How Barry Rohrssen, a Basketball Coach, Spends His Sundays
Sunday Routine
By KATHLEEN LUCADAMO MARCH 11, 2016 New York Times
If Barry Rohrssen, 55, the associate head coach for men’s basketball at St. John’s University in Queens, seems a bit preoccupied this weekend, it’s probably because he’s following the news of who will be invited to “the big dance,” as the N.C.A.A. tournament is called. (St. John’s will be sitting this one out.) You might also spot him at church or grocery shopping in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, where he lives with his fiancée, Kerry Parker, 33. Mr. Rohrssen, who is nicknamed Slice, had a minor acting role in the 1992 film “Glengarry Glen Ross.” He said New York “is one of the few towns where you can do something like that; where else do you have opportunities to be a coach and be in a film?”
BREAKFAST OF COACHES I start my Sundays off with breakfast. Basically, every Sunday it’s Frosted Mini-Wheats. It’s like the only day of the week I’ll have them.
SPORTS, SPIRITUALITY, STEAM It’s the one day where I’ll start it watching a television show and end it watching a television show. I always start Sunday watching “The Sports Reporters” on ESPN with Mike Lupica and John Saunders. That goes from 9:30 to 10. At 10 a.m., I’ll watch Joel Osteen. Then right after that, I’ll go to the health club, you know, steam and change.
NEW YORK ROOTS I live in the parish of St. Gabriel’s Church, and they have 11:30 Mass on Sundays. When you are from New York and if you are Catholic, you always kind of grow up with, “Oh, what parish are you from, what parish are you from?” I’m formerly the head coach of Manhattan College. That’s how I wound up in Riverdale. I’ve kept this place for the past decade even throughout my travels, coaching with the Portland Trail Blazers and the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Kentucky, I always proudly maintained my residence in New York.
LOCAL FLAVORS After Mass, my fiancée and I take a ride over to Bronxville, to grab some lunch at Lange’s. After that, it’s usually grocery shopping for the week either in the local Key Food or Whole Foods. Then there is a local Chinese restaurant in Riverdale that we go to every Sunday evening. A place called the Hunan Balcony.
FAMILY TIME Often, I try to see my mom. I try to see her as often as possible and take her to lunch or dinner. She’s now out in Bay Ridge. She’s from Park Slope. She likes to go to Junior’s. We’ve been going there for years, ever since I was young. She started taking me there when I was in grammar school. It just holds a lot of good memories for so many years.
PRE-GAME PREP If we are playing in the Garden, we stay at a hotel in New York City. Depending on what time the game is, what you have is a shootaround or a walk-through. A shootaround lasts about 60 minutes. A walk-through could last 30 minutes, where you are going to walk through some of the things you want to review, opponents, top plays, some things from your own offense.
POST-GAME MEAL A restaurant I enjoy after a game is a place in the Village called Valbella. I also like Peter Luger in Brooklyn. Always with my fiancée and family or friends.
EYE ON THE PRIZE Basketball coaching isn’t just a profession. It’s a lifestyle, and it’s really 24/7, 365. You are on call all the time; you are always doing something with your players. You do have to go recruiting on Sundays, and you do have to go to see games. Recruiting is a year-round job. There’s an old saying: “Recruiting is like shaving. If you miss a day, it can get ugly.”
THE MADNESS In March you like to be playing. That’s why they call it March Madness. Last year, Kentucky, where I coached, was undefeated going into March. Had 38 wins. We were 38 and 0. And we didn’t lose until April in the Final Four. So the goal is always to be playing in March and go as deep into that month as you can.
ENDGAME I try to watch “60 Minutes.” Then I wrap up the evening by watching a gentleman named Bruce Beck on Channel 4. Bruce Beck has a show every Sunday night called “Sports Final.” He goes on about midnight. He does a nice job on the show, especially with the local teams.
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A version of this article appears in print on March 13, 2016, on page MB2 of the New York edition with the headline: March Madness All Year Long. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
