As long as it's part of the season ticket package you could call it a road game for all I care. Just dont hide from playing Cuse. Geez this bad blood between the fans is what makes the game a great rivalry. You guys that dont want to play them and would rather play a Michigan are lost. There's no team I'd rather play and beat then Syracuse. It's like the Mets and Yanks. I hate the yanks but I love the Subway series.
Syracuse and the Garden
- Thread starter otis
- Start date
SU alumni go to games in big numbers.
SJU alumni consist of (a) a small cadre of hardcore fans who attend games alongside a handful of fellow travelers (b ) those indiferrent towards the team until it starts winning and attracts attention (c) armchair coaches who follow the team through television and message boards.and (d) a vast majority ot those who are indifferent towards the team come Hades or high water.
SJU alumni consist of (a) a small cadre of hardcore fans who attend games alongside a handful of fellow travelers (b ) those indiferrent towards the team until it starts winning and attracts attention (c) armchair coaches who follow the team through television and message boards.and (d) a vast majority ot those who are indifferent towards the team come Hades or high water.
I agree with posters that you generally want to smite your enemy and not run away from them, but in this instance I would rather not schedule Syracuse right now. At a minimum wait a few years and see if we can turn our program around attendance-wise. Lately, it is extremely painful going to the MSG games against SU as it essentially turns into a home game for them. It's the worst $150 you can spend on a couple of tickets. I'd rather go to the dentist. At least I get clean teeth going to the dentist. Other than that, they are both miserable experiences. A few years down the road, if we turn into a consistently top 20 program again and we are drawing larger crowds, then fine, play them. Otherwise, I would much rather play Kentucky, UCLA, Duke, Notre Dame or Texas and of a whole bunch of other schools. We need every advantage we can get in the recruiting wars. There is no reason to help out Syracuse.
Why not do what we did in the Jarvis days and make their fans buy the mini pack off games that includes the SJU vs Cuse game? The uconn fans used to call it "Jarvis-gate" or "ticket-gate. It was actually effective in trimming down uconn fans to about half the Garden or less and still kept crowds full while dropping more money into the coffers.
I don't know about mini-plans per se. Didn't someone at either MSG or St. John's put an end to it because it kept too many people out of the seats? I'm not opposed to it a mini-plan.
One other thing I'll add to this topic - I don't want schedule UCONN either. In the past, Syracuse and UCONN could promise their recruits a 1) regular away game vs. St. John's & 2) maybe a neutral court game at MSG or at the Meadowlands and 3) a probable deep run in the Big East Tournament at MSG. That's a lot of games to promise to a player that will be played in/around NYC. Now they don't have that. So let's play some gamesmanship and let them only be able to promise one neutral court game a year in NYC. We have to keep our advantages in our own pockets. Schedule the Dukes, UCLAs, Kentuckys, Indianas and Michigans of the world. If a good recruit wants to stay in the northeast - then maybe that kid will go with St. John's instead of Syracuse or UCONN. I know that Syracuse generally wins recruits over us right now - but hey, Obekpa just chose us over UCONN, right? That may have not been true pre-Lavin. So maybe one day we'll be able to get kids to choose St. John's over Syracuse. So let's start now by keeping what small competitive advantages we have over them.
Definitely do not schedule Syracuse or UCONN. Schedule other big time programs to fill the seats.
I agree. Other than filling the house (which I recognize makes business sense), there is no upside for us right now. Recruits aren't going to sign simply because we play Syracuse. If we schedule some of the majors noted above (and others) that travel well, we can get get good attendance and ultimately pack the house once are recognized as being back. This type of scheduling can help us recruit locally as well as nationally.
By the way, my litmus test of SJ relevance will be when our results start appearing on the back page as was the case, on a regular basis, back in the day.
With a ton of top teams to play:
UNC, NCS, DUKE,UK,FLORIDA, MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN STATE,ILLINOIS,PURDUE,UCLA,TEXAS, KANSAS,GONZAGA,OHIO STATE just to name just a few off the top of my head why the hell would any SJU fan even consider playing CONNU or SCUSE at the Garden and help them recruiting wise?
I just don't get it. .
UNC, NCS, DUKE,UK,FLORIDA, MICHIGAN, MICHIGAN STATE,ILLINOIS,PURDUE,UCLA,TEXAS, KANSAS,GONZAGA,OHIO STATE just to name just a few off the top of my head why the hell would any SJU fan even consider playing CONNU or SCUSE at the Garden and help them recruiting wise?
I just don't get it. .
Bottom line: If we don't play Syracuse, it looks like we're afraid to play them. And if we really believe we're going to be a national power under Lavin, then why the defeatist attitude?
As for packing the Garden, all Syracuse has to do is schedule a game or two against other national powers (which MSG would love) and they'll fill the place with their fans. Either way, they're not going away, so let's take 'em on and defend our turf. (Jeez, I sound like I'm in "Westside Story"!)
As for packing the Garden, all Syracuse has to do is schedule a game or two against other national powers (which MSG would love) and they'll fill the place with their fans. Either way, they're not going away, so let's take 'em on and defend our turf. (Jeez, I sound like I'm in "Westside Story"!)
redmen1969
Active member
Yep and Yep.
STJClass_2013
Member
I think that we should play cues but at Carnesecca. It boost our RIP and still gives cues the finger. The cues fans would find it hard to get tickets and we would pack out that gym. Cues deserves some type of attack but to not play a team that has been in the top 25 for too damn long is silly. Lavin loves the St. Johns tradition that is why he took this job expect to them and UConn on the schedule for years to come. We are the fans our opinions on who we should and who we shouldn't play means nothing. And everybody knows it.
But cues at Carnesecca any takers?
"Any takers?" Certainly not Syracuse, and why would they? (Hint: They wouldn't.)
Why are some people building this up to be the Impossible Dream -- that is, taking on and beating Syracuse at the Garden? We've done many times in the past, and there's no reason it can't be done in the future. That's what athletic competition -- and what rivalries -- are all about: not worrying about losing, but the fun and satisfaction in beating the highest level of competition.
As for why Cuse fans show up to games: when you have a school enrollment of 30,000 people which is double ours, and your team is consistently in the top 10 with a recent championship and seemingly nothing but huge success, fans go to games in droves. If SJ was in the top 10 every year always making deep runs in the tourney with 30,000 people as a non-commuter school, it would be the same for us.
As for why we should play Cuse. The way I see it, Cuse offering to play us every year is like giving us a scratch off lotto ticket. We will lose most of the time, but we will also win and hit the lotto every once in a while. Beating Cuse would get huge headlines and be a huge resume booster come march.
As for why we should play Cuse. The way I see it, Cuse offering to play us every year is like giving us a scratch off lotto ticket. We will lose most of the time, but we will also win and hit the lotto every once in a while. Beating Cuse would get huge headlines and be a huge resume booster come march.
I know this, but growing up in a totally different era completely alters your perspective as you know. An Islanders fan who grew up watching them in the 80's vs. an Islanders fan who grew up watching them in the past 10 years have 2 completely different views of the same team. If SJ can accomplish 1/4 of what Cuse does, I would be thrilled. I would never expect SJ to be able to compete with Cuse winning wise, recruiting wise, prestige wise, etc. until I see clear proof that our team is destined for greatness. I see no such evidence. I think if we get Lawrence and our major guys stay next year, our ceiling next year is to be ranked maybe #18 to #20 ish for part of the year and maybe make the Sweet 16. That's if a lot goes right. So far almost nothing has. Comparing Cuse to SJ is like Yanks vs. Mets. Not even close. Let this team prove me wrong and become one of the more dominant teams in NCAABB, go right ahead. I just don't see it happening...seems like dreaming at this point.
DieHard Johnny
Member
Scuse betrayed st.j's by leaving the bigeast they dont deserve the rivarly to continue especially at the garden
the rivarly help build the BE they killed it not us
st.j's is not avoiding them by not scheduling them they left our league for greed
They will crumble after Boheim retires just like uconn w calhoun
wait till they fall then beat the hell out of them but not till Baldy retires
Monasch could sched. Duke,NC,Kentucky,Kansas,Florida & easy pack the garden just like RMnorth said
the rivarly help build the BE they killed it not us
st.j's is not avoiding them by not scheduling them they left our league for greed
They will crumble after Boheim retires just like uconn w calhoun
wait till they fall then beat the hell out of them but not till Baldy retires
Monasch could sched. Duke,NC,Kentucky,Kansas,Florida & easy pack the garden just like RMnorth said