Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / Lou Carnesecca's One Leg Up on New York City Basketball 12-1-24
Transcript
- 0:03Speaker 1: Come, Come, Emma.
- 0:11Speaker 2: Had lsome captive.
- 0:20Speaker 3: That it is the first day of Advent in twenty
- 0:26Speaker 3: twenty four, and I am wishing you all a blessed
- 0:32Speaker 3: and a healthy and a truly enjoyable holiday season, Christmas season,
- 0:39Speaker 3: Honka season, And for me, I've been started out a
- 0:45Speaker 3: little rough. After an incredible Thanksgiving weekend with my family
- 0:50Speaker 3: and then Gabby's family, we get the news late last
- 0:53Speaker 3: night that a legend in New York City who transcended
- 0:59Speaker 3: Saint John's campus, who transcended the garden. He was just
- 1:03Speaker 3: a legend of New York City, lou Carni Seca has
- 1:08Speaker 3: passed at the age of ninety nine. I'll give you
- 1:11Speaker 3: my thoughts on that in just a moment, but I
- 1:13Speaker 3: want you to hear the Immemoriam, a memorial video that
- 1:20Speaker 3: Saint John's University put together following the passing of really
- 1:26Speaker 3: the patriarch of Saint John's Basket. St.
- 1:30Speaker 4: John's coaches of important, yes, but there was always the players.
- 1:35Speaker 4: They put the steak and potatoes on the table. He's
- 1:39Speaker 4: had the biggest impact on my life on and off
- 1:41Speaker 4: the court. Coach I would be who I am or
- 1:43Speaker 4: where I am today?
- 1:44Speaker 2: Who wasn't for you.
- 1:45Speaker 3: He's a great person who you wanted to run to
- 1:47Speaker 3: a wall fle intense.
- 1:49Speaker 4: He played as hard as we did on a court
- 1:51Speaker 4: on the side.
- 1:52Speaker 3: Of my spectator.
- 1:54Speaker 2: He is renovated.
- 1:58Speaker 5: Kiss a baby, shake a hand, the greatest passage for
- 2:01Speaker 5: the game of basketball.
- 2:02Speaker 4: He knows how to teach as well as coach. He's
- 2:05Speaker 4: my idea. The first time I saw Saint John's team
- 2:08Speaker 4: play was nineteen forty two in Madison Square Garden. That
- 2:13Speaker 4: was my first experience.
- 2:14Speaker 1: It was in same Jos and they fell all over
- 2:16Speaker 1: with them.
- 2:17Speaker 3: The people I learned.
- 2:18Speaker 4: From had a pro background.
- 2:19Speaker 1: I'm talking about coach Loipzac Franklin. Why are they have
- 2:22Speaker 1: I learned.
- 2:23Speaker 3: Eighty three when the biggest had the first tournament there
- 2:26Speaker 3: the coach Connor secret He said, you guys, this is special.
- 2:29Speaker 3: We're coming back to where we.
- 2:30Speaker 2: Belonged playing John and I still played and lost all painted.
- 2:35Speaker 3: Five coaches like we were walking with kings next day, all
- 2:40Speaker 3: the covening on the New York Post, the Dawn News,
- 2:42Speaker 3: Billy Gowins on the backboard. It was cool.
- 2:44Speaker 1: It was such interesting, so much enthusiasm the crown, you
- 2:50Speaker 1: could feel it just roally a loud.
- 3:01Speaker 4: Knight of Madison Square Garden Saint John's against Georgetown.
- 3:05Speaker 3: The stage is six.
- 3:06Speaker 2: The winner tonight will be number one.
- 3:09Speaker 3: Night came out, you know digital center. I came in
- 3:12Speaker 3: the locker room. I had everything all closed up like
- 3:15Speaker 3: they still don't know how he replicated it. Now you
- 3:17Speaker 3: had a big roar. We get June.
- 3:24Speaker 5: The place written wild.
- 3:26Speaker 1: I didn't mind him upstairs. You meet with the sweater
- 3:29Speaker 1: for that really hurts.
- 3:31Speaker 3: Thank jobs.
- 3:32Speaker 2: They had won their thirtieth game of the year. They
- 3:34Speaker 2: won't meet the North Carolina or today so that they
- 3:37Speaker 2: can't be a ghip of the wet region.
- 3:39Speaker 3: All.
- 3:40Speaker 4: Yeah, the back count.
- 3:42Speaker 2: This was on the Saint John's.
- 3:45Speaker 4: It's on their way to lecture.
- 3:46Speaker 3: Could the four teams.
- 3:48Speaker 2: I've earned the right names of white they had Veera.
- 3:51Speaker 5: It's just one of the most wonderful feelings you can
- 3:54Speaker 5: get all that work, all the worry, and then finally
- 3:59Speaker 5: naked the before and you're going it's something which you
- 4:03Speaker 5: can't describe.
- 4:04Speaker 3: Because the defense has caused it to runs a coot.
- 4:06Speaker 2: It's gone on hits it the cod seconds to go
- 4:10Speaker 2: the parme what and it's son that sat chimes winds
- 4:15Speaker 2: its second fifties.
- 4:17Speaker 3: Title in forty years.
- 4:18Speaker 2: I think the best move of the night, it may
- 4:20Speaker 2: have been the.
- 4:21Speaker 3: Coach with time ran out.
- 4:23Speaker 6: Let me tell you second, the complete ecstasy you're browing
- 4:27Speaker 6: your head is in the sand I had.
- 4:29Speaker 3: That was the thing to drug that same jobs as.
- 4:34Speaker 4: Give a blue car and shut up the vibe under
- 4:37Speaker 4: the career.
- 4:37Speaker 2: Land blue carniffect I have the twenty fourth thieters were
- 4:40Speaker 2: coaching a alma mater.
- 4:42Speaker 3: Thank god anount the requirement today.
- 4:45Speaker 5: I was unsourced.
- 4:46Speaker 6: Thought I was able at least to pick the time
- 4:49Speaker 6: when I'd felt those time for me to go, No,
- 4:58Speaker 6: my guys, that's it to yell at them, phrase them,
- 5:01Speaker 6: got mad at them, loved them.
- 5:05Speaker 4: I still love them.
- 5:16Speaker 3: And let me tell you the group of guys that
- 5:18Speaker 3: he helped grow into NBA players. And of course, at
- 5:23Speaker 3: the time I met Louke Carniseca was actually when his protege,
- 5:31Speaker 3: Chris Mullen was on that Saint John's bench coaching that team.
- 5:38Speaker 3: And you know, I have a couple of stories with
- 5:40Speaker 3: lou Firstly, I did meet him at the Columbus Day
- 5:43Speaker 3: Parade when he was Graham Marshall many years ago, and
- 5:47Speaker 3: that was pretty special. I always loved the way Lou
- 5:50Speaker 3: talked with that raspy voice, and the way he will
- 5:55Speaker 3: come up with phrases, you know, like the meat and
- 5:57Speaker 3: potatoes that's that was his team, or the way describing
- 6:00Speaker 3: that video, and he just carried himself in this New
- 6:07Speaker 3: York City way which can never be replicated. I guess
- 6:12Speaker 3: John Thompson tribe, but you can never replicate Lou Carniseca
- 6:19Speaker 3: and the personality and the character that he was. But yeah,
- 6:26Speaker 3: when I saw him in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen, I
- 6:31Speaker 3: asked him, you know, what do you think of your
- 6:33Speaker 3: coach of you know, Chris Mullen, who you coached now
- 6:37Speaker 3: coaching the time. He kind of chuckled. And this loss
- 6:41Speaker 3: hits me personally because I, since I was in the
- 6:46Speaker 3: tenth grade, had this dream of going to Saint John's University. Yes,
- 6:50Speaker 3: I love Queen's College, and yes I made a home
- 6:55Speaker 3: at Queen's College, but Saint John's also rolled out the
- 7:00Speaker 3: red carpet during that whole era of trying to find
- 7:04Speaker 3: my college after Viscardi, whether it was the open houses,
- 7:11Speaker 3: whether it was going to different things. I would go
- 7:15Speaker 3: to softball, I'd go to baseball, I'd go to different
- 7:17Speaker 3: sports there even before college, just to get a feel
- 7:22Speaker 3: for the campus. And then I was even featured in
- 7:28Speaker 3: the newspaper The Torch, and Saint John's even invited my
- 7:31Speaker 3: dad and I to be at the first ever cy
- 7:33Speaker 3: Field game that featured Saint John's and Georgetown. All those
- 7:38Speaker 3: memories are special. But then I think about it after
- 7:43Speaker 3: the passing of Lou Carnaseca at ninety nine, and I
- 7:48Speaker 3: start to wonder, Hey, is it the winning culture? Is
- 7:52Speaker 3: it that culture of family that Lou Carniseca created on
- 7:57Speaker 3: that Saint John's campus A big reason why I wanted
- 8:00Speaker 3: to be a Saint John's student because I felt that inclusiveness,
- 8:04Speaker 3: I felt that family. Even before I graduated high school.
- 8:08Speaker 3: I would just hang out there in my senior year
- 8:10Speaker 3: of high school just to get a feel for the campus.
- 8:13Speaker 3: We would spend, as I mentioned, open houses, and then
- 8:16Speaker 3: the first time I was in Carnaseca Arena was actually
- 8:20Speaker 3: after being accepted into Saint John's. They had a acceptance
- 8:26Speaker 3: day or an orientation type of thing, and we rolled
- 8:32Speaker 3: into Carnapaca Arena and I could see the prestigious retired numbers.
- 8:36Speaker 3: Mark Jackson Mullen and the list goes on and on.
- 8:43Speaker 3: And who knew that while I didn't get to go
- 8:49Speaker 3: to school at Saint John's, I would get to know
- 8:53Speaker 3: a lot of the community, whether it was Tuesday nights
- 8:56Speaker 3: at Parsons Ale or whether it was just ending up
- 9:01Speaker 3: at Saint John's basketball games. And then of course we
- 9:06Speaker 3: got to go to a few games thanks to AM
- 9:08Speaker 3: nine to sev of the Answer when we had them
- 9:10Speaker 3: on the air. Thanks to Lou and Mary and Matt
- 9:13Speaker 3: for those tickets over the years as well. So the
- 9:22Speaker 3: culture of family and winning was and should be credited
- 9:28Speaker 3: to Lou Carnseca. And when I say Lou at nine
- 9:32Speaker 3: to seventy, of course Lou Terminelo, but Lou Carneseca five
- 9:36Speaker 3: hundred and twenty six wins in twenty four seasons. And
- 9:42Speaker 3: he was also an almo A graduate of Saint John's
- 9:46Speaker 3: as well, and he created this family which now generations later,
- 9:56Speaker 3: has been passed down from those who went to Saint
- 9:58Speaker 3: John's in the eighties to their kids, I'm sure, and
- 10:05Speaker 3: now the grandkids. I mean, what Luke Carnseca built wasn't
- 10:10Speaker 3: just a winning team, It was a winning environment.
- 10:12Speaker 6: It was a.
- 10:13Speaker 3: Winning campus, and you know how he did it, he
- 10:19Speaker 3: said in a nineteen seventy nine New York Times article
- 10:22Speaker 3: because I googled this, because I knew it was all
- 10:24Speaker 3: about the local kids. In a New York Times article,
- 10:30Speaker 3: he said that he in nineteen seventy nine, he said, basically,
- 10:36Speaker 3: we have to live or die with the locals. There's
- 10:39Speaker 3: a case here or there of a kid coming from
- 10:41Speaker 3: somebodace else, but never said he died. We never had
- 10:44Speaker 3: success and never really tried to go beyond local. And
- 10:50Speaker 3: that's how he won, with a bunch of local kids
- 10:54Speaker 3: that grew up to be men of the game. And
- 11:02Speaker 3: I want to thank Lou Carnaseca for his impact on
- 11:07Speaker 3: the city. On Queen's Right in Queens there's an arena
- 11:12Speaker 3: named after him, of course, in Saint John's campus, Carnateseca Arena.
- 11:17Speaker 3: And now every time you walk in they we're gonna
- 11:20Speaker 3: think of Lou, the man who his name is on
- 11:24Speaker 3: the court and on the building. And so now when
- 11:31Speaker 3: Gaby and I go to Carnaseca Arena, we will think
- 11:33Speaker 3: of him and his impact. And the other thing that
- 11:37Speaker 3: touches me about this is the man who took the
- 11:40Speaker 3: picture of Luke Carnaseca and I was my dad, and
- 11:45Speaker 3: of course I remember how excited I was telling my dad, Hey,
- 11:47Speaker 3: look that's Luke carnacon Let's go over to meet him.
- 11:51Speaker 3: And that's how that picture happened. When I knew Bob
- 11:58Speaker 3: Wolf and Mark, two of my mentors growing up, were
- 12:03Speaker 3: professors at Saint John's, I want to be part of
- 12:05Speaker 3: our culture. That was my tenth grade thinking. But now
- 12:11Speaker 3: here I'm at thirty three thinking, wow, you know what,
- 12:13Speaker 3: I also want to be on that campus because of
- 12:17Speaker 3: the impact lou Carnaseca created and has left behind. And
- 12:23Speaker 3: I think Rick Patino is going to do a hell
- 12:24Speaker 3: of a job with this team. They have been ranked
- 12:28Speaker 3: this year by the Way twenty second last checked, so
- 12:38Speaker 3: that culture winning will continue that Lou Carnaseca built. I
- 12:45Speaker 3: think it's in great hands this program with another Hall
- 12:48Speaker 3: of Fame coach, Rick Patino. I really do. And I
- 13:00Speaker 3: know that Luke carna Seca wasn't just a name one
- 13:03Speaker 3: just even just a person. He was an institution in
- 13:07Speaker 3: New York City, in Jamaica, in Union Termpike, in Queens
- 13:12Speaker 3: and internationally with the NCAA. And this loss will hit
- 13:22Speaker 3: so many, but we just thank him for his legacy
- 13:28Speaker 3: he leaves behind. I know Bruce Beck wrote this because
- 13:34Speaker 3: he was basically mentored by Luke Carniseca, and that's I'm
- 13:38Speaker 3: guessing how Bruce got his start in the media world
- 13:42Speaker 3: was through the tutelage of Carnaseca. He wrote, what a run,
- 13:46Speaker 3: With tears in my eyes, I say goodbye to Luke Carterseca.
- 13:49Speaker 3: What a run, nine nine years of living life to
- 13:51Speaker 3: its fullest. What a coach, what a man, what a friend.
- 13:56Speaker 3: I so wanted to host a TV show for seven
- 13:58Speaker 3: years on M Networks, and so blessed to have him
- 14:02Speaker 3: in my life for forty six years. Rip Louis, I
- 14:06Speaker 3: have lost a second father. The world has lost a saint.
- 14:11Speaker 3: What a tribute by Bruce Beck. And he is an
- 14:16Speaker 3: award winning anchor, and even he is brought to tears,
- 14:22Speaker 3: rightfully so because of the loss of lu carna Seca.
- 14:29Speaker 3: And I tell you one thing, the game is not
- 14:32Speaker 3: the same. And I know want to sound like a
- 14:34Speaker 3: seventy eight year old or ninety year old back in
- 14:37Speaker 3: my day, but the game is not the same because
- 14:41Speaker 3: looted it locally, that local aspect feels totally ruined by
- 14:46Speaker 3: the Transfer Portal. That Transfer Portal has made this game
- 14:51Speaker 3: not just national, but international as well. It's also made
- 14:56Speaker 3: it a free agent game. And remember Saint John's had
- 15:00Speaker 3: to compete with as the Times Rope and others, the
- 15:03Speaker 3: big wigs of the sport, the guys that would come
- 15:05Speaker 3: in their fancy cars and suits and try and woo
- 15:08Speaker 3: these players to go to bigger schools. But Loud did
- 15:14Speaker 3: something different that no other coach I don't think can do,
- 15:16Speaker 3: which is he had character, a class, He had a
- 15:20Speaker 3: family spirit about him, which is why so many kids
- 15:24Speaker 3: wanted to come play for lou Carna Seca, wanted to
- 15:28Speaker 3: become grown men under the tutelage of Luke Carna Seca.
- 15:36Speaker 3: That Transfer Portal has taken all of that off the table. Now, kids,
- 15:42Speaker 3: these ags want the money to play. They don't care
- 15:45Speaker 3: about the character, the class, the family field. They just
- 15:48Speaker 3: want to go where the money is. And I pray
- 15:56Speaker 3: that that doesn't kill the sport that lou Carnesseca really
- 16:06Speaker 3: built up here in the New York area and really
- 16:11Speaker 3: uh built up I think for the NCAA. He showed
- 16:18Speaker 3: the world how you can do it with local talent
- 16:23Speaker 3: and in his legacy. I pray we get back to
- 16:25Speaker 3: that local talent again, because there's a lot of great
- 16:31Speaker 3: kids playing in New York City today, aren't there. Scout
- 16:35Speaker 3: them if you're also going to scout the Europeans, the
- 16:43Speaker 3: even the Asians of the sport, or you know, across
- 16:47Speaker 3: the continents, scout out the locals too. Scout out the
- 16:53Speaker 3: locals too, and that is how we can continue the
- 16:58Speaker 3: lou Carnesseca legacy that he leaves behind with the Saint
- 17:03Speaker 3: John's Basketball family. I want to say one more than
- 17:06Speaker 3: Chris Rosa wrote this because Chris Rosa, the president of
- 17:09Speaker 3: the Viscardi Center, was also mentored by Luke Carna Seca.
- 17:16Speaker 3: He wrote, now it's in life you truly walk with kings.
- 17:22Speaker 3: Thank you for being my hero and for always being
- 17:25Speaker 3: so kind to my family. God bless you, coach. We
- 17:29Speaker 3: love you. Who May his perpetual light shine upon you
- 17:32Speaker 3: and may you rest in peace. That from doctor Chris Rosa,
- 17:37Speaker 3: who look at that. Doctor Chris Rosa, a gradual Saint John's,
- 17:43Speaker 3: goes on to become the president of the Viscardi Center,
- 17:47Speaker 3: and I think clearly Luke Carna Seca's mentorship grew Chris
- 17:54Speaker 3: up as well, And while I did not have that
- 18:01Speaker 3: close of him, fact just to meet him for a
- 18:04Speaker 3: couple of times was really special. And his kindness, whether
- 18:11Speaker 3: he met him once or a thousand times, always radiate through.
- 18:17Speaker 3: He truly had one leg up on college basketball. And may, yes,
- 18:23Speaker 3: I know it's kind of cliche, the Saint John's basketball
- 18:26Speaker 3: teams of today carry that torch. See that the newspapers
- 18:30Speaker 3: called the torch on campus for generations to come happy advent.
- 18:39Speaker 3: We miss you, Lou and do it for Louie. Do
- 18:43Speaker 3: it for lou Carterseca this season Saint John's. We'll talk
- 18:49Speaker 3: to TC