So I’ll shoot straight. I know people hate New Jersey (and screw you).
Somehow this still persists in the year 2021. People hate New Jersey so much that we are the only state (as far as I can tell) that has a “Be Nice to It” week.
Yes, the first full week in July since 1985 has apparently been dedicated to this theme.
See, I don’t fully hate that people hate Jersey because it keeps people out and Jersey, it’s always underrated (to our benefit), but it is a genuinely great state in actually meaningful metrics. Education, healthcare, safety, and more. New Jersey is a lesson in becoming our best selves when you just mute and block out the haters.
So with the theme of the week, I set up this potluck to get our esteemed Off Tackle Empire writers to say nice things about Rutgers and New Jersey. I challenge all readers in the chat to do the same.
The Players: Be Nice to Rutgers Football
- Name one positive thing about Rutgers Football
- Who do you think is our best playmaker?
pkloa:
1) Rutger kept playing football through all those years they should’ve probably quit.
2) Easily the CB (I have no clue who is on the team, so this was the safest guess).
stewmonkey13:
1) No.
2) No idea, nor do I care. Iowa has played rutger all of twice since they were mistakenly added to the conference.
mnw:
1) That Rutgers still has any fans, like at all. You people are a special brand of insane.
2) Your best player is that one guy who runs the punts back really fast-like. He seems pretty good at doing that thing.
Coray:
1) We literally developed ~50% of the initial concept for football.
2) Adam Korsak, the ultimate weapon!
HWAHSQB:
1) Illinutgers is the most beautiful perfect thing in the world today and that wouldn’t be possible with Rutgers football.
2) No Clue.
Brian:
1) See #4.
2) Top playmaker? It’s a close call, but Bo Melton gets the nod over Aron Cruickshank.
RockyMtnBlue:
1) Until last year, this would have been “Michigan gets a free ‘cure what ails ya’ game in the middle of the season, much like the SEC’s penchant for playing a division II game just before their rivalry games. Now I’ll just say they are at worst the 5th most evil team in the Big Ten East.
2) Pacheco. Yeah, I know people expect more, but I think the only reason he isn’t a star is the line he runs behind.
Beez:
1) Adam Korsak is awesome.
2) Adam Korsak. Excepting that, former Badger Aron Cruikshank. I don’t know anyone else on the team.
WSR:
1) Your fans are not the worst in the B1G.
2) Geo Baker.
BrianB2:
1) As a Ravens fan, thanks for Ray Rice...well, kinda.
2) Ron Harper Jr.
The People: Be Nice to Jersey
- Have you been to New Jersey outside of Newark Airport? Name a thing that you genuinely like about it.
- Say something nice about Rutgers.
pkloa: I’ve been to Ft. Dix. The people I visited were a touch rude, but I really dig how green the Garden State can be. I also like Kevin Smith movies, especially Dogma.
Rutger is not the worst thing imaginable.
stewmonkey13: I briefly drove through a corner. I was able to leave relatively quickly.
No.
mnw: We stayed in Jersey on an APUSH trip to New York back in 2007. Because our history teacher set up a Twins-Mets game instead of the EF Smithsonian-organized trip up the Empire State Building, we went to the Empire State Building at, like, 11pm instead of 7pm.
That also meant we had to take public transit back to our hotel instead of the travel company-organized coach — but there was a late-night bus route that we’d mapped out. After an adventurous run to the bus station that involved a 16-year old girl crying on the street curb because she had cramps that hurt really bad and then getting a piggyback ride something like a mile to the station, we found our bus.
But a fun surprise! The bus was on reduced service or a changed route or something — so using our map, we found the closest we could get to our hotel.
A nice little 1.5-mile walk through Jersey streets at about 1:30am, and we made it. I think it was Hoboken...but who remembers.
I thought the Turnpike was perfectly fine when I drove it. Then again, it was 2am, so...
Coray: Long Beach Island is an absolute paradise.
In addition to being one of the exceptional academic institutions in the world, it is also one of the most diverse universities of higher education in our great nation :us:
HWAHSQB: No and I already said one nice thing. You can’t make do it again.
Brian: I’ve been to a handful of places in New Jersey. All of them very nice. None roll off the tongue as beautifully as Parsippany does, though.
People had better get used to saying nice things about Rutgers football, because Greg Schiano has the Scarlet Knights headed in the right direction
RockyMtnBlue: I’ve never been to New Jersey. People on the internet say it’s horrible so that must be true. I appreciate that Rutgers is a real school, unlike a couple other Big Ten “universities” I could mention.
Beez: I have been to Wildwood a couple times and to Atlantic City a couple times and driven the length of it a bunch of times. It seems like a good and easy state to have fun in for 48 hours.
Rutgers genuinely seems like it’s trying its best.
WSR: No, not yet. But I’ll probably change that someday.
I bet Rutgers fans would look great in some Minnesota gear from Homefield Apparel, purveyors of premium college apparel. And guess what! That line of Minnesota clothing will be available at noon God’s Time Zone this Saturday!
BrianB2: My college girlfriend was from New Jersey, so yes. (Also, everyone that attends the University of Maryland is from New Jersey).
I wish Maryland had greasy spoon diners in every town. Cape May is aight. Cliff’s Homemade Ice Cream. Flander’s Bagels. The NJ Turnpike is the best most awful road in the world.
Eddie Jordan won a playoff series with the Washington Wizards. A team that saw Jared Jeffries start 71 games. That really shows his, Rutgers...toughness?
Wow... you guys really had to grit your teeth in your responses didn’t ya?