Knight Caps, Summer Doldrums Edition

It’s late July. Brutal heat, AC is running like crazy. Time to sit back, grab a cold (adult) beverage, and let us enlighten you on some of the lesser known things going on around The State University of New Jersey.

A mammoth undertaking

BTN has been running stories on the varied specialized museums of the Big Ten’s schools. They recently did one on the Rutgers Geology Museum, housed in a building next to Old Queens.

And here’s an embarrassing fact: I have never visited the place. I’ve walked past in a million times on my way to somewhere, but never stopped in. That must change.

For more on the Rutgers Geology Museum, including hours (for those wanting to join me) click here.

BOOM! Offense goes on attack!

In retrospect, I like this better than Club Ice.

Everybody does it. Team building activities that have - for the most part - nothing to do with the sport. Get’em out doing something fun, break up the routine. For this year’s football team, it was paintball.

There is a part of me that has always wanted to do this. But there’s also a part of me that figures I’ll kill myself doing it.

Coach Erb was not subtle in his acclaim for his charges.

New guy in town meets Scarlet Knight

Do you think the Knight needed to be told there actually was a boat house? You don’t usually get many fans, let alone the mascot, at rowing events. But new coach Justin Price got to go out on the Raritan with “SK” himself.

Mmm....food....good!

Life skills come in all shapes and sizes. Chris Ash has done quite a bit with “life after football” program to prepare players for that time. It also apparently takes in proper diet and how to get around a back yard grill.

This reminds me a bit of why my younger brother took a cooking class in high school; like him, I just want to check the finished product.

A very tall story

Deputy Athletic Director Sarah Baumgartner recently had the opportunity to meet basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Her tweet didn’t indicate the event, but clearly it was an enjoyable and informative activity. What struck me - and I’m guessing you, too - is Jabbar’s height.

I say this with respect and hopefully not with anyone reading negativity, but Sarah is not a short woman. Look at this photo from the RWJBarnabas Health Performance Center groundbreaking as a means of comparison.

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But if you really want to see just how tall Jabbar is, take a look at a UCLA graduation photo here. Yikes!

He could really throw a football, too

From 1997-2000, Mike McMahon led the Scarlet Knights. It was not a great time to be a football player or fan at Rutgers. But McMahon, despite the poor finishes, was a star at the QB position. He is top ten in a number of RU career categories: total yards (5th, 6,608), completions (6th, 482), touchdowns (T-5th, 41). Also for season results: yards (10th, 2,203), touchdowns (T-5th, 18), and single game results: yards (T-5th, 386), touchdowns (T-3rd, 5).

After a five-year NFL and 11-year pro career that saw him in Detroit, Philadelphia and Minnesota, he’s now flexing his muscles on the golf course. Not too shabby.

It’s still rock & roll to me

This has nothing directly to do with Rutgers. Except maybe it does.

When we did our most recent photo gallery of the new practice facility, someone commented that the stadium will now probably always be named for some company in an effort to raise revenue. Well, there are some folks who don’t necessarily like that approach, including @UniWatch. It’s still Rutgers Stadium.

And from the world that isn’t called sports....

We sometimes forget to mention the good stuff that comes out of Rutgers. Like Pulitzer Prize winning authors.

Diaz’ recent effort, “Islandborn”, is a picture book based on the young lives of his Dominican-born goddaughters growing up in the Bronx. It is a first for him, a work of fiction for young readers. It is published by Dial Books for Young Readers.