I Will Always Remember This Night

The first post I ever wrote on this blog chronicled how I remembered nearly every moment of Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout game May 6th, 1998. I could tell you what I was wearing, where I was, and the most minute details of that cold afternoon when I was home sick from school.

Now I can add March 12, 2009 to a list of dates I'll remember the rest of my life.

A six overtime, 70-game minute basketball game that started just after 9 on the east coast and ended after 1:30 AM on March 13th. My alma-mater, Syracuse, beats arch-rival UConn in the Big East Tournament 127-117.

To digest this game fully really is impossible right now. As I write this post it's after 1 AM here in Chicago. This was a game that was so action packed, and so unbelievable, that it's really hard to put into words right now. The superlatives are endless. The heart palpatations were plentiful.

The 40 minutes of regulation basketball was great. Even when Eric Devendorf's buzzer-beating attempt (correctly) didn't count.

Each five minute stanza of overtime, all six, incredibly compelling every possession. The swings of emotion, the back and forth. The fact that Syracuse trailed by six at one point and stormed back to tie it and force another five minutes.

The fact that Syracuse didn't lead in an overtime until the last one, yet continued to force more and more. They didn't even win the opening tip of any overtime until the sixth.

This is the type of game you tell your kids and grandkids you saw. For those privileged members of the Madison Square Garden crowd, you were lucky to have been there Thursday night. Many of my friends attended tonight's game. And while I could call them now, at 2 AM eastern time, (I know they're still up), I'll wait until tomorrow to give them time to digest it.

Because like I said, there's no way to really digest everything that's happened right now. I can't even recall all the specifics right now. All I know is, this is one of the greatest moments of my life as a sports fan. Maybe the game didn't mean as much as others, but the feeling I have right now compares with any elation I have ever felt watching sports.

What an amazing night.

Why Records Don't Matter (In College Basketball)

Nearly ever team ranked in the Top 25 has an excellent record.  That's why they're ranked in the Top 25.

The top few teams have one loss.  The teams at the bottom of the rankings fit into one of two categories: either they are teams that no one thought would be there, so they have great records (#25 Illinois is 17-3), or they are teams that people expected to be better, haven't quite fulfilled expectations, but are still considered quality teams (#19 Notre Dame is 13-7).  So every team in that group is in the same ball park, generally.

Everyone always talks about records.  But the biggest difference between all of these teams is coaching.  Coaching determines the type of characters on a particular team.  Coaching determines philosophy on offense and defense.  Coaching determines how a player reacts when the pressure is on and a player relies on what has been drilled into him in practice by his coach.

That's why teams similar in record in college basketball can be completely different.  

They're records don't even begin to tell their stories.

(Yes, the conference a team plays in can have something to do with it.  An exceptionally talented team in a weaker conference can have a gaudy record that they might not have in a better league.  But generally speaking, in conferences of similar talent level, records are inconsequential.)

The best example of this, ironically, might be two teams that have the same colors.  Number 8 Syracuse (at least number 8 until the newest rankings come out Monday) is 17-4, while 25th-ranked Illinois is 17-3.  While they're separated by just one more Syracuse loss, they're completely different in how they're coached.  They got to their similar records in nearly opposite ways.

Syracuse is loaded with talent.  They might have enough talent that if they were better disciplined they could be the best team in the country.  Jonny Flynn and Eric Devedorf are former McDonalds High School All-Americans.  Paul Harris was a High School Jordan All-American.  They've got size on the inside with Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson, and the three-point shooter that every team needs in Andy Rautins.   It's that talent level that suggests to the voters that they should be among the top ten teams in the country by rank.  But they're undisciplined, they don't run an offense, and have lost three of their last four games because of it.

Illinois on the other hand is very disciplined, and lacks the talent of Syracuse.  It's debatable which player on the Fighting Illini is the best, between Demetri McCamey, Chester Frazier, or Mike Davis.    And neither player is really that good.  They don't have a player averaging more than 12.5 points per game (McCamey) and they don't have a player that appears to be equipped to play at the next level.  

But they look like a team poised to surprise people come March, thanks to their disciplined offensive and defensive approach, while Syracuse looks like a team poised to disappoint in the tournament.

It's hard to argue with the success of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.  The hall of fame coach has amassed 788 life time wins, which ranks him eighth on the all-time list.  The only names ahead of him are coaching legends: Bob Knight, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Jim Phelan, Mike Krzyzewski and Eddie Sutton.  (And just in case you were wondering, those names are in order from most wins to least.)  Boeheim relies on his talent too much, however.  He puts too much faith in college kids to police themselves on the basketball court and to know how to set up a basket when needed late.  He often doesn't get the best out of his talent on a basis consistent enough to lead it deep into the NCAA tournament.  And with all the talent he stock piles on a yearly basis, Syracuse should be winning games in the tournament year after year.  They haven't won one in four consecutive tournaments.

Bruce Weber on the other hand doesn't have the track record of Boeheim.  He has only been a head coach for ten years.  After serving as an assistant at Western Kentucky in the 1979-1980 season, he was an assistant for the legendary Gene Keady for eighteen years at Purdue.  After a five year run at Southern Illinois where he lead the Salukis to the NCAA Tournament twice (once to the Sweet 16), he's been the coach at Illinois for just five years prior to this season.  He did lead the Fighting Illini to the National Championship in the 2004-2005 season, but he did it with Bill Self's recruits.  Now, in his sixth year, his recruits are finally there, and they're doing well.  He doesn't have the fanfare of a Boeheim, or even close.  But the mark of a Weber coached team is incredible discipline on both sides of the floor.

So when you try to compare a team that is supposed to be in the Top 25, like Syracuse, or a team not supposed to be there, like Illinois, the difference ultimately is which coach can get his players to respond best down the stretch.  While they have nearly identical records now, the team that finishes the season with the most success will likely be the team that is best coached.  Players ultimately win games in any sport, and must execute their game plans well enough to win.  But it's the coaches with the best game plans, especially in college sports, that ultimately leads their teams to victory.

Jim Boeheim has better talent than Bruce Weber.  And he has won far more games all time.  (788 for Boeheim, 248 for Weber)  But it is Weber's team, if both teams continue to play as they are, that will ultimately go further in March.   It's Weber's team that has the discipline and execution to get things done.

They're records right now, and later on, won't matter.

Devendorf a Deven-dope

Those of us who have covered Eric Devendorf can attest:  he's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Take his recent suspension by Syracuse University as proof.  The Junior off guard from Bay City, MI has been disciplined for hitting a girl in the jaw with the heel of his hand.  

(Yahoo Sports reports Devendorf has been suspended for two games.  ESPN.com says it's an "indefinite suspension".  Syracuse.com reports he will likely be back on the court for the Orange by the time the Big East schedule kicks in.  Either way, a suspension is well deserved.)

Before we even discuss the length of the suspension, let's review the facts.  Devendorf hit a girl in the face.  Let that sink in for a second.

There is never a good reason to hit a girl in the face, unless that girl is attacking you with a weapon.  And if that's happening there are two things you could likely conclude:  either A, she's insane,  or B, you've probably put yourself in trouble and had it coming.

Devendorf also didn't publicly apologize for his actions.  "I'm disappointed that I put myself in this position,"  he said in a statement.  "I understand the decision and will be complying with all the requirements of it."  I haven't seen any statement he's made in which he said he was sorry for what he did.

Devendorf doesn't get it.  He's like many big time college athletes who enter school believing that just because they have tremendous athletic talent they can get away with anything they want.  And to some degree, Devendorf did get away with it, since Syracuse University reduced his suspension from the rest of the season to what is now apparently just a couple of games.  

Syracuse University should have left his suspension where it was at.  While they'd never admit it, I can bet you if I had done the same thing while I was at school there, my sentencing from judicial affairs wouldn't have been so lenient.  It says something about the importance of athletics at Syracuse, that he could punch a girl in the face and not miss much time.  It says even more about the university wanting this dope to represent them on the basketball court night in and night out.  

I'm a Syracuse basketball fan, and I want them to win every game.  But at the same time, I don't want my team to be comprised of thugs like Devendorf, despite the talent he possesses.

I'm also not a fool.  I know athletes cheat.  (Regular students cheat too.)  I know they don't always attend classes.  I know most of them wouldn't be at the schools they're at unless they were there to play a sport.  They wouldn't qualify academically.  They're getting free educations.  They are where they are for a purpose.  I get that.

But when they screw up, they shouldn't be above the law.  They shouldn't get preferential treatment just because they sell more tickets.  If these schools had any credibility, they'd treat them as students, since that's what they claim to be.

So send Deven-dope packing.  I don't care how many points he scores or assists he compiles.  He hit a girl in the face.