March 12, 2006
Congratulations Syracuse (and Albany)
Congratulations to the Syracuse Orange men's basketball team for winning the Big East championship with an improbable four-day run of scrappy, gutsy, hungry victories. For most of the regular season, I felt so bad for Gerry McNamara, who was getting crushed in double-teams as the rest of the team couldn't put together a consistent effort. Seeing McNamara with the tournament MVP and the great efforts of his younger teammates like Demetris Nichols, Terrence Roberts, Louie McCroskey, Josh Wright, Matt Gorman, and Eric Devendorf - all coordinated and inspired by coach Jim Boeheim - was an inspiration. I hope they do well in the NCAA tournament too.
And that's not all. My alma mater, the University At Albany (alternately known as UAlbany (blech) and SUNY Albany), won the America East conference championship and will be going to the NCAA tournament, too. Albany has only been a division I school for seven years, and is the first school in the SUNY system ever to play in the tournament. Considering that state schools from every other large state are perennial sports powerhouses, it's nice to see New York's public college system get some sports-related positive publicity. Go Great Danes!