Finally got a chance to watch "Requiem for the Big East"

[amory]

Hit Netflix streaming not too long ago.

By the end of it, all I could really do is shrug. It was cool to learn about what the league was like before I was born, I guess. John Thompson and Lou Carnesecca were the best part of the film, Boeheim was the worst and, as always, comes off as a whiny jackass.

I get that the point of the film was to talk about the beginnings of the league, but it was BS to watch them act like expansion completely destroyed the league's basketball pedigree. The Big East was putting 10 teams in the tournament as recently as 2011. Schools like Marquette, Notre Dame, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Louisville added to the competitiveness, they didn't water down the league.

And, of course, there's UConn getting zero mention. That tournament that they focused on so much, the one in MSG, not sure if they realized we actually won that tournament a lot of times.

Seton Hall got more coverage than we did. It seems like the filmmakers wanted to make a film about Syracuse and Georgetown more than a film about the Big East. And that's fine. But then you shouldn't call it "Requiem for the Big East".

That part at the end, when Boeheim is smiling and saying he's proud to be the last coach standing, oh man. I hope the hammer gets brought down on his program and he ends up "retiring" in disgrace.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

I have so many bad things to say about that film, but I'd rather not get myself worked up haha.

All I know is we have twice the amount of titles the supposed best two programs in the league have combined.

 

[Bayareahusky]

Yeah, this film did a very good job of chronicling the planning and very beginnings of the Big East..... in the arly 80s..... but i thought the focus was on the fall of the Big East..... and to not mention CT's 3 NCAA titles for the league, where others (Vill, Syr, Gtown) have only 1 was terrible...... it clearly wasnt the focus of the project..... they should have changed the title to "The Building of the Big East"

 

[Geno-ista]

Forgetting our UConn bias- the show really showed what The Big East was.
And the most interesting thing I learned was how hard Dick Gavitt lobbied for Penn State to come in in the early 90's. He lost the vote 5-4 to the Catholic Schools. He warned everyone back then, we needed Penn State to protect the football programs even back then- Syracuse, Pitt, BC, Miami, etc....I don't think the premis was expansion killed the Big East. It was not building a football league I think, without the catholic schools. Even though UConn wasn't the focus- I thought it was fantastic. And watching Jim Calhoun taking us past those programs was something to behold! It really was David & Goliath!

 

[chapwilvaug72]

it was the Waking of the Sleeping Giant UCONN Husky who carried that Big Shty east conf since '90 (dwarfed all those pseudo c7s $ wasps & nailed them to basement walls by basket balls)

 

[Geno-ista]

it was the Waking of the Sleeping Giant UCONN Husky who carried that Big Shty east conf since '90 (dwarfed all those pseudo c7s $ wasps & nailed them to basement walls by basket balls)

That is true!!!! Even Dave G said that!

 

[tcf15]

Obligatory

 

[pnow15]

Never forget Earl Kelly's contribution to UConn basketball. The kid from New Haven basically played one on five against great Georgetown and Syracuse teams and kept games respectable in the pre-Calhoun Big East era.

 

[chapwilvaug72]

too bad earl k was wasted as 15 alludes

smile: Mr NHaven Monsieur TremonT will make amends

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I have so many bad things to say about that film, but I'd rather not get myself worked up haha.

All I know is we have twice the amount of titles the supposed best two programs in the league have combined.

The night it aired I was so infuriated that I went on a rant and posted it here. I don't know if it had any impact on our run last spring but it absolutely prepared me for title #4.

The sole purpose of that silly little documentary was to tell college basketball fans that there once was a time when Georgetown, St John's et al really mattered (and they made a point to also say that in those days we didn't).

 

[upstater]

Never forget Earl Kelly's contribution to UConn basketball. The kid from New Haven basically played one on five against great Georgetown and Syracuse teams and kept games respectable in the pre-Calhoun Big East era.

Check out UConn's first 3 seasons in the BE. Those were pre-Kelley, AND there were a lot of UConn wins in those years. UConn finished upper half of the league and had big victories over everyone, including Syracuse and Georgetown.

In fact, if memory serves, as I went to a few of those early BE UConn-Syracuse games, UConn won more against Cuse than it lost.

The idea of UConn being a total doormat in that league was because of the 4 years in the middle of the decade (which coincided with Kelley's time at UConn). It's OK, some of my favorite players were on those teams, like Tim Coles.

When you look at the players UConn had when it began Big East play, the team was formidable.

Corny Thompson, Chuck Aleksinas, Mike McKay, Vern Giscombe, Norman Bailey, Karl Hobbs.

 

[J-dog]

Bothered me as well...

If a requiem (in this case) is the celebration of the defunct Big East, how do you leave out the most successful team?

Bad job.

 

[auror]

The narrative of the story is that the peak of the league was in the late 80's with those Syracuse, Gtown, and St John's teams. I'm not sure they are wrong. Sure, they could've mentioned the successes of the league later, but that wasn't the story they were telling.

 

[CTBasketball]

Obligatory

This is ' great.

 

[upstater]

The narrative of the story is that the peak of the league was in the late 80's with those Syracuse, Gtown, and St John's teams. I'm not sure they are wrong. Sure, they could've mentioned the successes of the league later, but that wasn't the story they were telling.

That peak was actually early 80s. 1983-1985.

And it lasted 3 years. Actually, the peak was 1985, one year, as the BE later got 2 teams in the F4, which was just as impressive as anything that happened in 1983-1984.

So essentially, the Big East had 1 glory year. Just 1. That made it any different than all the other conferences.

 

[CTBasketball]

That peak was actually early 80s. 1983-1985.

And it lasted 3 years. Actually, the peak was 1985, one year, as the BE later got 2 teams in the F4, which was just as impressive as anything that happened in 1983-1984.

So essentially, the Big East had 1 glory year. Just 1. That made it any different than all the other conferences.

I disagree - the Big East was arguably the best conference in basketball since the early 80's all the way until 2012. In 2009 we had 3 #1 seeds, and two teams in the Final Four...

I think the conference hit its stride when UConn started to win championships.

 

[J-dog]

I disagree - the Big East was arguably the best conference in basketball since the early 80's all the way until 2012. In 2009 we had 3 #1 seeds, and two teams in the Final Four...

I think the conference hit its stride when UConn started to win championships.

You can certainly argue that without the success of UCONN, the Big East would have been dismissed as a league that had a short window of success & then faded away into obscurity.

In that case, there wouldn't have even been a 30 for 30...

 

[CTBasketball]

You can certainly argue that without the success of UCONN, the Big East would have been dismissed as a league that had a short window of success & then faded away into obscurity.

In that case, there wouldn't have even been a 30 for 30...

This is true. ..

 

[auror]

You can certainly argue that without the success of UCONN, the Big East would have been dismissed as a league that had a short window of success & then faded away into obscurity.

In that case, there wouldn't have even been a 30 for 30...

Or maybe the actual 30 for 30 narrative would have been more accurate.

 

[upstater]

I disagree - the Big East was arguably the best conference in basketball since the early 80's all the way until 2012. In 2009 we had 3 #1 seeds, and two teams in the Final Four...

I think the conference hit its stride when UConn started to win championships.

? Huh

What are you disagreeing with?

I never said it wasn't he best conference

 

[CTBasketball]

? Huh

What are you disagreeing with?

I never said it wasn't he best conference

Oh. Well then, carry on. I agree.

 

[CL82]

The narrative of the story is that the peak of the league was in the late 80's with those Syracuse, Gtown, and St John's teams. I'm not sure they are wrong. Sure, they could've mentioned the successes of the league later, but that wasn't the story they were telling.

Yeah but if you are writing a "requiem for the Big East", how do you not include the team that three times as many national championships as a part of it than any other team and nearly half of them overall. I also suspect, but did not look it up, that we have the most Conf. championships (reg. and tourney) as any other team in the conference. If you want to make a story about a decade of basketball, that's fine but say that's what you are making. In my view it was revisionist history.

From Wikipedia:
"Beginning with their first Big East championship in 1990, Connecticut has become the preeminent power in the Big East. Over the past two decades, UConn has made many deep runs in NCAA tournament, playing in the Elite 8 nine times and making four appearances in the Final Four. Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun's program, led by such stars as Ray Allen, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Caron Butler, Emeka Okafor and Kemba Walker, averaged nearly 26 wins per year during that time span, won numerous Big East regular season and tournament championships, and claimed the National Championship in 1999, 2004 and 2011."

I'd argue that it 90's forward were the peak of the league. 4 of the 7 national championships were won during that period and we were sending record numbers of teams went the NCAA tourney. We were dominant.

Nah that video was the birth of the Big East, not a requiem for it.

 

[Mots010]

Should have called it Requiem for the Syracuse/Georgetown rivalry. That rivalry stopped being relevant so long ago that you'd need a 30 for 30 just to remind people that it ever existed.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Check out UConn's first 3 seasons in the BE. Those were pre-Kelley, AND there were a lot of UConn wins in those years. UConn finished upper half of the league and had big victories over everyone, including Syracuse and Georgetown.

In fact, if memory serves, as I went to a few of those early BE UConn-Syracuse games, UConn won more against Cuse than it lost.

The idea of UConn being a total doormat in that league was because of the 4 years in the middle of the decade (which coincided with Kelley's time at UConn). It's OK, some of my favorite players were on those teams, like Tim Coles.

When you look at the players UConn had when it began Big East play, the team was formidable.

Corny Thompson, Chuck Aleksinas, Mike McKay, Vern Giscombe, Norman Bailey, Karl Hobbs.

Earl Kelly's gun incident and suspension were the final nail in Perno's coffin.
So in a way we can thank Kelly for JC.

 

[Robertelamin]

Yeah, this film did a very good job of chronicling the planning and very beginnings of the Big East..... in the arly 80s..... but i thought the focus was on the fall of the Big East..... and to not mention CT's 3 NCAA titles for the league, where others (Vill, Syr, Gtown) have only 1 was terrible. it clearly wasnt the focus of the project..... they should have changed the title to "The Building of the Big East"

They should have named it Big Easts Big Rivalry, not that I necessarily agree with that but at least it isn't misleading and I would have known to not tune in.