Show me someone that constantly says they don't care what other people think and I'll show you someone who cares A LOT what people think.
In last week's press conference and the media tour that followed, Jim Boeheim spent a lot of time talking about how he didn't care what the media said about him before going into detail about annoyed he was with what the media was saying about him.
The thing that bothered me about it was that Boeheim's rant and subsequent interviews totally overshadowed Syracuse's quality win over West Virginia.
Last night Syracuse got an even more quality win over Villanova. It was SU's biggest win in months and extended the Orange's three-game winning streak. Even more, it ensured Syracuse a winning record in the Big East and inched them back towards the top of the conference. It was a time of team celebration.
Naturally, Jim Boeheim decided to take some time during the press conference to work out his personal grudges.
Soft Pretzel Logic has the rundown (H/T: Ballin Is A Habit):
We've got a talk show guy in Syracuse who never comes to press conferences, and he says, "They don't ever ever ask Boeheim the tough questions." So I called him. On the air. I said, "Okay, ask me a tough one."
[He said] "Well, what do you mean?" I said, "No, ask me a tough question. You know."
He said one week I took [Brandon] Triche out when he hit two shots. I said, "Well his back was bothering him, and he said he had to come out for a minute."
[And the talk show host said] "Oh. I didn't know that."
[To which Boeheim replied] "No [fertilizer]."
[The talk show host then said] "But you know, I'm not a journalist."
I said, "You didn't have to tell me that. I already knew that."
The radio host in question is Danny Parkins. I didn't listen to the interview in question but Danny says there's a bit of revisionist history going on in the above claim. I'm sure he'll be discussing on his show today.
Certainly not as egregious as last time. if you didn't think Boeheim was starting to sound a little insecure before, you can't help it now. Why does he care so much what Danny Parkins says? He's one of the ten best coaches in the history of the game. He has 8 million wins (give or take), three Finals Fours and a National Championship. He answers to no one. Except, apparently, the local media.
Nothing fractures the SU fanbase like a Boeheim press conference rant. At least these kinds. We seem to split into three camps. The first defend Boeheim to the death no matter what (and that's fair). The second loves Boeheim but thinks he's letting things get to him. The third loves Boeheim but thinks he's out of line or just misguided. They all share the commonality of loving Boeheim (something forgotten by that first group, which tends to have the least sense of humor of the three). Thy just differ on the way the man deals with his [fertilizer].
I love it when Boeheim takes to a press conference to defend one of his players. I love it when he gets frustrated after losses and takes it out on the media in the room. But to go up there after quality wins and overshadow them by puffing out his chest...I don't know. Not my thing. But I'm sure plenty of folks disagree.