Bombin and Dancin
I'm not sure which was the bigger bomb today, the three-point runner (!) that Gerry McNamara dropped on Cincinnati today to give SU a 1-point win in the first round of the Big East tournament (ESPN), or the F (among others) bomb dropped by Jim Boeheim at the post-game press conference.
Boeheim responded angrily to local coverage suggesting that G-Mac was overrated, an opinion apparently offered anonymously by one of the Orange assistant coaches. Boeheim's response, which I think was dead-on, was that Syracuse couldn't have won 10 games (that's 10 effing games) without McNamara and that he was the reason they were even in NYC this week to play in the Big East Tournament.
I'm not sure that this will be enough to get SU into the NCAA Tournament, but I'm tempted to say that it should, homer that I am. They've managed a 20-win season despite a top-10 Strength of Schedule, and they beat Cincy (which has been on a lot of boards) on a neutral floor. I can't imagine that they'll beat UConn tomorrow, but if they manage to show up okay, I think they're in. By the skin of their teeth, but in all the same...
Update: The failure of my imagination wasn't quite as egregious as was Becky's, apparently. Syracuse just beat the top-ranked team in the country on a neutral floor, and locked up for themselves a spot in the NCAA's. And one day after winning the Cincy game on a 3-pointer, G-Mac hit a 3-pointer against UConn in the closing seconds to tie the game and send it into overtime. Take that.
Comments
I saw that shot today!! SO great! I was in Firestone with E while she got her tires changed and we were yelling at the T.V. in the lounge, causing a big ole ruckus over that shot while people looked at us all crazy...
Posted by: Kelly | March 8, 2006 10:04 PM
I only caught a glimpse of that press conference. But in what I saw, Gerry was hanging his head, and I felt very sorry for him. Did he say/do anything during this conference?
& BTW: I don't share your optimism about their chances for getting in, but I hope you're right.
Posted by: senioritis | March 9, 2006 7:05 AM
As punishment for my failure of imagination, I only got to see the first half of that game; BP filled me in on the wondrous details after I returned from my afternoon meeting. And now they must get into the Dance.
Posted by: senioritis | March 9, 2006 7:36 PM