"What better a time to talk to one of the nation’s most prestigious sports voices than before the biggest game in the history of Binghamton University athletics. Tony Kornheiser, class of 1970 and a sports editor emeritus of Pipe Dream (or as it was called for most of his time here, The Colonial News) spoke to Pipe Dream on Thursday about the emergence of the men’s basketball team, his thoughts on the team’s recent controversies and that mansion on Riverside Drive he always wanted to buy.
We basically played Michael Wilbon for a day. We had to do a little editing for space, but a whole page of Tony should be enough.
Pipe Dream: What was your reaction when you saw The New York Times’ story on Binghamton University’s basketball program on Feb. 22?
Tony Kornheiser: I was in New York and I was doing “Sports Reporters” [an ESPN program] that day, which I hadn’t done in years and years. I was doing the show as sort of a reunion tour with my friends, and I was astounded to see Binghamton stripped across the top of The New York Times sports section.
That was, “Wow!” There might be five people [in The Times sports department] who even knew where Binghamton is. So it was a real measure of pride, even though I knew what was coming in the story, it was pretty cool on some level.
PD: What about the piece itself?
TK: First of all, I thought it was amazing that the first quote in the piece was by Tim Schum, a geezer who had retired in 2002. What does he know? That’s like asking Buck Showalter about the state of the Yankees. I just didn’t get it. It was a piece aimed like a torpedo to blow up a ship. I think there’s no question of that.
[Full disclosure: Kornheiser said he and Schum do not get along. According to Kornheiser, Schum attempted to have him removed from his position as sports editor at The Colonial News. Schum does not recall that, but said he did criticize Kornheiser for his commentary.]
Some of these kids that the Times article’s attacking don’t seem to have been recruited by the present administration, so [the current administration] doesn’t bear any responsibility for them at all.
It seemed [all the players] were passing their courses, it seemed that they were in line as students of a public university, with students at Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Florida and all the other very good, very distinguished public universities that have made a commitment to athletics as well.
I didn’t see the scandal that obviously The New York Times did. Look, I’m the wrong guy to ask. This is my school, I’m going to be very supportive of my school. Without my education at Harpur College, I wouldn’t be what I am today.
PD: How do you feel about Kevin Broadus?
TK: Kevin Broadus, I knew nothing about him as a head coach. I knew he had recruited very well at George Washington and Georgetown, two schools which are in the highest possible quadrant of academic schools in the country. He must’ve known, must’ve understood, that there are academic rules. He’s certainly within the margins, it would seem to me.
This is his second year. Have they ever won 20 before? In the history of the school have they ever won this many games? Have they ever been a game away from the NCAA Tournament?
PD: Nope.
TK: I would think he’s done a very good job.
PD: What about the players?
TK: The only game I really watched, I watched live against GW [a 71-57 loss on Nov. 19]. They weren’t very good at all, I didn’t feel. I watched the entire semifinal game. The steal by Rivera was great, but I said in e-mail to Joel Thirer that he looks alarmingly like Snoop Dogg to me.
You’re in real jeopardy that game at the time of the play, even though you’re up by one, New Hampshire hung tight the whole game. [Binghamton led 68-67 with 11 seconds to play at the time of the steal.] They were getting the ball, had a kid who nailed about five 3s and got a pretty good guard, who, if he drives in and gets fouled, he’s going to make both.
It stands out enormously to me, great play by Rivera.
PD: And now we’re in the finals. You wanted to do the PTI broadcast from the area, but can’t because there’s no local facility that can handle the broadcast and it’d be a long trip for you. It’s a shame.
TK: If you’re the America East and ESPN tells you you got to be on at 11 a.m., you have to do it, you can’t bitch about it. For me it’d be about five hours by car. It means getting out of here at five in the morning. I’m just getting up for the second time to pee at five in the morning.
PD: So you’ll catch the game on TV?
TK: I’ll watch, I’m enormously excited, I hope that Binghamton wins, and then for selfish reasons, hope they get to the region that nobody in Binghamton wants them to go to, which is Philadelphia. Then I can watch my school get pounded in the NCAAs, which is what everybody wants to do. Everybody in the frozen tundra of the Triple Cities would rather Phoenix.
PD: Seriously? That’s far. Warm, but far.
TK: No. Binghamton is a predominantly, overwhelmingly instate public school. People aren’t going to be able to travel the other distances.
PD: What about higher aspirations than just making the tournament, for the future?
TK: When you’re a mid-major, it’s about getting to the NCAAs. Binghamton’s going to get at best a 14 seed, so they’re going up against a Top 10 team. I don’t think they’d get a 15 because they haven’t lost at all in February and March.
Maybe [Binghamton’s deficit in the first round] is below 10 with eight, nine minutes to go, and they end up down by 15.
But the great celebratory moment is now: you can clinch at home, you can go to the NCAAs. There can’t be anything better than that on this level. They’re not Maryland, UConn or Duke, they’re never going to be.
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