Animosity, Thy Name Is Boston College
As Michael Vega reports in today's edition of the Boston Globe, Syracuse is now very close to inking a long-term football contract with the Eagles:

Although the Eagles have not faced their former Big East brethren since defecting to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Boston College is close to finalizing a long-term deal to play Syracuse, according to athletic director Gene DeFilippo.

"It'll be a six- to eight-year deal that won't begin until 2010, -11, or -12," said DeFilippo.

* * * * *

The Orange dealt BC a humiliating 43-17 defeat in the last meeting two years ago at Alumni Stadium. It will mark the renewal of ties between former Eastern Independent and Big East rivals who had played continuously for three decades, from 1971 to 2004.

Even before Connecticut's arrival on the scene, Syracuse, which owns a 28-17 all-time record vs. BC, had been long considered one of the Eagles' fiercest Big East football rivals, largely because of the geographic proximity of the schools. In making the matchup, DeFilippo was hoping to renew a natural rivalry.

"A lot of teams in the [ACC] seem to have one," DeFilippo said. "Virginia had Virginia Tech before [the Hokies] came into the league and Florida State plays Florida, Georgia Tech plays Georgia, so I think this would be a pretty good thing for us to do."

Unlike many Syracuse and Big East Conference fans, I think that renewing the rivalry with Boston College is non-stop terrific:

• As two private schools located in the Northeast, the schools maintain a similar student body and academic cirriculum conducive to a bitter, yet healthy disdain;
• The obvious ACC-Big East storyline underlying the two school's athletic history makes the game a red magic marker circler on the calendar;
• Syracuse maintains a large alumni base in Boston, thus allowing the rivalry to flourish off the field;
• The two institutions recruit from essentially the same regions of the country; and
• Keeping Boston College on the schedule maintains Syracuse's commitment to scheduling worthwhile and strong opponents.

Mr. Excitement To Ruin Football Games, Too
Syracuse Post-Standard staff writer Donnie Webb reports in his blog today that the Syracuse Athletic Department has found a replacement for long-time Carrier Dome announcer Carl Eilenberg:

Bill Orange told me yesterday that Michael Veley will replace Carl Eilenberg as public address speaker at the Carrier Dome. Let's hope Mr. Excitement doesn't turn into one of those god-awful NBA Arena guys. Remember - less is more, less is more. The school should have an announcement, soon.

Get Your Daily Dose of Crazy
From Syracuse Post-Standard staff writer Donna Ditota:

Aspiring minor league
Talked to Evan Kaseguma today about his organization's plan to build an eight-team minor league lacrosse league that would provide skilled college players with a summer outlet.

Kaseguma, the Chief Operating Officer of Minor League Lacrosse, said the league hopes initially to lure eight teams, split geographically between Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, to start play in the summer of 2007.

Each team would consist of 24-26 players, all of them amateurs. There would be tryouts, or in some instances, special invitations issued to players particular franchises deemed desirable. The games would start in June and stretch until late July or early August.

"There really wasn't a whole lot of options for college lacrosse players over the summer," Kaseguma said. "There wasn't a unified league focused on development or a high level of play."

Kaseguma likened the proposed lacrosse league to the Cape Cod Baseball League, which has nourished the skills of amateur baseball players for years.

Minor League Lacrosse officials, he said, have been talking to prospective franchise owners, including people in Syracuse. They hope to make an announcement about which cities might have franchises by the fall.

"Syracuse," he said, "is certainly one of the areas we'd love to have a franchise."

The league's two co-founders, Matt Camp and Mike Agrillo, are former Harvard players. Camp is from the Syracuse area. He was a goalie at Jamesville-DeWitt High School in the early 1990s.

There appear to be three primary issues with such a circuit:

1. As Minor League Lacrosse is looking to lure college players to its league, the organization is precluded from offering compensation to its players. With a lack of compensation, what incentives do these student-athletes have to compete? Unlike the Cape Cod league, where professional scouts are everywhere and the opportunity to generate a huge future payday is just around the corner, Minor League Lacrosse is resting its hopes on Major League Lacrosse -- an entity still in relative infancy and lacking in financial and manpower resources.



2. Even college lacrosse diehards like myself are probably not going to be interested in watching these games. Unlike baseball, great lacrosse needs team chemistry and game planning. By cobbling together 25 lacrosse players from different backgrounds and strategic systems, the pace and style of play is likely to be jilted and rough. In short, there is no way that even the best coaches in the game could possibly get 25 different guys to play on the same page in less than a month of practice and gameplay.



3. Finally, there is the coaching issue. Most college coaches would rather spend their summer recruiting the myriad of prep lacrosse camps conducted across the country. Moreover, such contact with current collegiate players may constitute an NCAA violation. Also, it is unlikely that professional coaches are to take over the reigns of these teams, as they are competing simultaneously on the Major League Lacrosse circuit. That leaves high school coaches, and given the fact that the purpose of this league is to develop players, a high school coach may not have enough experience and knowledge to push these athletes to their potential.

Syracuse Hoops 2006/7: An RPI Adventure
In what can only be perceived as an attempt to dominate the RPI formula, Syracuse has officially released the majority of its non-conference basketball schedule for the 2006/7 season. Highlighted by games against Witchita State and Oklahoma State, the Orange are clearly constructing a dangerous schedule:

2006/7 Syracuse Non-Conference Schedule
Date	Opponent	Location
11/10-12	Pennsylvania	Syracuse, NY
11/10-12	St. Francis (NY)	Syracuse, NY
11/15	Northeastern	Syracuse, NY
11/22	Charlotte	Syracuse, NY
11/25	Canisius	Buffalo, NY
11/27	Holy Cross	Syracuse, NY
12/2	Witchita State	Syracuse, NY
12/5	Oklahoma State	New York, NY
12/9	Colgate	Syracuse, NY
12/16	Baylor	Syracuse, NY
12/19	Drexel	Syracuse, NY
12/22	Hofstra	Syracuse, NY
12/30	St. Bonaventure	Syracuse, NY

NOTE: Syracuse is still seeking one more non-conference opponent for the BCA Invitational to be held November 10 - 12.