Capel over Boeheim, and it's not even close
Published: 3/26/2009 3:14 PM
Last Modified: 3/26/2009 3:14 PM
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- From my courtside seat, the Syracuse Orange looked very, very impressive at practice today. Jonny Flynn is going to be a load for Oklahoma tomorrow night, and if the shooters he finds after his dribble penetration are hitting 3s, the Sooners are finished.
I guess I'm supposed to be blown away by Syracuse's hall of fame head coach as well. But to be honest, Jim Boeheim comes across exactly like he is stereotyped -- with all the personality of that gob of hair that gathers on the drain cover of your shower.
He sort of droops over the microphone during his press conference, sniffing into it occasionally, and gives nasal, monotoned answers that typically end in mid-sentence, as if even he has tired of listening.
At one point, Bob Barry Jr. of Oklahoma City's NBC affiliate asked a perfectly legitimate question about whether the Big East deserves its powerhouse reputation, especially when it comes to the NCAA tournament.
"I'm not sure what the question was," Boeheim whined back. "Or even if it was a question."
Coaches don't just win games, they occasionally win press conferences. Contrast Boeheim's snoozefest with Jeff Capel's thoughtful apperance today -- the Sooner coach revisited his time as a player at Duke and as a young coach at VCU, and spoke eloquently about coaching a player like Blake Griffin at a place like OU -- and it was a double-digit blowout.
It won't mean a thing when the ball goes up tomorrow night. But it's almost enough to make you hope things go well for Capel's team, not Boeheim's, afterward.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
