A Tragic Love Story

Surprised by joy

Looking back at title, Boeheim recalls all the smiles

October 08, 2003

BUD POLIQUIN
POST-STANDARD COLUMNIST

He�s had six months and one day of pats on the back and firm handshakes and hearty "Well dones." Since that glorious Monday night in early spring, strangers have smiled at him and guys in airports have flashed thumbs-up salutes and more than a few little old ladies have looked his way and winked.

Jim Boeheim was never all that anonymous, no. Not at 6-feet-4 and not with all those years of all that contorted face time on TV. But lately ... well, lately, he�s been treated by almost everyone as if he�s been standing at the front door with a fistful of flowers.

"It�s just been an overwhelming thing," he said during a recent sit-down. "Like, I went to the PGA Tournament in Rochester. And I went there, thinking I could just walk around and watch a little golf. And, just like that, 100 people were surrounding me. It was nice. I mean, I still wanted to watch some golf, but it was nice. People have always been nice to me, but all this attention has been mind-boggling."

And ever since his Syracuse University Orangemen won the national basketball championship by knocking off Kansas 81-78 in the Louisiana Superdome back on April 7, that attention has been nearly constant. The corresponding invitations, meanwhile, have been extended like leaflets on a corner.

The White House. The New York Stock Exchange. The David Letterman Show. Speaking engagements. Charity events. Fund-raising golf tournaments. Be advised that Boeheim, who returned the other day from an appearance in San Diego where the wowed folks from Honda were merely the latest to applaud his motivational words, has been anything but lonely.

Amazed, yes. Flattered, certainly. Perhaps even a bit humbled by all the huzzahs. But lonely ... no.

"I�ve been surprised to see how many people wanted me to win," Boeheim admitted. "And that goes from George Bush to Bill Clinton to James Worthy. Worthy came up to me and said, �Coach, I really wanted you to win it.� And I said, �James, you�ve got to be careful. You�ll get yourself thrown out of the North Carolina family.� And he said, �That�s all right.�

"And the coaches. It seems that a lot of the coaches were hoping that I�d win, too. I think when they watch a guy coach for 27 years and come close, they say, �Yeah, I�d like to see him win.� So that was nice. That made me feel good. But all of that stuff, from all over, has really surprised me."

What may intrigue you is how Boeheim has been affected by the joy his Orangemen spread throughout their 30-5 championship campaign that inspired nearly 700,000 fans to buy more than $10 million worth of tickets and plop their fannies into seats for all those in-house look-sees. Rarely perceived as a particularly warm man and often viewed as a largely joyless one, Boeheim sat behind his office desk and confessed for the first time � publicly, anyway � that the NCAA title has, in fact, changed him.

Why, asked if he feels lighter on his feet and if the chirping of the birds sounds even more pleasant and if the sun seems to shine even brighter these days and never mind, already, that Carmelo Anthony has long since moved on � Boeheim actually smiled.

"There�s an inner feeling, you know?" he answered. "Yeah, there�s an inner feeling for sure."

Funny, huh? Jim Boeheim will coach his 900th SU game this winter and he�ll choreograph his 700th SU victory in the winter after that. Which means he�s been around here almost as long as frost. But it took his Orangemen outlasting that Kansas club by those three points before the ol� coach got his first peek into basketball heaven. A total of 652 career wins had preceded that magnificent conquest of the Jayhawks, but stacked one on top of the other, they�re dwarfed � the whole bunch of them � by No. 653.

"There is a huge difference between second and first," said Boeheim, who�d finished second in both 1987 (to Indiana) and 1996 (to Kentucky). "There shouldn�t be, but there is. If you said the most it could be is 100 miles, it would be 100 miles. It�s infinity. It�s whatever you want to say. There are miles and miles between any win and any loss, but in the national championship game, the difference is an abyss.

"When I think of Marv Levy and Buffalo�s four straight second-place finishes ... I mean, to me, that�s unbelievable. Levy might not admit this, but if the Bills just won one of those Super Bowls and didn�t go the other three times, he�d probably be happier. Is it better to be 0-4 or 1-0? Before we won, I would have said, �0-4.� But I�m not so sure anymore."

What he is certain of, however, is his boiler and how it continues to burn. Last year, remember, was all about youth and exuberance and wonder ... and Boeheim was energized by it all. Well, guess what? This time around, he�s got 11 scholarship players on his roster and only one of them (Jeremy McNeil) is a senior and just three of them (Hakim Warrick, Craig Forth and Josh Pace) are juniors. The rest � Gerry McNamara, Billy Edelin, Matt Gorman, Demetris Nichols, Terrence Roberts, Louie McCroskey and Darryl Watkins � are sophomores and freshmen. So, yeah. Last season�s serendipity will be this season�s blueprint. You know, minus Anthony.

"Retirement never entered my mind," said Boeheim, 58 and buoyant. "Not for a second. And that was surprising. I would have thought that at least the thought would have been there, but it never was. Never. If anything, it was just the opposite. I was, like, �Let�s get on to next year.�

"Part of that was, I like our team and our potential. I think the fans expect us to be really good again. And that�s what we expect. For sure, I think the players are thinking about going back to the Final Four. As for me, I always wondered, if we won, how strong my desire would be the next year. And I�ve found out that I have as much or more desire than I�ve ever had in the past. I�m looking forward to the season."

That will begin with the start of practice next week when talk of defending a championship will replace much of the discussion about basking in it. Now, though, after six months and a day, the clock still ticks to the accompaniment of winks and nods. And Jim Boeheim, "inner feeling" and all, remains more than happy to return each in kind.

Bud Poliquin is a columnist for The Post-Standard. His column appears regularly on these pages. Additionally, he can be heard on Sports Radio 620 WHEN (AM 620) Mondays through Thursdays between 5-7 p.m. He can be reached by telephone at 315-470-2213 or via e-mail at [email protected].

� 2003 The Post-Standard.