March 17, 2024
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
NEW YORK – On Friday, the Big East Conference and Madison Square Garden announced that the BIG EAST Tournament will continue to be held at The Garden through 2032. The announcement guaranteed that The World’s Most Famous Arena will host 50 consecutive BIG EAST Tournaments.
MSG Entertainment and the BIG EAST have been partners since the Tournament was first played at the iconic venue in 1983 – the 50th consecutive event will take place in 2032. … (How old will you be?) … The BIG EAST Tournament continues to be college basketball’s longest-running post-season championship held at the same location.
“Our extension with MSG means the BIG EAST will have the privilege of playing our men’s basketball tournament at ‘The Mecca’ for five consecutive decades,” said conference Commissioner Val Ackerman. “This event, a New York City staple, has long been synonymous with tradition, rivalries and heart-stopping moments.”
Yes, it has.
BIG EAST memories run deep and remain important to so many who grew up alongside the basketball conference and its postseason tournament. In the early years, the late Dave Gavitt, as conference Commissioner, tried to spread the wealth around. From Providence to Syracuse to Hartford, the tournament bounced around the way most college basketball tournaments do, hosted by Gavitt and Providence College, then Syracuse University, the Dome Ranger and their strange Orange mascot and on to Hartford, where the University of Connecticut played all the “big games.”
In 1983, when St. John’s and Chris Mullin ruled, it was Madison Square Garden’s turn and the Johnnies defeated Boston College (85-77) in a very memorable final game. The light bulb popped-up, right over Gavitt’s head, as he realized the New York City location was special and centrally located between the likes of Georgetown (DC) and Chestnut Hill (Massachusetts). Teams, players and alum all loved the idea of meeting up every spring in “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” as the late John Condon announced to great patrons. Condon, the head of the sport of boxing for MSG, was also the famed public address announcer. His voice echoed over the 19,500 fans for both St. John’s and New York Knickerbocker games. It was too good to be true. The BIG EAST Tournament was dropped in our laps.
The event sold out every spring and the Garden sold more beer on BIG EAST Thursday (two doubleheaders) than on any day since the 1964 ECAC Holiday Festival invited Princeton (Bill Bradley), Michigan (Cazzie Russell), LaSalle, Cincinnati, Temple, Syracuse, Manhattan and St. John’s in one of the great in-season tournaments of all-time.
The rest has been a glorius history, a legacy that will surely extend to the Year 2032 but probably well beyond.
HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Aside from the annual BIG EAST Championship, there’s been plenty of great basketball from Conferences East to West. Here are a few thoughts that arise from watching the past few weeks, and especially teams who’ve looked good in their tournaments.
Mississippi State (21-12, 8-10 in SEC) put a hurtin’ on the Vols of Tennessee – (24-8) – (who were being considered a potential No. 1 bid team). Mississippi State lost to Auburn in the SEC Tournament Semis (Saturday), (Auburn 73,-66). The final is played on Sunday.
Iowa State (26-7, 13-5 in Big 12) – as of Saturday morning when this segment was written. Look out for the Cyclones.
We’ll see who gets to play Iowa State on the annual America? Who Can Dance Show.
Speaking of the Selection Show … It’s Sunday evening, March 17. Dan Gavitt (son of Dave) will chair a group of college basketball experts who’ve been watching games and theoretically every team in every conference to know the good, bad and ugly. Can you imagine a bunch of oldsters hanging out at a high school auditorium to decide what couples should get invitations to the Big Dance?
That’s what happens Sunday evening.
ST. PATRICK’S DAY THOUGHTS AND TEASES FROM THE PAST: There are plenty of memories of being pulled from my desk chair at 645 Fifth Ave to head down to 47th Street or, better yet, just join-in with the lads marching straight up Fifth – following the green line painted on the asphalt.
One year comes to mind, when the Houston Rockets were lucky enough to be playing a road game in New York on March 18th, and the great PR man and color commentator of Rockets broadcasts – Jim Foley – was in town for St. Patrick’s Day. Foley liked to hang with a few longtime buddies, including tavern owner Jim, at Neary’s (East 57th Street). One year, long ago, I can remember meeting Jim (and Brian), walking into the bar and dropping average age by about 10 years! … Great place. Nothing but Guinness.
Then, there’s this gem from the great Mike McCarthy, former head honcho of Madison Square Garden Network, who voiced a little “tease” for the New York Knicks St. Patrick’s Day broadcast of yesteryear:
But, there’s no better way than to celebrate the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day than to read the words of the great Brian McIntyre.
Let’s turn the column over to him for a wee bit:
“I am proud to be of Irish descent and I’ve been fortunate to have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, New York, Boston and Houston over the years,” stated McIntyre to wet your appetite for his story. “When our son, Brendan, was about four years old, we went to a Mexican restaurant to pick up some take-out dinner. As we waited, Brendan asked me what “Mexican” is. I told him it’s a nationality, that we all came to America from some other country and that people who came from Mexico are Mexican. He looked at me and said what am I?
“My wife, Betty, who grew up in Chicago as I did, is Polish, so I told him he was part Irish and part Polish. He thought for a second and then quickly blurted, “I am not!” with all the indignation a four-year old named Brendan Patrick could summon. I still don’t know where that came from but I assured him he was.
When I got home, I told the story to my wife and she responded, ”I hope you told him the truth!” Which I had.
When I recounted the story for my dad, he responded, “I hope you lied to him!”
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all.
TID-BITS: The once ubiquitous USA Today compiled a (partial) list of the salaries of many of the NCAA head basketball coaches. They took it another step and chose their five MOST OVERPAID and MOST UNDERPAID/UNDER-RATED.
The only commentary from here is the strong opinion that the following coaches should get an immediate raise: UConn’s Danny Hurley, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, Creighton’s Greg McDermott, BC’s Earl Grant and Seton Hall’s Shaheen Halloway.
THEN THERE’S PITINO: And, as he’s been written about, criticized and everything in between, it must be said that St. John’s coach Rick Pitino took his team a GIANT STEP further in peaking with a five-game winning streak, with a BIG WIN over Creighton in the regular season and he made it six vs. Seton Hall in the tournament), to guide St. John’s to play on BIG EAST Friday for the first time since the year 2000. In other words, the prior Friday night Johnnies game at the annual BIG EAST tournament came as we were all preparing for the SYDNEY OLYMPIC GAMES! … St. John’s played a fast-paced, tough game against Conference No. 1 Connecticut and lost 95-90 (the game was nowhere near as close as the score).
Year 2 will be a bigger challenge as Pitino will lose his Sr. point guard Daniss Jenkins who was often the ONLY player competing on the court for St. John’s. Sophomore guard RJ Luis, Jr. will need to step-up in 2024-25. He excelled in his Sixth Man role this season. Additionally, 6-9 sophomore Zuby Ejiofor will need to improve in all aspects of the game. Pitino changed his offense to go fast-pace, high scoring in order to cover the team’s poor defense and appalling transition defense, and it worked. Let’s see if he goes high speed or improves team defense in the year(s) to come. Pitino deserves credit, but please ignore homer media takes that the coach’s rant after St. John’s blew a 12-point lead and lost to Seton Hall on Feb 18th had a galvanizing effect on his team. It was unacceptable and his apology was warranted. Somehow, winning a few games (six in a row) has a way of revising short term memories and history. That said, Pitino earned another clean slate. A true new canvas to paint a future for the St. John’s program. Within that step, I’d like to see a clear succession plan in place by the 2025-26 season. Just where are Jeff van Gundy (consulting for the Boston Celtics and noticeably improving the team and individual players) or Billy Donovan (head coach of the Chicago Bulls) when you might need ‘em?
AARON WHO? Can you imagine NY Jets QB and former All Pro quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the Vice President of the United States of America? Well, that what IND candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was considering when he made a “short list” of candidates. Having Rodgers as veep might be like having Senator Mitch McConnell quarterback the Green Bay Packers.
THE WEARIN’ OF THE GREEN: There’s no one who ever walked the earth who could wear the (Celtics) GREEN like the late, great Bill Russell.
