Vol. 4, No. 3, March 2007
RSS Feeds
Inside Straight
Atlantic City sports action heats up indoors
Let the temperatures plunge. Let the winds howl. Then go inside. Atlantic City offers a March Madness-like antidote for winter blues. The Maxwell Club Football Awards, New Jersey State Wrestling Championships and the Atlantic 10 basketball tournament occur within the first 10 days of the month. Call this menu March Gladness.
The Maxwell Club ceremony underscores football’s enormous impact on March 2. The black-tie affair, sold out at Harrah’s by January, named New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton its Coach of the Year. How ironic that is for Eagles fans, whose season was ended by that team in the Superdome.
Payton is expected to attend. LaDanian Tomlinson, whose magical San Diego Chargers season ended with a bitter playoff loss, probably won’t show. He was nonetheless named the Player of the Year.
Ray Rice, the symbol of Rutgers’ Cinderella season, captured the Tri-State Player of the Year honors, and Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn gained overall Player-of-the-Year acclaim.
Grappling Drama
While Harrah’s was forced to turn people away, Boardwalk Hall offers a large venue and a less-likely shutout. It will probably host between 75,000 and 100,000 fans for two events spanning seven days.
The New Jersey wrestling championships occur there March 2-4; that event brought more than 40,000 fans here last year. The Atlantic 10 basketball tournament, running March 7-10, could deliver similar numbers.
“There’s nothing like the excitement of wrestling and basketball tournaments,” says Greg Tesone, assistant general manager for Boardwalk Hall and the Convention Center. “You see the enthusiasm of the athletes, their families and the bands; it’s all great. This will be a very nice series of events for the area and it will be a great month for us (the circus and Christina Aguilera follow the A-10).”
The tournaments provide a passionate backdrop. Most fans come from the schools involved, and witness the thrilling end to a four-month season. A grappler’s final script can be instant, like a pin, or gradual, like a nail-biting decision. Wrestling fans start screaming and stomping their feet as wrestlers score takedowns and reversals or approach pins. This is quite a culmination for the athletes. They have advanced through grueling district and regional tournaments on preceding weekends. They have faced the pressure of a single loss, even a single point, slamming their season shut. Only 24 of them throughout the state have made it here in weight classes running from 103 to 215 and heavyweight.
This area was well represented last year. Frank Molinaro of Southern Regional High School captured his second straight state championship, this time at 140 pounds. Jack Corcoran of St. Joseph’s in Hammonton earned a 215-pound title in a stirring 6-4 verdict.
Wrestling enjoys a rich tradition in southern New Jersey. Absegami High School in Galloway Township fashioned a win streak that exceeded 100 matches over several years. Paulsboro is a traditional state powerhouse. But in March, the emphasis shifts to individuals.
This location is part of the reward. Championships once occurred in the center of the state to maintain neutrality and balance travel schedules. The move to Atlantic City hardly affects neutrality, and rewards a wrestler’s season-long accomplishment with a road trip.
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association moved this event up one week to open the date for the A-10 tournament. The organization juggled its entire season-long schedule, but cemented a long-term deal at Boardwalk Hall in return. The agreement eliminates the need for constant negotiations and ensures wrestling a place in the new era.
The A-10, of course, is the precursor of college basketball’s March Madness, and will bring a collection of students, bands, gamblers, alumni, hoopla and revenue.
While the tournament is guaranteed for two years, this could become basketball Casablanca—the “beginning of a beautiful friendship” between the 14-team conference and one of the nation’s premier resorts. A long-term deal is in the works.
Dwight Fight Night
Atlantic City offers no major casino bouts in March, but one of its perennial heroes gains special recognition March 3.
Dwight Muhammad Qawi, a casino fixture in the 1980s, captured world light-heavyweight and cruiserweight championships. The Somers Point resident now counsels troubled youth, steering them away from violence and drug dependency. Qawi also volunteers service to the Vineland Boys and Girls Club, which will honor him at an amateur boxing card at the Landis Middle School.
The bouts run 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Tickets are $8 and $12 and can be reserved by calling 856-656-4190.
