Syracuse Orange head coach wore plaid so well
We received a wonderful black mail quality photo of Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim in our e-mail today from the original official photographer of Carrier Dome events. John Dowling sent photos of the original cast of coaches of the Big East. There's Louie Carnesecca of St. John's, Rollie Massimino of Villanova and Bill Raftery of Seton Hall before he turned to broadcasting the games. All of them are captured in various states of crazed, irate, emotional coaching moments. For good measure Dowling added a couple of John Thompson's from the years immediately following his closure of the legendary Manley Field House as the hated head coach of Georgetown. Yet, unquestionably the winning photo of them all is Jim Boeheim. He is 29 years younger. The rookie of the eastern powers compared to the others. Best of all he is sporting that classic plaid blazer.
Who knows where he bought it. It's hard to imagine local legendary men's shops like Charneys or Learbury ever carried that weave. In this particular game photo the Coach seems to have attempted to match a striped tie with the plaid. One of the stripes has a trace of orange in it. The Coach won a lot of games back in those days, but it's no wonder he wasn't a true national media darling until much later in his career. The 2003 championship season showed the nation that a more mature Jim Boeheim's style had been influenced by his fashion friendly wife Juli. New glasses, a few blue blazers, quality ties and solid shirts turned around his appearance. The Hall of Fame coach now more properly reflects his status and million dollar salary.
By the way, we're busy working on the hour long pregame special for Friday night's clash between the Orange and the Oklahoma Sooners. John Evenson and Alex Dunbar will be in Memphis sending back stories with the team, coaches and fans. Niko Tamurian is back here in Syracuse putting pieces together. Producer Dan Scharfenberger is piecing the hour together. News Director Rae Fulkerson is coordinating it all along with operations man Dean Walters. Michael Benny and I will help host the show from the Waterfront Tavern in Brewerton from 6:00 until 7:00 pm Friday evening. The show is airing on WTVH and will lead right into CBS network coverage of the games.
I started getting excited about the show this afternoon when I chatted with former Voice of the Orange Doug Logan. He's going to join us during the special to talk about calling the games during the two Final Four runs in 1987 and 1996. Doug seems to remember every key shot from those memorable games.
Doug asked me what we were all going to be wearing for the sports special. I told him a blazer and shirt would be fine. Although now that I think of it maybe we should have all pulled out one of those Boeheim plaids as a tribute to the longevity of one of the great coaches of all time.
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