The *Asterisk* Season continues in the East Region, where the schedule changes by the minute and games are being played in empty gyms – that is, when mitigating factors such as snowstorms and mandatory testing allow. Last Tuesday, I was granted the opportunity to announce a game at Caldwell University with my friend and longtime Cougars announcer Jerry Milani. But this was no ordinary broadcast. I began calling all the Le Moyne games back in 1992, then added regional action a few years later. After well over a thousand games behind the mic, I can honestly say that this last one was the strangest, by far. And that’s not even taking into account that my season debut, so to speak, came after Valentine’s Day when it usually occurs closer to Veteran’s Day.
The adventure began before I even arrived on campus, as I was required to download an app to my phone, through which I had to report if I had been afflicted with any health problems over the past 14 days. Then, upon walking up to the doors of the Newman Center (at least an hour earlier than usual due to the 6 pm start time), I was screened, with yet another temperature gun pointed at my head (am I the only one who feels more than a little uneasy about this now-common practice?). Look, I get it. Unfortunately, this is the world in which we live. Naturally, I bear no grudge against the ever-genial sports information director John Tagliaferri for administering the test. But this time, my psyche was saddened. For the very first time, the grim reality of the dreaded virus had infiltrated the safety of my winter sanctuary – the basketball gym.
My customary instinct after entering the doors of any college hoops venue is to follow the sounds of players hooting and hollering against the backdrop of uptempo warmup music. And while I could see the familiar shapes of uniformed athletes in motion through the interior gym doors, I was otherwise instructed to turn to my left and ascend the staircase to the second level. Having been to this cozy, aesthetically pleasing building dozens of times over the past two decades, and having broadcast numerous CACC Tournaments there, I was well acquainted with the geography and made my way up to the running track that rings Mark Corino Court from above. Associate Athletic Director and longtime assistant coach Dean Johnson was gracious enough to unlock the door to the track, allowing yours truly access to the broadcast location above center court. He also took the time, in his customarily affable way, to answer my queries regarding his team’s new personnel; information which I casually sprinkled into my on-air commentary (I had spoken to the impressive coach of the visiting team, Nyack alumnus Valiant Jones, by phone a day earlier).
The next impression that caught my attention – and it was hardly a shock – was the fact that there was no crowd. Just as we have seen during certain college and NBA telecasts, the building was empty and the bleachers weren’t even pulled out. There was no public address announcer present to reveal the starters or prompt the guests to rise for a national anthem that would never be played (a moment of silence for all those who have perished at the hands of the insidious virus wouldn’t have seemed inappropriate, all things considered). As I have also come to notice viewing other games, the benches were on the opposite side of a much less crowded scorer’s table, distinguished by the makeshift, spread-out, tiered alignment to which we now have become accustomed. This is when Jerry signaled me to announce the starters. As I was wrapping up, and with zero fanfare, players headed toward center circle and were met by three masked referees, one of which tossed the ball for the opening jump. The exceptional, accomplished trio – whom I have come to know very well over the years, and two of whom I dined with afterward – looked more like 19th Century bank robbers than basketball officials. But again, welcome to Covid-ball 2021.
Much like my work at Yankee Stadium the previous summer (my 24th season there was my first that included the duty of piping in artificial crowd noise), the surreal realities of the empty venue and various masked coaches/officials took a back seat once the game got underway, with all the athletes playing without facial protection. Muscle memory took over at this point, and just like it had during that truncated baseball season, my attention was fixated on the action between the lines. The game was far from a Rembrandt, with many missed shots and turnovers demonstrating how rusty the players were, especially considering the many new faces that were populating both rosters. Despite a 14-0 Caldwell surge in the first half, the game remained tight throughout, which was its lone saving grace. During one stoppage of play, I noticed “Tags” across the way handling the stats from his usual location at the edge of the scorer’s table. Only this year, he was wearing the mandatory transparent face shield that made him look more like a welder or diamond cutter than a basketball statistician.
There was a moment when Jerry read a promo encouraging Cougars fans to “Get in the Game” and secure their spots along the back row of the bleachers with images of themselves or loved ones similar to those seen in empty arenas and ballparks across the country the past eight months. More depressing evidence of the pandemically challenged sports landscape of our times. During timeouts, teams huddled on opposite corners of the court, standing separated while their coaches shouted instructions. No stat sheets were printed and distributed. When the halftime buzzer sounded and the scoreboard revealed the home team ahead by a single point, there was no music, no announcement urging patrons to visit the refreshment stand in the lobby and no cheerleading squad preparing to perform some synchronized routine. Just silence. Eerily funereal silence. Ten minutes or so later, the teams returned to the court, a short sample of warmup music accompanying their entrance. The action resumed as if the game were being played in the university library. Thankfully, the level of play picked up as both teams had shot in the vicinity of 30% from the floor over the initial 20 minutes and combined for a frosty 2-for-21 beyond the arc. The road Warriors appeared primed for an upset, up by eight with just over seven minutes left before Caldwell, galvanized by the smiling cardboard fan cutouts, embarked on a game-defining, 22-5 run that put the hosts on top, 60-51 with 42 seconds to play.
But my partner and I cautioned our viewers not to fall asleep on this resilient Nyack team, whose five previous games had been decided by a total of 12 points – including the prior overtime matchup, three days earlier on the same court, which ended with a season-high four-point spread. Right on cue, the visitors unleashed a 10-4 spurt, capped by a Joel Bailey put-back that brought the Warriors within 64-61 with 2.6 seconds left. Talented junior guard Anthony Cooper cinched the game with two clutch free throws, capping a bizarre individual performance that saw him shoot 3-for-11 and commit three offensive fouls in the first half but was brilliant on defense, deflecting the ball at least eight times and singlehandedly destroying fastbreaks like a free safety with five picks.
Still, there was 1.3 showing on the clock and I predicted on the air that the Warriors would hit a three just to make it a one-possession final, as has been their wont this abbreviated season. Nyack rolled the ball toward center court, where Bailey picked it up, dribbled once and launched a three from beyond the top of the key that, naturally, swished through as the horn sounded, making him a perfect 4-for 4 from downtown while the rest of the players that night combined to go 6-for-43 from long distance. The final score made the fictional D2 bookies happy: Caldwell 66, Nyack 64.
The Cougars bench made a big impact on the day with 37 points as Corino – who earned his 500th win at the school and 595th overall in the previous game – decided to go with a smaller, quicker starting lineup. The most notable newcomer was a freshman guard out of Springfield, MA – Daniel Dade, Jr. – who looks like a good one, and who played a big role in his team’s 22-5 second-half uprising with two triples, two free throws, a steal, a rebound and an assist as the Cougars won their 12th straight home game in the series, and second in four days (the last three were decided by a total of seven points). After a rough outing Saturday, Bailey was sensational in defeat for the Warriors with a game-high 23 points, 11 of which amazingly came over the final 41 seconds.
There was no handshake line, for obvious reasons, and as a result, my sponge memory – which associates many things with many other things – recalled a meeting between these two programs on the same floor a decade earlier, in which some rowdy fans had interrupted the postgame handshake line with some shenanigans. Happily, nothing serious resulted from that incident, and until this week, I don’t think I’ve thought of it once since it transpired.
Speaking of Nyack, it’s worth noting that on February 9, the Warriors won their first road game against archrival Dominican since the two teams reclassified to NCAA in 2003. The streak of 18 losses actually may be longer, but I don’t have access to their NAIA results.
In addition, there was a longer streak that came to an end, one day earlier, as Roberts Wesleyan snapped a skid vs. Western New York rival Daemen, 80-75, three days after succumbing, 93-86, for a 20th straight time in the series. It was the Redhawks’ first win over the Wildcats in just under 10 years (a week shy) and their first in the series at the Voller Center since February 21, 2007. If you’re wondering what the longest active win streak is between regional teams, it’s 24 games. Saint Rose owns that distinction vs. former NYCAC rival Mercy, having won each and every match-up to date.
I spoke with longtime Saint Rose Coach and former RAC chair Brian Beaury this week, expressing my condolences for the passing of 51-year-old Pat Filien, who was the Golden Knights’ starting center as the program transitioned from NAIA, helping guide it to its first NCAA Tournament. Beaury aptly described the lovable, unpretentious big man as something quite different on the court:
“He was a lion who rebounded the ball like he hadn’t eaten in a month and the ball was meat.”
Former teammate Gallagher Driscoll wrote: "Patrick was what life should be about! He was humble, appreciative and grateful for everything he had! An absolute giant as a teammate and human being!!! The best!!!... "
Most recently, Filien had found success as an assistant coach with America East powers Vermont and UAlbany, helping guide them to a combined five straight NCAA Tournaments (I still find it fascinating that six of the 10 America East teams were onetime members of our region: the aforementioned UAlbany, Stony Brook, Binghamton, NJIT, UMass-Lowell and Hartford).
The ever-smiling Filien also worked on the bench for the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Most recently, he had served as athletic director and head men’s basketball coach at Bryant & Stratton in Albany. He will be dearly missed.
Longtime coach and Saint Rose alum Pat Filien
As will legendary high school scout Tom Konchalski, who passed on just four days later. But the parallels don’t end there. At 6-6, Konchalski – who was 74 – stood just one inch shorter than fellow gentle giant Filien, and they were both devoted Catholics who grew up in Queens, NY. I had had the honor of meeting the revered talent evaluator at a handful of games over the years and he radiated the level of humility and kindness one would most associate with a priest. He was known for remembering even the most minute detail about any player or person he met. No one loved his job more, and it was evident by his devotional treks to musty gyms and national tournaments across several states, all the while rarely missing daily Mass. Most remarkably, Konchalski was a real throwback, churning out his coveted reports on an old typewriter. He never married, did not own a cell phone or know how to drive a car, making the quantity and quality of his production all the more impressive, as the most successful coaches in the game relied upon his assessments with reverence. Tobin Anderson of St. Thomas Aquinas was especially devastated to lose his friend, who recently was the guest speaker at the school’s annual Tip-Off Dinner.
“The number of kids,” Anderson mentioned, “that he helped get to college and play basketball at all levels… I can’t imagine anybody else in the last 50 years on the East Coast who had more of an impact as Tom. He was as good a person as you could ever be around.”
Tom Konchalski, doing what he did best - scouting and taking notes on his yellow notepad from the remote confines of a gym where he could work unnoticed.
So it is with a heavy heart that d2easthoops.org pays tribute to both Filien and Konchalski, for all they have given to the game we love so much. I have personally had Masses said for both of them.
“If those two men aren’t in heaven,” Beaury concluded in our recent chat, “then there is no heaven.”
Until next time, here’s wishing health, safety and happy hooping to all!
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