Shipwrecked Pirates

Like the captain of the Titanic, I should've seen the iceberg coming as the Seton Hall University men's basketball team sailed deep into the winter part of its schedule.  But, I didn't.  It seems I never do.

The news of starting guard Jaren Sina's departure from the team is just the latest in a series of black eyes on the face of the school's basketball program over the years.  According to published reports, Sina's exit was the result of friction on the team between some of the established players like Sina, a sophomore, and a group of talented freshmen that includes guard Isaiah Whitehead, arguably Seton Hall's biggest recruit in almost 15 years.

In January, Seton Hall was riding upset wins over Villanova and St. John's to a top 25 national ranking.  Now, after losses in five straight games and eight of their last 10, it will take a miracle for the Pirates to qualify for the NCAA tournament.  The two-game suspension of leading scorer Sterling Gibbs today for elbowing an opponent in the face while he was on the floor during last night's rematch against Villanova is merely salt in the wounds. 

I wasn't yet alive to enjoy the 1953 NIT championship that remains the high point of Seton Hall basketball history.  I was too young to have been aware of the 1961 betting scandal that is the low point of the school's basketball program.  Unfortunately, I can recall too many other lows and too few highs during the past 40-plus years.

I should have known the first time I saw Seton Hall play that my experience as a fan would be a very rocky ride. While in high school during the winter of 1973, a friend and I went to the South Orange campus to see a fellow Bloomfield High School alumnus, Paul Lape, play for the Pirates. As a freshman that season, Lape started 22 of 25 games.  The game I saw, to my huge disappointment, was not one of them.  In fact, for reasons unknown to me, Lape was nowhere to be seen on the court that day.  At least, my first visit to the school was salvaged when Seton Hall beat Iona, 91-90, in double overtime.  It was one of only eight games the Pirates won that season. 

A few years later, as a student at Seton Hall and sportswriter for a daily newspaper, I saw Glenn Mosley, a tall, thin, quick center from neighboring Newark, play numerous times.  He was an instant star after sitting out the beginning of his freshman season for academic eligibility reasons.  A year later, the NCAA ruled that Mosley should have sat out his entire freshman season.  The NCAA punished Seton Hall -- and Mosley -- by making him sit out the end of his sophomore year and start of his junior season.

As a senior, Mosley led the country with a 16.3 rebounds per game average, finishing his Seton Hall career with a 15.2 career RPG average.  I wonder what kind of numbers he would've put up and how much stronger his all-around game would've been if he was able to play at least three full seasons in college for Bill Raftery, not just one.  Mosley went on to a short NBA career before playing overseas.

Oh, did I mention that cross-state rivals Rutgers University enjoyed an undefeated regular season in 1975-76, before losing in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament that spring?  Talk about salt in the wounds!

Loyal to a fault, I was a Seton Hall basketball season ticket holder for the inaugural Big East seasons between 1979-82.  Along with sharpshooting guard Dan Callandrillo, Howard McNeil was one of the stars of those teams.  That is, until he and two other players were declared academically ineligible for the second half of the 1981-82 season.  Before I knew it, the team that left the gate at 9-1 finished 11-16.

After that, life got uglier for McNeil, who shot and killed a friend while in high school.  He did have a stellar career as a professional player in Europe, South America and Israel but, in 1999, back in his home state of Pennsylvania, he was convicted of killing a Norristown crack cocaine dealer and sentenced 35 to 70 years in prison.

Fast forward to 1989.  Led by Coach P.J. Carlesimo, a resurgent Seton Hall squad beat Bobby Knight's Indiana, Jerry Tarkanian's UNLV and Mike Krzyzewski's Duke teams on its way to the NCAA championship game.  Seton Hall came back from a half-time deficit to force an overtime period against Michigan.  Leading by one point with three seconds left, Seton Hall guard Gerald Greene was called for a highly questionable foul by referee John Clougherty.  Michigan sank both free throws and the dreams of Seton Hall as the Pirates lost, 90-89.

During the next five years, Seton Hall made four more NCAA tournament appearances.  The Pirates won 25 games in 1990-91, and 23, 28 and 17 the following three seasons, making it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAAs the first two of those years.  But, some fans wonder if Seton Hall could've been even better if it wasn't for the premature departure of one Marco Lokar.

As a freshman in February of 1990, Lokar scored 41 points in an 86-81 win over Pittsburgh.  A year later, as the Gulf War was winding down, Lokar left the team, citing harassment over his decision not to wear the American flag that was part of everybody's basketball uniform that season.  According to reports, his wife was upset by threatening telephone calls and they decided to return to their hometown in Italy for the duration of her pregnancy.  He never returned.

After a few lean years, things looked promising again at Seton Hall with the arrival of Eddie Griffin in 2000.  The Tommy Amaker-coached team was rated among the country's best in pre-season polls and got off to a 10-2 start.  Then, the Pirates hit the proverbial iceberg.  Griffin got in a fight with teammate Ty Shine and the team underperformed the rest of the way, finishing with a 16-15 record and no invitation to the NCAA dance.

Griffin's story did not end well.  Named Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News, his skills and 17.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per game averages in his one and only Seton Hall season quickly led him to the NBA.  He had a checkered 6-year career with the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves, who waived him in March of 2007. That summer, at age 25, he was killed in a car crash in Houston. An autopsy revealed he had more than three times Texas' legal alcohol limit in his system.  

Then there was the Bobby Gonzalez era.  In his fourth season as Seton Hall coach in 2010, "Gonzo" led the Pirates to the NIT.  The day after Seton Hall was eliminated by Texas Tech, 87-69, a game in which Pirates forward Herb Pope was ejected for punching an opponent in the groin, Gonzalez was fired.  According to The Star-Ledger, Seton Hall officials were unhappy with Gonzalez' tendency to berate school administrators, referees, opposing coaches and players. They were also concerned about several incidents involving Gonzalez' players, including a DUI arrest of Pope when he was an underage freshman and the arrest of guard Keon Lawrence for injuring a motorist while allegedly driving the wrong way on a highway in 2009.  

Two other Seton Hall players ran afoul of the law during the Bobby Gonzalez era.  In March of 2010,  forward Robert Mitchell was involved in the gunpoint robbery of eight students in an off-campus house.  His partner in crime?  It was none other than former Seton Hall forward Kelly Whitney, who finished his Pirates career the season before Gonzalez replaced Louis Orr as coach.  Mitchell was sentenced to five years in prison.  In a separate trial earlier in 2011, Whitney pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Gonzalez?  He was arrested for shoplifting a $1,400 satchel from the Polo Ralph Lauren store at The Mall At Short Hills in the summer of 2010.  Later that year, NBC reported that Gonzalez was accepted into a one-year pretrial intervention program that allowed him to avoid a criminal record, perform 50 hours of community service and pay restitution.

It's now the fifth year of the Kevin Willard era at Seton Hall.  The first four were a welcome respite from the Bobby Gonzalez era.  This season, unfortunately, is not.  But, Seton Hall fans will keep the faith, hoping for better things in the future, perhaps a return to the NCAA tournament before too long.  Heck, we'll settle for a second NIT championship in the short term.  Just, no more icebergs in the middle of winter, please.

Bill Raftery photo from Pinterest.  Kevin Willard photo from ESPN.
  

The most exciting basketball player I ever saw

A series of comments on Facebook this week -- and the success a fresh-faced group of Seton Hall University basketball players is enjoying this winter -- is rekindling memories of a great young basketball player from another time: Paul Lape.  He handled the ball like no one else and, combined with his knowledge and instincts for the game, made it impossible for fans and opponents to take their eyes off him.

Paul Lape was an amazing basketball player for Bloomfield High School -- his dribbling and passing skills froze opponents and allowed him to drive past them to the basket, or enabled teammates to make open shots. One of only nine boys in the history of Bloomfield to score over 1000 points for the varsity basketball team, I've never seen a high school player quite like him.

Sure, Kelly Tripucka and Alaa Abdelnaby were virtually unstoppable Bloomfield players who went on to become college stars and enjoy long NBA careers. But Lape, who was under 6-foot tall and looked just like any another kid, was unique, leading Bloomfield to a New Jersey state championship in 1971.

Lape was a starter for Bill Raftery's Seton Hall University team for two seasons, averaging over seven assists a game both years.  In fact, he still holds the Seton Hall record for most assists in a game -- 17, as a freshman at Madison Square Garden against St. Peter's in 1973.  Lape left Seton Hall during his junior year and finished his collegiate athletic career at William Paterson in 1977.

Whenever I ran into Lape around Bloomfield years later, I would tell my young sons, "There is the most exciting basketball player I ever saw."

Christmas rapping

A mother of two young children rolled her eyes recently when I asked if she was almost ready for Christmas.  She seemed stressed at the thought of what still needed to be done to make the holiday special for her family.  I said to her that these Christmases with her starry-eyed children should be the best of her life, and that one day she would actually miss all the craziness leading up to the holiday.

The young mother smiled, possibly thinking about her beautiful children's happy faces on Christmas morning, perhaps also about her own childhood and mom, and didn't seem stressed any longer.  It's interesting how the cycle of life plays out in front of our open eyes, open minds, and open hearts at Christmastime.

***

It must have been hard for my mom to get the gifts that my brother and I wanted most when we were growing up in New York City. But she somehow always managed to do so, sometimes traveling a good distance around town get a particular toy that was on sale or hard to find.  Come Christmas morning, those gifts awaited my brother and me under the silver artificial Christmas tree that lit up the living room of our apartment every December.

Gracias, madre.

* * *

Christmastime is one of the things I miss most about working in New York.  It truly is the most wonderful time of the year around midtown Manhattan.  While some people complained about the crowds, I found it fascinating to see people from all around the world enjoying the sights and patronizing the stores of the city in December.  I remember lots of smiles on happy faces and gloved hands holding many shopping bags on and around Fifth Avenue.

For a few years, I was lucky to be able to see part of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree from my office window.  I constantly looked over at it, I guess just to make sure it was indeed the famous tree.  A couple of times the company I worked for held a party on the night of the tree lighting ceremony, and we would go to the roof of our building and look down at the huge crowd just as the lights went on.  I never took the tree for granted, and knew that one day I would miss having it such a part of my life.  Indeed, I do.

* * *

During the holiday season, I enjoy indulging in a glass or two, perhaps three, of egg nog.  Since I lived in the Trenton area for 18 years, however, I now hesitate to settle for anything less than the Halo Farm brand of egg nog.  To my tastebuds, it really is a cut above the others, tasting like the world's greatest milk shake.  Spice it up with a little rum and I'm ready to drive around with Santa Claus and help him deliver toys to homes with chimneys.   

Now that I don't work in New York and frequent its Latin cafes, the holidays are usually also the only time I indulge in stewed salted cod, a.k.a. "bacalao."  A sure sign of the season in our home is when the dead fish sits in a bowl filled with water on our kitchen counter for days leading up to Christmas.  When it's sufficiently softened and desalinated, my wife will season it with onions, peppers and garlic, and cook it in a light tomato sauce with potatoes, celery and Spanish olives.  It goes great on a plate with white rice and black beans, or alone in a soup bowl!  

* * *

One of my favorite Christmas pop songs is "Christmas Wrapping" by the Waitresses.  It was recorded in 1981, when my wife and I celebrated our first Christmas together while living in an apartment in Clifton, NJ.  I often think of those days when hearing that song -- although I try to forget my frustration with trying to put up a real Christmas tree for the last time in my life.  

Many people may not recall the Waitresses had another popular song, "I Know What Boys Like," that did not at all evoke the holidays or the spirit of giving, for that matter.

* * *

I'll always remember when we drove through the streets of Philadelphia to take the interim pastor of our Lawrence, NJ church to his home when he missed the last train from Trenton after preaching on Christmas Eve.

My wife and I and our two sons, who were 15 and 11 years old at the time, were exhausted after hosting almost two dozen family members at our Robbinsville home for Christmas Eve dinner, cleaning up while saying our good-byes, and then dashing off to church.  We couldn't, however, just leave our pastor to sit at the train station for hours or pay a king's ransom for a taxi ride home.  So, without thinking twice, we extended our night a few more hours and took him home to his family in our minivan.

We were quite tired that Christmas morning after just a handful of hours of sleep.  But, at the same time, we were energized by helping someone who traveled a long distance to remind a group of Christians about the true meaning of Christmas.

Normalizing Cuba-US relations

The following was written in response to inquiries from family and friends immediately after it was announced that the US and Cuban governments were taking steps to normalize relations. 

Thanks for thinking of me and caring about Cuba and Cuban-Americans. I have positive, albeit mixed, feelings about today's announcement.

The Castros have a lot of blood and theft on their hands. Their oppression of countrymen during the past 55 years is unforgivable. Ultimately, however, it is the Cuban people who will benefit from normalization of relations with the U.S. -- as will the American people.

As long as today's announcement will not exonerate the Castros -- history should place them along Stalin, Hitler and other tyrants -- I agree the time has come for a change. While I sympathize with Cuban-Americans who lost loved ones to firing squads, or knew of people who rotted in jails for daring to speak out for values that Americans take for granted, or had what was rightfully theirs confiscated by a one-party government, I laud President Obama for making the courageous decision to put the welfare of everyday Cubans above politics.

It is these everyday Cubans, most of whom have never lived under a leader not named Castro, that we should think of and hope for today.

Again, thanks for caring.

Bootlegger Bob

Back in 1967, while recording new music that would eventually be referred to as The Basement Tapes, Bob Dylan sang, "too much of nothing can make a man feel ill at ease." With the release this month of The Bootleg Series Vol. 11, The Basement Tapes Raw, some Dylan fans are wondering if those lyrics apply to old recordings of his that remain in the vaults of Columbia Records.

To be sure, much of The Bootleg Series deserved to be dusted off and released to the public.  The first three volumes, packaged as a triple CD set in 1991, contain numerous gems that somehow didn't make it onto albums during the previous 30 years. Seven years later, Volume 4 treated Dylan fans to the famous 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert in which Dylan plugged in his guitar, turned up the volume, and heard someone in the audience call him "Judas."

Another fine set of live recordings of Dylan with the Rolling Thunder Revue from late 1975 were released in 2002 in Vol. 5.  Since then, however, the vaults have yielded some material that has hardly been worthy of release.

Last year, Dylan fans had the opportunity to hear Another Self Portrait, released in Vol. 10.  It contains alternate versions of songs from what many fans regard as his weakest album, Self Portrait, and other unreleased recordings from that period between 1969-71.  In 2010, The Witmark Demos, containing recordings Dylan made for his music publisher between 1962-64, was released in Vol. 9.  

Both of these CD sets left few fans wondering why they weren't issued years earlier.  The same could be said about Vol. 11, with its alternate and restored versions and unreleased songs from a famous bootleg album that was officially released by Columbia Records in 1975. 

The irony is that, as the quality of The Bootleg Series has deteriorated, some of Dylan's finest new recordings have been released in recent years.  Between Time Out of Mind in 1997 and Tempest in 2012, Dylan has put out new music that many fans believe has surpassed the quality of any five-album series in his career.  The other CDs during this renaissance in Dylan's career include Love and Theft (2001), Modern Times (2006) and Together Through Life (2009).  (Yes, there is also a bootleg release, Vol. 8, Tell Tale Signs, with many recordings from this period.)

The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 did contain some good news for Dylan fans: a small advertisement that a new album, Shadows in the Night, is coming in 2015. 

Charley looks forward to hearing many of Dylan's most recent songs in concert in later this month. 

A special cup

Up before 5 o'clock for a day of work on the road, I started the two-part process of awakening my senses by stepping into the hotel room shower. That was easy.

The second part was more difficult.  Normally, I make a strong, tasty cafe con leche at home to complete the waking up process. That proved difficult in this hotel, however, with its pedestrian pouch coffee, artificial dairy powder, and small packets of sugar awaiting me. But, I gave it my best shot by squeezing a pair of pouches into the little coffee maker basket and, when the cup below was filled, pouring two packets each of dairy powder and sugar into the brew.

It almost tasted like drinkable coffee. And, it almost succeeded in fully awakening me.

Shortly before 6 a.m., on my way out of the hotel, I stopped by the front desk with a question about my bill.  The young gentleman at this Courtyard by Marriott in Oneonta, NY was particularly helpful. He quickly answered my question, apologizing for a charge on what should have been a complimentary breakfast the previous morning. He asked if everything else about my stay at the hotel was fine.

"Everything was fine," I assured him. "I just regret that I needed to leave early today, before your cafe opened and I could get a Starbucks latte."

Without hesitation, he asked, "You want a latte?  I can make that for you."

"You can make me a latte?" I responded, just to make sure I heard him correctly. After all, he was the front desk man, possibly the only employee inside the hotel at that moment. The cafe wouldn't open for another 45 minutes, and there was no sign of its employees across the lobby.

"Sure, I can make you a latte," he assured me.  "Do you want a flavor in it? What size would you like?"

I responded, then, a few moments later, while standing by as he made the complimentary latte that I sensed would be one of the best cups of coffee I've had in a long, long time, I said:

"I can't thank you enough for going through the trouble of making this coffee for me. You're making me feel like a king. You've done your good deed for the day. Now, I've got to make sure I do mine."

During a couple of training sessions I was leading later in the morning, I told participants of my experience at the hotel. I cited it as a great example of outstanding customer service, of going beyond the duties in a job description to make a positive difference for a customer.

I certainly look forward to returning to that Courtyard by Marriott later this autumn.  I plan to enjoy a Starbucks latte -- after the cafe opens -- and thank that young gentleman behind the desk again for going out of his way to make a special cup that helped make my long day that much better.

Ultras, metropolitan New York style

In cities across Europe and South America, they're sometimes trouble -- occasionally terrorizing players and administrators and keeping police on edge.  In the U.S., however, players warmly acknowledge them from the field, officials embrace their support and security personnel largely ignore their presence.

I'm referring to groups of hardcore fans, those loyal bands of supporters also known as "ultras."

New York City/New Jersey-area sports fans first took notice of them in 1996, when the Empire Supporters Club began sitting behind a goal during MetroStars soccer matches at Giants Stadium. Actually, "sitting" isn't accurate. These fans of the new Major League Soccer team rarely sat during matches. They typically stood most of the time, singing and chanting their support for the home team as many supporters of overseas soccer clubs have done over the years.

When the MetroStars were purchased and rebranded by the Red Bull energy drink company 10 years later and moved to Harrison in 2010, the ultras followed them. Team management essentially made three sections in the "south ward" behind a goal available for members of the Empire Supporters Club and other fan groups each match, negotiating an understanding to tone down some of their salty language. During the first match at the new stadium in 2010, however, a new chant from the ultras was heard: "You can't say f**k in Red Bull Arena!"

After the Mets moved from Shea Stadium to Citi Field in 2009, a group of fans dressed in identical t-shirts began making their presence known in seats behind center field a few times a year.  Known as the The 7 Line Army after the subway line that stops by the ballpark, these fans would loudly root-root-root for the home team all game long. Eventually, they would make a few trips to road games each season while increasing the number of games in which they would assemble next to the big apple at Citi Field.

Today, tickets for the three sections occupied by The 7 Line Army each month sell out quickly. At the season finale last month, over 400 of the faithful took only about an hour to devour a whole 70-pound pig that was roasted overnight in the parking lot by the elevated subway. Proving how considerate true Mets fans can be, they left the head of the pig for latecomers to gnaw at before the game. After cheering the Mets to a win, many of the The 7 Line Army met for a very happy two-hour open bar at McFadden's by the center field entrance to Citi Field.

High-definition televisions and rising ticket prices may make watching your favorite teams from the comfort of your home more attractive than ever.  Ultras, however, help make the in-stadium experience more interesting and fun for their members and everyone else around them who want to express passion for their favorite team.