The Dish: Boeheim's Nutty
Is there anyone in sports you'd rather have a beer with than Jim Boeheim? After his Syracuse Orangemen dispatched Cincinnati in the first round of the Big East tournament, he let loose a post-game, profanity-laced tirade tailor-made for your local watering hole. He sounded like your buddy Earl after he's had a few too many, swinging wildly as someone dared question his favorite basketball player. Some kid who writes for the Syracuse newspaper had the temerity to suggest 'Cuse point man Gerry McNamara is overrated. In answering a completely unrelated question (he wasn't even asked about McNamara), Boeheim pulled his nutty: "That's the most bullsh-- thing I've seen in 30 years -- and especially if it comes from our people in our papers.... Without Gerry McNamara we wouldn't have won 10 f--king games this year. Not 10." No, it's not particularly cool that the 61-year-old Boeheim was laying into a 19-year-old kid. And he did apologize afterward. But the way he defended his player was more than just outsized. It was funny. It was the way you'd defend your guy. And most of all: it was true. Without McNamara, Syracuse is a nine-win team this year. Maybe worse. It's a really crummy group of young players. McNamara won two games in the Big East tournament essentially by himself, and helped the Orange get into the NCAAs. They won't last long there. But with sad-sack Boeheim holding court, denigrating his team, mocking himself (his wardrobe, his glasses, the shape of his head), going on PTI and telling it like it is, the tournament just got a little more fun. Now pass the pretzels. Last chance for pre-NCAA predictions: Who do you think will be the most disappointed men's basketball team come Selection Sunday? Greg Jorssen, BoDog.com: Syracuse did too much damage to themselves down the stretch to be considered for Selection Sunday. The 39-point loss to DePaul last week was devastating and highlighted the fact that they have a very weak defense. They have played one of the toughest schedules in the Big East and could squeak in based on their strength of schedule, and with their big win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. However, their record over their past 10 games, 4-6, may very well seal their fate. North Carolina's win at Duke was obviously huge. Do you think, though, that the Heels deserve to be the #4 choice, behind UConn, Duke and Villanova, in the odds to win the Tournament? (I've seen that on at least one major online oddsmaker's site.) GJ, BoDog.com: We actually have them the #3 choice, behind UConn and Duke to win it all, at 4/1. They started at 35/1 at the beginning of the season, thus their play of late, and especially the win over Duke, has made them a popular choice to win the tournament again this year. Roy Williams has his team of freshmen playing like seniors and believing they can knock off anybody right now. That said, they definitely are not one of the top four teams out there, and beating Duke doesn't amount to anything come March 16th. The top few teams do look strong. Is this one of those years where bettors should consider a prop bet where they take 2 or 3 favorites (say, UConn, Duke and Villanova) against the rest of the field? Is that going to be a good way to make a lot of money (since the line will inevitably heavily be in favor of the rest of the field)? GJ, BoDog.com: The Tournament is so unpredictable each and every year; that's why it's rare that you will ever have two #1 seeds battling in the national championship game (like you had last year). That said, the three teams you mention are in a class by themselves this year, and when I fill out my bracket buster, it will have UConn playing Villanova in the finals (yes, I am one of those Duke haters). Good prop idea, though. I will get on putting that one up! Here's a kind of off-the-beaten-path question: The U.S. Open tennis tournament announced it will adopt an NFL-style replay-challenge system, where players will get two challenges per set. What do you think of this? Is it progress? Would you worry that it opens a can of worms for other sports? GJ, BoDog.com: What? No more McEnroe-type tantrums disputing a call? That is what made tennis so exciting in the past for me! To be honest, tennis adopting the replay system will not open a can of worms. Those worms were already set free when football and hockey adopted the replay system. My opinion is that whenever you can remove human error from the game, it makes it that much better. Tennis is a fast game, with serves going over 100 mph. It can be virtually impossible to determine if a shot is in or not sometimes, thus by adopting some technology into the game will bring it to the next level. Christopher Harris is a featured writer for the Professional Handicappers League. Read all of his articles at http://www.procappers.com |
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