I miss the Big East Tournament so freaking much

[longtimefan]

Never got to take my kid down. Never attended at all. Really, really wanted to but was traveling for work last time.

I expect the ACCT will be there, I hope not too far down the road.

 

[longtimefan]

BET was great but I would rather have a football schedule of Florida State, Clemson, NC State, Louisville, Boston College, Pitt, and one other ACC school with NO BET
Than
ECU, USF, UCF, Cincinnati, Temple, Tulane, SMU, Houston and a playing in the BET each year.

BET was tough to lose but worth it.

UConn plays football vs. that group of teams, but they don't get to play their league tourney in MSG either.

 

[longtimefan]

Good for you. I hope you wear Orange and hope you root for Providence. Just because they never win anything.

Psst--Providence won the BET last season.

 

[Scooch]

UConn plays football vs. that group of teams, but they don't get to play their league tourney in MSG either.

I think it's likely that had SU made the unconscionable decision to decline the ACC invite that the hoops schools would not have split from the old Big East to form a hoops only new Big East. So we'd still be playing in a BET in NYC, but with 1/6th our current media revenue.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Psst--Providence won the BET last season.

What's a little hyperbole among friends.

 

[longtimefan]

I think it's likely that had SU made the unconscionable decision to decline the ACC invite that the hoops schools would not have split from the old Big East to form a hoops only new Big East. So we'd still be playing in a BET in NYC, but with 1/6th our current media revenue.

What do you think the composition of the BE would be in that scenario?

 

[Jake]

I could go on and on about how awesome that event was.

Miss it a ton.

 

[longtimefan]

What's a little hyperbole among friends.

I don't know--what is it?

 

[Alsacs]

I think it's likely that had SU made the unconscionable decision to decline the ACC invite that the hoops schools would not have split from the old Big East to form a hoops only new Big East. So we'd still be playing in a BET in NYC, but with 1/6th our current media revenue.

That was exactly my point. If we don't leave I doubt the Catholics would break off. Not having Syracuse anymore on the schedule is straw that broke the camel's back. If we don't go to the ACC we are playing a watered down schedule for football but are still playing our conference tournament at MSG each year.

 

[longtimefan]

I could go on and on about how awesome that event was.

Miss it a ton.

Hang on 2 years for the Barclay Center. Won't be the same, but the closest facsimile.

And then, we can pray, back to the Garden not too far down the road.

 

[longtimefan]

That was exactly my point. If we don't leave I doubt the Catholics would break off. Not having Syracuse anymore on the schedule is straw that broke the camel's back. If we don't go to the ACC we are playing a watered down schedule for football but are still playing our conference tournament at MSG each year.

I don't know. The basketball-onlys may have had enough of the hybrid league. I doubt they wanted to continue to play hoops vs USF and maybe Memphis and E Carolina (to fill out the football side).

 

[Scooch]

What do you think the composition of the BE would be in that scenario?

It's hard to say since so many dominoes fell after our invitation. My guess is that the ACC would have invited Rutgers had we said no, with NYC geography and NJ football recruiting trumping UConn (just as Pitt's western PA football recruiting did). So at that point the football side would've been SU, UConn, Louisville, USF, Cincy and WVU. With Rutgers off the table who knows if the B1G comes knocking for us along with Maryland? Or if the Big 12 did the sensible thing and invited Louisville over WVU.

But Syracuse was absolutely the lynchpin of the conference, particularly for the hoops schools. Once we left the historical tie to the 80s was gone and their ability to split was much easier to do emotionally.

 

[NKR1978]

2013 was so close to effect. Spent Wednesday and Thursday finding ways to sneak out of the office to get drunk in the middle of the afternoon. That was a four day bender with work somehow getting stuck in the middle. And in my mind it ended with that Georgetown game and CJ dunking over Porter.

I can't wait for 2017 when it comes to Brooklyn.

 

[jec1521]

2013 was so close to effect. Spent Wednesday and Thursday finding ways to sneak out of the office to get drunk in the middle of the afternoon. That was a four day bender with work somehow getting stuck in the middle. And in my mind it ended with that Georgetown game and CJ dunking over Porter.

I can't wait for 2017 when it comes to Brooklyn.

I've severely regretted not going to that GTOWN game since that night. The tickets were just super expensive iirc.

 

[senorpalmer]

Went to close to 30 of them myself, starting as far back as 82. It held personal value for me as a time of year that I got together with family and friends for a great few days. I really looked forward to it every year, it still sucks to me that it's gone.

 

[bpo57]

Been to every single BET except for 1980 and 1982. Huge loss but unavoidable imo. Maybe some day we'll feel somewhat similarly about the ACCT.

 

[cuseguy]

Been to every single BET except for 1980 and 1982. Huge loss but unavoidable imo. Maybe some day we'll feel somewhat similarly about the ACCT.

Sadly, unless it's moved to MSG very soon, I don't see that ever happening.

Some things just can't be duplicated.

Glad I was able to enjoy it for so many years.

 

[skurey]

I only went to one BET game and it didn't even involve Syracuse. It was WVU vs GTown in the Finals and my friend was able to get box seats from a coworker who didn't want to go since SU wasn't in it. One of the best nights of my life honestly. Great food, great game, might have gone to OT. There was a storm that night and we got lost trying to get back to our car (took the wrong train). Debated walking the 3 miles in the downpour but got a cab instead. Then we couldn't get back to where we were staying because there was a tree and powerline blocking the only path we knew. Was an awesome adventure.

 

[Col. Bleep]

BET time was great: the end of winter...all the people with their school names & colors...could strike up a conversation with any of them (except the G-town fans...few that there were).

ACC should give up the remnants of being a "southern" conference and go to the Garden. No better environment.

 

[cuseguy]

BET time was great: the end of winter...all the people with their school names & colors...could strike up a conversation with any of them (except the G-town fans...few that there were). ACC should give up the remnants of being a "southern" conference and go to the Garden. No better environment.

The B1G tourney will be there in 2018.

 

[WaHoos4Me]

I'm excited about DC next year (partly for selfish reasons as that's where I live). One of the things that made the BET at MSG so great is that you never had to worry about parking/driving and you could use mass transit to get anywhere you wanted. DC has that as well, for the most part.

Didn't know you were semi-local, mostly because I never ask... but I'm sure you can feel the pain I also have with the constant love Maryland gets from ALL the media, whereas the #2 team, semi-local UVa and the ACC in general (minus Duke/UNC) get... Guess I can understand the media love as they, the media, are only 16 mins south of college park, but still... oh well... Hope Cuse wins this weekend...

 

[Shark58]

I also started going to the BET as a teen in the 80's

I love NYC and had a free apartment to crash at on the UES, just a few blocks away from where I would move to years later

one of our crew would go they day before and buy our tix from a same side bracket losing fan. they always sold dirt cheap

for about 10 years we always seemed to run into our dome section's usher who was probably around 90. good times getting plowed with him at American Trash one night. other fun randomness included sitting at the table next to Derek Brower about a year after he got out, or running into gmac and the gang as they were heading into McD's.

the rivalry/camaraderie among fan bases was electric and awesome...except for those gtown slugs and the who?conn gang (I like that program but damn their fans are insufferable)

of course, there were some pretty awesome games too

 

[Bill Orange]

I had attended every BET (Providence, SU and Hartford, too) until 2010, when I couldn't make it up to the City until that Friday. Needless to say, when AO went down against Georgetown, so did my streak.

I'll no doubt attend the ACCT when it's here in DC, as this is where I live, but in BKLYN or Tobacco Road? No thanks.

 

[phillydad]

I went to every BET from 1985 until our final one in 2013. Than I went to Greensboro for the ACCT last March.

Absolute night and day comparison. The Greensboro Coliseum is in a strip mall in the middle of nowhere surrounded by acres of parking lots. No ambience whatsoever. And nothing to do before or after the games. I was torn as to whether I would go back this year. For better or worse, someone else made the decision for me.

That speaks volumes that you would be undecided about going back to Greensboro.
The part of "Requiem for the Big East" that sticks with me the most, after Freddy's courtside cameo of course, is when they are dismantling the Garden floor. That summed it up.
Looking forward to DC next year and Barclays after that.

 

[cuseguy]

The Big East tourney was an event.

The ACC tourney is meaningless to me unless it's moved back to MSG.

Brooklyn doesn't count.