Hey yall, I know I dont post on here a whole lot (although I read just about every day) but Im sure a lot of you know me from twitter (@AZLK).  Anyway, long story short is I live in AL and I just got my trip plans together for the Tulane game on Oct 8.  Taking a train down Friday afternoon and leaving Sunday or Monday.  Is anyone else going to be at the Superdome, in the area for tailgating etc., or have any tips for my first time in NO? Go Orange!

Couple things real quick: 1.) I am a Bama fan by birth but I lived in upstate NY for a while so I am a Syracuse fan as well.  2.) This is my first post on RBR, sooo Roll Tide.

I was freaking out all day yesterday at Bryant-Denny. As much as I enjoyed watching the Tide roll, I kept on checking the news for any more expansion updates.  I have never really liked the ACC and I could never imagine Syracuse leaving the Big East after we blasted Miami, BC, and Va Tech for doing the same thing.  I think it was a brilliant move by the ACC, especially if they pick up UConn and Rutgers as well (thats where the smart money is at this point), or if they pull a coup and manage to land ND (who they have been courting since the 90s).  The ACC will become the 3rd best FOOTBALL conference in the country (SEC, B10, Pac12 ACC) as well as the undisputed #1 basketball conference when this expansion takes effect (possibly not til 2014).  West Virginia is leaving the Big East for the SEC, expect the official announcement by Wednesday at the latest.  Everything I've heard is that the ACC and Pac-X are looking to expand to 16 ASAP, their commissioners consider themselves progressive and see 16 team superconferences as the inevitable wave of the future. The SEC and Big10 are taking the more conservative approach and staying put at 14 (look for B10 to add 2 schools from the sinking B12 or BE conferences within the next month).  Im excited and scared for Syracuse but I love seeing the respect from my fellow Bama fans about the value of Syracuse, thank you.  I know SEC pride runs high in football and a lot of fans in the area don't look too closely at other conferences but Syracuse football is up-and-coming and Pitt is reloading, this expansion really does strengthen ACC football as well. Ok I'm done ranting, ROLL TIDE!

Summary

*Facts:
-Syracuse and Pitt to ACC effective 2014 (27 month waiting period/$5 Million buyout unless other agreement is reached).
-UConn has been aggressively pursuing ACC since Sat morning, Rutgers, Lville, ND also rumored for 15/16 slots.
-WVU has submitted application to SEC, may be a done deal. Expect announcement by Wednesday.
-Pac-12 pursuing package deal for OU/OSU, Texas/TTech. Expect deal to be reached within next 2 weeks.
-SEC expected to stay put at 14 schools for foreseeable future.

Speculation:
-Big 10 may look to add 2 additional schools from remaining Big 12/Big East schools (i.e. Mizz, Lville, Rutgers, etc.)
-ACC may look at including Madison Square Garden in championship venue rotation.
-Look for the basketball-only Big East schools to try to block SU/Pitt/others from leaving a la Baylor.
-Big East may act quickly (early this week) and make a move for remaining Big 12 schools, they have been in contact with Kansas, KSU, ISU, Mizzou for the last several weeks and they would compliment TCU geographically and bring in strong new markets.

*I use the term loosely

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/15477/espn-coms-all-big-east-team

So after viewing the list, do you notice anything missing? I mean aside from Derrell Smith, we got nothing folks.  I mean I'm sure HCDM might say something like "It's a team sport," and I respect that, I really do, but c'mon... there's only 8 teams in the league.  I mean really? One guy?  HCDM, let me help you out here with priority #2 or 3 for next year: PLAYMAKERS.  And accompanying that, NO WEIGHTLIFTING ACCIDENTS.  Seriously, we gotta get that (Florida) talent and keep it healthy.  And then maybe we can get a few more names up on these lists.

Doug Marrone looked upset, was very brief in his words, and gave a half-hearted hand shake to Randy Edsall. Edsall looked surprised at Marrone's choice of words, whatever they were, and stood a midfield for a few seconds shaking his head. He even seemed to try and yell something in Marrone's direction as he ran away

Being the over-excited that I am, my mind cant help but wonder what Head Coach Doug Marrone said to Randy Edsall after Saturday's shootout.  My guesses:

"Next year, you're ****ing dead"

"Way to go, ****ing traitor"

"I had a husky once, it was a b**** too"

"Set foot in the Dome again, you're a dead man"

Family friendly? Not so much.  But good rivalries are seldom started with sunshine and happiness.  Any other good 1-liners Marrone could've slipped in there?

I'm not saying this is it.  Really, I'm not.  But it's on the list, right?

#25 Rutgers (Football improves to 4-7, first conference win for HCDM)

#12 Cal (The upset many sportscasters saw coming, Dicky V's a little too excited)

#4 UNC (The shot heard 'round the world, Dicky V's heart explodes from the excitement and the viagra)

And the irony of it all? Just a few days ago we were discussing how bad the same week could be here and now I am able to post this article and while some people may think I'm overreacting, they can at least see where I'm coming from.  There are other events, national championships, cinderella tournament runs (BE and NCAA), etc. but in 2 sports at once, major milestones? I think this is unique.

Best week in SU athletics and where this ranks.  Discuss.

Just got a text from ESPN, seems Len Pasquarelli just broke the story that Syracuse Junior WR Mike Williams will enter 2010 draft.

ok this brings to mind a few comments/questions:

1.) Does Len know that Syracuse junior WR Mike Williams IS NOT A SYRACUSE JUNIOR WR ANYMORE???

2.) What part of this news is breaking/needs to be broken?

3.) Read this for more on Len from DeadSpin

4.) This guy does not look good.  In any sense of the word.  He is like death and a full buffet rolled into one neat little package.  Sarcasm on "little."

UPDATE:

The official story from ESPN

OK so the point of my post is this: SU players have been leaving the team since Marrone took over.  Here's a (partial) list:

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Parker Cantey, Chaz Cervino, Nick Chestnut, Mike Mele, Darnell Pratt, Frank Satterfield, Austin Wallis, Trey Fairchild, Michael Kay, Lamar Middleton, David Legree, Matt Reid, Terrell Harris, Dan Sheeran, Elon Mitchell, Jeremiah Harden, Romale Tucker,  Zary Stewart, Dan Collier,  Daniel Bailey, Derek Hines, and Shane Raupers.

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Take a good look, cause that is a LOT of names.  The roster got very thin, very quick.  We needed walk-ons. Who among you had heard of Ryan Lichtenstein?  Besides his mama and hs coach, I dont think any of us had.  OK, now without these 20+ athletes we managed to win as many games as we did all of last season.  We got respect from other teams (partial list):

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"'Syracuse looks like a pretty darn good football team to me,' Paterno said after looking at SU's 23-20 overtime loss to Minnesota. 'Maybe they weren't so good last year, but this is a different year. This is a different kind of football team. They hustled and made some plays.'" (Nunes)

"Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly said 'I think Doug (Marrone) has done a terrific job of teaching his football players to play hard. That was my concern all week. We banged that drum as hard as we could. I thought we came in and it was business-like in a sense. We got our job done and we want to get the heck out of here.'" (Nunes)

"What I saw on film against Minnesota, Northwestern, Maine, every game, even Penn State - Penn State's a good football team and Syracuse gave them a pretty good battle - is young men straining and playing hard." - Bill Stewart of WV (Nunes)

"...and obviously Syracuse is going to continue to evolve and I've been very impressed. Doug's done a tremendous job with getting the team to play with an outstanding attitude.  They're playing hard, they're playing fast, and you can definitely see the attitude that Greg Paulus has brought to this team and they're definitely playing at a whole 'nother level." - Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern (Brent Axe)

"You watch the tape, and they’re playing the game the way it should be played" Jack Cosgrove of Maine (Nunes)

"'I know (Coach Marrone) is proud of his football team because they played extremely well,' said Minnesota head coach Tim Brewster. 'They played their hearts out and their fans really did a great job supporting them.'" (Webb) and man back when the fans supported us, those must've been the days huh?

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K, that's a lot of stuff to say a simple thing: No one denies that we're getting better.  Really.

We lost a lot of people.  A lot.  Some graduated, some quit.  Marrone has more or less told us that the players on his team will work hard, everyday.  They will respect their teammates, their university, and their community.  If they violate these rules, they won't play.  Now some players, some really decent players, have violated team rules and Marrone's rules have applied.  Like Mike's previous violation of team rules, this latest one has resulted in suspension and worse.  Another player has (maybe? I'll assume he's gone for now) been added to that list that I wrote at the top. He is/was NFL caliber in talent but how does this impact his draft stock? Not my concern.  What I am concerned about is the question of who will step up and fill his spot in the depth cart. I am not concerned about the players on the field, they will give it their all, every game.  The ones who were not ready for that are gone.  And if they misbehave off the field they'll face the consequences.  This is a different team and they need our support, the odds are stacked against them.  This is not a Quest for Toronto, this is a quest for respect and the Orange have earned that from me so far.

Stay Classy Orange