Sign the apocalypse is near

As most of you may know I am 38 years old.

As most of you may also know I am originally from Fort Lee, N.J.

I am very proud of both facts. I am very fortunate to be able to have grown up in a wonderful part of the world and although it’s been a while since I have lived there, there are days when I long for the George Washington Bridge.

While I feel that way, most people pick on my home state. Honestly, I do it as well. Start the laughter at Newark and work your way down. But it’s still where I am from.

One of the things that most people used to laugh at is the State University of New Jersey. I call it SUNJY but most call it Rutgers. When I was growing up, it was a nice little state school in East and New Brunswick. For those of you familiar with the N.J. Turnpike – exit 9. Most of my friends wanted out of N.J. and certainly we didn’t want to go to Rutgers. It was the laughing stock of college athletics and it was in a city where Johnson and Johnson dominate everything.

For all these years, Rutgers has been the athletic joke of our state. Now some of you wisenheimers would say that the Giants can also be part of that conversation, but trust me, it’s not even close.

Then, out of nowhere, comes Greg Schiano.

For those who have been under a rock, he is Rutgers football coach. He was an assistant at the University of Miami before coming to N.J.

He has brought Rutgers to back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in school history and most of his team is underclassmen. He was one 52-yard field goal from going to a BCS game, but lost in triple overtime to West Virginia on the road.

What Schiano has done is unfathomable. The game versus Louisville was insane - ESPN national television coverage and a packed house where people were paying $500 for a ticket. No one ever would pay .05 for a ticket before and now it’s as hot as can be.

So, back to the apocalypse. Why is it here, you are asking?

The headline off of ESPN.com says it all, “Schiano tells Miami he's not leaving Rutgers”
Are you serious?? Read it again. Maybe my eyes are messed up. He wants to STAY!!!???

"We just need to keep moving forward. There are people committed at Rutgers to taking it to the level we're talking about. That's what's important to me. We're just scratching the surface here at Rutgers," Schiano said. "The sky's the limit. We're going to do great things here. We haven't done it yet. The seniors have laid the foundation for really, really big things. We've recruited really great young guys in this program and this is home."

This is HOME??? Are you kidding me? Is this real? Is this a joke?? He wants to stay??

We are talking about the “U” as all the alumni call it and he wants to stay.

Good for him.

Better yet, good for Rutgers and all of us folks from Jersey. Now we can go back to picking on Newark!