As a Syracuse University alumnus, it pains me to post this piece of news. If you’re a sports junkie, like myself, you’ve probably already seen this highlight dozens of times today. However, if you missed it, check out the college basketball highlight of the year to date:

First off, I apologize for the quality of the video (try to watch in the high quality option), it was the best I could find. Give credit to Cleveland State, but Syracuse didn’t do much to guard the inbound pass and challenge/alter the shot. It may just be me, but whenever something like this happens to a team I root for, I equate it to being kicked directly in the junk.  Syracuse Alumni in general haven’t had a lot of good news lately:

• Syracuse has fired and hired another football coach recently to try and re-build a once proud program
• Eric Devendorf, one the basketball team’s better players, was just suspended for the season

It was inglorious enough that the mighty Orangemen of Syracuse endured a stunning defeat at the hands of Cleveland State. The Vikings enjoyed a moment of NCAA relevance for the first time since 1986, before then-head coach Kevin Mackey got arrested for celebrating a contract extension in a crack house.

Yes, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim could be forgiven for being somewhat non-plussed after his team endured a shocking defeat at the buzzer to the Vikes. But the misery did not end there for one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history. A faulty microphone was clearly too much for Boeheim to take. I don’t think that Boeheim was ever this rattled in the days when he matched wits with John Thompson and Rollie Massimino. Then again, who can forgot the “we wouldn’t have won 10 F’n games without Gerry McNamara” press conference. God, do I love Boeheim.

Unfortunately, losing an early home game to a small school has been the Syracuse basketball trademark over the past two seasons. Two seasons in which Syracuse missed the dance by the slimmest of margins, in large part to these sorts of home losses at the Dome. This season, it looked different, three major conference wins against Kansas, Florida, and Virginia before December.  It is not surprising that the let down against Cleveland State was the first game following the Devendorf suspension.

At any rate, a fantastic sports highlight, you just hate to see it against your team.

Leave a Reply