SU-Virginia Postgame

KShaw, how dare you fail to give your picture the proper sizing!  

A moment such as this should be glorified with the correct amount of pixels.  Great job of you and your brother Mike to get on TV for Phil's last game.  I'm sure he would be proud of your support for him these past few months.  Also, a big shout-out to the guy behind you. Is he eating a hotdog or just clapping?  I am ashamed that I can't decipher his actions.  Either way, a job well done all-around.

Anyways, yes, this post is a little late, but my motto is better late then never!  KShaw ran down the main points from the end of the Greggers era, so lets talk about those fighting Orange(men) and their battle with Virginia.  We'll just hit a few main points from the game quickly:

• Syracuse obviously played a pretty sloppy game until about 10 minutes to go in the second half.  What is it with these guys and coming back on teams?  After the Florida victory in which we controlled the entire game, I actually had the hope that this year's squad was getting away from the play-behind mentality all the time.  Obviously, that hasn't been the case recently.  However, for some reason, this doesn't scare me as much as I thought it would.  This team is shaping up to eerily resemble that 2003 team (knock on wood) that would dig itself a hole but somehow claw back into the game and pull out a victory.  Listen, by no means am I saying we have the type of talent that team had, because that isn't the case.  Also, the Big East is still a month away from starting.  But you have to admit, you got a couple of flashbacks last night when Andy Rautins started hitting those 3's to get the lead back, didn't you?  I couldn't have been the only one.
• Turnovers are absolutely killing Syracuse the past couple of games.  If we actually play without giving up have the turnovers that have happened, I'm extremely intrigued to find out what would happen.  We'd be looking amazing right now.  We clearly have a better all-around squad  than some of these teams, but we're giving them so many more chances to score.  The turnovers have to stop.
• After some sloppy defense for more than half the game, the Orange definitely manned up (no pun intended) and played with intensity when the game was on the line.  I thought that the turnovers we caused Virginia to make in the last 7 minutes were the key to the game, and by putting the clamps down we definitely proved that this team is capable of man to man defense.
• Rick Jackson was HUGE.  After Arinze picked up his 4th with over 11 minutes to go, things weren't looking so good.  This was after he had just scored a few quick points and looked to be getting on track after a slow start.  Instead, he picks up his 4th foul and Rick Jackson comes in and actually ups the intensity.  He played great defense, finished on offense, and was just an all-around presence in Arinze's absence on the bench.  I am very interested to see what would happen if we can get these 2 to play well together later in the year versus the bigger Big East front lines.
• Someone needs to tell Devendorf to settle down a little bit.  Eric, the recent physical play isn't helping your cause for the "situation" that you currently have going on up on the hill.  Take it easy, big fella.  Someone needs to take away all Devendorf's meals containing red meat for a few months.  It's for the best right now.
• The crowd last night was terrific.  I was waiting for the first semi-normal Dome crowd of the year, as the seats have looked a little empty lately.  Last night, the fans really showed up and carried the Orange when they needed it the most in the second half.  My brother and Dad attended the game, and both commented on how loud it got during the comeback.  Let's hope that the team stays hot and with it, fans keep piling in to those seats to give us that real home-court advantage.  If you don't think this is a direct challenge to you guys up in 311 Heaven, then I don't even know what to say.

That's all for now.  Keep your heads up, football players, help is on the way.  To the basketball guys, keep doing what you're doing.  Just ease up on the turnovers.

- Jake the Snake

The end of an Era...

Wellllllll maybe not exactly. I mean technically yes buttt....

Anyways, there really isn't too much to say about this game. I didn't get a chance to post a prediction on here, but when talking about it down here I said if I were a betting man I would take Cinci and give the points (20 is what I was told). I didn't get to watch the whole thing, but I did get to watch a good amount of it while I was mingling around before the UT-Kentucky game. 

Cameron Dantley put the shift in reverse and digressed about as much as a quarterback can only a week after being one of Pontiac's game changers. At one point he was like 2-13 for 9 yards. I know Cincinnati is better, but is their secondary really THAT much better?

The main story of this game was that it was Greg Robinson's last. The only main thing I can think about this is I hope we are close to locking somebody down soon, because it looks to me like Charlie is on his way out the door at Notre Dame, and it's yet another school for Syracuse to compete with for a new HC. Daryl is being quiet, so who knows what that means. Quiet is good, because quiet means it is time for everybody to just turn in to basketball mode. Perfect Therapy for a terrible football season. We all need to just go watch some roundball and put this football season behind us.

Related to football being over and a coach getting fired, Tennessee beat Kentucky easily tonight. I'm glad Fulmer got out with a W for his last one, and it's too bad GRob couldn't get one of his own..... Alright I'm over it.... I'll exit this random tangent with a Saltine takeover of ESPN2 in Knoxville:

"Yeah dude, Erin Andrews IS that hot in person"

-KShaw

SUKU Postgame...

Well then.

I think it's safe to say that we stole that one. We played terrible in the first half, and a lot of the second half as well. Here are some thoughts:

-SU ended up finishing the game with 15 turnovers, but I think they had about 11 in the first half. Could have been the most frustrating half of basketball I have ever seen.

-Four players in double figures, and Rautins with nine. The depth is awesome...

-FREE THROWS. My God. They call it the "Charity" stripe for a reason. I don't understand how you can miss that many. Devo was particularly awful from the line. Some may say 7-10 isn't bad, but come on....

-I think Arinze has over taken Devo in my heart as my favorite player. Seriously. I think I'm in love. He just muscles people around and does whatever he wants. The first true dominant, legit center since Etan Thomas...

-I liked the coaching this game. I posted all over the place saying that I think we should be playing a lot more man than zone, but I agreed to switch to the zone when AO got in foul trouble. That way you shut down Aldrich and hope Collins or Taylor is cold.

-I feel like Onuaku playing 39 of the 45 minutes is huge. He was in foul trouble most of the game but he played smart on defense. The fact that the big man played that many minutes is fantastic.

-I'm glad Johnny put his thoughts of Ping Pong aside and he hit the shot...

-Like I said after the Florida game, Gottleib will find a way to belittle this win come March

Overall nice win that will hopefully get us some respect. Let's protect the ball though Ay?

-KShaw

What a win! Check back tomorrow for post game...

Post-Game thoughts and Kansas

Big win last night against #17/#18 Florida. Here are some post game thoughts and a Kansas preview:

-Any chance for a Mookie redshirt? I believe they are still along the guidelines where he could...
-Welcome back, Andy Rautins. Nice to see his shot finally back.
-Five players in double figures, with Devo at 9. Nice to see some scoring.
-We are God awful at free throws (in case you haven't heard in the last five years).
-I couldn't help for a while envisioning the Pitt game last night. Any time we would get the game in to double figures they would hit some crazy shot to keep it close, and then Paul Harris for some reason was dribbling the ball down the floor. WHY?
-AO was an animal. Definitely should have gotten him the ball more. Florida couldn't stop him.
-I can remember two specific times where we couldn't pass the ball inbounds after a basket without a press on... There were definitely some laziness happening at times on transition defense/ offense.
-Solid win, but Gottleib will find a way to belittle it in March.

Tonight, Syracuse University will play the Kansas Jayhawks (in Kansas City) for the 'ship. Kansas put a pretty good beating on Washington, though I don't imagine the same happening tonight. I would say that this game will be within ten points. We have to stop Sherron Collins from lighting us up from three, so we might see a lot of man defense tonight. I will take Cole Aldrich or Morris one on one with Onuaku all day long. This one could be a toss up, and will be a great game to watch...

Syracuse 75
Kansas 70

PLEASE JIMMY

Being down in Knoxville, Tennessee you would not believe the chatter. Without a doubt (despite this season) this place is a football town. 100% no doubt in my mind. This has been confirmed when I hear a lot of the basketball knowledge that is getting passed around here that I get word of. I have heard outlandish statements such as the SEC is the best basketball conference in America, the only team that can run with the Vols from the Big East is Louisville (hahahahahahahahaha), Tennessee could take Carolina by 15, and that because Syracuse only beat Richmond (Rich-whaaa) by 6, they do not deserve to be in the top FIFTY. I am starting to see why Phillip Fulmer was fired only a year after losing to the eventual National Champion LSU Tigers by a touchdown in the SEC title game. It is to the point that I am throwing Fisticuffs. Jimmy, if you do NOT win another regular season non-conference game for the rest of your life, take this one home. People here literally think Florida is going to win this game by 30. Don't get me wrong, I love the underestimating. But I can't stand it anymore. It's bad enough that I actually cheered for the New York Bretts today so they could silence the people who think the Titans are the greatest football team of all time. I'm sure there are some sane fans down here. I am just yet to find them. I had a debate yesterday from a kid that Tennessee would lose to a high school team in football, and that Florida could probably beat the Minnesota Vikings. With that kind of knowledge, I honestly thought he was kidding. So, YOUR GONNA DIE CLOWN!




For the love of Julie, Jim. We need this one. I beg you. My prediction? Look for AO and Do-It-All-Paul to tear it up.

Syracuse 65
Florida 55


LETS GOOOOO ORANGE FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY

-KShaw

I LOVE IT... Scroll down for postgame...

GRob taking Charlie down with him...

"Every loss hurts, but there's something added to it, being the total situation," (Sr. Maurice Crum Jr. after calling this loss the worst of his career).

Amen to that brother. As GRob was shot down at the hands of Daryl, he dropped a grenade that may very well possibly blow up Charlie Weis' future at Notre Dame. When that long ball was caught with 5 seconds left, I was about to break something. As soon as that kick went up, it looked good. But the God's were on our side tonight.

"Words can't explain," he said. "I just looked all around me. I pretty much did a 360, just looking at everybody, seeing all those orange helmets up in the air." -Kicker Brandon Walker about the final FG attempt

Antwon Bailey had a coming out party, hitting holes big or small. It was incredible. Now, I didn't get to see the Lousiville game down here in K-Town, but other than the TD that game did anyone really see this one coming from him? Cameron Dantley also played phenomenal today. It is so obvious that he is the key to success. Everyone knows we have a running game. When we develop a passing game here and there for games, it is so much easier for the RB's to gain some yards. And how about his composure at the end of the game? I think all of Knoxville heard me screaming when he connected with Donte Davis.

But on to some defense. I love defense. I love hitting. defensive stands. On that note, the defense played out of their minds tonight. I was amazed with the passion they played with. Art Jones was my midseason MVP, and even he exceeded my expectations. I mean he owned the ND center. 15 tackles. FIFTEEN. I don't care how good or how bad Notre Dame is, 15 tackles in their house on senior day is incredible.

Actually, this whole performance was incredible. Having said that, Robinson is still out. I was reading around on some message boards, and some seem to think Daryl will reinstate him. Nope. Aint' gonna happen. This win was enormous in the fact that we were on national television, and showcased a little bit to potential coaches the state of the program. As I leave you today, I'm going to show you a conversation of texting exchanges between Jake the Snake and myself. Jake was unfortunately at the wrath of Danny Wegman for the day, however he got home for the conclusion of the game:

KShaw (5:10): 20-10 ND
Jake (5:11): Not bad, very winnable
KShaw (5:13): Fumble su... ND ball on cuse 5
Jake (5:13): shit
KShaw (5:15): Hey at least we held them to a fg maybe he will shank... hahaha maybe we can have a 4th quarter comeback for a change..... nope 23-10
Jake (5:16): damnit
KShaw (5:29): ANTWON BAILEY TD CUSE! 23-17 ND lets doooo this
Jake (5:30): I'm pumped I just got home
KShaw (5:35): 4TH DOWN WERE GONNA HAVE A SHOT LETS GOOOO
Jake (5:35): This is enormous we gotta score
KShaw (5:40): ...3 and out ouch
(after missed 48 yd fg):
KShaw (5:55): hahah dude this is madness if we can win this
KShaw (5:56): ahhhhhh bailey was past the play no need for that hold.
KShaw (5:59 after TD): HOLY SHIT
Jake (5:59): YESSSSS
KShaw (6:00): hahahahhah FINISH IT
KShaw (6:04): wtf
Jake (6:04): jesus what the hell the ball was hanging there forever
KShaw (6:06): HAHAHAHHAHAHA YESSSSSS
Jake (6:06): YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

What was the point of sharing this exchange with you? I don't really know, but it was a crazy effin hour.

-Pumped KShaw

Bailey-d out!

....What just happened????

Our beloved Syracuse, 20 point underdogs to Notre Dame just pulled off the upset. I'm shocked. FRESHMAN Antwon Bailey just ran for 126 yards on 16 carries. Cam Dantley 13-25 for 122 yards and a TD. Art Jones: 15 tackles. I really can't believe it. Some quick thoughts:

1. I personally thought Syracuse was screwed right from the start with the dropped punt. It was one of those here we go again thoughts.

2. I gained a little bit of hope, but thought our weekly quarter and a half of good football was over with the 40 yard TD pass from Clausen with 10 ticks left in the half.

3. Holy defense. Not only did they hold the Irish to a field goal after the dropped punt, but they bailed out the offense after their disaster of a second half opening drive. I have not seen the defense play this well all season, and I really didn't think they had it in them.

Positives from this game:
-Antwon Bailey 126 yards on 16 carries
-Art Jones 15 tackles
-Offensive line protection of Cam all game.
-Donte Davis catch with 42 seconds left.

Negatives from the game:
-Punt snapping (sorry Max).
-Hail Mary grab with 5 seconds left.
-Penalties (7 for 50 yds)
-Fumbles (3)

BUT WHO CARES? LETS GO CUSE!

More after the pressers.

-KShaw

I'm shocked

seriously.... post game in a little bit

LETS GO ORANGE

-KShaw

Cuse vs. Oakland Recap, Plus Orange Lookalikes

Well, that game was certainly over before it started.  The Golden Grizzlies of Oakland (not California, but Michigan??) were no match for Syracuse's length and athleticism tonight in the Dome.  The Orange came out firing, and didn't have their usual lackadaisical play to start this game.  It was encouraging to know that they can actually begin a game any other way than going 0-5 from three point range.

A bunch of guys scored in double figures in this one.  Jonny Flynn was his usual spectacular self, scoring 18, Arinze chipped in with 14 on a perfect night from the field, and newcomer Kris Joseph (who we'll get to in a bit) added 13 and was also perfect.  

I happened to attend this one from the plush surroundings of the Citizens Bank Luxury box at the Carrier Dome (yeah, right) and was about 85% satisfied with this performance.  I mean, you just know as a Syracuse fan that at some point they're gonna have one of their three-to-four minute lapses on both ends and inevitably let an overmatched opponent come back.  You just know it's coming.  Naturally after a pretty strong first half, with about thirteen minutes left the Grizzlies cut the lead to 14 with a chance to make that 12 or 11 (after we were up by as many 24).  

Eventually, things smoothed out, we regained control and cruised to an easy victory.  Like you were expecting anything else from a team with the name "Oakland" that's not even from California?  Some quick positives to take from the victory:

• Ball movement.  Everyone was making the extra pass today.  Passes were crisp and clean, and there was no reliance on one-on-one moves to get points.  If I'm not mistaken, the first ten or so field goals came off of assists.
• Once again, Jonny Flynn looked phenomenal.  He was setting guys up, running the break perfectly, but still taking control and getting his own points when needed.  It's safe to say after the first three games that this team is going as far as Flynn carries them, and that may be a lot farther than people think.
• Although the passing for easy baskets was good, we still had a lot of turnovers.  Oakland actually lead that category, forcing 20 to our 14.  This may seem like a negative, but I am focusing on the positive here: This stat is saying that our half court offense was actually very poignant tonight.  Most of these games versus the smaller schools are won with simply overpowering them for easy fast break buckets, but with this game it wasn't the case.  I like the efficiency of the offense for basically the entire game.
• Kris Joseph played terrific.  He scored 13 points in 19 minutes on 6-6 shooting!  Once again, more on him in a second.

Now for the negatives...

• The aforementioned turnover problem.  While this proved that our offense was on point tonight, this obviously isn't gonna be the case against the Big East competition, or Florida and Washington/Kansas for that matter.  Syracuse needs to stop having those lapses where a sloppy mentality takes over and they start throwing the ball aimlessly.
• Devendorf and Rautins were off once again, going a combined 5-16 and only 2-12 from the 3-point line.  Yikes.  On the bright side, both played a decent floor game and Devendorf did have 7 assists, but they have to start knocking down some of these threes for the team to reach full potential.  There was one stretch where on three consecutive possessions, Rautins missed 3-pointers.  Perimeter play is supposed to be a Syracuse strength this season, not a crap-shoot.

Overall, the game was a good win for Syracuse and for the most part, they did what the were supposed to.  Meaning, the Oakland Golden Grizzlies, from the Rochester located in Michigan, are who we THOUGHT they were. Okay?!

Lastly, let's discuss Kris Joseph.  He had a great game, went perfect from the field, and is now our fifth member of the 08-09 squad to receive his lookalike post!  Congratulations Kris, today you had a great game and get to read about why it is a good thing that you are being compared to Mario Chalmers.  Here are my thoughts: 

1. If you didn't watch a second of Syracuse basketball highlights from before this season started, I would be wiling to bet something of value that you had no idea which one of the men from the above picture was Kris Joseph and which was Mario Chalmers.  In fact, I'm willing to bet that half of you that did see Syracuse highlights this year still have no idea.  The resemblance is simply uncanny.  I'm usually one to go against making easy comparisons like two rappers or two athletes from the same sport, but c'mon.  This one was too easy.
2. Both Mario and Kris came to college in the states from some of our cold, northern counterparts.  Kris is originally from Montreal, Canada (ay?) while Mario hails from Anchorage, Alaska.  Therefore, neither is even from the Continental United States.  Sweet!
3. Both are pretty damn good at playing basketball.  While it seemed originally that Mookie Jones was the prized possession of Syracuse's recruiting class, as of late Joseph has certainly emerged as the more prominent of the two.  Not saying that this will be the case all year, but it's safe to say that it's where we stand now, seeing Joseph's strong showing the past two games coupled with Mookie's so-so play tonight and 0 minute outing versus Richmond.
4. If Kris' career turns out like Mario's final game, then I think that we can all go home happy.  Not a bad way too finish off your college days, wouldn't you say?  (Note: I am still bitter about Memphis' poor free throw shooting.  Atrocious isn't a strong enough word to describe their foul shots in the last three minutes of that game.  If Memphis wins, I'm $150 richer from a March Madness pool.  Don't think I won't hold a grudge for years to come, Mr. future ROY Derrick Rose).
5. One last thing, Kris.  As much as I want you to emulate Mario's college career, if you ever make it to the NBA, please don't follow his lead at any Rookie Symposium's.  Um, thanks.

Syracuse-Notre Dame kinda got put on the back-burner today, but ah, screw it.  I'm going to make a prediction right now and say:

Syracuse - 10

Fighting Irish - 31

However, let's hope this isn't the case.  

By the way, if you ever want to give your future kid a leg-up on the competition and insist on them to completely dominate athletics in an unfair and cheating manner, just do it the Jimmy Clausen way!  Start your kid a year late for Kindergarten (age 6), then hold them back and repeat the 6th grade "to gain maturity," as Jimmy's mom Cathy calls it.  I mean, it's not like you are mature enough when you enter seventh grade a year older than everyone else.  Better make it two years to be safe, right mom?

So if your son should ever become the most-highly touted high school quarterback of all-time, head to the most prestigious football school of all-time, and greatly fail to meet the lofty expectations set for him?  Well, don't worry about that.  I mean, no matter how much he struggles and how much scrutiny he receives, he won't be a senior at age 22!  Nope, your son will still be fresh-faced in his second full year of college; still learning the ropes, gaining that additional two more years to win bowl games and set records, and having the treat of buying beer for all his buddies as a 22-year-old Sophomore.  Boy and Girls, your future plan to have an All-America athlete, brought to you by the Clausens!

I hate Jimmy Clausen.

- Jake the Snake

SU Basketball Lookalikes Continue

We add yet another lookalike to our running series today, this time being point guard Jonny Flynn and R&B singer Akon!

There are many noticeable similarities between the two as you can obviously tell, with the basic exception being the skin tone.  Akon is a little darker.  Nevertheless, I find the comparison interesting for a couple of reasons of course.

1. Akon has blossomed from a relatively unknown upstart singer into one of the go-to guys for rappers looking for someone to get on their track.  He has now shed the underground label to become a full-out superstar.  Jonny Flynn didn't really blow up until the end of his junior year and senior year of high school.  Remember, one of the main reasons we got Jonny here other other than his ties to Paul Harris was the fact that we were so early to recruit him.  Other than SU, his offers were from Buffalo and Canisius (!) at the time of his signing.  Now in his second year, he's arguably the best point guard in the country.
2. Both make everyone around them better.  Even tho Akon can shine on his own, along with Jonny, they'd rather pull back a little bit to let everyone get involved.  As we all know though, when it comes down to the clutch, Jonny's going to take the ball.  He proved that with his 27 a few nights ago against Richmond, and he proved it one of his first game's last year with his game winning 3 pointer.

There you have it, our fourth lookalike so far, Jonny Flynn and Akon.  Check back for another comparison plus some thoughts on Syracuse-Notre Dame tomorrow.

- Jake the Snake

  

OK...

Alright, now before I type this post please note that I am not just some jock homer who always takes the side of the athlete.

Having said that, I think it's about time to comment on the Eric Devendorf situation.

"Kimberly Smith, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, told police she was parked on the 900 block of Walnut Avenue at approximately 3 a.m., when five people approached her car and began kicking it and yelling at her, Connellan said."

Issue #1: This lone statement is already different than the one already reported, even the one reported on syracuse.com.

Issue #2: She has before and After conflicting accounts of the event.

"Kesnig said Smith identified five men as members of the SU men's basketball team to the responding SPD officers when they met her at the corner of University Place and Comstock Avenue, and found dents in both the passenger and driver sides of the car."

. Ok, so this would be bad news then. But, wait. The police say that she didn't have a clue who did it.

"She said she didn't know who the people were that damaged her car. That's what she told the officer on the scene," Connellan said. "If there were other people there, I don't know. I don't have that information."

So either the Police are confused, or the woman is confused. Either one would not surprise me. My opinion? I think Devendorf is an idiot. But at the same time, I think this woman is making something up here. I feel terrible for what happened to her, but she has conflicting stories to the point where I'm not sure what's true and what's not.

Here is what the told story is:
This young Woman was minding her own business picking her sister up from a Fraternity house at 3 am. The date of the situation was listed as November 1st, so it was obviously a halloween party this little sister was at. From here it is unclear. Some reports say she was driving. If this was the case, then for some unknown reason Eric Devendorf kicked her moving vehicle until she got out of the car (?). OK. For the sake of this Woman's argument, were going to say the car was parked. So this lady is sitting in her car when Devendorf, and apparently five other basketball players started kicking her car for fun. Rather than rolling down the window or getting the hell out of there, she decided to be bold and stand up face to face with these people whom she did not know who they were at the time but were later known to be Devendorf and his crew (?). Without saying a word to them, Devendorf started cussing her out and punched her in the face with a closed fist. The reports say there was no injury, so apparently Devo can't punch for shit. This woman, bewildered as to who just hit her, must have had amnesia because when she drove down the road and talked to the police, only after did she realize that they were basketball players that attacked her.

Now I have my opinion of what probably happened, but it would not be very fair to the woman. I have to say, Devo you gotta use your head and not be anywhere near those situations in the first place. But at the same time, if your going to accuse someone of something you have to have a straight story. We're going to see two sides to the argument, regardless of the verdict. Either everyone protects athletes and it's not fair that they can get away with anything. Or, every girl who wants attention goes after the athletes and it's not fair that they have such a target on their back.

Either way you look at this, it doesn't add up. Either Devo was chasing down a car and kicking it down the street. Or, he just decided to kick a parked car. One question. WHY?? If your going to make an accusation, you HAVE to tell the WHOLE story in order for it to get pieced together. If you verbally provoked him, so be it. He still can't punch you in the face. If what you are telling is true about Devo hitting you, you have to tell why he did it. Without that information, all you are going to look like is someone targeting an athlete. Because even Devendorf isn't dumb enough to throw a career away so he could punch a girl in the face that did nothing to him.

Current Saltine Warriors Verdict: Hung Jury Lack of Evidence...

Have no fear readers. I have sources (amigos) in Fraternities that will find out what the hell is going on.

-KShaw

Bring him aboard...

It was a very long time ago (right before the premiere of The Express) that I had heard that Skip Holtz had been hired already. Obviously my source was giving me false information, but today syracuse.com had an article about a coach not named Edsall, and a coach that didn't say he had no interest weeks ago. Skip Holtz was the great topic of discussion today. There are many Pros and Cons of Skip Holtz.

Pro- He knows how to beat West Virginia. Not only did he beat West Virginia, but he beat Virginia Tech. Two teams that I personally despise.

Con- He has drastically fallen off since being on everybody's list after WVU/VT, with the ECU team now sitting at 6-4.

But you know what? I love him. He is my numero uno. I think he would do a great job here. He has pedigree. He has recruits. He's defeated our rival more times in the last year than we have in the last four. Skip, we need you brother.

-KShaw

The Warriors Welcome FanDome

KShaw and I would like to welcome with open arms our new partners by the name of FanDome.

FanDome is a new social sports video website that is designed to be a network of locally focused team video sites.  Our very own Syracuse Orange has their own links on the site.

The site features over 35,000 easily embeddable sports videos categorized and searchable by sport, date, team, player, and numerous other groupings.  Using the new platform, we now have access to Orange news and commentary with the click of a button, if you notice the widget and extra links on the right side of our page.

I advise checking it out for some nice videos and maybe a trip down memory lane.  Who doesn't want to relive the top dunks from Syracuse's 2006 season!?

- Jake the Snake 

Syracuse-Richmond (Rich-Whaaaa) Recap

Alright. So that wasn't exactly the most dominant Syracuse performance we have ever seen. But a win is a win, and the Orange are now 2-0. Here are some quick thoughts while i procrastinate from doing my English paper that is due at 9 am tomorrow.

1. Your starters were Harris, Flynn, Devendorf, Onuaku, and Ongenaet. I personally see nothing wrong with that lineup. Coming off the bench we had Jackson, Rautins, and Joseph.

2. Jimmy only went 8 deep this game, with Mookie not getting any burn. This surprised me. Although it was a battle throughout, you would still think he would get Jones in there for some action.

3. Rautins had quite the off-night. He threw up some horrible shots from NBA range in the first half that were not necessary. He finished with 1 point on an 0-7 shooting night. He will be fine, but he needs to have a better shot selection.

4. I'm not sure why, but the offense seemed to shy away from Arinze for a while in the first half. He started the game off with 8 quick points, only to be denied the ball again until the second half. Richmond could not stop him. He is a beast.

5. Gonzalvez from Richmond lit up our world. Thankfully he only had 4 points in the second half after a 14 point outburst in the first. We all knew he was dangerous before the game, but wow.

6. Richmond was very balanced this game, with four of their players scoring in double figures. The three ball was working well for them.

7. Johnny Flynn led the way with 27 pts in 39 minutes, while Devo was right behind him with 22 points in 31 minutes. I personally think that AO is the POTG simply because of the way he dominated whenever he touched the ball. 17 points and 6 boards, while playing for 30 minutes. 30 minutes is a lot of time for a big fella. Good for him.

8. I didn't really get to see the Le Moyne game (watched it on a blurred chinese website), but I listened on ESPN 1260. With this being the first SU Basketball game of the season that I got to watch, I have to ask. Where the hell are the fans? I really couldn't believe my eyes. I understand it's Richmond, but I've seen more butts in the seats at exhibition games in seasons' pasts. The only thing I can think of is the possibility that this tournament is charging a ridiculous amount of coin to go watch. Beyond that, I'm baffled.

9. I'm personally not going to comment on the whole Devendorf extracurricular situation. My buddy Jake the Snake stumbled upon the article so it's all his.

Overall, I think that Syracuse has a lot of work to do, but also have great potential. It was a poorly played victory over a mediocre team. There was little urgency throughout, but like I said earlier a win is a win. Check back tomorrow as there will be a post about a partnership the SW are endevoring in.

-KShaw
P.S. Bud Poliquin, go eff yourself.

Post-Standard finally gets the Edsall Message...

Well, let me be the first to say it's about time. Syracuse.com is finally reporting that Randy Edsall doesn't want to come to Syracuse. This is about as breaking of news as when I broke word that Luke Harangody is ugly. I understand that he was high on everybody's list. But it has been reported quite a while ago that he is not interested. Long before the SU-UConn game even, he had said that he was not interested. I suppose that any news reported on coaching candidates would be speculation now anyways.As for the coaching carousel, you can basically just create your guess. My list is going to have to be adjusted a little bit, losing Bowden and Kiffin. I still say that I want Skip Holtz. My guess is that we are not going to be hearing anything anytime soon.

-KShaw Quick Post

Greggers Era Is No More

Some quick reactions from the firing of Greg Robinson by DARYL earlier today:

• ESPN's formal article - ESPN.com
• Big East blogger Brian Bennett - His take on Greg never fitting fully from Day 1, as well as what might be next for the Orange
• Donnie Webb's opinions on - DARYL's second chance and the lack of progress shown in the Robinson era
• Bud Poliquin's sentimental tearjerker about Greg being a great guy - Syracuse.com
• Let The Great Coaching Debate of '08 Begin! - Here & Here

While all of this is obviously a lot to discuss, there will no doubt be further opinions coming in the next couple of days.  The big picture still remains that the trigger was finally pulled: Greg will be gone at the end of the season, there is only 2 games left, and we can all now set our sights on turning the program around and getting it back to where it should be.  

Even better that the football news, basketball season is now among us!  Is that a slight sense of optimism I can smell around the corner? For the sake of us all, God, let's hope so.

- Jake the Snake

ROBINSON OUT!

Greg Robinson has been fired as the Head Coach at Syracuse University as of 3:30 pm. There will be a press conference later today.

"STATEMENT FROM DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS DR. DARYL GROSS REGARDING THE FOOTBALL PROGRAM

I have made the decision to move our football program in a new direction and have informed Greg Robinson that his tenure as Syracuse's head coach will end at the conclusion of this season.

Coach Robinson worked very hard to try to establish a winning program, one that could eventually compete for the conference championship on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the progress we expected to see has not occurred.

Greg has been professional and honorable in how he has handled his responsibilities as head coach. He has been dedicated to teaching and guiding the student-athletes in his charge, and passionate in wanting Syracuse to be a quality and successful program.

I thank Coach Robinson and his entire staff for creating a highly competitive culture in which our players never gave up, and for his development and leadership of our student-athletes in the classroom and community. His commitment to community service was outstanding. He leaves the program with a solid base on which we will continue to build. We wish Greg and his family the very best moving forward.

The timing of this announcement allows us to end rumor and speculation and provides us ample time to hire a head coach who has shown the capability to produce a winning football program that the Syracuse nation can be proud of. That process will begin immediately and will remain confidential until a selection is made."

-Syracuse.com

-KShaw

Syracuse Basketball Game-Day Lookalikes!

It's game day, folks! The Orange will finally take the court for real-real today as they face those, um, crosstown rivals, the Dolphins of LeMoyne College!  Tipoff is at 6:30.

Got a busy day today, but thought we should get this quick comparison in to celebrate the season starting.  For our third lookalike, we have Arinze Onuaku compared with comedian and actor Anthony Anderson and Super Bowl Champion Michael Strahan.  Yes, this broke my rule of comparing one person per player but I figure what the hell?  Both of these guys resemble Arinze in one form or another, so I put both up for you to enjoy. 

This would have been a lot easier to prove as a terrific resemblence, but unfortunately there are a limited number of pictures of Arinze.  The big man and the key to our post game this year is a quiet guy, so I guess that doesn't come as a huge surprise.  However, the similarities between both an Arinze are somewhat extensive, when you consider their facial hair, the large stature, and of course ... uh, the teeth.  

One more note, as catchy and cool as the nickname "AO" sounds for Arinze, it needs to cease. It's already taken.  this shouldn't be a discussion.  The real AO is from North Philly, plays guard, and is about 6'3 and 185 pounds.  He had it first, you can look it up.  So let's think of something else for Arinze and stop stealing Aaron Owens' thunder!  (Besides, isn't Arinze original enough? What more do you want!)

I was going to do a running diary for the first game of the year, but I have an intense 3 on 3 game scheduled at 7:30. Rats.  So, with intramural basketball ruining my idea, I'll have to settle for the next one.  On that note, check back tomorrow for the fourth version of our installment.  Let's Go Orange!

- Jake the Snake

P.S. THE 50th ANNUAL MEETING FOR THE CORTACA JUG GOES TO THE BOMBERS! YIPEEEEE!

Dome Employees can be relieved...

Well, at least the ushers at the Dome know they won't get fired anymore. It's only football season where you get fired for not clapping for your team as they walk in to the locker room. They no longer have to usher in imaginary fans, they no longer have to convert the lacrosse field (that the football team plays on) to a basketball complex.

And best of all they don't have to sit through the torture that is Syracuse Football anymore.

There is really nothing to analyze about this game. UConn is better than Syracuse. Right from that start we couldn't do anything. All the intangibles that were for Louisville were in effect tonight, the lone exception being the talent on the other side of the ball. It was a night game. It was senior night. Maybe it is because they are no longer bowl elligible, maybe its because the team knows Greg is a goner. Frankly, I don't know and I don't care. The frustration is stilll piling up, and he has to be let go. It should have happened after USF. And this is not even the Tennessee in me. I think Fulmer should not have been fired. This is the me who knows facts. And the fact is GRob coaching Syracuse isn't working out. 9-34 (or whatever he is) is a lot different from 150-52.

But regardless, the topic of discussion in Syracuse yesterday was about Edsall. People really need to understand that he is not going to come. WHY would he? We are just going to have to face it that if you make a list of your top five favorite candidates, we probably will not get any of them (unless Turner Gill is on it).

-KShaw

CORTACA!

Just thought I would throw a quick update for my amigo Jake the Snake. The Ithaca Bombers successfully defended their Jug with a 35-13 rout of the Cortland State Red Dragons. Barring an upset, in my opinion these two teams were playing for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tourney. I don't remember the score, but I was at the game last year and Ithaca ran train just like this year.

Needless to say I think Jake the Snake will be having a good time tonight so I'll throw the Syracuse post game up tomorrow.

Let's Go 'Cuse!

-KShaw

Syracuse-UConn Prediction

KShaw pretty much hit this one on the head with his quick look.  Syracuse is going to have tons of distractions, nobody is happy, and above all else, we still suck.  Instead, my attention tomorrow will be on the battle for the Cortaca Jug between my school, Ithaca College and Cortland State.

Ithaca is currently sitting at 8-1, with the lone loss coming against St. John Fisher.  Cortland is looking very strong at 9-0, and seeks to avenge their 40-17 trouncing last year (Although I don't remember much from the game, I do know it basically was never close from the opening kickoff.  KShaw was right there with me, so he could attest to that).

With both teams ranked in the Top 25, this year's battle should be fantastic.  I'm giddy. So as a Cortaca treat, I will predict the result of both of the "big games" tomorrow:

Syracuse - 14

Connecticut - 31

Ithaca - 42

Cortland - 38

- Jake the Snake

Quick Game Preview

Ah, it is almost time for the weekly frustration that is Syracuse University Football. Many people are saying that SU has a shot this week. I mean afterall it is Senior Day, UConn's starting quarterback Darius Butler is hurt and not playing, and it is going to be GRob's final home game (don't laugh, players will try to win it for the man). And then there is the distraction of Randy Edsall. Bud Poliquin says that it is the obvious choice for the Orange. One problem, Bud. He doesn't want to come here.

But back to the game itself.

Does Syracuse have a chance? Sure! Until kickoff every game Syracuse has a shot to win. But there are way too many distractions going on. Remember how well we played last time we had a major distraction(s)? Edsall is coming to town. Robinson is still employed. Dantley is unhappy.

Basically, this team is up in flames. Senior day can only carry a team so far, and this team has wayyyyyyyy too far of a journey to be carried. Syracuse is going to implode against UConn. Hopefully the hammer can be dropped after that.

Syracuse 9
UConn 28

-KShaw

Anthropology 101...

I hate when the internet doesn't work during that class...
Here is your weekly belated post about Syracuse's upcoming opponent, the UConn Huskies.

UConn is much like the foe of USF. They have a very short history in 1A football, but have had recent success. They have been around since 2000, and has been in the BE since 2004. In there years since joining the big boys they have two bowl victories. While this is respectable, there is one stat that is not.

They lost to Greg Robinson.

I don't care if you are USC, Florida, or Ohio State. If you lose to Greg Robinson, you can't be anything special. If I wasn't sitting second row 30 yard line for the game, I wouldn't have believed it. But regardless, this school really doesn't even have too many things for me to make fun of, with the exception of the fact that they lost to the worst coach in America, and your current head coach wanted to come here first. While I don't think Edsall is going to be coming here next season, it's a little silly thinking that he wanted to come here first. But then again, I can't even make fun of that because we didn't hire him because our AD is a moron. That was our screwup.

But again, you still lost to Greg Robinson.

It doesn't matter if your faking fair catches, we wanna go Husky Hunting.

Let's go 'cuse this weekend pull the upset...

I meaannnnn they lost to Greg Robinson.

-KShaw

SU Basketball Lookalikes: Part II

After a few long days of absence (my bad), it's time for me to unveil the second installment of the Syracuse Basketball lookalikes.  After comparing Josh Pace and Scoop to the Young Gunz a few days ago, you might be thinking to yourself "Jake, that's all you got?  Any idiot (or 3) can come up with one stupid comparison."

Fear not, Cuse fans, because I'm just getting warmed up! Today's installment feature two gentle giants; our very own Sean Williams and UConn's Hasheem Thabeet.  Coming in at a whopping 14'2'' combined height,  these two look like they could have been separated twins at birth.  Frankly, that still might be the case.

Really, there are a lot of similarities between these two giants.  Let's take a look at some:  

1. Both share a unique bond with Kristof!
2. Both love to spend quality time with the more vertically challenged (via facebook)
3. Both, um, might want to stick with playing basketball as  opposed to dancing (wow)

Unfortunately, one is considered a Top-5 NBA prospect for next year's draft, and one is coming off a Freshman season in which he averaged 1.2 points and 0.4 rebounds per game...

... yeah.

Well, our guy has a longer wingspan than Yao Ming.  So take that!  We'll back back tomorrow with SU Basketball Lookalikes Part III!

- Jake the Snake

SU Basketball Lookalikes Part I

For our first-ever installment of the Syracuse Basketball lookalike feature, we're double dipping into a few different areas as a special treat for all of you.  

Our first ever candidates today compare Scoop Jardine and former Orangeman Josh Pace with the rap duo the Young Gunz, Chris and Neef!  For those of you wondering, Josh's counterpart is Neef, while Scoop looks like Chris.  You may remember the Young Gunz for their 2003 hit, Can't Stop Won't Stop.  (Obviously, in the past few years they have indeed somewhat stopped).

There are some interesting parallels between the two duos that I would like to point out:

1. For a good hearty laugh, you might want to check out that video.  The concept is wonderful.  Chris and Neef are the first two male applicants admitted into an all female prep school; a great achievement that is actually very similar to Josh and Scoop being the Saltine Warriors' first-ever lookalikes! (Okay not really)  Now, just imagine if the real Josh and Scoop actually replaced the Young Gunz in this video.  Picturing what could transpire makes me giggle outloud.
   
2. The Young Gunz, originally signed to Roc-a-Fella records, are actually from Philadelphia.  Yes, that's the same City of Brotherly Love that Scoop also calls his hometown.  Is there a chance that Scoop and Rick Jackson actually know the Young Gunz?! Is this possible? It certainly wouldn't be out of the question. Someone call Freeway's beard and tell him to get on this at once.
3. For the purpose of comparing the two closely, I couldn't show Josh's full picture.  This was unfortunate, because it was a masterpiece.  It stems from a feature a few years back in Sports Illustrated in which they named Pace one of the top "glue guys" in college basketball. Honestly, I could care less about the actual feature.  I just greatly admire the photography of Josh Pace holding a large bucket of Elmer's glue.
4. If you were wondering, I did not have to search whatsoever to find 2 people that looked like Josh Pace and Scoop Jardine.  I have been saying that Pace looked like one of the Young Gunz for about 5 years now, and when Scoop came to town last year, I was just excited because he completed the duo.  These are the types of things I think about when I'm at the Dome in mid-December and we're playin the might Colgate Red Raiders.
5. Can you fathom being in a class or at a party with Scoop and seeing him be flocked by women from all angles like this?  My friend Mike (aka Miiike) is in a frat at Syracuse, and he has been to events such as these with Scoop.  Before the end of this year, I am determined to experience this at some point.

So, there you have it.  The first installment of our daily lookalike feature to get ready for the season.  If anyone has any suggestions or further ideas about this concept, by all means, let me know.  We'll be back tomorrow with another SU player and their clone.

- Jake the Snake

SU Basketball Resemblance Extravaganza!

My mission was originally to give a recap of the Syracuse football game after KShaw had a rough night this Saturday (to say the least), but by golly he beat me to the punch and gave a superb review of his own today.  Therefore, going off my opinion that I am nearly 100% sick of Syracuse Football (but not quite), I am going to start the ball rolling on a complete upgrade in coverage to basketball season.

I can't describe how ready I am to start watching a Syracuse team begin piling up victories in a major sport.  I can barely contain myself just thinking about it.  Therefore, I thought we would start the fun by playing a game of...

(Drumroll Please) 

Syracuse Basketball Look-a-likes!  To countdown the beginning of the Orange's opening night showdown with the mighty LeMoyne Dolphins, I've decided to get started with a little fun based on past, present, and future Orange players and their appearances.  I happen to have loved comparing people to celebrities for quite some time now, so I figure why not get it going and start comparing guys on the team for a little pre-season fun?

My plan is to unveil one look-a-like per day up until the start of the season, then periodically post other random ones during the year.  A little later on today, I'll post the first Orange Look-a-like of the season. Hey, if Omar Epps can coach the Steelers (and I am convinced that he is), then we can find someone that's a dead-ringer for Kristof and can run up and down the court for a few minutes a night!

I know you can't contain your excitement right now.  But please, try to hold out for a few more hours.  Let the hours of googling and random web surfing begin!!

- Jake the Snake  

'CUSE OVER INDIANA!

.....Waitttttt not the Indiana-Indiana? The Pennsylvania-Indiana? What? I'm all confused.

Regardless, 'Cuse won by ten tonight. What's that mean? Nothing. Wait for the negativity to come, because it will.

Devo lead the way with 15 points. What that mean? Some would say that he must be moving better than last week. I disagree. While maybe he was moving better, you can't judge it on point total.

In any event, SU opens up their season in a week against those ever pesky Le Moyne Dolphins. Barring a catastrophe, the Orange should be playing Florida in a couple of weeks. Last time SU played Florida? During the Gators first NC season at MSG during the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament. As a Tennessee Vol, I hate Florida. Not only do I hate Florida, but I hate Memphis. And I constantly talk a lot of "ish" to all the Memphis and Florida fans here in K-Town. Hence, Jim you better get these boys ready to go. I used to not look too much in to exhibitions, and I still don't. However, I just want to throw out there that Tennessee went on a 42-2 run to start their last exhibition game off against some team from Georgia. I would love to preview a Tennessee-Memphis matchup next semester when I join the Daily Beacon and talk about the blowout in Memphis on December 20.

What is the point of this post you ask? I don't know. Lets go 'Cuse I guess is the point...

-KShaw

In case you missed it...

Good Morning... errrr not so much...

Well, yesterday was pretty much the Saturday from hell. As you can read, I am a litttttttttle bit more calm shall we say than last night. Homecoming in Knoxville is supposed to be pretty freakin sweet, but with Fulmer getting fired this week, homecoming was nottttt so sweet. Not only did we lose to Wyoming, but the tailgating happened from 7:30 am until about the time I posted last on this blog.

But that wasn't even the worst of it.

As everyone is sitting there having a good time, I throw a text out to my good buddy Jake the Snake. He sends me back that the score is 14-0, and I rejoiced. No seriously. I was pumped. The people around me looked at me like I had about six heads, but I didn't care. For a while I actually believed that the season could be saved.

But then again I was five cups deep (Soda of course).

The lone bright spot of the evening was watching Poliquin do his video-thingy. Of course we "probably know your Bud Poliquin", mostly because of how brutally you dropped the ball last week. Outfit and record corrected, he still made no sense. Sure we got killed by Rutgers, but you think this was the worst loss under Robinson? Akron disagrees. Even Brent Axe is having to get pretty creative to describe this team. While we are on that subject, I have a few comments on his replacement list for Robinson.

1) I completely agree that Edsall has about as likely of a chance to come to Syracuse as the football team making a bowl game. Even though it is his Alma Mater, it is still a worse job to have.

2) I'm going to be honest when I say I'm glad that we aren't getting Kiffin. The Daily Beacon reported that Kiffin was in fact down here in Knoxville last Wednesday, talking to the boosters (the same ones that forced out Fulmer). I personally think and have always thought he would stick with the West Coast and go to Washington. I'm glad we don't have that offense in here. To me it would be like replacing George Bush with another George Bush. The definition of insanity: Doing the same things and expecting different results. Enough Said.

3) I hate to say it, but I'm really starting to think that Turner Gill is going to be our guy. At this point with Washington, Kansas State, and Tennessee all out in the open, we are clearly not going to get the big name coach that a lot of Syracuse fans (myself included) wanted. Therefore it's going to be another guy that is under people's radars. We won't look at a name and automatically know our guy's track record. It sort of sucks, but at the same time who knows, maybe it could be for the better.

Now, back to New Jersey.

Rutgers had 27 first downs. Syracuse had 7. Our offense basically happened on one play. Like what was said before the game, if Dantley could be efficient and take some of the focus off of the RB's we would be fine. 3-12 wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. Then Robinson came in and went 2-7. Good lord. From what I'm told, the defense was basically non-existent against Rutgers. Teel tore us up, we didn't make adjustments. Flat out, we just played like crap.

For those who say that this was a "desired" ending because now Robinson will be gone, what is wrong with you? Do I like GRob as a coach? No (but then again I thought P should have stayed). But I still want to win. You can't hope for your team to lose. You just can't. Well anyways, I've decided that I should just take my awful football karma that I provide to everywhere I go and go become a Penn. State fan. Oh wait.... :-D

More to come sometime I'm sure.

-KShaw

F************************

...................... CUE THE CRYING CHILD.... OK, I'm gonna be honest.... I sure didn't watch this game. I was instead at the MELTDOWN WHEN TENNESSEE LOSE TO F********** WYOMING FOR HOMECOMING.

I'll analyze the stats for you tomorrow. I'm not happy. WTF.

Seriously. This SUCKS... I need a beverage.

Peace Greg.

-KShaw

Watkins to China, Rutgers predictions...

Well, I just read that Daryl Watkins is headed to China. He is going to play for the Tianjin basketball team. He began the 07-08 season with the Kings, but was released after ten games...

Also thank you to Rutgers GreaseTruck for the Syracuse-Rutgers video preview.

...But are they serious with the bowl on the table?

OK, maybe this wasn't exactly a very good video preview. As you can probably tell, these fine journalists are clearly focused totally on Syracuse, and have no thought in their mind about going to a bowl game. 27-3 and 28-13 are the two predictions, so now it's time for a real prediction.

Now I know that there is a lot of chatter about SU winning out and going to a bowl. And frankly, I hope you are right. I would like nothing more than to see SU do something this year. Now, what I want and what is going to happen are in this case two separate things. Gut feeling last week was that SU would lose a close one (I picked 24-21 Cards), this week I feel differently. Is Louisville a better team than Rutgers? I think so. But Rutgers is going to win this game. The Knights are going to try to shut down Brinkley, which is near impossible, so Cam is going to be the key here. If Dantley can have efficiency like last week, not turn the ball over, and not get sacked, then I will probably be proven wrong once again. If Cam Dantley can complete passes, avoid three and outs, and keep some focus on the receivers rather than 100% on Brinkley, then SU will win.

But they won't.

Rutgers 21

Syracuse 10

Let's hope I'm wrong again and we can cue some more puppies!

TAKE DOWN THE ONE YEAR WONDER!!

-KShaw 

Breaking News: Luke Harangody is not attractive.

After polling the Syracuse faithful about this upcoming season and it's success, we came to the conclusion that Luke Harangody could be the ugliest man in America, let alone the Big East. The general consensus is that the Orange should make the 2nd round of the tourney or hop in to the sweet 16. The awesome fellow who voted NIT (ND Fan), has a $25 bet with me saying 'Cuse won't make the tournament this year (FYI just so we know the psycho-negatives are busy posting on the Syracuse.com Forums).

-KShaw

Kenny is Pumped

Anthropology 101

It's Wednesday. Thus, like every Wednesday, it's time for the anthropological analysis of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (although not during the Anthropology class of hell like usual). For the first time readers Anthropology 101 is "my thing" I do every Wednesday before an SU football game, which is basically talk some trash. So here we go:

Rutgers University is the largest University in the state of New Jersey. Rutgers University is believed to be the birthplace of college football, as the first ever intercollegiate football game in history happened when Rutgers played Princeton in 1869. In 1869, the Knights were declared the National Champions, with about 4 college teams competing with them. For roughly 38 of the years since, Rutgers has been owned by Syracuse. Syracuse leads the series history at 28-9-1, with many of those 9 losses coming during this dark era of Syracuse Football. Rutgers is traditionally the doormat that Syracuse is now. When you Wikipeda most football teams, they talk about the teams history, championships, and bowls. Well, Rutgers history is composed of the lone year of 2006. On the back of Syracuse sloppy second Ray Rice, the Knights won the Texas bowl. Yes you heard me right. They capped off that historic season with a big W over Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. With such an illustrious history, the Knights are off to a 3-5 start to this season, despite being hyped to compete for a Big East Championship. I'm not sure if the line has been released for this game, but I can't imagine it being any more than about 10 points. For Rutgers, a loss this Saturday would most definitely make them look forward to basketball season. No, not Men's Basketball, they suck at that too. The women's basketball program is their pride and joy at the Rac, where they hope to compete for a championship.

In conclusion, Rutgers is not nearly as good or competitive as they think they are. At least Syracuse fans are just hoping to be competitive each week, not expecting it. However, given Rutgers ridiculously-ridiculous history, I personally would not expect any less. They may have had the best season in school history with their Texas Bowl, but it seems its back to reality for the Scarlett Knights.

While Rutgers has about as sweet as a history as USF, I still say the Bulls were still the most fun to make fun.... I'm not sure whats worse: Being around for 8 years and thinking your College Football God's, or being around forever and never being College Football God's....

-KShaw

PS- I still don't want Turner Gill, but he's not as bad as I originally thought after watching the playcalling and such during the Buffalo game on ESPN 2 last night.

The Donte Greene Show...

I was just browsing the Sacramento Kings website and it has a video preview on it for a feature known as The Donte Greene Show: Coming Soon to an Internet near you. This got me thinking: What could this show be about? Well, I've compiled a list of some possibilities:

1) How to pull a splinter out of your ass- That is too premature and not very nice. Although Donte Has only appeared in one Sacramento game so far for only a mere 10 minutes, it's too early in the season to judge his PPG and playing time to have a show about that.

2) How to keep your starters out of foul trouble at the end of a quarter- This would be a great feature. By the end of this season, Donte will make more money than you or I could make in 5 years, all by simply playing defense (if he's learned it yet) for 2 minutes in a quarter.

3) How to get traded- He is an expert on this one. He has yet to be updated on his NBA Player Page, as he is still in his Rockets jersey.

But seriously, good luck to Donte (even though we "hate" you).... Check out his show when it hits the website.

-KShaw

"We aren't the SEC"

OK. So I know that this blog has had a lot of a Tennessee theme to it the last couple of days. But after reading Bud Poliquin's article about how Syracuse is soon going to "pull it's own Phillip Fulmer with Greg Robinson", I must say this is why I rarely read his writing. Now I'm sure Bud deeply cares what I think of him. How you can even say the name Greg Robinson in the same sentence as Phillip Fulmer is ludacris. To speak of it in terms of a business, Syracuse is losing money, as in they were not turning a profit. Tennessee was losing money, but still turning a profit, and a big one at that. Fulmer's dumping was on the head of both Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton, and the rich donating boosters pressuring him. The title of Bud's article literally has nothing to do with what his article talks about. I wish I listened to his radio show instead of Axeman's yesterday so I could call in and question his motives. I have seen first hand both the situations at Syracuse and at Tennessee and trust me when I tell you they are nothing alike. In actuality, if you want to compare situations, compare Fulmer's firing with Coach P's firing. The differences in these are that P got fired after being Co Big-East champs in a down league, while Fulmer is in last place in a ridiculous league. And Poliquin says that "Syracuse can't swim with the big boys like at Tennessee" because of the money that Tennessee spent to get rid of Fulmer (which is probably the biggest buyout in the history of college football, $6 million). Well heres my issue with that. I don't think that any other program in the country would do that. Why do I think this? Because I don't think any other program in the country is going to fire a coach that has been a part of their University for 30 years with a National Championship. If anyone knows let me know, but I want to know what Boeheim's buyout would be if he got fired, because it would literally be the same situation as to what is happening here right now. Nobody in a million years has any thought of Boeheim getting fired at all, period. Penn State has told Joepa to retire, but they never ever even thought about firing him a few years back when they sucked. But back on topic. Bud, you can't compare Robinson to a coach that has 143 more wins than him and 5 more division titles and a national championship. Finally, I would like to say that the intellect of the Athletic Directors at Tennessee and Syracuse are roughly that of the same, and you could flip flop them and noone would know the difference. They are both not very smart and within 4 years Hamilton will regret his fire, just like Daryl is now.

And for those who are curious:

1) Down here in Knoxville there are rumors circulating of the current players using some serious vulgarity when AD Mike Hamilton tried to speak with them. During Fulmer's press conference, once Fulmer and the players were done speaking, all of the current players got up and left without listening to Hamilton when he walked to the mic. The players also did not make room for the media in the conference room, as were they outside in protest.

2) It also seems like down here it is an average ratio of 8:2 for people who are against this firing to agreeing with this firing. The only people who seem glad about getting rid of Fulmer are the fans of other teams in the SEC.

3) Fans down here are quite confused. They always throw comparisons of Fulmer to Bruce Pearl. They think that it's normal for a coach to come in to a program and be top 15 within 4 years of being hired. Also, what happens to the rest of these Tennessee coaches if they have a bad season? Obviously, nothing. Fulmer is clearly held to the worst standard in all of college sports I have to say. Tennessee lives and dies off of football. Put it this way. Last night, against divison II Indianapolis, the basketball team fell behind 9-2 in the first 5 minutes. Had that happened to the football team, even if just a scrimmage, Fulmer would have been assasinated. If you hold Fulmer to a different standard than Bruce Pearl, you CAN'T compare the two.

4) As I am writing this post I am looking out my window at Neyland Stadium. The last home game has been dedicated as "Phillip Fulmer day". If the Vols win out, Fulmer will end his career with one losing season in 17. Just another reason why Syracuse, nor any other program in the country hold this kind of standard, so Bud please just stop. The only notes that Syracuse is taking, is how not to treat a coach that won a lot of championships for you...

From now on if Syracuse media is going to handle things like this can we give the task to Axe?

-KShaw

MELO IS CORNROW-LESS!!!

First Jermaine O'Neal, then Rip Hamilton, and now our beloved Carmelo Anthony.  This happened a few days ago, but I just noticed it last night when reading a recap of the Lakers vs. Nuggets.  Carmelo without cornrows? What is the world coming too.

The high socks and braids that Carmelo wore when he went to Syracuse has now been replaced with arm and calf sleeves and a close-crop shave.  My, how times have changed.  I just thought it was an interesting move for the new season, as Melo was playing in his first game of the year after a two-game suspension. 

You can view the new 'do at any of the following links: Here, here, here, here, and here.

Let's hope the new look will either grow on all of us, or the year that it will take to get his hair that length again will be faster than we anticipate. 

Fulmer out at Tennessee

I think it's just starting to hit ESPN, but word hit campus today that Tennessee Head Coach Phillip Fulmer will not return next season to Rocky Top. This is stupid. Bring him to Syracuse. Daryl, bring him in if Fulmer is willing. His recruits are ridiculous. He has a National Championship. Tennessee is not going to get a better coach than Fulmer. Chances are he will retire, and watch Tennessee struggle now that they killed all recruiting ties that were built for 18 years. The coaching carousel moves on, and GRob will now be #2 on coacheshotseat.com. Daryl, call him on 3 cell phones and iterate that the expectations are lower here than at Tennessee and that he can do wonders. Oh yeah and pay him $1 Billion. I personally did not and do not think Fulmer should be leaving Tennessee, and I also believe rougher times are ahead for this team, especially given the current state of the SEC.

-KShaw

Those poor, poor Carrier Dome Employees...

The rough stretch of work is upon the employees of the dome. With the basketball team playing an exhibition against Cal-State Los Angeles tonight, the tedious back and forth transformation of the dome has begun. Luckily for them, Greg and his squad only have one more home game. Their lives will get crappy again in the spring, when Lax season begins.

After many different search attempts over the weekend, so far I can't find any good material from the L'ville game. The Card blogs have been basically silent, and my man Kenny is nonexistent on youtube so far. I did find a clip of the band playing some tunes though. Just looking at the lovely weather outside sure makes me miss home... Syracuse, NY: Where the Skyline meets the sidewalk.

Anyyyyyyyyways tonight should definitely be fun. We will learn absolutely nothing about this team, but it sure will feel good to see Devo and Rautins running around again. Exhibitions make cheap dates at the Dome, too. Rough week for the grounds crew, but I'm alright with it...

Also check out the nice little blog post by Brian Bennett at ESPN.com. He gives the 'Cuse some nice props. Since we won last Saturday, I'm going to throw out some picks for the remainder of their schedule. At the beginning of the season (in my head), I put this team at 4-8 with victories over Northwestern, Akron, Northeastern, and Cincinatti. While this may be a stretch, I still say that Cinci is a winnable game. Notre Dame might be a little tough, as with UConn (despite their woes). And while I was looking at this schedule I was thinking about something. How is it legal that a victory over a 1AA opponent can count as a win towards becoming bowl eligible? I mean we will definitely take anything we can get but thinking about it that really doesn't make sense to me. But hey, in my opinion it doesn't maker a difference really at this point anyways. Let the trashing of UConn begin starting today, and let's win it on Saturday!

-KShaw

The Thompson Boling Experience...

This post is for those of you who are like me. Those of you who were born and raised with Syracuse University Athletics, and nothing else. Those of you who have never seen another major college basketball arena outside of ESPN.

So today I did some snooping around campus down here and I managed to sneak in to both the Men's and Women's practices at The University of Tennessee. The Lady Vols were practicing in the newly built Pratt Pavilion, while the Men were practicing inside Thompson Boling Arena, home court for the Vols, the second largest on campus arena in America (I think you may know who #1 is)

I saw the Women's team practicing through a window at the Pratt Pavilion, but found all the doors were locked. Disappointed, I walked around to a few more doors but to no avail. Finally, a little door was being held open by a cone, and in I went. Apparently the University has tryouts for a practice team for the Lady Vols to practice against, however these 6 guys lost to the girls by about 12 in the end. Pat Summit is an angry lady at practice. While I was in the corner minding my own business, I saw a little tunnel. Peaking my curiosity a little bit more was that I saw blue-chip recruit freshmen Renaldo Woolridge going through this tunnel. So I figured why not.

Little did I know that when I went through this tunnel it was leading me to right outside the Men's locker room at the arena. Apparently the Pratt Pavilion is connected to Thompson Boling, so I walked out the tunnel and there was good old Bruce Pearl yelling things to his players while using the phrase "Jimmity Christmas". I parked myself in a seat up front and took a picture:

Once the team was done practicing, the team managers were out playing on the court. So I figured why the hell not?

So then finally I took a shot, then one more picture and off I went.

They have an exhibition tomorrow against Indianapolis. Should be pretty fun. Thompson Boling is pretty sweet, but there is only one Carrier Dome....

Does this post have anything at all to do with Syracuse you ask? Nay. But I planned on sharing my adventure before I actually did it, and well before our beloved football team actually decided to play football for a game. Hence, bad timing for this post. Oh Well...

-KShaw

Greg Robinson Hates Cardinals

Gee, it really feels fantastic to beat a BCS team again!  Syracuse finally got that giant "first 2008 Big East win" monkey off its back yesterday as they defeated Louisville for the second straight year.

Now, that provides me not only great joy as a Syracuse fan, but also to some random thoughts  about this win:

• In the eyes of Louisville fans, Syracuse is now officially that "crappy annoying team that we have no business losing to but for some reason has our number the every time we play them."  University of Massachusetts fans may be happily nodding and noting that this type of team is exactly what the Minutemen were to Syracuse basketball last year.  For unknown reasons, Greggy seems to love beating Louisville.  He now has 9 wins in four years as head coach, with 2 of these coming against good to strong Cardinals teams.  Easily, last year's win as a 37-point underdog and this year's win as a 13-point dog are his most notable victories at SU.  Now if he could just figure out how to implore these strategies against all the other teams too...
  
• Curtis Brinkley is officially a stud.  All season long he has been the one part of the team that we always know will be solid.  With his fifth straight 120-yard performance, he's getting a lot of recognition for that now which I think is great.  Curtis has a lot of heart and I really hope he's given an opportunity to play on the next level, because he definitely has what it takes to perform.
• Was it just me, or did it really feel like Syracuse football was fun to watch again yesterday?  With all of the attention on how prominently bad we've been the past four years, focusing on the actual game and the team's football skills has almost come as an afterthought.  We were watching with clouded vision.  Every time something remotely bad happened, it was always, "Yup, here we go again."  Not yesterday.  For at least a game, we watched the Orange play an all around exciting game against a legitimate opponent that wasn't a complete blowout.  This wasn't Syracuse beating Northeastern. where for half of the game fans spent time contemplating what they would actually do to themselves it they lost to a Division I-AA school.  This game was different.  No more stupid Pop Warner penalties,  No blown coverages or tackles that made us look like an overpowered high school squad.  This game was spent cheering and appreciating the sport of football, so much so that the feeling of seeing a meaningful Orange performance was back and felt better than ever.  This is exactly the type of game Syracuse fans needed to prove all hope was not lost.  The team blatantly proved that at least somewhere, deep down, they have what it takes to compete.

So,  there you have it.  A Syracuse win on a terrific fall night where everything was put into the proper place again.  Please, Syracuse, same some of the magic for Notre Dame.  No victory for the rest of the year would be more priceless than going into South Bend and seeing the look on Charlie Weis and Jimmy Clausen's face as Curtis Brinkley broke away from the pack and high-stepped to his 3rd score of the day.  

Now that would truly be a treat.

More in depth...

I've been reading around Syracuse.com, and have a few comments. 

1) Bud Poliquin, what in the blue hell are you wearing in that video. 

2) Fast forward to about 2:00 in that video.

"...this is a team that came in with a 1-6 record that is now uhhh...... 1-7 record? I got that wrong. They came in here with a 1-6 record and are now 1-7."

......and you cover every game?????? We don't get too many wins it's not that hard to keep track of...

3) I like Brent Axe's coverage of the game a liiiiiiittle bit better. He has some great commentary however I think that he is wrong in one place.

"Winning this game won't save Greg Robinson's job. It is too little and too late for that outside of this team running the table and getting six wins. And that probably wouldn't be good enough either."

I gotta disagree with that. If this team somehow managed to run the table the rest of the season, Robinson would be back. In fact, I bet Gross would like that. That way, he wouldn't have to buyout. But other than that Axe good work as always. 

4) Donnie Webb also has a nice article on the site. The only thing is this one little stat that is being thrown around. Now, don't take this out of context. I love Curtis Brinkley. I think Curtis Brinkley is a man. But Webb threw out there (So did Bud on his video) that Brinkley had his fifth consecutive 100-yard game on the ground. They use that stat to say that Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, Larry Csonka, and Joe Morris never did that. While this is very true, I don't think it's very fair to make that comparison. It is a very different time and a very different team to be comparing those kind of stats. Good for Brinkley though. He has these Saltine Warriors' respect for never quitting and running his ace off...

All in all I would say that the coverage was very positive. For those who don't like to be happy after a win, I suggest heading over to the Syracuse.com Forums, there is bound to be some miserable people there...

-KShaw

Man I love being wrong...

All's I know is I don't know. ESPN may have shafted me out of watching this game, but I stuck my head in to TNIAAM Live Blog and the Syracuse.com Forums to stay up to date. I really had a sincere feeling that Syracuse could possibly win this game (while I did not pick them), and what a win it was! Brinkley is still a monster. Dantley completed 50% of his passes (11-22) with NO turnovers. ZERO sacks. And this team isn't Norteastern. Any Anti-Syracuse person really has no ammo to use against us this weekend. Louisville is legit. Sure they lost to Kentucky, but they also more recently beat a South Florida team that many say is the best in the Big East. Just bask in it fellas. While it may only be for one weekend, but this weekend we played a little football for a change. I know there is still the coaching issue and everything, but before any of you say your sorry we won because now Greg won't be fired this week, leave the blog. Wanting Syracuse to lose so Greg will be fired is equivalent to an NBA team tanking it's season to get a high draft pick. You just don't do it. I've taken my shots at GRob as much as any of you, but when push comes to shove you WANT him to succeed. We can be negative, rude, and outlandish but at the end of the day we just want to win. And tonight we did. So enjoy it and be happy. For once, we actually have some good football news. No headache. No frustration. Lets go Orange and enjoy the win!

-KShaw

Damn you, ESPN 360

Guess I won't be blogging throughout. ESPN 360 apparently isn't streaming a game that is being broadcasted on their own network? Ahhhhhhhhh..

-KShaw

Saturday Quick Picks...

Alright, so I was 3-5 last week. Maybe it's because I picked too many upsets, maybe it's because im just and idiot. I personally think that I was just a little too "excited" for the Tennessee-Alabama game...

So here we go for round two:

Northwestern Def. #20 Minnesota
#22 Michigan State Def. Wisconsin
#19 Tulsa Def. Arkansas
#14 Missouri Def. Baylor
#2 Alabama Def. Arkansas St.
#9 Oklahoma State Def. Iowa State
California Def. #23 Oregon
#16 Florida State Def. Georgia Tech.
#17 BYU Def. Colorodo State.
#7 USC Def. Washington
#11 Boise State Def. New Mexico State

OK. Those are the easy ones... time for some real picks now:

#1 Texas over #6 Texas Tech
#5 Florida over #8 Georgia
West Virginia over UConn
Notre Dame over Pitt

Last but not least...
Louisville 24
Syracuse 21

I know people are thinking this game might not be close. People are either picking the 'Cuse to win due to the knee injury to Long, or picking the 'Cuse to get killed because "we won't sneak up on the Cards this year" But let me tell you this. With the lone exception of South Florida, we have played with every Big East team we have played against, and we have played the upper tier of teams as well. I was weighing back and forth about this game, and I was borderline ready to predict a win for the 'Cuse. It's not like Louisville is a force. They are a good team coming off of a good win against USF, but if we are going to play the who'd ya beat game they also got crushed by Kentucky. Plus there are many outside factors:

A) Night game.
B) Home game.
C) Probably the last chance to get a BE win at home

Now, I know that all you old people are probably thinking that these things do not matter and it does not matter the conditions surrounding the game and that it should not affect players differently. Well sir, you are wrong. As a 19 year old kid myself, I speak for these other kids when I say it absolutely gets you pumped emotionally to have a night game. Playing at home is another thing that obviously kids get up for, and if we can keep the emotions flying throughout the game, we have a good chance at winning it. Did I pick them to win? No. Would I be surprised if we do win? No. Do I want them to win? Abso-effing-lutely. Whatcha gonna do Louisville.... whatcha gonna do brother when Curtis Brinkley runs wild on you...

Agree? Disagree? Leave a comment! I might throw some posts up during the game while I watch on ESPN 360 and have everyone in my hall make fun of me...

-KShaw