There Used To Be Clocks Here

Goin' on Hiatus

Well, since I haven't posted squat since Syracuse managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory against Cornell a few weeks back, I'm officially going on hiatus.

The outage should last until around May 13th (that's when I polish of my examinations). After that, I'll jump right back into the driver's seat for SU's run to the Final Four. Hopefully.

Until then, enjoy the greatest movie ever made.

Big Red v. Orange

The Gory Details
Syracuse @ Cornell
7 PM - Carrier Dome
Weather: Syracuse, NY
Television: Time Warner 26
Radio: Syracuse - [WAER - 88.3 FM] [ESPNRadio - 1260 AM]; Ithaca - [WTKO - 1470 AM]
On the Web: Syracuse ISP; WAER; WTKO; LaxPower Blow-by-Blow

Game Notes:
Syracuse
Cornell (Media Guide)

Statistics:
Syracuse
Cornell
National

The Post-Standard takes up advertising space to print some news.

Hey, Cornell has a student newspaper! A student paper, ample fields to molest sheep, what more could a privileged kid from Long Island ask for?

Hey, people other than students can read in Ithaca! It's Suicide-Assisting Gorges!

Hard work is for suckers.

Here's a general read on the sport. It's worth the 30 second read to realize that defeding the game is just pointless. You're either on the train or you're not.

Hoops
Dick Vitale has no idea when to stop yammering. Here's his Solid Gold Teams, whatever that is. I'm not sure what is different between his Solid Gold teams and the other junk he puts out there. Just for note - Gerry is a proud third teamer.

Time to blow up those hurrah balloons. Syracuse has put TCU on the home schedule for next season. For all of you scoring at home, that's:

Games Time Warner Doesn't Even Want: 1
Excitement: 0

Football
What's 250 pounds minus 20 pounds?

Still fat.

Progress, schmogress. The only thing impressive about this scrimmage was that Pasqualoni wasn't there. We'll see what happens when the helmets get strapped on for the big spring scrimmage.

Live Blogging? Ok!

I'm gonna give this live blogging thing a whirl. It's seems to be all the rage. This and pedophilia.

2:51 - Stall offense officially in play. Game over. 13 minutes left.

2:50 - If Loyola wins this game I will murder someone. Guaranteed.

2:45 - If Loyola isn't shooting themselves in the foot, they are hitting the floor all around it. Loyola is very charitable - nothing but giveaways from these jamokes. They should get a deduction on their tax returns.

1:00 remaining.

Whoops, SU scores again. 11-3. Joe Derrigo (yeah, I don't know who he is either).

2:43 - 10-3. Greg Rommel. 3:08 remaining.

It's official, the Orange Fox has attacked the Greyhound cage. That's the first tally in 9 minutes. Loyola looking like they ate too much bologna before the game.

2:42 - Lindsay Lohan is stupid hot. I mean she is total babetastic. She needs to get her own reality show.

2:36 - 4:42 remaining.

Pfiefer starting to get peppered. But he's salting the shots away. Ka-Zing!

Offense is a little inefficient here. Rushing shots and not backing up for possession. Seem to be happy with the 6 goal cushion. No longer pressing like they were in the 1st half.

2:34 - 9-3. Monfett.

That's Monfett's second point on the day (1G, 1A). He's actually playing like the star I held him out to be in my preview. Phew.

Syracuse all of a sudden getting beat down at the face-off X. Loyola looking a little more aggressive.

2:32 - 9-2. Pfiefer screened on the tally; squeeks right through his 5-hole.

2:31 - Papi Ortiz goes yard! It's now 5-4 Blue Jays. And Loyola is still getting schllacked.

2:30 - The question at this point is whether Syracuse is this good or Loyola is this bad. It's probably neither, but is a pretty good glimpse at what Syracuse is capable of both defensively and offensively when they commit themselves to corralling groundballs and valuing possession.

Loyola looks freaked out. Like when that broad got snatched up by King Kong.

Syracuse on the EMO. We want mooooooooooooore goals!

2:27 - Mike Fretwell actually makes a save on Mike Leveille. Cue the apocalypse.

2:26 - 9-1.

Steven Brooks gets on the board finally. LC has had no possession this second half. Syracuse has done pretty well at the X today, which is nice. 12:41 remaining.

2:22 - 8-1.

Crockett from Boyle. Boyle with 3 points on the day. Crockett with his second tally.

Put in the varsity, Dirrgl.

Ditzell goes Hulkamania on LC. Greyhounds on the :30 EMO. 13 minutes remaining.

2:21 - In other news, Virginia is trouncing North Carolina 10-4 at the half. If NC loses today, they'll be sitting on their collective asses Memorial Day Weekend. NC has to be one of the biggest disappointments this season along with Princeton.

Hobart is also trailing Penn State 11-9 at the half. A bit of a surprise. The Statesment need to show up in the second half and tighten up their close defense.

2:11 - Rommel and Brooks shut out in the first half. Coming into the game, this may have been a point of concern. However, with Mike Leveille dropping a hat trick in the first 8 minutes and Andrew Boyle getting an offensive surge.

Defense has been spectacular. Although, it's getting an assist from LC's affinity for the turnover. LC turnovers have all but led to the ridiculous disparity in shots taken (23-12).

2:07 - Andrew Boyle, again. From Jarrett Park.

7-1.

For the record, that's Boyle's 2nd goal on the season.
He's had three shots this year.
Both goals today.
On two shots.

Loyola celebrates... the halftime horn.

2:03 - 6-1. Andrew Boyle.

You know things are rolling your way when defensive middies are dropping tallies. Fretwell seemingly hasn't corralled a shot today. Loyola getting a nasty reality check today - Syracuse is not Wagner.

1:57 - 4:31 remaining in 1st half. Still 5-1. LC is allergic to possession. SU is absolutely dominating. Seems like Mike MacDonald is getting a lot of field time today, which is nice. The West Genny product seems to have a lot of potential and will be a major contributor next season.

Big Ups for the first half go to Wright/Ditzell/Panarelli. Playing super duper hot right now.

1:52 - Wow. LC goes to 7 of 38 on the EMO this season squandering the opportunity here. That's pretty darn pitiful.

Unofficial stat of the moment: Shots - SU (15) LC (4)

1:50 - Koppens (LC) is bringing some sanity to the Greyhound attack. Just drew a penalty on Steve Panarelli. Loyola on the EMO trailing by 4. Huge possession.

1:45 - Loyola has finally woken up a little bit. Trying to control some possessions. Interesting note - Syracuse had 0 turnovers in the 1st half.

SU 5 - LC - 1. 11 minutes and change remaining.

1:32 - Mike Leveille is going bezerko. You'd need a silver bullet to stop this guy.

Bologna Tastes Disgusting

Hoops
Is there anything dumber than these post-championship/pre-pre-season polls and All-America selections? These things all but belittle the importance of summer conditioning and the impact they will have on the following season. Not to mention they all but ignore transfers/defections/player injury/player suspensions/etc. Just a waste of ink.

With this in mind, Dick Vitale, or whoever puts the words in Dick Vitale's mouth, has released his '05-'06 All Rolls Royce Teams. McNamara is relegated to 3rd team status. McNamania... Catch it!

Ok, Bernie Fine is a finalist for the FAU gig. Here are some other finalists. When is someone going to put a stop to this madness?

A) As an established assistant coach, there is no reason Fine should be persuing this job. This is a gig for a rising 2nd assistant looking to cut his teeth at a low-DI institution.
2) FAU has to be the only burgeoning DI school looking for age to invigorate its program. If I was Florida Atlantic's AD, I'd focus almost exclusively on young assistants or energenic DII coaches. Kids love playing for those guys.

Allen Griffin actually coaching instead of being a glorified secretary? A brief warning to AG: The NEC is a basketball wasteland. While St. Francis may be close to where Griffin grew up, it is light years from the relevant basketball universe.

Also, that same Griffin story notes that Andy Rautins (recent commit for next season) is playing in the All-Canadian Game. That should be exciting. Nothing but hockey washouts trying to shoot the pumpkin. If Rautins has less than 75 points in that game I won't be impressed.

In recruiting news, Paul Harris is a must-get for Coach Boeheim. He has insta-impact written all over him.

Hate Billy Packer? Spread the good word.

Football
Want to laugh at what you'll be forced to pay to watch next fall? It's good to temper expectations early. In fact, you shouldn't have any expectations at all.

Coach Robinson is messing around with the special teams. Looks like a three way race for the kicking gig this season between Carney, Krautman, and Shadle. My prediction - Carney annihilates the competition and goes into the fall as the starting punter, kicker, and 3rd down back.

Riddle me this...

Here's the CFN Big East look-ahead. Can't really disagree with putting Louisville as the favorite, but it's a toss-up between WVU, SU, and Pitt for the 2-4 slots.

Lacrosse
Cut down on turnovers, eh? That's so crazy it might work.
With the strength of Loyola's defense and SU's inability to win at the faceoff X, valuing possession is an absolute must for the Orange on Saturday.

Of course the lacrosse tradition at Syracuse is like a family lineage. When you graduate, I think you're required to hang around the program like a dog on its master's heel.

Just Call Me Ron Mexico

Hoops
I still can't believe that Bernie Fine is being considered for this FAU gig. 59 years old and he wants to take over this monstrous project. Good luck. I'd rather drink bleach.

Relive all the excitement!
Break out the Tivo!
Witness history!
Don't miss it!

If you listen to ESPNRadio's SportsBash, you've probably already heard this. It's Eric's "High Road/Low Road" where being witty is optional. Worth a listen if you like obscure references that have little to no applicability.

Football
Is there some University by-law that states that at least one football player must start on that offensive line and play out of position? How about this: recruit a center. It's just a suggestion, but who knows, it may pan out. The offense is already going to be dreadful next season, why not be dreadful with people that actually have experience being dreadful at their positions. Dreadful.

Giruzzi ran a low 4.5. That's pretty damn impressive for a skill position player. But what makes it uber impressive is that Giruzzi is a linebacker. With Pruitt, Mackey and Kelvin Smith knocking heads next year with Giruzzi, the front 7 might actually be not dreadful.

Speaking of the front seven, the D.O. has some ink on DE James Wyche. Wyche/LaCasse certainly won't be as prolific as Freeney/Thomas was a few years back, but these two jamokes will get their share of QB rattles. Now only if the secondary could stop someone....

FieldTurf, eh? I'll believe it when I see it. This is the same University that refused to by a new basketball floor at market price. Pitiful.

What, let me correct that.

Dreadful. There that's better.

It's just a matter of time until Brenden Carney punts his way to NFL stardom. Who's in his shadow? Patrick Shadle. Punter/kicker extraordinaire and certified Jesus freak. Shadle's reasons for choosing Syracuse over the hometown Mountaineers - indoor plumbing and available dentistry services.

Football outside, eh? That's so crazy, it might dreadfully work.

Lacrosse
It appears as if Notre Dame was a Big East lacrosse conference. SU's officially response: "No. How do you like dem apples?"

I figure Syracuse should cut a deal with the Irish. When Notre Dame decides to man-up and join the Big East conference as a full member (read: play football with the poor kids), Syracuse will suck it up and play in the wasteland that will be Big East lacrosse. A quid pro quo, if you will.

So, if you want Big East lacrosse so badly, drop your dreadful NBC contract and independent football status. If you want the best things in life (a guaranteed game against Syracuse lacrosse every season), you must make a sacrifice.

The Gory Details
Syracuse @ Loyola
1 PM - Geppi-Aikens Field
Weather: Baltimore, MD
Television: WMAR2 (Baltimore); ESPNU
Radio: Syracuse - [WAER - 88.3 FM] [ESPNRadio - 1260 AM]; Baltimore - [WNST - 1570 AM]
On the Web: Syracuse ISP; WAER; WNST; LaxPower Blow-by-Blow

Game Notes:
Syracuse
Loyola

Statistics:
Syracuse
Loyola
National

Syracuse Athletics has put out its official release. And Molly Pitcher on the Front Line it contains a link for game notes.

And Loyola did the same.

The analysis for this game is simple: score. If Syracuse can approach its nearly 10 goals/game average, Loyola is sunk. There are few teams in the country that are relying so heavily on their defense to win games, but Loyola is managing to be fairly sucessful doing it.

The Greyhounds are surrendering just over six tallies an outing, and are only depositing around 8.5 strikes per contest in the opponent's cage. Certainly not an overwhelming disparity. If the Orange can strike early, and Pfiefer doesn't take a nap in the cage, Loyola probably won't be able to rise from the mat. Four times this season Loyola has failed to score more than six goals, one of those occasions being against 1st year program St. John's. The Greyhounds are not a team built with the ability to overcome deficits. If down early, they will more than likely fold.

Loyola is winless when trailing at the half.
They are also winless trailing after 3 periods.
And are only 2-2 when the opponent scores first.

It's that simple.

Star Watch:
Mike Monfett - Sr. (A)
Leads the team with 13 points (12G, 1A) and one of the few upperclassmen on Dirrgl's roster. He's had 3 multiple goal games this season and is the only true finisher on the club.

Requiem for an NCAA Bracket

My bracket is officially busted. It's time to save it from the purgatory it now rests in, pull it off life support, and send it off to the big paper shredder in the sky.

Giving a cursory glance at the 8.5" x 11" sheet of lies, it appears as if somebody spilled an entire well of red ink on it. Gone is the glory of a Syracuse, Kansas, Oklahoma State and Louisville Final Four. In its place are scribblings of vulgar language and a smattering of broken dreams.

What was once the crown jewel of my ego has become the bane to my existence.

Probably the worst part about having a destroyed bracket submission is that there's nothing you can do to mitigate the destruction. Apparently, these bracket terrorists of Sweet Sixteen destruction didn't get the memo that I had them hitting the bricks before they could unpack their suitcases. All you can do is watch the horror unfold before you on CBS and ask God what you did to deserve such prognosticating punishment.

My bracket just never saw it coming. It was as if it was blindsided by a Santa Claus-size sack of bricks.

Bucknell over Kansas?
Vermont over Syracuse?

Forget cheap shots, those are two low blows.

Despite being shaken, I was sure the bracket would pull itself off the mat. There had to be a Rockyesque rally around the corner. There could be no more punishment served up, right?

NC State over Connecticut?
UW-Milwaukee over Boston College?
Michigan State over Duke?
West Virginia over Wake Forest?

Oh, the humanity!

I think it's time for the NCAA to create a Department of Matt Glaude Bracket Security. The first action by this agency would be to promulgate a policy that places a moratorium on allowing mid-major universities from winning a tournament game. Something must be done.

How about a strict immigration policy of excommunicating Cinderella from the Land of the Big Dance?

Regardless of what may be done in the future, the sorrow from watching my bracket turn into a shell of its old self persists. Maybe it was due to the shock and awe provided by seeds as large as my shoe size. Maybe it's because I saw a lot of myself in that bracket and it never reached its potential. I don't know.

All the bracketology, all the punditry – all for naught. There's only one thing left to say.

Farewell, my friend. Godspeed.

Somebody Firebomb Billy Packer

General
The Daily Orange is officially on the Syracuse :: 44 :: Orange bandwagon. Slogans? We don't need no stinkin' slogans.
*Personal Favorite: SU is Gross*

Hoops
Boeheim is officially a member of the Hall of Fame. Which is nice, so he's got that going for him.

If you're interested in taking in the Enshrinement Weekend, better start saving your pennies.

Just about every paper in the country is running ink on the introduction of the inductees. We'll try and keep it upstate local today, for the sake of my sanity.

The Post-Standard showed up for the presser. Story. Story. And of course Bud Poliquin chimes in with his own brand of wit - which is to say there is no discernable wit.

And the D.O. rocks it super hard.

Hate reading? Me too!

Scott Pitoniak, from the Rochester D&C, pipes up about Boeheim.

Everyone seemed apprehensive about Mike Hopkins potentially leaving SU to take the head job at Siena. Well, that isn't happening since Siena just recently filled their vacancy - without Hopkins. However, the coaching staff still may lose a body. Bernie Fine.

If you're a burgeoning program, wouldn't you want some youthful energy on the sideline? I can't see FAU actually offering Fine the job, but if they do, well, it's their funeral. Fine certainly has the acumen to be a collegiate head coach, but I'm not sure if he's a great fit for the gig.

Football
The Daily Orange hasn't forgotten that SU is slumming through spring practice. Here's the latest.

Instead of taking the 5 minute drive up the Hill, the Post-Standard lets the AP pen a piece on spring practice. It's all right and worth a read.

Lacrosse
Get an appreciation for the game, dammit.

Brown Flushed Down

Dear Coach Desko:

What the hell is going on?

Here's some free advice: teach passing and catching. And don't ruin my May.

Sincerely,
Orange Nation

The lacrosse team was in action Saturday against Brown. And it was a first class stinkfest from all reports. At least things on the Hill aren't as bad as they are in Princeton (still winless - lost to Yale on Saturday). The gory details are as follows:

Boxscore

The Post-Standard ink: Here.

Steven Brooks has a story, and you should hear about it. Desko always seems to find these diamonds in the rough. Spencer Wright comes to mind as a recent impact player that came from relative obscurity.

Daily Orange faux pas. 8-7? Okie dokie. Drinking and covering games go together like peanut butter and vasectomies.

What is this, 1750? Reading is for suckers!

Come by the Carrier Dome and watch Syracuse celebrate itself. It'll be self-glorifyingriffic. I still don't understand why the University adamantly recognizes the '90 championship. If it has been officially vacated by the NCAA, I would think that's as concrete a position as you can have.

This would be like Al Gore claiming victory in the 2000 election after the Supreme Court laid the smack down. "No, I hear you, Justice Rehnquist. But I'm the president. Jerk."

Just another notch in the belt of the enigma that is SU Athletics.

ESPNU has a piece on lacrosse that's worth reading. Give it a look.

Hoops
Here are some snippets indicating that Boehiem is headed to the Hall.

A whole story on the agony of defeat? Sign me up!

Lest we forget, SU had a hoops team prior to the Jimmy B. regime.

Football
Gee, who would've thought that Syracuse would play through the spring with a muddled quaterback situation. For what it's worth, neither Patterson nor Fields can complete an intermediate pass, so whoever ends up starting is going to murder the West Coast offense. Pariani has his hands full with these two guys.

The countdown for skipped passes starts right now.

My pick for starting QB - Bugs Bunny. Or Jesus. One of the two.

What's the Color of Sh*t! Brown, Brown!

My contempt for the SU Athletic Department knows no bounds. Darryl Gross seems like a pretty solid guy, but I could generally do without everybody else that has a parking pass outside the Lampe Complex.

I think this story encapsulates everything that is pitiful about the SUAD.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this your job. Do your job! I guarantee the over/under for potentially usable submission is about 4. The over/under for "**** Pasqualoni," probably about 28.

Lacrosse

Jim Brown is on his way to The Hill this Saturday for the lacrosse game versus Brown. Wonderful. Apparently he's being honored for his seminal work in Any Given Sunday.

Inside Lacrosse has a blurb on the flying fish incident at Hobart in its Men's Notebook. I thought fish only flew on Bert & Ernie. "Here fishy, fishy, fishy..."

Greg Niewieroski is turning heads all thanks to Desko's genius. Look at the offensive six he's trotting onto the field now:
Close Attack:
Niewieroski
Crockett
Leveille

Midfield:
Park
Bucktooth
Rommel

The close attack is a little young, but there is plenty of seniority running at the midfield to create for those promising attackmen. This could be the start of something wonderful...

Daily Orange continues in its line of fine player profiles. Today's feature - John Wright.

Hate reading! Like video! Try this!

Pre-Game Day
Syracuse @ Brown
4 PM - Carrier Dome
TV: None
Radio: WAER 88.3 FM; ESPNRadio 1260 AM;
On the Web: Syracuse ISP; WAER; LaxPower Blow-by-Blow (Brown has no Web Audio for this game)

You know the drill - no game notes from SU Athletics yet. However, Brown has come through on their end. They're brief, but at least they'll give you a feel for what the Bears are putting on the field. To supplement the game notes, here are Brown's season statistics.

There's nothing in the print media in of a game preview yet. I don't blame them. Saturday is going to be a major league stinker.

Brown has skated by a down Ohio State team (10-8), yielding 7 goals to a pitiful Quinnipiac club, and got waxed by a mediocre UMass team 12-5.

Football

The Big Ten is changing its name finally. Is this a sign paving the way for Notre Dame admission? Pittsburgh admission? Dare I say Syracuse admission? Who knows. What I do know is that this name is dumber than maintain the Big Ten moniker with 11 affiliated institutions.

The Big Conference? It's not even bigger than the Big XII, ACC, or SEC. And this required a secrect meeting? There's only one explanation for this: the cigar chomping monkeys at it again.

Officially put me in the camp that says that Jerry Mackey will be the next great linebacker at Syracuse.


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