Saturday marked the 11th annual Jim and Juli Boeheim's Basket Ball, a gala to raise money for charity at Turning Stone. All the cool kids in Syracuse were there and we've got the photos to prove it.
But first, one very cool story from the folks at Sidearm Sports. S.O.B. winner Big Head Boeheim was among the items up for auction and BHB had quite an adventure on his way to raising some cash:
Immediately someone in the back of the room bid $1500, then to everyone's surprise PJ Carlesimo bid $2000. The person in the back of the room then bid $2500 and PJ went to $3000. You can see where this is going.... The unnamed person and PJ went back and forth several times until the bid was at $7000 (wow)! Then Sean McDonough reminded the unnamed man in the back of the room that PJ was paid $25 Million dollars not to coach, and that the guy in the back of the room didn't stand a chance of outbidding PJ. Of course everyone was laughing and the unnamed person gave up and Jim announced that PJ had won the chair and the Big Heads.
PJ then did something that I certainly didn't expect. He got on his microphone and said that he was donating the chairs and the big heads back to the foundation and that Jim could auction them off again. Without hesitation Jim said the man in the back of the room "The chair is yours for $2000"). So all in all the foundation raised $9000 for the chair and the Big Heads and the unnamed person in the back of the room saved $4500! Class act by both PJ Carlesimo and Jim Boeheim.
Classy move for a Seton Hall guy. The Ball ended up raising over $450,000 on the evening, a helluva haul that can be added to the over $3 million that the Boeheim's have raised already.
More important than the money or the charity, however...is how everyone looked. And of course the discussion begins (and probably ends) with the lovely Juli Boeheim (via media.syracuse.com):
Not to be outdone, Gerald and Mrs. Gerald McNamara (via media.syracuse.com):
The very cool and dapper Nicholas Trivelpiece along with some guys who apparantly play basketball (via media.syracuse.com)...
Good work, everyone.