An Open Letter to the St. John's Athletic Department

Congratulations on assembling what sounds like an exciting young team. As a long-time fan of the program, I was glad to read about Avery Patterson breaking the team record for three-pointers in the season opener, and about Darryl Hill's progress in the Navy game.

Please note that I am reading about these exciting games. Like most of the rest of the world, I haven't been able to see or hear the Red Storm play this year.

It continues to be a disappointment that, in a city with approximately nineteen all-sports cable outlets, only four of fourteen Red Storm games before the new year will be televised. While Norm Roberts' squad was playing its most anticipated season opener in years, the SNY Network showed Connecticut vs. Quinnipiac. For game two against Navy, SNY subscribers were treated to a Big 10 football game.

I know that this subject has been brought to your attention in the past. And I'm aware that the rights to TV broadcasts are controlled by the Big East Conference. And I'm certainly aware that, after the catastrophic years of the Mike Jarvis regime, St. John's basketball doesn't have the same cache to TV networks as it did during the days of Chris Mullin or Walter Berry or Mark Jackson or Ron Artest.

The fact remains -- Connecticut somehow manages to get its season opener on the air -- and on a major cable network in New York City.

To make matters worse, local radio coverage is provided by 1050 ESPN Radio. 1050 also holds the broadcast rights to the Knicks and Rangers -- if either team has a conflict with a St. John's game, the Red Storm is shunted to 1560 Radio Disney... which has a signal so weak, it cannot be heard in Westchester or on Long Island, and which does not offer internet radio of basketball games. As a result, the most die-hard fans of St. John's basketball -- the guys who spend their lives discussing recruits and game plans and coaching decisions on Redmen.com -- spend game nights trying to connect to streaming radio broadcasts from Jacksonville or Annapolis.

You are alienating your die-hard fans. Worse, casual fans don't even know you exist.

It seems a shame to hide Norm Roberts' light under a bushel. So here's a suggestion from a long-time fan: your arrangement with the Big East must be amended. You need to have the option to sell games that aren't picked up as part of the league TV contract to SNY or some other local network. These games need to be on the air. High school players and their coaches and parents need to see St. John's -- and not the Connecticut Huskies or Boston College Eagles -- on television in New York.

And New York's basketball fans need to see something other than the Knicks.

If the Big East cannot adjust so that all its member schools get appropriate media coverage; perhaps its member schools should take a second look at participation in the Big East.