I went to this game with my daughter and a friend. We sat a few rows behind Coach Boeheim and other past players. Juli and Buddy were there. Moten, Kris Joseph (so handsome!), Brandon Triche, Symir, and DaJuan Coleman were also in front of us but it took us a while to figure out who they were. When DaJuan stood up we saw he had lost a lot of weight. He looked good!
The game was so much fun! It was very competitive and we were ahead throughout most of it. We lost steam at the very end. I would have preferred we won it, but the pleasure of watching the game and these great Syracuse players overrode that. I would also like to know the box score. I feel like McCullough, Andrew White and maybe Gillon scored the most, but I could be leaving someone out. Eric did great. CJ Fair played (dear Lord, I loved him back in the day!) but didn’t do a lot. Rick Jackson was a defensive presence but also looked a little lost. Mookie Jones was announced as a player but didn’t play a minute. I wonder what the story was behind that?
At the end of the game when we were fading it seemed Gillon decided he was going to single-handedly help us win. On every possession he dribbled down the court so fast he was almost a blur. Wow! He either made (or missed) a bucket or kicked it back out to someone. He looked like he REALLY wanted to win. Not like the other players didn’t but there was such determination in his face.
Throughout the game we commented that we sure hoped our men’s team could play half as well as these old guys.
When I had an opportunity I made my way to Coach Boeheim. I leaned down to him and said, “Coach, my name is Peggy. I love you, and I appreciate you, and I am so very happy you are enjoying your retirement!” He grabbed my hand and said, “Thank you. Thank you.” I said hello to Juli and then I stopped by Symir and told him what a wonderful player he was, and we would miss him, and I wished him the best luck in the world at Binghamton. He thanked me. It gave me the greatest joy to be able to look Coach in the eye and say what I said to him.
Now I am ready for our season to begin.