He’s a sophomore like me.
And sports editor like me.
We even share the same mother.
OK, that was a stretch, but I would gladly share an orange jumpsuit with Ethan Ramsey any day.
Ramsey, an editor of The Daily Orange, Syracuse’s school newspaper got a jumpstart to his journalism career, as his name appeared in every major newspaper when basketball Coach Jim Boeheim unleashed more expletives than a “Southpark” episode on Thanksgiving.
Oh yeah, it’s that time of the year again – and the Madness is beginning to show.
Responding to a column Ramsey wrote saying that McNamara was “overrated,” Boeheim, 61, had some foul words for the journalism student.
“Without Gerry McNamara, we wouldn’t have won 10 f — games this year,” Boeheim told reporters at a press conference. “OK? Not 10 … And everybody’s talking to me and writing to me about Gerry McNamara being overrated? That’s the most bull– thing I’ve seen in 30 years, and especially because it comes from our people, in our papers.”
Boeheim, a veteran coach of thirty plus years, has lost his marbles.
If No. 5 seed Syracuse hopes to make a run at the Final Four, they will first have to take on No. 12 Texas A&M and face a difficult region that includes No. 1 Duke and No. 4 LSU.
Screams, expletives, or not, I know I’ll read all about it-after all, Ramsey will be there.
In other March Madness news, Belmont will make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament. The former NAIA school, known for its music program, changed chords nine years ago and amassed a 20-10 record this season earning a bid to the tourney with an overtime victory in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament final.
It wasn’t always pretty for the No. 15 seed Belmont Bruins that will take on No. 2 UCLA. The Bruins opened their Division I career as an independent team playing home games away at another college, while their gymnasium was being built and amassed a 9-18 mark in thier 1997-98 debut season.
While some bracketologists are whispering Cinderella story, others are saying massacre and that maybe Belmont should run home to Nashville.
Maybe there is hope for Loyola’s basketball program. Well, we’ll always have our music program.
Some fun facts about March Madness:
CBS will pay $545 million to broadcast the tournament.
An estimated $4 billion to $5 billion will be wagered on the 63-game tournament this year-nearly $1.3 billion will be waged online compared to $600 million wagered online on this year’s Super Bowl.
In the spirit of waging, as sports editor I say put all your bracket money on Memphis. Why, you ask? Well, they beat Tulane; and any team that beats Tulane and beats them badly-deserves our support. Rodney Carney and No. 1 seeded Memphis will power through a rather weak region and will make it to the Sweet 16 with ease. I predict Memphis over North Carolina in the National Championship. Other Final Four predictions are Florida and Duke.
