Andy Katz ‘Idiot’ Rant Rattles Basketball Fans
Hartford, CT – Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim called ESPN reporter Andy Katz an “idiot” and “really a disloyal person” in a post-game press conference that quickly went viral. A video of the rant posted by Houston Mitchell at the Los Angeles Times shows the irate Boeheim, whose team lost 66-58 to Connecticut on Wednesday night, shouting, “I’ll answer anybody’s question but yours.”
Donna Ditota, reporting for the Syracuse Post-Standard, noted that, when another person asked the same question, Boeheim answered it calmly. While Boeheim was undoubtedly upset about the loss to the Syracuse rival, most observers are confident that he has a personal grudge against Katz.
Boeheim and Katz haven’t commented on the outburst, but college basketball reporter Jason McIntyre at Big Lead Sports has talked to Andy Katz, the alleged “idiot,” in the past about the feud. According to McIntyre, Katz believes that Boeheim is angry about his part in reporting the Bernie Fine scandal when he was assigned by ESPN to report Boeheim’s reaction.
“After that,” Katz says, “I knew that he wasn’t taking my calls.”
In late 2011, in a case with eerie similarities to the notorious Sandusky scandal at Penn State, former Syracuse assistant coach Bernie Fine was accused of molesting underage boys. As James Johnson reported earlier, an accuser also claims that Boeheim knew that Bernie Fine’s wife Laurie was rumored to be sexually active with some of the players.
As a result, Boeheim may feel less excited to talk to ESPN reporters than the average coach. Do you think Boeheim should apologize to Andy Katz for calling him an idiot?
