In Like Flynn

Godspeed, Jonny Flynn.

After two years at Syracuse University, upstate New York’s favorite son is headed to greener pastures. Flynn is one of three starting players – forward Paul Harris and guard Eric Devendorf being the other two – on the Orange men’s basketball team who will enter the NBA draft this year.

Toward the end of March – inconveniently, hours before Syracuse was drubbed out of the Sweet Sixteen by Oklahoma – rumors about Flynn’s departure began to fly. Days later, the NY Daily News reported that LeBron James had started calling on behalf of his agent, Leon Rose.

Today, the Syracuse Post-Standard reported that Flynn more than likely intends to sign with Rose sometime this week, thus relinquishing his remaining two years of NCAA eligibility.

And, of course, none of this came as much of a surprise. Ever since he arrived in Syracuse in 2007, Flynn has clearly been a big fish in a proverbial small pond. And in today’s ultracompetitive market, in which even a ten-year stint in the big leagues is rare, the wise player gets in while the getting’s good – even if it means giving up a college degree.

This column, however, is intended to be less of an attempt to crack the egg of The Coveted Player and more of a study of the people who draw inspiration from him.

This March, Syracuse was a sight to behold. After a legendary six-overtime victory over UConn at the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, the Orange fever was palpable. A local design shop whipped up a commemorative ‘Marathon Men’ t-shirt overnight and sold 20,000 in less than a week. By the end of March, they had more than doubled that initial figure.

To be fair, Syracuse has seen its share of superlative stars this past decade. Most notably, Carmelo Anthony and Donté Green – both ephemeral, one-and-done players. Or Gerry MacNamara and Hakim Warrick. All names that continue to resonate.

But none have captured the hearts and minds of the city quite like Flynn, the diminutive, unflagging point guard. Flynn’s a product of Niagra Falls, which has made him something of a hometown hero for pride-strapped New Yorkers. Plus, he’s good.

While driving one day, I can recall hearing a local car dealer invoke Flynn’s workman attitude as an example to be followed (Flynn, after all, set a school record this year for playing time). Conquer fear. Play until it’s over. Such timeless sports platitudes can really take root in difficult times such as these.

One aspect of sports that is consistently overlooked is their ability to inspire. Though it’s rarely deliberate, athletes often become surrogates for regions. Even ideas. In their purest form, sports allow a city to directly compete with another city in a way that is neither abstract nor debatable. The winner wins. The loser loses. Rarely in life are things so unequivocal. With luck, sports fans and even people peripherally attached to sports fans will always find it this easy to distill the best, positive qualities of athletes and transform them into personal convictions.

So. Is Jonny Flynn really an avatar for our fears and dreams? Do we seek subjective meaning in his trials and tribulations? Is his future somehow tied to our dignity? What happens, then, when the body inevitably leaves town? Does the spirit dissipate too?

Impossible questions, perhaps, but questions that one cannot help but consider.

While it seems fairly obvious that Jonny Flynn is more than just a basketball player to Central New Yorkers, his time here won’t be forgotten any time soon. As teammate Arinze Onuaku recently mused, there’s always the stories. There will always be more players, more championships, more chances at national recognition. There will always be next year – that comforting, maddening mantra.

And even if all those fail, there will always be the t-shirts.