Championship Strikeout

In the wake of this weekend’s tragedy involving the Dallas Cowboys you can be sure many will call for the NFL to take a tougher stand on drunk driving offenses but the truth is that will make little difference.

In case you did not hear Cowboys practice squad player Jerry Brown was killed in a one-car accident in which the driver was teammate Josh Brent, who is free on bail but is facing a felony charge of intoxicated manslaughter.  The two friends were also teammates at the University of Illinois and it was there only three years ago that Brent was sentenced to 60 days in jail and probation following a plea agreement on a drunken driving charge.

So he got behind the wheel again when he should not have and this time killed someone.  What has to be perplexing to team and league officials is the NFL has a safe-driver policy in which every player is given a phone number they can call anytime and a ride will be provided to them.  The problem has been and always will be that intoxicated drivers always think they can find their way home so regardless of penalties and punishment they will still get behind the wheel.

When the NJSIAA Football Playoffs began in November I expected that as many as six teams from the shore could win state sectional titles.  The season ended this weekend and in what would have to be considered a major surprise the shore struck out with Southern, Manalapan, Neptune, Middletown South and Shore all losing in championship games.

The Shore Sports Network concludes its coverage of the season on Thursday’s final edition of The Barnabas Health High School Football Show on 105.7FM.  We’ll reveal our 44 best players from the Shore Conference along with our players and coaches of the year in Ocean and Monmouth counties.

Now that the football season is over it’s a quick transition to basketball and the 29^th Annual WOBM Christmas Classic officially began last night with the Coaches Seeding Meeting Dinner at The Villa in Toms River.

Coaches ranked the teams 1-16 in a secret ballot and those seeds and first-round pairings will be announced tomorrow morning at the annual Tip Off Breakfast hosted by the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Toms River.  Special thanks to Nick Pagano and the staff at The Villa, which is in the parking lot across from The Office Restaurant and Lounge and a terrific place for private parties and banquets.

The field for this year’s WOBM Christmas Classic includes newcomers C.B.A. and Freehold Township on the boy’s side and girl’s first-time entrants Freehold Township and Jackson Liberty.