Great news here...not all that surprising..but good news all around for me because I'm a Syracuse/Colts Fan:

Delone Carter got locked down today according to the Indianapolis Star:

Here is the story from the SB Nation Colts site Stampede Blue:

http://www.stampedeblue.com/2011/7/29/2303518/colts-sign-2011-fourth-round-pick-delone-carter-rb-syracuse#storyjump

Carter is the first players the Colts have signed.  They have been noticeably silent in the first couple of days of player movements and trades...but I think we can all agree that this is a good thing for 'Cuse fans as the move from Syracuse to Indianapolis becomes even more engrained in the NFL tradition.

Going into the football season, I think the collective thinking among the fan-base was that if HCDM was able to get the boys back to a bowl game...we would be very happy with the progress of the program over the first two years.  Now I think most would agree that we are further along in the "rebuilding" process after an 8-5 year and a bowl win that not only Syracuse fans remember...but one that college football fans around the country can still recall.

So we're clear on the football team.  In short...2 years, 1 HCDM, 8-5 record in the second season and a bowl win = huge strides and an exciting future/off season for the football team and the fans alike.

Now, moving to basketball.  Starting 18-0 was grand, losing the next three games was not so grand, especially the Seton Hall game.  Expectations are a funny thing because the equivalent of what the football team did in basketball terms is something like getting into the tourney as an 8-seed...winning the first game of the tourney in thrilling fashion...and then losing in the next round, but at least being happy that we were in the tourney and starting to tick upwards.

Not to get too far off course here..but the question i have is this:

If getting to a bowl game was the hope/expectations for the football team, there is no doubt we had an unbelievably successful 2010 season...but for basketball...what will the basketball team need to do, for you to have the same feeling of accomplishment as when the football season ended? I was pondering this question before the losing streak and honestly, I'm not so sure the answer has changed.

Thoughts...

...Ok so maybe that's a little overblown, but none the less people are talking about the flag late in the game.  I stumbled across this on syracuse.com about the referee explaining why he threw the flag:

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/30/referee-attempts-to-justify-horrid-flag-against-k-state-fails-miserably/

I also think it's interesting to note that TWO referees threw a flag, not just one.  Which makes me feel a little better about the call.

All in all, I think most fans feel the same way, it sucks that it ended like that, but to be honest I thought SU got the shaft on three calls during the game, so it was bound to come back around for the 'Cuse eventually.

Great Win!

I came across this site in college when I was calling PBP for games at Ithaca and needed to find out where our teams were ranked nationally in a bunch of different categories.

It is possibly the best site ever, considering it is your one stop place to see where the Orange (and all other 334 D-I bball teams) stand in comparison to the best team in each category

(NOTE: THIS SITE, AS I MENTIONED, HAS BASICALLY ALL MAJOR SPORTS FROM D-I, D-II AND D-III)

Syracuse lacrosse stats: http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary

And Here is what we all came here for: The basketball stats

http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/ranksummary

A couple interesting notes from the rankings:

1) Syracuse is first in Field-goal percentage...We knew this

2) The Orange are second in the country in assists per game..only behind sam houston state

3) 'Cuse is 6th in Scoring margin, scoring offense..

4) Some bad notes, we come in 228th in FT percentage, and 272th in TO's per

Take a look at the link and also go to the other teams around the bracket for a statistical look at the teams

Good stuff

Just wanted to let everyone know that I talked with Channel 9 Sports Director Steve Infanti a little while ago and he said to expect news about the AO MRI around 5-6 p.m. EST. 

I know we're all sitting here wondering what is going on and when to expect some news, so I figured I would pass along that little tid bit so people know when to expect stuff.

Keep Those Fingers Crossed