Happy Birthday, Coach Carnesecca
- Thread starter beast of the east
- Start date
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
There is a birthday celebration for Coach Carnesecca and Coach Kaiser tomorrow night (Thursday) at Antun's in Springfield Garden's.
$90 per person
Lots of former SJU basketball and baseball players will be attending.
Cocktails at 6pm, Dinner at 7PM.
$90 per person
Lots of former SJU basketball and baseball players will be attending.
Cocktails at 6pm, Dinner at 7PM.
jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
Was at the soiree last evening. Great time had by all.
Had the privilege of sitting with Beast of The East and his very lovely daughters.
Among those at Antun's were: George Johnson, Dr. Jerry Lawrence , Frankie Alagia, Gordan Thomas,
and John Farmer.
An honor to be in the same room as Coach Carnesecca and Coach Kaiser.
No one has represented our great University with more dignity than they.
Dr. Lawrence, who played for St. John's in the mid-1950's (Played his high school ball at Xavier), talked about his days at our Brooklyn campus where most of the students played basketball between classes at DeGray's Gym.
Said Gov. Cuomo (who was a senior when Jerry was a freshman) was a
very good player and that he loved basketball.
Coach Carnesecca said that Buck Freeman was the best coach St. John's ever had and that he deserves to be in the basketball HOF.
Coach Carnesecca said the first game he ever saw SJU play in was against Fordham and naturally, we won!
I was speaking with Prof. Jack Clark and he told me that Chris Cuomo told him that his Dad was watching us beat Long Beach State a few weeks ago on TV.
Had the privilege of sitting with Beast of The East and his very lovely daughters.
Among those at Antun's were: George Johnson, Dr. Jerry Lawrence , Frankie Alagia, Gordan Thomas,
and John Farmer.
An honor to be in the same room as Coach Carnesecca and Coach Kaiser.
No one has represented our great University with more dignity than they.
Dr. Lawrence, who played for St. John's in the mid-1950's (Played his high school ball at Xavier), talked about his days at our Brooklyn campus where most of the students played basketball between classes at DeGray's Gym.
Said Gov. Cuomo (who was a senior when Jerry was a freshman) was a
very good player and that he loved basketball.
Coach Carnesecca said that Buck Freeman was the best coach St. John's ever had and that he deserves to be in the basketball HOF.
Coach Carnesecca said the first game he ever saw SJU play in was against Fordham and naturally, we won!
I was speaking with Prof. Jack Clark and he told me that Chris Cuomo told him that his Dad was watching us beat Long Beach State a few weeks ago on TV.
Avon Barksdale
Member
Heard that Keady was the only staff member present and that the other coaches were out recruiting...if they were working like this the last few years we wouldnt be in the current mess we are in and looking at for next season.
beast of the east
Active member
Attended the birthday party celebrating Coaches Carnesecca and Kaiser last night.
The event was initially intended for mostly former baseball and basketball players in a small venue of maybe 100 or so people. As a result there were a ton of former players present.
I had the pleasure of sitting with JSJ, Rino Grzinic, and Bill Schaeffer. Billy was the MC for the event, and did a fine job. Ran into several old friends and a few new ones. Met Professor Clarke of SJU law for the first time - an amazingly warm ambassador of everything St. John's, a big basketball fan, and a close friend of Mario Cuomo. The night was put together by Kevin Barry, a friend to many season ticket holders on Redmen.com, and a great guy himself.
It was a little dismaying not to see Kaiser or Carnesecca working the room during the cocktail hour, as each would have been just a couple of years ago. Both have had their share of infirmities, Kaiser more serious, and it became clear this wasn't the typical night where you could expect a few minutes of times with either.
Schaeffer made some opening light hearted comments, we sang happy birthday, and Schaeffer instructed the maître D to bring the cake to the main table where both Kaiser and Carnesecca were seated. It was then clear that neither was considered well enough even to come up to the microphone to speak or cut the cake.
Schaeffer then handed the microphone to Coach C. to speak from his seat. Carnesecca began slowly, his familiar raspy voice not as strong as in the past, thanking the guests for coming. He then began to speak about St. John's basketball, and pushed himself out of his seat as he stood and began to give a verbally illustrated history of St. John's, going back to the time of his birth. He described the Wonder 5, and meeting them as a young man, expected that they would "all have been 6'9 monsters", and was surprised in person to see that "they were all about 5'2", which brought down the audience. Coach was now gathering strength, and he strolled away from his chair to the head of his table, and began a command performance as the years melted away. He gave the highlights of many St. John's teams. naming all the players on Frank McGuire's 1951 NCAA finalists, all the key players from Joe Lapchick's 1959 team with Alan Seiden, Lou Roethel, and Gus Alfieri (some of whom were present). He spoke about Tony Jackson, Kevin Loughery, and Leroy Ellis, and about Lapchick's 1965 team. He then went on to speak about some of his great teams, including the Elite eight team of the late 70's, that almost beat Penn. In full steam, he turned and face Gordon Thomas, and said to the audience, "And Gordie Thomas should have made that shot!". It brought the place down, and now Looie had everyone in the palm of his hands.
He then spoke about one of his teams that started 9-8. The staff coaching staff was upset and worried, and thought the season was lost. Jack Kaiser was by then the AD. He called Looie into the office, and told him he wanted to speak to the entire coaching staff, but not on campus. At dinner at Dantes. Before Looie or his assistants could offer any excuses, complaints, or concerns, Kaiser spoke, and told them not to worry. That Kaiser had every confidence that things would get better in a hurry - that the team was too good not to turn it around. The team won 13 of their final 15, just as Kaiser was confident of.
Looie then addressed the present, and said that the team is going through a rough patch, but he was just as confident as Kaiser back then, that the team would turn it around and get back on track.
He then closed by speaking from his heart about what makes St. John's special as a university filled with so many good people willing to help others. That part I am paraphrasing, because like many in the audience, it was a sentiment of strength, unity and goodness that could not be measured in academic rankings, AP polls, or any other metric. And he was right. As he closed, it was clear that Carnesecca is ageless, a treasure and ambassador not just for basketball, but for the entire university. As they say, his speech was worth the price of admission.
As he sat down, JSJ, Rino, and myself all independently expressed the same thought. The guy is amazing, and from start to finish lost about 30 years of chronology and appeared as youthful as the coach who patrolled the sidelines for more than a quarter century.
Coach Kaiser then spoke as eloquently and passionately as Coach C., but that's for another posting.
I wish everyone associated with the university could have heard this speech. I was going to video it on my phone and post it here, but had an obstructed view. I now wish I had, obstructed view and all.
The event was initially intended for mostly former baseball and basketball players in a small venue of maybe 100 or so people. As a result there were a ton of former players present.
I had the pleasure of sitting with JSJ, Rino Grzinic, and Bill Schaeffer. Billy was the MC for the event, and did a fine job. Ran into several old friends and a few new ones. Met Professor Clarke of SJU law for the first time - an amazingly warm ambassador of everything St. John's, a big basketball fan, and a close friend of Mario Cuomo. The night was put together by Kevin Barry, a friend to many season ticket holders on Redmen.com, and a great guy himself.
It was a little dismaying not to see Kaiser or Carnesecca working the room during the cocktail hour, as each would have been just a couple of years ago. Both have had their share of infirmities, Kaiser more serious, and it became clear this wasn't the typical night where you could expect a few minutes of times with either.
Schaeffer made some opening light hearted comments, we sang happy birthday, and Schaeffer instructed the maître D to bring the cake to the main table where both Kaiser and Carnesecca were seated. It was then clear that neither was considered well enough even to come up to the microphone to speak or cut the cake.
Schaeffer then handed the microphone to Coach C. to speak from his seat. Carnesecca began slowly, his familiar raspy voice not as strong as in the past, thanking the guests for coming. He then began to speak about St. John's basketball, and pushed himself out of his seat as he stood and began to give a verbally illustrated history of St. John's, going back to the time of his birth. He described the Wonder 5, and meeting them as a young man, expected that they would "all have been 6'9 monsters", and was surprised in person to see that "they were all about 5'2", which brought down the audience. Coach was now gathering strength, and he strolled away from his chair to the head of his table, and began a command performance as the years melted away. He gave the highlights of many St. John's teams. naming all the players on Frank McGuire's 1951 NCAA finalists, all the key players from Joe Lapchick's 1959 team with Alan Seiden, Lou Roethel, and Gus Alfieri (some of whom were present). He spoke about Tony Jackson, Kevin Loughery, and Leroy Ellis, and about Lapchick's 1965 team. He then went on to speak about some of his great teams, including the Elite eight team of the late 70's, that almost beat Penn. In full steam, he turned and face Gordon Thomas, and said to the audience, "And Gordie Thomas should have made that shot!". It brought the place down, and now Looie had everyone in the palm of his hands.
He then spoke about one of his teams that started 9-8. The staff coaching staff was upset and worried, and thought the season was lost. Jack Kaiser was by then the AD. He called Looie into the office, and told him he wanted to speak to the entire coaching staff, but not on campus. At dinner at Dantes. Before Looie or his assistants could offer any excuses, complaints, or concerns, Kaiser spoke, and told them not to worry. That Kaiser had every confidence that things would get better in a hurry - that the team was too good not to turn it around. The team won 13 of their final 15, just as Kaiser was confident of.
Looie then addressed the present, and said that the team is going through a rough patch, but he was just as confident as Kaiser back then, that the team would turn it around and get back on track.
He then closed by speaking from his heart about what makes St. John's special as a university filled with so many good people willing to help others. That part I am paraphrasing, because like many in the audience, it was a sentiment of strength, unity and goodness that could not be measured in academic rankings, AP polls, or any other metric. And he was right. As he closed, it was clear that Carnesecca is ageless, a treasure and ambassador not just for basketball, but for the entire university. As they say, his speech was worth the price of admission.
As he sat down, JSJ, Rino, and myself all independently expressed the same thought. The guy is amazing, and from start to finish lost about 30 years of chronology and appeared as youthful as the coach who patrolled the sidelines for more than a quarter century.
Coach Kaiser then spoke as eloquently and passionately as Coach C., but that's for another posting.
I wish everyone associated with the university could have heard this speech. I was going to video it on my phone and post it here, but had an obstructed view. I now wish I had, obstructed view and all.
beast of the east
Active member
Heard Lavin thought the food would not be up to snuff so he dined at one of his favorite 5 star restaurantsCoach C and coach K never cease to amaze nor disappoint and happy to hear it was a good night for everybody.
Just to be fair, I was a little put off by the fact Lavin wasn't there, but heard from a reliable person that Lavin really wanted to attend, but had a previous commitment he couldn't break. The person emphasized the REALLY WANTED TO part, so I take that at his word. Gene Keady attended representing the current staff, a very classy guy himself.
Avon Barksdale
Member
which event was he at?
Ricky Smith
Member
On a job interview
Avon Barksdale
Member
Heard Lavin thought the food would not be up to snuff so he dined at one of his favorite 5 star restaurants
Just to be fair, I was a little put off by the fact Lavin wasn't there, but heard from a reliable person that Lavin really wanted to attend, but had a previous commitment he couldn't break. The person emphasized the REALLY WANTED TO part, so I take that at his word. Gene Keady attended representing the current staff, a very classy guy himself.
understood Beast, this was planned months in advance though. i just think this should have been a priority for Lavin to attend this as well as the rest of the staff. while Lavin name drops John Wooden at every opportunity he has, i think its important to recognize that this is St. John's, not UCLA and our Hall of Famer is Louie. Without Louie this program would be even more of a laughingstock and punchline than what it is now. Sending only Keady was yet another poorly produced moment in the Lavin regime.
beast of the east
Active member
Heard Lavin thought the food would not be up to snuff so he dined at one of his favorite 5 star restaurants
Just to be fair, I was a little put off by the fact Lavin wasn't there, but heard from a reliable person that Lavin really wanted to attend, but had a previous commitment he couldn't break. The person emphasized the REALLY WANTED TO part, so I take that at his word. Gene Keady attended representing the current staff, a very classy guy himself.
understood Beast, this was planned months in advance though. i just think this should have been a priority for Lavin to attend this as well as the rest of the staff. while Lavin name drops John Wooden at every opportunity he has, i think its important to recognize that this is St. John's, not UCLA and our Hall of Famer is Louie. Without Louie this program would be even more of a laughingstock and punchline than what it is now. Sending only Keady was yet another poorly produced moment in the Lavin regime.
No doubt I was disappointed that Lavin wasn't there, but can't be critical without knowing what the other commitment was. I don't like to crap on people without knowing the details, and if Lavin had an immovable charity event for example, I'd accept that. I do agree that Lavin representing the continuity of SJU basketball and the incredibly rich tradition would only have added to the evening. As such out of respect for Looie and SJU basketball, if at all possible, should have been there.