Esquire Magazine: Jim Boeheim | Syracusefan.com

Esquire Magazine: Jim Boeheim

Nice.
I always forget he's the son of an undertaker.
Interesting bits, about 'budgeting of time'—m2m vs zone.
 
I wish they would do more than refer to the recent probation as a 'scandal'. Even if you are going to criticize Boeheim for it you could be specific about it and bring up the issues involved. But i guess that's all it is to the rest of the country: a 'scandal' Boeheim was involved with.

For the author and anyone else who never heard of it, this is "Dancing in the Dark":

 
Extremely well-written and detailed article.
 
I thought it was very poignant when the article stated that Boeheim (“everyone calls him Boeheim”) put his head on his arms in court when they were reading out the specifics of the accident. But it also sounds like he has made his peace with it as much as one can. And that maybe being the son of an undertaker facilitated this in some way.

I liked hearing how “easy” the Melo Center has made his life as a coach. And the players as well. It really is a beautiful place.

He really struggled acknowledging that he does - or did at one time - like Springsteen! And then he said that he doesn’t listen to music much. That made me feel a little sad. He listens to “sports talk talk.” I’ll take Springsteen for $100, Alex.

A well-written article. We have a gem here in Upstate. There will never again be his like.
 
OK, you all reeled me in on a quiet Friday - I'll read it.

But I still think that's a disgusting headline.
 
OK, you all reeled me in on a quiet Friday - I'll read it.

But I still think that's a disgusting headline.
Agreed. The gratuitous headline wasn't really necessary.

Well-written article, though.
 
Agreed. The gratuitous headline wasn't really necessary.

Well-written article, though.

To that point, yeah. The first paragraph is like a different language than 99% of the sportswriting we're forced to read. As a former editor, I love it. (Also as a former editor, I would have thrown something at whoever wrote that headline.)
 
To that point, yeah. The first paragraph is like a different language than 99% of the sportswriting we're forced to read. As a former editor, I love it. (Also as a former editor, I would have thrown something at whoever wrote that headline.)
As a writer and editor, I disagree slightly about the headline and teaser copy.

The headline “The Forever Coach” is fantastic.

The subhead (“Jim Boeheim's First Interview Since the Crash That Claimed a Man's Life) is, yes, a bit gratuitous and sensationalistic, but probably necessary because of the national news that story made across the sports world last winter. It’s one of the reasons Esquire was profiling him.

The dek—that’s the teaser line underneath the header in a magazine story—is excellent: “This fall, the longest tenured coach in college basketball history returns to the only job he's ever known. What else would he do?”
 
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I thought it was very poignant when the article stated that Boeheim (“everyone calls him Boeheim”) put his head on his arms in court when they were reading out the specifics of the accident. But it also sounds like he has made his peace with it as much as one can. And that maybe being the son of an undertaker facilitated this in some way.

I liked hearing how “easy” the Melo Center has made his life as a coach. And the players as well. It really is a beautiful place.

He really struggled acknowledging that he does - or did at one time - like Springsteen! And then he said that he doesn’t listen to music much. That made me feel a little sad. He listens to “sports talk talk.” I’ll take Springsteen for $100, Alex.

A well-written article. We have a gem here in Upstate. There will never again be his like.
The part about Springsteen was poignant and concerning at the same time... I hope when he was saying I don't really listen to music anymore was since the accident vs something over the last several years or so. I feel like when people start giving up their interests outside of how their main focus, that's a bad sign for that person once they don't have a full-time focus. If I were to stop working this second I would have dozens of things I would want to try, but then again I'm in my 40s... I'm sure that this is over-reaction given the man has 4 kids and all of his charities, but I really do wonder what he will do post-retirement.

Separately, as I think about my interests outside of work, I just realized that I've spent half my life with some version of the syracusefan community to keep me company... so thank you to all who have made that possible.
 
...

The dek—that’s the teaser line underneath the header in a magazine story—is excellent: “This fall, the longest tenured coach in college basketball history returns to the only job he's ever known. What else would he do?”

Diplomatic for an editor! And with this I agree completely! I don't know the writer, but he did an excellent job, love his voice.
 
Excellent article as you would expect from Esquire.

JB said he didn't have enough time to practice MTM in practice. The question is, what defense is the team playing against when it is practicing offense? If it is practicing against a zone defense all the time in practice, that may explain why our offense has looked so bad in recent years (of course it has also looked bad against zone Ds but that is another discussion). I don't think that is what actually happens; the team must be practicing against MTM - the defense it will see in actual games. Does JB not consider this 'practicing' MTM? 12 years ago or so, Bernie Fine stated that the team played MTM 90% of the time in practice. Something doesn't add up.

I have never met JB, but the article profile of him matches my image of him very well.

 
"a guy who backed out of a deal"

That refers to JB not retiring 2 yrs ago, as announced. It completely conflicts with the official version of what happened, but this scenario explains what happened so much better. To bad that Esquire didn't substantiate the claim. Did JB or SU publicly challenge this?

 
Kind of surprised he used Brandon Triche as an example of someone who barely played early but became an important player. I think he has the all time SU record for starts, starting every game for 4 years. 09-10 was a loaded team he started on and played 20+ minutes a game on.
Maybe he meant Howard? Could definitely say that about him.
 

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