Cragg Twitter Feedback

[quote="Adam" post=385729]I'd be surprised if we even play next year. Don't think the empty stadiums thing would work for NCAA, either.

As for the feedback, I don't like that we're likely going back to a handful of MSG games, but not unexpected. Seems we struggle to find that sweet spot between last year (too many during a rebuilding year) and 2 years ago (not enough).

I expect prices to still be significantly higher than 2 years ago, though that may change with the coronavirus impact. As a poster above me mentioned, next year would be perfect for more MSG games (spread out fans). Same goes for Barclays assuming MSG would be too expensive.

Must be really tough navigating all this now.[/quote]

As much as it pains me, I agree that we may not have a college BB season for 20-21. As CDC head said yesterday, he expects the Covid-19 to be worse next winter.
If we do play, it might take even longer to get into CA (or any arena) as besides going through metal detectors, they may also have temperature testing to ban any one with a temp of 99 or above from entry.
That said, I will support the team and purchase my tickets regardless of whether I attend or not.
 
Also have to factor its near certain the NHL and NBA will start next season later. So that will narrow down the possible dates if there even is college hoops season.
 
[quote="BrooklynRed" post=385759][quote="Adam" post=385729]I'd be surprised if we even play next year. Don't think the empty stadiums thing would work for NCAA, either.

As for the feedback, I don't like that we're likely going back to a handful of MSG games, but not unexpected. Seems we struggle to find that sweet spot between last year (too many during a rebuilding year) and 2 years ago (not enough).

I expect prices to still be significantly higher than 2 years ago, though that may change with the coronavirus impact. As a poster above me mentioned, next year would be perfect for more MSG games (spread out fans). Same goes for Barclays assuming MSG would be too expensive.

Must be really tough navigating all this now.[/quote]

As much as it pains me, I agree that we may not have a college BB season for 20-21. As CDC head said yesterday, he expects the Covid-19 to be worse next winter.
If we do play, it might take even longer to get into CA (or any arena) as besides going through metal detectors, they may also have temperature testing to ban any one with a temp of 99 or above from entry.
That said, I will support the team and purchase my tickets regardless of whether I attend or not.[/quote]

Temp checks will never work in CA because the second you step in the building your temp rises past 99 I'm sure.
 
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[quote="Paultzman" post=385699]Via Twitter today;

Our fans can expect reduced ticket prices and more games in Carnesecca than a year ago. We will continue to build a championship program and put our program in the best possible opportunity to win games - both on campus and at MSG

Personally, I get excited when we meet and talk about next year. We are looking to provide a spirit and rallying point for our area - in everything we do. Our renewals will be going out soon - strategic and fan-friendly. Thank you for asking and for your support!

As you would expect in this current situation - the schedule is more regionally-based and focused on us preparing for a loaded Big East with two additional games. We should be announcing the slate of games by June 1.

We are waiting for Gavitt Games home opponent and date - that will trigger our overall planning and coordination with all our sports and rest of non-conference. Can’t wait! Appreciate you being on board with us![/quote]

My chiropractor thanks you. My orthopedist thanks you and my massage therapist thanks you.
 
[quote="Las Vegan" post=385731][quote="Monte" post=385705]Definitely too early to make any decisions on attending any kind of events, but I would really have to think long and hard about ever attending an event CA again, when you consider the lack of air circulation and how cramped it is. I feel like I dodged a bullet the week of March 7th-14th, when I was at MSG 3 times. Plus subways, buses, etc. Not going to be pushing my luck anytime soon.[/quote]

Your post reminded me of a story from years ago. An alum and long-time season ticket holder spoke to AD, Ed Manetta, at halftime of a game at the Alumni Hall sweatbox, and begged him to open the windows above the red seats to get some fresh, cool air into the arena. Manetta responded he couldn't do it because pigeons would fly in.[/quote]

Screen windows are very expensive !
 
[quote="RedStormNC" post=385775][quote="Las Vegan" post=385731][quote="Monte" post=385705]Definitely too early to make any decisions on attending any kind of events, but I would really have to think long and hard about ever attending an event CA again, when you consider the lack of air circulation and how cramped it is. I feel like I dodged a bullet the week of March 7th-14th, when I was at MSG 3 times. Plus subways, buses, etc. Not going to be pushing my luck anytime soon.[/quote]

Your post reminded me of a story from years ago. An alum and long-time season ticket holder spoke to AD, Ed Manetta, at halftime of a game at the Alumni Hall sweatbox, and begged him to open the windows above the red seats to get some fresh, cool air into the arena. Manetta responded he couldn't do it because pigeons would fly in.[/quote]

Screen windows are very expensive ![/quote]

Playing literally thousands of games on NYC asphalt playgrounds, I had completely forgotten how on many days you had to gauge the wind when shooting from the outside. You could actually develop some deft skill shooting into a headwind, or to the left or right of the basket in a crosswind. Totally something our kids missed, and that's too bad.
 
[quote="Las Vegan" post=385731][quote="Monte" post=385705]Definitely too early to make any decisions on attending any kind of events, but I would really have to think long and hard about ever attending an event CA again, when you consider the lack of air circulation and how cramped it is. I feel like I dodged a bullet the week of March 7th-14th, when I was at MSG 3 times. Plus subways, buses, etc. Not going to be pushing my luck anytime soon.[/quote]

Your post reminded me of a story from years ago. An alum and long-time season ticket holder spoke to AD, Ed Manetta, at halftime of a game at the Alumni Hall sweatbox, and begged him to open the windows above the red seats to get some fresh, cool air into the arena. Manetta responded he couldn't do it because pigeons would fly in.[/quote]
I think Ed's response was "When pigs fly". ;) :)
 
This is a smart move as it seems to be a distinct possibility that games, if played at all, will be in front of few or no fans at all. Why pay for MSG !
 
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Enough with this cancellation of the season business.
At my age I cannot take a red shirt year.
 
Actually I do remember a very long time ago when we played afternoon games on weekends that those windows were not blacked out and perhaps even opened. Does anyone remember this?
 
The idea of no games at the Garden kills me. Those are the games I can get too. How many of us out there have a much easier time getting to MSG than to Hillside I bet a lot of us do. The Garden sits atop the LIRR, NJT, and about 10 subway lines. CA sits not even near a subway line but among the most congested roadways in America. At times it can take over two hours to get to CA on a weeknight, and that is from about only 30 miles away. CA is quaint but cramped and decidedly not sexy for a big time program.

If Mike Cragg reads this and I hope he does (I am not on Twitter), please re-consider "no" games or "few" games at the Garden. Think about "all" of your fans not just "some" of your fans.

I personally think you are making a big mistake. No recruit dreams about playing on Union Tpk&Utopia Parkway--- but they do dream about playing in that Broadway arena with the distinctive ceiling. A Building almost every American knows about.
 
[quote="BrookJersey Redmen" post=385812]The idea of no games at the Garden kills me. Those are the games I can get too. How many of us out there have a much easier time getting to MSG than to Hillside I bet a lot of us do. The Garden sits atop the LIRR, NJT, and about 10 subway lines. CA sits not even near a subway line but among the most congested roadways in America. At times it can take over two hours to get to CA on a weeknight, and that is from about only 30 miles away. CA is quaint but cramped and decidedly not sexy for a big time program.

If Mike Cragg reads this and I hope he does (I am not on Twitter), please re-consider "no" games or "few" games at the Garden. Think about "all" of your fans not just "some" of your fans.

I personally think you are making a big mistake. No recruit dreams about playing on Union Tpk&Utopia Parkway--- but they do dream about playing in that Broadway arena with the distinctive ceiling. A Building almost every American knows about.[/quote]

Jesus! Cragg did not say a word about no games at the Garden this season. Before all of this happened, he made what I feel is a very sound business decision to reduce the number of scheduled games at MSG until fans can provide stronger attendance. That decision is more on us as fans than him as AD. I think a recruit coming to watch a game would be more impressed with 5500 fans at CA than 5500 fans at MSG.

When we win, there will be more games there. Mullin's last team drew over 16,000 per game at MSG, and the best overall attendance for our program in 27 years prior. Simple formula - better teams, better attendance, more games away from CA, which may include MSG, Barclay, or more likely the new arena at Belmont.
 
[quote="Beast of the East" post=385778][quote="RedStormNC" post=385775][quote="Las Vegan" post=385731][quote="Monte" post=385705]Definitely too early to make any decisions on attending any kind of events, but I would really have to think long and hard about ever attending an event CA again, when you consider the lack of air circulation and how cramped it is. I feel like I dodged a bullet the week of March 7th-14th, when I was at MSG 3 times. Plus subways, buses, etc. Not going to be pushing my luck anytime soon.[/quote]

Your post reminded me of a story from years ago. An alum and long-time season ticket holder spoke to AD, Ed Manetta, at halftime of a game at the Alumni Hall sweatbox, and begged him to open the windows above the red seats to get some fresh, cool air into the arena. Manetta responded he couldn't do it because pigeons would fly in.[/quote]

Screen windows are very expensive ![/quote]

Playing literally thousands of games on NYC asphalt playgrounds, I had completely forgotten how on many days you had to gauge the wind when shooting from the outside. You could actually develop some deft skill shooting into a headwind, or to the left or right of the basket in a crosswind. Totally something our kids missed, and that's too bad.[/quote]

As a Rockaway kid biking to Riis Park to play I found the hardest shot to make was from the ocean side corner, where the on shore breeze made everything go way long after 2PM.
 
[quote="fuchsia" post=385820][quote="Beast of the East" post=385778][quote="RedStormNC" post=385775][quote="Las Vegan" post=385731][quote="Monte" post=385705]Definitely too early to make any decisions on attending any kind of events, but I would really have to think long and hard about ever attending an event CA again, when you consider the lack of air circulation and how cramped it is. I feel like I dodged a bullet the week of March 7th-14th, when I was at MSG 3 times. Plus subways, buses, etc. Not going to be pushing my luck anytime soon.[/quote]

Your post reminded me of a story from years ago. An alum and long-time season ticket holder spoke to AD, Ed Manetta, at halftime of a game at the Alumni Hall sweatbox, and begged him to open the windows above the red seats to get some fresh, cool air into the arena. Manetta responded he couldn't do it because pigeons would fly in.[/quote]

Screen windows are very expensive ![/quote]

Playing literally thousands of games on NYC asphalt playgrounds, I had completely forgotten how on many days you had to gauge the wind when shooting from the outside. You could actually develop some deft skill shooting into a headwind, or to the left or right of the basket in a crosswind. Totally something our kids missed, and that's too bad.[/quote]

As a Rockaway kid biking to Riis Park to play I found the hardest shot to make was from the ocean side corner, where the on shore breeze made everything go way long after 2PM.[/quote]

Exactly!!! I didn't know you were a Rockaway kid. What street were the famous courts on? The one near the McGuire's bar? Was that at Beach 108? or Beach 98?

It was uncanny how some kids could even get hot from the outside playing the winds. Sometimes a good gust could create an airball that missed the rim by a good 3 to 4 feet, or if you misread the wind or it went dead just as you released. Playng inside on varnished wooden floors, nets on hoops, temperatures that were not either broiling hot or frostbite cold made indoor basketball seems like an elite, almost girls game.

Playing outside with woolen gloves, where some of us wore only one to feel the frigid ball. Melting snow didn't stop us, and playing in soaked woolen gloves, a wet basketball, glassy eyes, and a runny nose seemed routine in winter. Forget about it if you jammed a finger in winter - you feared your frozen fingers may snap off in the cold.

When I was 18 or so, I'd ride my bike from Richmond Hill up Cross Bay Blvd, over the first bridge to Broad Channel, then over the 2nd bridge to Rockaway (that's exactly what we called the bridges - 1st and second although they may have specific names. The first bridge I think was free and the second a toll bridge, correct? Either way then the toll was a quarter or 50 cents.

If one of us got a car, the game was always for the passenger to try to hook shot a quarter into the toll basket. Of course we had a paucity of change and that was when a quarter meant something, so missing the basket meant getting out and searching for the quarter, to the anger and chagrin of drivers behind us. The errant shooter was likely to get punched or smacked by the driver and rear seat passengers, all in good fun and a lot of laughs.

There are legendary courts in Rockaway, that Cousy played on, the McGuires played on, and guys would travel from all over the city to play against the best. I believe that even Alcindor came to the Rockaways, and maybe the last group included Len Elmore. By the mid 70s though, it was done. A good friend of mine would shoot baskets on that court as it were a ghostly shrine or museum - hallowed ground that attracted some of the best players ever. By the grass had sprouted up in the cracks in the asphalt. t's been a long time, so it may have actually been cement and not asphalt. We would take our bikes to the beach in early may and all summer - a basketball could be tucked in the carrier behind the seat and secured with a small bungee, or more likely a rubber book strap with those metal clasps.

I had a Schwinn Varsity - which was about 25 bucks cheaper than a Continental, and a much heavier bike, which was mostly bad but made it a tank. It was bright orange and I paid for it with money I earned working at the A&P at $2.10 an hour, so 25 bucks plus tax was a huge difference to me back then.

If the ball got loose tearing down Cross Bay Blvd, that could be an adventure retrieving it. We'd ride through the back streets of Centreville behind John Adams, and over the Belt Parkway over a small Bridge into Old Howard Beach. We'd turn onto Cross Bay Blvd in front of the Cross Bay Lanes (which I think was torn down to build a shopping mall. Riding a bike on Cross Bay in Howard Beach was treacherous with drivers not looking for bikes as they swung onto Cross Bay or swung open their car doors.

Back then you could drink when you turned 18, but I waited till 19. We'd stop at a beer distributor just before the first bridge and buy a six pack, and then stop in a deli for sandwiches. Just about the best lunches I've ever had were consumed on the boardwalk benches - a few cold beers, a fresh hero, a great ocean view, and chat where basketball consumed 75% of topics covered, girls another 20, then maybe 5% on other important matters. Glorious summers..
 
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Growing up lived on Newport and 124th and then on Beach 140th. Later lived in rented apartment on 106th facing beach where younger son was born and then bought on Beach 138th. McGuire Courts were on Beach 108th. Riis Park courts at summer peak were pros and D1 varsity (Kareem, Sonny Dove, Vaughn Harper plus lots of scouts and street agents) on Court 1, High School varsity plus college on Court 2, Junior High precocious and rest of us on Court 3. I was Court 3,

We would bicycle over Marine Park Bridge, stop at the Canarsie Pier, and then come back via Cross Bay Bridge, with a stop at Weiss', which as a Nathan's veteran, I did not like.

Current status is more orthopedic injuries than I knew I had parts. Virus is interfering with my flirting with all the women at physical therapy.
 
[quote="fuchsia" post=385845]Growing up lived on Newport and 124th and then on Beach 140th. Later lived in rented apartment on 106th facing beach where younger son was born and then bought on Beach 138th. McGuire Courts were on Beach 108th. Riis Park courts at summer peak were pros and D1 varsity (Kareem, Sonny Dove, Vaughn Harper plus lots of scouts and street agents) on Court 1, High School varsity plus college on Court 2, Junior High precocious and rest of us on Court 3. I was Court 3,

We would bicycle over Marine Park Bridge, stop at the Canarsie Pier, and then come back via Cross Bay Bridge, with a stop at Weiss', which as a Nathan's veteran, I did not like.

Current status is more orthopedic injuries than I knew I had parts. Virus is interfering with my flirting with all the women at physical therapy.[/quote]

Big bow wow
 
[quote="fuchsia" post=385900]I think that both Brian Winters and Kevin Joyce played at the McGuire Courts.[/quote]

I thought the legendary courts where the MCguires played were Beach 108th. They would be working at the bar, someone would come get them to play, and they'd bolt out of work until their dad noticed they were gone, Is that correct?
 
[quote="fuchsia" post=385911]108th is correct. I am actually not old enough to have seen the action, moved to Rockaway in 1954.[/quote]

AA train to beach 98th. Get off at Rockaways Playland. Somehow seemed like a cheesy disneyland.

Fireworks one night oer week in summers off the beach. Bring army blankets and coolers and head their with parents after dinner.
 
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