A must for any SU fan. Period.
In case you haven't heard by now, the fine folks at Maple Street Press publish a massive preview guide for only a hand full of elite college basketball teams in the nation. Syracuse is one of them. And they did a genius thing. They put Sean of Nunes/Magician in charge of editing the entire thing. Which means he hired the most talented people he knew to write the thing. Yes, the SU bloggers. Including me.
Normally you get 100% goodness about Syracuse from myself and Orange::44 Correspondent John Brennan right here. But my articles, along with the other fine writers you know and probably read, in this publication will only be available in the pages. It is 128 pages, no advertisements, and 100% on Syracuse Basketball. The Maple Street Press' Orange Tip-Off 2010-2011 is available at newsstands in the Northeast starting October 19th, or you can order one right here for the low price of $12.99. And just look at all the articles and authors here. If that isn't the mega brain trust of SU Basketball I don't know what is.
If you're an SU Basketball fan in the least, this is a must have for the upcoming season. Not only do you get some great articles from people you already like, but you learn about every player, the history of the team, predictions for the year, looks at last season, and much more. Just do it already. You'll thank yourself later. Just to prove it, check out a small segment from Hoya Suxa's Matt Glaude about the Georgetown/Syracuse rivalry here.
Labels: Basketball, Big East, Expert Analysis, Nunes/Magician, Rivalries, Syracuse Blogisphere, Tooting Our Own Horn
Five years, still no name on the header.It is no small feat. Considering that this is the internet age of “what have you done for me lately” and the pursuit for the latest and coolest thing, anything lasting online past a year is probably a fairly big deal now. Yet we here at Orange::44 have endured. Not only that, but it has seen a complete turnover at the top, which seems kind of stupid for something as trivial as a sports blog dedicated to Syracuse University Athletics. Yet it happened. Because it has been five years we just can’t gloss over it.
“The Glaude”, Matt Glaude to be exact (now at Hoya Suxa), started this whole internet affair back on March 12th of 2005. Seems like forever ago at this point. I was in the home stretch of my senior year at Syracuse, loving life as the basketball team was cruising with Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick rolling through the Big East. Then the Catamounts ruined my March, and the first part of my April as well. Gus Johnson just HA HAAAAAA’ed all over my dream of a long NCAA Tournament run my senior year. I mention all of this for one reason, that a big part of me moving on with my senior year was Matt Glaude’s musings on the subject and Orange::44.
I met Matt my freshman year and I’d like to think we had a friendship based on mutual respect but I’m guessing he thought I was a dumb freshman and I knew him as a cool senior who had his act together. Every so often he’d come back and I’d see him and we’d talk but it wasn’t anything earth shattering. Then he started this notebook. I read it often, and often I laughed my ass off. Then he put out an open call to write for Orange::44. In April of 2006 since I still lived in Syracuse at the time I figured what the hell, I’ll write for this blog thing, whatever a blog was. I joined up with a couple other people and somehow I was the one to last. It’s especially interesting since I was probably the least funny one and I’m also guessing I had the worst grammar at the time.
I eventually went off to law school, so the grammar got better. Syracuse eventually got worse at a lot of things, so I got bitter. Somehow Matt let me keep going. I eventually wrote more and more and he wrote less. Finally one day he wanted to scrap the whole thing and I wanted to keep going so instead of moving on to something else, I asked him if I could take over this site. He agreed. He moved on to speak of the evils of Georgetown and I kept going here. Since November of 2007 I’ve been at the helm of this thing and it’s been pretty great. Occasionally I’ve enlisted my good friend John Brennan to write some things, but it’s mostly been me plugging along.
Rarely do you go five years without some pretty notable memories from your time doing something. Because of this blog I’ve been interviewed by Brent Axe on The Score 1260 in Syracuse, Matt McClusky on WNER 1410 in Watertown, and yes even The Daily Orange. I’ve stirred some stuff up on occasion, and had a dust up with a certain former beat writer. And in between we’ve seen some extraordinary moments in Syracuse sports including a six overtime game win over a rival, a big time win over Rutgers in football last year, and a game tying goal with four seconds left in the National Championship, to go on and win two back to back.
But it isn’t just games we write about. Over the long history of Orange::44 and the over 1,100 articles published we have covered a lot of topics. They range from coaching changes, uniform changes, curling, the National Spelling Bee, various tragedies, holidays, Big East Tournaments, campus projects, campus events, television and movie references, and other items of interest to Syracuse fans and alumni. I’ve discovered the joy in both the mundane moments, along with the spectacular and lucky ones.
Things have changed since we started. When this started Facebook was barely taking hold, no one used Twitter, and no one did videos or podcasts really. To “break news” I got a text message from someone in the know, and then went from there. While bloggers generally have a bad wrap for not being held accountable, we at Orange::44 tried to uphold a higher standard by always using our real names and providing general responses to critical feedback, as well as trying to confirm things we said that we were reporting to be facts as best we could. I hope that has been clear through the years. When we weren’t being ridiculous on purpose that is.
Because I’ve taken off a couple years from the celebration of the anniversary of this notebook I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out some of my favorite articles over the past two years. I pointed out some of the best from our first two years here, and celebrated our third birthday here, but we’ve done a lot since then.
Coaching Rumor of Interest
This article blew up my blog for a while and got me intertwined by Donnie Webb, the former football beat writer for the Post-Standard. It resulted in my writing this open letter to him as well. I maintain I had enough sources at the time, and so did Brent Axe, who stated it on his show as well. Either way, it still remains one of the most commented item on this blog.
The Inaugural Big East Blogger Roundtable - 12/3/2008
While this isn’t an article, it was the first time we put several well known Big East Bloggers together in a roundtable online which was a really good time for all of us I think. I’ll have to do that again sometime I guess.
Sleep: That's Where I'm A Viking!
Part of our catalog here is occasionally just posting a picture with a small paragraph because the photo does most of the work. In this case a good friend of mine just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get a picture of a sleeping Greg Robinson leaving town after being fired. We’ll miss you for your press conferences and awesome sayings, but not for the coaching.
The Official Hoya Hater Certification Test
I may hate Connecticut with a burning passion, but even I know what rivalry pays the bills around here and for Syracuse fans. I developed a test for the big game in the Carrier Dome in February of 2009 to illustrate the pretenders from the true haters. I think it truly works. You be the judge.
The Glaude Dancing
This one isn’t even an article. It is our good friend Matt Glaude celebrating a Syracuse trouncing of Duke in the National Semi-final game in Boston in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. He was too busy dancing to the music to notice I snuck in the filming. Here’s hoping he does the same in a parking lot in Baltimore in May. A moment of true jubilation… and booze.
Troy Nunes Is A Podcast Magician
Sean from Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician and I had been doing a back and forth Q&A for a long time. Then we decided to try it in podcast form. From the comments we’ve gotten you loyal readers seem to enjoy it as well. Frankly I am not quire sure that many other people could just yammer on for around 45 minutes on a somewhat regular basis about Syracuse like we do. We do it so you don’t have to.
Carrier Dome Beer Public Service Announcement
Orange::44 Correspondent John Brennan and I look good in suits. We also both have law degrees. I guess that’s why it seemed natural to stage our own video in the wake of the anti-wave video the SU Blogosphere took part in. The result was our video advocating that the Carrier Dome return to letting individuals purchase four beers at a time. It didn’t work, but hey Pat Campbell retired. It was clearly the public pressure we put on him.
Interview With Rich Kimball, Maine Play-By-Play Announcer
We are used to doing Q&A’s with lots of blogs around here. But it isn’t often we get to do one with a genuine professional. Rich Kimble, the radio man for the Maine football team was nice enough to respond to my questions. Hat tip to my good friend Chris Sedenka for setting it up for me.
The Tampa/DC Travelogues
Part of the attraction of blogs is getting a different experience than you would from reading the game recap in a paper. As much as I enjoy seeing games I also enjoy traveling. When they combine good fun is usually had. I traveled to Tampa to see Syracuse take on Florida and John traveled to DC to see Syracuse play Georgetown. Often the best stories happen around a game even if the game is great itself.
It was hard to pick some of my favorites, but that is just a small sampling of some of the momentous occasions over the past couple of years.
I do want to give some thanks and shoutouts as well. First and foremost I have to thank Matt. He issued his thoughts on starting this blog a couple of weeks ago here. It’s vintage Matt, as you are now used to at Hoya Suxa. He’s always been hilarious, but he’s also a really nice person, devastatingly funny, and very sharp. I’m grateful he had enough faith in my so-so writing abilities back then to let me come aboard and then take over. It was against most of his inclinations I’m sure. I also want to thank John Brennan. We were acquaintances in high school and became great friends and roommates at Syracuse. He’s become the person I bounce various blog ideas off of and usually the one I’m at a game with. I couldn’t have continued with Orange::44 without his occasional and vital help and for that, along with the time since 2001, its thanks. I have to give it up to Sean at Nunes/Magician who has become an excellent blogging ally and occasional partner in crime. It started with mutual respect, turned into a weekly back and forth, and now a podcast. But he really is the best around right now and I’d like to think that our blogs complement each other well. I’m glad he didn’t tell me to take a hike when I first e-mailed him. To the other SU bloggers out there a big thanks. I’m looking at you Idiots, Cuse Country, Jameson, Cuse Orange, The Fizz, Chuck, Poncho, and all the others that have come and gone. You fine folks make it fun to banter, argue, and write in our orange world. Keep it up folks. Big thanks to Axe and Matt Mc not only for having me on their programs but just being cool people. I’ve talked to Axe many times in person and electronicly and he never had to be nice to me, John, or our little blog but he is and we thank him for that. Same with Matt. He had me on his show for lacrosse in the beginning. Not exactly a giant ratings getter. Thanks for continuing to have me on. I look forward to the live broadcast from Baltimore in May. Thanks to all of the Twitter followers out there who follow me, respond, and interact. It continues to make things entertaining, just to have fun talking to people about sports and Syracuse things. Finally thank you to the readers of Orange::44. Your time is valuable and that you take even a minute out of any of your days to stop by our little notebook and read what the hell I have to think about something a trivial as a basketball game or a coaching change at Syracuse University is humbling and amazing. I never got into blogging for the recognition but it is certainly much appreciated. To anyone else that has stopped by or I may have forgot, thanks for joining us and thanks for making this blogging thing interesting. Finally, thanks to all the crying children out there. You keep us in business every football season.
I got into blogging because I was bored and wanted to be more creative. I never thought it would evolve to what it has become today; an almost daily occurrence in my life. Occasionally I need to step back but I have yet to run out of things to talk about or do in terms of this notebook so I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. The original and continuing mission is to chronicle the daily disaster that is Syracuse University Athletics. We all know that isn’t stopping so neither will we. Another five years is too much to guarantee, but we’ll still be here, plugging along, doing it for free, advertisement free, and for little recognition or appreciation. That’s the way we like it. It’s a good time and a way to be creative and vent frustration. That’s all I ever wanted it to be. I’m grateful for all the extra that’s come along with that though. Thanks again for joining us here. UConn… you suck! Georgetown still sucks. And as always GO ORANGE!
“The Glaude”, Matt Glaude to be exact (now at Hoya Suxa), started this whole internet affair back on March 12th of 2005. Seems like forever ago at this point. I was in the home stretch of my senior year at Syracuse, loving life as the basketball team was cruising with Gerry McNamara and Hakim Warrick rolling through the Big East. Then the Catamounts ruined my March, and the first part of my April as well. Gus Johnson just HA HAAAAAA’ed all over my dream of a long NCAA Tournament run my senior year. I mention all of this for one reason, that a big part of me moving on with my senior year was Matt Glaude’s musings on the subject and Orange::44.
I met Matt my freshman year and I’d like to think we had a friendship based on mutual respect but I’m guessing he thought I was a dumb freshman and I knew him as a cool senior who had his act together. Every so often he’d come back and I’d see him and we’d talk but it wasn’t anything earth shattering. Then he started this notebook. I read it often, and often I laughed my ass off. Then he put out an open call to write for Orange::44. In April of 2006 since I still lived in Syracuse at the time I figured what the hell, I’ll write for this blog thing, whatever a blog was. I joined up with a couple other people and somehow I was the one to last. It’s especially interesting since I was probably the least funny one and I’m also guessing I had the worst grammar at the time.
I eventually went off to law school, so the grammar got better. Syracuse eventually got worse at a lot of things, so I got bitter. Somehow Matt let me keep going. I eventually wrote more and more and he wrote less. Finally one day he wanted to scrap the whole thing and I wanted to keep going so instead of moving on to something else, I asked him if I could take over this site. He agreed. He moved on to speak of the evils of Georgetown and I kept going here. Since November of 2007 I’ve been at the helm of this thing and it’s been pretty great. Occasionally I’ve enlisted my good friend John Brennan to write some things, but it’s mostly been me plugging along.
Rarely do you go five years without some pretty notable memories from your time doing something. Because of this blog I’ve been interviewed by Brent Axe on The Score 1260 in Syracuse, Matt McClusky on WNER 1410 in Watertown, and yes even The Daily Orange. I’ve stirred some stuff up on occasion, and had a dust up with a certain former beat writer. And in between we’ve seen some extraordinary moments in Syracuse sports including a six overtime game win over a rival, a big time win over Rutgers in football last year, and a game tying goal with four seconds left in the National Championship, to go on and win two back to back.
But it isn’t just games we write about. Over the long history of Orange::44 and the over 1,100 articles published we have covered a lot of topics. They range from coaching changes, uniform changes, curling, the National Spelling Bee, various tragedies, holidays, Big East Tournaments, campus projects, campus events, television and movie references, and other items of interest to Syracuse fans and alumni. I’ve discovered the joy in both the mundane moments, along with the spectacular and lucky ones.
Things have changed since we started. When this started Facebook was barely taking hold, no one used Twitter, and no one did videos or podcasts really. To “break news” I got a text message from someone in the know, and then went from there. While bloggers generally have a bad wrap for not being held accountable, we at Orange::44 tried to uphold a higher standard by always using our real names and providing general responses to critical feedback, as well as trying to confirm things we said that we were reporting to be facts as best we could. I hope that has been clear through the years. When we weren’t being ridiculous on purpose that is.
Because I’ve taken off a couple years from the celebration of the anniversary of this notebook I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out some of my favorite articles over the past two years. I pointed out some of the best from our first two years here, and celebrated our third birthday here, but we’ve done a lot since then.
Coaching Rumor of Interest
This article blew up my blog for a while and got me intertwined by Donnie Webb, the former football beat writer for the Post-Standard. It resulted in my writing this open letter to him as well. I maintain I had enough sources at the time, and so did Brent Axe, who stated it on his show as well. Either way, it still remains one of the most commented item on this blog.
The Inaugural Big East Blogger Roundtable - 12/3/2008
While this isn’t an article, it was the first time we put several well known Big East Bloggers together in a roundtable online which was a really good time for all of us I think. I’ll have to do that again sometime I guess.
Sleep: That's Where I'm A Viking!
Part of our catalog here is occasionally just posting a picture with a small paragraph because the photo does most of the work. In this case a good friend of mine just happened to be in the right place at the right time to get a picture of a sleeping Greg Robinson leaving town after being fired. We’ll miss you for your press conferences and awesome sayings, but not for the coaching.
The Official Hoya Hater Certification Test
I may hate Connecticut with a burning passion, but even I know what rivalry pays the bills around here and for Syracuse fans. I developed a test for the big game in the Carrier Dome in February of 2009 to illustrate the pretenders from the true haters. I think it truly works. You be the judge.
The Glaude Dancing
This one isn’t even an article. It is our good friend Matt Glaude celebrating a Syracuse trouncing of Duke in the National Semi-final game in Boston in the 2009 NCAA Tournament. He was too busy dancing to the music to notice I snuck in the filming. Here’s hoping he does the same in a parking lot in Baltimore in May. A moment of true jubilation… and booze.
Troy Nunes Is A Podcast Magician
Sean from Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician and I had been doing a back and forth Q&A for a long time. Then we decided to try it in podcast form. From the comments we’ve gotten you loyal readers seem to enjoy it as well. Frankly I am not quire sure that many other people could just yammer on for around 45 minutes on a somewhat regular basis about Syracuse like we do. We do it so you don’t have to.
Carrier Dome Beer Public Service Announcement
Orange::44 Correspondent John Brennan and I look good in suits. We also both have law degrees. I guess that’s why it seemed natural to stage our own video in the wake of the anti-wave video the SU Blogosphere took part in. The result was our video advocating that the Carrier Dome return to letting individuals purchase four beers at a time. It didn’t work, but hey Pat Campbell retired. It was clearly the public pressure we put on him.
Interview With Rich Kimball, Maine Play-By-Play Announcer
We are used to doing Q&A’s with lots of blogs around here. But it isn’t often we get to do one with a genuine professional. Rich Kimble, the radio man for the Maine football team was nice enough to respond to my questions. Hat tip to my good friend Chris Sedenka for setting it up for me.
The Tampa/DC Travelogues
Part of the attraction of blogs is getting a different experience than you would from reading the game recap in a paper. As much as I enjoy seeing games I also enjoy traveling. When they combine good fun is usually had. I traveled to Tampa to see Syracuse take on Florida and John traveled to DC to see Syracuse play Georgetown. Often the best stories happen around a game even if the game is great itself.
It was hard to pick some of my favorites, but that is just a small sampling of some of the momentous occasions over the past couple of years.
I do want to give some thanks and shoutouts as well. First and foremost I have to thank Matt. He issued his thoughts on starting this blog a couple of weeks ago here. It’s vintage Matt, as you are now used to at Hoya Suxa. He’s always been hilarious, but he’s also a really nice person, devastatingly funny, and very sharp. I’m grateful he had enough faith in my so-so writing abilities back then to let me come aboard and then take over. It was against most of his inclinations I’m sure. I also want to thank John Brennan. We were acquaintances in high school and became great friends and roommates at Syracuse. He’s become the person I bounce various blog ideas off of and usually the one I’m at a game with. I couldn’t have continued with Orange::44 without his occasional and vital help and for that, along with the time since 2001, its thanks. I have to give it up to Sean at Nunes/Magician who has become an excellent blogging ally and occasional partner in crime. It started with mutual respect, turned into a weekly back and forth, and now a podcast. But he really is the best around right now and I’d like to think that our blogs complement each other well. I’m glad he didn’t tell me to take a hike when I first e-mailed him. To the other SU bloggers out there a big thanks. I’m looking at you Idiots, Cuse Country, Jameson, Cuse Orange, The Fizz, Chuck, Poncho, and all the others that have come and gone. You fine folks make it fun to banter, argue, and write in our orange world. Keep it up folks. Big thanks to Axe and Matt Mc not only for having me on their programs but just being cool people. I’ve talked to Axe many times in person and electronicly and he never had to be nice to me, John, or our little blog but he is and we thank him for that. Same with Matt. He had me on his show for lacrosse in the beginning. Not exactly a giant ratings getter. Thanks for continuing to have me on. I look forward to the live broadcast from Baltimore in May. Thanks to all of the Twitter followers out there who follow me, respond, and interact. It continues to make things entertaining, just to have fun talking to people about sports and Syracuse things. Finally thank you to the readers of Orange::44. Your time is valuable and that you take even a minute out of any of your days to stop by our little notebook and read what the hell I have to think about something a trivial as a basketball game or a coaching change at Syracuse University is humbling and amazing. I never got into blogging for the recognition but it is certainly much appreciated. To anyone else that has stopped by or I may have forgot, thanks for joining us and thanks for making this blogging thing interesting. Finally, thanks to all the crying children out there. You keep us in business every football season.
I got into blogging because I was bored and wanted to be more creative. I never thought it would evolve to what it has become today; an almost daily occurrence in my life. Occasionally I need to step back but I have yet to run out of things to talk about or do in terms of this notebook so I don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. The original and continuing mission is to chronicle the daily disaster that is Syracuse University Athletics. We all know that isn’t stopping so neither will we. Another five years is too much to guarantee, but we’ll still be here, plugging along, doing it for free, advertisement free, and for little recognition or appreciation. That’s the way we like it. It’s a good time and a way to be creative and vent frustration. That’s all I ever wanted it to be. I’m grateful for all the extra that’s come along with that though. Thanks again for joining us here. UConn… you suck! Georgetown still sucks. And as always GO ORANGE!
Labels: Amazing Milestone, Congratulations Are In Order, Syracuse Blogisphere, The Glaude Dancing, Tooting Our Own Horn
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
Since 1870, we're probably better than you.I admit it. I’m a total Syracuse homer. Sure I can be objective when I need to, as all good bloggers or prognosticators should be. I even wear the journalist hat now and then. But I am a complete shill for Syracuse University usually. I spent a childhood growing up watching SU Basketball beat down Georgetown and St. John’s, watching McNabb pulling miracles, and watching with my father who was born in Syracuse. Hell, I even grew up in Elmira, the same town Ernie Davis grew up in. How could I have ended up anywhere else?
But I’m not here to convince you I’m the biggest SU fan of all time. Merely to illustrate that I understand the premise I’m about to tell you in and out. Too often Syracuse fans get labeled as “fair weather”, several times by me. Usually it is quite warranted, as evident by the many empty bleachers at various games in the Carrier Dome. However, all that said, is there any alumni base more loyal to their school than Syracuse?
I submit that once you graduate from Syracuse University, you become a lifelong advocate for the school, the academic programs, and the sports. What evidence could I possibly have to back this up? Besides my own opinions and habits (and the SU bloggers that graduated from Syracuse know what I mean), you only need to look to the top three sports teams on the hill. Each team, referring to football, basketball, and men’s lacrosse, are coached by men who graduated from Syracuse. Not only that but several assistant coaches are alumni as well. Few other schools, if any, have had the situation where the top three money making sports for the NCAA are occupied by a school’s alumni. And bracketing football Head Coach Doug Marrone because it is his first season at the helm, the programs are very successful because of this fact.
Look no further than Jimmy Boeheim and his staff. The Hall of Famer has four Syracuse graduates on his staff in Bernie Fine, Mike Hopkins, Lazarus Sims, and one Gerry McNamara as a graduate assistant. Turning to lacrosse, the most successful program in Division 1 lacrosse history, Head Coach John Desko is an alumnus, along with each of his three assistant coaches Kevin Donahue, Lelan Rogers, and Roy Simmons III. Both programs are obviously outstanding in their respective sports, and obviously there is something special about them, and the consistency of the various sports, that draws alumni back to coach at Syracuse.
No where else in the college world does this happen. You don’t see Patrick Ewing coming back to be an assistant at his alma mater. Nor does it happen at any other Big East institution. It does not happen at other BCS schools either. It only happens at Syracuse in which so many people that are alumni come back to be associated with the programs. And this happens in various degrees for most alumni. Another big example would, of course, be Carmelo Anthony. He was only at Syracuse for one year, but his experiences, regardless of winning a National Championship, amounted to one of the best experiences in his life. To repay that debt he donated $3 million to help build a state of the art basketball facility. As a private institution, Syracuse does not receive state money for athletic facilities like other state schools, so it must come from somewhere. Carmelo stepped up out of his fondness of Syracuse and $3 million is an awful lot of gratitude.
Of course regular alumni like me experience this kind of feeling about Syracuse. Syracuse alumni occasionally donate money back to the school, but it more readily shows by the number of children that go to Syracuse after their parents did. It shows by the various alumni organizations Syracuse has, and the vast areas where there are clubs. This simple fact is, when it is all said and done, and no matter what happens on the athletic field, Syracuse graduates love their school and take pride in having a degree that says Syracuse.
While it is true that most people are proud of their alma mater, clearly Syracuse wins again. Just to be clear: Suck it Connecticut, Georgetown, and any school not named Syracuse. After all, what would school pride be without a little friendly rivalry?
But I’m not here to convince you I’m the biggest SU fan of all time. Merely to illustrate that I understand the premise I’m about to tell you in and out. Too often Syracuse fans get labeled as “fair weather”, several times by me. Usually it is quite warranted, as evident by the many empty bleachers at various games in the Carrier Dome. However, all that said, is there any alumni base more loyal to their school than Syracuse?
I submit that once you graduate from Syracuse University, you become a lifelong advocate for the school, the academic programs, and the sports. What evidence could I possibly have to back this up? Besides my own opinions and habits (and the SU bloggers that graduated from Syracuse know what I mean), you only need to look to the top three sports teams on the hill. Each team, referring to football, basketball, and men’s lacrosse, are coached by men who graduated from Syracuse. Not only that but several assistant coaches are alumni as well. Few other schools, if any, have had the situation where the top three money making sports for the NCAA are occupied by a school’s alumni. And bracketing football Head Coach Doug Marrone because it is his first season at the helm, the programs are very successful because of this fact.
Look no further than Jimmy Boeheim and his staff. The Hall of Famer has four Syracuse graduates on his staff in Bernie Fine, Mike Hopkins, Lazarus Sims, and one Gerry McNamara as a graduate assistant. Turning to lacrosse, the most successful program in Division 1 lacrosse history, Head Coach John Desko is an alumnus, along with each of his three assistant coaches Kevin Donahue, Lelan Rogers, and Roy Simmons III. Both programs are obviously outstanding in their respective sports, and obviously there is something special about them, and the consistency of the various sports, that draws alumni back to coach at Syracuse.
No where else in the college world does this happen. You don’t see Patrick Ewing coming back to be an assistant at his alma mater. Nor does it happen at any other Big East institution. It does not happen at other BCS schools either. It only happens at Syracuse in which so many people that are alumni come back to be associated with the programs. And this happens in various degrees for most alumni. Another big example would, of course, be Carmelo Anthony. He was only at Syracuse for one year, but his experiences, regardless of winning a National Championship, amounted to one of the best experiences in his life. To repay that debt he donated $3 million to help build a state of the art basketball facility. As a private institution, Syracuse does not receive state money for athletic facilities like other state schools, so it must come from somewhere. Carmelo stepped up out of his fondness of Syracuse and $3 million is an awful lot of gratitude.
Of course regular alumni like me experience this kind of feeling about Syracuse. Syracuse alumni occasionally donate money back to the school, but it more readily shows by the number of children that go to Syracuse after their parents did. It shows by the various alumni organizations Syracuse has, and the vast areas where there are clubs. This simple fact is, when it is all said and done, and no matter what happens on the athletic field, Syracuse graduates love their school and take pride in having a degree that says Syracuse.
While it is true that most people are proud of their alma mater, clearly Syracuse wins again. Just to be clear: Suck it Connecticut, Georgetown, and any school not named Syracuse. After all, what would school pride be without a little friendly rivalry?
Labels: Athletic Department, Syracuse University, Tooting Our Own Horn, Unprompted Hatred
It. Looks. Glorious.Well, for all seven of you that have waited for it, the day is here. I have finished sitting for the Bar Examination in the great State of
Peter knows how to do it.My time is thinner this time of the year due to my school workload. I have a motion due this week and a trial the next. Therefore my time to blog is thin, but over the past few days there have been some really juicy things to talk about. Thus, it is time for a seldom used here, but often impact filled “grinding gears” segment made famous by one of this country’s most eloquent poets Peter Griffin. Additionally, I just provide my commentary on several issues on the hot stove. Less gear grinding, more commentary and analysis that you’ve come to expect from Orange::44. Maybe there’ll be a Lloyd Carr rumor. You never know!
Connecticut Violations
If you know me, or have read this blog for any length of time, you know that I hate UConn for several reasons. However, additionally if you know me you know that for the past several years I have been saying that UConn recruits dirty and they Calhoun will sometime be involved in recruiting violations at some point in his career. Sure enough it finally happened. The NCAA has launched an investigation, but it seems like the proof is already at hand. Asked to comment earlier last week and Jim Calhoun basically denied a lot of the stuff, seemed uninterested, and didn’t seem to care about what the investigation was about or anything like that. However, later was a much different tune as a more contrite Calhoun admitted that a mistake could have been made. Yeah, apparently so. The original Yahoo! Sports report seemed to have plenty of facts including phone records and records of text messages to prove, based on the preponderance of the evidence, that violations have occurred. It will be interesting to see what the NCAA does. Do I think any games will be taken away from Connecticut? Probably not as Miles, the player at the center of this controversy, never played a game for Connecticut (because he was tossed off the team for violating a restraining order before the season even started. Great pick UConn!). But will UConn get hit with fines, lose scholarships, and be banned from postseason play? It is quite possible, as the main violation is not that these things happened, but rather that they happened, UConn knew about them, and did nothing about it.
UConn Linebacker Kijuan Dabney
One of the secondary missions of this notebook is to chronicle the off the field legal issues that fellow Big East and oppositional players get into. We take extra pleasure here at Orange::44 when it happens to be from UConn, for good reasons. Junior Linebacker Kijuan Dabney was arrested early Sunday morning at the UConn Student Union for a fight with another UConn student according to the Hartford Courant. He was charged with second degree breach of peace and had to be removed from the university sponsored event at the Union. Dabney started all 12 football games for Connecticut as a freshman, mostly on special teams as a strong safety, and six games last season as a reserve linebacker. He is expected to return to the team as the reserve linebacker this fall. Dabney is currently out on $500 bail. Leave it to UConn football to not even suspend a guy a game or something for getting into a fight. Then again this is nothing new for Coach Randy Edsall, who has a nice track record of letting his players run buck wild. I can get the proof, but unless you are a UConn fan trolling my site, you can take my word for it. Frankly UConn fans and Syracuse fans alike should remember the UConn player’s incident at the Wingz Over Storrs when a manager got punched because a player wanted to use a stolen credit card.
Connecticut Violations
If you know me, or have read this blog for any length of time, you know that I hate UConn for several reasons. However, additionally if you know me you know that for the past several years I have been saying that UConn recruits dirty and they Calhoun will sometime be involved in recruiting violations at some point in his career. Sure enough it finally happened. The NCAA has launched an investigation, but it seems like the proof is already at hand. Asked to comment earlier last week and Jim Calhoun basically denied a lot of the stuff, seemed uninterested, and didn’t seem to care about what the investigation was about or anything like that. However, later was a much different tune as a more contrite Calhoun admitted that a mistake could have been made. Yeah, apparently so. The original Yahoo! Sports report seemed to have plenty of facts including phone records and records of text messages to prove, based on the preponderance of the evidence, that violations have occurred. It will be interesting to see what the NCAA does. Do I think any games will be taken away from Connecticut? Probably not as Miles, the player at the center of this controversy, never played a game for Connecticut (because he was tossed off the team for violating a restraining order before the season even started. Great pick UConn!). But will UConn get hit with fines, lose scholarships, and be banned from postseason play? It is quite possible, as the main violation is not that these things happened, but rather that they happened, UConn knew about them, and did nothing about it.
UConn Linebacker Kijuan Dabney
One of the secondary missions of this notebook is to chronicle the off the field legal issues that fellow Big East and oppositional players get into. We take extra pleasure here at Orange::44 when it happens to be from UConn, for good reasons. Junior Linebacker Kijuan Dabney was arrested early Sunday morning at the UConn Student Union for a fight with another UConn student according to the Hartford Courant. He was charged with second degree breach of peace and had to be removed from the university sponsored event at the Union. Dabney started all 12 football games for Connecticut as a freshman, mostly on special teams as a strong safety, and six games last season as a reserve linebacker. He is expected to return to the team as the reserve linebacker this fall. Dabney is currently out on $500 bail. Leave it to UConn football to not even suspend a guy a game or something for getting into a fight. Then again this is nothing new for Coach Randy Edsall, who has a nice track record of letting his players run buck wild. I can get the proof, but unless you are a UConn fan trolling my site, you can take my word for it. Frankly UConn fans and Syracuse fans alike should remember the UConn player’s incident at the Wingz Over Storrs when a manager got punched because a player wanted to use a stolen credit card.
“The ‘Ville”
Honestly, congratulations to Louisville for making it to the Elite 8. But really, does anyone think a basketball pep band should wear hockey jerseys? Yeah I’m a band geek and I analyze this kind of stuff but I’ll take the hit on this one. I take pride in my past, as again if you are a long time reader you know I was in the Sour Sitrus Society, the basketball pep band at Syracuse. I’ve been in the band when we received standing ovations at the Big East Tournament, and had other bands decline to play because we were better than them. Now, Louisville’s band sounded alright, but to be foolish enough to think that you look alright at a basketball game in a hockey jersey is a complete dork and has a serious slipping grip on reality. Wearing a rugby, t-shirt, polo shirt, hell even a shirt and tie would be alright, but a hockey jersey makes no sense at all. On top of that it just says “The ‘Ville”. Come on. Put Louisville, or even just “L’ville” because that is how you say it. But to have “The ‘Ville”? Please. Way to look ridiculous on national television over and over again.
Honestly, congratulations to Louisville for making it to the Elite 8. But really, does anyone think a basketball pep band should wear hockey jerseys? Yeah I’m a band geek and I analyze this kind of stuff but I’ll take the hit on this one. I take pride in my past, as again if you are a long time reader you know I was in the Sour Sitrus Society, the basketball pep band at Syracuse. I’ve been in the band when we received standing ovations at the Big East Tournament, and had other bands decline to play because we were better than them. Now, Louisville’s band sounded alright, but to be foolish enough to think that you look alright at a basketball game in a hockey jersey is a complete dork and has a serious slipping grip on reality. Wearing a rugby, t-shirt, polo shirt, hell even a shirt and tie would be alright, but a hockey jersey makes no sense at all. On top of that it just says “The ‘Ville”. Come on. Put Louisville, or even just “L’ville” because that is how you say it. But to have “The ‘Ville”? Please. Way to look ridiculous on national television over and over again.
The Old Ball Coach
Doug Marrone has gotten right down to business. I have it on good authority that the only thing he has on his desk in his office are his computer monitor and a big, white binder that says “The Plan” on it. Seriously. Already he has had players tackling in drills, and some players are complaining about the work they have had to put in for Marrone. To that I say damn right. Your ass should be dragging after a good practice. You’re a football player. You should be tough enough to hack it during practice, and if not you should quit. Football isn’t for pansies. Oh and what a novel concept, having players actually tackling in practice. Does anyone miss Greg? Not Greg the elloquent wordsmith, but Greg the football coach mind you.
Starting QB
Marrone, based on a week of practice has decided that Redshirt Freshman Ryan Nassib will be the starting quarterback for your Syracuse University football team. Frankly if Marrone is that impressed with him then that is good enough for me right now, considering the season is 156 days away. Second string is now Cantley, who endeared himself to Orange Football fans everywhere by leading the comeback victory over Notre Dame in South Bend last season. Andrew “I guess I’m not very good at being quarterback after all” Robinson has either chosen, or the coaching staff has recommended, to make the switch to tight end. This is much like the epic switch Matt Saracen made from QB to wide receiver on the popular television drama Friday Night Lights (thankfully renewed for two more seasons). Robinson probably knows the routes already, so he could prove to be an ample target, and could be utilized in possible trick plays in the future. However, judging by his completion percentage as a starter that is probably a terrible idea.
Happy Birthday To Us
What a strange trip it has been. Orange::44 turned four this March. It seems like only yesterday I joined writing for this notebook at the behest of my good friend and mentor Matt Glaude. As I like to say, even if we aren’t the best, we were definitely the first. In the past I have posted some of my favorite stories that are the best representation of what this notebook produces, but I will forgo that again this season and wait until our fifth anniversary. Yes, I promise you there will be a fifth. However, I do have to thank some people because in this internet age, four years (starting March 12th of 2005) is a long time. Thanks to Matt Glaude for starting the site and giving me a chance to write for it, even when at the beginning some of my articles were not very good at all. Also thanks to him for continuing to blog after handing over the reigns to Orange::44, as he is brilliant and hilarious. Thanks to all the SU bloggers out there for reading and being so supportive and talented themselves. Special thanks to Brent Axe (The Axeman), Sean at Nunes/Magician, Danny at The Sport Hump, and all of The Three Idiots for being so awesome and continuing to do great work. Thanks to all the other talented Big East bloggers out there for stopping by, trading knowledge, and realizing that we can all have some good fun at each other’s expense once in a while. Thanks to my network of friends and informants that continue to tip me off to the inner workings of the Athletic Department, especially those that would surely get in trouble if they knew they were friends with a blogger. Keep up the good work guys, and your secrets are safe with me. That is those that I can’t post here. I also have to thank the Athletic Department, because without some amazing incompetence or overstated minor victories, as well as extreme ineptitude or success on the field of play, half the fodder for this notebook would not exist. The mission of chronicling the daily disaster that is Syracuse University Athletics is not taken lightly around here. Finally, thanks to you, the average reader for continuing to stop by and enjoy some Syracuse stories, analysis, commentary, reporting, or just plain goofiness. On occasion we strike a chord that resonates across the internet, but more often than not we just plug along, giving you information that you can just find in a box score, but somehow you find what I write entertaining or enjoyable enough to waste your time here. For that I’m grateful and continue to be inspired to write new and occasionally funny articles. I have to take breaks here and there because of real life, but you are the reason that I keep coming back, occasionally against better judgment. Maybe some day I’ll actually let someone else write for this… but I doubt it. As for me, I’ll be here so as always GO ORANGE!
PS - Maybe someday I'll stop saying "we" and just say "I" because it's just me around here.
Labels: Athletic Department, Basketball, Big East, Breaking The Law, Connvicts, Football, Tooting Our Own Horn, UConn, Unprompted Hatred
Another blogger turned radio host is always a good thing.Former Syracuse blogger and current sports reporter for the Watertown Daily Times Matt McClusky has been given his own daily radio show on 1410 WNER ESPN Radio in Watertown, NY. No stranger to excellent sports coverage, he has been given his own show to connect listeners with a daily dose of sports that they care about, including Syracuse University athletics. While his show, Matt Mc’s Sports Fix, does not officially debut until 5:00pm on March 30th, he asked me to be on his first and secret show. I come in at the 3:30 minute mark to talk about Syracuse and their basketball season, upcoming match against Oklahoma, and just general stuff about Orange::44. Check it out and be sure to check out Matt’s show which will be available every day as a downloadable mp3 after the show at his show’s website here. I will be asked to appear periodically so I’ll alert you to future appearances as they come up. If you would like to download the secret show click here.
Labels: Audio Euphoria, Basketball, Big East, Tooting Our Own Horn
Come join me for celebrating the pointless!A lot of things happen in March. I have been too busy to notice, but amongst the various events that happen in March is the anniversary of this notebook. Back in March of 2005, Matt Glaude, a graduate of the illustrious Syracuse University decided that the time was right, and the landscape was bare enough, to start a blog of interest. That blog, with the mission to “chronicle the daily disaster that is Syracuse Athletics”, was born. That blog you have come to know as Orange::44.
While Matt Glaude has now been departed for a while on to different and interesting endeavors, I carry that proud tradition on, admirably trying to be as creative and funny as my predecessor. While I realize that I am not nearly as entertaining, I hope you appreciate the quality of the product still present on the pages of this chronicle and how much effort goes into every article produced. While this may not be the best Syracuse blog, it was definitely the first, and there is something to be said for that. I thank you for joining us, whether you have been with us from the beginning or recently heard about us from visiting one of the orange colleagues you perhaps frequent. It has been my pleasure to write for this blog. Therapeutic, cathartic, and miserable are some other adjectives that come to mind on occasion as well. For that opportunity to write about something I greatly enjoy, while earning some respect from my colleagues and the audience, this endeavor has been most rewarding.
While Matt Glaude has now been departed for a while on to different and interesting endeavors, I carry that proud tradition on, admirably trying to be as creative and funny as my predecessor. While I realize that I am not nearly as entertaining, I hope you appreciate the quality of the product still present on the pages of this chronicle and how much effort goes into every article produced. While this may not be the best Syracuse blog, it was definitely the first, and there is something to be said for that. I thank you for joining us, whether you have been with us from the beginning or recently heard about us from visiting one of the orange colleagues you perhaps frequent. It has been my pleasure to write for this blog. Therapeutic, cathartic, and miserable are some other adjectives that come to mind on occasion as well. For that opportunity to write about something I greatly enjoy, while earning some respect from my colleagues and the audience, this endeavor has been most rewarding.
Last year I picked my favorite and most representative articles from the first two years. At the time I was picking from a pool of both authors. It is a little hard to judge just myself in the same way, as I have enjoyed so many moments. Therefore, I will decline to put out my favorites from this past year, and wait for a larger sample space to choose from. Perhaps next year. You can enjoy Matt Glaude’s two year anniversary article here, as well as my celebrating the pointlessness of our two year mark here. Regardless, I again hope you have enjoyed this space, and I thank you for allowing this notebook to enter your life in some small way, and that you were slightly informed or entertained at some point. Three years seems like a long time, but hopefully we are just getting started.
Labels: Tooting Our Own Horn