I saw them getting their tickets before the game but did not focus on trying to find out what school they were from.
RIP Coach Carnesecca
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St. Raymond’s
Thanks, mystery resolved @MJDinkins
That is nice!
I am still looking everywhere to get a hold of one of those. Really wish I would have bit the bullet back then and just brought one.
I spoke to some of the St. Ray’s players after the game, in front of CA. All were great fans of the game. One is going to Ga. Tech. Some expressed interest in St. John’s. High character guys in my limited meeting with them. I wonder if Coach Rick is involved with any of them. I sure hope so.
Louie tried to recruit O'Brien out of St. Francis Prep, and he was hosted, with another recruit, at the nearby steakhouse and then a Knick game. We might have been a distant second place because he wanted to play or Cousy. Louie went out and signed John DeVasto.
I didn't realize the reason everyone knew Calipari said Louie was dying of cancer was because Louie brought it up at a Big East coaches meeting.
Over the past week, with Looie's passing, there have been a lot of articles and sports broadcasters who prominently mentioned "the sweater". Many of them got the premise all wrong. One article began, "Looie liked to wear sweaters." I think my recollection is accurate, so please help me here.
On January 14, 1985, the 11-1 Red Storm traveled to Pittsburgh to play the Pitt Panthers. We had already lost an away game to Niagara of all teams, which was a shocker. Still, Pitt, which finished 8-8 for fifth place in the Big East that year, was anything but a pushover. They had a star freshman, Charles Smith, as well as Demetrius Gore, and Curtis Aiken. This much fans can agree on: Looie had a cold, and his wife Mary, concerned for his health travelling in winter weather and playing in cold, drafty gyms, insisted he pack a sweater. Looie grabbed the first sweater he saw, an ugly one he never had worn, and departed for the game.
Looie, favored brown suits, a white shirt and tie, that looked anything but debonaire to begin with, but by mid game, was usually a crumpled mess. Jacket discarded, shirt sleeves rolled up, loosened tie always in the way, is how I remember Coach. That night, though, he wore the sweater over his shirt and tie instead.
The game result? We crushed Pitt 82-59. Five days later, we played #15 Boston College at BC, an even tougher away opponent. Looie, still nursing the cold, but also the superstitious leprechaun, wore the sweater again. This time, the result was a hard fought 66-59 victory. Four days later, an even even tougher opponent loomed ahead at MSG, #11 Syracuse, who always brought a lot of their fans to the Garden. Yep, now the sweater was now his rabbit's foot, presumable not washed. This time, an 82-80 overtime victory.
Three days later, on January 26 in Landover, our toughest opponent yet lay waiting, #1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas. This was to be a clash of titans, with senior Patrick Ewing, the best college basketball center in decades, arguably ever, anchoring the vaunted G'Town defense. David Wingate, Bill Martin, Reggie Williams, and Michael Jackson rounded out the starters. Their bench was deep, and nationally they were as well known as any NBA team. Looie wore his sweater, Berry and Mullin dominated, and the final score a 66-65 Johnnie's win was not nearly as close as indicated. The Hoyas finished with a furious flurry to close a double digit SJU lead.
Providence fell, UCONN (simply University of Connecticut then) fell, and Seton Hall also went down. Sweater, sweater, sweater.
The next big test was #19 Villanova at the Spectrum, on February 9th. The sweater was a no brainer, and the result an 70-68 hard fought win. (Ultimately went 3-0 against the eventual champion Wildcats).
Columbia, Pitt, and DePaul were whacked easily, and now the sweater was 11-0 and St. John's was #1.
Next up was #18 BC at home, and then #7 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Both were close games against very good teams. Both wins, 71-69, and 88-83. Sweater, Sweater. Damn it. I just realized that was 13 wins in a row. Not a lucky number.
The #2 Georgetown rematch promised to be the biggest regular season game in our history. Pre-internet, pre-stubhub, there were newspaper classified ads advertising ticket re-sales in the hundreds of dollars. #1 vs. #2, Ali vs. Frazier, MSG the perfect venue. The sweater was now a phenomenon, with t-shirt copies of Looie's ugly sweater sold to students. and fans. I can't write about this game with much detail because it is too painful, but what began as SJU fans elated with visions of sugarplums in our heads, crashed mightily. John Thompson, ever the intimidator, playfully (maybe) greeted Looie before the opening tap by flashing open his suit jacket to reveal a two sizes too small t-shirt version of the sweater. Whether jynx or not, the spell was broken. Georgetown, from the opening tip, raced out to an insurmountable first half lead, crushing us so thoroughly, that MSG felt more like a morgue. We were Frazier, but not even that much because Frazier fought valiantly. We were destroyed. You could almost hear Howard Cosell's voice, "And down goes St. John's, down goes St. John's."
The sweater was finished.
Unless someone tells me otherwise, the sweater story ends right there. 14 games, a great 13 game run, then just about the most devastating loss in our history. We whipped Villanova by 15 in the Big East semis, so much a mismatch that sitting in the Garden I actually felt bad for Nova, always a respected rival. the Big East finals was a 12 point loss to Georgetown. The NCAAs are etched in our memory. No need to repeat.
I wrote all this because over the past week, newer fans, and those who really didn't didn't follow our team back then, have been given a different impression of Looie's sweater. Seven hundred and twenty six games coached, 526 wins, and just 14 with the ugly sweater. Still emblematic of a great team and a great run in our best season, but really not much more.
Please feel free to correct any inaccuracies in this, and hope this was of value to reminisce.
On January 14, 1985, the 11-1 Red Storm traveled to Pittsburgh to play the Pitt Panthers. We had already lost an away game to Niagara of all teams, which was a shocker. Still, Pitt, which finished 8-8 for fifth place in the Big East that year, was anything but a pushover. They had a star freshman, Charles Smith, as well as Demetrius Gore, and Curtis Aiken. This much fans can agree on: Looie had a cold, and his wife Mary, concerned for his health travelling in winter weather and playing in cold, drafty gyms, insisted he pack a sweater. Looie grabbed the first sweater he saw, an ugly one he never had worn, and departed for the game.
Looie, favored brown suits, a white shirt and tie, that looked anything but debonaire to begin with, but by mid game, was usually a crumpled mess. Jacket discarded, shirt sleeves rolled up, loosened tie always in the way, is how I remember Coach. That night, though, he wore the sweater over his shirt and tie instead.
The game result? We crushed Pitt 82-59. Five days later, we played #15 Boston College at BC, an even tougher away opponent. Looie, still nursing the cold, but also the superstitious leprechaun, wore the sweater again. This time, the result was a hard fought 66-59 victory. Four days later, an even even tougher opponent loomed ahead at MSG, #11 Syracuse, who always brought a lot of their fans to the Garden. Yep, now the sweater was now his rabbit's foot, presumable not washed. This time, an 82-80 overtime victory.
Three days later, on January 26 in Landover, our toughest opponent yet lay waiting, #1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas. This was to be a clash of titans, with senior Patrick Ewing, the best college basketball center in decades, arguably ever, anchoring the vaunted G'Town defense. David Wingate, Bill Martin, Reggie Williams, and Michael Jackson rounded out the starters. Their bench was deep, and nationally they were as well known as any NBA team. Looie wore his sweater, Berry and Mullin dominated, and the final score a 66-65 Johnnie's win was not nearly as close as indicated. The Hoyas finished with a furious flurry to close a double digit SJU lead.
Providence fell, UCONN (simply University of Connecticut then) fell, and Seton Hall also went down. Sweater, sweater, sweater.
The next big test was #19 Villanova at the Spectrum, on February 9th. The sweater was a no brainer, and the result an 70-68 hard fought win. (Ultimately went 3-0 against the eventual champion Wildcats).
Columbia, Pitt, and DePaul were whacked easily, and now the sweater was 11-0 and St. John's was #1.
Next up was #18 BC at home, and then #7 Syracuse at the Carrier Dome. Both were close games against very good teams. Both wins, 71-69, and 88-83. Sweater, Sweater. Damn it. I just realized that was 13 wins in a row. Not a lucky number.
The #2 Georgetown rematch promised to be the biggest regular season game in our history. Pre-internet, pre-stubhub, there were newspaper classified ads advertising ticket re-sales in the hundreds of dollars. #1 vs. #2, Ali vs. Frazier, MSG the perfect venue. The sweater was now a phenomenon, with t-shirt copies of Looie's ugly sweater sold to students. and fans. I can't write about this game with much detail because it is too painful, but what began as SJU fans elated with visions of sugarplums in our heads, crashed mightily. John Thompson, ever the intimidator, playfully (maybe) greeted Looie before the opening tap by flashing open his suit jacket to reveal a two sizes too small t-shirt version of the sweater. Whether jynx or not, the spell was broken. Georgetown, from the opening tip, raced out to an insurmountable first half lead, crushing us so thoroughly, that MSG felt more like a morgue. We were Frazier, but not even that much because Frazier fought valiantly. We were destroyed. You could almost hear Howard Cosell's voice, "And down goes St. John's, down goes St. John's."
The sweater was finished.
Unless someone tells me otherwise, the sweater story ends right there. 14 games, a great 13 game run, then just about the most devastating loss in our history. We whipped Villanova by 15 in the Big East semis, so much a mismatch that sitting in the Garden I actually felt bad for Nova, always a respected rival. the Big East finals was a 12 point loss to Georgetown. The NCAAs are etched in our memory. No need to repeat.
I wrote all this because over the past week, newer fans, and those who really didn't didn't follow our team back then, have been given a different impression of Looie's sweater. Seven hundred and twenty six games coached, 526 wins, and just 14 with the ugly sweater. Still emblematic of a great team and a great run in our best season, but really not much more.
Please feel free to correct any inaccuracies in this, and hope this was of value to reminisce.
Great write up Beast.
But he did wear other sweaters in future years (as best I recall) right ?
But he did wear other sweaters in future years (as best I recall) right ?
Beast, my recollection and forgive me for posting this before, is that from his first year of coaching St. John's until 1985 he wore suits, sports coats, button down shirts and ties. Always disheveled shortly into the game due to his gyrations. No sweaters. The famous 1985 Pittsburgh game led to the sweater, but I don't believe it was always the famous Chevron sweater.
I believe after that whole episode he wore sweaters and had a number of different ones, mostly not plain and not attractive.
I received an encased authenticated baseball style card signed by "Lou Carnesecca HoF 1994", and on the front is a photograph of him in a non-Chevron brown and blackish pullover sweater. He's got some sort of tournament lanyard hanging on his chest, game action. I do not know what year the photo is from.
But I think RedStorm NC is correct that now and then he would wear a sweater. Defintely, in Mike Vaccaro's piece about Pitino wearing the knock-off chevron, posted in the K State thread, there's a pic of Looie with a different sweater, and on the bench is Robert Werdann, obviously that is after 1985.
I agree for most of his career he was not the "sweater-coach", but the winning streak, us being No. 1 and the Final Four besides Thompson's playfulness at the Garden, all led to the "sweater" being epic. I think it's in Springfield. He definitely played it up.
I believe after that whole episode he wore sweaters and had a number of different ones, mostly not plain and not attractive.
I received an encased authenticated baseball style card signed by "Lou Carnesecca HoF 1994", and on the front is a photograph of him in a non-Chevron brown and blackish pullover sweater. He's got some sort of tournament lanyard hanging on his chest, game action. I do not know what year the photo is from.
But I think RedStorm NC is correct that now and then he would wear a sweater. Defintely, in Mike Vaccaro's piece about Pitino wearing the knock-off chevron, posted in the K State thread, there's a pic of Looie with a different sweater, and on the bench is Robert Werdann, obviously that is after 1985.
I agree for most of his career he was not the "sweater-coach", but the winning streak, us being No. 1 and the Final Four besides Thompson's playfulness at the Garden, all led to the "sweater" being epic. I think it's in Springfield. He definitely played it up.
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I'm pretty certain you are right. I seem to remember a dark brown sweater, but not regularly. The chevron sweater I believe, died with the Georgetown MSG loss, correct?
And Joey T. had every good reason to avoid the funeral mass for Coach, having buried his own Dad just a few days prior, but still showed up. Joe T. is a terrific guy and we are lucky to have him.
Certainly had a white sweater for a stretch, with something akin to snowflakes on it
dalydoseofhoops
Active member
Posted this in the podcast thread as well…the second half of my tribute to Looie’s life and legacy, with Brian Mahoney sharing his stories and memories from a relationship that goes back almost 60 years:
In the Daly podcast Brian Mahoney mentioned Looie coaching St Anne’s Academy in Manhattan prior to moving to SJU as Lapchicks asst in 1958. Years ago I read that Looie suffered his most gut wrenching loss while at St Anne’s. It rang a bell with me because I entered the school of the team that beat St Anne’s, La Salle Acad., the year following the game Looie was referring to.
It was the CHSAA city championship game in March of 1954 between St Anne’s and La Salle. St Anne’s was undefeated having beat La Salle twice during that season with I think 28 wins in a row. The game was tied in the final seconds when a La Salle player stole the ball at half court and dribbled the length of the court laying the ball in at the buzzer St Anne’s backcourt that game was Tommy Kearrns who played at NC and Don Lyons who played at Dayton when Dayton was a powerhouse.
Lou had some great players at St Anne’s including those two , York Larese,Willy Hall , Donny Burks and many others who I can’t remember. Lou experienced some tough losses in both college and the pros but that loss stuck with him. You never get over those killer losses.
It was the CHSAA city championship game in March of 1954 between St Anne’s and La Salle. St Anne’s was undefeated having beat La Salle twice during that season with I think 28 wins in a row. The game was tied in the final seconds when a La Salle player stole the ball at half court and dribbled the length of the court laying the ball in at the buzzer St Anne’s backcourt that game was Tommy Kearrns who played at NC and Don Lyons who played at Dayton when Dayton was a powerhouse.
Lou had some great players at St Anne’s including those two , York Larese,Willy Hall , Donny Burks and many others who I can’t remember. Lou experienced some tough losses in both college and the pros but that loss stuck with him. You never get over those killer losses.
The brown Chevron sweater was a gift from a coach overseas. Coach actually had the flu and was pretty sick the day before the came. Coach came out a couple of minutes before the game and decided he needed the sweater and sent someone to the locker room to fetch it.
Coach never won a game at Pitt’s Old Field House (or whatever it was called) until the sweater game. Coach being somewhat superstitious, saw it as a good luck charm and continued to wear it and the legend was born.
Basically the recaps of Beast of the East and BrookJersey Redman capture it.
Coach never won a game at Pitt’s Old Field House (or whatever it was called) until the sweater game. Coach being somewhat superstitious, saw it as a good luck charm and continued to wear it and the legend was born.
Basically the recaps of Beast of the East and BrookJersey Redman capture it.