What did Jim Boeheim really do with his time away from SU? He watched The Food Network, saw some movies and definitely did not take out the trash.
We've already got a taste of what it was like to watch a Syracuse Orange basketball game with Jim Boeheim while on suspension, but what was his life really like the whole time? What was it like to see your life's work going on and there's nothing you can do about it?
Sports Illustrated's Jack McCallum, who literally wrote the book on Boeheim, followed the embattled coach around his day-to-day life while he was unable to be involved with SU basketball. Here's some highlights of what we learned:
1. He watched a LOT of Food Network programming.
Over the last month he has watched countless episodes of Barefoot Contessa and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, perused magazines "just like all the other old men" at his local Barnes and Noble, torn through a passel of crime novels (Michael Connelly’s work is a favorite) and, in general, driven himself and those around him a little bit crazy.
2. He went to the movies.
"I just thought of something," says Boeheim, snapping his fingers. "I really liked Creed."
3. He did not build anything.
Home repair projects? "I don’t have any skills in that area."
4. He did not cook anything.
Cooking? "I only watch other people cook."
5. Jim Boeheim does not take out his own garbage (metaphor?)
"I’d screw it up, and Juli would only correct me."
6. Boeheim's kids even felt the brunt of the suspension.
Boeheim wanted to know if his kids could continue to work out at Melo. Answer: No. Revised to yes.
7. If something really bad happened (catastrophic injury, death, etc.), Boeheim initially still couldn't be contacted directly.
What if a serious problem arose with a player, and Boeheim had to be informed? Answer: Call Boeheim’s lawyer and let him talk to the coach. (It was later agreed that the coach could talk to AD Mark Coyle.)
8. Jim Boeheim hates fresh fruit.
What if you accidentally ran into Boeheim at, say, the fresh fruit section at Wegmans? "Well, first, you’d never see Jim in the fresh fruit section," said Syracuse sports information director Pete Moore, "but you’d have to report it."
9. The only person involved with SU that Boeheim interacted with was video coordinator and longtime family friend Todd Blumen.
"I’m part of the family at that point," Blumen says...
Blumen came, helped cook and wrap presents, and departed at 2 a.m. "Basketball didn’t even come up," said Boeheim. "We didn’t want to touch the subject."
10. If Boeheim was giving Mike Hopkins coded messages during his radio program, Hop wasn't listening.
"I didn’t want to take a chance," said Mike Hopkins, Boeheim’s top assistant and the man in charge over the last month, "so I never tuned in."
Check out the whole article here.
