Can anyone post the article for those who don't support James Dolan and his evil empire?
I dont know why its not showing up for you but here it is:
Looking on Saturday from a Madison Square Garden luxury box he describes as "the crow's nest," Steve Lavin was on his feet when St. John's Moe Harkless and Amir Garrett each scored in the final minute while staving off a Notre Dame comeback. When the final Irish shot missed, giving the Red Storm a 61-58 victory that was its first over a ranked opponent this season, Lavin turned and joyfully kissed his wife, actress Mary Ann Jarou.
On the long, strange, rumor-filled road to recovery from prostate cancer surgery, the Red Storm's head coach had arrived at a happy juncture where he could almost see the clouds surrounding his health and his basketball program parting to show a clear path ahead. It was St. John's third straight win, and it certainly didn't hurt that the prospects Lavin is recruiting have seen his team knock off UCLA and Notre Dame on national TV on successive Saturdays.
"I'd be very surprised if we don't sign another stellar class similar to this one," Lavin said, referring to the five freshmen and one junior-college transfer who are coming to the end of their Big East baptism and showing a promising level of maturity and mental toughness. "Now, they've come back with a second wind. That's what makes them dangerous. They're at a point where I don't sense any fear, no matter who the opponent is."
Lavin's message was similar in his first appearance of the season at a pregame breakfast for St. John's booster club. "We've got to go out in the April signing period and add three or four pieces to the puzzle," Lavin said. "Size is a priority, yet we're not giving up speed and skill."
Then, Lavin addressed the question that has dogged him since he coached four games before taking a leave from the bench to allow himself to recover fully from his Oct. 6 surgery. "It's not like I've gone anywhere," Lavin said. "I'm helping young kids come of age to be in a better place next year."
In the backbiting world of recruiting, Lavin's commitment to St. John's has been questioned widely. He's spent this season explaining to recruits and their families that he is cancer-free and expects to be at full strength next season.
Describing the stories relayed to him by recruits, Lavin said: "I've heard, 'The cancer is back; he's going back to television; his wife's unhappy; it's not cancer, but they found something else.'
"My approach is that you don't get defensive or carried away with it. It's important to bring a lighthearted touch and understand that, in the information age with a 24-hour sports news cycle, there are going to be things said. Instead of getting angry or wasting energy on it, it's better to control the things you can."
Among hundreds of pictures filed on Lavin's cellphone is one of the long scar extending downward from his navel and bisecting his abdomen. Despite what he termed the unexpected difficulty of his surgery and the significant blood loss he experienced over the course of seven hours on the operating table, Lavin, too, thought he would bounce right back.
"I was feeling, 'OK, I'll shower, shave, get a cup of coffee and go coach,' " he said. "My wife was like, 'Are you crazy?' "
It didn't happen that way. After coaching four games and making two recruiting trips in a 10-day span, Lavin said he was hospitalized again because he couldn't shake the fatigue. "This was like having no gas in the tank," Lavin said. "If I have a signature, it's energy and passion. So to ask our players to perform and not be able to do it myself, that's something I was uncomfortable with besides not being able to do it."
When he had to separate himself from the sideline, Lavin said he received the full support of Rev. Donald Harrington, St. John's president, who told him his long-term health was tied to that of the basketball program. On the home front, Lavin said his wife has supported him with a devotion akin to the movie "The English Patient."
Jarou has been living the basketball life since Lavin accepted the St. John's job 22 months ago.
But she also has found time to play a role in one episode of the NBC TV series "Grimm," and she's currently taking a French class at the New School and enjoying life in New York City. "When you're at a high-profile school in New York and you go through some health challenges, it leads to some wonderfully inaccurate innuendo and gossip," Lavin said.
"We've been together 10 years, and for seven years when I was in television, all we ever talked about was, 'What if the St. John's job opens?' "
Now Lavin has it, and he plans to keep it.
