All in With John Jastremski

I’ve been very fortunate to be around for some unbelievable times and moments in NY Sports. 

Of course we would all like a Doc Brown time machine for many instances of life, but from a sports standpoint, one of the great time periods I would have loved to have lived with the platform that I currently have would have to be the rise of the Big East Conference in the 1980s. 

It was basketball nirvana every March at Madison Square Garden and when you thought about St. John’s, it was pretty simple. 

You thought of Lou Carnesecca. 

Carnesecca was the architect of the St. John’s Basketball Program and in this great era of Big East Basketball, his charisma and passion for the game and the students of the program was on full display for the world to see. 

The 1980s and Big East College Basketball was as good as it gets. 

St. John’s was a very big part of that equation. 

Carnesecca on the sidelines was worth the price of admission, but his guidance shaped legendary basketball careers such as Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson. 

1985 and 1986 was the St. John’s Golden Age of Basketball. . 

30 wins in back to back seasons and a trip to the Final Four. 

For 24 years coaching at St. John’s, Carnesecca never had a losing season.

The standard at St. John’s was the Carnesecca standard and boy was it a good one. 

The Big East in the 1980s was full of characters. Specifically the legendary coaching figures. 

There was John Thompson at Georgetown. Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. Rollie Massimino at Villanova and of course Louie Carnesecca. 

The names say it all. 

Did I mention these coaches were characters? 

Lou Carnesecca’s lucky sweater was such a thorn in John Thompson’s side, Thompson had to go and get one of his own. 

The sweater game was one of the iconic moments of the history of the Big East and symbolized everything that was right with both Carnesecca and John Thompson. 

I was not lucky enough to live the glory days of the Conference in the 1980s, but I am grateful for the story tellers and men who made the moments. 

I hope Louie is breaking bread and having a glass of vino with Rollie and John up above. 

What a wonderful New York City basketball life. There will never be another Louie…