Holy

[OttoinGrotto]

It's tough. I had a family tragedy, and the relationship to work was interesting to navigate. On the one hand, in light of what was happening in my life at the time, a lot of work stuff just didn't seem important. On the other hand, going to work really helped me. In a tragedy it's easy to feel helpless, whereas at work I had concrete things I could accomplish. People need to feel like there are things they can do. My personal life couldn't provide that fulfillment at the time, but work life could.

 

[NineOneSeven]

As has been stated a bunch already, this is case by case with how someone can possibly deal with such a tragedy. Impossible to relate, and even if you've been in a similar situation, it doesn't mean a different person would be able to respond in a similar manner. I don't think any amount of "work" would provide enough temporary distraction to remove the haunting thoughts from MY brain.

 

[Zepharus]

The more and more I think about this situation over the past 24 hours, I think SU fans (including myself at first) are completely underestimating how hard it is to just bounce back and go back to work after the most traumatic moment of your life.

Considering it is reported that he tried to help the guy also... SEEING that upclose had to have been traumatic in some form

 

[Arangeman]

There is no right or wrong way to handle this but it should be Jim’s decision, not his employer’s.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

There is no right or wrong way to handle this but it should be Jim’s decision, not his employer’s.

Right. Unless the employer feels that the employee is not capable of doing the job.

 

[richmondcuse03]

I hope my source is incorrect but news coming from him is that Jim is taking an extended leave of absence

I wouldn't blame him one second if he did. I also wouldn't blame him if he felt the need to engulf himself in coaching as a distraction, too. It's a difficult thing to live with and no matter what, it'll be tough.

 

[GoSU96]

Considering it is reported that he tried to help the guy also... SEEING that upclose had to have been traumatic in some form

And a guy who did that is not going to curl up in the fetal position and cry all day. He’s going to do what he has to do to support the people that are relying on him

 

[GoSU96]

There is no right or wrong way to handle this but it should be Jim’s decision, not his employer’s.

The school is not going to want the optics for itself and JB of him being on the bench three days after this incident

For this one game it makes all the sense in the world. And it allows the focus to be on the game as much as possible

 

[CuseLegacy]

And a guy who did that is not going to curl up in the fetal position and cry all day. He’s going to do what he has to do to support the people that are relying on him

He doesn't have to curl up and cry all day but sometimes in the moment of a tragedy/death we are consumed by reacting in a situation rather than dealing with the emotional impact. The emotional reaction can occur days later. I don't think it is a bad thing if the university, if true, made the call for JB not to coach Saturday. JB needs to take care of himself right now.

 

[GoSU96]

He doesn't have to curl up and cry all day but sometimes in the moment of a tragedy/death we are consumed by reacting in a situation rather than dealing with the emotional impact. The emotional reaction can occur days later. I don't think it is a bad thing if the university, if true, made the call for JB not to coach Saturday. JB needs to take care of himself right now.

I was referring to long term not tomorrow.

 

[CuseLegacy]

I was referring to long term not tomorrow.

It may be more than tomorrow and it may not be. Everyone is different in how they cope.

 

[moqui]

I can see a potential PR hit, but how could the university be libel?

the school has no liability for the accident. but if the reports are true & they are forcing jb to sit out against his will, they may have created exposure for a different claim down the road

 

[007]

He doesn't have to curl up and cry all day but sometimes in the moment of a tragedy/death we are consumed by reacting in a situation rather than dealing with the emotional impact. The emotional reaction can occur days later. I don't think it is a bad thing if the university, if true, made the call for JB not to coach Saturday. JB needs to take care of himself right now.

Agreed. To date, I think the University has handled this as well as can be expected; including working with ESPN to help mitigate the media intensity that would have come with the Game Day event (total guess, but Wildhack likely initiated that duscussion and not the other way around).

The decision to not coach on Saturday, regardless of who ultimately made that call, was the right call, IMO.

 

[sdcuseguy]

This was an unfortunate accident. Any decision should be made by Boeheim and only Boeheim. Period. Screw optics. If he decides he can’t coach tmrw or needs time off that is his call just as it should be if he wants to coach tmrw.

 

[CuseLegacy]

This was an unfortunate accident. Any decision should be made by Boeheim and only Boeheim. Period. Screw optics. If he decides he can’t coach tmrw or needs time off that is his call just as it should be if he wants to coach tmrw.

I'm not talking about optics. My concern is about the mental health of JB after being involved in a tragic death. and him having enough time to deal with the emotional impact of such an incident. Sometimes we don't know what is best for ourselves.

 

[OrangeFoo]

the school has no liability for the accident. but if the reports are true & they are forcing jb to sit out against his will, they may have created exposure for a different claim down the road

If the school is making this decision against his will then I would say there is a significant, non-zero probability that James Arthur Boeheim never again coaches on the court named after him. I don't think that chance is higher than 50% but it's definitely more than 25%... Whomever is making this decision is playing with fire and is risking ruining a great man's reputation.

 

[HOFCeluck]

There is no right or wrong way to handle this but it should be Jim’s decision, not his employer’s.

If it was me I’d probably want to get back to it if for no other reason than to think of something else. But I can understand either decision.

But coach or not, f@&$ optics. It should be Boeheim call.

 

[sdcuseguy]

I'm not talking about optics. My concern is about the mental health of JB after being involved in a tragic death. and him having enough time to deal with the emotional impact of such an incident. Sometimes we don't know what is best for ourselves.

Maybe true but no one else should make the decision for him. Highly suggest, maybe.

 

[cuseguy]

That would be a real bad look if the University is trying to dictate to JB what he should or shouldn't do.

But knowing SU, it would not surprise me at all.

 

[Cusefan69]

My guess would be that if the university is telling Jim to take a short breather, it is for the traumatic experience he just went through. No different than a squad leader who saw traumatic action being told by his superior to take leave for 2 weeks and come back maybe feeling decompressed. Sometimes good leadership is giving someone a break even when they may not want to. Just my thinking...

 

[shandeezy7]

My guess would be that if the university is telling Jim to take a short breather, it is for the traumatic experience he just went through. No different than a squad leader who saw traumatic action being told by his superior to take leave for 2 weeks and come back maybe feeling decompressed. Sometimes good leadership is giving someone a break even when they may not want to. Just my thinking...

Yeah in my post earlier, I should have included this possibility as well.

 

[bballbeadle]

If one has a traumatic experience, the reaction is involuntary. There is no intellectual control, no matter how intelligent or disciplined your mind may (or may not) be. That’s part of what is so unnerving for a person in trauma; normal coping mechanisms go out the window. You are not in control.

 

[Eric15]

Considering it is reported that he tried to help the guy also... SEEING that upclose had to have been traumatic in some form

And even though he didn't do anything wrong, any normal human being is going to constantly be second guessing themselves, "why didn't I just do X differently, and this wouldn't have happened?" I could have left 5 minutes sooner, or 5 minutes later, etc. etc. It's mentally draining.

 

[moqui]

If one has a traumatic experience, the reaction is involuntary. There is no intellectual control, no matter how intelligent or disciplined your mind may (or may not) be. That’s part of what is so unnerving for a person in trauma; normal coping mechanisms go out the window. You are not in control.

that's not always the case. speaking from experience (don't want to go into details), it is also possible to slip into auto pilot for an extended period

 

[SWC75]

If one has a traumatic experience, the reaction is involuntary. There is no intellectual control, no matter how intelligent or disciplined your mind may (or may not) be. That’s part of what is so unnerving for a person in trauma; normal coping mechanisms go out the window. You are not in control.

Which makes Jim's reported response to the emergency all the more impressive. yes, he did what he was supposed to do and needed to do. that didn't make it easy.