As WatchDog readers are painfully aware, I still feel some connection to the Giants three years after leaving that beat. Not so St. John's basketball, which I covered from 1990-95 in what seems like a distant epoch.
But the fact Tarik Turner is a radio analyst for the team brings me back to my less-than-warm-and-cozy departure from the beat. In 1995, before my final Big East tournament, Newsday ran a long investigative story I wrote about the cash housing stipend the program was allowed to give out then, before it had dorms. Some rivals viewed it as a recruiting edge.
St. John's was extremely unamused by the piece. My last day on the beat I attempted to research an NIT preview after practice. Zendon Hamilton said he would talk to me after visiting the bathroom, but when he hadn't emerged after 20 minutes, I got the message.
Then I asked Turner if I could interview him. He pretended he had no idea who I was, then grudgingly gave a few one- or two-word answers.
I won't hold it against him if I ever review his sports media work. For that to happen St. John's first will have to become relevant enough for me to listen.
Comments (1)
Mad props to Mike Jarvis and Rev. Harrington for killing major college basketball in NYC. They did almost as good a job as Isiah Thomas and James Dolan have done killing NBA Basketball in the city.
Where is Jarvis these days? Busy shining up his head and his big bling on his fingers??