BET Trivia

austour

austour

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2023 $upporter
With the BET coming up and the year being better than usual my old season ticket buddy who is still in NY asked if I was coming in as I've done a few times since I moved out west (I am not, need to be in Vegas for work). Sorry to miss it but it got me thinking. My fondest/scariest memory of the BET was attending every single game back in the 5 days/5 games on Day 1 tournament some time in the early 90's, 16 games in 5 days OMFG, surprised there was enough beer and chemicals in NY to keep me upright. I remember my wife meeting us for dinner between sessions on Day 3 and we could barely communicate with her. I think it took me a month to recover from that, and I knew every bartender at the Play by Play by name by the end of it. Decided to look up some BET trivia/history and share.

This year will be the 40th rendition of the BET, if you count the first three years played outside MSG. ;)

Interesting to note that of the 39 previous years the present conference members have only won 19 of the tourneys, and GTown has 7 of those.

St Johns has made the finals 5 times, in 6th place behind Syracuse (15), Gtown (13), UConn (10), Nova (9) and Pitt (7).

Gtown and Uconn are tied at 7 for most titles.

Syracuse has the most appearances at 15.

Only 3 teams have losing records in BET finals, this astounding stat is primarily because Syracuse lost in 10 BET finals leading to most of us questioning Boeheim's coaching acumen throughout the 80's and 90's and I'm sure some still do to this day. I might, haven't decided since getting to 15 finals is quite an accomplishment.

The MVP of the first BET was Craig Shelton. Who the F is that? Bonus points for first guess as to what team he played for. Another unremembered (to me) MVP is Oliver Taylor of Seton Hall.

Seton Hall is the only team to win every BET Final they played in (3).

The only multiple time MVPs of the BET are Patrick Ewing and Peyton Siva.

The only St Johns players to win MVP were Mullin and Bootsy. In St Johns other win the MVP went to Pearl Washington who accepted the award after puking up the ball Walter stuffed down his throat to seal the game.

Of the teams that have appeared in the finals only Creighton (2), Cincy (1) and Xavier(1) are winless.

Of the present teams Butler, Depaul and Marquette are the only ones to not make a final.

To those that are going, have fun. To those that have never tried to attend every session, you're missing out on something, I've done if 5 times now.
 
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Great post Austour. Brings back lots of hazy memories. I only attended every game once back in the 1980s and still don't know how I survived it.
I believe Craig Shelton played for Georgetown. I don't remember Oliver Taylor of Hall either. Going to Quarters this year - first time at BET since mid to late 80s.
 
[quote="austour" post=324123] The MVP of the first BET was Craig Shelton. Who the F is that? Bonus points for first guess as to what team he played for. Another unremembered (to me) MVP is Oliver Taylor of Seton Hall.[/quote]

That sounds like the name of a guy who would have played at Pitt or Georgetown.

I remember reading that Taylor wanted to play here. He was from Queens.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=324127]Great post Austour. Brings back lots of hazy memories. I only attended every game once back in the 1980s and still don't know how I survived it.
I believe Craig Shelton played for Georgetown. I don't remember Oliver Taylor of Hall either. Going to Quarters this year - first time at BET since mid to late 80s.[/quote]
Yup on Shelton & Ollie was Far Rockaway HS player who SJU recruited a bit. Same HS as Johnny Warren.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=324127]Great post Austour. Brings back lots of hazy memories. I only attended every game once back in the 1980s and still don't know how I survived it.
I believe Craig Shelton played for Georgetown. I don't remember Oliver Taylor of Hall either. Going to Quarters this year - first time at BET since mid to late 80s.[/quote]

Enjoy. I happened to be in town and was able to attend the STJ/GTown BET game a couple years back with the Ewing Jr/JTIII/Mullin confrontation. Last nail in JTIII's coffin. That was a blast and got to meet/reacquaint myself with quite a few posters.
 
[quote="L J S A" post=324128][quote="austour" post=324123] The MVP of the first BET was Craig Shelton. Who the F is that? Bonus points for first guess as to what team he played for. Another unremembered (to me) MVP is Oliver Taylor of Seton Hall.[/quote]

That sounds like the name of a guy who would have played at Pitt or Georgetown.

I remember reading that Taylor wanted to play here. He was from Queens.[/quote]

Shelton was a Georgetown guy. In the decade of the 80s, every Big East Tournament was won by either Georgetown, Syracuse, or St. John's.

UCONN broke that seal in 1990. Hard to believe now, but they were considered a little underdog program at the time, that was having a once-in-a-lifetime season.
 
Since I'm old (as my handle suggests), I've been to everyone since the inception. Providence, Syracuse, Hartford and obviously every MSG one. I also tried to make every game at each tournament, then it became part of every game..now it's what ever I can make besides ours.
 
Last time I did full day St Johns was playing at night so I did afternoon session with my finance friends and then night game with St. John’s friends. Having to pace myself while my finance friends getting bombed was not fun. It’s like being a designated driver who wants to be the 1 sober person around a bunch of drunk friends. Thank god this was before Bronx Pale Ales . Now my ADD basically keeps me for one afternoon game and part of the second game. No way I can ever do both sessions again. Weatherman and OLV have gone to every game several times I think
 
Now that the league tournament is back to 10 teams, it's become much easier to sit through the whole thing.

When it was 16 teams, and three straight days non-stop, that could get a little rough. Games would end around midnight, only to have to come back 12 hours later. You'd have to do that twice, over the course of three full days.

Now, you only have to do that once, and there is only one full day. That still can be a bit rough, but much easier then the 16-team format (or even the 12 and 13 team format).
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=324127]Great post Austour. Brings back lots of hazy memories. I only attended every game once back in the 1980s and still don't know how I survived it.
I believe Craig Shelton played for Georgetown. I don't remember Oliver Taylor of Hall either. Going to Quarters this year - first time at BET since mid to late 80s.[/quote]

Shelton was on that G'town team that beat Syracuse in the last game in the Manley Fieldhouse. Also on team were John Duren, Sleepy Floyd, Eric Smith and Fred Brown. They were one basket away from making the final four. Ewing, Martin, Jones arrived the next year.
 
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When was the last time St John's made the Semifinals?

Also, I remember during the Norm years when we celebrated just making the tournament since all teams didn't qualify.
 
[quote="Room112" post=324784]When was the last time St John's made the Semifinals?

Also, I remember during the Norm years when we celebrated just making the tournament since all teams didn't qualify.[/quote]

I think Fran lost a close semi-final game to Syracuse, in his second year. Jarvis won the tournament afterward with many of the same players.
 
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