Joe Lapchick

J

jerseyshorejohnny

Well-known member
 Was watching a program on MSG late last night about Joe Lapchick and Sweetwater Clifton.

I'm sure many of you have seen it before.

That said, it would be great to see St. John's do more to honor not only a great basketball coach but a great man and humanitarian.

I would bet that many of our current students know nothing about him, and if true, it's a real shame.
 
As some of us had suggested in the past, there's no reason why a statue of Coach Lapchick shouldn't be in front of CA. His legacy should never be forgotten. 
 
As some of us had suggested in the past, there's no reason why a statue of Coach Lapchick shouldn't be in front of CA. His legacy should never be forgotten. 
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+1 that would be pretty cool too
 
I would be more than happy to start a campaign or petition to get something like that done. Lapchick not only meant a lot to St. John's but he meant a lot to NYC & basketball in general. I strongly recommend the book Lapchick by Gus Alferi for all StJ fans. He won several NIT Championships with St. John's when the NIT was the real National Championship & took the Knicks to 3 straight NBA Finals.  
 
 Frankly I love Louie like no other, but a strong case could have been made to name the present arena after Joe Lapchick. When you do a side by side comparison of both coaches, I believe Lapchick had greater credentials with his NIT Championships which Redmen accurately stated were National Championships!!!
 
 I have feel the same about the name of the arena on campus. They should have compromised and went with something like the Lapchick & Carnescca Convocation Center, we could call it the L&C Center for short, reminds me of a Little League team we used play called L & C Deli LOL.
 
I see no reason why there can't be 2 statutes, one of Carnesseca & one of Lapchick (one near Taffner entrance & one near Belson Stadium side). I would contribute financially for this in a heartbeat. If Cincy can have one of the Big O while he is still alive we can do one of Looie.
 
I see no reason why there can't be 2 statutes, one of Carnesseca & one of Lapchick (one near Taffner entrance & one near Belson Stadium side). I would contribute financially for this in a heartbeat. If Cincy can have one of the Big O while he is still alive we can do one of Looie.
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Cost is a serious matter, and since Looie already has his name on the arena, let's concentrate on having Coach Lapchick's statue at the entrance to it.
 
A statue of Lapchick outside of Carnesecca Arena would definitely be appropriate. I remember going to his lat game when I was a senior in high school. St. Johns beat Villanova for the 1965 NIT Championship. Must be getting old. 
 
The Lapchick book was a great read.

Lapchick was a Giant among men for his stand for all African Americans, hearing his son Rich re-tell the chilling stories about the vile things done to them makes your hair stand up.

I would definitely contribute! 

This would make me proud of Alma mater!
 
It would be wonderful to have a statue of him in front of his hall.

I always thought the place should have been called Lapchick Arena and the Lou C. court.

Perhaps a ground swell will come from this.

danfog
 
A full size bronze statue can cost as much as $100K. If true, we would need a lot of people to contribute. 
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I was working the numbers really hard, and here's what I came up with:

100,000 people contributing $1 each,

or 1 person contributing $100,000.

I'm sure there are other combinations also, but I got tired.

I think bronze statues of Lapchick with his hand on Looie's shoulder would be way cool, considering Looie learned from Joe. Kind of like every church in Rome named for St. Peter, there is also a statue of St. Paul, and the reverse.
 
I see no reason why there can't be 2 statutes, one of Carnesseca & one of Lapchick (one near Taffner entrance & one near Belson Stadium side). I would contribute financially for this in a heartbeat. If Cincy can have one of the Big O while he is still alive we can do one of Looie.
Click to expand...
 

Cost is a serious matter, and since Looie already has his name on the arena, let's concentrate on having Coach Lapchick's statue at the entrance to it.
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We can start with bobbleheads till they raise enough funds.
 
 200 contributing $500 each? 100 contributing $1000? It can be done for sure. Get some of the student body involved. Do the engraved bricks around the statue that lists all the donors. I know I'd pony up something for that. Too easily is history forgotten.
 
 200 contributing $500 each? 100 contributing $1000? It can be done for sure. Get some of the student body involved. Do the engraved bricks around the statue that lists all the donors. I know I'd pony up something for that. Too easily is history forgotten.
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Engraved bricks would be really great as a fundraiser. Or a series of walls like they have in Epcot.
 
This would be great if it could take off.

Don't know if the university would go for it, but it would be good if we could bring it to the attention of alumni (those who don't follow redmen.com) in the quarterly magazine that's sent to them.

Someone who's good at this sort of thing, take the lead in this.

  
 
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