against Hopewell Valley in the Group 3 final to finish the season as North Jersey’s only one-loss team with a 22-1-2 record.

JEFF JASPER

Runner-Up:
Jeff Jasper, Pascack Valley
Throughout his legendary tenure as Pascack Valley’s head coach Jasper has had plenty of teams with numerous star players. But this year he had a rock-solid point guard in Terry Ely and a bunch of role players rounding out the starting five. With perennial powers Holy Angels and Paramus Catholic coming into the NBIL for one season, it seemed that the Indians might finally fall back to earth and finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

But Jasper still felt the potential of his team was great and the role players quickly morphed into reliable, clutch players on both ends of the floor in his system. For the first time in over three decades, Pascack Valley was not a favorite to win the league, county, or section titles. However, they got off to a hot start and grew stronger as the season went on.

They won the NBIL Division 1 title, advanced to the Bergen County semifinals (before losing to eventual champion Ramapo), and won the North 1, Group 3 section title, finishing with a 27-4 record. Their final loss came in the Group 3 final to Neptune, one of the nation’s top teams and the eventual Tournament of Champions winner.

Honorable Mention:
Joe Leicht, Indian Hills Softball
Steve Silver, IHA Soccer and Basketball
Karla Mixon, Ridgewood Lacrosse
Michael Wright, Mahwah Soccer
Shawn McDonald, Pascack Hills Volleyball
Steve King, Eastern Christian Basketball
Eric Ganz, Pascack Hills Tennis
Brian Hay, Paramus Softball
Kim Marchese, Ramapo Tennis

Miscellaneous Awards

Dave Jones Fan of the Year Award: Ed Bates
Bates is known for his booming voice and his tendency to bring a whale stuffed animal and his love of parochial schools, mainly IHA. But I’m going to touch on the fact that for my money, he’s the most resourceful man on the planet. Without the benefit of a car, he can get to any game in the state by bus or by catching a ride from one of an array of supporters.

Take from a guy like me who as a kid never had a bus schedule and bummed rides from people whenever he could, I can truly appreciate someone who will do whatever it takes to get where he wants to go.

SHENEE CLARKE, CHRIS ANNIBAL & NICK DeBARI

Best Dressed Female Coach of the Year:
Shenee Clarke, Teaneck Girls’ Basketball
Clarke is always looking classy on the sideline, even if it’s with a scowl on her face after a couple of turnovers. She has a wide variety of pant-suits that she isn’t afraid to break out for a big game and that goes a long way in Richie Ballgame’s book.

Best Dressed Male Coach of the Year:
Chris Annibal, Garfield Boys’ Basketball
Despite pulling a no-show for the second time in three years for Richie Awesome’s birthday celebration, Annibal pulled out some snazzy argyle sweaters for the Boilermakers’ deepest state tournament run in school history and with that pulled out the award as best dressed coach.

JOHN WAY

Worst Dressed Coach:
John Way, Lodi Basketball
Going back to 1991, Way has been one of the worst dressed people in North Jersey, let alone coaches. Despite being a math teacher, which is a travesty in itself, he constantly looks like a gym teacher, even when in a suit. While Z. Cavaricci’s are no longer in style and Merry-Go-Round is out of business, Way still manages to channel his youth and finds ridiculous clothes to wear both on the sideline and in life in general. I look forward to attending a birthday party with him today just to see what outdated rags he shows up in, hopefully an IOU polo and Zubaz with a B.U.M. Equipment hat. Gross.

Best Dressed Coach in case an Italian Wedding breaks out:
Nick DeBari, Rutherford Girls’ Basketball
While DeBari is a perennial contender for the aforementioned Best Dressed Male Coach Award, he always looks like he’s ready to sing a song (preferably Volare or That’s Amore or anything by Perry Como or Sinatra) at karaoke night at an Italian restaurant. A little too snug for my taste. But if I ever need a recipe for fettucine alfredo or some bruschetta before a big meal, Nicky D is my man……although Glen Rock head baseball coach Joe Sutera is a close second when it comes to the Italian recipes.

MARCO BALLETTI

Most Italian Guy in North Jersey:
Marco Balletti, Associate Sports Director WGHT Radio
Speaking of Italian, no one more Italian than my boy Marco Balletti from WGHT. For proof, let’s go through his profile on their website:
Slicked back hair and perfectly trimmed goatee? Check.
Favorite Actor? Robert DeNiro.
Favorite Movie? Goodfellas.
Favorite Food? Anything my mom makes…..anything your mom makes????? We get it Marco, you’re Italian, we get it. The only way he throws people off from being Italian is by wearing jeans when it is 95 degrees out. Haha I can’t stop cracking up while writing this.

JON FASS

Best Statistician:
Jon Fass, WGHT Sports Director
Another one of my boys, Jon always has up-to-date stats and sometimes even stats a writer could not possibly need for a story. But I appreciate his diligence and the fact that he gives me stats without ever giving me slack for showing up late to every Passaic County game I’ve ever been to in any sport.

Last Five Songs (well six, since I just added one while doing this) I added to my IPod with commentary:
Kid N Play – Ain’t Gonna Hurt Nobody (Kid kind of reminds of Chris Annibal and I loved the choreographed dances in House Party.)

Busy Bee – Running Thangs (most underrated rapper of all-time and one of my favorites….Quote from the song, “I’ve got a PHD in royalty, I’m MVP for makin’ history.)

Robyn – Do You Know What It Takes (Don’t ask, for some reason I just like that song, it’s catchy I guess.)
D-Mob and Cathy Dennis - C’Mon and Get My Love (Right alongside the previous as a song I really don’t know why I liked it so much growing up.)

Inner City – Good Life (Reminds of middle school dance parties at Leigh Naspo’s house where he had a disco ball in his basement…..haven’t talked to that kid in about 20 years.)

Twin Hype – Do It To The Crowd (I was pumping this song right after I got my driver’s license…it was either this or Tevin Campbell haha… where I got the quickest ticket ever. Four minutes after I got my license, I got a speeding ticket going back to school on Route 46, Happy 17th birthday to me.)

Best Sliced Steak in North Jersey:
Paul Bunyan’s in Wallington

REALLY?

Sliced steak special for $6.95 on Tuesday nights, you can’t beat it. It’s sliced over bread with the juices seeping into the bread, it’s just awesome. The only bad thing about going there is occasionally popping by my friend’s place who lives around the corner. I call him Toucan Rob (like Toucan Sam from Fruit Loops) because he has honestly the biggest schnoz I’ve ever seen on a human being. I’m pretty sure he can tuck it into his mouth.

That said, he’s probably the most muscular person of anyone I know. He will probably kill me one day. Fortunately, he thinks I’m crazy and is always on-guard around me because I used to have a knack for punching him while he’s sleeping in random shore houses back in the day. By the way, the sliced steak at Paul Bunyan’s is great.

Best Writer/Photographer at NorthJerseySports.com:
Sunshine Richie Barton
This isn’t even close. All Cory Doviak has over me is height (which I totally got screwed on being my dad is 6’1” and my mom is 5’7” and I somehow ended up only 5’8”) he looks like a live flamingo….a slight reference to his favorite movie, The Flamingo Kid. I enjoy reading my own stories. Slightly because I’m somewhat narcissistic and since not many people have compliments for me, I have to compliment myself to toot my own horn a bit.