If you live in Syracuse, NY, and you absolutely REFUSE to follow SU basketball, you still will end up watching at least 20 full games per winter. They are impossible to avoid. You'd have to encase yourself in a lead box, and even then, 10 games would seep into your consciousness.
And you could grow up in Syracuse thinking SU coach Jim Boeheim is your uncle Jim.
The two most famous people in Syracuse are Boeheim and Billy Fucillo, a car dealer who shouts "HUuuuJAH" in frantic TV ads that run around the clock. After that, there is a lawyer team called Alexander and Catalano - (the Alexander being the son of Lee Alexander, the former mayor who was convicted of racketeering and corruption in the 1980s); they run TV ads calling themselves "the Heavy Hitters." After them, there are the requisite local TV anchors, though they come and go. And finally, there is Tim Green, the former NFL defensive tackle and author, who was booted out of the wealthy Skaneatles high school football program a few years ago for recruiting players from inner city schools. It was a mess.
Other famous people? Hm-mm. Well, there was Bernie Fine, the SU assistant basketball coach under Boeheim, who became a national punch line a few years ago, when ESPN charged that he had sexually abused former managers. That case is still moving through the courts, but Boeheim did not end up getting Joe Paternoed.
After Bernie, well... there are always a few sportscasters from SU's Newhouse School, but they aren't really Syracusans, they just studied here for a few years. There is a guy named Robert Congel, who owns the Destiny Mall. He's famous for being rich. There just isn't much here, I guess.
That's why Boeheim will keep his job. Syracuse just doesn't have enough famous people to fill the void. Besides, it's taken a while to learn how to spell his name. Uncle Jim.
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1 comment:
who needs 'em, these famous ones. You've got SNOW!
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