He's one of many No. 1 Bombers fans
Sayreville team enjoys particularly loyal fan base
BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer
The Sayreville War Memorial High School Bombers are not just another sports team to its legion of longtime fans.

ERIC SUCAR staff Ted Berardicelli enjoys the Bombers game against Colonia Oct. 31 at Sayreville War Memorial High School. He has been watching games from the same seat for decades.

One 80-year-old resident, donning his grandson's varsity jacket, counts himself among the most loyal. In the past 20 years, Theodore "Ted" Berardicelli estimates that he's missed only about a half-dozen games, home or away.

"I missed three games due to my high school reunions, which are always on weekends, and three or four due to illness or family issues," he said.

"High school football is so unpredictable and it's very exciting," Berardicelli said. "It's just a lot of fun."

Berardicelli has lived in Sayreville's Parlin section since 1966 and he has attended football games at the high school since the late 1980s. His next-door neighbor, Alice Kowzan, can vouch for him.

"He goes to all of the games," Kowzan said. "I think he goes rain, snow or sleet."

All three of Berardicelli's children graduated from Sayreville War Memorial High School and his grandchildren are now students in the district as well. His wife, Dolores, said he won't likely outgrow his interest in Bomber football.

"Once you're a Sayreville fan, you're always a Sayreville fan," she said. "You never outgrow it."

Berardicelli is originally from Palisades Park, Bergen County, and he described himself in his youth as "a man in a hurry." He went to theArmy soon after he graduated high school.

"I enlisted on my 17th birthday in 1946," Ted said. "The Army was recruiting a lot of us, not long after World War II … the Navy and Marines too. They were recruiting a lot of us. I served in the occupation of Japan."

Berardicelli was a noncommissioned officer for the 72nd Signal Battalion, editing the battalion newspaper and a Japanese newspaper called Kaigan Heisha. While he did not speak Japanese, he knew the words of courtesy and taught them to fellow troops.

"It was very interesting," Berardicelli said. "I was there from very early in '46 until February of '48 and my specialty was called information and education. I provided education for the troops and battalion in Japanese culture and customs. They learned how to understand and treat Japanese people."

Berardicelli then earned a bachelor's degree in journalism at New York University in three years and went on to work as a production editor for NYU publications by the Institute of Economic Affairs. He did copy editing, production work and art direction for the institute for 14 years. He worked for a number of other publications and printing companies until his retirement in 1994.

By then, he was a regular at Sayreville football games.

Berardicelli noted that he is one of thousands of loyal Bombers fans who come out to games, and made special note of George McNeaney, who went to games for decades before he passed away.

"I don't want people to think I'm more important than any other fan," he said. "There are a lot of other people there who are just as dedicated as I am about all of this. It's what makes the fan base of Sayreville football such a wonderful thing.

"I consider them all No. 1 Bomber fans," he said. "It's just the way they are. Lots of people my age go to the games. It's something they do on Friday night."

Berardicelli commended Coach George Najjar, under whom the Bombers have enjoyed great success, but said many people selflessly help the team. George Armstrong, a volunteer coach, is among them, as well as two players on the team during the 1990s, Charlie Bowden and John Bell, who also volunteer.

"That is what makes Bomber football so wonderful," Berardicelli said.

As a former sports writer for his high school, military and college newspapers, he said he can feel the difference in the fan base at a Bombers game.

"There's a family spirit to the whole atmosphere of Sayreville football," Berardicelli said. "When you're there, it's an atmosphere you can see. The players feed off it.

"I cannot say enough about Sayreville fans," he said. "When we go to a road game, invariably we outnumber the home fans. Winners always do, but there's more to it than just being consistent winners. If they lose tonight, that doesn't mean people won't come back next week."