Seven Stories - Dec. 30th

While the world waits for the the ball (and the curtain) to drop on 2008 - and Stags' fans salivate over the upcoming Siena showdown in Albany on Thursday - here's a post to pass the time featuring what I've been reading today:

• North Jersey's own (and Don Bosco grad) Mike Teel and Rutgers looked awfully impressive in the aptly named papajohns.com Bowl, downing NC State, 29-23. Fairfield's own Ben Doody looks at the strange parallels between this year's team and the Rutger's squad of '07. Any column of Ben's, especially one that uses the phrase "the banks of the Raritan", is worth the read. [The Trentonian; Trenton, NJ]
• Plenty of Eric Mangini reactions in today's New York papers, but my favorite had to be Ian O'Connor's critique of Jets' owner Woody Johnson that included some scathing shots at Jets' general manager Mike Tennenbaum. Needless to say, I've never been prouder to be a Giants fan. [The Record; Bergen County, NJ]
• Speaking of the Jets, dueling columns in the New York Daily News about Mangini's ideal replacement: Gary Myers is in love with "The Chin", while Mike Lupica wants to see "Favre/Holmgren: The Sequel". [New York Daily News]
• David Neal takes a look at a site that seemed impossible a year ago: Dolphin's coaches preparing for a playoff game in Miami in late December. [Miami Herald]
• The stunner of Tuesday's news stories had to be Mike Shanahan's firing in Denver. Yesterday, Woody Paige quipped: "It's more reasonable to believe Shanahan would fire (Broncos' owners) Bowlen." Today, Bowlen stepped up and made a bold statement. [Denver Post]