62 The QUEE NS Courier • JANUARY 21, 2016 for breaking news visit www.qns.com sports The Mets Sandlot Baseball League looks toward an exciting 2016 season By Anthony Giudice agiudice@ridgewoodtimes.com @A_GiudiceReport As the calendar turns to a new year, the board members of the Mets Sandlot Baseball League (MSBL) looked back on a successful 2015 and look forward to an even better 2016. After spending December closing out the 2015 books and submitting 2016 requests for field permits, the MSBL is getting their players into the batting cages and starting to work on their baseball skills for the upcoming baseball year. “As we look back to 2015, we do look back and smile at the all the fun we had, and all of the learned lessons,” said John Guarneri, press manager for the MSBL. “Starting back in February 2015 with the MSBL Winter Workouts, the Zucchi Brothers worked with many of the MSBL players and did a great job preparing them for the year ahead.” In April, the league started playing in playing official games in the New York City Elite (NYCE) Travel League. “After some rough weather during March and early April, we finally got the teams on the field playing games,” Guarneri said. “After the short spring portion of the season was completed in early June, we then sent the best teams from the 11/12u and 13/14u divisions to the AABC tournament.” The Asopec 12u, Whitestone BlueJays 12u, and Middle Village Razorbacks 13u teams all represented the MSBL with their solid play and sportsmanship in the tournament. The NYCE season continued with its summer portion, which also saw the start of a new 9/10u division. The LND Reds 10u and the Asopec 12u won their divisions while the Bayside Little League Rebels 13/14u team had the best winning percentage in their division. Once the NYCE Travel League season was over, the MSBL started to focus on the fall season. It was time for the fourth season of the Whitestone Bayside Flushing (WBF) Fall League. The WBF Whitestone BlueJays, took home first place and the championship; the WBF Bayside Brewers finished in second place and the WBF Flushing BearCats were third. “Looking ahead to 2016, we do plan to start with the 2016 winter workout program, once again hosted by the Zucchi Brothers,” Guarneri said. “These workouts are open to all 12-13u players and will focus on hitting and strength building and conditioning.” For more information on the MSBL, visit their website at www.wbfbaseball. com. Photo courtesy of the Mets Sandlot Baseball League The Mets Sandlot Baseball League looks back on a great 2015 and a new start in 2016. AT ST. JOHN’S, MULLIN IS HOME AGAIN It was the night before the final tryout for the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team, the “Dream Team” as it would come to be known, when then-St. John’s coach Lou Carnesecca remembered he had neglected to call Chris Mullin and wish him good luck. “I had to pass campus on the way home,” Carnesecca said. “I see the lights are on in the gym and there’s Chris shooting with his brother Terence. ... There are gym rats, and there is Chris. He puts gym rats to shame. His work ethic? Remarkable.” Mullin is having that work ethic tested — big time. The best player in St. John’s history returned home in March to attempt what many think is impossible — restore the Red Storm to a Top 10 program. “It’s not like I’ve been sitting at home and watching ‘King of Queens’ all day,” Mullin said. “I’ve had a few jobs that have had a lot of responsibility.” The Big East remains a formidable conference but it is not the juggernaut it was when Mullin led the Johnnies to the Final Four in 1985. Villanova and Georgetown (Final Four participants that year with Nova winning it all) have been able to keep recruiting pipelines flowing because of coaching stability. St. John’s has been searching for the next Carnesecca, but even if Mullin, the native Brooklynite, is the next King of Queens, it might not be enough. The word on the street is that New York prep basketball — the lifeblood for St. John’s — isn’t what it was. Many of the elite city players transfer to prep schools, then find their way to powers such as Kentucky, Duke and Syracuse. Mullin knew this going in, which is why he assembled one of the nation’s most formidable recruiting staffs. “He can relate to players,” said Lincoln coach Lawrence Pollard. “When he talks about St. John’s, he has a swagger, a belief. He’s lived the same life. He came out of Brooklyn. He knows the good and the bad. If you’re a city kid, you feel like you’re talking to one of your own. He’s not going to get every city kid. He doesn’t have to. But he has to get his share of the good ones. “And he has the confidence of a special ballplayer who’s made it on every level at the highest level — high school, college, NBA, Olympics, NBA general manager, Hall of Famer.” Pollard’s assessment is as accurate as a Mullin three-pointer: Mullin has known mostly success. He was the “C” in “Run TMC,” the high scoring Golden State Warriors trio of Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond (now a St. John’s assistant coach) and Mullin. Mullin led St. John’s to its last Final Four. He led now-defunct Power Memorial, which produced Kareem Abdul Jabbar, to a city title as a freshman. The championship game was played at Alumni Hall, now known as Carnesecca Arena, the Red Storm’s on-campus facility. Mullin’s “Legacy” banner hangs on the wall, alongside those of Mark Jackson and the late Malik Sealy. It is that legacy that could be tarnished should Mullin not build a winner. Why risk it? “Why not?” Mullin said. “I was the GM at the Warriors; my jersey’s hanging there. That’s in the past. I don’t really live in the past. To me this is an exciting opportunity not only for me, for my players. It’s basketball. It’s something I love, something I’ve been involved with my whole life. “It’s a blessing at 52 to be taking on a new adventure, a new task, something I’ve never done before. ... This has added new life to me, new energy and that’s how I’m looking at it.” Mullin remains a ridiculously high-energy guy, in large part by incorporating some Far East disciplines with his East Coast roots. Beneath his high-and-tight buzz cut, and behind the heavy Brooklyn accent, is a devout Roman-Catholic and a father of four who swims an hour a couple of times a week, practices yoga and meditates several times a day. His team is mostly pups. There are six freshmen among the 10 new players on the roster. With that youth, questions about Mullin’s coaching acumen won’t be answered for a couple of years. The Red Storm was picked to finish dead last in the Big East Conference coach’s preseason poll. Mullin wouldn’t be the first great ex-player who didn’t succeed as a coach. “I think you have to look at it on a case-by-case basis,” said Mullin’s brother, Terence, who also played at St. John’s. “I think I know basketball, but when I watch a game with Chris, he sees things I don’t see. That was always one of his strengths. That, and his work ethic. “That night before the Olympic trials, I remember it. But it was just another night. Whenever there was free time, we found a gym.” The prodigal son has found his way home but he has learned quickly how long and arduous the journey could be before St. John’s is a force. After a fast start that included a win over Syracuse, ROBBINS’ NEST by Lenn Robbins the Red Storm fell to 7-12 overall, 0-6 in the Big East by losing its ninth straight, 78-58, at Butler. Mullin has continued to remain positive. His message has remained consistent. “They continue to work hard, and when you give that kind of effort good things will happen and I think we’ll break through,” he said recently. “They want to take the next step and I tell them they’re right there.” Mullen is home. He knows his way to every high school gym and every concrete jungle court from the famed Rucker Park to the West Fourth Street Cage. He now has his own key to Carnesecca Arena.
QC01212016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above