Andy Katz' remark

[dasher]

The Fine story is the bigger story. Bigger than some December game. When talking about SU basketball you can't ignore the elephant in the room. It's a national story that everyone knows about. You have to mention it and talk about it. The fact that it only gets 2 mentions in a game is something we should be grateful for.

It won't be just an ESPN thing either. Come NCAA tourney time and for the CBS regular season game we have, they will cover it. This is a major news item. Aside from the Killing Bin Laden and The Republican's trying to decide on a candidate... you can make a case that the Penn St/Syracuse sex scandals is probably the 3rd biggest news (not sports, NEWS) story of all of 2011! And that will continue heading into 2012.

Well, syracuse should clearly be seperated from Penn state. That involved a complete institutional cover-up. some members of the media do equate the two and I find that to be a bit lazy. I have also seen members of the media say that Tomaselli was a syracuse ball boy, so it shouldn't surprise me. But it is going to be talked about. We just have to bear it.

 

[Stern]

Well, syracuse should clearly be seperated from Penn state. That involved a complete institutional cover-up. some members of the media do equate the two and I find that to be a bit lazy.

Unfortunately to the general public its all one in the same

 

[rstone7727]

Headlines Tuesday April 3, 2012 - Syracuse wins 2nd NCAA championship amid sexual abuse scandal!

Might as well plan on it now...

 

[Francis03]

Headlines Tuesday April 3, 2012 - Syracuse wins 2nd NCAA championship amid sexual abuse scandal!

Might as well plan on it now...

As the late Al Davis used to say "just win baby"

 

[dasher]

Unfortunately to the general public its all one in the same

You are correct. The media views it as child sex abuse and child sex abuse. And maybe if I didn't follow syracuse basketball and the scandal so closely, I wouldn't notice the differences either. But I do.

 

[KingOtis]

I think his point was more that McNamara was no longer a grad assistant and had become a true coach. I don't think he meant that Fine wasn't a real coach. Fine might be past his prime and the team might respond better to McNamara, but that doesn't mean Fine was a waste of space. Melo obviously thought enough of him to suggest keeping the seat next to JB empty.

 

[SWC75]

The Fine story is the bigger story. Bigger than some December game. When talking about SU basketball you can't ignore the elephant in the room. It's a national story that everyone knows about. You have to mention it and talk about it. The fact that it only gets 2 mentions in a game is something we should be grateful for.

It won't be just an ESPN thing either. Come NCAA tourney time and for the CBS regular season game we have, they will cover it. This is a major news item. Aside from the Killing Bin Laden and The Republican's trying to decide on a candidate... you can make a case that the Penn St/Syracuse sex scandals is probably the 3rd biggest news (not sports, NEWS) story of all of 2011! And that will continue heading into 2012.

But it doesn't have to be an in-game graphic unless there is breaking news on the story.

 

[SWC75]

That's being generous. He was a bump on a log.

I still recall when Bernie was the "interim" coach and yet during time-outs he stood at his normal spot to the side and Mike ran the time-out like he was Boeheim. My impression then was that bernie was just a side-kick that JB kept around at his pleasure. If they weren't getting along after that I don't know why he even kept Bernie around. I've never been sure how much actual creidt Bernie really deserves for the development of the big men. Was he really an expert at that or was that something cooked up to explain his continuing presence on the staff?

 

[KingOtis]

I still recall when Bernie was the "interim" coach and yet during time-outs he stood at his normal spot to the side and Mike ran the time-out like he was Boeheim. My impression then was that bernie was just a side-kick that JB kept around at his pleasure. If they weren't getting along after that I don't know why he even kept Bernie around. I've never been sure how much actual creidt Bernie really deserves for the development of the big men. Was he really an expert at that or was that something cooked up to explain his continuing presence on the staff?

Yeah, maybe JB kept Fine around out of loyalty. However, several SU centers and PFs have shown dramatic improvement in their sophomore seasons, and I think Fine had something to do with that. The trademark post-move had to come from somewhere.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Even worse about raising the issue during games is that some of us have children watching the game. Am I supposed to ban my ten-year-old die-hard fan from games because ESPN might think an out of bounds play is the perfect time for a primer on molestation?

My daughter was watching the game (she's 7) and was reading the graphic out loud. My wife and I had to distract her from it. She wanted to know why they were talking about BF. Ugh, ESPN. Was that really necessary?

 

[Eric15]

My daughter was watching the game (she's 7) and was reading the graphic out loud. My wife and I had to distract her from it. She wanted to know why they were talking about BF. Ugh, ESPN. Was that really necessary?

But don't your want your daughter to know exactly what child molestation is from a young age, so that if it ever happens to her or she witnesses it happening to another child, she'll have the understanding and confidence to tell you about it right away?

 

[Stern]

But it doesn't have to be an in-game graphic unless there is breaking news on the story.

Sure it does. It's like doing a story on the Gabriel Gifford but failing to point out she was shot in the head. It's the elephant in the room, its the story. Her "policy votes" is secondary to the story which is she was shot in the head.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

But don't your want your daughter to know exactly what child molestation is from a young age, so that if it ever happens to her or she witnesses it happening to another child, she'll have the understanding and confidence to tell you about it right away?

Need to talk to your kids about this from an early age. Keeping them safe means keeping them informed.

 

[Eric15]

Am I supposed to ban my ten-year-old die-hard fan from games because ESPN might think an out of bounds play is the perfect time for a primer on molestation?

Just the opposite. I would turn the volume up and make sure he was paying extremely close attention. Then I would rewind it and play it again, and make sure there isn't an ounce of confusion or uncertainty in his mind about feeling confident coming forward if he experiences or witnesses abuse.

 

[LennX6]

The enthusiasm out of GMac is nice. But Waiters had improved over the summer and if any coach gets to horn in on the Waiters improvement it would really have to be Hopkins. GMac can get tied to MCW, which I think is a break for him.

Fab's improvement also came through the summer. And if anyone gets coaching credit for that, it is Bernie. And it looks like a nice going away present.

How convenient of ESPN to think they helped rid the 'Cuse of some dead weight bigs coach's. Isn't it really bad timing for that argument though. Recent results show Bernie was on top of his game. Onaku's improvement rivals anyones on the planet. And now Fab is on the short list for most improved players in the nation. Yes, ESPN let's evaluate all our coaches by the emotion on the sideline and gloss over player improvement.

For every Onauku there was a Watkins, Roberts, Forth, McNeil that only touched on how good they should have been.

 

[LennX6]

Yeah, I agree. Not trying to unnecessarily knock Katz, but it's an empty and silly compliment to say that McNamara's an upgrade. Based on our terrific guard play in the past eight games? Maybe, but it'd mean a lot more coming after we'd actually seen some fruits of McNamara's coaching.

Gerry was not a defensive wizard. He was a hustle guy though and that made up for a lot of it but not all. The McNamara, Devo, Flynn years were very weak defensive years primarily in the backcourt. I remember losing to Charlotte and UMass when they scored in the hundreds.

 

[SWC75]

Sure it does. It's like doing a story on the Gabriel Gifford but failing to point out she was shot in the head. It's the elephant in the room, its the story. Her "policy votes" is secondary to the story which is she was shot in the head.

That's a bizarre comparison. You can certainly show an SU basketball game without doing graphics showing the timeline of the Bernie Fine case during the game, with nothing new to report. If Giffords came back as an active member of Congress you could report how she voted without showing pictures of Jared Loughner.

 

[Stern]

That's a bizarre comparison. You can certainly show an SU basketball game without doing graphics showing the timeline of the Bernie Fine case during the game, with nothing new to report. If Giffords came back as an active member of Congress you could report how she voted without showing pictures of Jared Loughner.

Not at all. When you talk SU basketball right now its all about Bernie. Everything else is secondary. This team can go unbeaten and win the national title, the first thing when you talk SU basketball will be Bernie Fine this year!! There is no way around it! It isn't like he was some assistant who was there for 3 years some fly by night coach. The man was there forever, he held the same job forever. It's a huge story. Bernie will be mentioned in EVERY SU basketball game and will be talked about in every SU basketball game. As it should be! A story of kids being abused is much bigger than the outcome of any game. It just is.

 

[JOC44]

Just the opposite. I would turn the volume up and make sure he was paying extremely close attention. Then I would rewind it and play it again, and make sure there isn't an ounce of confusion or uncertainty in his mind about feeling confident coming forward if he experiences or witnesses abuse.

Thank you for the parenting advice. I have spoken to both of my daughters generally about these types of issues. I don't really want to talk to them about it in the specific context of Syracuse basketball at their current ages, and I don't really think it's ESPN's place to decide that halfway during the first half of a basketball game is a good time to try to spark a family discussion of these topics. They should leave thoseissues to Sportscenter, OTL, or (if they must) pre game.

 

[KingOtis]

For every Onauku there was a Watkins, Roberts, Forth, McNeil that only touched on how good they should have been.

Don't gloss over Damone Brown, Hakim Warrick, J.B. Reafsnyder and, of course, Otis Hill. Just to name a few.

 

[KingOtis]

Gerry was not a defensive wizard. He was a hustle guy though and that made up for a lot of it but not all. The McNamara, Devo, Flynn years were very weak defensive years primarily in the backcourt. I remember losing to Charlotte and UMass when they scored in the hundreds.

McNamara's problem was his height. He was too short for the 2-3. So was Flynn.

 

[DNABB5]

Aside from the Killing Bin Laden and The Republican's trying to decide on a candidate... you can make a case that the Penn St/Syracuse sex scandals is probably the 3rd biggest NEWS story of all of 2011! And that will continue heading into 2012.

I think that 30,000 dead Japanese might want to disagree with that statement.

Some coach may have touched a 14 year old 25 years ago is bigger news than crippling natural disasters? Right.

Oh, and New Zealand's earthquake victims send their regards. I also recall seeing large swaths of damage and lawyer billboards in Alabama while going to the Tulane football game, what was that about?

Also I am recalling something about an Arab Spring? Some dead Libyan? Those stories are completely insignificant in comparison?

We really need an ignore feature, that or Stern needs some Namenda.

 

[SWC75]

Not at all. When you talk SU basketball right now its all about Bernie. Everything else is secondary. This team can go unbeaten and win the national title, the first thing when you talk SU basketball will be Bernie Fine this year!! There is no way around it! It isn't like he was some assistant who was there for 3 years some fly by night coach. The man was there forever, he held the same job forever. It's a huge story. Bernie will be mentioned in EVERY SU basketball game and will be talked about in every SU basketball game. As it should be! A story of kids being abused is much bigger than the outcome of any game. It just is.

It's not whether one story ecilpses another. They co-exist. Yes, abused kids are "more improtant" than games. But the games go on and continue to be a story, espeically when you have a shot at a national title. I have no problem with ESPN continuing to report the story and discussing it before the game, at halftime or after the game. But the only reason to put up a graphic about it during a game is if there's something new to add to the story that just happened. If the news story makes the basketball game irrelevant, why even show the basketball game? Or maybe they should superimpose Bernie's face on the court. Broadcasting the game doesn't make the story go away but you don't need to interrupt the game to report it unless you have something new to say about it.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Don't gloss over Damone Brown, Hakim Warrick, J.B. Reafsnyder and, of course, Otis Hill. Just to name a few.

Rick Jackson, Rony Seikaly, Rosie Bouie, and my fav...Billy Celuck!

 

[Stern]

I think that 30,000 dead Japanese might want to disagree with that statement.

Some coach may have touched a 14 year old 25 years ago is bigger news than crippling natural disasters? Right.

Oh, and New Zealand's earthquake victims send their regards. I also recall seeing large swaths of damage and lawyer billboards in Alabama while going to the Tulane football game, what was that about?

Also I am recalling something about an Arab Spring? Some dead Libyan? Those stories are completely insignificant in comparison?

We really need an ignore feature, that or Stern needs some Namenda.

American News story I was talking about. You know most Americans could care less about what happens outside our soil if it doesn't involve Americans. Sad but true.

If you want to make a case that PSU/SU story is the 4th biggest american news story, go for it. I say 3rd. But its at the top of any list for the year 2011.