Sonny Jurgensen died last weekend at the age of 91. Jurgensen is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was one of the best pure passers I ever saw. He was drafted in the fourth round by the Eagles in 1957 – one round later than one of his favorite targets, Tommy McDonald. After the 1963 season, the Eagles hired a new coach who almost immediately traded Jurgensen to the Skins in exchange for Norm Snead; it was one of the most lopsided single player exchanges ever in sports. Jurgensen played on some bad teams in Washington such that his overall starting record in the NFL is below .500; nonetheless, he is deservedly in the Hall of Fame
Rest in peace, Christian Adolph (Sonny) Jurgensen.
I saw on one of the sports news feeds this morning that Rick Pitino passed Roy Williams for third place in all-time wins by a men’s college basketball coach. Congratulations to Coach Pitino for that accomplishment. And that got me thinking about college basketball and Rick Pitino and the renaissance of St. John’s basketball under Rick Pitino. As my mind wandered over the old Big East basketball days – – before NIL and even before “one-and-done” – – I remembered some of the St John’s games in that conference. Back then, when St. John’s played UConn, it was Louie Carnesecca on one bench and Jim Calhoun on the other. For those of you who are too young to have seen any of those games, let me just say that neither coach was a shrinking violet on the sideline.
Fast forwarding in my imagination made me realize that St. John’s and UConn are in the same conference this year meaning they will play each other and that game would showcase Rick Pitino on one bench and Danny Hurley on the other. That pairing should equal if not exceed the histrionics level routinely presented by Carnesecca/Calhoun games in the past. So, just for giggles, I went to see when that game might happen – – hoping that it was not already in the books. So, circle this date on your sports watching calendar:
- February 25th at 7:00 PM ET
Both teams are currently ranked in the Top 20, which should make the game on the court interesting. I am confident that the two coaches will present an exciting show off the court as well.
And while my mind is on the subject of college basketball, this will be the final year for St. Francis (PA) being a part of Division I college basketball. When the season is over, the Red Flash will drop down to Division III and compete in basketball at that level. According to reports the impetus for that move is money. In order to compete in today’s college sports environment, schools need NIL money and St, Francis (PA) does not have any.
The Red Flash compete in the Northeast Conference along with the likes of Long Island University, LeMoyne and Wagner. St. Francis won the conference tournament last year putting them in the NCAA Tournament field as the conference champion; that placement was in spite of an overall record of 16-17 in 2025 but as conference champs …
After that cameo appearance in March Madness for 2025 – – St Francis lost a play-in game by 2 points – – the school announced its decision to drop down to Division III. As you might suspect, that created an exodus of the players from that team with remaining college eligibility and in their final Division I season, St Francis now sits in 8ith place in the ten-team Northeast Conference with an overall record of 6-18. Last year, the Red Flash won its final 6 games including the conference tournament to make it to the “Big Dance”. The odds weren’t in their favor last year and they certainly are not in their favor now, but you never know …
That overall record of 6-18 may be deflated a bit because St Francis has played road games against top teams around the country as a way to fund its program; top teams pay small schools to come and take a drubbing at the big boys’ homes using those games to enhance their records and as entertainment for their fanbase. Already this year, St. Francis has lost to Oklahoma, TCU, Xavier, Temple and Florida; there was no way the Red Flash was going to win any of those games and indeed the smallest margin of defeat in them was 22 points (loss to Xavier). But that is what small schools need to do just to stay afloat these days.
This is yet another unintended consequence of the basic concept of paying collegiate players straight cash instead of reimbursing them with scholarships, education expenses and educational opportunity. I have been – – and I remain – – fully in favor of players getting NIL money. At the same time, I can feel bad for smaller schools like St. Francis who may need to drop their Division I status to “stay in business”.
By the way, St. Francis’ basketball program has produced some top-shelf basketball players for the NBA including:
- Maurice Stokes – – He played 3 seasons in the NBA; he was Rookie of the Year in 1956 and an All-Star in all three seasons. His career was cut short by a fall on the court that knocked him out, sent him into a coma and rendered him permanently paralyzed.
- Norm Van Lier – – He played 10 seasons in the NBA; his calling card was defense. He made the first or second “All-Defense team” in 8 of those 10 seasons.
- Kevin Porter – – He played 10 seasons in the NBA; he led the league in assists four times and in the 78/79 season averaged 13.1 assists per game.
Finally, it seems proper today to close with these words from St, Francis of Assisi himself:
“Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice’s sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. He who has persevered to the end will be saved.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………