Something Syracuse and Penn State Alumni Can Agree On

I think the Syracuse alums, and especially the Penn State people are just sick of talking and thinking about these god damn child molesters who have embarrassed our Universities.

In the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

I was watching Mike Francesa on the YES Network this afternoon, something I never do, because of his extended and informative interview with Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard. During the course of the interview, YES showed a picture of Jim Boeheim and Bernie Fine on the bench during a game, obviously taken from the broadcast of a Syracuse game. I noticed, in between the heads of Boeheim and Fine, seated in the first row, my [nephew] Roach.



It saddens me to see the likeness of Roach sullied by this ugly incident. Forever tied to the likely pedophile and his possible enabler.

Jim Boeheim's Arrogance May Be His Undoing

Syracuse's Jim Boeheim may be the secondary legendary coach in a month to lose his job over a sex scandal involving a trusted assistant.
The Bernie Fine mess has gotten more serious, and more weird, in the past 24 hours.
ESPN has released more information from Fine's accuser, Bobby Davis. This includes an audio tape of a conversation Davis had with Bernie Fine's wife, Laurie in October 2002. During the phone call, Laurie Fine seems to acknowledge her husband's molestation of Davis.
"I know everything that went on. I know everything that went on with him. Bernie has issues, maybe that he's not aware of, but he has issues," she says.
But that's not it. The latest twist in the story is that Davis claims he fucked Laurie Fine when he was 18, and even told Bernie about it.
Also, there is a new accuser, Zach Tomaselli, who says he was molested by Fine in a hotel room in Pittsburgh in 2002.
Tomaselli faces his own charge for alleged sexual assault against a young boy, and Tomaselli's own father says he is lying about Fine.
But that didn't stop the University from firing Bernie Fine.
In light of new evidence, the taped phone call is most damning, the school was right to get rid of Fine.
And Boeheim could be next. His aggressive comments about Davis -- he called him a liar and an extortionist -- are a real embarrassment now that it looks more likely he was defending a child molester.
A chastened Boeheim released a much more conciliatory statement saying "I deeply regret any statements I made that might have inhibited that from occurring or been insensitive to victims of abuse."

At this point I'm pretty sure Fine was molesting boys. And there's also a very good chance Boeheim knew about it, and his aggressive reaction was designed to discourage future complaints, and to make his denial seem more believable. This is absolutely terrible. If there is any shred of evidence to show Boeheim was a Paterno-esque enabler of a molester he should be fired immediately even if it torpedoes a very promising season.
And no student or alumnus should shed a tear, speak a word, stand on a lawn or tip a news truck in defense of him.
If this is true, Fine and Boeheim have sullied our University's reputation for years to come, and they should be the only targets of our anger.

Thankfully, it appears the University as a broader entity is doing -- and has done -- the right thing here. If that 2005 investigation was legitimate (Davis never handed over the tape of his call with Laurie Fine to the school), then this alleged problem may not turn out to be the kind of cancer that ate away at Penn State.

A Fine Mess

Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine is the latest coach to be accused of sexually molesting a child.
A former Syracuse ball boy named Bobby Davis, 39, has come forward and said Fine molested him hundreds of times between when he was 11 and 27.



Davis said he met Fine in 1983 when he was selling candy door-to-door in his neighborhood. Davis lived in a single-parent household. He says Fine took him under his wing, leading to him becoming a ball boy and traveling with the team, even to the 1987 Final Four.
Davis came forward with his claims to ESPN in 2003. They interviewed him but couldn't get anyone else to back up his story so they never aired the story. Davis also went to Syracuse Police who told him the statute of limitations had expired. He also went to Syracuse University. The University investigated for four months. They interviewed several people including four people Davis said would corroborate his story. None of them did so SU dropped the matter.
Now Davis's step-brother, Mike Lang, 45, is coming forward with similar allegations about Fine. And that is why ESPN is airing the story.
Lang says he was emboldened to come forward now because of the Penn State situation.
I guess those allegations make these a little easier to believe.
But that could cut both ways, they're more likely to be believed if they're telling the truth, but also if this were a plot, they'd be more likely to be believed in that case as well.
I'm not sure I believe them. I think it's very possible this happened, or something similar. But also relative to Penn State, there is a much greater chance this is completely false.
Jim Boeheim, whom Davis claims say him in Bernie Fine's hotel room, clearly does not believe these allegations:

"I know this kid, but I never saw him in any rooms or anything. It is a bunch of a thousand lies that he has told. You don't think it is a little funny that his cousin (relative) is coming forward? He supplied four names to the university that would corroborate his story. None of them did. There is only one side to this story. He is lying."

I understand why Boeheim is protecting his friend, but I think that tone is a little too harsh.
I think the University is doing a much better job. They took a serious look at this in 2005 and found nothing, and are taking a serious look again. Bernie Fine has been placed on administrative leave.
I hope this doesn't turn into another Penn State and ruin my alma mater too. But if it does I will advocate the same punishment: death to the perpetrator, prison for those who covered it up and a punch in the face for the students dumb enough to riot over it.