Tennis? Where Have All the Aaron Kricksteins Gone?

Where have all the flowers gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the flowers gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the flowers gone?

Girls have picked them every one

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

       -- Pete Seeger

NEW YORK, MARCH 4, 2013 -- With all due respect to Mr. Pete Seeger, and Peter, Paul & Mary, let's take a crack at a re-write of the epic tune just as the tennis world serves-up the 2013 season and celebrates "Tennis Night" in Hong Kong and New York's Madison Square Garden where Rafael Nadal will headline a night of exhibitions along with Argentine Juan Martin del Potro on the men's side while Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka square-off on the women's side right in the center court big top of New York City's sporting spotlight.

Where have all the Aaron Kricksteins gone?

Long time passing shots,

Where have all the Aaron Krickteins gone?

Long time ago.

Where have all the Andre Agassis gone?

Charming personality for everyone,

Where have all the Andre Agassis gone?

Long time ago.

Where have all the Michael Changs gone?

He's won Roland Garros for Hoboken,

Where have all the Michael Changs gone?

Long time ago.

Where have all the Paul Annacones gone?

Wimbledon quarters and coaching a ton,

Where have all the Paul Annacones gone?

Long time ago.

Where have all the Andy Roddicks gone?

A U.S. Open Champion,

Where have all the Andy's Roddicks gone?

Long time ago.

John McEnroe

During my lifetime, I had the great pleasure to witness the glory years of several sports and sports franchises.  It's been well documented that I worked my way through the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson era of NBA basketball, arguably the greatest time period in league history. I was also lucky enough to see the New York Mets win their "Miracle Mets" world championship in 1969, the New York Knicks in their most glorious era where Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and the Red Holzman-led Knickerbockers played a team-oriented, pleasing brand of basketball that forged two NBA titles and created a legion of "make the extra pass" basketball fans that grew-up with "The City Game" and a "Hit the Open Man" mentality.

I was hand-delivered a New York Islanders franchise that struggled mightily as an expansion franchise but soon after upset their New York Rangers rivals ('75) and went on to win four consecutive NHL Stanley Cup championships when Bryan Trottier personified the perfect two-way player maker, Denis Potvin took a lesson from the NHL's all-time greatest defenseman, Bobby Orr of the Bruins, to mold the NYI team around his very intimidating defensive presence while he quarterbacked the offense and power play to perfection. The Isles, with super-sniper Mike Bossy (50-in-50 was the norm), Clark Gillies and a host of muckers and fan-favorites, like Bobby Nystrom, Butch Goring, John Tonelli, complemented by rock-solid goal-keeping by Billy Smith.  Not bad fort a high school sophomore, eh?

Them there was tennis.

On the women's side, every summer at the U.S. Open, we were there to witness Chrissy Evert going up against the greatest tennis player of all time in Martina Navratilova, a singles, doubles and mixed doubles ultra-champion and 18-time Grand Slam title winner. On the men's front, the list is ridiculous and I'll rip through it in no particular order ...

We were there to watch John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Pete Sampras - all American-born and bred. Meanwhile, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl, Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Boris Becker and Mats Wilander were the international opponents, to name just a few.

Undoubtedly, it was the greatest era of tennis in history and it might never ever be duplicated.

So what happened?

Where did all the tennis players go? And, specifically, where are the American tennis players?

Let's ask Johnny Mac?

"Andy Roddick's now gone and we haven't won any slams in 10 years since Pete Sampras quit other than Roddick's one (2003 U.S. Open), so obviously there's some concern here. There's a lot of work to do and I think people remember the old days a bit," said McEnroe to a media contingent assembled to see the John McEnroe Tennis Academy housed at Sportime and located at three different locations in New York and its 'burbs.  "It was a great time for me and it was sort of a golden era for American tennis -- Jimmy Connors and myself, then Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier.

"So, yes, there's something that's missing and hopefully we can fill that niche and maybe inspire some younger kids as well."

What happened to the talent pool? Did the kids all start playing basketball and lacrosse, because they're certainly not playing baseball and (American/NFL-style) football. Ask President Barack Obama about that, eh?

"I've seen them all," McEnroe chimed in. " What Billie Jean King has done for the game and the way she played was more like how I played, Then, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert won a billion tournaments, Steffi Graf. And, when Serena (Williams) is on, she's the best I've ever seen play. She has the whole package as far as what she can bring to the table.

"Hopefully for us, (meaning American tennis), we're wondering where the next American guy is? For the next American woman, we're still looking pretty sharp. Hopefully this will inspire some other people to get out there," noted McEnroe.

And, he's backing up his wish with a venture sure to create a few new stars, right from the New York metropolitan area because McEnroe's academies help train more than 300 young prospects, who get first-hand training from Douglaston's favorite son, along with his brother, mark, and Peter Fleming - Mac's longtime doubles partner who heads up a gaggle of 30 of the top tennis coaches in the country, all packed into facilities on Randall's Island, Westchester County and out on Long Island. Because of Johnny Mac's heavy travels and TV commentary gig, his academy is managed by his brother after it was created by New York entrepreneur Claude Okin.

So where's the beef?  Where's the next American champion?

"You look at John Isner, he's big and athletic and he played four years of college tennis," said McEnroe. "That's the type of kid, an athlete, that will become the future of tennis and I think, here, in a city like New York, we can find those type of kids."

The set of all-time

While there have been many incredible performances by Rock n' roll bands who've played Madison Square Garden, I believe everyone can agree that there's NEVER been a better performance than "The Who" at The Concert for New York City.

DVD of The CFNYC

About a month after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, (October 20, 2011 to be exact), organizers hyped a special NYC concert to feature Paul McCartney and The Who.  That was supposed to be it. As word made its way around the music industry, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, wanted to do their part and play for the people of New York.  The concert organizers decided to provide free tickets to first responders of NY/NJ and their families while charging other fans to raise money for the very beginning of the funding to help the families devastated by the unfathomable attacks.

The cops, fire-fighters, EMS guys and other turned out in the 1000s.

Not to be lost or ever forgotten - Adam Sandler did his greatest "Opera Man" ever. Richard Gere made one of the biggest mistakes of his career and Harrison Ford was totally trashed.  But, that's not why I write.

The reason, of course, is that many a rock star had enjoyed their best night as performers and maybe their best night ever as a band at the famed Garden, but The Who shined brightest on that great night which helped bring NYC back to its feet.  In the past, performers like Bono of U2, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and others confessed on stage that their best performances had come at MSG.

So, while Woodstock has its place in history, as does The Last Waltz, The Concert for George, Knebworth '90, Pink Floyd doing The Wall in Berlin, the Filmore East and the ABB, Shea Stadium and The Beatles, Bruce at The Stone Pony or the NC on New Year's Eve '79/'80, countless Rolling Stones Shows, Live Aid in '85, No Nukes, Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall along with so many more shows that can be tagged as "one" of the best shows of all-time, The Who at The Concert for New York City - blew 'em all away.

It was the last time I saw John Entwhistle in person and a little-known fact - that his gig, previously scheduled for months at BB Kings on 42nd Street, had the event organizers put "The Who" on stage pretty early in the night.  It proved to take the night to heights many had never thought would come as NYC recovered from devastation, exhaustion and a deep funky depression.



In 2002, one NYC cop wrote:

I am a NYC Police Officer who found comfort and catharsis at this concert. I am grateful to those performers and to the Americans celebrating this music. Seeing the faces of my fellow Americans who gave themselves over to Rock and Roll for a mercurial moment made me proud yet overwhelmingly sad. I know that a lot of my fellow civil servants often have trouble reaching certain levels of emotion and, through good old fashioned Rock and Roll, we were able to let go. Listening again to those first few crashing chords from THE WHO still gives me chills. I know how every one of us was feeling at that moment.

This is not just great classic music -- this music defines us. We grew up on it. Billy Joel, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, James Taylor --this music fueled our youths and made us who we are. After September 11, 01 we found new meaning to these lyrics just as we had discovered more about ourselves. We should be proud to celebrate this music, in a country that lets us play it freely and with the volume all the way up. It reminds us how powerful music can be and how healing. I replay this concert over and over. I recall the images of every wife and girlfriend, wearing their hero's hat and clutching them with all of their might, grateful for that precious moment together. I have new-found love for life, for life's simple pleasures.

Perhaps the concert's newest artist summed it as well as the veteran acts that night. In a song I have loved since I first heard it last summer, though I never fully knew what it meant until that night: "Five For Fighting", SUPERMAN -- "I wish that I could cry. Fall upon my knees. Find a way to lie. About a home I'll never see. It may sound absurd but don't be naive. Even heroes have the right to bleed. I may be disturbed but don't you concede? Even heroes have the right to dream. It's not easy to be me...."

Just Do Your Job

The New York Times tried to do a feature on one of the great 'behind the scenes' guys in pro football history, our man Berj.  Once an entry-level, game night staffer at The Garden, Berj quickly proved he was one of the guys you could really depend on.  No nonsense.

He's brought that talent to the NE Patriots to help coach Bill Belichick get the job done, quietly and thoroughly.  Here's the story:

Blocking for the Patriots Coach So He Can Do His Job

By GREG BISHOP

The Coach

INDIANAPOLIS — The man inside the coffee shop is Bill Belichick’s chief of staff, one of his most trusted confidants. Since Belichick became the coach of the New England Patriots in 2000, this man has spent more time with him than quarterback Tom Brady, Belichick’s family members or anyone else, really. Yet even Patriots fans have never heard of him.

As he politely but begrudgingly spoke on background in the coffee shop, a short walk from the Patriots’ hotel for Super Bowl XLVI, no one recognized the man, or how important he was — and is — to New England’s success. His name is Berj Najarian. By title, he is director of football/head coach administration.
On Sunday, the Patriots will play in their fifth Super Bowl since the 2001 season. That run, the best stretch in the N.F.L. in recent years, is defined by three championships and the aura of secrecy that surrounds the franchise, which is part of the Patriot Way. In a system in which injuries are guarded as state secrets and coaches conduct their business like C.I.A. operatives, the Patriots allow little understanding of what, exactly, they have done to reach such sustained success.
Najarian’s role exemplifies that paranoid mystique. He is the gatekeeper to Belichick, the monitor of the monotone.
“He is the consigliere of the New England Patriots,” the team’s offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien, said. “No question about it.”
All week, as Belichick conducted interviews, Najarian stood off to the side, close enough to hear and observe, but far enough not to attract attention. He wore no media credential, nor any identification. A few members of the Boston and national media recognized him. Otherwise, he went unnoticed.
Najarian was there from the beginning, before this Patriot Way existed, before Belichick became a Hall of Fame-caliber coach. Najarian was there when Belichick, never a master of public relations, scribbled, “I resign as HC of the NYJ,” shortly after the Jets promoted him to head coach.
The Patriots snagged Belichick instead. He drove to New England with part of his inner circle: Najarian, Eric Mangini and Scott Pioli. Mangini and Pioli eventually left for other jobs. Belichick and Najarian remain. Even their offices at 1 Patriot Place connect.
Earlier in his career, in Cleveland from 1991 to 1995, Belichick bombed at news conferences. His demeanor: surly. His personality: prickly. His image: tyrant.
Once in New England, Belichick sought to soften that image, to show his sense of humor, his human side, both of which, those close to him insist, actually exist. Najarian advised Belichick in this role, and while the coach infamous for his hoodie and his icy handshakes never came to resemble a teddy bear, he has been credited this week with appearing more comfortable and relaxed. If the Kraft family and Belichick created the Patriot Way, Najarian burnished it, especially as it related to all things Belichick.
At the same time, Najarian also handled Belichick’s major crisis, the so-called Spygate videotaping controversy, which engulfed the Patriots on their last run to the Super Bowl, four seasons ago. Belichick took his first Spygate-related question here Thursday. Count that as another win for Najarian.
“He’s one of our hidden weapons,” the team’s owner, Robert K. Kraft, said.
The retired quarterback Drew Bledsoe said that in the organizations he played for — New England, Buffalo, Dallas — he never encountered someone with a role similar to Najarian’s. Because Najarian stood between Belichick and the rest of the world, that role “gave him a ton of power,” Bledsoe said. He added: “With the Patriots, it’s an efficiency thing. Berj worried about stuff so Bill didn’t have to.”
Najarian, because of his proximity to Belichick, also took some ribbing. Bledsoe and some co-conspirators, whom he declined to name, once sent Najarian a dozen roses on Secretary’s Day. “From what I understand, he was a little offended,” Bledsoe said. “We thought it was hysterical.”
Najarian’s job description can be summarized in six words: help Belichick carry out his program.
Najarian does not coach players. He does everything else, deciding which issues are worthy of Belichick’s attention so the coach can focus on football, his staff, meetings, practices, strategy and film sessions.
Najarian handles the logistics of Belichick’s day: whom he meets and what interviews he conducts. If a corporate sponsor needs a Patriots coach to speak, Najarian determines which coach. When the rookies arrive, he helps indoctrinate them. When Brady creates a stir with a comment about fans getting “lubed up,” Najarian handles damage control and helps deliver the team’s strange response that Brady was referring to drinking water. At practices, he even selects the music, from Bruce Springsteen to Dr. Dre.
This affords Najarian a place in Belichick’s inner circle, which changes but remains relatively small. His other longtime confidants include Ernie Adams (director of football research), Nick Caserio (director of player personnel) and assistant coaches.
“Berj is really important,” a relaxed Belichick said this week, cracking a rare public smile. “There isn’t nearly enough time in this press conference to talk about him.”
Just as coaches around the N.F.L. have tried to emulate Belichick’s approach to football, his former assistants have also hired their own version of Najarian, including Mangini with the Jets and Josh McDaniels in Denver.
Najarian gave one quotation for this article. “One of our sayings is for everyone to ‘just do your job,’ ” he said. “Contributing to Bill Belichick doing his job and at the same time helping uphold the standard of excellence set by the Kraft family is a privilege. With that comes many responsibilities within the football operation and organization, and I appreciate the opportunity to fulfill them.”
Growing up on Long Island — his father was a child psychiatrist, his mother a housewife — Najarian never anticipated this career path. He graduated from Boston University and interned with the Knicks in 1994. John Cirillo, then the senior vice president for communications of Madison Square Garden, said Najarian possessed a quiet calm and tireless work ethic.
From there, Najarian worked in public relations with the Jets. Frank Ramos, who was a longtime public-relations director with the franchise, said Najarian “came to get along very well with the defensive coaches.” He added: “He got really close with Belichick. There aren’t that many who can get that close to Bill. I don’t know why he did.”
Often, Ramos noted, Najarian stayed late at the Jets’ complex, talking football, hanging around Belichick. The Belichick crew once took part in a weight-loss competition, with official weigh-ins and hefty penalties, and Belichick would hide slices of pizza in everyone else’s desks.
When he arrived in New England, Najarian joined Stacey James, now the Patriots’ vice president for media relations, in a potentially awkward situation. They divide their duties at Belichick (Najarian) and everything else (James). Reporters who cover the team regularly said they expect to hear from Najarian when they write critically of Belichick. Some said future access depended on what they wrote.
Not that Najarian wanted to address any of that. If Belichick is happy and the Krafts are happy, he prefers to stay in the shadows.
On the ESPN set, Tedy Bruschi, the retired Patriots linebacker turned analyst, raised both eyebrows when asked about Najarian. No longer affiliated with the team, he still declined to comment.
“How many people talk about the consigliere?” he said.
Very few, it turns out, just as the gatekeeper to Belichick, in line with the Patriot Way, prefers it.

Improv at the Garden...

The Knicks and the NBA will go to great lengths to entertain their fans. Bad basketball game? How about a little improv? Yes, here's a new way to be entertained at a sporting event:



This clip came to my attention via ESPN's TrueHoop. Thanks Henry.

We Marveled at Six Overtime THRILLER ...

The "Cuse OUTLASTS UConn in longest BIG EAST game ever, second longest NCAA Div I Game ever:

From Ock and the AP:

NEW YORK -- Syracuse and Connecticut played a game for the ages Thursday night and into early Friday. When it was over, everybody in Madison Square Garden was exhausted and, except for the losing team, exhilarated.

Telling someone that Syracuse (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) beat Connecticut (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 3 AP) 127-117 in six overtimes in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament is equivalent to saying there's a star in the sky.

There's more, so much more.

"I've got no words," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said when asked to describe the second-longest Division I game ever. "I've never been prouder of any team I've coached."

There were the numbers, from the 3 hours, 46 minutes it took to play the game that ended at 1:22 a.m., to the combined 244 points, 102 of which came after the regulation buzzer, to the eight players who fouled out, to the six who registered double-doubles.

And that wasn't nearly all. Just ask Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn, who had 34 points and 11 assists in a game-high 67 minutes, only 3 fewer than were played.

"I just wanted to get the game over with," he said. "I was thinking, `Lord, just get this game over with. Whoever wins the game, let's just get it over with.' "

Much earlier in the evening, West Virginia beat No. 2 Pittsburgh 74-60, meaning that instead of a much-anticipated third meeting between two teams that held the No. 1 ranking this season in the semifinals, it will be sixth-seeded and Syracuse (No. 20, No. 18) and the seventh-seeded Mountaineers.

"I can't even feel my legs right now," Flynn said. "It was a tough game, we battled it out, but we have to turn it around -- today -- and face a tough team in West Virginia."

Top-seeded and fifth-ranked Louisville will meet fourth-seeded and Villanova (No. 13, No. 10) in the other semifinal.

Andy Rautins hit a 3-pointer 10 seconds into the sixth overtime, giving the Orange their first lead since regulation.

"We needed to get one tip and sure enough we had the set play and we had Andy coming off a set screen and boom, he made it," Boeheim said. "That was pretty big."

The game finished one overtime short of the record set in Cincinnati's 75-73 victory over Bradley on Dec. 21, 1981.

Paul Harris had 29 points and 22 rebounds, while Eric Devendorf had 22 points and Rautins had 20, all but two on 3-pointers.

The Orange made 40 of 51 free throws, but Connecticut made just 24 of 42.

"We lost the game because we turned the ball over 27 times and couldn't make a foul shot," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said.

A.J. Price had 33 points and 10 assists for the Huskies (27-4), while Stanley Robinson had 28 points and was one of three Connecticut players with 14 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet had 19 points, 14 rebounds and six of the Huskies' 16 blocked shots.

What will almost be forgotten as this game is recounted over the years was that it was nearly over before even one overtime was played.

Connecticut's Kemba Walker, one of the smallest players on the court, grabbed a loose rebound and laid it in with 1.1 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 71. After a Syracuse timeout, Harris ran the baseline and threw an inbounds pass past midcourt that was deflected by Connecticut's Gavin Edwards to Devendorf, who let a shot go from about 28 feet just as the red lights around the backboard went off.

It went in, and Devendorf jumped up on the courtside press table, pounding his chest and screaming as his teammates reached up and pulled him down to the court.

The play was reviewed -- as are all shots near the end of halves -- and veteran officials John Cahill and Bob Donato watched replay after replay, finally stepping back and ruling the shot was late, sending the game into the first overtime 5-minute overtime.

It wouldn't end until six of them were played.

"It would have been a lot better if they just counted Eric's shot and we could have gone home 2 hours ago," Boeheim said, "but that's the way it goes."

Connecticut took the lead in each of the first five overtimes, but Syracuse found a way to come back in all of them. Rautins' 3 to start the sixth overtime gave the Orange their first lead since 71-69 with 27 seconds to go in regulation.

"It's a loss. There was something historic about the game, certainly," Calhoun said. "Both teams competed. Rautins' big 3, A.J.'s big plays. ... I'm sure in the summertime I'll look back at what a historic battle it was. Right now. it's a loss.

"We wanted to play tomorrow night, and playing Friday night in Madison Square Garden, playing in the semifinals, is pretty special."

The first overtime ended tied at 81-81 when Walker ducked between two Syracuse players for a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that was short.

The second overtime almost had an ending for the ages when Walker let go with a shot from just inside midcourt that bounced off the back of the rim, leaving it tied at 87.

Connecticut scored the first six points of the third overtime, and the Huskies were still ahead by six on Jeff Adrien's follow dunk with 2:08 left. Harris scored consecutive field goals for Syracuse, and after Price made one free throw with 21 seconds left for a 98-95 lead, Rautins hit a 3 with 11 seconds left to tie it. Price missed a 3 and Adrien was off with the rebound, and it was time for the fourth overtime, making this the longest Big East tournament game.

Price missed a drive with 10 seconds left in the fourth overtime and Harris had two shots blocked in the final seconds to send it to No. 5 tied at 104.

Price took an NBA-distance 3-pointer with 6 seconds left in the fifth overtime and it bounced off the rim to Adrien, who was short with a jumper at the buzzer, leaving the game tied at 110.

The players were exhausted and most of the sellout crowd of 19,375 was still in the seats, or at least standing in front of them, for the sixth overtime.

Because four players from each team fouled out, players who rarely saw action all season were on the court in the final 5 minutes.

The only previous triple-overtime game in Big East tournament history was Syracuse's 83-80 victory over Villanova in the 1981 championship game, just the second one ever played. That game featured Leo Rautins of the Orange, Andy's father.

"The triple-overtime game was an unbelievable game," said Boeheim, who was still a relative newcomer on the sidelines then. "I think it'd be hard to top this game."

TL NOTES: I enjoyed the day in NYC and the MANY hours spent in MSG. I will write more on this later today....

BIG EAST - AT the World's Most Famous Arena ..

Across the Pond:
Madison Square Garden Plays Host to the Best College
Basketball Conference in all of the United States

By Terry Lyons
http://www.terrylyons.com

NEW YORK, MARCH 12 – Sir Elton John called it the “World’s Greatest Venue.” U2’s Bono, Edge, Adam and Larry once said directly from the stage, “We’ve enjoyed some our very best nights as a band, here in New York.” The Concert for New York was a “Top 5” list for the greatest rock show on Earth, despite the fact in was staged at Madison Square Garden in October, 2001 and not long after one of the worst days of our lives. As a native New Yorker, now happily transplanted to Boston, Massachusetts since September, 2008, I quickly realized there was one thing I missed most about Manhattan.

I missed “The Garden,” the world’s most famous arena.

Not today. Not tonight. Not this weekend when the BIG EAST is in town and college basketball takes over the NYC sporting scene. It is a spectacular event, one that every sports fan should attend if they live by The Who’s insightful lyric, “Hope I die before I get old.” The BIG EAST is that good and that much fun.

Here is a short tutorial: In 1979, although college basketball was enjoying unprecedented heights in popularity (see Indiana State with Larry Bird vs. Michigan State with Earvin “Magic” Johnson), the most popular college basketball conferences were the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) with teams such as Duke and North Carolina; the BIG TEN with powerhouses such as Michigan State, Wisconsin, and then-Coach Bobby Knight’s Ohio State; the Pac-10 with the great UCLA legacy of the 1960s and ‘70s with Coach John Wooden, all-time college player of the century Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor) and NCAA standout Bill Walton, along with a smattering of others. None of the best collegiate basketball conferences had much of a presence in New York City, after some scandalous days in the 1950s, by the way.

Then, along came Providence College athletic director Dave Gavitt, a former college coach who enjoyed success beyond his wildest dreams as the first Commissioner of the BIG EAST and later with USA Basketball resulting in a well-deserved induction to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts (the birthplace of the game). Gavitt joined forces with the athletic directors of a few other “independent” schools and laid out a vision which included the following tent-poles:

New York: St. John’s University
Upstate New York: Syracuse University
Boston: Boston College
Providence, RI: Providence College
Hartford, CT: University of Connecticut
North New Jersey: Seton Hall University
Washington DC: Georgetown University

A short year later, in 1980, the very important Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) market was added when Villanova University joined the conference while Pittsburgh (PA) joined in 1982.

With a ton of foresight, a lot of hard work, planning and the stroke of a few important signatures, college basketball was reborn in New York City and the rest of the northeast USA. With the BIG EAST Conference as a start-up, along came regular weekly (national television) broadcast exposure from the upstart sports and entertainment programming network of ESPN, from sold out on-campus arenas. The “Big Games” were played in the likes of The Garden, the Providence or Hartford Civic Centers, the then-Capital Center in Landover, MD – home of the NBA’s (then) Washington Bullets. BC played its big games at the wonderful Boston Garden, Villanova played at the 76ers’ Philly-based home, The Spectrum, and Syracuse built the “Carrier Dome” to house record-breaking crowds while it created record-breaking basketball awareness in Upstate New York.

The conference grew to 16 members for basketball and later added the important outposts of Chicago (DePaul) and Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana); Cincinnati (Ohio); West Virginia; Marquette (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and South Florida. Both Miami and South Florida were ‘in and out’ conference members over the years and they were among others who joined, backed out, jumped ship or were added as associate members in sports other than men’s basketball.

Then, the bad news, the NCAA’s large eastern college football programs spread their wings and extended their budgets and the BIG East took on a college football powerhouse strategy at the cost of the original hoops havens, like Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Georgetown. At that point, the smart move would have been splitting the conference in half to create “The BIG EAST” for the football mavens like Syracuse, ND, West Virginia, South Fla, Rutgers, Louisville and a couple others) and the “LITTLE EAST” schools listed above to be joined by DePaul of Chicago and maybe a replacement in the Boston area for the depart (to ACC) Boston College. Northeastern or B.U. might’ve been ripe for the taken in the sports thirsty Boston Hub.

With your BIG EAST tutorial now over, the column turns to report of a very rich history of basketball, played each year between the final conference regular season games and the start of “March Madness,” otherwise known as the annual NCAA Men’s basketball championship.

The winner of the conference championship is awarded with an ‘automatic’ bid to the NCAAs, regardless of their regular season record. That makes for some very competitive “one and done” basketball during the week of March 10-14, 2009 when all 16 BIG EAST converged on The Garden for the very first time. (Until last season, only 12 teams advanced and four ‘stayed home.”

As of this writing, on Thursday evening after two quarterfinal sessions, #1 seeded Louisville advanced over Providence College and #4 seeded Villanova won an exciting 76-75 battle with a buzzer-beating ‘back door’ lay-up by Villanova’s 6-6 senior forward Dwayne Anderson of Silver Spring, Maryland.

The nightcaps will match-up #7 West Virginia against #2 Pittsburgh and #6 Syracuse against longtime rival #3 Connecticut. The Syracuse vs. Uconn game pits two of the conference’s original teams who will play their 84th all-time match-up. The Syracuse Orange own a 48-35 advantage heading into tonight’s late game.

To help set the stage or add a little flavor to the event, picture a convention of college basketball fans and team boosters all traveling to New York City to take a long weekend, meet-up with old friends and watch hour upon hour of basketball.

In the 1980s, I would always take “BIG EAST” Thursday off and head to The Garden with my brother and other good friends, arriving by 11am for the Noon start of the first double-header. We would watch games, grab a beer and a bite, then head out to our favorite Greenwich Village haunts for a dinner-time snack and cold beverage. Then, it would be a sprint back up Eighth Avenue to see the 7pm and 9:30pm twin bill before sell-out crowds all day of 19,375.

Not a bad way to spend a spring day.

Notes for the day from MSG in NYC: The Big East and Garden officials are "close to a contract extension" to keep the conference tournament at the world’s most famous arena and are in final discussions to extend the current agreement which expires in 2011, according to Big East Senior Associate Commissioner John Marinatto and reported today by Bloomberg News. The BIG EAST tournament has been at MSG since 1983, after its first three years as a rotating tournament hosted by the conference office but staged in conjunction with the original member schools in Providence, RI (1980), Syracuse, NY (1981) and Hartford, CT (1982)… Look out for Villanova. The suburban Philadelphia school, coached admirably by Jay Wright – a frequent junior national team coach for USA Basketball – advanced to the BIG EAST semifinals for the 16th time. Villanova is not a team to take lightly in the month of March … Marquette University finished their BIG EAST season at 24-9 and entered the tournament as the #21-ranked team in the country. Marquette is assured of getting an “At Large” bid to the NCAAs but hurt their seeding with the last second loss to ‘Nova. Marquette advanced to the Final 4 in 2003 behind the incredible performance of Dwyane Wade, now an NBA and USA Basketball champion. Marquette U is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is known in the USA as one of the top schools for journalism.

MSG is the best...but St. John's Needs some help

NEW YORK, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, The GREATEST VENUE in the WORLD -- The St. John's "Johnnies" took it on the chin tonight when Syracuse University earned the 350th BIG EAST coaching victory for Jim Boeheim with an 87-58 "ear-slapping" of their former New York State rivals.

It was once a mighty match-up, pitting the likes "Louie" Orr and (Roosevelt) "Bouie" against St. John's center Wayne McKoy or many more would remember the epic 1986 BIG EAST final (St. John's 70-Syr-69) of the wonder Orangemen named Wendall Alexis-Rony Seikaly-Raf Addison-and-Pearl Washington against a Johnnies team led by Willie Glass-Shelton Jones-Walter Berry-Mark Jackson-Ron Rowan -- never mind Marco Baldi's six point contribution.

But now-a-days, the world's most famous arena provides a road game atmosphere for St. John's as team after team (i.e. UConn-Duke-Syracuse) draw their loyal alum to The Garden for a slaughterhouse five walk-through at the hands of the Jamaica Mistakes.

It's been a rough road for Coach Norm Roberts, but the St. John's faithful still show support for the man who inherited the mess of the century from former coach Mike Jarvis. Roberts has the kids playing hard but the team's lack of experience and depth allows their opponents to wear down the Deadmen night after night. St. John's fights the uphill battle in a conference stacked with big-time coaches and powerful programs.

Roberts does his very best to compete against the likes of the conglomerates to be named later. I list them in no particular order:

Jim Cal and the UConn Huskies. (Don't get me started....Ray Allen..)

Pitt and a decade long streak of Top 10-25s.

In Boston, I have to whisper the name "Pitino" and his Louisville program. (Excuse the Queen's English) - "There ain't no Pervis Ellison's walking through that door... there ain't no Darrell Griffith's walking through that door...and there ain't going to be (no) Rodney McCray's walking through that door, either."

Villanova and the best coach in the conference in Jay Wright

The aforementioned Syracuse with Boeheim running the zone and a Top 10 college program playbook -- maybe the program of all-time when you think about it, as he recruits top players/teams year after year to a Carrier Dome setting in a city where the sun doesn't shine from November until April.

And, how about Marquette? The class program of the BIG EAST conference and lost a gem of Tom Crean as he took the mone$ and ran to Indiana.

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I digress -- as I am not here to bury the Johnnies nor their coach. I am here to suggest they grab the likes of Providence (Rhode Island), Seton Hall (NJ), Depaul (CHI) and toss in a Northeastern (Boston), Niagara (Buff), Hofstra (Long Island), GW (The District), St. Joe's (Philly), or three and create the LITTLE EAST. At least one would make the Big Dance.

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Notes: MSG announced 11,148 in attendance for the St. John's vs Syracuse tilt. Hey, that's only 8,352 short of the '86 BIG EAST Final crowd and "only" 21,234 fans short of the epic 1982-83 St. John's vs. 'Cuse match-up at the Carrier (Pigeon) Dome ... St. John's trails Syracuse 45-37 in the all-time series rivalry. The Red(blank) won the 2007 match-up at MSG, 64-60. (A distant memory)... St. John's plays at Depaul at Noon (EST) on February 28 and finish their season with a March 3 game against Georgetown at The Garden, then a March 6 grunge-match against Notre Dame in the shadows of touchdown Jesus. ND Irish will look to avenge their January 3rd loss to St. John's at MSG (71-65) which was the high point of the Red-blank season.

Roberts had this to say post-game when asked what his message was to his team after the loss: "We talked. I was frustrated that we didn't meet the intensity of the game early like we should have. In the second half, we started off getting a lot of stops. We stopped them - pretty much - six or seven straight times and we weren't able to convert. And, we needed to convert to get back into the game.

"We just played (somewhat) immature. Things didn't go our way and we got frustrated. We let one play affect the next play and you can't do that in this league."

"You've got to get ready for the next one, get re-focused and learn from what you didn't do right."

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Buy the 100 Years of St. John's Basketball book if you can afford it.

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By the way - click on the MSG headline above for a Feb 1 story that ran in the NY Daily Snooze. Think the prez and AD might be under some pressure soon, nevermind Norm?
Good luck to one and all. The St. John's faithful remain in their season tiks, even though we were moved out of the "Yellows" and into the "Blues."

So, we sing the "Blues" for the Red-Blanks.

-TL-