Joe Tamburro - 2019 Senior Athletic Awards Banquet Speech

Senior Joe Tamburro (South Windsor, Conn.), a four-year member of the Saints Men's Basketball team addressed his fellow student-athletes as the "senior speaker" at Emmanuel's Senior Athletic Awards Dinner on May 6, 2019. Joe's remarks are as follows:

Thank you Athletic Director McWilliams, Coach Lawson, and the rest of the Athletic department and staff. I am honored to stand here before all of you, my fellow graduating senior athletes at Emmanuel College. Congratulations on your successful Emmanuel careers. I hope you enjoyed your time as a student-athlete here as much as I did.

My entire life I have listened to people talk about how fast time flies. I never really thought about it all that much - But now, for the first time, I think I finally may realize what that means. My years at Emmanuel have gone by in a blur. When my parents dropped me off 4 years ago they of course had many words of wisdom for me… (ya know, the typical cliche stuff parents say)  “Joe - it’s a big city – see it all, take it all in, enjoy every moment, these are some of the best years of your life…” ….but it was one particular thing my dad said that really stuck with me .…and I quote “don’t ever forget - that as long as we are paying your tuition – you will remain a Yankees fan. If I see you in a red sox hat – I’m cutting you off period”.  That was pretty motivating advice.

So I’m proud to say  - that despite living with some of the biggest Boston sports fans in the world – Ira, Will, Dan and Toby -  I made it through to the other side still a Yankees fan! (I’ve adjusted to the Bruins and Celtics)

Emmanuel College is a special place – a place where you can really become anything you want. We came in as  18 year old kids and are leaving as adults ready to take on the world in our own small way. We battled on the courts and the fields, we dedicated ourselves to early morning and late night practices. We felt the unbelievable joy of those big wins and the incredible heartache of the difficult losses. (I think I suffered about 18 losses in one year) But through it all we had our teammates to lean on. We had each other to share these great moments with. - the bus rides, team dinners and late night talks about how we were obviously smarter than our coaches. Through this we created bonds and friendships that will never be broken. Time will pass and the memories of the practices and games may fade but the friendships will never leave us.

When you decide to become a college athlete, you know that you are dedicating yourself to something that not everyone is capable of doing. For that we all should be very proud. It’s not easy and it shouldn’t be easy. Each and every one of us has proven that we are willing to do anything it takes to be successful in our sport and in the classroom. It’s a privilege to play college athletics. And it’s been a privilege to be a Saint.

The amazing turnaround we had this past season on the basketball team was almost too good to believe. My junior year we won 3 games. I only need one hand to count that.  1… 2… 3… thats it. I think all of us in this room know how frustrating a season like that can be. During the summer going into my senior year we got word a new coach was in town.

Coach Lawson.

The first or second time I met coach Lawson, (I come in with my cut off shirt, trying to impress) and he sizes me up and goes, “Joe - so uhh how much do you weigh” “I tell him about 185 (Lying, I was definitely up around 200)”

His response was “Well you look like you’re over 200. I think we can agree that your best playing weight is about 180”

“But coach I’ll get pushed around”

“Trust me Joe” And that was that. In a way I think that’s a  good metaphor for the way our season went. We believed and trusted in our coach. We made sacrifices and We bought into everything he said. It allowed us to be extremely successful. In fact we had…

  • The 2nd best season in Emmanuel college history. Won 18 games
  • A 15 win differential – which was the biggest turnaround in ncaa mens basketball this year AT ANY LEVEL
  • We beat Albertus Magnus for the first time in over 10 years - who had beaten us by about 50 for 3 straight years
  • We hosted and won a GNAC tournament game for the first time in 10 years
  • We made it to the GNAC semifinals.

While it would have been great to win the conference title, I know what we accomplished this year is the start of great things for our program. We had a great group of guys who proved what can be accomplished when we all work together toward a common goal. To coach Lawson and the rest of the staff good luck in the coming years and thanks for helping to change the culture of Emmanuel basketball.

As I look back on my years here at Emmanuel all I can do is smile. What a great 4 years it’s been. While part of me is sad to leave it all behind it’s time for us athletes to do what we do best - accept our next challenge. We’ve all been playing sports our entire lives – it’s what we do. And while we may not be competing on the courts and fields anymore, I challenge each of us to bring that competitive spirit, our game smarts and preparation to conquer our new challenges in the workforce. 

It’s easy to take for granted all the opportunities we have been afforded. While we worked hard to get here we didn’t do it alone. None of us made it this far without the support of someone. We all have people in our lives that drove us and pushed us to give it our all, that never let us settle for being average. So this is for the ones who got us here. Fathers, Mother, brothers, sisters, high school coaches… whoever it may be.

I think we all would agree that sports teaches us many lessons. Those lessons have shaped us into who we are today, and those lessons will remain with us forever. So as we move on to our next chapters - I wish you all the best of luck in the future. Thanks for being my teammates, my friends, my coaches and my partners through this incredible journey.

Go Saints

WATCH JOE'S SPEECH BELOW