Latest / OneLegUpAlex Sports / Lou Carnesecca's One Leg Up on New York City Basketball 12-1-24

Transcript

Lou Carnesecca's One Leg Up on New York City Basketball 12-1-24 · OneLegUpAlex Sports

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