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Rutgers Professor: Gandolfini Represented What Was Best About University

James Gandolfini went everywhere Rutgers University did.

Even Arizona, where the Scarlet Knights would name him honorary captain at the 2005 Insight Bowl in Phoenix. It was Rutgers’ second bowl appearance in program history, and its first since a 1978 Garden State Bowl loss to Arizona State. Arizona State also beat Rutgers in the Insight Bowl, 45-40.

While in Arizona, Gandolfini joined fellow Rutgers alum at an eatery that reminded them of home.

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For 30 years, from the 1960s through the 1990s, Greasy Tony’s was a late-night destination for Rutgers University students. Located at the intersection of Easton Avenue and Somerset Street, Steven Miller described it as “a great place. Everyone went there.”

On campus construction eventually forced out the eatery, according to nj.com.

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“One of my fraternity brothers went to (the Insight Bowl in 2005), and he found Greasy Tony’s there,” said Miller, the Coordinator for Undergraduate Studies in Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers University. “He was sitting there talking to Tony (Giorgianni, the owner who passed away in 2008) and Gandolfini walked in.”

Gandolfini bought food for everyone in the restaurant, Miller said.

Gandolfini died Wednesday and while everyone in America knew The Sopranos star, the residents of New Jersey felt a special connection with the TV mafia boss who was as likely to shy away from the spotlight as he was to lend a helping hand to a fellow Rutgers alum.

Those connected with Rutgers feel a special connection with Gandalfini, and Miller put that in perspective during a telephone conversation late Thursday afternoon.

“There have been a lot of things out there lately putting down Rutgers,” Miller said. “Part of Gandolfini’s legacy is that he was always talking about how great Rutgers is. Forget about all the films and the broadway plays and the TV shows, this was a guy from New Jersey who was proud of the education he got at Rutgers, and he went out of his way to say that. No matter where you go to school, part of you always stays with the university, and the university always stays with you as you move forward.”

Miller graduated from Rutgers in May of 1979, four months before Gandolfini began his freshman year at the school. Miller later returned to the university as an employee for the last 25 years, but his path never overlapped that of Gandolfini’s.

“I’m sorry I never got to meet him,” Miller said.

Gandolfini graduated from Rutgers in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. Rutgers’ first postseason victory would come a year after the Insight Bowl appearance, a 37-10 win over Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. Success continued to build from there, and Gandolfini’s name became synonymous with the institution and its football team.

An onslaught of negativity surrounded the university in recent months, including scandals involving its new athletic director and the dismissal of its former basketball coach over alleged player abuse. Miller believes the loss of Gandolfini and his enthusiasm for the school may be the worst tragedy to hit the school yet.

“He represented what Rutgers University is all about,” Miller said. “He always said you can do great things with the education you get at Rutgers. It’s not all about what you major in. It’s the sum total of everything you learned that propels you on to great things.”


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