October 2016 | Page 16 of 22 | Zagsblog
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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
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Saturday / November 23.

INDIO, Calif. — A Who’s Who of first-generation classic rock icons played a historic three-day event at Coachella this past weekend.

And armed with several of my buddies (and some of their kids) and a great attitude, I endured — and thoroughly enjoyed — six shows across three days.

Desert Trip was jokingly known as “Oldchella” because the average age of the performers was 72.

But despite the ages of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Roger Waters, the iconic performers more than lived up to the hype and blew away the approximately more than 70,000 in attendance.

“You young ones, we love you for coming to see us,” The Who’s Pete Townshend said on Day 3. “It must be pretty tough out there for the old ones. Why don’t you make a little chair for them, and they can sit down and rest.”

NEW YORKAngel Delgado, Khadeen Carrington and Desi Rodriguez sat together in the first row at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday taking it all in.

Returning to the Garden for the first time since they defeated Villanova in the Big East title game last March, the trio of Pirate juniors are eager to build off their postseason success.

“It’s the first time I’ve been here since we won,” Carrington, a Brooklyn native, said at Big East Media Day. “I stepped on the court and all the memories rolled back. I can’t wait to be here again. It’s a long season, we’re going to take it one game at a time, but we know what the goal is.”

Seton Hall was the last team to beat Villanova before the Wildcats reeled off six straight NCAA Tournament wins to capture their second national championship.

This year the Pirates were picked tied for fourth with Georgetown in the Big East Preseason Poll, while Delgado and Carrington were named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team. Villanova was the unanimous pick to win its fourth straight Big East crown.

“I think Villanova showed us that we could’ve been where they was,” Rodriguez said. “Maybe even meet them in a national game, maybe. I think we were kind of still excited about winning the Big East championship last year and we didn’t look forward to how big the NCAA Tournament was. I think by Villanova winning that, they kind of motivated us more to get there, too.”

NEW YORK — One year after winning just one Big East game, St. John’s was picked to finish eighth in the league this season.

Still, there are some bright spots as head coach Chris Mullin enters his second year at the helm of the Red Storm. Brooklyn point guard Shamorie Ponds – ranked 36th in his class by ESPN – was named Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year..

“He’s been good,” Mullin said Tuesday at Big East Media Day at Madison Square Garden, where he played with St. John’s in the mid-1980s. “He’s a talented kid. He’s very smart on the court. Got good feel, and he’s got a natural instinct for the game. I think he has the type of game and type of personality where he just knows how to fit in with any group. He really has a good feel.”

On the recruiting front, Mullin believes Ponds can help St. John’s lands other New York-area stars.

“He is the type of kid we want,” he said. “A kid who wants to stay home, play in front of his family and friends, and play here at ‘The World’s Most Famous Arena.'”

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