So lately I have had several lively discussions with fellow Syracuse fans regarding this team, this season, and how we'll remember it. Me...? I'm of the mindset that my brother put in my head after they beat NC State when SU had something like a 462 - 0 run in that game, and it became apparent that this team was special. I asked him when he thought the Orangmen's first loss would be. He stated simply, "I don't care. I'm just going to enjoy the ride." That concise statement epitomizes this year's team. Now, I have heard every critical comment that can be made about this team. And, yes, I'm guilty of uttering some disparaging remarks myself. No, they may not "WOW" you every night out. They don't rebound well enough. They have stretches where they struggle to score. Their halfcourt offense stinks. Scoop makes questionable decisions. When will Brandon show up? Dion and Kris shoot too many jumpers. Baye doesn't give them enough inside. Southerland needs to hit 3's or he is useless on this team. And so on and so forth it goes, as if Doug Gottlieb himself were in our collective living room, telling us just how awful this #2 ranked team is. You know what else? This team wins. They win by overwhelming a lesser opponent - see: St. John's. They win ugly - see: at Louisville. They win when they play poorly - see: South Florida. (Still deciding what was worse in that game - SU's play or their uni's.) They make the plays necessary to win the games. And, frankly, that is all that matters. Up to this point.

Now? Now what matters is what this team does in March. What happens over the next 4 weeks will determine if their season is a success or a failure. Just writing that sentence seems absurd. But it's the truth. And there have been a few seasons that have ended in disappointing fashion. Here is my personal list:

1988 - Lost to Rhode Island in the 2nd round. Seikaly, DC, Sherman, Stevie Thompson, Pre-season #1. Just no business losing that game.

1989 - THE most disappointed I've ever been. Up 10 at the half against Illinois in the Elite Eight. "The Flying Illini" with Stephen Bardo, Marcus Liberty, Nick Anderson, Kendall Gill, Kenny Battle.....vs. SU's Billy Owens, Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas, Stevie Thompson. One of the best games I've ever watched. Sherm fouls out late, Illinois completes the comeback, 89-86. Still HAUNTS me.

1990 - DC's senior year. Losing to Minnesota in the Sweet 16. Just an ugly game. (SU had struggled with Virginia in the 2nd round leading up to this game) I was in the 6th grade and went to the movies that night as I had taped the game. My father was legitimately angry with me when I got home. "How do you go to the movies tonight? With SU playing??" Since then, I've made every effort imaginable to watch every Syracuse game. Thanks, Dad.

1991 - Billy Owens' junior year. First 2 seed to lose to a 15. The Richmond game. Billy's last game as an Orangeman. Really nothing else to say.

1998 - Sweet 16 loss to Duke. Game was tied at 49 at the under 12 timeout. Duke wins going away 80-67. Not a bad season - just hate Duke. And REALLY hate losing to Duke.

2000 - Lost to eventual national champ Michigan state. Were up 10 at the break, but just got trucked int he 2nd half. State won by 16. Again, not a horribly disappointing season or result, but you hate being in a position they were in only to let the game slip away.

2004 - GMac banged up all postseason, Warrick gets into foul trouble vs. Alabama in Sweet 16. Lose as Bama makes plays down the stretch, and SU ran out of gas. Prevented matchup w/UConn in Elite Eight.

2010 - Arinze going down just killed that team. So upsetting since Syracuse was arguably the best team in the nation with him in the lineup. If he's healthy, they win it all that year.

But you know what else....? I take so many great memories from those seasons as well. It's great looking back at this program over the years. I like when people make the argument that Syracuse isn't an elite program; that they haven't been past the Sweet 16 since 2003, and before that, it wasn't since 1996. You know what else has happened during that time? SU hasn't had a losing season. They are a regular participant in the NCAA tourney. They take up residence in the top half of the Big East - arguably the nation's toughest conference - year in and year out. Will I be disappointed if they flame out of this year's Big Dance early? ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY! But I'll remember Fab coming into camp in great shape. And Dion losing the weight as well. Fair Bros being the ultimate glue guy. I'll remember the resiliency of this team - winning games previous SU teams would have lost. I believe it's a testament to this program that we're even talking about this right now. It's a testament to Syracuse that they win year after year and often are in the discussion of one of the nation's best teams. I think we all spend too much time worrying about how SU is perceived nationally or when the proverbial shoe is going to drop (early exit in the Dance), or what recruits are coming in next year, and who's leaving for the NBA and etc., etc., etc. I enjoy this team. I absolutely LOVED the 2009-2010 team with Rautins and Wes Johnson. These guys have Scoop & Krisjo, Triche, Brandon Reese, Nick Resavy & Matt Tomaszewski from that 2010 team. I hope this team will make up for the 2010 team's disappointment. And you know what I'll think of when that happens? I will reflect on all those "disappointments" mentioned above. I will think of all the players and different coaching staff members who have helped make this program what it is today. And we will celebrate all of them.

Bruce Feldman has Dorian Graham #4 on his college football "Freaks" list. Not in bad company either, what with 2 Olympic-caliber athletes on the list as well. Surprised Doug Marrone's thighs didn't make the list. And obviously, Mackey MacPherson should have been on the list as a D-I starting center tipping the scales at roughly 175lbs. Now all we need is for Ridiculously Good Looking Charley Loeb to make People Magazine's Hottest list...

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/blog?name=feldman_bruce&id=6562176

» The website Seatllest apparently doesn't think much of Syracuse's chances against the Huskies this weekend. In a post entitled "Orange you glad we're playing Syracuse this week?" the site says this about the weekend game: UW now gets to play the last home opener of the Locker era against a team that has a cumulative record of 14-45 over the past five years. Like the UW, Syracuse is another once-proud program that has fallen on hard times, but the Orange have had a more difficult time rebuilding to this point. However, Syracuse does boast one of the better defenses in the Big East Conference and is coming off of a big win (*titter*) against mighty Akron. The Huskies are still double-digit favorites heading into the game and should win fairly easily. Plus it would be nice to get a confidence-building victory before facing off against Nebraska and USC in the following two contests, which means Sark should have the team properly motivated to avoid a letdown.

Hello there. Let's take a quick trip, shall we? It's a trip back to April of 2009. Do you remember where you were when you found out that not only was Jonny Flynn leaving, but DevO and Paul were heading for greener pastures.
(Do you see what I did there? "greener" pastures...as in greenbacks? Cash? Money? I tried...) Anyway...were you like me? I bet you were. You were nervous as all hell about the 2009-10 season. No experienced PG, the top rebounder and the emotional (albeit a ticking time bomb) leader were all gone. I thought to myself, "Sonuva....."

But then this season began. And our beloved Orangemen played with poise and unselfishness not seen for years. They have been the true definition of a "team" all season. 7 different players have led the team in scoring. Wes Johnson is a 1st team All-American while averaging under 16pts a game. And Syracuse reached the #1 ranking for the first time in 20 years. Frankly, it's been a ride I won't soon forget. That Villanova game was incredible

So, we can waste time griping that we're the third #1 seed...or that Gonzaga is terribly underseeded....or we can bitch about our big guy going down for the first weekend.

OR

We can talk about the team's versatility, their veteran leadership, and the fact that Syracuse is the #1 fucking seed. We don't have to worry about anyone else. Those other teams in our bracket need to worry about the 'Cuse

I am not entirely sure how to word this email. I will ramble at times,
I'm sure. I'll try to stay focused on my point, but if I go off on a
tangent, please bear with me.

I grew up in Rochester, NY. I have been attending Syracuse games for
26 years now. Save for a couple family members, my entire extended
family lives in Syracuse. I now live more than 1000 miles away in
Memphis, TN. My life and profession have taken me here by way of
Charlotte, NC for five years prior to this June. I am the nostalgic
type -- seems that I have an old soul. I remember the "good old days"
of Cuse football -- Don McPherson and Tim Green and Rob Burnett and
Tommy Kane and Michael Owens and Billy Scharr and Kirby Dar Dar and
Marvin Graves and so on and so on and so on. Never -- not even in the
past four seasons -- have I ever felt anything but pride for the
football team.

And maybe this is easy for me -- to be on the outside looking in.
Maybe it's easy for me to say, what with me being so far away, and so
far removed from the situation there in Central NY. On Saturday, I
called my brother up during the 1st Quarter to lambaste the SU fans
for what the fans there call "support". That was a JOKE on
Saturday...the sparse crowd, the booing, the lack of ANY energy
whatsover.

Look...in the past 22 months, I've been out of work for 10. I know
firsthand how tough things have gotten for a number of families and
professionals all over the country, and Syracuse is no exception. I
realize that money is tight and that attending an SU game may not be
high on your list of things to do. But I have to believe that there
are people who can swing the 10 ducats for a ticket. As a fanbase,
we've done nothing short of put the administration on a skewer and
grill them up. But here we are...8 games into Coach Marrone's first --
FIRST -- season, and there are 30,000 or so (looked like 22k on TV) at
a game against a Top 10 football team. Without being dramatic, that is
simply not acceptable. Not at SU. Maybe at Vandy or Duke or Indiana,
but NOT Syracuse. This is a proud program rich with tradition. And
while that tradition includes grainy, black and white footage from the
1950's and 60's, moreso, this is a program that was 14th in winning
percantage from 1987-2001. There are only a handful of programs that
can boast that type of success during ANY 15 year period. And yes,
that WAS at the start of this decade. And the dissenters may throw at
me that here we are in 2009, and it sure does feel like a 3-9 season
on the horizon. I say hogwash. These kids play their asses off, and
this staff - led by a Syracuse alum - works it's ass off and has very
solid gameplans week in and week out. You can see that pieces are
being put in place. This team brings the wood on D, and let's face it
-- without those turnovers inside the Cincy 10 yd line, that is a
completely different game.

Syracuse is behind the curve regarding their talent. And I don't want
to hear about how this team "raised expectations" with their play
early in the season. Greg Robinson's teams were close too, but would
end up packing it in at times because they weren't tough enough to
handle the adversity. This team has been out of ONE game all year.
They very easily could be 5-3 right now. WIth essentially the same
group of kids from last year.

At the end of the day....Greg Paulus is one of our own. He's a
Syracuse kid. He came home to help the program and play some football.
And SU Fan boos him? What a crock of shit. Disgusting. Look, I will
boo the hell out of UConn and Rutgers and West Virginia -- oooh, I
hate me some Mountaineers -- but to boo your own players??? HORSESHIT.
Complete horseshit. Greg Paulus and Delone Carter and Ryan Bartholemew
and Arthur Jones and Derrell Smith and everyone else deserves...AND
NEEDS...our support. To bail on those kids -- to rag on your own
fucking team -- is totally UNACCEPTABLE and, frankly, embarrassing. If
you want to bash Coach Marrone or DOCTOR Daryl Gross or Nancy Cantor,
or Rob Spence, then fine. They're professionals and they make some
big-time decisions and some big-time money and should be put under the
microscope and questioned. I've got no problem with that. I have to
agree with you, Sean -- good riddance to the students who are
graduating, and everyone else who doesn't attend the games right now
-- to hell with them, too.

I see a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel that has been so
dark and long since 2005. I can see it from 1000 miles away. And I
know Sean can see it from 2800 miles away. Coach Marrone has been
upfront and straight forward and taken full responsibility ever since
he's shown up.

The lack of class and dignity by SU Fan sucks. I'm tired of the boos
and the fickleness of them all. So, SU Fan -- Don't show up when SU
starts competing for the Big East title. And don't show up for tickets
when they make a bowl game. You stay home and you watch your SEC
football or Notre Dame or Big Ten football or whoever the fuck it is
that holds your interest more than a team who is in your backyard
playing hard and giving top programs fits every Saturday.

The Dome will rock again. Kids will want to come to Syracuse again. I
believe that. Truly, I do. And Coach Marrone is the one who will lead
the way.

....EVER. First, he doesn't include Syracuse-G'Town or Syracuse-UConn in ANY of his 'best rivalry' rankings. No, that douche throws....Seton Hall-Rutgers instead. I wish I was kidding. And now....this garbage to lead his "Forde Yard Dash" column:

From The Desk Of The Commissioner

Thank-you notes that need to be written after Week 1 of the season:

To: Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus (4)
From: Jim Delany (5)

From one former ACC guard to another, I want to say I'm impressed with your transition to wearing a helmet. It's definitely better than any crossover you performed in a Duke uniform -- ha ha, a little Tar Heels humor for you there, Greg . You did surprisingly well Saturday against Minnesota in your first college football game -- heck, your first football game of any kind since 2004. You gave Syracuse fans some hope, and they had become accustomed to hopelessness at that school.

But the one play I especially enjoyed was when you channeled Brian Sipe in overtime. Your forced interception in the end zone instead of throwing it away and kicking a field goal allowed the Gophers to win 23-20. Thank you for your support of Big Ten football.

Sincerely,

The Commish

Nice, Pat. You stay classy. What an asshole.

While Georgia readies itself for a top 10 opponent, Minnesota would appear to have a far less rigorous test at Syracuse, winner of just 10 games over the past four seasons. For co-defensive coordinator Cosgrove, however, the Orange present a preparation nightmare.

Syracuse is under the direction of an entirely new coaching staff, led by former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Marrone, whose last college job was as tight ends coach at Tennessee in 2001. After four years running the West Coast offense, Syracuse is expected to switch to a no-huddle spread attack under former Clemson and Toledo offensive coordinator Rob Spence. Adding to the mystery: Paulus hasn't played football since his senior year of high school in 2004.

For Cosgrove, that's meant researching not only the Orange but: "Tennessee [where offensive line coach Greg Adkins and running backs coach Stan Drayton came from], the New Orleans Saints, Clemson, Toledo" and other schools where Syracuse's new staff previously worked.

"We're been preparing for a lot of different things," said Cosgrove, who remembers Paulus well from recruiting him while at Nebraska. "You can't get too fancy with what you want to do."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/stewart_mandel/08/30/mandel.overtime/1.html#ixzz0Pm6aXFQQ