Is St. John's still a true rival?

[jekelish]

This post title has been brought to you by "Click Bait" - Click Bait, the surest way to get someone to read your post!

http://.com/misremembering-the-st-johns-rivalry/

Threw together a quick game preview, in which I wonder when a rivalry stops being a rivalry, and use the term "misremembering" simply as an excuse to use a photo of St. John's alum Brian McNamee.

 

[Lawrinson14]

This post title has been brought to you by "Click Bait" - Click Bait, the surest way to get someone to read your post!

http://.com/misremembering-the-st-johns-rivalry/

Threw together a quick game preview, in which I wonder when a rivalry stops being a rivalry, and use the term "misremembering" simply as an excuse to use a photo of St. John's alum Brian McNamee.

Dude, you are putting in work over at . Kudos.

 

[jekelish]

Dude, you are putting in work over at . Kudos.

Thanks man. I've got another Q&A that should be a lot of fun that I'm hoping to have up next week. Tip of the hat to a certain snowy owl who helped me arrange that one.

 

[OttoMets]

St. John's hasn't been our rival since Brian Mahoney became their coach.

I'm happy we're still playing them and would like it to be a rivalry, but it's just not there. The league's goofy post-'95 scheduling contributed to that, too.

 

[jekelish]

St. John's hasn't been our rival since Brian Mahoney became their coach.

I'm happy we're still playing them and would like it to be a rivalry, but it's just not there. The league's goofy post-'95 scheduling contributed to that, too.

Agreed. It's hard to be a rival when you're in the same conference and still can't get a home and home every season.

 

[Townie72]

Agreed. It's hard to be a rival when you're in the same conference and still can't get a home and home every season.

That's all true.

OOC games almost always lack "weight" since they are meaningless in the pursuit of a Conference Championship.

SJU is a good --- maybe even important --- team for SU to have on the schedule. NYC exposure is a good idea for SU for a number of reasons. But the SU-SJU "Rivalry" isn't one of them. Chris Mullin and Walter Berry are long, long gone.

 

[SUintheVille]

A very good NY State matchup, but not a true grudge rivalry like SU-Uconn and SU-Gtown used to be, or SU-Duke is now, IMO.

 

[johnnyumfan]

St. John's WAS a rivalry once apron a time in the heyday of the Big East in the 80's but is no more. Good luck against St. John's guys!

 

[senorpalmer]

The post-Carnesecca decline definitely killed the rivalry, however it did enjoy a brief resurgence from 98-01, they played several fierce games during that time as I recall and Johns was pretty good during that span. But it still lacked the intensity of the 80s no doubt.

 

[OttoMets]

The post-Carnesecca decline definitely killed the rivalry, however it did enjoy a brief resurgence from 98-01, they played several fierce games during that time as I recall and Johns was pretty good during that span. But it still lacked the intensity of the 80s no doubt.

Yes, we were lucky to get them three times in '98, with that great Friday night semifinal win.

 

[cuseguy]

We don't have a rival anymore.

 

[jekelish]

We don't have a rival anymore.

Now that we're back in the same conference as Louisville, I really feel like they could become our rival.

Of course, a lot of that has to do with JB and Pitino, and as soon as they're gone, I'm not sure the rivalry would endure.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

This post title has been brought to you by "Click Bait" - Click Bait, the surest way to get someone to read your post!

http://.com/misremembering-the-st-johns-rivalry/

Threw together a quick game preview, in which I wonder when a rivalry stops being a rivalry, and use the term "misremembering" simply as an excuse to use a photo of St. John's alum Brian McNamee.

Come on jekelish. If it were click bait it would say:

"Is St. John's still a true rival? The dirty little secret that will change everything! This is the most important rivalry story you'll read all day!" If you need a headline writer let me know.

 

[jekelish]

Come on jekelish. If it were click bait it would say:

"Is St. John's still a true rival? The dirty little secret that will change everything! This is the most important rivalry story you'll read all day!" If you need a headline writer let me know.

"I didn't think SU and SJU were still rivals, but I was amazed when I saw this life changing reaction!"

 

[NKR1978]

St. John's hasn't been our rival since Brian Mahoney became their coach.

I'm happy we're still playing them and would like it to be a rivalry, but it's just not there. The league's goofy post-'95 scheduling contributed to that, too.

The whole "New York's College Team" thing has ratcheted this up. It might be a few years before we play them again. If they beat us they get to keep that New York championship belt. It's our version of those ACC SEC in state rivalries, so while we don't share a conference anymore, this game matters.

They definitely hate us more than we hate them though.

 

[senorpalmer]

Yes, we were lucky to get them three times in '98, with that great Friday night semifinal win.

To this day one of the best games I've ever seen in person

 

[tbonezone]

favorite part of the espn 30430 big east requiem was listening to luigi carnesecca wax nostalgic. well that and the pearl.

 

[Oakland]

I've always seen St. Johns as a measuring stick. In the late 60's and early 70's, SU climbed out of the pack and started routinely beating the Niagaras and St Bonnies in Western NY. In the late 70s and early 80s, we started to come even with St. Johns. By the late 80s, we passed them by, and by the 90s and 00s the series was reduced to a splattering of gutsy St. Johns wins. The problem with identifying them as a rival is that the important matchups, in the Big East conference and tournament, were limited and only lasted 20 years or so. I'd have to say that they are still a NYS rival, but it is limited.

This post title has been brought to you by "Click Bait" - Click Bait, the surest way to get someone to read your post!

http://.com/misremembering-the-st-johns-rivalry/

Threw together a quick game preview, in which I wonder when a rivalry stops being a rivalry, and use the term "misremembering" simply as an excuse to use a photo of St. John's alum Brian McNamee.

 

[Orange2389]

Rivals play each other on a yearly basis. I'd say we have historical rivals in UConn, Georgetown, St Johns, and Nova. In time, Louisville, Duke, and UNC will be the new rivals. It's too bad UConn, Nova, or Georgetown don't make the jump to the ACC. We need a true rival again.

 

[Townie72]

A very good NY State matchup, but not a true grudge rivalry like SU-Uconn and SU-Gtown used to be, or SU-Duke is now, IMO.

We'll have to get in line to be a Duke rival. Everybody wants to beat Duke badly.

But never admit you care. The Duke fans tortured the Maryland people with "We aren't your rival" chants. It really stung because the Maryland people hated Duke.

Even from the SU side, Two Games Does Not a Rivalry Make.

 

[jekelish]

We'll have to get in line to be a Duke rival. Everybody wants to beat Duke badly.

But never admit you care. The Duke fans tortured the Maryland people with "We aren't your rival" chants. It really stung because the Maryland people hated Duke.

Even from the SU side, Two Games Does Not a Rivalry Make.

Agreed. And let's be honest, right now the main reason people are pitching Duke/SU as a rivalry is JB/K. In 5-10 years when they are retired, it's not going to have remotely the same cachet.

 

[senorpalmer]

We'll have to get in line to be a Duke rival. Everybody wants to beat Duke badly.

But never admit you care. The Duke fans tortured the Maryland people with "We aren't your rival" chants. It really stung because the Maryland people hated Duke.

Even from the SU side, Two Games Does Not a Rivalry Make.

It is way too early to declare any sort of rivalry with Duke. But SU got their attention last year. Show that you can compete with and beat them on a yearly basis, and something will come of it. Maryland was never in Duke's class for longer than a couple of years, nor are they in SU's class. If both SU and Duke continue to perform at the level we've been accustomed to for decades, and the series is not lop-sided, the series will have a lot of luster, regardless of who's coaching the teams in the future.

 

[SUintheVille]

Even from the SU side, Two Games Does Not a Rivalry Make.

That is true, but the game is quickly becoming a grudge match, at least for SU fans who don't like Duke.

 

[two3zone]

It is way too early to declare any sort of rivalry with Duke. But SU got their attention last year. Show that you can compete with and beat them on a yearly basis, and something will come of it. Maryland was never in Duke's class for longer than a couple of years, nor are they in SU's class. If both SU and Duke continue to perform at the level we've been accustomed to for decades, and the series is not lop-sided, the series will have a lot of luster, regardless of who's coaching the teams in the future.

Well let's hope they don't blow us out this year then, because I'm not sure if we're capable of beating them this year. I'm not saying that because we're awful (I don't think we're awful), I'm saying that because they're just really really good.

 

[Townie72]

That is true, but the game is quickly becoming a grudge match, at least for SU fans who don't like Duke.

You could say the same thing for every team in the ACC. Their fans don't like Duke. So what?

But for Duke they have one rival, UNC. It's highly unlikely that SU will ever achieve that status in the Dukie's eyes unless SU moves its campus to North Carolina.