During our time without sports, we are getting to know some of our subscribers a little bit better. We've asked for you to tell us your story and we will feature a different one each week on the site.
Today, we get to know user JoeRU0304 a little bit better. In his own words, here is Joe’s story about being a Rutgers fan:
I was born in 1980 (gives you an idea of my frame of reference on things) and actually grew up a Penn State fan; we used to vacation in the Poconos all the time and they had heavy exposure in North Jersey. I vaguely remember seeing Rutgers football games on NJN in the late 80's; for some of our younger fans NJN (New Jersey Network) was perceived as a 'top of the line cable access channel' (not exactly high profile), so I used to think Rutgers played Montclair State, William Paterson, etc.
When I was 10 my jr. football team got tickets to Rutgers-WVU at the Meadowlands and that ended up being my first Rutgers game. WVU won the game I think 31-3 on a dreary, rainy day, with the most exciting thing for me being my older brother catching one of the little red footballs that @SF88 was probably throwing into the crowd that day. Still, that game at least put Rutgers on my 'mental map'.
Over the next 3 seasons (91-93) I began to loosely follow Rutgers Football in the papers (widespread Internet, WiFi and smartphones were still years away at this point) and remember random points, like the '91 squad beating Colgate in the opener and the '92 squad beating Pitt at night. My freshman year of HS ('94) my football coach also taught graphic arts and he had a bunch of media guides on his room, including the Terrel Willis/ Bruce Presley 'Thunder and Lightning' one. From here, Rutgers started becoming my "second favorite team". The '94 season is one I actually remember fairly in full, from the Stadium opening game/ win over Kent State, the Dedication game win over WVU, the close loss at the dome to cuse, the tie at BC and the 'same old Rutgers' loss at a subpar Pitt in the last game of the season to cost us a likely bowl bid.
Throughout HS I had planned on attending PSU but as my senior year started, I wasn't really enamored with the idea of going to school "in the middle of the woods". I was looking at Iona and Delaware, but started thinking Rutgers offered more and checked all of my mental boxes for what I was looking for in a school...and yes, finding out that students get free tickets to Big East sports was something that factored in for me. I applied, was accepted and 'committed' to go...without ever setting foot on campus (my college planning process wasn't exactly super-traditional). The first time I ever actually went to campus was May 1998 to take my placement tests at Douglass.
Once I was accepted I immediately became 'all Rutgers'. I didn't have the hatred for PSU a number of Rutgers fans have though; through my experiences as a Rutgers fan it was actually cuse fans that stuck in my craw the most and they ended up being the school I used to want us to beat the most. My first weekend at school was one of the most exciting times in my life and I can still remember being in awe of my first-ever game at Rutgers Stadium- a bowling shoe ugly 7-6 win over 1-AA Richmond, but after an 0-11 '97 season it was a welcome sight (and I was hooked).
My best friend from town also went to Rutgers and as big CFB fans, we were at every game and a number of b-ball games. In October '98 I walked from Campbell down to the K-Mart I think in Somerset and bought NCAA Gamebreaker '98 for PS1 and we practically wore that game out. I few weeks later I walked back to that same K-Mart to buy some stuff for my Halloween costume that year as the Scarlet Knight (we played Temple at home that day and won 21-10), with the costume subsequently landing me in the '99, 2000 and 2001 media guides (they used the same picture all three years):
I also still have the first purchase I ever made at Scarlet Fever back in August '98 (the hat I'm wearing in this picture with my aforementioned best friend):
BTW, we took that picture for/ sent it to our good friend who is a big-time Michigan fan.
There have been so many trips and experiences that I could be here for hours just trying to write about half of them, from the school-sponsored trip we took to Rutgers-Navy in 2000 (a rare 28-21 road win at the time), to Schiano being hired (I was a waiter at the old Red Lion Cafe in the Student Center where the famous Schiano/ Gandolfini commercial was filmed and I worked catering for the shoot; I got a newfound respect for actors/actresses that day as it took about 11.5 hours and countless takes to film a 30-second commercial. I also almost ruined the first take by cracking up laughing as I didn't realize the extras in the background don't actually talk or play pool- they mime it all out for sound purposes and the background noises get added in later...at the end of the shoot a woman also asked me for directions to the Hale Center, which I rattled off clearly, impressing one of the older staff members at the Student Center who was there; he then asked me if I knew who that was and I had no clue. It was Mrs. Schiano).
I finished my BASW in '03 and earned my MSW in '04; one of the first purchases I made was Rutgers Football season tickets. I can still remember 'feeling it' going into the MSU game and just had a hunch we would pull it off. I can remember the euphoria of that win...and the next week, where my best friend and I ranted and raved about the UNH debacle in the car ride home, including being silent for over 30 minutes at one point while our now-wives sat and exchanged bemused looks in the back seat. '05 Illinois almost broke us, but that team rallied together and finally got us back to the postseason; I can still remember the Insight Bowl rumors swirling prior to the Cincy game, including fans wearing bowls with 'Insight' written on them to the game...and the "We're going bowling!!!" (Clap-clap clapclapclap) chants near the end of the 4th quarter. I held a big 'Bowl Bash' at my apartment for that game and went to the Texas, PapaJohn's (drove down with my Dad, brother, sister and her best friend), St. Pete's and both Pinstripe Bowls, while hosting 'Bowl Bashes' for the Insight, International, Russel Athletic and Quick Lane Bowls.
I ended up finding this board during the '05 season after getting fed up with cesspool that was the NJ.com board; according to my info here I joined 11/09/2005, and we all know what happened on that day the next year (coincide??? maybe not...;-)..and tucked into one of the back compartments of my wallet is a little slice of Rutgers history- the first-ever digital/swipe ID's that were first made/issued in the Fall of '99:
As Rutgers fans we've been through plenty of ups and downs on the field and the court, with the last two seasons in football being especially tough...but as rough as it was, I can't help but be thankful that we're in the B1G, especially considering where we were years ago. During the 2000 season (10/21/2000), we were playing Navy in Annapolis and the school sponsored a student weekend trip to the game- bus, 2 nights' hotel stay and game ticket for $50; it was a ridiculously good deal and my friends and I jumped all over it. The game was also Navy's homecoming game and the weather was projected to be perfect fall weather.
The hotel ended up being right outside the University of Maryland campus and coincidentally the Terps were also playing their homecoming game vs. Wake Forest that weekend. We were coming into the game at 2-4; Navy was 0-6 yet still favored to win. When we got to the hotel for check-in it was full of Maryland alumni, along with a few Wake Forest fans and our group. After we checked in, I had to go back to the front desk to exchange my key card, which wasn't working.
The line was about 6-8 people deep and there was a small group of Maryland fans a couple of spots ahead of me who were talking about the weekend's games. They didn't see me get into line and I was the only one wearing Rutgers gear in the lobby at the time. As they're talking Navy comes up, and one of the guys asks who they're playing. His friend answers "Rutgers", with one of the other guys saying, "Rutgers? Why are they playing a 1-AA team this late in the year? Oh well, at least they'll get a win on homecoming", with everyone else murmuring in agreement...we ended up winning the game 28-21 but I'll never forget that exchange. It makes me appreciate things like Coach Schiano coming back, Coach Goodale helping develop 2 national champions in wrestling and what Coach Pikiell and the basketball team accomplished this past season that much more.
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