Thursday, February 26, 2009

PC Win Means $$$

by: Frank Carpano

Providence College Athletic Director Bob Driscoll will appear on Sunday’s PC coach’s Show with Keno Davis. We taped Bob’s segment tonight.
I asked him what the PC win over #1 Pitt means to fundraising.

Bob admitted that the day after the win over Pitt, between calls that came into the athletic department and calls that were made by school fundraisers, the College got commitments for $50,000 to PC Athletics.

For those who don’t understand why colleges and universities have sports programs. This is a perfect example. To help raise awareness, money and pride in the school.

Driscoll said he believes that the $50,000 reaisded Wednesday is just the tip of the iceberg.

You can hear the complete interview Sunday at 11:15pm on NBC 10

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Friars beat #1 Pitt!

by: Frank Carpano

So, who could have seen this coming. The Friars win over number 1 nationally ranked Pittsburgh is one for the ages, Almost 12,000 fans were at the Dunkin Donuts Center for this one. Years from now, twice as many will swear they were there to witness it.

The keys to the win? There were many. Chief among them was the friars play on defense. They swarmed, clogged, denied and basically were just pests to the Panthers.

My TV postgame partner, Joe Hasset said he witnessed the Panthers joking and laughing about the game prior to tipoff. Did they believe the Friars were an easy mark?

On the other side, this was the final home game for the PC seniors. This group has experienced alot of disappointment in their 4 years, and some have called them underachievers. For this night, and who knjows how many more to come, the Seniors answered their detractors.

PC came out and got an early lead and the fans at the Dunk responded by cheering their every move.

PC worked the ball inside and made the extra pass to the opern man for numerous easy baskets.

Too many times this season, the Friars have faded in the second half. Surely that would happen against the number 1 team in the country!

But not on this night, Pitt made a couple of second half runs, but the Friars kept their poise. The Panthers got to within 7 and their was no fade in the Friars.

A signature win. The type of win that makes national headlines and gets the postseason tournament selection committees attention.

2 regular season games to go.

PS: it was quite a sight to see all the fans storm the court after the win. That despite warnings from the public address announcer (me!) to stay off the court.

I had to laugh when I read the Associated Press account: “Twice in the final minutes, the public address announcer begged the

fans to stay off the floor following the game; twice the crowd responded with a laugh.“ 

2 things: First, I never beg. And second; My kids don’t listen to me at home, so I had no reason to believe that these kids (the students who rushed the floor) were going to listen to me.

As the saying goes: “No harm, no foul.“

Thursday, February 19, 2009

The future of High School Sports

by: Frank Carpano

  I’ve been thinking about the economy and it’s potential impact on local high school sports.
    Budgets are tight and some school districts are considering eliminating sports.
    The Rhode Island Intersscolastic league oversees high school sports in the ocean state.
  Tom Mezzanotte is the executive Director. He admitted recently, “when schools are looking to make cuts, everything is on the table.“

    It has forced the interscolastic league to look at new ways to keep sports alive.
“we’re looking at ways to make sports more affordable, combining the use of transportation, maybe playing Varsity and junior varsity games on the same day. Those things can be very helpful.“ said Mezzanotte.

And what about instituting user fees?

Mezzanotte admits: “Many states have pay to play. I am totally against it. What about communities or kids who can’t support that?“

Back in the 1970’s one local school did drop sports.

Mezzanotte shudders at the thought: “A number of years ago, the town of Coventry lost sports for a year or 2. I remember talking to somebody from Coventry and they said; we don’t have sports, we lost our soul. The heart and soul of a school is its athletic program.“

While there has been no indication of a school considering dropping all sports….Mezzanotte, believes that one way to help offset the costs of high school sports is community booster groups that raise money to help defray expenses.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Bits and Pieces

by: Frank Carpano

+Was I the only one who thought Big Papi, David Ortiz looked great during his first Red Sox workout. He looks like he lost alot of weight. And am I the only one who wonders if that weight loss will translate into power loss at the plate?

+The Friars troubles at the foul line are troublesome. Just over 50% from the charity stripe in the second half against Rutgers.

+Local school districts have dropped hints that high school sports may be in trouble. The economy is forcing school administrators to make cuts. Sports is a huge expense. Especially the sport of hockey. Tom Mezzanotte, the excutive director of the Rhode Island Interscolastic League has spoken to school principals and isn’t too worried, yet!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

PC-South Florida

By: Frank Carpano

The Friars got back on track last night in Tampa, Florida. Their 77-62 win snaps a 3 game losing streak. One of the keys (and an element that has been missing in the past couple of games) was the play of guys coming off the bench.

Marshon Brooks returned after a 1 game absence due to an ankle injury. He has provided a huge spark off the bench for the Friars. Brooks played 25 minutes and scored 14 points.

The other key performance off the bench was by Randall hanke. He played 21 minutes and had 14 points.

Granted, South Florida doesn’t have the talent of the previous 4 teams the Friars played, but the way the Friars played against the Bulls is the recipe for ffuture success.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Bits and Pieces

by: Frank Carpano

+ Former East Providence and Boston College football star Jamie Silva will appear on our Varsity Life show this Monday (2/9/09). It airs at 7:30pm on Cox channel 3. After that you’ll be able to see the interview on this web site. Keyword: Varsity Life. Jamie, who just finished his rookie year with the Indianapolis Colts should have some interesting things to say.

+ Maybe it’s because he’s still in a bit of a honeymoon period, but PC coach Keno Davis has been remarkably poised and cordial after his team’s losses to UCONN and Villanova. They are only kids, so you can’t publicly throw them under the bus. But Friar fans are wondering what’s up with the lack of defensive effort. When it gets into a hole, this team seems to get down on itself too easy.

+ ESPN reported that Quarterback Matt Cassel has accepted the Patriots francise tender. That means Cassel will get a raise from $500,000 this past season to approximately 14.65 million for this coming season. So, how long do you think it took him to decide to accept.

+ So what do you think are the chances that Alex Rodriguez admits that he took Steroids in 2003? If I were his PR guy, I’d tell him to fess up. It’s the quickest way to get this thing behind him. Those who have opted to fight charges of using illegal performance enhancing drugs, are digging themselves bigger holes.
i.e. Roger Clemens.

+ Prior to the start of this college basketball season, I emceed a dinner featuring coaches of the 4 Rhode island Division 1 college basketball teams. When I introduced new Bryant coach Tim O’Shea, I noted that the Bulldogs were going to be playing their first year in Division 1. I listed some of the marquee games the Bulldogs were going to play…UCONN, Maryland, Boston College and Providence College among them. Well, quite expectedly, O’Shea’s team has been taking it on the chin quite a bit as they adjust to division 1 play. At one point, Bryant had lost 9 in a row! But a shoutout of well done! Bryant is coming off a 3-1 road trip.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Joe Torre

By: Frank Carpano

Let me first admit, I haven’t read the book. I’m talking about “The Yankee years”. Former Yankee manager Joe Torre’s book on the time he spent in the Bronx.

I have always been a Torre fan. He always seemed like an even tempered, classy guy who always managed to say the right thing at the right time. I can’t begin to count how many times he diffused a potentially dangerous line of questioning with a common sense answer.

I always thought: “this guy has it together”. Nobody can ruffle his feathers. He was as cool as they come. A manager who repsected the job the media had to do. And a boss who always protected his players in the city where the media spotlight shines very bright.

We never knew what happened behind closed doors. He made sure of that. If anything, it added to his reputation as a great manager and it also added to the Yankee mistique.

So, why did he have to write a book exposing so many of the blemishes and warts that we suspected but never could confirm where a part of being a New York Yankee.

It couldn’t be because of the money. He’s made millions. Was it perhaps because he felt he had to set the record straight? Settle a score with his old employer? If so, why? It’s in the past. If you’re Torre, you got out of the Bronx with your reputation intact. Be done with it.

But the cat is out of the bag. I’ll read the book to confirm my suspicions that we never knew the “real” Joe Torre. And that’s a shame.