You always hear about Notre Dame Metro alumni, but they're everywhere, in every state in the union. I met Fighting Irish fans in Italy, the Czech Republic, Belgium, England, Scotland, and (of course) Ireland. It's a unique phenomenon. Some never set foot on a college campus, whether in South Bend or anywhere, and follow the Irish avidly. This is different from other sports fan demographics.
But what I'm trying to say here is that St. John's is close.
Maybe it's not a number. Not even close in numbers. But for decades, St. John's has been a gateway for generations of New York-area kids who grew up smearing Chuck Taylors on asphalt and line-drive jumps to counter the low ceilings of parish gymnasiums. He was the proud owner of a shot.
Many of us knew that if we were going to college, we were destined to go somewhere else. Because for many of us, one of the big draws to college was being away from home for the first time and going to Syracuse or Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., or Buffalo. Or he might go to Boston, or one of the big football schools in the South or Midwest.
