SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Rick Pitino remembers the training meals at the pizza place where his Boston University teams ate more than 30 years ago. Even Hall of Famers have to start somewhere. That obscure beginning provided a foundation for a coaching career that took him to two NBA teams and three other colleges, all reaching the Final Four and two winning NCAA championships. "Coaches dont get in the Hall of Fame," Pitino said Sunday at his induction. "Players put them in the Hall of Fame and Ive had a great journey along the way." It started for him as a head coach in 1978 just 90 miles east of Springfield Symphony Hall, where the ceremony was held for him and 11 other honorees. He had to "learn the trade from the bottom" at Boston University, Pitino said. There were those "training meals," he said, and the time when champagne was served at Midnight Madness. "Nine drunks showed up," he said, "and no one else." He spent five years with the Terriers, then two as an assistant with the New York Knicks before spending the next two as head coach at Providence, leading the Friars to a surprising berth in the Final Four. He kept moving -- two years as head coach with the Knicks, eight with Kentucky, four with the Boston Celtics and the past 12 with Louisville. Just five months ago, he led the Cardinals to the championship. "At BU, you learn how to build the right way. At Providence, I learned how to dream. I always thought anything is possible after coaching that team," Pitino said during his 20-minute speech, the last of the day. "At Kentucky, I learned all about pressure every single day. It was unbelievable pressure and it was very difficult and that pressure brought out the best in everybody." Two former college coaches were inducted as part of the second straight 12-member class, the largest in the Halls history -- Jerry Tarkanian, 83, who led UNLV to the 1990 NCAA championship, and Guy Lewis, 91, who took Houston to five Final Fours. Tarkanian, who had heart surgery less than two months ago, came on stage with a walker. Lewis was in a wheelchair. Both smiled as they received standing ovations. Also inducted Sunday into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame were Gary Payton, the only NBA player with 20,000 points, 8,000 assists, 5,000 rebounds and 2,000 steals; Bernard King, who averaged 22.5 points in 15 NBA seasons with five teams; North Carolina womens coach Sylvia Hatchell; five-time WNBA All-Star Dawn Staley; former Knicks guard Richie Guerin; former NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik; and Oscar Schmidt, who played in five Olympics for Brazil. E.B. Henderson, who learned basketball at Harvard in 1904 then introduced it to African-American students in Washington, D.C., and four-time ABA All-Star Roger Brown of the Indiana Pacers were enshrined posthumously. Henderson "laid the foundation" for the progress of African-Americans "from exclusion to domination" of basketball, Nikki Graves Henderson, wife of Hendersons grandson, said in a recorded message. Payton was known for his defensive prowess, aggressiveness and trash-talking. "I played hard because I wanted to win every time," he said of his 17-year career, nearly 13 of them with the Seattle SuperSonics. "It was all for my crazy love for the game." For King, playing basketball as a kid involved sometimes clearing snow from a playground court in Brooklyn. "I fell in love with basketball the first time I made a basket," he said. Ten days before his 61st birthday, Pitino stood on stage with Hubie Brown, head coach of the Knicks when he was an assistant, and Dick Vitale, the pair he chose to present him for induction. Pitino never came close in the pros to the success he had in college. He had losing records in five of his six NBA seasons. After a loss to Toronto on March 1, 2000, an agitated Pitino urged people to focus on the future, saying, "Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans. Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, theyre going to be grey and old." On Sunday, while Pitino posed for photos before the ceremony, a blonde-haired Bird showed up. "He finally walks through the door, and I said, What took you so long to walk through that door? And he said to me, You dont want me now," Pitino said, grinning. Bird had his turn on stage as the presenter of Schmidt, a prolific scorer who said he chose not to play in the NBA because that would have barred him from playing for his national team. "Its too easy to have Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant as an idol, a guy (who) flies around and does whatever he wants. Its easy," Schmidt said. "My guy doesnt run, doesnt jump and played the best of everybody else." Bird was enshrined in 1998. On Sunday, he was joined by 12 others. "There is nothing better than this," Schmidt said. . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. [url=http://www.seahawkssuperbowlxlixonline.com/]Seahawks Jersey . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. [url=http://www.seahawkssuperbowlxlixonline.com/Elite-Frank-Clark-Seahawks-Jerse... Clark Womens Jersey . -- Bobby Ryan helped the U.TORONTO -- On Hall of Fame Night, Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle reached back in history to describe a marvellous goal by Phil Kessel. Kessel scored a beauty in regulation and James van Riemsdyk contributed the shootout decider Friday night as Toronto scored a 2-1 win over the New Jersey Devils. Kessels goal, which opened the scoring, came on an eye-popping solo rush as the Leafs sniper skated through two Devils in the defensive zone before beating Cory Schneider between the legs at 8:12 of the third period. Kessels 10th goal of the season ended a Toronto scoreless stretch of almost 110 minutes. "Those are difference-maker goals," Carlyle said of Kessels swooping rush. "It reminded me of Frank Mahovlich -- the windup, to come back inside your own (blue-)line and attack. Thats old-time hockey. I mean real old-time hockey." Asked if he knew who Mahovlich -- a mega-star from another era who played for the Leafs, Red Wings and Canadiens -- was, Kessel later replied: "Not really." Of course the 26-year-old American was born six years after the Big M entered the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1981. Mahovlich, now 75, later moved his field of play to the Senate, an arena most Canadians ignore. It looked like the Kessel goal might be enough until Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier, who had been excellent hitherto, seemed to misplay a shot from the right flank from Michael Ryder, with the puck angling high off the goalies stick into the net at 15:15. Ryder got credit for his fifth of the season. "Im probably going to do that play a hundred times and, I dont know, if you ask me to do it again I probably wouldnt be able to," Bernier lamented. Kessel was in the box, with 11 second left for a slashing penalty. "Those thing happens in hockey," Carlyle said of the Bernier miscue. "There wasnt a person in the building who felt as bad as he did about giving it up. You could just see his reaction. But I thought our bench remained composed. We gathered our composure and we didnt sit back, we attacked. And we didnt stop." Added Bernier: "We showed character. We came back and won that game. It was a great team effort." Schneider, who also had a strong game, made a great save on Kessel on a Leafs three-on-one in an exciting overtime. And he stopped Torontos Mason Raymond and Kessel before van Riemsdyks goal in the shootout. Adam Henrique then fired wide for the Devils. Bernier stopped Ryder in the shootout while Travis Zajac had the Leafs goalie beat but hit the post. With the victory, Toronto heads to Boston for a Saturday night showdown with the Bruins team that ousted from the playoffs last season with an unlikely Game 7 comeback. Toronto (11-5-0) has now won five of its last seven. The Leafs were well-rested, having not played since a 4-0 loss in Vancouver last Saturday. The Devils (4-7-5) were coming off a 3-0 winn in Philadelphia on Thursday, with Martin Brodeur posting a 22-save shutout -- the 122nd of his career.dddddddddddd. New Jersey had lost its two previous games, both shutouts. "Im disappointed we didnt capitalize on our chances," said Devils coach Peter DeBoer. "We got a bounce there at the end to get a point. We had enough chances to win the game. We didnt finish enough." The Leafs power play, which came into the game fifth in the league, had failed on four previous man-advantage opportunities in the game prior to the Kessel goal. And the Leafs star had been guilty of several giveaways. The 2013 Hockey Hall of Fame Game, which drew a crowd of 19,377 that included Prime Minister Stephen Harper, featured pre-game appearances by former Devils Scott Niedermayer and Brendan Shanahan as well as Chris Chelios and Geraldine Heaney. The late Fred Shero will also be inducted as part of the class of 2013 on Monday. With centres Tyler Bozak and Dave Bolland both injured, van Riemsdyk shifted from wing to centre Joffrey Lupul and Kessel on Torontos top line. Van Riemsdyk, whose last duty at centre was at the University of New Hampshire, failed to get a shot on net but his linemates combined for 12 of Torontos 28 on the night. At times the line overelaborated, especially with the Devils in the penalty box. But it paid dividends when it counted. Bernier, who stopped 41 of 43 shots in Calgary last time out, had to be sharp to keep the Leafs in it as Toronto was outshot 35-28 -- the 13th straight game and 14th in 16 this season that the opposition has outshot the Leafs. Former Devil David Clarkson almost scored on the Leafs first shot, cruising in from the slot while protecting the puck from a New Jersey defenceman. His shot got past Schneider but a Devil poked it away before it could trickle over the line. Toronto had several glorious chances to go ahead on a power play late in the first period that started with a four-minute high-sticking penalty to New Jerseys Mattias Tedenby and turned into a 44-second five-on-three when Peter Harrold was called for tripping. The Leafs came very close but could not take advantage. Clarkson, meanwhile, renewed acquaintances by trading hacks with defenceman Marek Zidlicky after a stoppage. Toronto had a sluggish start to the second period with an overly elaborate Kessel continuing to give the puck away. Bernier had to be sharp on several occasions as Toronto, after outshooting the Devils 8-7 in the first period, was outshot 15-8 in the second. Devils forward Stephen Gionta was helped off the ice in the second period after sliding awkwardly into the boards. Hard-nosed Toronto forward Colton Orr, who missed the morning skate in what was deemed a "maintenance morning," did not play. Instead the Leafs dressed seven defenceman with Mark Fraser returning from injury. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '