Maybe it was just me, but I was kind of disappointed in the low turnout for the Group IV State Championship Game between Piscataway and Rancocas Valley. Considering that Piscataway High School is just some 2.8 miles down the road from the Rutgers Athletic Center, and that South Brunswick fans turned out in droves as well as the SBHS Marching Band to see the Vikings take on Linden in the 2007 Group IV Final, I was somewhat bewildered by the lack of turnout by the P-Way students. The parents and close friends of players and coaches on the basketball team as well as a number of notable Piscataway heroes from the past including John Celestand were in attendance, but there was a great deal of the RAC that was empty.
I believe if my memory serves me correctly, about 6,000 people showed up for last year’s Group IV State Championship contest between Linden and South Brunswick. This year, the crowd was significantly less although, no published numbers were given in the article on the game written in the Monday edition of the Star-Ledger. With a game of this historic magnitude for your school being played only a few miles away from your home, you have to make every possible attempt to get there! How can a school that lies on the border between Middlesex and Mercer County be able to amass a crowd that figured prominently in the total of 6,000 at last year’s state final, while this year’s GMC representative only managed to turnout such a modest amount in spite of the fact that the school lies just a short drive away? It boggles the mind frankly.
I thought that perhaps the attitude amongst the student body at P-Way had changed after seeing the Chiefs game against Watchung Hills in the North Jersey Section 2 Group IV Quarterfinals. There was such a great turnout, and a lot of enthusiasm about the team that night. However, the low turnout reminded me of some of the message board postings I saw after P-Way defeated South Plainfield in the 2007 GMCT Final Four at Middlesex County College. The posters seemed bewildered at the lack of support and enthusiasm for these kids from the student body. Hopefully, this will change. In all fairness, the South Brunswick folks really didn’t support their Vikings as much until that 2007 State Tourney run. As a matter of fact, I got on the Viking faithful much like I did here.