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It's baaaaaaaack...
While the Big East Basketball conference slate is still going strong, the Syracuse Lacrosse team takes the field for the first time in 2013 on Sunday. Therefore it's the return of my weekly Syracuse Lacrosse show Orange::22 on the Lacrosse Radio Network. It will be every Tuesday evening at 9:00pm. Last night we recorded our opening show for the season and Matt Glaude (@HoyaSuxa) and Ryan McDonnell (@RyanMcD29), both of College Crosse, joined me to preview the team unit by unit, talk about the Albany game, and NCAA lacrosse rules changes and notable games. Along the way there was a fire drill, several emergency vehicles, and lots of lax talk. If you like Syracuse Lacrosse, you'll enjoy this. You can stream the episode or download it here. Tune in next week for even more lax goodness.
Labels: Audio Euphoria, Lacrosse, Matt Glaude
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Yeah, those people gave me a show.
The fine folks at the Lacrosse Radio Network gave me a show on Syracuse Lacrosse. What they may or may not have known was that once Syracuse's season ended, we would keep going. So I called on my good friend Matt Glaude, the head man over at College Crosse now, to break down the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament. I'm particularly proud of how the last few episodes have come out. Sadly the season is now over and we enter the vacuum of college sports until August. But that doesn't mean you can't catch on on what the heck happened in the NCAA Tournament, particularly the final weekend while you were enjoying grilled meats and various brewed beverages. Or even relive the magic if you missed it. The last episode of the season is here, while you can find all the past episodes by searching on the main page here. You can stream them, or download them to your personal technology box as well. Orange::22 will return next lacrosse season either late January or early February as we enter that magical period where Syracuse Basketball is down the stretch, and Syracuse Lacrosse is just firing up. Thanks to everyone that has listened this season (apparently a decent number of you), and we look forward to being even better next year.
Labels: Audio Euphoria, Lacrosse, Matt Glaude, NCAA Tournament, Syracuse Lacrosse
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Time to get back to lacrosse with style.
The appropriate mourning period for basketball is now over. We jump back into lacrosse full force from now until Memorial Day. And to get going, we skip the write ups until next week and go right to the audio format.
Starting tonight, we debut Orange::44, the official Syracuse Lacrosse radio program on the Lacrosse Radio Network. We start tonight and broadcast every Wednesday at 9:00pm EST until the end of the season. We'll have an interesting guest every week as well. To start it off right, we have Matt Glaude, formerly of Hoya Suxa, and now the man at the helm of College Crosse. Even if you manage to learn nothing tonight you should at least be entertained. But I imagine you'll find the show interesting if you are a SU lax fan in the least anyway. It is live tonight at 9:00pm EST and you can listen on your computing devices here. Or feel free to listen and download after it's done.
Labels: Audio Euphoria, Lacrosse, Matt Glaude
Matt Glaude, who many of you may simply know as "HoyaSuxa," announced today that his popular blog of the same name has reached the end of its road.
Orange::44 was the original brainchild of the genius that is The Glaude. Without him, Brian and I would not have been able to carry on the tradition. So, we certainly owe a lot to him. We were, of course, excited when he decided to devote an entire blog to making fun of Georgetown, or, whatever it is that he did over at HoyaSuxa. I probably visited HoyaSuxa more that I did this blog (maybe because I knew when new content was here or not). But truth be told, Matt just has a way with words, a way to be funny by being simple, yet sophisticated. We'll miss the Daily Affirmations, the "... Is A Fine University," the self-depreciating bets, and the dossiers on the "Princeton-style Offense." Thankfully, Matt's knack at internet prose will not go untapped; he'll still be on twitter @HoyaSuxa, as well as writing for CollegeCrosse, your one-stop shop for all things college lacrosse.
To Matt, a very heart-felt thank you and best of luck from Brian and John at Orange::44. We'll continue to try our hardest to be even as good as you on a bad day.
And don't forget, he's a hell of a dancer:
Labels: Goodbye Old Friend, Matt Glaude, The Glaude Dancing
It's that time again.
It’s that time again. Welcome to the 2010 SOB’s. Thanks to Cuse Country we know the previous winner. I’ll be your host for this hour as we take a look at the category of Best Syracuse Blog/Fan Video. There were a lot of great videos this year made by the various Syracuse blogs and fans out there, but we take a look at the ones that garnered the most votes from our esteemed panel. First with the losers, or if you prefer, non-winners.
Fourth Place
Brian from CuseOrange picked “The Offering” by our friend Sean at Nunes/Magician.
Third Place
D.A. from The Orange Fizz picked another of Sean’s videos. “Keely's Syracuse Preacher Boy. So intense. I yelled like that when DC missed the free throws.”
Second Place
This one received four votes and it comes from our good friend Matt “The Glaude” Glaude from Hoya Suxa.
Sean from Nunes/Magician: Destroying the Hoya - simple yet elegant. Just like Glaude.
Syracusan from Cuse Country: Anything from Glaude. I can’t even pick.
Steve of CuseOrange: The Glaude's focused hate at its finest. DaVinci quality smack.
Josh from Cuse Country: Hoya Destroya! by Hoya Suxa.
And now, The Winner of the 2010 SOB Award for Best Syracuse Blog/Fan Video goes to..
Glaude again, from Hoya Suxa for his riveting dancing and celebration of Syracuse’s demolishing of Georgetown at the hands of the Orange in the Carrier Dome. He received five votes.
Dan Lyons of Bleacher Report: Hoya Suxa's epic dancing.
Brian Harrison of Orange::44: Glaude had some gems, but the celebration of the Georgetown victory was the best.
Orange Chuck of The Big Orange Bloggers: Hoya Suxa victory dance after the Jan. 25 SU win over Georgetown though thankfully I have a weak stomach so missed his last one following the BET loss.
Jameson Fleming of Bleacher Report: I haven't laughed this hard in awhile.
And finally Andrew of The Three Idiots agreed with me: What Harrison said, that's the best.
So there you have it. The winner of the Best Blog/Fan Video is Hoya Suxa. Congratulations to him and that must mean he’s now chugging three finger’s worth of his favorite adult beverage and taking pantless photos. Kudos to him. The SOB’s roll on with Jameson’s presentation of the Best Sophomore of the year over Jameson's Bleacher Report page at 6:00pm EST. Check it out. I’ll see you back here tomorrow morning at 10:00AM EST for the presentation of the Best Senior. As always, check out Nunes/Magician for today’s results.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, Blog Talk, Matt Glaude, Nunes/Magician, Syracuse Orange Blogger Awards
"Socks are for your feet, not your trumpet." - Tim McNamara, 2004The TMac quote above has nothing to do with this article; there's another time and another blog post for that.
But still. Those socks? Those socks are magical socks, my friend. As Orange::44 is in the midst of a birthday celebration this month, I figured I would take this rather timely opportunity to tell not only a great Syracuse Basketball NCAA Tourney story, but one that pertains to Orange::44 founder Matt Glaude.
Imagine yourself in Boston for the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2003. Maybe some of you were there. I had the privilege to be there as a member of the Sour Sitrus Society -- the #1 basketball pep band in the land. I was also lucky enough to help some recent graduates of our fine university with a place to stay, i.e. my hotel room floor. One of those fortunate souls was one Matthew "Hoya Suxa" Glaude. Now, Matt likes to have a good time. And it's rare that he does anything half-assed. This weekend was no different. He painted the town orange.
Syracuse played in the first round against the Manhattan Jaspers, and won handily, 76-65. The game had been close in the first half, but Syracuse figured out Bobby Gonzales's squad and kept a safe lead in the latter minutes to secure the victory. That was Friday's game.
Sunday rolled around, and Syracuse was set to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys. If I said we had a quiet night in the previous night, I'd be lying. But still, Matt was able to get up at a respectable hour and make it to the game. In fact, he left a little earlier than I did, I think to find some breakfast. Gathering up my belongings to leave the room for the last time, I found a pair of socks that didn't belong to me. They're just socks, sure, but I figured I'd put them in my pocket and give them back to Matt at the game. Being in the band, we had to wear khaki pants, and cargo pants were in at the time, so throwing socks in my pocket was no big deal.
So I make my way onto the bus and arrive at the arena -- what was it, TD Garden at that time? I don't even remember. At any rate, I didn't meet up with Matt before the game, so the socks stayed in my pocket. Well, if anyone remembers that 2nd round matchup, Syracuse had a rough go of it. The Orangemen got off to an extremely slow start and were even down 17 points, but crawled and battled their way back to obtain a lead and be on top at the final buzzer. But I remember there being several times during that game where I thought to myself "Damn, this is it, we're done." It was one of those games. Typical of the Kardiac Kids that season. But this was different; this was the Tourney.
After the game, I missed meeting up with Matt, and so the socks came with me back to Syracuse. I don't know if I made the conscious recognition of it at that time, or whether it was the following weekend in Albany when I once again found the socks in my pocket that I decided "Let's go with it." I didn't wanna mess with anything that may have helped Syracuse win that game in Boston, and so the socks stayed in my pocket. Sweet Sixteen vs. Auburn. A final score of 79-78. As close as you can get. Syracuse led the entire game, but Auburn kept making it close. And keeping our heart rates near the hummingbird range.
In the Elite Eight game for the right to play in New Orleans at the Final Four, Syracuse and top-seeded Oklahoma faced off and battled for the first 12 minutes. And then, Syracuse pulled away and never looked back. The socks were still in my pocket, but this time we didn't need them to get us a burst of energy late in the game. But those socks were destined for the Big Easy.
All in all, those socks faired much better than I did down in New Orleans. I won't get into my own problems here, but hey, we all survived, better or worse, right? Anyway, I don't need to tell you the rest of that story. Syracuse beats Texas for the right to play in the National Championsip against Kansas. The Orangemen pull out to a huge lead on the Jayhawks, with Gerry virtually unconscious from beyond the arc. I'm so giddy at halftime that I'm almost speechless, as if I can't even fathom what's going on in front of me on the court. But in typical Syracuse form, they had to make a game out of it and let Kansas come back. Kansas starts picking apart the zone, Syracuse keeps missing from the line, and suddenly there's mere seconds left and we're nursing a three-point lead. But those socks are still in my pocket. Hakim Warrick teleports from the key over to the arc for The Block, and the rest is history. Syracuse wins the National Championship!
So naturally, I should have kept those socks in play all these years later. But I didn't. Like Jerry Seinfeld or the football jersey 44, they had to be retired while on top. OK, never mind the 44 thing. But anyway, I knew if I just kept those socks with me for every game, Syracuse would eventually lose and the socks would lose their mojo. So they went into a random bag of stuff, not to be forgotten, but to be out of the way.
Before leaving for Buffalo last weekend, I questioned whether it was time to pull the socks out of retirement and see if their magic could propel this team to Indy. Getting the go ahead from Matt, the socks were placed in my pocket as I watched the 1st round game against Vermont at Benchwarmers in Buffalo. Victory. They again came with me into the HSBC Arena on Sunday against Gonzaga. More like GONEzaga.
And so we approach this weekend's games. Tomorrow night, a matchup against Butler, and if that's a win, Saturday against Kansas State or Xavier. I won't be in Salt Lake City for the games, but you can bet your lucky stars I'll be watching on TV. And those socks, however smelly they may have gotten in seven years, will be in my pocket. Because, you know, Matt Glaude's 2003 socks > Arinze Onuaku.
Labels: Matt Glaude, NCAA Tournament, Socks, Syracuse Basketball
Come for the basketball analysis, stay for the curling.If you're following me on Twitter (@BH_Orange44) you know I love many things. One of which happens to be Olympic Curling. Why do I enjoy this? Who knows. It is awesome however. I genuinely think it's cool because it is a sport you could play for gold medals or play with a beer in your hand. I first remember watching curling during the 2002 Olympics in Orange::44 Correspondent John Brennan's dorm room in DellPlain Hall my freshman year at Syracuse University, and I've loved it ever sinse. Coincidentally enough, also my first time drinking a Sam Adams, but that's another story. Either way, I've loved curling every time they are televised. Interesting as well, this notebook actually has a history of covering curling in the Olympics thanks to founder Matt Glaude, now of Hoya Suxa, and friend of the blog Dave Pearson. Therefore, although we have already seen the United States play five games thus far, it is time to fill you in on what's going on north of the border.
The favorites in this game were Great Britain to take the gold, Canada to take the silver, and Norway to take home the bronze medal. Things have shaken out differently as teams have already played four or five games and the standings are interesting:
1. Canada (5-0)
2 Norway (4-1)
3. Sweden (3-1)
4. Switzerland (3-2)
5. Great Britain (2-2)
6. Germany (2-3)
7. China (1-3)
7. France (1-3)
9. Denmark (1-4)
9. United States (1-4)
As you can see, Canada is playing well on the home ice, while Great Britain has fallen on some hard times. But none as hard as the United States, who started the games going 0-4 on four missed game winning shots in three extra end games by their Skip John Shuster. Shuster has become a pop culture phenomenon as of late because of his less than stellar curling. The internets are a cruel mistress and when it comes to the combination of national pride and unmitigated failure, the mixture is quite deadly. People had a good time changing his Wikipedia page, "Shuster" became a verb, and #Shustered made it's way around twitter to describe someone falling short or something that failed. If only John was doing better he'd still be fancy free like in this video from The Colbert Report below.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Skate Expectations - Curling Team Tryouts - Colbert vs. Shuster | ||||
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Sadly for Shuster, before yesterday's match versus France in favor of alternate Chris Plys. USA subsequently won that match 4-3 by stealing a point in the 10th and final end. The reason was the bad performance of the US team in their first four games. Jason Smith, the Vice Skip, has been shooting brilliantly in the entire games and has taken to being the forth shooter and it paid off for the US against France.
The US Results so far are as follows:
Game 1: US* 5 v. Germany 7
Game 2: US* 5 v. Norway 6 (11 ends)
Game 3: US 6 v. Switzerland* 7 (11 ends)
Game 4: Denmark* 7 v. US 6 (11 ends)
Game 5: France* 3 v. US 4
And now we break down the levels of competition based on what we've seen so far into chances of making the medal rounds and talent:
Elite (Are in for the long haul. Will drink with you all night and end up at the diner stealing your bacon. Canadian bacon.)
Canada, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland
These teams are sitting pretty right now, as they are in the top four and are curling really well. Canada is on their home ice, Norway looks good, Sweden is just happy to be there, and Switzerland is indifferent. These teams are in control of their own destiny.
Game to watch for: Canada v. Great Britain Sunday Feb. 21 at 10:00pm EST.
Alright (Good for most of the night. They will drink for a while but will disappear without saying goodbye because their lady friend texted.)
Great Britain, Germany
Germany played a brilliant game against the US, and Great Britain is comprised of players from Scotland, the birthplace of the game, but have just come up short. These teams could get hot but are definitely on the bubble.
Game to watch for: Germany v. Great Britain Monday Feb. 22 at 10:00pm EST.
Not Good (Leaving early. Won't drink the shots you bought them and will sip the same beer for an hour while you plow ahead.)
China, France, Denmark, United States
The US has really had a disappointing route, losing three of their four games by simply missing routine or simple shots. China is relatively new at the sport, Denmark doesn't have cool pants and their only win was against a US team that failed to hit a final shot. France sucks at most things. These teams will really have to hope for the teams at the top to start sucking for them to even remotely have a chance.
Game to watch: The remaining US games.
Feb. 20 12:00pm EST v. Sweden
Feb. 21 5:00pm EST v. Great Britain
Feb. 22 12:00pm v. Canada
Feb. 23 10:00pm EST v. China
The ladies are not doing much better at 1-3, but they have a chance to move up more than the men do. Either way, it's exciting stuff. Enjoy the curling tweets, catch the curling fever (not an STD), and if you fancy, you too can own the lucky Norway curling pants, you can purchase them right here.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled SU sports analysis. For now. Lacrosse Weekly starts up soon. In the meanwhile, I was on Matt Mc's Sports Fix yesterday talking about the Georgetown game, so go here and download the podcast, or just click here.
Labels: Curling, Drinking, Expert Analysis, Matt Glaude
This can't be good.Matt Glaude over at Hoya Suxa seems to have momentarily lost it and gone over the deep end, driven by last night’s loss. Hopefully we’ll find him, wake him up, give him some scotch to get over the hangover, and get him back in top shape. I’ll have my postgame reactions later today.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, Matt Glaude
Matt Glaude, purveyor of truth and taxes.I cannot point out how much Matt Glaude is still a blogging mentor to me. It is simply because he writes stuff like this, or even just this. On top of it, when enthusiastic Hoya bloggers fail to get the joke, it makes for even more hilarity. Thus, Matt has to respond with the likes of this. When Matt started his new notebook, Hoya Suxa, he simply reasoned that it would be much easier to make up facts than write about real ones and back them up. Any person reading the blog that has half a brain would know that it is complete satire. Thus, unabashedly hating on Georgetown and the like was born. So enjoy Matt Glaude in all his splendor, because when he actually takes the time to write, it will clearly be the funniest thing you read all day.
Labels: Matt Glaude, Syracuse Blogisphere