Why Syracuse's win over Binghamton was a throwback

Tuesday night at the Newhouse School the annual Marty Glickman Award for Leadership in Sports Media was given to “Voice of the Orange” Matt Park. It’s annually a gathering of the veritable who’s who in the sports broadcasting industry.

Past winners of the award Bob, Marv, Mike, Ian and Sean were all there. If you needed me to say Costas, Albert, Tirico, Eagle and McDonough…please see me after class.

The last name I mentioned hopefully pertains to what we saw Monday night in the Dome. And no I don’t mean when McDonough delivered Park a congratulatory cake at the under 4 timeout of the second half. I wonder what happened to that? I didn't see any forks or plates, much less a knife to cut the thing.

The Good Ole Days

If you say Sean McDonough and Syracuse Basketball in the same breath, I immediately flash back to two places. Big Monday and the Big East Tournament.

Back then 7:00 on Monday night was appointment television. And when you think March in MSG you start mentally rolodexing GMac’s magical run, 6 OTs, and the other delirious Orange moments McDonough, Bilas and Raf delivered from the Garden straight to your living room.

We’re clearly a long way from those days. The 6OT game is old enough to drive for goodness sake. And no Syracuse blowing out Binghamton to start the season does not equate. But Monday when the curtain raised on this new season, for the first time in a long time, Orange Basketball was fun to watch again.

New Beginnings?

Last season felt like an obligatory hate watch, the less said the better. The year before when Red took over was an uneasy mesh of old and new. And prior to that, the end of the Jim Boeheim era lost of the joy of the early days…and decades.

Then we all watched the first two exhibitions games, and it looked like we might be in store for more of the same. Where was the energy? Where was the passion? Where was Syracuse Basketball?

And when things couldn’t get any more blah, J.J. Starling went down before the first TV timeout of the regular season opener. Which as a YouTube TV subscriber I watched without issue, I will accept no follow up questions on this matter.

The Fun is Back

But just when we began to wonder if we were in store for another grim march to March, something that vaguely resembled the Syracuse Basketball of old emerged from its cocoon.

William Kyle, Donnie Freeman and Sadiq White flew through the air with the greatest of ease. Naithan George conducted the squad with effortless poise. And someone last name Anthony scored in every way imaginable.

Alley-oops? Why the heck not? Just keep throwing them higher and higher. A young freshman with an offensive bag perhaps as deep as his pops? Yes please. For the first time in ages it became hard to mentally sift through the highlights because there were so many.

What Does it Mean?

On one hand blowing out Binghamton 85-47 is not cause for celebration. Season opening routs like that used to be SOP.

On the other hand a 38 point win sure the heck beats how last season began with the Orange hanging on for dear life to beat Le Moyne, Colgate and Youngstown State by a combined 15 points, 2 overtimes, and 98 heart attacks.

Does dominating Binghamton guarantee Syracuse anything? Absolutely not. But at least for one night to start the season Orange Basketball looked like Orange Basketball again…and that’s good enough for now.

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