Whats going on at St. John's baby? Dicky V chimes in

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/news/story?id=3791819


Do you remember when Looie Carnesecca had Madison Square Garden rocking and rolling? He had the Garden in pandemonium mode because St. John's was a contender in the Big East.

Looie had the sweet shooting touch of Chris Mullin in his line-up. Mullin had the velvet stroke as one of the best shooters I have seen in my 30 years calling games for ESPN/ABC.

There was the rebounding ability of a player they called "The Truth", Walter Berry. Looie also had the marvelous basketball IQ of Mark Jackson.

How sad is it that nobody is coming out to see St. John's at the Garden these days. Recently, in the Holiday Festival, an event that used the bring big crowds around Christmas time, the Red Storm played in the championship game against Virginia Tech. Reports indicated there were just over 2,000 fans in attendance at the Mecca of college basketball.

Just over 2,000 people ... are you kidding me? That was probably a high count.

Let's face reality. Coach Norm Roberts has worked diligently to rebuild this once-proud program. St. John's has not appeared in the big dance since 2002, and that trip was vacated by the NCAA due to improprieties.

Roberts has tried so hard to recruit the local superstar, the way Looie did when he landed the likes of Mullin and Jackson.

For some unknown reason, the job is not getting done. This year, St. John's has a decent record against cupcake city; when the Big East schedule rolls around, it will probably be a different story. The Red Storm was picked 14th in the conference's preseason poll, a far cry from the prominence it once held in the league.

When you think of St. John's, you think of that strong personality in Carnesecca roaming the sidelines in those colorful sweaters. You think about Luigi being a vital part of the sports world in New York City. That made it special when you watched St. John's in action. I think back to the rivalry games against Georgetown and Syracuse and how 19,000 would pack MSG.

I think back to other great coaches at city schools and the need for a strong personality. What happened at Marquette when Al McGuire was there was special. There was so much joy when his team won the national championship back in 1977. He did it with a lot of New York kids. McGuire was a forceful personality, which is needed at a catholic school where football is not dominant.

Think about Georgetown and John Thompson. He had the Hoyas on top of the basketball world in the 80s, and now his son John Thompson III has the program back in the top 20.

You get the picture. When you talk about a large urban area, where football is not prevalent, the coach has to be as big if not bigger than anyone else in that sports landscape. They need a powerful guy who gets lots of attention, getting his face on the local newscasts. It helps in the world of recruiting and it aides in winning games and selling tickets.

Oh how Looie Carnesecca is missed in New York City. I wish Roberts well, and he's a classy guy, but right now there isn't any buzz when talking about St. John's.

He has a point that a big name coach would bring a big time buzz. I just think thats easier said than done. Also 2,000 on the attendance at the Holiday festival is pretty weak but I think when you have a double header consisting of Marist, Colombia, VT in NY you aren't going to get a huge draw. If you add some type of big name team you'll draw more St. John's fans, more fans of the bigger college, and more general fans who want to see the big name team play(also might root for St. John's to upset the big team just for fun factor). St. John's isn't the only to blame for this unless they control scheduling for the event.

Vitale has mentioned his disappointment in the program's direction/fan support during the Texas/Villanova and Texas/Wisconsin games over the last couple of weeks. And now this article. I'm glad he's at least speaking up. The more national attention on the situation, the more pressure there's going to be to win.

stating the obvious. What's the point.

Does anyone know, who books the teams for the Holiday Festival?  Obviously Va Tech is better than us and the other two teams are local, so it might seem to make sense but Va Tech has no local draw and apparently neither of the three locals does either. 

Last year, when Hofstra was in the field, in place of Columbia, the Garden was still empty.  Teams like Carolina, UCLA, Kansas, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, etc, might be willing to come every few years.  Even 2nd tier teams like USC, K-State, Gonzaga, Purdue would draw a better crowd.

With our fan base trying to send a message, Columbia and Marist not seeming to care, it was an embarrassment. 

BTW, someone mentioned the Marist band.  The bandleader does a great job.  He is so enthusiastic and the band is so large.  We packed very few band members, dancers and cheerleaders.  Even on that front, we looked weak.

He talks about a coach that retired 16 years ago and players from 25 years ago.  Where've you been Dickie V?

The 4 teams that were in the Holiday festival brought in 2000 fans. In comparisson, the Hofstra/Iona game on a Tuesday night(Dec 23) had  2,518. Maybe these 2 teams should have been playing in the Festival instead of Marist, Columbia or even St Johns. Just a thought

As much as I hate to admit it, Dickie is right. St. John's needs a big name coach to survive in New York. I really appreciate Norm's efforts, but he can't compete in the Big East with the likes of Boheme and Calhoun.

He has a point that a big name coach would bring a big time buzz. I just think thats easier said than done. Also 2,000 on the attendance at the Holiday festival is pretty weak but I think when you have a double header consisting of Marist, Colombia, VT in NY you aren't going to get a huge draw. If you add some type of big name team you'll draw more St. John's fans, more fans of the bigger college, and more general fans who want to see the big name team play(also might root for St. John's to upset the big team just for fun factor). St. John's isn't the only to blame for this unless they control scheduling for the event.

The problem is not the other teams, it's St. John's.  In previous festivals we may have had ONE decent team besides us --- though nto always.  If St. John's was good, we get more people to the games,

The Joe Lapchick tourney was FULL of cupcakes and we always packed the house.

The problem is us.  We need a change of coach. ASAP.

new york is a city of stars.  a no name coach has no chance here, unless he's a genius at x's and o's...

As much as I hate to admit it, Dickie is right. St. John's needs a big name coach to survive in New York. I really appreciate Norm's efforts, but he can't compete in the Big East with the likes of Boheme and Calhoun.

Very well put. I hate to see people attacking Norm because he does seem like a good guy and he is putting in the work. He is simply in way over his head... and that isn't his fault. St. John's sent him into a gun fight with a butter knife. He is obviously not a good Big East coach and may be best suited as an assistant who has recruited very well for powerhouse programs. Our program was in a terrible situation when Norm took over and we really did need someone who brought instant credibility and ran a clean program at the same time. Roberts definitely brought one of the two, and for that we should be thankful to him. However, everyone is correct that this can only take you so far and the program has been so irrelevant the past few years that it cannot afford to allow it to continute or we may dig ourselves a hole way too deep to ever climb out of. I know people are frustrated now because I am too. I have been an SJU fan since the 80's when I was old enough to know what basketball was. I am a graduate myself. However, I really do hope that when the Norm era ends (and it will eventually) that people remember that Norm didn't put the program in the position it currently finds itself... he simply wasn't equipped to fix it.

By the way, I am a huge Pitino fan and would definitely rather see him come to SJU than anyone else. For some reason I think there is more of a chance that he would take the job than Cal. He is further along in his career and stands to lose less. He is a New York guy and seems to have a soft spot for St. John's. Maybe its just wishful thinking.

Dicky V strikes again...he just called for Norm's head in the Georgetown/Pitt game.

"Its embarrassing they only got 2000 people in the Garden for the Holiday Festival and 5000 for Miami"

He went onto say that St. John's needs a big time personality as a head coach if they want to make waives in NY. He likes Norm but he's just not cutting it.

He just brought it up again..

Dicky V strikes again...he just called for Norm's head in the Georgetown/Pitt game.

"Its embarrassing they only got 2000 people in the Garden for the Holiday Festival and 5000 for Miami"

He went onto say that St. John's needs a big time personality as a head coach if they want to make waives in NY. He likes Norm but he's just not cutting it.

ahh beat me to it...but yea i heard him bring that up..at least the 3rd time this season he has said that...someone is paying him to mention this and i appreciate it...it took 3 years but finally the sad state of this program is being recognized nationally..NORM MUST GO!