Arthur Dimmesdale Needs a Good Flogging

Odometer: 10,399
Location: New York, NY
States Visited: New Jersey, New York

With great anticipation I crossed the Hudson and returned to New Jersey to witness the New Kid on the Block host the New Infant on the Block. I once spent a solid week in New Brunswick as part of my first trip to New York sans parents, and I was curious to see how the place had changed. Of course, we didn’t spend a lick of time in Piscataway on that trip, and with good reason. Rutgers has three separate campuses (five if you count Newark and Camden). Piscataway is the one where you don’t want to spend your time. Rather than allow the P-way campus to be my only view of the school, I bounced over to New Brunswick and briefly cruised the town. Aside from being more crowded, it was pretty much the college town I recalled from thirteen years ago. The one major exception to that was the letter R was plastered all over town. I haven’t spent a ton of time in New Jersey, but I feel I was able to experience some of its exemplary traits. The first group of guys I encountered were all alone in a remote parking lot and spent most of the morning talking smack to one another through thick Jersey accents. Full bravado was on display, much to my delight. They offered me a puff from their hookah, but I had to get where more of the tailgating scene was going down. When you go to a game at Rutgers, unless you know somebody who’s donated to the school, you have to park in a lot very far away from the stadium. Shuttle buses take fans back and forth, though they weren’t running when I arrived. So I walked the two miles to the stadium grounds, stopping to talk to tailgaters along the way. There were a surprising number of die-hard Rutgers fans who had been through the bad times. I expected a lot of Eagles and Giants fans who didn’t give two licks about the college game, but was pleased to see a lot of young people who could compare to those I’ve seen all across the country. I did get a sense of people in New Jersey feeling overlooked. Jersey pride came up often. A number of folks felt they had to defend Jersey against claims of being the “armpit of America.” I’ve never heard that distinction levied on the state before. Has anyone else? In fact, I previously applied that term to southeastern Idaho, though I made it even nastier. A number of fans said, “You better not write anything bad about New Jersey,” with a few of them following that up with, “I’ll track you down if you do!” Never fear, Scarlet Knights. I had a great time.If you didn’t watch the Rutgers/USF game, you missed a darn good one. The Rutgers student section started the “overrated” chant before the game. Generally, it’s best to wait until after you’ve beaten the higher ranked team to put that one out there, kids. You’d feel silly later if your team was beaten, plus, you’re only serving to fire up the opponent, not your guys. But beyond that minor faux pas, I didn’t hear any of the vulgarities or rudeness that got them in “trouble” earlier this season. In the first half, USF quarterback Matt Groethe led impressive drives and it seemed as though the Bulls were the better team. Rutgers had trouble fielding punts and getting field goals away cleanly. But the score remained tight at the half. A guy walking down the aisle recognized someone sitting behind me and they did the whole, “hey, nice to see ya” thing. The guy closed by saying, “see you on the field” with a hopeful grin.

When a Rutgers player muffed a kickoff only to haveit bounce back into his arms before a scramble all the way to midfield, it was a clear sign that USF wasn’t getting out of there with a win. All I could think was, “Kid, this ain’t your night.” The season isn't over for the Bulls by any strectch, and this three point loss shoudn't knock them back too far. Not this year, anyway.Rutgers fans found themselves once again tumbling all over one another at midfield, preening for the ESPN cable camera in celebration. This crazy season just keeps rolling along. You had to know USF was in trouble the second those BCS rankings come out. BC, you’re next! One recent grad asked me, “Has anyone told you about the RU Screw yet?” I thought maybe this was some kind of drink or cheer or game. He was referring to the fact that the school is so massive and any time a student needs to get something approved or sent out or fixed, there is so much red tape to go through, they end up getting screwed. I was told by anyone I encountered that the shuttle bus would easily take me back to my car without issue. Upon the game’s completion, I joined a throng of people slowly being herded towards the shuttles. Getting on the bus didn’t take very long, but once we were aboard, the bus took roughly 50 minutes to travel three blocks. I decided to get off and walk, no matter how long I had already languished. After all, it was a sunk cost. I was of course concerned that once the bus got to the next corner, it would be smooth sailing. For the first time in this whole driving-across-the-country experience, I was really angry. Angry at the school for giving me the RU Screw, and angry at myself for not knowing better. All those R’s hung up in town may stand for Rutgers, but they also stand for Really Freaking Far Away – or maybe it was Reed is Going to Get a Workout Tonight. I at least broke even by walking, and it’s probably good for my knee anyway. I didn’t arrive back to my friend’s apartment on the Upper West Side until 2:30 in the morning. All that said, it was certainly worth the hassle to see a game with that much excitement. On to Boston next!