When I moved to Manhattan last year and began dealing with the hassle of finding ways and places to ditch my car, the area immediately in front of the Gugenheim Museum -- on Fifth Avenue a block away from a busy entrance to Central Park -- didn't strike me as a crime-ravaged area.

But sure enough, that was the sight where, early this afternoon -- just when I was getting ready to leave for Rutgers Stadium -- I was christened as a New Yorker, when a passer-by smashed the passenger side window of my car and ran off with the one thing of any perceived value in my car: A hand-me-down cell phone (girlfriend gave it to me when she bought an iPhone, just in case I could put it to use) that isn't even connected to a plan.

The guy got two blocks before the NYPD came to the rescue, arrested him and took the aforementioned phone.

Rough day for the thief, who will be spending the night in jail, be unable to take part in our Rutgers football chat, and not even have the crappy old cell phone to show for it.

As for me, I'm trying to look at the bright side. I'll still be able to host the chat, with our intrepid intern and de facto RU beat writer Steve Miller, chiming in with updates from the stadium while I watch on ESPN3.com and listen to Chris Carlin and Co. on the radio broadcast.

While that's going on, I'll get the unexpected perk of being on the couch for what promises to be a fun opening night of college football. South Carolina and Southern Miss kick off the night at 7:30 on ESPN, and what promises to be a good one between Big East frontrunner Pitt and home favorite Utah kicks an hour later on Versus.

Steve will provide the game coverage on Trentonian.com, while I'll chime in with my view from the couch here on the blog.

Not exactly how I planned to spend the night. But hey, it sure beats getting arrested and not being able to do so much as send a text message.

- BD