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TRY IT NOWPROVIDENCE, R.I. — This one is for each of the 7,453 people — the fiercest of the flock, the truest of the true believers — who paid their way into Madison Square Garden early on the afternoon of Feb. 7, 2004. There have been a lot of lows in the 25 years since St. John’s last won an NCAA Tournament game, but this was the nadir.
This was four days after six players had opted for a strip joint in Pittsburgh rather than the pillows of their hotel beds, leaving the already-devastated Johnnies with eight upright bodies — walk-ons included — for a game at the Garden against Boston College. A program that had already fallen into disrepair had now taken a tumble into disgrace.
And yet those 7,453 came, and they brought their voices at top volume. Some of them brought the dusty old “We are … ST. JOHN’S!” placards with them. BC barely broke a sweat in beating St. John’s that day, 89-61, but the crowd moved Eagles coach Al Skinner to say: “Their devotion is inspiring. I wish them better days ahead.”
Yes. This is for those 7,453 who showed up when it would’ve been easy to stay away, who gave a standing ovation to a walk-on named Phil Missere, who scored 13 points that day.
