Fordham’s football team strapped on the helmets Saturday for their season opener in the Bronx and completely manhandled St. Francis University. 52-23 was your final. It was 38-3 at the end of three quarters by which time I was already on the D train headed back to Queens.
Fordham and St. Francis (located in Loretto, PA) are both Catholic universities with very long football traditions. With a few gaps, Fordham has been playing football since 1882. This is the 92nd season of football for St. Francis. The way things are going in both the sport of football – and in college athletics – you wonder if either program will survive a whole lot longer.
Attendance on Saturday night was announced at 3462. A general admission ticket cost $10 and allows one to sit anywhere in the wings of the tall stands. Capacity at Jack Coffey Field is 7000. Given the space constraints on campus, the venue’s seating is limited to just the Fordham side of the field plus a small set of bleachers behind the northeast end zone. Fordham’s home baseball field (Houlihan Park) blends into the area behind the football visitor’s bench. When you walk onto the campus off busy Fordham Road, you get wowed immediately by what’s called Edwards Parade which is like the quad – or picturesque grassy Frisbee-tossing spot. I arrived in the Bronx about 90 minutes before kickoff, grabbed a chicken parm hero at one of the many delis on Arthur Avenue and sat on a bench on the perimeter of Edwards Parade. It’s not Notre Dame – or even West Point on game day – but it’s not a bad way to experience college football game day without leaving New York City.
The sons of former NFL greats Joe Klecko (Josh) and Tebucky Jones (Tebucky Jr.) both have spots on the Fordham roster. Perhaps the most likely player to play professionally from Fordham is their big starting tight end Dan Light who caught a TD pass in the second quarter.
Both St. Francis and Fordham play at the Football Championship Subdivision level which was formerly known as Division 1-AA. Fordham advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs last season and appears poised to make a similar type run this season.
-The once-a-week NYC greenmarket in Jackson Heights has devolved this summer into a victim of its own slow-building success. Just in the last few months it has become too crowded, too expensive and too hoity-toity. You wouldn’t notice gentrification’s subtle intrusions in the Heights day-to-day but it really hits you over the head on Sunday mornings at the greenmarket. Most annoying are all the nicely-bred/groomed dogs on long leashes who make navigation of the market a chore. I hereby propose a ban on pets and baby strollers at the Jackson Heights greenmarket.