After I graduated from Utah in 1978, I moved across the country to Upstate NY to start my graduate school career at Syracuse University. The coach of the Syracuse University men’s basketball team was second-year coach, Jim Boeheim. I attended my first game at a small, quaint arena called Manley House, which was about a mile from the main campus. The student section was right on top of the floor, and it was a zoo for opposing teams.
Jim Boeheim was a crazy coach whom we all loved. He got SU started in the Big East and then to the Power 5 ACC. I know most of you are Pac-12 fans, but you can’t even begin to understand the Big East tournament at the Madison Square Garden in NYC. It was the place to be, and getting tickets was just about impossible. And the greatest game there had to be the 6OT win versus UConn. My stepson, who also went to Syracuse, and I were texting as every student in his dorm was surrounding the TV in the common area watching the game.
My stepson and I assumed that his son will end up going to Syracuse too, and Jim Boeheim will still be the coach.
It appears that all of those final fours, Big East championships, and winning the whole thing in 2003 mean nothing, and Syracuse ungracefully pushed him out yesterday.
I know that Utah has a good basketball tradition (I was there when Tom Chambers and Jeff Judkins were some of the best players around), but it’s nothing like Syracuse. There is nothing like 32,000 fans screaming at Patrick Ewing of Georgetown. We hated Georgetown on a level that might be rivaled by how much we hate the Zoobs. It’s close.
Anyway, I guess I have to learn the name of a new basketball coach after 47 years. I’m too old for this crap.