According to a firsthand witness Jessica Banks from Wellesley, MA; at approximately 8:30 PM ET on Sunday July 12th, at the restaurant Sonsie in Boston, MA, an aggravated 'homeless' looking male began shouting into the restaurant's open terrace dining area for a brief time before losing his match and being shooed away by what appeared to be a restaurant manager.
The focus of this article however focuses on a particular customer very close in proximity to the event; Head Coach for the Syracuse University Orange Men's Basketball Team, Jim Boeheim. According to Banks, Coach Boeheim was accompanied by three others in a Rolls Royce wielding a large diamond wrist watch and a flat ring sporting another diamond with the number "3" on it upon entry to the terrace dining section of the restaurant.
At an identified time into the dinner, the 'homeless' male began his shouting match into the restaurant. The male continued yelling, "Are you threatening me?! Are you threatening me?!" in a very ungrammatical, irate fashion. Other customers sat quietly and "awkwardly" as the male allegedly, according to Banks, seemed to be directing his rant at someone specific.
Being in such close proximity to the aggressive male, Boeheim then turned slightly toward Banks and a friend who where sitting at the neighboring table. In between Boeheim's knees was a "huge" black pistol with what appeared to be light, laser or site on top. "It looked like it weighed 5 lbs," said Banks. Boeheim kept the gun low, out of sight and "about to cock it".
Upon the male retreating to his shopping cart by the curb and walking away, the restaurant manager went straight to Boeheim's table, apologized, and made him aware that someone is patrolling the surrounding sidewalks. Boeheim tucked his concealed weapon back into his "bermuda shorts".
Possibly in humor or potentially serious, Boeheim turned to the other male at his table and said, "I was about to put two in him..." The male responds, "...yeah thats cool just don't shoot me."
A potentially hazardous situation for a Hall of Fame coach. Jim Boeheim has been coaching the Syracuse Orange for 33 seasons including 25 NCAA appearances, winning seven Big East Regular Season Championships, five Big East Tournament Championships, and three trips the National Championship Game with one victory in 2003. Boeheim also ranks third all-time in career wins with a 799-288 wins to loss ratio (.735) and served as an Assistant Coach for the 2008 United States Men's National Basketball Team in the Summer Olympics that won gold.
Jim Boeheim is by no doubt one of the best basketball coaches of all-time. We as fans can only be thankful that he did not have to use necessary force. It is clear that there have been more than a few gun related incidents involving sports figures and although Boeheim used correct judgment, refrained and appeared to only use it in self-defense, the 'what-if' always remains. Strictly as a precedent, we can refer to one of the most notable mistakes that has occurred in the past year, Plaxico Burress, and from there make opinions of our own.
-Scott Beer
DuelingCouches.com
Source: Jessica Banks & unnamed 2nd witness
(DuelingCouches.com is guaranteeing to be the only known source and the first to publish this story. All credits must be published and sourced appropriately.)
*Below is a photo taken by Jessica Banks via camera phone before the incident:
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