RIP Pearl

[reedny]

I still remember the news conference when Pearl committed. If memory serves, Al McGuire (spelling corrected by edit) did the interview. He was sitting to Pearl's right, and the decision had come down to St. Johns and Syracuse. He put the mic to Pearl and asked, which one is it going to be. And Pearl said: "Syracuse".

Right then and there, SU became NY's team.

 

[RF2044]

That video had a poignant quote at the end. The announcer was describing how for those who didn't see Pearl play and just looked at the stats , they are probably scratching their heads wondering what all the fuss is about, and why this guy without much of an NBA career is being talked about this way today:

"But sometimes WHEN you are WHAT you are, is WHY you are WHO you are. And the Pearl is and always will be legendary."

 

[AZOrange]

What the heck???

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/04/20/heat-tribute-pearl-washington.ap/

 

[MGP]

I still remember the news conference when Pearl committed. If memory serves, Al Michaels did the interview. He was sitting to Pearl's right, and I think the background was that the decision was down to St. Johns and Syracuse. He put the mic to Pearl and asked, which one is it going to be. And Pearl said: "Syracuse".

Right then and there, SU became NY's team.

edit...it was Al McGuire, & the response was, "I would have to say Syracuse - all the way"...SUball

 

[Millhouse]

the whole thing is just so damn tragic that it feels weird to be grateful that he lived a long time after his first diagnosis. i have loved ones that succumbed or will eventually succumb to cancer but many of them have lived with it longer than whatever time i hoped for when I first heard the diagnosis. easy for me to see the bright side given the horrible initial diagnosis since I'm not the one sick. but i'm glad pearl had a lot of time to know how much he meant since the first discovery of the tumor

 

[CuseLegacy]

 

[UCHusky90]

It's not even that he was the best SU player ever. He wasn't. But he played the game at a different level than anyone else. He played a different game than anyone else. It was a joy to watch. Given all of the tributes over the past 24 hours, it turns out we did not see him through orange colored glasses. Everyone saw what we saw. As Kaiser posted in his Hans Solo post ... It was true - all of it.

When I think of a NYC schooboy guard, Pearl is what pops into my head. The problem, which happens in any prcess involving molds, is that the first one is the best and the rest all have imperfections. Pearl is the mold for NYC guards, and none of the others since have quite measured up. Every school in the Old Big East owes the legends like Pearl a huge debt of gratiude. It was a perfect storm back then of Dave Gavitt's vision, a charismatic group of coaches and a must see brand of basketball. I feel sorry for those that never got to see it in it's heyday. For those that haven't seen it, the ESPN "30 for 30" about the fall of the Big East is highly entertaining.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[HOFCeluck]

I love how "Pearl" is written in that 80's uniform script.

Yeah I'm late to the party on that. Don't care.

 

[OttoMets]

There was one of these on 690 inbound in Syracuse yesterday, too.

 

[reedny]

What the heck???

http://www.nba.com/2016/news/04/20/heat-tribute-pearl-washington.ap/

yah wrong photo. not cool.

 

[AZOrange]

yah wrong photo. not cool.

still? 24 hours later?

 

[reedny]

edit...it was Al McGuire, & the response was, "I would have to say Syracuse - all the way"...SUball

yes McGuire. i'll correct by edit. The interview was during half time of a St. Johns - DePaul game.
http://freewinningpicks.com/2016/04/20/syracuse-legend-dwayne-pearl-washington-dies-at-age-52/

 

[Jasoncuse]

It's amazing to see the reach and impact of Pearl's death right now. I always knew he was a superstar, but had no idea how big his stardom really was. This is the front page of Yahoo right now:

View attachment 61428

That's a great article. Loved this quote from Neil Olshey, the Blazers GM who went to Lemoyne at the same time as Pearl at SU:

"There aren't a lot of things that you'd take a bus and climb a huge hill on campus with the wind chill minus-20 to do – except if you were going to get to watch Pearl play hoop in front of 30,000 people in the Carrier Dome," Olshey said.

"You'd do it every time to see that."

 

[Jasoncuse]

WOW, now that is great.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Jake]

723256039362166785

This should be required reading. Astoundingly well written...

 

[Toga]

It's getting smokey in here again.

 

[Shark58]

 

[br801]

It's not even that he was the best SU player ever. He wasn't. But he played the game at a different level than anyone else. He played a different game than anyone else. It was a joy to watch. Given all of the tributes over the past 24 hours, it turns out we did not see him through orange colored glasses. Everyone saw what we saw. As Kaiser posted in his Hans Solo post ... It was true - all of it.

It really is so amazing; Pearl hasn't played in a real game for over 25 years, yet is acclaimed and revered by generations of basketball players and fans across world.

I was fortunate enough to have seen him play, and have watched a lot of basketball since, yet I have never seen a player and thought "yeah, that guy reminds me of Pearl." He truly was one of a kind, on and off the court.

 

[OttoMets]

This should be required reading. Astoundingly well written...

Seriously, for anyone who cares about Pearl or SU, but also for anybody who writes for a living - this has to be required reading. Now that is how to use English words and make sentences and paragraphs out of them. Pierce's piece might be the best SU sports article/column I've ever seen.

 

[Jeremy L.]

Did anybody catch the Bernie Fine interview?

 

[O-pulse]

 

[kuethstheman]

http://www.democratandchronicle.com...pearl-washington-changed-everything/83289752/

Just reread this. Favorite line: "[he had] the ability to slice through the lane as if there were two Pearl Washingtons and the defender always picked the wrong one to guard."