John Rooke
| Special to The Providence Journal
Top 11 NCAA Tournament games played in Providence, RI
March Madness has come through downtown on 11 previous occasions, starting with a 1975 trip to the Providence Civic Center.
Journal Staff
College basketball season is approaching, with media days scheduled for the Atlantic-10 and Big East conferences.Several prominent college basketball coaches, including Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, have recently retired amid changes in college athletics.The New England Patriots, with a 1-2 record, are struggling with discipline and accountability issues.The Cleveland Guardians completed a historic comeback to win their division after being 15.5 games behind.
Thinking out loud … while wondering — if you’re cooler than me, doesn’t that make me hotter than you?
For those who follow college basketball with a religious fervor, Happy New Year. Practices officially are underway in advance of exhibitions being played next month and the season opening in early November.
As rabid a region for sports as we know we live in, with our New England pro teams and traditions, Rhode Island’s college hoops has long added to the passion as THE pro sport in the Ocean State.
Ask the coaches who have come and gone about that. Ask the fans who remember Jimmy Walker, Ernie D, Marvin Barnes, Sly Williams, Tommy Garrick and Lamar Odom as players.
And the fans of a younger generation? Just try to take away their Tall Boys at the AMP. IYKYK.
Atlantic-10 Media Day is next week, Monday, Oct. 7, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Interviews with men’s and women’s coaches and players will run concurrently from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with coverage from ESPN+. Archie Miller, David Green, Tammi Reiss and Sophie Phillips will represent Rhody.
The Big East’s Media Day is Oct. 21 at Madison Square Garden in New York, as usual. The league will have new names, and likely new stars, with only seven of 23 All-Big East selections from last season returning this year, including two Big East All-Freshman Team members, Providence College‘s Oswin Erhunmwunse and Ryan Mela.
∎Auburn’s Bruce Pearl stepped back from his coaching duties to announce his retirement after 11 seasons, and a spotlight-worthy career that included NCAA infractions, winning a D-II national title and time spent as the Boston College mascot while a student. His move continues a trend in this monetized era of college athletics that has seen several big-name coaches make similar decisions.
Jim Larranaga, Tony Bennett, Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski — the talent drain is real (especially in the ACC). I’d argue the game hasn’t changed; players still want to play; some still want an education, and all want to get to the NBA, just like always. We’ve only added the almighty dollah-dollah bill (ya’ll) to the learning process.
And isn’t that what these coaches have always had the opportunity to do themselves? Add dollars to their own deals? Jump from team to team, with no repercussions except for buyout clauses? Sure, there is more pressure on coaches today to win but the pressure to win has always been there.
∎Not for nothin’ but Brown’s 2025 football debut was a smash hit, a 46-0 knockout punch of Georgetown. But we’ll know more about Bruno following the Ivy opener with Harvard this weekend, won’t we?
∎Rhody’s Rams held a second straight opponent to a single-digit score (beating Long Island University, 28-7) for the first time in 35 years. The Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 polls this week had the Rams on the rise in one poll (sixth) and dropped in the other (seventh).
URI has their biggest test yet this weekend at FBS member Western Michigan.
∎Who said defense wins championships? URI defensive back Justin Carcel scored a second straight Colonial Athletic Association defensive player of the week honor for the team, after linebacker Moses Meus had won the previous week.
∎X post of the Week, from @dandrews61: “Turnover[s] and penalties. Can’t win till you keep from losing.”
∎There’s just no other way to look at it. The Patriots blew it against the Steelers. Pittsburgh ain’t all that, and Aaron Rodgers is closer to a rocking chair than he is to football stardom these days. If I’m head coach Mike Vrabel, I know this was a big whiff. Just sayin’.
As former center David Andrews posted this week, these Patriots players need to learn how not to lose before they can win. They’re having a hard time getting out of their own way. Discipline, or lack thereof, is an issue. So is accountability. Both are in shorter supply than what is needed to be successful.
Are these issues fixable? Over time, yes. But you can’t have one without the other. And that begins with the coach and his staff. I know this offense needs running back Rhamondre Stevenson but the Steelers knew he would fumble. He did twice. Improvement starts with making ‘Mondre, and his teammates, accountable.
∎Rotowire.com sent a reminder this week about teams starting 1-2 in the NFL through three weeks and their chances of reaching the postseason. Over the past 10 seasons, teams that began a year like the Patriots (1-2) have made the playoffs 25% of the time. The only team to win a Super Bowl with this start? None other than your New England Patriots, who started 2018 at 1-2 before rebounding to finish 11-5 and then beating the Los Angeles Rams in the title game. No, TB12 isn’t coming out of retirement for this current iteration of the Patriots.
But 1-2 isn’t out of it, which should only make Vrabel kick himself harder for not beating the Steelers. The AFC is up for grabs. Sure, Buffalo looks good, Baltimore is still talented, and the Los Angeles Chargers are the up-and-comers. But who strikes fear into your heart? Noooooobody.
∎It was great to see 84-year-old Bill Parcells embraced by not only the Krafts at the Patriots Hall of Fame ceremony last week, but to see many fans, especially the grudge-holders, embrace him back into La Familia as well. He’s always been deserving of the honor. If there were no Parcells, there are few (if any) Vince Lombardi trophies to take selfies with.
Part of the reason Parcells left in 1997 was due to his perceived lack of control over the roster. “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries” was his infamous line at the time. The person primarily charged with grocery shopping then, general manager Bobby Grier, passed away this week at age 82.
∎We mentioned private equity a few weeks ago, and the Patriots are reportedly making a move with CNBC reporting Thursday that Robert Kraft is preparing to sell an 8% stake in his NFL team (not including the Revolution soccer team) to Sixth Street Capital and Dean Metropoulos. The reported deal puts the Patriots’ valuation at more than $9 billion, with the money gained staying on the team balance sheet, ostensibly for them to use as they see fit.
This follows a 10% equity sale reported about a month ago by the New York Giants and a 3% sale by the San Francisco 49ers. It requires approval by the NFL’s finance committee.
∎Outside of the most optimistic, Red Sox-colored sunglasses, 2025 certainly showed improvement in picking up ace Garrett Crochet and closer Aroldis Chapman. And created continued anger at front office nerds for their persistent penny-pinching. So, you got a two-fer. Just sayin’.
If there is to be extended October baseball for these Sox, Crochet must be the man. Until Wednesday in Toronto, September hadn’t been kind, even if he is still an A.L. Cy Young front-runner. A 2.69 season ERA ballooned to 4.68 this month, and Crochet has exceeded his career high in innings pitched, at 205.1.
∎No team in the 57-season history of MLB divisional play had come back from a deficit of more than 14 games to win a division, with the 1978 Yankees (we know) holding the mark for the largest comeback, until today. Cleveland was once 15.5 games behind Detroit in the A.L. Central, and the Guardians had won 22 of their last 28 through Wednesday.
∎Sure, for my money, it’s Raleigh vs. Judge for American League MVP. Both have had spectacular seasons; both have meant much to their teams’ successes. But what have Cal Raleigh and Aaron Judge meant to the bottom line of wins and losses? Seems to me — the better the team, the better the story, the more worthy of being Most Valuable, am I right?
Both of their teams have reached the postseason. For the Yankees, it’s their eighth playoff trip in nine seasons. For the Mariners, it’s only the sixth playoff appearance in team history.
∎Stand by for robot umps, aka baseball’s Automated Ball-Strike System. Hitters, pitchers and catchers will be the only ones allowed to trigger the new system next year by tapping their head, and if a challenge is successful — the pitch will be shown on in-stadium video screens — teams will retain the challenge.
Part of me likes the idea of this checks-and-balances system, and part of me still believes in human error being an inherent part of sports. And we’re crawling further away from that with every new season in just about every sport we play. Expect fewer ejections arguing balls and strikes, certainly, and hasn’t that been a big part of the game?
∎Longtime minor-league manager Buddy Bailey — who managed the Pawtucket Red Sox for four seasons in the 1990s (during my time as a team broadcaster) and three more in the 2000s, passed away this week at age 68. A two-time International League Manager of the Year, Bailey also spent a season as Boston Red Sox bench coach in 2000.
He won 2,417 games as a minor league manager, won more than 500 games managing in Venezuela while winning six titles and spent 2006-24 coaching and managing in the Chicago Cubs’ system.
∎The story line of the U.S. golf team playing in the Ryder Cup this week getting paid — as opposed to the European team not getting paid — is bunk. Unless, of course, you feel the sport (the PGA of America) that has single-handedly made a killing off selling tickets, VIP experiences, on-course amenities and media rights shouldn’t be giving something back to the guys who help make them the money?
Some international events are “unpaid,” outside of contracted competition. But the greatest formerly amateur event on the calendar, the Olympics, allows its competitors to be professionals and receive compensation. Can you imagine telling an NFL player to play for free this week, for the “love” of the sport? C’mon, man.
∎The longtime videographer for the Providence College basketball program, Nick Parente, passed away this week after serving the school for more than 40 years. Nicky’s time began with his loyal friendship and assistance during the coaching reigns of Rick Pitino, Gordie Chiesa and Rick Barnes as the lead team videographer, well in advance of the days when every game was televised and recorded on a laptop computer.
Nick used to tell stories of his working days as a butcher at Almacs, especially if we were visiting a steakhouse. I’ll miss the stories, the meals and the many roads we traveled together outside of Friartown. RIP Nicky P, you had a life well done — even if your steaks weren’t.
Interested in having your questions on Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? Think out loud and send your questions, comments and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments right here! Join me on Twitter/X, @JRbroadcaster, and on Instagram and Threads @JRbroadcaster.