Some last-minute reading as you're waiting for Syracuse-Ohio State to start ...
» Longtime Boston Globe columnist Bob Ryan, who will be retiring this summer, writes about Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim:
Here's an excerpt:
You think about the marquee programs and coaches in college basketball and you always include the likes of Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, and if you're old enough, UCLA. (Hey, do they still have a team?) It's also necessary to mention Michigan State and Tom Izzo.
Just don’t forget The ’Cuse. Or Jim Boeheim. I don’t know about you, but 890 wins, 29 NCAA appearances, four Final Fours, three trips to the final game (1987, 1996, 2003) and a national championship (’03) have my attention.
You think Ron Paul is predictable? Well, he’s Mr. Flip-Flop compared with Jim Boeheim. He is what he is what he is, and Syracuse, as much as any basketball program in America, is what it is, day after day, week after week, month after month and, as the Boeheim Era closes out its 36th season, decade after decade.
Start with the fact he came to Syracuse as a walk-on player in 1962 and he’s still at Syracuse 50 years later. Now that’s a man who knows what he wants out of life.
Read the entire column: Coach is a Jim dandy: Boeheim always has Orange ready at tournament time
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Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim