Orange squeeze
So Jimmy Boeheim retired, the school announced.
Or do we think Jim Boeheim was told to retire or get a pink slip?
The now-former Syracuse basketball coach was not quoted in the school's release of the transition to former SU player Adrian Autry.
Seems curious, no?
So Boeheim is done after 47 seasons and the second-most wins in D-I men's college basketball history.
If you want a glowing "There goes a legend" take, look somewhere else.
I think Boeheim may be on the shortlist of non-legendary folks who somehow kept a job for almost half a century.
He compiled an astronomical number of wins, made five Final Fours, ruined more NCAA brackets than Sharpies and won one title.
One.
And even that comes with the largest pile of NCAA-wink-wink-nod-nod crapola maybe ever. And considering we're talking about the NCAA here, that's saying something.
Boeheim was found to be running one of the biggest cheating programs at the peak time of college basketball's cruddiness.
And the rule-breaking under Boeheim magically happened over a decade or so that started before the 2003 title run and continued well after it.
But everyone was willing to grin and bear that Boeheim and Co. did not cheat in the championship season with Carmelo Anthony. Right.
Is he a Hall of Famer? Sure. You win that many games even if you started coaching when Gerald Ford was in the Oval Office, then you are going to get enshrined
But legendary? PUH-lease.
If Coach K was Greg Maddux, Jim Boeheim was Gaylord Perry.
Ridley me this
There are a few undeniable facts.
Fact 1: We are humans. Fact 2: Humans make mistakes.
Beyond that, feels like we can debate almost anything, right?
Moreover, we almost universally know Fact 1 is all of us and Fact 2 has and will happen to all of us.
It's one of the reasons why generally we are empathetic and forgiving in most cases as long as we believe Fact 1 led to Fact 2 and was not malicious or habitual.
It also goes a long way to getting back into a person or the public's good graces to share a heart-felt mea culpa.
Which is a) almost never done properly, b) often replaced with some side-stepping, "I'm sorry you were offended by my words/actions/gestures/ect." garbage and c) exactly what Calvin Ridley did after being reinstated by the NFL.
In an open letter on The Players Tribune website, Ridley's words speak to all of us who have done something stupid and something we'd give almost anything to have a do-over.
"I F$%^-ed up. I'm not here to sugarcoat anything. In 2021, I made the worst mistake of my life by gambling on football."
Ridley's actions have been part of the Falcons' major slide over the last few seasons. His injuries and year-long suspension robbed the team of a bona fide 1A wide out.
But even as a Falcons fan, Ridley's honest and open apology speaks to me in a bigger sense, and I hope he is in the much better place he claims to be.
The entire story details Ridley's battles with injuries, depression and pain mdeication. It ends with him saying he's in a better place and pledging to get 1,400 receiving yards with Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville next season.
I wouldn't bet against him.
Speaking of odds
So it's always a relatively good idea to pay attention to the "sharp" money in Vegas.
High-dollar commentators, be them Stephen A. or Tucker Carlson, demand seven-figure annual salaries because they draw eyeballs. With that knowledge, the bigger names in analysis -- be it sports, news, politics, what have you -- often have to have bigger "takes" to stoke the controversy.
That's the game, and it started in earnest for me with Howard Stern, who appeals to those who loved him and those who hated him because everyone simply wanted to hear what outrageous thing he would say next.
But the guys that change opinion -- and lines -- in Vegas are doing it with their hard-earned greenbacks, so having sharp senses behooves us to see where the sharp money is going.
And right now, the most bet on team to win the next Super Bowl is...
Wait for it.
The New York Jets. Yes. The Jets.
And that tells me someone with some gambling chops somewhere has a strong feeling that Aaron Rodgers could be going to the Big Apple sooner rather than later.
Thoughts?
This and that
-- This is not good. Shawn Kemp, the former NBA All-Star with Seattle, was reportedly arrested for his involvement in a drive-by shooting in a mall parking lot. No injuries were reported, which makes sense I suppose because Kemp was always a much better dunker than shooter.
-- Buckle up. It appears Tiger Woods has broken up with Erica Herman. The pair had been dating since 2017. And Herman is looking for clarification on what she can discuss about their time together after she signed a non-disclosure agreement before they got seriously involved. And the clarification she is asking for is under the Speak Out Act. Per the legal defnition, the Speak Out Act "prohibits the judicial enforceability of a nondisclosure clause or non-disparagement clause agreed to before a dispute arises involving sexual assault or sexual harassment in violation of federal, tribal, or state law." Uh-oh.
-- As Omar Little famously informed us on "The Wire" if you come for the King, you best not miss. Well, Dillon Brooks took some verbal shots at Draymond Green. Green unloaded back at the Memphis guard. Here's more.
-- Speaking of the NBA, man, Kevin Durant could miss the rest of the NBA regular season after hurting his ankle in warm-ups Wednesday. Buckets, dude.
-- Not the perfect night we were seeking, but a 2-1 showing for the Plays was way, way, WAY better than the bagel we swallowed Tuesday. UNC covered with ease as did West Virginia. Stupid Wisconsin. Also of note from earlier this week, we put some coins on Kentucky to win the SEC tournament at plus-430 and got 'Yes' for a hole-in-one on 17 at Sawgrass this week at plus-317.
Today's questions
Anything goes Thursday, so fire away.
And remember the mailbag.
As we get ready for the players, please know that I made 3s the one time time I played 17 at Sawgrass and the second time I played 12 at Augusta. (First time, yeah, donated a Titleist to water guarding the toughest short hole in golf on my way to double. It happens.)
As for today, March 9, let's review.
Bobby Fischer would have been 80 today.
Does he make the Rushmore of Bobby -- not Bobs or Roberts, but Bobby -- gang?
Enjoy the day and remember the mailbag.