Seems like just yesterday we were sitting around our polyester-laden living room, playing with our Pet Rock and listening to the dulcet tones of Pink Floyd, opining over who this snot-nosed Jimmy Boeheim kid thought he was, replacing living legend Roy Danforth at Syracuse, he of four-straight NCAA Tourney appearances and a Final Four.
Thirty-one seasons and 999 games later, much like our investment in said Pet Rock, we were wrong (Ed. Note: "we" meaning "I" wasn't actually a living human at this point so by "wrong" I actually mean "unable to know any of this was happening")
Coach B, seen here apparently drawing up a play for Camp Timber Lake West's Red team during Color War, is about to coach his 1,000th game at Syracuse when his 15-5 Orange take on 14-6 Louisville. It's very apt that Boeheim would reach this honor against his good friend and "last guy in the world who would ever reach such a milestone with one team," Rick Pitino.
To give you a littler perspective, Jimmy B is the only active coach to do this with one university, his record is a gaudy 741-258 (gaudy especially if you don't choose to think about Cuse's October and November schedule for the last twenty years), the winningest coach in Big East history (326 wins) and with a win on Saturday he would pass John Cheney for #13th on the all-time NCAA wins list.
Boeheim has been head coach at Syracuse since 1976 but he's been a fixture at the university since 1963 when he enrolled as a student there. He walked-on to the basketball team his freshman year and made captain by the
time he was a senior. After a brief stint of pro ball he returned to Syracuse in '69 as a grad assistant and worked his way up to assistant coach. Aside from his coaching accolades, Final Four appearances and National Championship, Coach B is also an actor capable of disappearing not once but twice in a mysterious character known as "himself." According to Wikipedia, Boeheim likes to listen to the music of Bruce Springsteen...so that's nice. And he's got a hot wife...I think its fair to say Jim has done very well for himself.
Our hat is off to Jimmy (not as good as his to the left there). And just to show just how amazing this milestone is, let's put Coach Boeheim's run in perspective. When Jim Boheim took over as Syracuse basketball coach...
# of Syracuse Men's Lacrosse National Championships: 0
# of Domed football stadiums on campus: 0
# of teams in the Big East conference: 0
# of disappointing Paul Pasqauloni-led football campaigns that ended with a mediocre bowl victory so people tricked themselves into thinking it was a better season than it really was: 0
# of Etan Thomas-penned poems about the nature of racism in the world: 0
# of times Gerry McNamara was called "gritty" or "full of heart" as a nice way of saying he's a tough white guy: 0
# of free throws missed by Terrence Roberts: 0
# of basketball games broadcast by Dick Vitale: 0
They were more innocent times indeed.
Thirty-one seasons and 999 games later, much like our investment in said Pet Rock, we were wrong (Ed. Note: "we" meaning "I" wasn't actually a living human at this point so by "wrong" I actually mean "unable to know any of this was happening") Coach B, seen here apparently drawing up a play for Camp Timber Lake West's Red team during Color War, is about to coach his 1,000th game at Syracuse when his 15-5 Orange take on 14-6 Louisville. It's very apt that Boeheim would reach this honor against his good friend and "last guy in the world who would ever reach such a milestone with one team," Rick Pitino.
To give you a littler perspective, Jimmy B is the only active coach to do this with one university, his record is a gaudy 741-258 (gaudy especially if you don't choose to think about Cuse's October and November schedule for the last twenty years), the winningest coach in Big East history (326 wins) and with a win on Saturday he would pass John Cheney for #13th on the all-time NCAA wins list.
Boeheim has been head coach at Syracuse since 1976 but he's been a fixture at the university since 1963 when he enrolled as a student there. He walked-on to the basketball team his freshman year and made captain by the
time he was a senior. After a brief stint of pro ball he returned to Syracuse in '69 as a grad assistant and worked his way up to assistant coach. Aside from his coaching accolades, Final Four appearances and National Championship, Coach B is also an actor capable of disappearing not once but twice in a mysterious character known as "himself." According to Wikipedia, Boeheim likes to listen to the music of Bruce Springsteen...so that's nice. And he's got a hot wife...I think its fair to say Jim has done very well for himself. Our hat is off to Jimmy (not as good as his to the left there). And just to show just how amazing this milestone is, let's put Coach Boeheim's run in perspective. When Jim Boheim took over as Syracuse basketball coach...
# of Syracuse Men's Lacrosse National Championships: 0
# of Domed football stadiums on campus: 0
# of teams in the Big East conference: 0
# of disappointing Paul Pasqauloni-led football campaigns that ended with a mediocre bowl victory so people tricked themselves into thinking it was a better season than it really was: 0
# of Etan Thomas-penned poems about the nature of racism in the world: 0
# of times Gerry McNamara was called "gritty" or "full of heart" as a nice way of saying he's a tough white guy: 0
# of free throws missed by Terrence Roberts: 0
# of basketball games broadcast by Dick Vitale: 0
They were more innocent times indeed.