Come to think of it …

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Planning to go to the Final Four if the Orangemen do?

Tickets will run you $120 to $160 for the three-game booklet. By the formula Syracuse employed for the opening round in Boston, 748 tickets would be made available to student season-ticket holders.

Schools participating in the Final Four receive 4,500 tickets. The team would take 100 off the top, and the remaining 4,400 would go to Syracuse’s 14,200 season-ticket holders. Of these, 17 percent, or around 2,400, are students. Seventeen percent of the 4,400 tickets works out to 748.

Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel could not confirm the 748 number, but he said plans have been finalized for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Syracuse, if participating, would receive 1,250 tickets, and of these, 195 will be set aside for student season-ticket holders at $120 for a three-game package.

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Answer: 54.

Question: What is the number of combined years of employment, until Tuesday, for the head coaches in Syracuse’s four most important sports — men’s and women’s basketball, football and men’s lacrosse? Jim Boeheim ranks first with 27, followed by Paul Pasqualoni (12), Marianna Freeman (10) and John Desko (5). Freeman’s Tuesday resignation, therefore, commenced the rare search for a new head coach.

My money is on Felisha Legette-Jack, who just completed her first season as head coach at Hofstra. Legette-Jack’s team did limp to an 8-21 season, but Hofstra, like Syracuse, requires considerable rebuilding, having gone 90-157 in the nine years prior to her arrival.

Six factors that support Legette-Jack as the leading candidate here:

1. She’s local. Born in Syracuse, Legette-Jack starred here from 1984 to 1989 and remains the program’s all-time leading scorer (1,526 points) and rebounder (927). Her husband, David, also attended Syracuse.

2. She doesn’t have the five years head-coaching experience Crouthamel desires, but she’s experienced enough. Upon graduating in 1989, she coached two years at Westhill High in Syracuse, then cut her teeth as an assistant coach for two years at Boston College, seven at SU and two at Michigan State before landing at Hofstra.

3. She’s an educator. A dual major in child and family studies and psychology, Legette-Jack places great emphasis on the academic performance of her players.

4. She’s loyal to Syracuse. She chose to play here despite being recruited by more than 300 schools, desiring to build something on the Hill. She did, as the team made the NCAA Tournament in 1988, though it has done so only once since. Plus, when Freeman came under fire in 2000 and players rallied against her, Legette-Jack stood by her friend and mentor.

In an interview with Legette-Jack two years ago, she called Freeman ‘the type of person who would give you the shirt off her back’ and questioned whether the players who came forward to ask for Freeman’s resignation had truly given their all themselves.

5. She’s black. Without Freeman, only two Syracuse head coaches — track coach Andrew Roberts and volleyball coach Jing Pu — are non-white, a rather unfortunate and pitiful statistic.

6. Hofstra athletics director Harry Royle said he ‘absolutely’ would be willing to let Legette-Jack interview with Syracuse if the opportunity arises. He also described her as ‘an outstanding young coach with great potential.’

As of yesterday afternoon, Syracuse had not called Royle seeking permission to speak with Legette-Jack.

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A Jasper, if you’ve been wondering, is not a thing but a person. Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., taught at Manhattan College in the late 1800s. Today, his legacy is honored during every professional baseball game.

Manhattan College explains it like this:

‘One of the greatest achievements of Brother Jasper was that he brought the then little-known sport of baseball to Manhattan College and became the team’s first coach. Since Brother was also the Prefect of Discipline, he supervised the student fans at Manhattan College baseball games while also directing the team itself.

‘During one particularly warm and humid day when Manhattan College was playing a semi-pro baseball team called the Metropolitans, Brother Jasper noticed the Manhattan students were becoming restless and edgy as Manhattan came to bat in the seventh inning of a close game. To relieve the tension, Brother Jasper called timeout and told the students to stand up and stretch for a few minutes until the game resumed.

‘Since the College annually played the New York Giants in the late 1880s and into the 1890s at the old Polo Grounds, the Manhattan College practice of the ‘seventh-inning stretch’ spread into the major leagues, where it has now become a time-honored custom practiced by millions of fans annually.”

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On the topic of mascots, how about the: UC Irvine Anteaters, Coastal Carolina Chanticleers, Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, Mississippi Valley Delta Devils, Texas Christian Horned Frogs and Western Illinois Leathernecks.

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In case you missed it, some people felt compelled to rush the Carrier Dome floor March 9 to whoop up a come-from-behind, 83-74 win vs. Rutgers to close out the regular season. Rutgers, you might be aware, finished last in the Big East West.

ESPN’s Karl Ravech made fun of the fans on SportsCenter that night. ESPN.com then joined in the ridicule. ‘There is no ex-‘Cuse for ridiculous storming of the court after beating Rutgers,’ the site pronounced.

By my count, we could reach seven court stormings — two in Albany, one in New Orleans — by season’s end. This surely would be a world record.

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The Orangemen drew 355,663 fans for 17 games, which works out to 20,921 per home date, the team’s top average attendance figure in five years. The 1997-98 Orangemen averaged 20,986.

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Recently attended mass at a Catholic church in suburban Buffalo only to see a Miroslav Satan Buffalo Sabres jersey. I could only wonder what the bewildered people sitting behind the 10-year-old kid thought to see the name SATAN in capital letters plastered across his back.

Chris Snow is a columnist at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear Thursdays. E-mail him at [email protected].

Published on March 19, 2003 at 12:00 pm