Shore Locals to adopt Philly customs to separate themselves from North Jerseyans?

Just like hipsters in 2002 embraced Pabst Blue Ribbon . . . thereby starting a trend, the same thing could be happening at the North Jersey shore with sports teams. Allow me to elaborate first:

I got a lot of flack when I put up the sports' loyalty line. Mostly they were from Monmouth and Ocean County people - who continue to insist they share no possible common traits with the dreaded "Bennys" from North Jersey and beyond - though people in Burlington County and south would strongly disagree.

An interesting observation is that this "Benny" thing is becoming so ingrained into the Shore population's consciousness, even little kids are on board and you also heard about Belmar's mayor. To me it parallels the rise of groups like Benny Go Home who are championing the cause of locals at the shore, and are getting a much bigger and loyal following in the past couple years.

They're very articulate guys with interesting views on how visitors affect the shore: from abuse of eminent domain to cyclical trends on the decaying and revitalizations of shore towns, and how tourists fit into these equations. But other locals have taken the "word use" to a different level - claiming it relates to only guidos or all non-beach people. They have hijacked it, in some cases, and applied it to all North Jerseyans and Staten Islanders, amongst others. . . where the guys at BGH just define it as rude tourists from anywhere.

But now there has been more of an effort from some shore locals to separate themselves further from those up north - after my "pale attempts to paint them as brother and sister" as one reader wrote in. Some have emailed me that the shore sports teams are different. Where in North NJ - the Giants, the Yankees and Rangers are the teams du jour, at the Shore they would much rather follow the Mets and Jets - like Long Islanders - but split when it comes to their home state and have the strongest showing of support for the New Jersey Devils.

But more and more people have tried to hint that they also support the Philly teams (some claim it was their parents), like the Phillies and Eagles and Sixers (but not the Flyers) and like using the word hoagie recently because of the abundance of Wawas.

This weird, but noticeable trend in emails and comments to my posts have brought up this question: Like those hipsters who fueled PBR's comeback - could the people at the North Jersey Shore, whom I consider to be on the cutting edge of NJ culture - because of the great music scene and the skate and surf culture there - actually start to think it is cool to adopt some South Jersey/ Philadelphia customs to truly and finally separate themselves from the Bennys once and for all? Being that the word has seemingly become synonymous with North Jerseyans and New Yorkers, could it be something that could happen there?
Not likely . . . . "the city" will NEVER be Philly to the North Jersey Shore people . . . but watch out for other interesting developments there.

It was the housing boom stupid (me)!

Included in this post is a very important line. It is the sports' loyalty line in New Jersey . . . and additionally another map of what I predict it to look like in 20 years.

The great thing about Sports' loyalties - is that, again, there is no hiding behind Central. You're either a NY/ NJ sports' fan or a Philly sports' fan (and if you are a Dallas fan - can you name the state capital of Texas without googling it?)


OK, I did forget about myself - growing up in Ewing - I was a mixed fan (Devils & Nets - Phillies & Eagles) and I guess the reason I have so much nostalgia for my home county and motivation for this film is that it is the only county where the sports' loyalty question is so evident. There's nothing like a Mercer bar during a Giants or Eagles game. As one guy said in Lawrence Twp. in our documentary, "You'll find someone to argue with and someone to agree with here." But like every other city in the state, each town there . . leans to one side or the other.

But, the lines above - are where they are, in a big way, because of the housing boom in the late 90s early 00s. Staten Islanders and other New Yorkers followed North Jerseyans south and west - searching for cheaper housing and lower taxes. I thought retirement alone contributed to it, but many mayors that I spoke with in Ocean County, a former Freeholder in Hunterdon and a sports' writer from the Express-Times, all confirmed that it was the housing boom that saw the North Jersey sports' loyalty line inch further south and west. Those Philly fans in southwestern Warren County are older and of a different generation than the younger NY/ NJ fans. . . ditto to those few Philly fans still found in Ocean County. Even Mercer may someday change to all north.

This was one of my most interesting findings in this quest. Ocean County Mall is dominated with NY/ NJ paraphernalia, easily outnumbering the Philly stuff. They may have issues with the Bennys down there, but most Ocean County residents celebrated that Giants' Superbowl XLII victory just the same as the Bayonne, Elizabeth, Newark and New York people did. They have a common bond.

If you want to see a stark difference in Mercer, though, go to Dick's Sporting Goods in Princeton on Route 1 . . . where the New York/ New Jersey teams dominated the store displays . . . and then go south to the Sports Authority in Lawrenceville, on the Route 1 northbound side and you will find it as even as it gets. . . and they're only about 2 miles apart.

I was waiting for over a year to post this line, so I am hoping the comment board lights up.

Kevin Smith's NY vs. NJ

Director Kevin Smith did a skit for the Concert for New York shortly after September 11th. The quality isn't great, but it provides some laughs.

What do our neighbors think of us?

Thanks to Hallie who did most of these interviews . . . the fuller versions can be seen upon the film's full release.



There are many points this post can raise, conflicting ones at that, but concerns that will be addressed in the film.

What does your soft pretzel look like?

If your soft pretzel looks like this:

you are in South Jersey.

If your pretzel looks like this:

You are in North Jersey.

Of course being in a Wawa can skew this pattern for some (as they only offer the Philly pretzels) but ballparks and other specialty stores, especially local delis, are the best places around the state to judge this.