Providence, Rhode Island Has Always Been Friartown
Billy Ricci is back with his latest, on growing up in Providence and what the Friar program means to the city.
Billy Ricci is both a native of Providence and a Providence College graduate. He entered the Providence basketball podcasting space in Dec. 2020 and has hosted a variety of Friar greats and influencers, including God Shammgod, Ryan Gomes, Bob Driscoll, Steve Napolillo, Jared Bynum, Al Durham, AJ Reeves, LaDontate Henton, Kyron Cartwright, and many others. He first partnered with Friar Basketball in Oct. 2021 on a podcast series on the 2003-04 Friars, and will work with us again on our upcoming pod series on the 2013-14 Big East Tournament championship club. Billy will also contribute to our site as a writer throughout the season.
Providence, Rhode Island. PVD. The Creative Capital. The Renaissance City. And most importantly…Friartown. Let’s be honest, growing up in Rhode Island I was a little jealous of those over in the Bay State with their proximity to Boston sports. Trust me, even after working at Madison Square Garden, I am Boston sports through and through, but being sandwiched between Red Sox and Yankee fans on the daily leaves Rhode Island identity-less at times from a professional sports perspective.
And then there is Providence Basketball. There is no argument that PC has held claim over Providence and much of Rhode Island (sorry, URI) as the team the smallest state has gotten behind for decades. I mean, especially with the PawSox now gone, any competition has subsided. Probably the closest sport that resonates culturally to college basketball in Providence is boxing. Champions like Vinny Paz, Gary Balletto, Miguel Cotto, Demetrius Andrade and my distant cousin Peter Manfredo Jr. (who many of you remember from the NBC show, “The Contender”) are all Providence bred. When Peter “The Pride of Providence” originally from Federal Hill squared up with Joey “The KO Kid” Spina from Silver Lake at the AMP back in 2006 it was as loud in there as many lifetime Provstonians have ever heard it.
In many of my interviews through these past couple years with current and former PC players, you can tell many of the guys embrace the fact they are suiting up for our city’s main attraction. And a large part of that is because of guys who opted to play for their hometown like Marvin Barnes, Ernie D, Joe Hassett, and as recently as David Duke. Hearing Bill Walton talk about both Barnes and Ernie D when he covered a recent Friar game or when you see Brad Stevens sitting courtside scouting for the Celtics, you can feel that somehow college basketball has become as synonymous to Providence as chicken parmesan on Federal Hill. And I always enjoy when the two come together, when you see FS1 broadcasters like Tim Brando or John Fanta boasting about our Italian food post game.
As we’ve seen, the crowds at the AMP have certainly responded to the brand of Providence Basketball fellow local Ed Cooley has built…especially recently. A CBS article from September highlighted the AMP as having one of the best home-court environments in all of college basketball, and then there’s this classic ESPN article from 2016:
The Dunk is not going to win any awards for aesthetics. Even with its 2008 renovations, it remains something of a dump, a bare-bones venue of 1970s origins. But Providence fans are not only faithful; they are pretty creative. In the 1990s, two fans dressed up for each game as The Blues Brothers (one eventually married the sister of the other, making them brothers-in-law). They’re also pretty rough, spewing some creative things at opposing players. “Playing up there is one of the roughest environments in our conference,” Villanova coach Jay Wright has said. If that’s not enough, the shiver-inducing Friar Mascot is always looming on the sidelines.”
I’d be remiss to write this article and not mention the great Dave Gavitt as well, who’s “Dave Gavitt Way” street sign hangs proudly between the AMP and Federal Hill. The Big East Conference became an immediate national phenomenon in the early 1980s and that is largely because of its inception in Providence – and leadership from the former Head Coach and Athletic Director of the Friars. It is amazing to think about how much national college basketball interest transpired out of the small city lodged between Boston and New York.
In Tuscaloosa you have Alabama football, in Austin you have Texas baseball, in Eugene you have Oregon track and field, and in Providence you simply have Providence basketball. With a passion so deep, our fans drowned out the heavyweight Kansas faithful in Chicago down the stretch in a second half comeback that fell short during the Sweet 16 last year.
Like I tell many, going to a game at the AMP is just something you have to experience. Just do yourself a favor and don’t eat too much Veal Milanese from Pane E Vino before you get there… Cheers to the start of the 2022-2023 season!