NJSIAA

A proposal to expand the NJSIAA football playoffs in order to crown public Group champions was soundly voted down by the organization's membership on Monday morning.

Assemblyman John Burzichelli, who for years has fought the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s (NJSIAA) efforts to hike ticket prices for high school playoffs, responded Tuesday to reports that the NJSIAA raked in $30,725 in 2012-13, its first surplus since 2008-09.

Munching on a hot pretzel under the cover of darkness outside the locker room after the cameras surrounding him were put away and lights turned off following Friday night's win over Toms River South, Brick's Anthony Starego managed a wan smile."I'm happy,'' he said. "But I'm tired."

In a dramatic reversal of a ruling from March, the NJSIAA has declared on Friday that Brick kicker Anthony Starego, who has multi-symptom autism, is immediately eligible to play a fifth season for the Green Dragons this fall, according to a news release by his family.

The day is at hand when some legislator will come up with a bill mandating that everyone be nice to everyone else. Direct nothing toward anyone that’s going to hurt their feelings and the like. It is in this spirit that there’s a move on to curb trash talking between members of opposing high school sports teams; saying it’s a part of the anti-bullying mandate of the state...

Question right out of the box: Isn’t trash talking part of the game in any sport? Tom Hanks said it best in “A League of Their Own”. “There’s no crying in baseball!” So now we have a rule banning trash talking in high school sports here in the state...