I've run into him a bunch of times around town. Never bothered him with anything. Maybe at an official meet and greet, I would. We were at Wegmans one night and he and Juli and the kids (back when Buddy was a wee one) were there at the deli counter. Juli was holding court with whomever wanted to say hi, laughing and smiling, and JAB looked like he was on his way to the gallows pole - which, I totally get. It was interesting to me to see how naturally at ease Juli was with totally random strangers.
"Gallows pole" -- so true, made me laugh! I can't imagine the amount of SU related hoops, recruiting, etc. questions he gets bombarded with. It must annoy the heck out of him, and he instantly tunes out. The last thing he wants to do 99% of the time is talk hoops with random fans.
I know I've shared this story before on this forum, but several years ago one of my best friends from high school did some interior painting at JB's house. It was during the spring or summer, so JB was at home for the 3 days he was on-site.
My friend is one of those guys who likes sports, but only in a casual way. Doesn't really care about any teams, background noise but nothing he gets invested in. Also not a guy who follows basketball beyond just being a Syracuse resident and knowing about it in a general way. But my friend [who is now a successful sales executive] is one of the most personable, friendly guys you'll ever meet -- he's instantly relateable, extroverted [in a good, friendly way -- not over the top], and people just naturally gravitate to him for conversation. He's just a natural when it comes to conversation.
So, at the beginning of the first morning, JB walks in as my friend is starting to work, shakes his hand, and gives him some instructions. They chat for a bit about the project, and JB goes off. About 30 minutes later, JB comes back -- tells my friend that he's just checking things out, not looking over his shoulder, and will leave if he's getting in the way.
My friend tells him, it's no bother, so JB sits down and they start having a conversation... and literally talk for the next 4 hours while he's working. The discussion is all over the place -- a million different topics -- but SU hoops doesn't come up once.
The next day, JB plops down again, and proceeds to chat the day away again while my friend is working. Again, nothing SU / nor basketball related ever comes up.
At the end of the project, my friend says goodbye, packs up, and leaves with a highly favorable impression of the SU basketball coach. Our group of friends couldn't believe that he'd spent all that time with JB, given what a grouch he often seems to be.
What I always found hilarious about the story is that my friend is probably the only guy in Syracuse who wouldn't say SOMETHING about SU hoops to Boeheim. Even if just to acknowledge that he was a fan. If he had, or brought up recruiting, or wanted to talk about that year's team -- there is ZERO doubt in my mind that Boeheim would have politely answered and then gotten the hell out of the room, never to return.
Instead, he spent nearly 2 and a half days chatting it up. Frankly, it was probably refreshing for him not to have to converse about hoops for a change.