I’ve been able to enjoy reading the passionate St. John’s basketball posts on this site for some time now but I have never created an account or posted anything. This is my first post and just wanted to express my gratitude towards Paul for creating and maintaining the site. Best wishes to Paul and his family during this time.
Merry Christmas to Paul
- Thread starter redmannorth
- Start date
Hey Ceewho … thanks for your post…. don’t be a stranger. Please post your opinions.
If you are accusing Paul of being a gentleman and a scholar, I too would find him guilty.
echoing Otis post definitely post more
In reference to Paul. Paul has made my life infinitely better. Every day I try to live my life just to make 1 persons life better that day by a smile or whatever. Paul has created literally thousands probably 10s of thousands life long friendships when you factor in every person here and how they know everyone.
20 years ago roughly we had our first redmen.com party. At Mustang Sallys. I was like 32 or 33. I can name people there right now. Mkras Moose Fordham96 Lawmanfan SJUFAN2 Doc Butler Newsman Kranmars Lawman MCNPA the list goes on it was a ton of people. Kranmars walks in and we had already been arguing in the R&P forum but he walks in and we look at each other and crack up we had argued days on end and didn't know we knew each other since college. ( Ed SJUFAN2 became one of my best friends and Moose was just as tight with him ) The worst text in my life was this year Moose texting me he just passed away while I was in Peru but there is no doubt Ed would want it to have been Moose to tell me.I cried like a baby that day
Eventually it was so sad seeing Kranmars and Zanman sit alone in upper section 8 during Norm I went and sat with them because misery loves company. Plus they are awesome dudes. Then Kranmars and I decided to just change my tix to with them. Then we met weathermannyc at Carnesseca who sat next to us and he was on redmen also. Then Lavins first year someone put up a thread of where is everyone sitting and ton of soon to be best friends were in our section. Then the new garden starts and we all request to sit together
114 is now born. Then for whatever reason 114 became a place to stop by and see friends and make new friends. It makes my day every game when friends from here stop by every game. Sometimes we do pics ands put them up other times it's just stopping by quick to say hi. The reason why I say this all is because this time of the year especially I love Xmas and I love my xmas traditions.
The one movie that I watch twice every December is " It's a Wonderful Life ".
At the end of the movie and it literally hits me every time is "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends."
If you live by that we are all the richest people in the world but almost every friend I have here and through St Johns after I graduated is because of Paul
If you put a monetary value on that Paul has made us all millionaires
20 years ago roughly we had our first redmen.com party. At Mustang Sallys. I was like 32 or 33. I can name people there right now. Mkras Moose Fordham96 Lawmanfan SJUFAN2 Doc Butler Newsman Kranmars Lawman MCNPA the list goes on it was a ton of people. Kranmars walks in and we had already been arguing in the R&P forum but he walks in and we look at each other and crack up we had argued days on end and didn't know we knew each other since college. ( Ed SJUFAN2 became one of my best friends and Moose was just as tight with him ) The worst text in my life was this year Moose texting me he just passed away while I was in Peru but there is no doubt Ed would want it to have been Moose to tell me.I cried like a baby that day
Eventually it was so sad seeing Kranmars and Zanman sit alone in upper section 8 during Norm I went and sat with them because misery loves company. Plus they are awesome dudes. Then Kranmars and I decided to just change my tix to with them. Then we met weathermannyc at Carnesseca who sat next to us and he was on redmen also. Then Lavins first year someone put up a thread of where is everyone sitting and ton of soon to be best friends were in our section. Then the new garden starts and we all request to sit together
114 is now born. Then for whatever reason 114 became a place to stop by and see friends and make new friends. It makes my day every game when friends from here stop by every game. Sometimes we do pics ands put them up other times it's just stopping by quick to say hi. The reason why I say this all is because this time of the year especially I love Xmas and I love my xmas traditions.
The one movie that I watch twice every December is " It's a Wonderful Life ".
At the end of the movie and it literally hits me every time is "Remember, no man is a failure who has friends."
If you live by that we are all the richest people in the world but almost every friend I have here and through St Johns after I graduated is because of Paul
If you put a monetary value on that Paul has made us all millionaires
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You are the best of the best. Period.
Everyone has a story when it relates to what they have received from being a member of this site. I really enjoyed reading Mike's, Beasts and Otis's posts on here. I love when others share little things in their life in their posts. And of course I respect anyone that wants to keep their anonymity.
I want to share my story and would love to read others. I am 53 years old and have lived in Queens for about 47 of those. I never attended St. John's but have so many friends and colleagues that did. I feel that it is an integral part of Queens.
I love a lot of sports and like many others have chosen teams that don't win a lot. Those include the Jets, Mets, St. John's and I guess the Knicks. I don't feel disappointed by that but wear it as a badge of honor. I have been following St. Johns closely since the Sports Illustrated cover of Billy Goodwin sitting on the rim at the Garden. I had my middle school graduation in Alumni Hall about a year later which had special meaning to me.
I was never a great basketball player but at 6'2 I considered myself to be a point forward. I always dreamed about being 6'11 like Robert Werdann another Queens kid who was one of my favorite Johnnies of all time. My favorite St. John's was the win at Georgetown in 1985 that ranked us #1. There are many other great game memories but none will compete with that day.
Twenty years ago when many of you first met at Mustang Sally's my wife was giving birth to twins. I have to admit that I lost my enjoyment for St. John's basketball during the Norm years. I had been a season ticket holder briefly before that and for a few years after.
Right around the time Lavin was hired I went through a major life crisis. That is when I found this site. I had no idea it existed and am not even sure how I stumbled on to it. I probably wasn't the most popular poster when I first joined and feel like I have made great efforts to give a few opinions while trying extremely hard not to offend offers.
I haven't met many posters in person but of course I have met Mike Maher and a few others. Unfortunately due to circumstances outside of my control I haven't been able to meet so many more. In some ways that makes me sad. I wish that I could have been in Charleston and at other games recently but it wasn't meant to be. I am not Catholic but my dear friend who is a devout Catholic tells me that the reason for this is my cross to bear.
When I first started posting I had no idea that one person was funding the majority of the costs. I am so grateful for that person named Paul for doing that. My small contributions do little to defer that but if it was necessary to keep this site going I would do whatever was in my power to do more even if that meant making some small sacrifice in my life and I can tell their are others that feel that way.
As for Paul who I have never met, I owe him a debt of gratitude. He once did me a small favor that I will always remember and I believe I did him one as well. It's these tiny connections that make this site so wonderful. So for those that are still reading I appreciate all of you. I haven't been to a game in a few years but I have a goal to getting back to one soon.
Happy Holidays to everyone. I know we are all saying our prayers for Paul. Enjoy the small things in life, be kind to others as we never know what will come next.
Thank you to everyone.
Andrew
I want to share my story and would love to read others. I am 53 years old and have lived in Queens for about 47 of those. I never attended St. John's but have so many friends and colleagues that did. I feel that it is an integral part of Queens.
I love a lot of sports and like many others have chosen teams that don't win a lot. Those include the Jets, Mets, St. John's and I guess the Knicks. I don't feel disappointed by that but wear it as a badge of honor. I have been following St. Johns closely since the Sports Illustrated cover of Billy Goodwin sitting on the rim at the Garden. I had my middle school graduation in Alumni Hall about a year later which had special meaning to me.
I was never a great basketball player but at 6'2 I considered myself to be a point forward. I always dreamed about being 6'11 like Robert Werdann another Queens kid who was one of my favorite Johnnies of all time. My favorite St. John's was the win at Georgetown in 1985 that ranked us #1. There are many other great game memories but none will compete with that day.
Twenty years ago when many of you first met at Mustang Sally's my wife was giving birth to twins. I have to admit that I lost my enjoyment for St. John's basketball during the Norm years. I had been a season ticket holder briefly before that and for a few years after.
Right around the time Lavin was hired I went through a major life crisis. That is when I found this site. I had no idea it existed and am not even sure how I stumbled on to it. I probably wasn't the most popular poster when I first joined and feel like I have made great efforts to give a few opinions while trying extremely hard not to offend offers.
I haven't met many posters in person but of course I have met Mike Maher and a few others. Unfortunately due to circumstances outside of my control I haven't been able to meet so many more. In some ways that makes me sad. I wish that I could have been in Charleston and at other games recently but it wasn't meant to be. I am not Catholic but my dear friend who is a devout Catholic tells me that the reason for this is my cross to bear.
When I first started posting I had no idea that one person was funding the majority of the costs. I am so grateful for that person named Paul for doing that. My small contributions do little to defer that but if it was necessary to keep this site going I would do whatever was in my power to do more even if that meant making some small sacrifice in my life and I can tell their are others that feel that way.
As for Paul who I have never met, I owe him a debt of gratitude. He once did me a small favor that I will always remember and I believe I did him one as well. It's these tiny connections that make this site so wonderful. So for those that are still reading I appreciate all of you. I haven't been to a game in a few years but I have a goal to getting back to one soon.
Happy Holidays to everyone. I know we are all saying our prayers for Paul. Enjoy the small things in life, be kind to others as we never know what will come next.
Thank you to everyone.
Andrew
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I did not know the situation involving Paul's health battles, except only, he was not well.
Now knowing more and attending daily Mass and Communion, Pau's name will go on the prayer list for myself and my church buddies. I am doubling up on my contributions for defraying costs of this site and will write to Paul at his address.
Thank you North for letting us know so the heartfelt warmth of this community can respond in everyone's own way.
Let's (red)STORM the gates of Heaven with Prayers for Paul, let's all hope and trust in God that the next post about Paul is encouraging and even better than that.
Now knowing more and attending daily Mass and Communion, Pau's name will go on the prayer list for myself and my church buddies. I am doubling up on my contributions for defraying costs of this site and will write to Paul at his address.
Thank you North for letting us know so the heartfelt warmth of this community can respond in everyone's own way.
Let's (red)STORM the gates of Heaven with Prayers for Paul, let's all hope and trust in God that the next post about Paul is encouraging and even better than that.
Prayers for Paul, who is truly the best of the best.
When the site switched to red.fans, I was gone for a bit because I could not figure out my login. I reached out to Paul via email, and was just so happy to hear how determined he was to get me back on the site. He values the contributions of everyone here. It must be amazing and surreal for him to see what his creation has turned into
Without this site, my high school years would have been truly terrible. I went to an all boys high school, and was very quiet and timid during those years.
My dad put me onto this site when I was in 8th grade because we were both so excited about the Steve Lavin recruiting class where got like 8 top 100 guys. The rest is history. I found a community of people who love this team as much as I do, and against all odds, want to talk about the team 24/7.
This site was like a safe haven for me. Where I grew up, there were no SJU fans. It was just me and my Dad really. This site opened my eye to a whole community of people and also helped me develop my writing/debate skills as I grew up. It also introduced me to so many great people.
As Mike mentioned, SJUFAN2 passing was a rough day. But for me, it was also kind of a beautiful day, because it caused me to think about SJUFAN2 and all of the good conversations we had over the years. Made me realize I never would have known him or so many others if it weren't for Paul. It made me realize how special this community is to me.
Paul I pray for your recovery, and I truly thank you for giving me and everyone here the gift of this site.
Also, my cats name is Paul (named after Paul Atreides because I am a big "Dune" fan) but I am also glad he shares a name with a St Johns legend.
Get well Paul and I hope you read this. You making this site reached so many, even a 14 year old kid in Delaware. And it really changed his life for the better.
When the site switched to red.fans, I was gone for a bit because I could not figure out my login. I reached out to Paul via email, and was just so happy to hear how determined he was to get me back on the site. He values the contributions of everyone here. It must be amazing and surreal for him to see what his creation has turned into
Without this site, my high school years would have been truly terrible. I went to an all boys high school, and was very quiet and timid during those years.
My dad put me onto this site when I was in 8th grade because we were both so excited about the Steve Lavin recruiting class where got like 8 top 100 guys. The rest is history. I found a community of people who love this team as much as I do, and against all odds, want to talk about the team 24/7.
This site was like a safe haven for me. Where I grew up, there were no SJU fans. It was just me and my Dad really. This site opened my eye to a whole community of people and also helped me develop my writing/debate skills as I grew up. It also introduced me to so many great people.
As Mike mentioned, SJUFAN2 passing was a rough day. But for me, it was also kind of a beautiful day, because it caused me to think about SJUFAN2 and all of the good conversations we had over the years. Made me realize I never would have known him or so many others if it weren't for Paul. It made me realize how special this community is to me.
Paul I pray for your recovery, and I truly thank you for giving me and everyone here the gift of this site.
Also, my cats name is Paul (named after Paul Atreides because I am a big "Dune" fan) but I am also glad he shares a name with a St Johns legend.
Get well Paul and I hope you read this. You making this site reached so many, even a 14 year old kid in Delaware. And it really changed his life for the better.
Reading the many stories of others in this post has caused me to reflect and simply state, without a doubt this website has changed my life. From the time I discovered it, it helped me to become a part of this great community and also to enhance my fandom of St Johns (who knows I may have given up in the Norm years otherwise). In turn that gave me something to be extra passionate about and bring joy to my life year after year (even with the losing seasons, there has been plenty of joy). I'm on this site multiple times a day because like Jack put so well, it feels like a safe space. But most importantly a community of some of the most caring and genuine people I've ever come across. What a blessing this site has been. Thank you Paul.
Wow. I got some chills reading some of these posts. I don’t have a great story to tell but I do come to this site very often for news but also for the banter even if it’s a little too much about Jenkins lol.
I have now met a good amount of you guys and do call you friends.
Would love to meet Paul at a get together one day so Paul if you are reading this get well soon!!!!
I too will be supporting the site more monetarily.
I have now met a good amount of you guys and do call you friends.
Would love to meet Paul at a get together one day so Paul if you are reading this get well soon!!!!
I too will be supporting the site more monetarily.
I would like to thank Paul and the moderators of this site. I have been coming here ever since i was inc college to discuss SJU BB and thats going back 30 years or so. Never seen a site like this and always top notch. To paul the moderators THANK YOU for everything. I know its not easy keeping these forums in order posters in order etc... so thank you. If you ever need another moderator please dont hesitate to ask it would be my pleasure
I just sent off a Christmas card to Paul. Even though I never met this great man before, I’m filled with a profound sense of sadness. God Bless you, Paul. My brother in law is a pastor in RC Parish on Long Island and he is praying for your speedy recovery, as well.
Merry Christmas!!!
Merry Christmas!!!
To illustrate his generosity and selfishness, Paul has never asked St. John's for any gratuity (ie. no free tickets, no swag, etc.) and to my knowledge I do not know anyone who has ever physically met him.
Some on this site have talked to Paul over the telephone; many have corresponded with him by email and private messages, but I do not know anyone that has had the opportunity to face to face meet him.
Paul's sole motivation in investing untold hours and out of pocket cash to this site has been his fondness for St. John's and the Redmen/ RedStorm.
Hey Paul..... thank you.
Some on this site have talked to Paul over the telephone; many have corresponded with him by email and private messages, but I do not know anyone that has had the opportunity to face to face meet him.
Paul's sole motivation in investing untold hours and out of pocket cash to this site has been his fondness for St. John's and the Redmen/ RedStorm.
Hey Paul..... thank you.
Back in 2012 on a St Johns road trip to California Nathalie and I were going to Sonoma then going to go to Napa to meet up with Traczok and his wife for couple days then going with them to San Fran to meet up with other redmen people and go to the game.
If memory serves me correct ( at this point who the hell knows. lol ) Paul at the time lived not far from where we were going to be in Healdsburg Sonoma. Paul and I had talked about meeting up for some beers when we were out there. But I was also going to be proposing to Nathalie at a specific winery there and literally didn't tell 1 person or even gave a hint to anyone. That schedule got beyond hectic and we couldn't coordinate ( if she said no I'd probably have moved in with Paul for a couple days and had a beer drinkathon with him ). That's a beer I wish I had ( not assuming Nat said no I just wish I had time to meet him )
That beer will happen one way or another even if we have to zoom it
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Ray Morgan
Well-known member
The many challenges that life presents leads us too often to take the things that matter to us for granted. It could be family or friends, or someone we never met or even spoke to. As a 50 year fan of the program, I remember waiting for the Long Island Press to be delivered after I got home from school to read Bernie Beglane's column on the game the night before. This of course was decades before the internet and even years before ESPN was launched. There was little information back then, but thanks to Paul, we can all hear about what is going on with SJU basketball even before it hits the news stations.
This site has been a retreat for me as I grew older and dealt with the loss of family and friends. I thank the people on this board for reminding us not to take this site, and Paul, for granted. No doubt Paul has put in countless hours of hard work, and also a lot of money, to create and maintain a place that many of us treat as a home away from home. I never met or even spoke to Paul, but I greatly appreciate him. My thoughts and prayers are with Paul and his family.
This site has been a retreat for me as I grew older and dealt with the loss of family and friends. I thank the people on this board for reminding us not to take this site, and Paul, for granted. No doubt Paul has put in countless hours of hard work, and also a lot of money, to create and maintain a place that many of us treat as a home away from home. I never met or even spoke to Paul, but I greatly appreciate him. My thoughts and prayers are with Paul and his family.