Myself and my friends went.
A great time was had by all. We go every year and wouldn't miss it.
B&C were excellent co-hosts. Spent plenty of time "working the crowd" during the cocktail hour. Could not have been nicer. Carton spent about 10 minutes speaking with 2 of my friends and they said he was a really good guy and nothing like the fellow on the radio.
Both B&C took "a shot" at St. John's alumnus Francesa during the dinner.
Coach Lavin looked great. Spent time greeting everyone at every table. He is very much looking forward to the season and is very excited about his team.
Needless to say, Coach Carnesecaa, Coach Keady and all the assistant coaches were present. As was Coach Joe and his staff. Former Redmen basketall standout and SNY broadcaster Tarik Turner was also present.
Fr. Harrington and Fr. Maher were also at the cocktail hour and dinner and took the time to speak to many, many individuals about the university and the upcoming season. Both were very pro-active in going up to those that attended and initiating a conversation.
Program raised a bit of $$. Among those items at the live auction were a visit to WFAN and The B and C show. Every table took this opportunity at $1K a pop.
Also auctioned off a trip to Syracuse on the team charter.
Saw that both B and C bought silent auction items. Neither guy has "short arms"
These guys are not only generous with their time (they did this for free) but also with their wallets. Kudos to them!
Rick Barry isn't the most humble guy in the world, but he sure was interesting.
A very big fan of Coach Carnesecca. Said he was the only coach he ever had who asked his opinion.
Barry is not a big fan of Bill Bradley. Said he never should have made the U.S. Olympic team. Said he was terrible in the tryouts.
Also said that Ned Irish of the Knicks didn't draft him because he was too skinny and too much of a flake. As you know the Knicks drafted Dollar Bill, who was going to spend a year at Oxford before joining the NBA. That gave him extra motivation to play well against the Knicks and said he had some of his best games vs our home town team.
Had a great story about the Olympic trails (which is those days the final rosters were a foregone conclusion even before the practices began) and John Thompson.
Neither Barry or Thompson receive the playing time that they thought they deserved during the trials and neither was happy about it. Thompson was asked to go into a game with only a few minutes to go and sub for Mel Counts. Thompson looked down to the end of the bench and said F**K You !!!!!!
Barry said looking back it was incredibly ironic that here you had a future U.S. Olympic Coach saying FU to the 1964 coach !
Said that after the practices were over, Joe Lapchick went up to him (practices were held at Alumni Hall) and told him that he wasn't going to make the U.S. team but that he was going to be a good pro.
Barry, when asked, said he could have played today without a doubt. Said he never lifted a weight until his last year when they had a Nautillis machine. And that back in his day they thought steak was a good pre-game meal.
Said if he had himself, Wilt, Russell, Michael and Magic on the same team they would beat anyone.
Rick aslo said that someone should do a documentary on Oscar Robertson.
Said it took too long for Jamal Wikes to be admitted to the Basketball Hall of Fame, which he was last month.
At the very least he was incredibly entertaining. He also spent quite a bit of time working the crowd at the cocktail hour and could not have been nicer.
