|
|
Post by johnnygogo on Feb 26, 2024 12:45:00 GMT -5
I've been going to Yanitelli since I was a kid with my dad and later attended the school... always very involved and always attended as many games as I could. Leading up to the crazy run I always had season tickets and followed the team to a few away games a year.
I always wanted SP to be Cinderella - the darling that knocked off the giant school and made news for 24 hours before fading away. My SP sweatshirt would get smiles knowing that we were the darling for a day. Something strange has happened since our Elite 8 run... as i mentioned it was beyond my wildest dreams and when we beat Purdue tears poured down my face as i hugged my daughter because i just couldn't believe what i saw live. I wasn't even sad at the loss to North Carolina because SP in the Final Four is not comprehendible - i couldn't even process that.
I loved everyone on the bandwagon, I was bummed when the fellas all left for "greener" pastures and I continued to follow the board and go to games, but I've lost the burn for the Peacocks. Maybe it's knowing that NIL, the portal and our own administration have stacked the deck against us and this team, maybe it's knowing what happened will never, ever happen again. I really don't know what it is, but I've totally lost my passion for the Peacocks... I rarely go to games, when i do i'm so frustrated that the school has done nothing to honor the team besides a normal looking banner... the bathrooms haven't been upgraded since literally 1980 and the ticketing and overall experience is terrible. It bums me out, but when i think about going, I'm like ehhhh is it worth the hassle???
I think i'd feel the same way if the Jets ever won the Super Bowl, like I just wouldn't need anything else from them.
I'm glad I was there to see the ride and enjoy it with my family, and I wish i still had the passion that I had a few years ago. Maybe AC will provide a little magic and it will rekindle the fire.
Go Peacocks!
|
|
|
|
Post by latigo on Feb 26, 2024 14:36:50 GMT -5
Johnny, alot to process but I understand. A couple of things, I enjoyed college basketball 40 years ago. No NIL. If a player transferred, he sat 1 year. In the Big Ten, if you transferred within conference, you were off scholarship. No portal. I think these new policies have been much more detrimental to mid majors than power conferences. So I think that's what most people that support middies etc, feel. Face it, chances are players don't stay 4 years at a school.
To your point about SP in the EE, the university should have made damn sure that it wasn't just 15 minutes of fame. They should have had a much better marketing strategy. FDU seems to have cashed in better than SP. However, take comfort in knowing that no 15 seed will win 3 games in the tournament... again.
As to your SP sweatshirt, I wear my SP wardrobe every day in Indiana and love, absolutely love, to run into PurWho and Kaintucky fans. Go Peacocks!
|
|
|
|
Post by bluebird on Feb 26, 2024 15:02:06 GMT -5
I have been going to YANITELLI and the ARMORY for the last 60 years. I try to make the game,if not, I watch the game on my computer. When the group left for " greener pastures " I was sad, but I still am able to root for the Peacocks.The banner really made me angry. Why couldn't the school put up a huge banner for the gym? I am frustrated about the tickets,bathrooms etc. , But so what!.....AC will be here very soon and St Peters has a good chance to win the whole tournament. GO PEACOCKS FOREVER!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by cindycrawford on Feb 26, 2024 15:58:37 GMT -5
I understand the feelings of Johnnygogo as well as bluebird. These thoughts are held my many of the hardcore posters on this board. The college basketball world has undoubtedly irrevocably changed.
We enjoyed our miracle run and can forever cherish those
memories.
But those days are no more possible to recapture than our lost youth.
So watch and enjoy the games now for what they are as yesterdays win , great entertainment.
Io Pavo !
|
|
|
|
Post by loyal on Feb 26, 2024 18:00:34 GMT -5
Thankfully we’ve been able to enjoy Peacock players who unquestionably would have “moved up” under the current rules, but instead led SP to a MAAC Championship game
and in many cases to competitive NCAA game:
Keydren Clark
Willie Haynes
Marvin Andrews
Tony Walker
Randy Holmes
Luis Arrosa
Ryan Bacon
Wesley Jenkins
KC Ndefo
The days of fielding a MAAC team capable of competing in the NCAA’s are long gone. But, though the level of play is not what it was, we can still enjoy Reid’s paradigm breakthrough, Corey’s rapid development into an All-MAAC player, etc.
And, winning in AC would mean just as much.
|
|
|
|
Post by loyal on Feb 26, 2024 18:08:58 GMT -5
I should add Ricky Bellinger and Jamar Hunter (‘99)
|
|
|
|
Post by peacockpride on Feb 26, 2024 18:55:21 GMT -5
johnnygogo - Such a good raw and honest post. I share many of the same feelings as you. I've probably followed this season the least I can remember in the 25 years since I attend the school.
The Elite 8 team leaving didn't bother me as much as some here. We were fortunate to watch that entire core group for 3 years. We knew Sha was leaving during the run and that we were witnessing something we would never get to see again. When the team had that final huddle at the end of the UNC game, that was closure to me. That group and that coach left at the highest point that SP was ever going to achieve and I was fine with that.
I alluded to this in another thread but the thing that bothers me most is that the four months of the regular season are now meaningless. It not only takes awhile to learn all the new faces on our team but every other team in the conference is brand new as well. I don't go back as far as many of you, but for me the Keekee era was such a good time to be a fan of the MAAC. Flores on Manhattan, Burtt on Iona, Jared Jordan on Marist, Mihalich's high powered offenses at Niagara. Those were players we got to know and look forward to battling them twice each year.
|
|
|
|
Post by bluebird on Feb 26, 2024 19:21:23 GMT -5
Some of the players that loyal spoke about, should be on the St Peters Hall of Fame,...including Kee Kee Clark.
|
|
|
|
Post by youngalum on Feb 26, 2024 19:44:00 GMT -5
The shit show that college sports is turning into really sucks for us fans. I look around the league and see Iona’s best player decides to just up and leave the school. Manhattan has a kid that is ruled eligible in late February for his 8th year of eligibility. Players and schools get raided by other conferences each year. It’s an uncapped professional league with no contracts. Having said that I had a chance to go to the game yesterday and you know what…I had a great time. We won an absolute war and our kids played their ass off for an important conference win. As others mention we have a legit chance to make the tourney. Something that’s only happened twice in my time as an SPU alumnus. So right now I’m just going to enjoy this season and see what all shakes out in the future. As long as the jersey says Saint Peter’s I’ll always be s fan.
|
|
|
|
Post by youngalum on Feb 26, 2024 19:45:33 GMT -5
Some of the players that loyal spoke about, should be on the St Peters Hall of Fame,...including Kee Kee Clark. KeeKee is in the Saint Peter’s Hall of fame along with most on Loyals list. saintpeterspeacocks.com/honors/hall-of-fame |
|
|
|
Post by eport on Feb 26, 2024 20:56:03 GMT -5
Youngalum....thanks for the Hall of Fame info. I've personally known several of the members. Hall of Famer Jerry Malloy was my basketball and baseball coach at St. Patrick's High. Jerry Malloy went on to become a successful baseball coach at Saint Peter's. He was a very knowledgeable guy when it came to sports and a really funny guy with a great sense of humor. For instance, we had a player on our basketball team that had very skinny legs and Jerry Malloy always said his legs looked like two hockey sticks.
|
|
