Some schools have fans that travel well. (Clemson is one of many that come to mind). We are playing a very large # of weekend games at MSG, and I was wondering how we pulled that off. But for visiting OOC teams, as well as Big East teams, SJU, MSG and a weekend in NYC are games that visiting fans circle on their calendar.
I have a fleeting memory of playing a very good WVU team (with Pitsnogle) at MSG where we maybe had 6,000 or less fans in the building. You could hear the ball bounce on the hardwood and I remember thinking you could literally yell to a friend seated on the other side of the court and they could hear you.
The change is breathtaking. This is still a little unbelievable that here we are with a top program with a guy now being heralded as one of the greatest coaches ever. That fact is of course largely because of what Rick did before he got here, but also because of what he has done here.
Resurrecting a program mired in decades of mostly futility, where the high bar goal was competing in the upper half of the Big East. Shattering that goal in year 2, with the focus being on the big prize, a national championship. I don't even think Rick was on the floor when Father Rock cut down the last piece of net. That was symbolic in a way, not diminishing winning the BET but in a real way indicating to fans that all he really wants is the whole thing, THE WHOLE THING.
Imagine that, Rick has us believing, with ample reason, that we are playing for all the marbles.
When we played the NCAAs in Charlotte, I had my 2 older kids with me. We stayed at the Westin downtiwn and walked to the arena. I stopped outside and gazed at the giant screen on the marquis where they displayed the entire bracket, with our name, St. John's University, on it. I thought how at least for one day, we were playing for the national championship.
Today, I am thinking every day that we are playing for the national championship. The glass ceiling is shattered, and whether we get there or not, this is real.
So now I revise my attendance goal to no longer fill the Garden as completely as possible with Johnny fans. Now I welcome all comers, all fans of opposing teams to enjoy our city, come to the Garden, and have a great time in all ways but not to beat us.
