HOLINESS AND MISSION REMARKS FROM THE Joe Lapchick Character Award Foundation Luncheon WIKIMEDIA COMMONS YALE UNIVERSITY CLUB, NEW YORK CITY — SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 It is a great honor to be with you grade teams the John Wooden UCLA Princeton uniform shooting a jump shot today and to support the noble full court press which has connected at Dillon gym on one page and then goals of the Joe Lapchick Character to my call to be a missionary Catholic standing at Princeton’s iconic Blair Award Foundation. I too offer my Bishop on Long Island on a 24/7 full Arch as a student holding his academic congratulations to Verne Lundquist, court press of Catholic Evangelization. books on another page. Coach Chris Dailey and Coach Bobby Today, I’d like to share how my My friends and I rocked in rhythm Cremins for the way they model for Princeton basketball experience in with Knicks announcer Marv Albert in us the character and virtue lessons the Coach Pete Carril era has been the great 1969-70 Knicks Championship BISHOP of Coach Lapchick and his successor critical to my service as a Bishop season: “Frazier dribbles into the JOHN O. BARRES at St. John’s University, Coach Lou and Successor of the Apostles on forecourt. He sees Bradley in the corner. is the fifth bishop of the Catholic Carnessecca. Long Island. Side jump – Yes!” Diocese of Rockville I have been asked to offer a few I grew up in Larchmont, New York Then in ninth grade, I remember Centre. Follow him words before I offer our grace this in Westchester County on the 1969- watching Princeton’s run of upsets on Twitter, afternoon. 70 Knicks and Dollar Bill Bradley. I in the 1975 NIT at Madison Square @BishopBarres Two years ago, at this luncheon, marveled at this Princeton Rhodes Garden and seeing Coach Pete Carril I shared with you the impact of Scholar and was inspired by John and his players celebrate on the court my CYO coach and former Iona McPhee’s book on Bradley at Princeton, after their final upset victory over basketball player Joe Gallick on my A Sense of Where You Are, still one of Providence. life as a Catholic Bishop. the great pieces of sports non-fiction. I was mesmerized by an Ivy League He taught our seventh and eighth I loved the pictures of Bradley in his team finishing the season at number 12 CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 3 in the nation. Anyone remember some and my growth as a human being. As of the great Princeton players of the we all know, Princeton basketball is NIT Championship team – Armond a beautiful blend of the building up Hill, Mickey Steurer, Barnes Hauptfuhrer, and execution of fundamentals, such Timmy van Bloomestyn and Rockville as precise chest passes (which raise Centre’s own Peter Molloy? shooting percentages), the setting up Little did I know, watching the and timing behind effective picks, and Madison Square Garden celebration the timing and execution of backdoor as a ninth grader that I would one cuts and layups mixed with high day become part of this Princeton percentage three point shooting and basketball family filled with strong tenaciously intelligent defense. Images / Contributor Collegiate GETTY IMAGES/ lifelong friendships and that Coach To this day, Princeton basketball is Carril, a past Lapchick Character award an art form that involves intuitional team chemistry built on the foundation honoree in 2011, would become a friend PRINCETON, and mentor in my future life. of sharply honed fundamentals and N.J.- CIRCA I was a JV basketball point guard at radical unselfishness. 1961-65: BILL Princeton from 1978 to 1981 and then Not only has Princeton basketball BRADLEY #42 OF THE went up to the WPRB radio broadcast resulted in some major David vs. PRINCETON Goliath college basketball upsets such booth in my Senior year to announce UNIVERSITY the Varsity games. as the 1996 First round Princeton upset TIGERS GOES My JV coaches were Bob Dukiet over defending national champion UP FOR THE (who would go on to be the head coach UCLA, it has had a strong impact JUMP SHOT IN PRINCETON, at St. Peter’s Marquette University and and influence in the NBA especially NEW JERSEY. during the years when Coach Carril Gannon University), Mickey Steurer (1964) and Eddie Reilly. I celebrated Coach served as an assistant coach for the Dukiet’s funeral Mass in June of 2009. Sacramento Kings. Princeton basketball was a critical What impact did the Princeton JV CONTINUED dimension of my character formation basketball point-guard experience ON PAGE 6 Catholic school education. Catholic school tuition. Catholic credit union. We know first-hand the value of a Catholic education. In order to help you pay for your children’s school tuition at times of hardship, Ocean Financial is happy to provide a Catholic School Tuition Loan. • Available for grammar and high Catholic School Tuition Loan school education. 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Membership conditions may apply. 5 have on my future life as a Catholic and intimately in their lives and in their LOCAL NEWS priest and bishop? destinies. It also helps cultivate a new First, I am convinced that the Holy harvest of vocations to the priesthood! Spirit prepared me to be a point guard One of my favorite stories about Diocese of Rockville Centre names new vicar for in the Catholic Church as a priest and the card involves meeting the mother bishop through the experience of of a seventh-grade student who had Hispanic Ministry and Evangelization being a Princeton JV point guard. installed my basketball card on his Just as the Apostles were called room wall right between posters of ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NEW YORK – December 16, 2019 – from their fishing nets, I was called Michael Jordan and LeBron James. The Diocese of Rockville Centre (drvc.org) announced that to serve as a priest and bishop from We had a great laugh together Idente Missionary Father Luis Miguel Romero, pastor of the basketball nets of Jadwin Gym and I laughed even more later when the Church of Our Lady of Loretto, Hempstead, has been at Princeton. I imagined myself being dunked on, appointed vicar of Hispanic Ministry and Evangelization, We all know that in any leadership “posterized,” and “facebookfriended” Diocese of Rockville Centre. Father Romero will continue context it’s all about sacrifice, chemistry, by Michael and LeBron simultaneously to serve as pastor of Our Lady of Loretto. discipline, generosity, selflessness and on that wall! 2 “Father Luis Romero is a global Churchman who lives seeing the entire floor as a point guard Each of our lives and how they the Idente Missionary charism in an inspirational way,” whether that floor is at Jadwin Gym unfold are unique but what we have in said Most Reverend John O. Barres, Bishop of Rockville or that floor is the global mission of common and what we celebrate today Centre. “His pastoral, formational and evangelizing mercy of the Church and world I love in Coach Lapchick, Verne Lundquist, leadership at Our Lady of Loretto will translate well and serve as a Catholic Bishop. Coach Daily and Coach Cremins is that into his diocesan leadership as the vicar for Hispanic I draw on the lessons of Princeton the game of basketball, its lessons and Ministry and Evangelization. He also has an exceptional basketball every day in my life as a its virtue building has helped direct capacity, with his extensive academic background in Bishop – whether that means getting and influence our lives, our characters religion and science, to address how the truths of our the fundamentals of prayer, holiness and our destinies. Catholic faith in regard to the Gospel of Life, Catholic and mission right and finely tuned as Social Justice teaching and the Church’s advocacy in Coach Carril and his assistant coaches GOD OUR CREATOR, the history of ethical scientific development need to be always insisted on sound and sharp brought directly and compellingly into the public square.” fundamentals in basketball or whether Thank you for the gift of being The vicar for Hispanic Ministry and Evangelization that means springing up immediately together today and the gift of cooperates with the Bishop of Rockville Centre to from the floor after taking the charges sharing together the character- promote the full participation of the Hispanic Faithful or diving for the loose balls of life. forging and virtue-driven history, in the life of the Church. The office serves as a resource I share with the young people of stories and dimensions of the game to all pastors and people serving the Hispanic Catholic Long Island a unique card.