Johnny Jungle

[mjmaherjr]

A lot of times life gets in the way. I was away for years after my wife was killed in an automobile accident five and a half years ago. I just lost interest even though I still went to games and was still a season's ticket holder. My entire perspective changed and I wasn't myself. Maybe some of these guys had life changing events that's caused them to stop posting. We should say a prayer for them.
All I can say is that you guys are part of my recovery. I was recently diagnosed with PTSD from the accident and some other unfortunate life events. I now realize that I need SJU basketball and someone to share it with to help me get back on track in life and this board is part of my recovery.
Thank you my Redmen.com brothers.

Greg refresh my memory. Did you work for the TSA or something like that and didnt we end up sitting right behind you at MSG behind a basket for a big east tourney game or something like that ? Sorry for your loss BTW I dont think I ever remember you mentioning that here before

Yes mj we sat together at a BE tournament game many years ago. I forget who introduced us and I can't remember who we were playing but we were sitting in the section behind the student section at MSG.
Yes I did work for the TSA and just retired this past August. I'm moving to Longboat Key in Florida in May.
I never mentioned my wife's unfortunate demise because I had a hard time dealing with it. I've gotten some help and now I'm trying to put my life back together.
She and I got engaged in 1998 at center court at a Duke/SJU game at MSG. The SJU staff was amazing at arranging it and fooling her into thinking that she was going to be in a shoot out contest. It was one of the best days of my life. The only negative was that Duke beat us by 17, I think. LOL!

Ahhh at least my memory isnt totally shot it was a lot of fun meeting you at that game and so ironic we sat right behind you. I had to have been at the game you got engaged but halftime is my time to go buy a beer so I missed it. My friend from work just went on vacation to Longboat 2 weeks ago rented an airbnb she absolutely loved it said it was very relaxing. Congrats on the retirement !!!!!

Is it possible that you knew my friend Frank Guinan somehow and that's how we met? He used to go to a lot of games with me.

Was he on redmen ? Was so long ago I forget who I was with. Was it pre msg renovations ? It's possible one of my friends knew him

Way before the renovation. If I remember correctly, which may be suspect, I think that you and Frank started talking on the beer line while I was in the men's room and when I came back he told me that you were a Redmen.com guy. I could be wrong but I think that's how it happened.

Oh that very well could have happened. I meet everyone on the beer line

 

[L J S A]

Who was that guy JR Green or SL Green or something? Showed up when Lav was hired touting his greatness at UCLA. Supposedly(coincidentally?) he  got very ill when Lav was on the hot seat, then disappeared when Lavin was let go. I was always skeptical of the guy, much as I am the guys(family members?) who showed up when Norm and CMA were hired. It didn't happen so much when Mullin was hired. Of course, none of them were/are real SJU fans and disappear as soon as the coach does. 

CR Green. No joke he loved Lavin so much I think he got sympathy cancer. He passed away. One of the members over there knew him

One of the members where? 

on the jungle

I'm skeptical Mike. Not of you, obviously, but of the whole story. 

Not sure what part you are doubtful of, but if you doubt his entire existence, a poster here did find his obituary and post the link here. Of course it could have been someone impersonating the real CR Green and had to stop posting when he died (which would be really bizarre), but there was in fact a CR Green. But if you think it was really Lavin praising himself through a screen name, I 100 percent would want that to be the real story./media/kunena/emoticons/grin.png

 

[L J S A]

I was always skeptical of the guy, much as I am the guys(family members?) who showed up when Norm and CMA were hired. It didn't happen so much when Mullin was hired. Of course, none of them were/are real SJU fans and disappear as soon as the coach does. 

Q in Yonkers was absolutely related to a coach on Norm's staff. I called him out on it and said he'd never post again when they were fired. He posted saying that wasn't true . . . and that denial was as far as I know his last post ever.

 

[gregbodkin]

A lot of times life gets in the way. I was away for years after my wife was killed in an automobile accident five and a half years ago. I just lost interest even though I still went to games and was still a season's ticket holder. My entire perspective changed and I wasn't myself. Maybe some of these guys had life changing events that's caused them to stop posting. We should say a prayer for them.
All I can say is that you guys are part of my recovery. I was recently diagnosed with PTSD from the accident and some other unfortunate life events. I now realize that I need SJU basketball and someone to share it with to help me get back on track in life and this board is part of my recovery.
Thank you my Redmen.com brothers.

Greg refresh my memory. Did you work for the TSA or something like that and didnt we end up sitting right behind you at MSG behind a basket for a big east tourney game or something like that ? Sorry for your loss BTW I dont think I ever remember you mentioning that here before

Yes mj we sat together at a BE tournament game many years ago. I forget who introduced us and I can't remember who we were playing but we were sitting in the section behind the student section at MSG.
Yes I did work for the TSA and just retired this past August. I'm moving to Longboat Key in Florida in May.
I never mentioned my wife's unfortunate demise because I had a hard time dealing with it. I've gotten some help and now I'm trying to put my life back together.
She and I got engaged in 1998 at center court at a Duke/SJU game at MSG. The SJU staff was amazing at arranging it and fooling her into thinking that she was going to be in a shoot out contest. It was one of the best days of my life. The only negative was that Duke beat us by 17, I think. LOL!

Ahhh at least my memory isnt totally shot it was a lot of fun meeting you at that game and so ironic we sat right behind you. I had to have been at the game you got engaged but halftime is my time to go buy a beer so I missed it. My friend from work just went on vacation to Longboat 2 weeks ago rented an airbnb she absolutely loved it said it was very relaxing. Congrats on the retirement !!!!!

Is it possible that you knew my friend Frank Guinan somehow and that's how we met? He used to go to a lot of games with me.

Was he on redmen ? Was so long ago I forget who I was with. Was it pre msg renovations ? It's possible one of my friends knew him

Way before the renovation. If I remember correctly, which may be suspect, I think that you and Frank started talking on the beer line while I was in the men's room and when I came back he told me that you were a Redmen.com guy. I could be wrong but I think that's how it happened.

Oh that very well could have happened. I meet everyone on the beer line

Which is the best place to meet people. You know that you can trust someone who drinks beer!!! LOL!!!

 

[monte]

Who was that guy JR Green or SL Green or something? Showed up when Lav was hired touting his greatness at UCLA. Supposedly(coincidentally?) he  got very ill when Lav was on the hot seat, then disappeared when Lavin was let go. I was always skeptical of the guy, much as I am the guys(family members?) who showed up when Norm and CMA were hired. It didn't happen so much when Mullin was hired. Of course, none of them were/are real SJU fans and disappear as soon as the coach does. 

CR Green. No joke he loved Lavin so much I think he got sympathy cancer. He passed away. One of the members over there knew him

One of the members where? 

on the jungle

I'm skeptical Mike. Not of you, obviously, but of the whole story. 

Not sure what part you are doubtful of, but if you doubt his entire existence, a poster here did find his obituary and post the link here. Of course it could have been someone impersonating the real CR Green and had to stop posting when he died (which would be really bizarre), but there was in fact a CR Green. But if you think it was really Lavin praising himself through a screen name, I 100 percent would want that to be the real story./media/kunena/emoticons/grin.png

Nah, I never thought CR Green was Lavin, but I did think that he was a plant by Lavin or a family member. The timing of his illness and alleged demise was awfully coincidental. If I remember correctly, it was right around the time that Lavin was, ah, terminated, that CR Green announced that he departure was imminent. Now, I do not mean to make light of the situation if CR Green was in fact who he said he was, and was in fact terminally ill and about to meet his demise, but the whole story just smelled fishy to me 

 

[guinness77]

A lot of times life gets in the way. I was away for years after my wife was killed in an automobile accident five and a half years ago. I just lost interest even though I still went to games and was still a season's ticket holder. My entire perspective changed and I wasn't myself. Maybe some of these guys had life changing events that's caused them to stop posting. We should say a prayer for them.
All I can say is that you guys are part of my recovery. I was recently diagnosed with PTSD from the accident and some other unfortunate life events. I now realize that I need SJU basketball and someone to share it with to help me get back on track in life and this board is part of my recovery.
Thank you my Redmen.com brothers.

Greg refresh my memory. Did you work for the TSA or something like that and didnt we end up sitting right behind you at MSG behind a basket for a big east tourney game or something like that ? Sorry for your loss BTW I dont think I ever remember you mentioning that here before

Yes mj we sat together at a BE tournament game many years ago. I forget who introduced us and I can't remember who we were playing but we were sitting in the section behind the student section at MSG.
Yes I did work for the TSA and just retired this past August. I'm moving to Longboat Key in Florida in May.
I never mentioned my wife's unfortunate demise because I had a hard time dealing with it. I've gotten some help and now I'm trying to put my life back together.
She and I got engaged in 1998 at center court at a Duke/SJU game at MSG. The SJU staff was amazing at arranging it and fooling her into thinking that she was going to be in a shoot out contest. It was one of the best days of my life. The only negative was that Duke beat us by 17, I think. LOL!

Wow. I don’t even know what to say. So sorry for your loss. I don’t even know you and I teared up a bit reading your post.

I thank you guys for putting up with me. I’ve been following the program since I was a little kid (thank you Mullin) and this is really my only outlet to discuss the club. The game threads are sometimes truly cathartic for me, haha.

 

[austour]

Nah, I never thought CR Green was Lavin, but I did think that he was a plant by Lavin or a family member. The timing of his illness and alleged demise was awfully coincidental. If I remember correctly, it was right around the time that Lavin was, ah, terminated, that CR Green announced that he departure was imminent. Now, I do not mean to make light of the situation if CR Green was in fact who he said he was, and was in fact terminally ill and about to meet his demise, but the whole story just smelled fishy to me 

He was really Jack Williams.

 

[fuchsia]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

 

[SJU85]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

I would have loved to see what we we could have done if DJ doesn’t get hurt the end of his senior season.

 

[beast of the east]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

I would have loved to see what we we could have done if DJ doesn’t get hurt the end of his senior season.

My recollection is that we cooled off once Brownlee broke a finger on his shooting hand and were not playing that well. DJ going down was just icing on the cake that finished us.

Justin Brownlee will turn 34 in april and has had a really nice career overseas. 

 

[mjmaherjr]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

I would have loved to see what we we could have done if DJ doesn’t get hurt the end of his senior season.

My recollection is that we cooled off once Brownlee broke a finger on his shooting hand and were not playing that well. DJ going down was just icing on the cake that finished us.

Justin Brownlee will turn 34 in april and has had a really nice career overseas. 

That Lavin first year we definitely didnt tail off. ( maybe was that the year before ? ) . We all went out to the UCLA game in february it was around my bday and super bowl where we got ref jobbed then after that we won like maybe 9 out of 10 or something like that before DJ went down with the injury and we lost to Cuse. I think our only loss was at Seton Hall maybe. My numbers might be slightly off but that particular year we were peaking at the end of the season. Hence even more feeling that we are always cursed. Maybe that Brownlee thing was Norms last year ? 

 

[beast of the east]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

I would have loved to see what we we could have done if DJ doesn’t get hurt the end of his senior season.

My recollection is that we cooled off once Brownlee broke a finger on his shooting hand and were not playing that well. DJ going down was just icing on the cake that finished us.

Justin Brownlee will turn 34 in april and has had a really nice career overseas. 

That Lavin first year we definitely didnt tail off. ( maybe was that the year before ? ) . We all went out to the UCLA game where we got ref jobbed then after that we won like maybe 9 out of 10 or something like that before DJ went down with the injury and we lost to Cuse. I think our only loss was at Seton Hall maybe. My numbers might be slightly off but that particular year we were peaking at the end of the season. Hence even more feeling that we are always cursed. Maybe that Brownlee thing was Norms last year ? 

No. Brownlee broke a finger, and taped them together and stayed in the lineup. Up to that point he was a rock solid #2 scoring option to Hardy, and dj 3rd.

DJ's scoring went down but he perhaps had his best season as a senior, filling out a boxscore without being the man.

 

[room112]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

I would have loved to see what we we could have done if DJ doesn’t get hurt the end of his senior season.

My recollection is that we cooled off once Brownlee broke a finger on his shooting hand and were not playing that well. DJ going down was just icing on the cake that finished us.

Justin Brownlee will turn 34 in april and has had a really nice career overseas. 

That Lavin first year we definitely didnt tail off. ( maybe was that the year before ? ) . We all went out to the UCLA game in february it was around my bday and super bowl where we got ref jobbed then after that we won like maybe 9 out of 10 or something like that before DJ went down with the injury and we lost to Cuse. I think our only loss was at Seton Hall maybe. My numbers might be slightly off but that particular year we were peaking at the end of the season. Hence even more feeling that we are always cursed. Maybe that Brownlee thing was Norms last year ? 

It was a win, but don't forget the Big East tourney win over Rutgers which went down to the wire. We could have easily lost, especially if they had called Brownlee for that travel at the end for celebrating too soon. The next game against Syracuse though I feel like we win if DJ didn't go down.

 

[monte]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

Fuchsia if you knew him personally then I stand corrected and hope that he's resting in peace. Having said that, much of what he stated about Lavin's time UCLA was simply not true. That's not me speculating, that's me hearing about it first hand, at the time it was happening,  from someone who was involved with the UCLA program during the Harrick and Lavin eras. Let me just say this; Lavin was not let go simply because of some bad breaks and unrealistic expectations. It went way deeper then that, which is why I was one of the early and only skeptics of his hiring. 

 

[austour]

Monte, I had private back and forth with CR Green before he passed.  I always thought that Lavin teams were less than the sum of their parts and shared that with him.  No great protest and I presume he was real.  Lavin had a run of key players getting injured just as his teams went in to the tournament, DJ Kennedy here, and point guards at UCLA.

I would have loved to see what we we could have done if DJ doesn’t get hurt the end of his senior season.

My recollection is that we cooled off once Brownlee broke a finger on his shooting hand and were not playing that well. DJ going down was just icing on the cake that finished us.

Justin Brownlee will turn 34 in april and has had a really nice career overseas. 

They'd won 9 of 11 going into the BET.  Unfortunately one of those losses was on the visit to LA but 3 of the wins were against ranked teams.  Of course they should have lost that first BET game against Rutgers given the mess of the end.  

PS I would add Obekpa injuring his brain leading to him testing positive just before the tourney as well.