In regard to the editorial titled "Dome sweet dome" written by Joseph Glenn, there are other factors that play into college basketball scheduling other than a coach picking and choosing who and where their team plays.
This is especially true for the Syracuse Orange since the Carrier Dome is the largest domed stadium in college athletics, which translates into one of the most costly venues to maintain.
In addition to the cost of maintaining the structure, the basketball program as of late has been the breadwinner among the athletic teams in the Orange family. This being said, this is the most important time in the basketball team's history to play as many home games as possible to support programs that drain the athletic budget without replacing the cost.
I am mostly referring to the football program, which used to be a profitable sport, but now resorts to a tactic perfected by UB, scheduling halftime shows just to try and draw a crowd since the game play is so poor. This means those home games generate the money needed to run the venue during basketball and also for other teams. To put the blame on Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim is unfair, and I have heard many times that the athletic director has forced Boeheim to play these early games at the dome.
Scheduling other power conference teams in your early season schedule usually requires a home-and-home deal, which neither one truly wants to do. Instead, teams such as Syracuse have been playing in early season tournaments at neutral sites to get TV exposure playing these power conference teams. This year 'Cuse will have an extremely good chance at going up against the the national champion runner-up Ohio State, as well as Washington.
Getting away from the money aspect, I would like to challenge a statement Glenn makes about the Syracuse program in past years. You state that in the 16 years you have lived in Syracuse it has become "bothersome that whenever the Syracuse men's basketball team does not make the NCAA tournament, there is report after report of people whining about it." Well, if you look at the Orange's post-season appearances in the NIT during that 16-year span, you can only chalk up three times it has happened. Out of those three trips to the NIT, I am sure two of them went without a peep from the hometown crowd.
In the '96-'97 season, it was the last time 'Cuse did not reach 20 wins, and the only time in the last 25 years. I guess you could say it was a down year with only 19 wins, but going 6-4 in the final 10 games of the regular season did not hint at any possibility of a berth in the NCAA. In the '01-'02 season, 'Cuse lost their last three regular season games, going 4-6 in the last 10 of the regular season, and then lost in the first round of the Big East tourney.
Surely you cannot tell me that anyone was writing in to Dick Vitale at that point complaining that 'Cuse got the shaft. So yes, there was much whining going on that 'Cuse deserved a spot in the 2007 NCAA tournament, but that is the only time in recent history, or at least the 16 years you have been around, that it has been up for debate.
I ask The Spectrum to please refrain from printing any more opinions or coverage of the Syracuse Orange basketball program. I thought that this editorial was a wasted effort and covering the programs that the newspaper is affiliated with would be much more enjoyable. I come to The Spectrum in hope of an article detailing a day in the life of new assistant basketball coach Turner Battle or predictions on the team that Buffalo might play in the ESPN bracket buster.
Lastly, Syracuse did deserve a spot in the 2007 NCAA tournament, deal with it.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
