No one likes to be wrong, but there's growth that comes through admitting one's mistakes. Hopefully that means we'll be better off for coming clean and saying that we probably jumped the gun a bit on that whole "St. John's is back!" thing we've been pushing.
It started in the preseason when we wrote that St. John's would fill a void in our sporting hearts left open by the follies put forth by our local professional basketball outfits. Whaddya know, turns out we didn't give Mike D'Antoni and the Knicks enough credit either. The preseason optimism wasn't quite as bad as the December 13th command that it was time to start paying attention to the Red Storm.
If you listened to that advice, you've seen the wheels come off the bus well before it got to the intended destination.
Norm Roberts's crew has dropped three of their last four and they aren't even into the teeth of the Big East schedule yet. The losses to Cornell, Georgetown and Providence have taken a lot of wind out of their sails, especially with only a win against something called Bryant to cleanse the palette.
The Providence loss is the worst of the three since it came against a fellow Big East second-division team at home. The Red Storm will need to go at least .500 in conference to go dancing which means winning games against mediocre opposition on your home floor. The Red Storm have injury issues, they're not a very good shooting team and they've got to go to Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut before the month is out.
Hope remains strong but the reality of life in the Big East is going to make this reclamation project a difficult one to see through to its completion.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
