This was four years ago. Seems like an eternity.Today is always a day of reflection for me. If you are a loyal, long time reader of this blog you know that it is my birthday today. But if you are a keen Syracuse fan, you know that this is a bittersweet day in football lore. In 2001 on this date, it was the last time Syracuse won a bowl game. The then Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, was the site of where Syracuse took on Kansas State and won 26 to three. Syracuse finished #14 in the nation with ten wins, and as it was my freshman year and my first Bowl Game I thought it could not get any better than that. Sadly I was right. The team then failed to reach a bowl game the next two years, only to do so in 2004 by being embarrassed by Georgia Tech in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.
Then of course December 29th, 2004 that was the day at brand new Athletic Director DOCTOR Gross fired Coach P after a six win season. Six wins seems like a lot these days considering that Greg Robinson managed ten wins in four years.
So today is yet another day in a yearly status check that I personally take of where we are in terms of football. While some things got better (the offensive line), some things got worse (Greg Robinson’s win %). Because even if you are a nice guy, and the team gets better, if you do not win games you lose your job. So Syracuse hired alumnus Doug Marrone. He has about eight months to get the team ready to compete again. Will we go to a bowl game this coming season? It is doubtful. Will I feel a whole hell of a lot better about paying money to see this new team? Absolutely. No where to go but up. But I already feel a lot better about our chances of winning more games or at least staying in games.
A year from now I will be out of school, already working for a bit I am sure. The season will be over again, and we will know right away if this is the man to return the football team to prominence, or at least put Syracuse back on that road. While I am not sitting in a sunny location blogging from a hotel near a bowl site right now, hopefully sometime within the next five years I will be. Syracuse traditionally has given me pretty great Birthday presents.
Then of course December 29th, 2004 that was the day at brand new Athletic Director DOCTOR Gross fired Coach P after a six win season. Six wins seems like a lot these days considering that Greg Robinson managed ten wins in four years.
So today is yet another day in a yearly status check that I personally take of where we are in terms of football. While some things got better (the offensive line), some things got worse (Greg Robinson’s win %). Because even if you are a nice guy, and the team gets better, if you do not win games you lose your job. So Syracuse hired alumnus Doug Marrone. He has about eight months to get the team ready to compete again. Will we go to a bowl game this coming season? It is doubtful. Will I feel a whole hell of a lot better about paying money to see this new team? Absolutely. No where to go but up. But I already feel a lot better about our chances of winning more games or at least staying in games.
A year from now I will be out of school, already working for a bit I am sure. The season will be over again, and we will know right away if this is the man to return the football team to prominence, or at least put Syracuse back on that road. While I am not sitting in a sunny location blogging from a hotel near a bowl site right now, hopefully sometime within the next five years I will be. Syracuse traditionally has given me pretty great Birthday presents.
Labels: Football, Holidays Are Enjoyable
It is happiness!
What necessary phrase... super, magnificent idea