Which Was the First St. John's Game You Went To?

Can't remember the opponent , but my first game was in Winter of 1961 at Alumni Hall . Donny Burks , willie Hall , Fred Edelman , Billy O'Sullivan , Leroy Ellis and Kevin Loughry are players that I remember from that team .
 
The 2004 Holiday Festival where we beat Julius Hodge and NC State in Norm's first season. Sat 3 rows behind the NC State bench. I was 14 years old, if they don't win that game I probably don't go to school at SJU.
 
I remember it like it was  yesterday. December 9th, 1932 and the great Buck Freeman was our coach.
It was my first game in the “new” DeGray Gym. St. John’s beat
St. John’s of Maryland 34-10. The battle of the Saints.  The players were Matty Begovich, Mac Kinsbrunner, Max Posnack, and Al Schuckman. Rip Gerson played the year before and back then those Jewish kids from the playgrounds of Brooklyn were the kings of New York.  Sure, CCNY had more Jews but ours were from Brooklyn.  Buck wasn't much older than his players and celebrated every victory with whiskey and beer chasers at a bar off Willoughby.  We had a great NYC conference with NYU, St. Francis, Fordham, Manhattan and CCNY.  The triple headers at the old smoke filled Madison Square Garden were all sell outs and we wore suit jackets and ties to the games per the Vincentions orders.  It was the  depression era and we were young and the only thing that mattered was redmen basketball.
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So you're actually Class of 1872?
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No, 1972. But I own a DeLorean DMC-12 and was able to go back and visit DeGray where we won 93% of our games. No way we would have lost to Butler or Villanova had we played the games there. I would have gone back further but I had trouble with the Flux Capacitator. Darn DeLorean time machine parts are impossible to get.
 
Contrary to my name here, it was the Holiday Festival in 1964 against BC with my brother, then a freshman at St. John's and my father. Since starting as a freshman 8 years later, have seen almost every home game (except for the times I was in the hospital and/or recuperating from two pesky open heart surgeries in 2003 and 2014). Also too many road games to remember.
 
Contrary to my name here, it was the Holiday Festival in 1964 against BC with my brother, then a freshman at St. John's and my father. Since starting as a freshman 8 years later, have seen almost every home game (except for the times I was in the hospital and/or recuperating from two pesky open heart surgeries in 2003 and 2014). Also too many road games to remember.
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Congratulations Sir on half a century of SJU ball. You have seen the good, the bad and 2015.
 
The 2004 Holiday Festival where we beat Julius Hodge and NC State in Norm's first season. Sat 3 rows behind the NC State bench. I was 14 years old, if they don't win that game I probably don't go to school at SJU.
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Wow. SJU fans really do blame everything on Norm. :)
 
The 2004 Holiday Festival where we beat Julius Hodge and NC State in Norm's first season. Sat 3 rows behind the NC State bench. I was 14 years old, if they don't win that game I probably don't go to school at SJU.
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Wow. SJU fans really do blame everything on Norm. :)
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Ha. Well it all worked out in the end as I now have 2 degrees from SJU, a good job and a life expectancy 10 years lower than your average non-SJU fan. I owe it all to Norm, Geno and Daryll Hill.
 
The 2004 Holiday Festival where we beat Julius Hodge and NC State in Norm's first season. Sat 3 rows behind the NC State bench. I was 14 years old, if they don't win that game I probably don't go to school at SJU.
Click to expand...

Wow. SJU fans really do blame everything on Norm. :)
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Ha. Well it all worked out in the end as I now have 2 degrees from SJU, a good job and a life expectancy 10 years lower than your average non-SJU fan. I owe it all to Norm, Geno and Daryll Hill.
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Nice job. SJU needs bright, motivated guys like you.
 
According to my ticket stubs (I try to save them all), my parents dragged me to a game when I was six months old. December of 1982 vs. FDU. No, I don't remember it.

First game I have any memory of, was when Shelton Jones was the star player on the team, so it was probably his senior year. It was an easy win, but I don't remember the opponent.
 
Contrary to my name here, it was the Holiday Festival in 1964 against BC with my brother, then a freshman at St. John's and my father. Since starting as a freshman 8 years later, have seen almost every home game (except for the times I was in the hospital and/or recuperating from two pesky open heart surgeries in 2003 and 2014). Also too many road games to remember.
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Congratulations Sir on half a century of SJU ball. You have seen the good, the bad and 2015.
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You left out the ugly (2003-04).
 
I was a junior at Mater Christi hs. my classmate's brother belonged to a sju frat that had 2 rows of season tickets behind the sju bench. the sju frat student would sell me unused sju tickets in those seats. I went to many games in the 1963-1964 season. jerry Houston, bob & Kenny McIntyre. I believe albie Schwartz was on that team also. then came the magical 1964-1965 season & I was hooked forever on sju basketball. although I went to Fordham for my undergrad degree. I do have a sju masters. I also attended that rick barry game.
 
Versus Rutgers at Alumni Hall the year after Rutgers went to the Final Four. Eddie Jordan was quoted in the paper that day saying RU owns NYC. There was a sign in the gym saying "Jordan, the only city you own is Bayonne." RU won SJU won the game.
 
Don't remember the exact game(s) but became a season ticket holder at 5. Dad dragged me to games when I was old enough to know what was going on. First players I remember were Albie Schwartz, the McIntyre brothers, then a few years later, Rudy Bogad, Pete LaMantia, Jimmy Smyth. My birthday is Jan. 5, signifying my lifelong devotion to Redmen (yes, it is Redmen) basketball.
 
Don't remember the exact game(s) but became a season ticket holder at 5. Dad dragged me to games when I was old enough to know what was going on. First players I remember were Albie Schwartz, the McIntyre brothers, then a few years later, Rudy Bogad, Pete LaMantia, Jimmy Smyth. My birthday is Jan. 5, signifying my lifelong devotion to Redmen (yes, it is Redmen) basketball.
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Wow...Albie Schwartz :) ....
I remember him playing with Sonny Dove and John Warren
 
Don't remember the exact game(s) but became a season ticket holder at 5. Dad dragged me to games when I was old enough to know what was going on. First players I remember were Albie Schwartz, the McIntyre brothers, then a few years later, Rudy Bogad, Pete LaMantia, Jimmy Smyth. My birthday is Jan. 5, signifying my lifelong devotion to Redmen (yes, it is Redmen) basketball.
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Wow...Albie Schwartz :) ....
I remember him playing with Sonny Dove and John Warren
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Chaminade guy!
 
I was a junior at Mater Christi hs. my classmate's brother belonged to a sju frat that had 2 rows of season tickets behind the sju bench. the sju frat student would sell me unused sju tickets in those seats. I went to many games in the 1963-1964 season. jerry Houston, bob & Kenny McIntyre. I believe albie Schwartz was on that team also. then came the magical 1964-1965 season & I was hooked forever on sju basketball. although I went to Fordham for my undergrad degree. I do have a sju masters. I also attended that rick barry game.
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Albie Swartz -- not Schwartz! -- wasn't on the '63-'64 team. His first varsity year was the following season, '64-'65. That also explains why, as was noted, he played on the same team with then-soph John Warren during the '66-'67 season.

Regarding his name, it was commonly thought Albie was Jewish; he wasn't. And, if I remember correctly, he was even invited to participate in the Maccabiah Games in Israel -- sort of a Jewish Olympics -- while he was at St. John's. Or so it was rumored. Regardless, he didn't participate.
 
Don't remember the exact game(s) but became a season ticket holder at 5. Dad dragged me to games when I was old enough to know what was going on. First players I remember were Albie Schwartz, the McIntyre brothers, then a few years later, Rudy Bogad, Pete LaMantia, Jimmy Smyth. My birthday is Jan. 5, signifying my lifelong devotion to Redmen (yes, it is Redmen) basketball.
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Lamantia have a son who played for Holy Cross high school?
 
NYU vs SJU at Alumni in 1962. I was a soph at NYU. Leroy Ellis, Willie Hall, Ivan Kovac, Donnie Burks, Kevin Loughery. I will forego naming the entire NYU roster where the following year I was chair of the undergrad committee for BB PR. Finished my doctoral work at St. John's but became a fan as soon as NYU went D3 and the people I was close to living in Boston were all from BC. Latter day fans have no idea of the reverence in the basketball community for Coach Lapchick, even among opposing schools. SJU won the game.
 
First game was Feb. 1975 vs Fordham at MSG, George Johnson's freshman year. Met Coach Carnesecca for the first time when I was buying my tickets at the Alumni Hall ticket office. Mel Utely, Beaver Smith, Frank Alagia were also on that team. Result was a 10 point SJU win. First became a fan in '72-73, Billy Schaeffer's senior year.
 
My first SJU game was 1979 at Alumni Hall. St. Johns vs Davidson. SJU starting five were: Reggie Carter, Bernard Rencher, Ron Plair, Frank Gilroy and Wayne McCoy
 
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