April 1st, 1999 - A day which will live in URI infamy

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

Sixteen years ago today the Jim Harrick soap opera took place.

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/APRIL+FOO ... a083607999

Blue Man · Unread post by **Blue Man** » 9 years ago

It still sucks to look at now...but at least we're back. Makes it easier to take.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

No it doesn't. Look at the rot that happened in all
the years after that, which could have been avoided,
if Petro didn't rescind his offer after Harrick got off
Tom Ryan's plane.
Just a shameful day for URI.
Almost equally shameful was Petro and Carothers bucking under
to Sonny Vaccaro and some big mouthed boosters and
hiring Jerry D.
All under the pretense of keeping Lamar, who, if
they bothered to look, stopped going to classes, and wouldn't have
been eligible anyway.
All this calamity, lead to the subsequent hiring and extension of CFL,
who was considered "safe".
Thank you Ron Petro.

steviep123 · Unread post by **steviep123** » 9 years ago

Horrible horrible day. So many things in between 4/1/99 and the following weeks could have prevented years of misery. Even if Harrick doesn't come back, the right hire instead of Jerry Duh and we are still solid!

But the past is now past and better days are ahead!

Rhodyhooopz · Unread post by **Rhodyhooopz** » 9 years ago

UUUGGGGHHHHHH !!!! This day still sucks. I remember talking with KMac on and off all day. The emotional toll that day took will never be forgotten. Then to make it worse was the cheers of Jerry Jerry at the banquet. two weeks of puking.

neil · Unread post by **neil** » 9 years ago

Horrible roller coaster ride of emotions

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 9 years ago

It truly was a bizarre day with many twists and turns.

hrstrat57 · Unread post by **hrstrat57** » 9 years ago

Well we got our shiny new building out of the deal.....while I would have liked a few more years of glory after "99 is there any doubt really that a mess like what occurred in Athens would have been inevitable?

Our print media friends would have followed JH and Junior around like flies on poop had they stayed until they dug up dirt.

The Jerry D part, well that is a completely different train wreck...

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

I doubt URI would have had his idiot son teaching a fake class.
Tony Cole was refused admittance, so that wouldn't have happened.
However, we may have won a shitload of games and had a roster
full of the great recruiting class Harrick was building, before Petro scuttled the
whole thing.

ElmCityRhody · Unread post by **ElmCityRhody** » 9 years ago

crazy day indeed

i remember trying to follow on the old projo board and the emotions this day brought

i gotta get my buddy at espn to do a 30 for 30 on this story..

<salt on wounds>

RhowdyRam02 · Unread post by **RhowdyRam02** » 9 years ago

ElmCityRhody wrote:crazy day indeed

i remember trying to follow on the old projo board and the emotions this day brought

i gotta get my buddy at espn to do a 30 for 30 on this story..

<salt on wounds>

Honestly, that might not be a good full 30 for 30 episode, might not be enough material, but would make for an absolutely amazing 10-15 minute version that they do for some smaller stories.

twisted3829 · Unread post by **twisted3829** » 9 years ago

they have 30 for 30 shorts

STC · Unread post by **STC** » 9 years ago

Not to get off topic but if you are a Sox or Yankees fan you should definitely check out the 30 for 30 short on the A-Rod trade saga and the back and forth between Red Sox and Yankees.

Gunboat · Unread post by **Gunboat** » 9 years ago

I drive down to URI hoping to catch the press conference. What an awful day.

Rod, I never heard the inside details of what exactly happened. Do you have more details? Would love to hear them.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Well, Jim Harrick came back to RI on Tom Ryan's jet.
Ryan, as luck would have it, was in Atlanta on business.
When Harrick got off the plane, he was told by Ron Petro in the car, that
the deal they'd discussed on the phone, was no longer on the table.
Harrick went to his EG home and stayed there.
Meanwhile we got the word of the 7:00 press conference re-introducing Harrick at
Mackel.
We waited, and waited past the 7:00. Kevin McNamara asked, "So, are you happy, Rod?"
I told him I wouldn't be happy until I saw Jim Harrick at the podium.
Awhile later, Bob Terino said, "He's not coming."
We were shocked.
Meanwhile the URI people met the press that were there and tried to explain what happened.
I went to Harrick's house, and met Gene Valicenti coming out of the house.
He told me Harrick was in bad shape.
On my way home, I called Harrick and left a message telling him that he let
a lot of people down.
I wasn't aware of Petro's actions, obviously.
Months later, he told my now ex-wife, who was friendly with his wife Sally,
that he'd made a big mistake going to Georgia.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Wayne · Unread post by **Wayne** » 9 years ago

ElmCityRhody wrote:crazy day indeed

i remember trying to follow on the old projo board and the emotions this day brought

i gotta get my buddy at espn to do a 30 for 30 on this story..

<salt on wounds>

What if I told you, that a program which appeared to be on the rise would never surpass mediocrity for the proceeding decade and beyond?

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

Can we do a 30 for 30 type mini movie on this entire experience? Seems surreal.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 9 years ago

Rod is one of the few people I know who buy into the revoked extension story. That said, Petro was a lousy AD. I wish we had a Thorr type in power then.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Well, not telling tales out of school, but the person at URI closest to Jim Harrick was/is
"The Godfather", Bob Terino.
When I posted my recalling the events of April 1, 1999, he called and left a message on my phone.
"You got it all 100% right".
I spoke to him later in the day, and his up close piece of this saga matches what I wrote.
So, take your "one of the few people" shit and shove it!
I'm one of the few who wrote the truth.

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

ATPTourFan wrote:Can we do a 30 for 30 type mini movie on this entire experience? Seems surreal.

No, because we're doing a "30 for 30" deal about Keaney Blue.

P.S. As I'm watching the Red Sox-Yankees on ESPN and see Schilling's puss on the big screen, I realized that most Rhode Islanders are waiting for the so-called "Studio 38 Story," that is of course, after "The Mo Vaughn Leggs an' Eggs" episode is finished, and of course our very own "Taylor Swift Tax Tale" is made.
You'll just have to wait your turn…..

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

The question remains Rod, WHY did Petro rescind the offer to Harrick?

No one has ever elaborated on that key decision......

Was it Petro's call to do that? Or did Carothers tell him to do that?

What were the details of the offer in the first place?

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 9 years ago

Whatever gets you through the night, Rod.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Yeah, because I just live to make this stuff up, right. Friar Rosie?

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

rambone 78 wrote:The question remains Rod, WHY did Petro rescind the offer to Harrick?

No one has ever elaborated on that key decision......

Was it Petro's call to do that? Or did Carothers tell him to do that?

What were the details of the offer in the first place?

Personally, this is my deduction….
Everyone has a tolerance level, especially a public one.
Carothers ultimately had saved both Harrick and Odom, and for that, to be publicly humiliated, the back-and-forth, Carothers probably said -- very poetically to Petro -- Enough of this soap opera drama. This is a University.. Tell him to go fuck himself.
I WILL DEFER TO ROD'S HISTORY OF THE EVENT AS FACT.

Rhodyhooopz · Unread post by **Rhodyhooopz** » 9 years ago

If anything about that time is correct then it was Carothers' decision. He had final say in all decisions by then. Ron, for all his faults, had his hands tied the last few years he was here by Carothers.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

Ramblinrose wrote:Whatever gets you through the night, Rod.

Share your detailed account of events, if you're going to crap on Rod's.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 9 years ago

HBob Terino? He's am objective source?

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Terino knows more about URI basketball and its backstories than
anyone on earth.
Best source I know.

Smokinjimit · Unread post by **Smokinjimit** » 9 years ago

What is your sourse Rosey?

Rhodekill · Unread post by **Rhodekill** » 9 years ago

I was there too and spoke with the same people that Rod did...his account is accurate.

Unread post by **ATPTourFan** » 9 years ago

C'mon, Rosie. Let's hear your detailed timeline.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

Rosie paying homage to 72 and Seanie in this discourse.

Obadiah · Unread post by **Obadiah** » 9 years ago

Everyone has a story on this affair. What I had heard was that when Harrick changed his mind on the Georgia offer, it was his son who worked him over saying he was nuts to turn down Georgia.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

That was the story the school kited, and it was ironic
because, idiot boy remained here under Jerry Duh,
as an assistant.
Junior was not in the car with Petro, when Harrick was picked up at the airport.
Harrick went home after Petro rescinded the offer they'd spoken about
prior to Harrick's return from Georgia.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 9 years ago

Why didn't Harrick go public with this story? Why would he give Petro the upper hand?
Why would Harrick take another PR hit. I recall Junior saying money wqs his father's god.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

Like anyone cares what Junior said?
The real bad part of all this was, Harrick's other son and
his family had just relocated to RI, and he had a new job
and all, to be closer to his mother and father.
When father went to Georgia, more than URI basketball
got hurt.
Also, Junior stayed here on Jerry D's staff.

bigappleram · Unread post by **bigappleram** » 9 years ago

I cant vouch for the details of the story, I vaguely remember getting some of the play by play via phone.

But I did see Jim years later in Los Angeles and he reiterated that he should have never left.

EGram · Unread post by **EGram** » 9 years ago

My father did marketing for the athletic department at that time and mentioned to me that the AD told him Harrick called back later that day or the next day and asked to come back again! Interested to see if anyone else has heard this story.

I was only 13 but i recall it very clearly. hearing on the radio that afternoon that Harrick was coming back... Going out and going on ESPN.com that night looking for the article only to click on it and see he was gone..

GY=URI · Unread post by **GY=URI** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston must have been the fly on the wall during the whole incident because it was as he says.

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

I had Petro bugged.

rambone 78 · Unread post by **rambone 78** » 9 years ago

He needed more than a bug, Rod.

A little electro shock therapy might have been needed too.

ramfan85 · Unread post by **ramfan85** » 9 years ago

rodfromcranston wrote:I had Petro bugged.

That explains why he walked like he had something stuck up his ass.

bressler3south · Unread post by **bressler3south** » 9 years ago

ramfan85 wrote:
rodfromcranston wrote:I had Petro bugged.
That explains why he walked like he had something stuck up his ass.

Yeah, it was a keepsake totem pole he couldn't give up from Alaska…...

rodfromcranston · Unread post by **rodfromcranston** » 9 years ago

I remember being on bus trips on the road.
Petro would sit in the front of the bus with his
assistant, and never bother talking or interacting
with anyone else on the entire trip, coming and going.
What a difference from Thorr, who is so people
friendly.

Ramblinrose · Unread post by **Ramblinrose** » 9 years ago

Petro personified aloof.

RF1 · Unread post by **RF1** » 6 years ago

It is once again the anniversary of that infamous day in URI hoops history.