Post by FriendsofAN44 on Oct 21, 2005 15:54:06 GMT -5
10/21/2005
PEZZIMENTI: Bona’s Legends Game stirred memories of program’s past
In so many ways last Saturday night was much more than contests, autograph sessions and a basketball game featuring players who have seen better days on the court.
At its simplest, the Legends Celebration held at the Reilly Center gave St. Bonaventure fans, young and old, the opportunity to relive the glorious past. It was a therapeutic experience for a program and its faithful suffering through a painful rebuilding process.
Watching Tim Winn (Class of 2000) operate the offense with Bubba Gary (’71) and Don Newhook (’59) on the wings and Barry Mungar (’86) underneath was neat. Neat indeed, but in no way an element that will transform a two-win team into a NCAA Tournament hopeful this year or the next.
Bona greats such as Tom Stith, Brendan McCann, Whitney Martin, Matt Gantt and Ken Murray returning to campus for a night was just a little piece of a sizable puzzle. The first piece was set in place last April, a time of the year when Bona fans were once accustomed to closely retracing another fine season and looking forward to the next.
Coach Anthony Solomon made a plea to Stith and his brother Sam, Martin and Fred Crawford at an outing on Long Island to honor the 1957 Bona NIT squad led by McCann. They all were impressed with Solomon’s determined persona.
“He’s a personable kind of guy,” Martin said of Solomon. “Easy to talk to, easy to get know and very approachable. To use an old word ‘gung ho.’
“He’s not a rah-rah guy, but he has hopes, dreams and aspirations for the school.”
When Solomon was hired in the spring of 2003 to rebuild a program on the heels of a disastrous player-eligibility scandal, one thing, perhaps the only stable thing, he could latch onto was the tradition of Bona basketball. It didn’t just die the way St. Bonaventure’s crystal clear reputation did.
In all too many ways, Bona basketball is built upon the glorious past. With its limited resources and tough-to-sell location, the school is more Metro Atlantic than Atlantic 10. Except for the fact that you would be hard-pressed to find a college basketball program’s past that is more embraced than St. Bonaventure’s.
All the old-timers are quick tell special anecdotes defining what their school meant to them.
Tom and Sam Stith, raised by their sisters in Brooklyn and friars at St. Francis High School, were directed to and guided by the Franciscans at St. Bonaventure.
Crawford can go on and on. There was the time a blizzard jammed up the roads the night Bona was to play a game at The Aud in Buffalo. Crawford remembers a snow plow leading the way for the team bus and hundreds of fans from Olean in their cars.
He remembers the university being behind him when he contracted tuberculosis after his sophomore season.
“What a warm atmosphere,” Crawford said. “It was perfect for me because I wasn’t a good student. You couldn’t go anywhere with the snow. Even if you could, the only thing to do was maybe go to show.”
Ed Petrovick, a teammate of Crawford’s in the early ’60s, remembers the exact date he got off the train from New Jersey — Sept. 6, 1958 — and he remembers hating Olean. Now Petrovick makes a home here permanently.
One of Solomon’s main objectives is to bring that love affair between Bona basketball and the local community back to the forefront. He’s called on the legends for support.
“He e-mails us asking for our input not just about basketball but the state of the overall program,” Sam Stith said. “He wants to get the Olean people more involved. You can get everybody in the world involved, but sooner or later you need to get ‘W’s, though.
“He’s excited and we are too. He’s a Bona-attitude, Bona-atmosphere type guy.”
Sam insists many of the over 40 alums wouldn’t have attended the Legends Celebration, including former player and coach Larry Weise, if Solomon hadn’t reached out to them the way he has.
“I know coach and he’s never down,” Tom Stith said. “He’s always upbeat and thinking positive.”
Never before have former Bona players been embraced like they have by the current head of the program. They all admit that. That’s why they’re all working to spread the good word around the country about St. Bonaventure.
Small piece by small piece, the goal is a return to glory.
(Vinny Pezzimenti is a sports writer for The Times Herald)
PEZZIMENTI: Bona’s Legends Game stirred memories of program’s past
In so many ways last Saturday night was much more than contests, autograph sessions and a basketball game featuring players who have seen better days on the court.
At its simplest, the Legends Celebration held at the Reilly Center gave St. Bonaventure fans, young and old, the opportunity to relive the glorious past. It was a therapeutic experience for a program and its faithful suffering through a painful rebuilding process.
Watching Tim Winn (Class of 2000) operate the offense with Bubba Gary (’71) and Don Newhook (’59) on the wings and Barry Mungar (’86) underneath was neat. Neat indeed, but in no way an element that will transform a two-win team into a NCAA Tournament hopeful this year or the next.
Bona greats such as Tom Stith, Brendan McCann, Whitney Martin, Matt Gantt and Ken Murray returning to campus for a night was just a little piece of a sizable puzzle. The first piece was set in place last April, a time of the year when Bona fans were once accustomed to closely retracing another fine season and looking forward to the next.
Coach Anthony Solomon made a plea to Stith and his brother Sam, Martin and Fred Crawford at an outing on Long Island to honor the 1957 Bona NIT squad led by McCann. They all were impressed with Solomon’s determined persona.
“He’s a personable kind of guy,” Martin said of Solomon. “Easy to talk to, easy to get know and very approachable. To use an old word ‘gung ho.’
“He’s not a rah-rah guy, but he has hopes, dreams and aspirations for the school.”
When Solomon was hired in the spring of 2003 to rebuild a program on the heels of a disastrous player-eligibility scandal, one thing, perhaps the only stable thing, he could latch onto was the tradition of Bona basketball. It didn’t just die the way St. Bonaventure’s crystal clear reputation did.
In all too many ways, Bona basketball is built upon the glorious past. With its limited resources and tough-to-sell location, the school is more Metro Atlantic than Atlantic 10. Except for the fact that you would be hard-pressed to find a college basketball program’s past that is more embraced than St. Bonaventure’s.
All the old-timers are quick tell special anecdotes defining what their school meant to them.
Tom and Sam Stith, raised by their sisters in Brooklyn and friars at St. Francis High School, were directed to and guided by the Franciscans at St. Bonaventure.
Crawford can go on and on. There was the time a blizzard jammed up the roads the night Bona was to play a game at The Aud in Buffalo. Crawford remembers a snow plow leading the way for the team bus and hundreds of fans from Olean in their cars.
He remembers the university being behind him when he contracted tuberculosis after his sophomore season.
“What a warm atmosphere,” Crawford said. “It was perfect for me because I wasn’t a good student. You couldn’t go anywhere with the snow. Even if you could, the only thing to do was maybe go to show.”
Ed Petrovick, a teammate of Crawford’s in the early ’60s, remembers the exact date he got off the train from New Jersey — Sept. 6, 1958 — and he remembers hating Olean. Now Petrovick makes a home here permanently.
One of Solomon’s main objectives is to bring that love affair between Bona basketball and the local community back to the forefront. He’s called on the legends for support.
“He e-mails us asking for our input not just about basketball but the state of the overall program,” Sam Stith said. “He wants to get the Olean people more involved. You can get everybody in the world involved, but sooner or later you need to get ‘W’s, though.
“He’s excited and we are too. He’s a Bona-attitude, Bona-atmosphere type guy.”
Sam insists many of the over 40 alums wouldn’t have attended the Legends Celebration, including former player and coach Larry Weise, if Solomon hadn’t reached out to them the way he has.
“I know coach and he’s never down,” Tom Stith said. “He’s always upbeat and thinking positive.”
Never before have former Bona players been embraced like they have by the current head of the program. They all admit that. That’s why they’re all working to spread the good word around the country about St. Bonaventure.
Small piece by small piece, the goal is a return to glory.
(Vinny Pezzimenti is a sports writer for The Times Herald)
