The Case for Cooney

March. The most wonderful time of the year. The jingle of the "NCAA on CBS" theme is in the air. (Come on, did I really have to link that?) People call me a Scrooge because I don’t apply this title to the holiday season at the end of the year, but quite frankly, I don’t mind embracing it. I would rather sit back and watch a month full of college basketball and celebrate my Irish heritage with Jameson than spend three months buying gifts and sipping eggnog.

But, if the experts are right, my March will not be happy (“Mad?”) for the second year in a row. My beloved Orange men’s basketball team really seem to have blown it. (The women, on the other hand, are doing fabulous, and I will support them with vigor.) Would I love to hear their name called on Selection Sunday? Of course. But I don’t think they deserve it. This isn’t the 2006-07 season where no one in their right mind thought the Orange would be on the wrong side of the bubble. That team was 24-11 and 10-6 in the Big East. It’s not like this year’s team didn’t have their chances. Beat Florida State and they’re in. Beat Pittsburgh in the first round of the ACC Tournament and they’re in.

So, it seems that the Orange men may not be dancing this year. And a lot of people want to put the blame on one person in particular: Trevor Cooney.

Since the Pittsburgh game ended, I feel like I’m at a Trump/Drumpf rally with the number of insults being hurled through the air. “Get the fuck off of Syracuse’s campus.” “I hope Cooney kills himself.” “Good riddance, I’m glad he’s gone next year.” I mean, come on, people. I’m as upset as anyone, but you don’t hear me calling for an amateur athlete to commit suicide.

Sure, maybe the Coon Dawg didn’t live up to the five years of hype. I mean how could he? Even since the kid stepped on campus, he was heralded as the Second Incarnation of a Syracuse Legend. Ever since Gerry McNamara ascended from the Son of Scranton, to a bona fide player with a National Championship in his own right, to god-like status 10 years ago in the Big East Tournament, Syracuse fans have been clamoring for another player like him. A team leader and prolific three-point shooter who, when the pressure is on, you can count on.

Cooney is not McNamara. I am willing to bet, however, that there would be a conversation to the contrary if he did hit the last shot against Florida State or Pittsburgh. But even if those shots were to fall, he still would not be McNamara. People remember Primacy and Recency: the first and the last. It’s an unfortunate fact of life, and it’s especially unfortunate for Mr. Cooney. Trevor may not have been the hero very often, but he was a solid contributor to the team over the course of his four-year career. His redshirt sophomore year, he led the ACC in three-pointers made and came in second in steals per game. And don’t forget that he essentially single-handedly won the Notre Dame game that year 48 hours after the win against Duke, scoring more than half (33) of Cuse’s 61 points and preserving their #1 ranking. Last year, he had standout performances against Florida State and UNC with 28 points in both of those games, and was 4th in the ACC in steals per game. And he spent most of last year with a bad back. He also was 4th in the ACC in steals per game this year, 3rd in three-pointers made, and dropped 28 in a close loss to UNC. Boeheim trusts him, and he is a Hall of Fame Coach with nearly 1000 wins to his name (no matter what the NCAA tries to make you believe).

Now, I’m not saying Cooney is some kind of all-star. But I do fear that he will become some sort of pariah around our fine city. It certainly looks that way so far. But hey, SU fans tend to be of the fair-weather sort, which I detest. So maybe the Coon Dawg will be remembered for the misses, even though he should be remembered for the makes. Or the @ThugCooney account. We shouldn’t boo our own players, especially since they’re college athletes. I don’t watch the NBA, but if you want to boo those guys, fine. Tell them they should “get out of your city” or say “good riddance” when they retire, get traded, or leave town. They get paid millions of dollars to get booed. No, instead, if you see Mr. Cooney around, thank him for his hard work and four years of good basketball.

And donate to my eventual KickStarter campaign for a Gerry McNamara statue.