I'd like to go to there.
It's that time again. Actually a little later than usual with the lacrosse team making it to Memorial Day, which is never a bad thing. But now all the college sports are done for the year, and we have a couple months of not much going on. Therefore Orange::44 is announcing its annual summer sabbatical. We'll come back if anything newsworthy happens as always. You know, like someone getting arrested. I'll be back now and then with some summertime reading probably. And we'll definitely be back in August to talk about football and prepare you for the first season of Syracuse in the ACC. We've yet to decide how we're doing that, but we have a little time to figure that out. John and I will be enjoying the summer. You should too. And as always check us out on the Tweets.
Labels: Chill Out Already, Summertime Is Easy
We love you too Sky!
With lacrosse officially being over now, Syracuse has exhausted all the sports we cover around these parts. That means about three months of not much going on around here or on your moving picture box in terms of collegiate sporting events with an orange tint. Sure the occasional thing could pop up (though we really hope to take a break from using our law degrees to talk about arrests of Syracuse players this summer), and if that's the case we'll be back. But as usual we'll be on our summer hiatus. We'll obviously be back in August talking about football, football, and probably some football. Until then, John and I wish you a very fun, happy, and healthy summer. And we'll obviously still be on the Twitter. So that should help you sleep at night.
Labels: Chill Out Already, Summertime Is Easy
The second best basketball tournament in the nation.I've been too busy with real life, being mopey about losing to Georgetown, and making plans for the Big Dance to recap the past couple of days in the Tourney. However, Sunday and Monday we will catch you up will full recaps of the best conference in the country, as well as the standard postgame reactions from Georgeotown, some bracket analysis of Syracuse's road to be announced Sunday night, lacrosse news as Syracuse takes on Georgetown today, as well as a week long celebration all next week of Orange::44's 5th Anniversary, the oldest exclusively Syracuse blog on the internet. Big doings around here as we hunker down for a magical March run. So enjoy some green beer, watch Selection Sunday, and get ready for some cool shit going down from us very soon.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, Big East Tournament, Chill Out Already, Congratulations Are In Order, Other Conferences Are Inferior, Tooting Our Own Horn
If Syracuse just runs the ball, this whole column becomes academic
Editor’s Note: The following article is a weekly feature from Orange::44 correspondent John Brennan (twitter @jbren) that runs every Monday morning called Monday Morning Quarterback, assessing the quarterback situation of Syracuse football.
Welcome to the ninth edition of Monday Morning Quarterback here at Orange::44. This edition was so awesome that you had to wait until almost Tuesday morning to get it!
It was good to get back into things and see Greg Paulus settle down against the Akron Zips, beating them 28-14. The big shocker here wasn’t the fact that Paulus was starting the game – it was that his #1 receiver, Mike Williams, was suspended for the game. I knew that translated into “Syracuse is gonna run the ball today,” before the game even started. And run the ball they did! But I’m not gonna talk about that here, since this is a quarterback article.
In the limited “packages” that did call for Paulus to pass the ball, he did relatively well: 12 of 17 for 105 yards, 1 TD, and no INTs. None. Zip. Oh, bad pun. Meanwhile, Ryan Nassib’s only passing attempt was right through the hands of would-be receiver Cody Catalina, who was wide open running to the end zone. I actually thought it was a good throw, Cody just didn’t catch it.
But at any rate, Nassib received quite a few snaps in this game, sometimes alternating snaps with Paulus. I didn’t like this play-calling. It’s one thing to put in Nassib to run the Stallion. Or even to run an occasional pass play. But it’s quite another to put him in purely to hand off the ball. That’s how he was used in this game.
Of course, this was a run-first game anyway. So had the situation been different (i.e. Mike Williams playing, or not playing Akron), one wonders whether the play-calling would have been different? Would Nassib have been sent in to hand off the ball? These are tremendous questions for which we may never have an answer.
One thing seemed clear, though. Greg Paulus is definitely Doug Marrone’s guy. He played well enough to keep his job, and, quite frankly, the job is his to lose from here on out.
And that brings me to this week’s matchup against the Cincinnati Bearcats. And this isn’t just any Cincy; this is a Top 10 Cincy. Maybe even a Top 5, depending who you ask. So, Greg, not to put the pressure on you or anything, but you’re gonna have to play a perfect game. Mistakes will translate into fans calling for Nassib. Maybe ultimately, that’s not fair. Cincy is better than Syracuse. Cincy should beat Syracuse. Cincy should outperform Syracuse. So if that’s what we Syracuse fans see on the field on Saturday, we shouldn’t be surprised. We shouldn’t call for Nassib. Necessarily.
Unless and until Syracuse is mathematically eliminated from bowl contention, they should be trying to win every game. Not that they shouldn’t anyway, but once you’re out of it, it’s OK to start experimenting, in my opinion. So, until that time, you put the guy out there that can win the game for you. I’ve been saying that for several weeks now, just like Doug Marrone has. And he’s pretty damn confident that Greg Paulus is that guy. And based on what I saw this past Saturday – and like I said, we know what the play-calling was – I think Greg is that guy.
The Weekly QB Watch
Going into the upcoming game against the Cincinnati Bearcats, the probability of starting is as follows:
Greg Paulus – 100%
Ryan Nassib – 0%
Cam Dantley – 0%
Charley Loeb – 0%
Other – 0%
Welcome to the ninth edition of Monday Morning Quarterback here at Orange::44. This edition was so awesome that you had to wait until almost Tuesday morning to get it!
It was good to get back into things and see Greg Paulus settle down against the Akron Zips, beating them 28-14. The big shocker here wasn’t the fact that Paulus was starting the game – it was that his #1 receiver, Mike Williams, was suspended for the game. I knew that translated into “Syracuse is gonna run the ball today,” before the game even started. And run the ball they did! But I’m not gonna talk about that here, since this is a quarterback article.
In the limited “packages” that did call for Paulus to pass the ball, he did relatively well: 12 of 17 for 105 yards, 1 TD, and no INTs. None. Zip. Oh, bad pun. Meanwhile, Ryan Nassib’s only passing attempt was right through the hands of would-be receiver Cody Catalina, who was wide open running to the end zone. I actually thought it was a good throw, Cody just didn’t catch it.
But at any rate, Nassib received quite a few snaps in this game, sometimes alternating snaps with Paulus. I didn’t like this play-calling. It’s one thing to put in Nassib to run the Stallion. Or even to run an occasional pass play. But it’s quite another to put him in purely to hand off the ball. That’s how he was used in this game.
Of course, this was a run-first game anyway. So had the situation been different (i.e. Mike Williams playing, or not playing Akron), one wonders whether the play-calling would have been different? Would Nassib have been sent in to hand off the ball? These are tremendous questions for which we may never have an answer.
One thing seemed clear, though. Greg Paulus is definitely Doug Marrone’s guy. He played well enough to keep his job, and, quite frankly, the job is his to lose from here on out.
And that brings me to this week’s matchup against the Cincinnati Bearcats. And this isn’t just any Cincy; this is a Top 10 Cincy. Maybe even a Top 5, depending who you ask. So, Greg, not to put the pressure on you or anything, but you’re gonna have to play a perfect game. Mistakes will translate into fans calling for Nassib. Maybe ultimately, that’s not fair. Cincy is better than Syracuse. Cincy should beat Syracuse. Cincy should outperform Syracuse. So if that’s what we Syracuse fans see on the field on Saturday, we shouldn’t be surprised. We shouldn’t call for Nassib. Necessarily.
Unless and until Syracuse is mathematically eliminated from bowl contention, they should be trying to win every game. Not that they shouldn’t anyway, but once you’re out of it, it’s OK to start experimenting, in my opinion. So, until that time, you put the guy out there that can win the game for you. I’ve been saying that for several weeks now, just like Doug Marrone has. And he’s pretty damn confident that Greg Paulus is that guy. And based on what I saw this past Saturday – and like I said, we know what the play-calling was – I think Greg is that guy.
The Weekly QB Watch
Going into the upcoming game against the Cincinnati Bearcats, the probability of starting is as follows:
Greg Paulus – 100%
Ryan Nassib – 0%
Cam Dantley – 0%
Charley Loeb – 0%
Other – 0%
I’d like to actually see Greg Paulus take most of the snaps. I don’t want a two-headed monster. I want consistency. But I don’t run the show here…
This probably tastes like tomato and ass.Do you believe this nonsense? I was grocery shopping after review class the other day and I happened to spot this on the shelf. I bet if I consumed this I would have a seizure because my body would reject it. Anyway, the reason I post is three fold. First, the above idiocy.
Next, the fine Penn State Football blog Zombie Nation once again asked me to provide a Syracuse voice for his preseason Syracuse/Penn State preview. It’s a good look at Penn State and how they will view the upcoming match, along with some insight from me. You can find that post right here.
Finally, I just wanted to give you the lowdown on what will be occurring on this blog for the next few months. As many of you know I graduated law school this past May, therefore the next logical step is taking a bar exam in July. Therefore I am in intense review for that event which leaves little time for blogging. So for the rest of summer until August there will be no more frequent posts than around once a week. They will cover any earth shattering or exceptionally newsworthy events that happen between now and football season. In August and September I will bring back my Big East Prospectus, giving the lowdown on each Big East team. Until then, it will be few and far between. Look for some collaborations between myself and Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician here and there in various ways as well. But really it will be a quiet summer like last year. File your grievances with the e-mail address at the top right. Until next time, enjoy your summer if you can. Unlike me.
Next, the fine Penn State Football blog Zombie Nation once again asked me to provide a Syracuse voice for his preseason Syracuse/Penn State preview. It’s a good look at Penn State and how they will view the upcoming match, along with some insight from me. You can find that post right here.
Finally, I just wanted to give you the lowdown on what will be occurring on this blog for the next few months. As many of you know I graduated law school this past May, therefore the next logical step is taking a bar exam in July. Therefore I am in intense review for that event which leaves little time for blogging. So for the rest of summer until August there will be no more frequent posts than around once a week. They will cover any earth shattering or exceptionally newsworthy events that happen between now and football season. In August and September I will bring back my Big East Prospectus, giving the lowdown on each Big East team. Until then, it will be few and far between. Look for some collaborations between myself and Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician here and there in various ways as well. But really it will be a quiet summer like last year. File your grievances with the e-mail address at the top right. Until next time, enjoy your summer if you can. Unlike me.
Labels: Blog Talk, Chill Out Already, Football, UConn, Unprompted Hatred
Back to your regularly scheduled blog.If I was any good at Photoshop I could have added Boeheim, Flynn, and myself in that picture. But I have neither the talent, nor the time for such tomfoolery after being away from the home office in Springfield, MA for just over a week. Therefore, just let me reassure you that I will be back Thursday after getting my affairs in order. I have to recap the Big East and NCAA Tournament business, and preview the upcoming awesome game(s) Syracuse will be involved in. This will be in convenient and awesome podcast form. So look for that soon. Until then, hope you enjoyed National Orange Day yesterday. Wear it with pride. And thanks as always for your patience and understanding in realizing that even bloggers need a vacation now and then. Especially bloggers still in law school.
When is this freaking guy going to do some writing Ed?!Sorry folks. I hate to take this long to come up with postgame articles. I also hate to go this long without writing (save this past summer, and this upcoming one). So I have to apologize for my neglect of the site. But school duties have kept me from giving you anything this week so far. That should be fixed later today as you will not only get an abbreviated Georgetown postgame article, but the return of our Lacrosse Weekly feature. It is one of the few things we do here at Orange::44 better than Nunes/Magician. I’m kidding Sean. Moral of the story, I’ll be back soon. Until then, you’re probably reading Nunes/Magician anyway so you’re already caught up. Back soon.
Labels: Chill Out Already
I wouldn't want to face him in court.In case you missed it, I'm doing my best Jack McCoy impression this week by attempting to pass my fall semester finals. Therefore there will be no blogging about that junk last night, or anything else until Saturday the 20th, probably for that Memphis game. Sorry, but that is the way it has to be. I'll see you back here when my finals are done, but until then enjoy this.
Labels: Chill Out Already
I imagine this is Greg reading Orange::44 after a game.My apologies. I have be severely lacking in my blogging duties as of late. I have a trial coming up and work and school have combined for a perfect storm of no time lately. However, all is not lost. My report card will be out later tonight/early tomorrow, along with some bonus coverage of that fake basketball game that occurred Monday evening. Yes, I managed to watch it when SUAthletics.com was not being a complete bitch. So fret not. I know you are not satisfied by puppies alone. Just think back to when you were waiting on grades. Your professors took forever to hand them in. This is exactly like that, only I do not wear bow ties and think there is no class more important than mine. Look for new stuff very shortly. Sadly, justice waits for no man, or the Orange.
Labels: Chill Out Already, Football
Sorry About That Whole "Gone For The Summer" Thing
5 Comments Published on 8.19.2008 by Brian Harrison
Brian Harrison has been known to flash. Next question.So I realize I have not been around much this summer. Believe me, it was distressing for me too. I mean, during the school year I averaged two to three new articles a week, and that wasn’t even counting postgame reactions. But, with a new school year and a new football season, that also brings renewed commitment to this blog. While I have essentially milked a summer vacation for myself (and by vacation I mean working a full time job as a public defender), I have still been paying attention and will bring you much more content and at the usual “school year” pace you are used to. Over the course of the next few weeks I will bring you my 2008 Big East Football Prospectus, an annual eight part series previewing every team in the Big East Conference. I also have a special four part series on Ernie Davis leading up to the premier of “The Express”, the movie about his life which I am attending the world premier in Syracuse of. Additionally, we have some instigatory material on UConn and other dreaded foes of the Orange that will hopefully delight you and torment the Husky faithful. As well, with the new football season comes a renewed correspondence between Sean at Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician and myself in the form of our Nunes::44 and Orange::44 is an Absolute Magician features on our respective blogs. So moral of the story; there will be plenty of new content here starting very soon and continuing until my usual school commitments prevent me from being overly diligent. It’s been a nice little break from the whole thing, but I feel refreshed and ready to tackle the rigors of another football season and another school year. Thanks for stopping by, sorry summer was so dull, but I’m back and ready to go and so is Orange::44. Now if only Axeman would return my calls again…
Troy is clearly upset.After lengthy discussions with Sean at Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician, he and I have decided to put on our usual Nunes::44 and Orange::44 is an Absolute Magician features on sabbatical for the immediate future. While we have not agreed on a return Tuesday as of yet, I would assume it would be in August just in time for the hot bed of football information to be roaring back at you via our blogs. I’ll have part three of the special three part review of the historic lacrosse season later this week, as well as a more regular writing schedule in short order. In the meantime… I’m having a great time working and not doing this thing. Screw you. Just kidding. I’ve just been busy so you’ll get more stuff coming soon. I swear. Until then, enjoy Nunes/Magician and the other fine Syracuse bloggers and I’ll be back soon. Do me a favor and don’t do this.
Labels: Chill Out Already, Nunes/Magician
No new articles make me sad too.Sorry I’ve been lax in my blogging duties as of late. I have been busy before, during, and after work this week more than usual. However do not fret, this Sunday will be our final piece in the continuing coverage of the 2008 Lacrosse National Championship, which will most likely end you hearing about lacrosse until the fall. Also we will resume the normal Nunes/Magician banter you have come to know and love. Additionally on Orange::44 in the near future will be some interesting things including a special four part series on Ernie Davis’ hometown of Elmira, New York, a three part series on the basketball team’s season and what the future may hold, and some other interesting tidbits you expect from this fine notebook. So fear not, I have not disappeared under mysterious circumstances. I have just been working my ass off lately. File your grievances to the e-mail on the right if you have any questions, concerns, comments, or if you just want to call me an idiot.
Labels: Chill Out Already