Great stuff by Sean Brennan, hopefully they can make this happen. Its been talked about enough
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/basketcase/2008/12/simple-plan-to-bring-excitemen.htmlHofstra coach Tom Pecora has long been a proponent of New York college hoops programs creating an annual tournament pitting the city's Division I programs against each other, similar to how Philadelphia does it with their annual Big Five tournament.
Wednesday night, after Hofstra posted a 60-40 victory over Fordham, Pecora spoke more about how much he enjoys playing the other area programs.
"Fordham and Hofstra, we have a history of playing each other and it's a series that we have to continue," Pecora said. "I did an interview (Tuesday) and I said everyone talks about what's going on with New York basketball and we laugh because we feel like we've had a pretty good run for a decade. (The Pride has 95 wins in its last five seasons and has averaged 19 wins a season for the last 10 years). But I think step one in that process is we all have to play each other, especially the city teams and the teams that have had good success over the years. It's important for us to continue to play Fordham, Manhattan, Iona, St. John's and all those other schools."
We agree with Pecora. A Big Five-type tournament (maybe even a Big Six?) might be just what the city needs to jump start big-time interest again. Perhaps a doubleheader or triple-dip at the Garden on a Saturday afternoon in December? You know, before the meat of the conference season kicks in.
Heck, it's got to be better than what the Garden has on tap for us at the Holiday Festival later this month. St. John's, Marist, Columbia and Virginia Tech? Why, they'll be packing the Garden by the tens for that field.
No way are we knocking the Red Foxes, who have had some pretty decent success the past few seasons. But they are in a major rebuilding mode under Chucky Martin this year. And Virginia Tech? The Hokies don't exactly get the city's basketball juices flowing.
No, we'd like to see St. John's remain the host, but have at least two of the other Division I programs from the city involved each season. Toss in an out-of-town big-name program (Gonzaga would be nice. How about Florida? Maryland? Michigan State?) and now you're talking.
Think back to the 2002-03 season when the Holiday Festival field featured Manhattan, Iona, St. John's and mighty North Carolina. Great field, great atmosphere - and great upsets. Iona shocked the Tar Heels with a 65-56 win and the Jaspers took care of the Johnnies, 72-65. If you were there, you remember the building was rocking. Good times, man. Good times.
Lately, though, St. John's seems to have gone out of its way to dodge Hofstra, Manhattan, Iona and Fordham. And it's no coincidence that St. John's has had more than it could handle against the other city schools.
Hofstra won its last four straight against St. John's and now hasn't played the Red Storm in two seasons. Manhattan won its last two vs. the Johnnies and now hasn't played them since knocking them out of that '02-'03 Holiday Festival. Fordham last played vs. St. John's in '02-'03, despite losing two of its last three meetings, and Iona last tangled with the Johnnies when the Gaels beat them, 70-57, in the 1995 Holiday Festival.
Yet somehow the Red Storm finds time to schedule St. Francis of Brooklyn, LIU and NJIT.
Now we're certainly not saying lose the Terriers and Blackbirds. They're local, they're in. But how about losing Bethune-Cookman and Howard? Exactly what kind of crowd packed Carnesecca Arena for that big Howard matchup?
We hope the powers that be will get together in the not-too-distant future, hammer out the details and get it done. We've already broached the subject with Barry Rohrssen at Manhattan, Kevin Willard at Iona and, like Pecora, they're all for it.
They're in. How about the rest of you?