(Image Source: Syracuse.com)
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BY AUSTIN FAX
ANCHOR JIM FLINK
In the wake of the Bernie Fine scandal -- the Syracuse men’s basketball team returned to action Tuesday night. How’d it go? ESPN’s Dana O’Neil says...
“The players played. The coaches coached, and the students spent the endgame cheering for the 75th point and subsequent free taco. Aside from a prolonged standing ovation when Jim Boeheim (BAY- hime) took the court, this was business as usual.”
The game was a blowout-- but it’s what happened after the final buzzer that provided fireworks.
WHAM’s Toby Motyka says head coach Jim Boehheim’s postgame press conference was what got people talking.
MOTYKA: “There were moments when he seemed sad, there were moments when he seemed angry and frustrated, moments when he was apologetic. But one thing is clear. For Boeheim this is an emotional time.”
BOEHEIM: “When the investigation is done, we will find out what has happened on my watch. We don’t know what has happened on my watch right now. There is an investigation under way.”
Boeheim went off the cuff as he answered questions for more than 20 minutes. The Daily Orange’s student editor Michael Cohen tells CNN-- there were no softballs thrown Boeheim’s way on Tuesday night.
“I think a lot of other coaches would have stayed up there for much less time. He stuck in there and answered the questions. It's obviously very different than what we've seen out of Jim Boeheim, having to stick to that statement. The fact that he answered all of those questions and stuck to it I think was something that he wanted to do based on his personality.”
Still, Boeheim met some criticism. He began the conference by asking reporters, ““Is there something special going on tonight?” Yahoo!’s Pat Forde says Boeheim’s tone suggests the coach just doesn’t get the severity of the accusations.
“As a matter of fact, Jim, there is something special going on at Syracuse University right now. Something especially disturbing. Something that demands a more serious manner from a guy that a good portion of the nation would love to see fired right now. In a troubling and unsure situation, one thing seems certain: It’s no time for the embattled basketball coach to be cracking jokes."
