I'm a first-time season-ticket holder for Syracuse basketball so I thought I'd turn to the knowledgeable folks here at Nunes Nation to see if anyone had any sage advice for me. Specifically, I am not really sure what to do about the one facet of life that is almost guaranteed to be an expensive pain in the ass (especially in and around college campuses): parking.

What do you season-ticket holders usually do for game-day parking? Shelling out per-game for Manley or West lots doesn't seem economically sound -- especially considering that my seatmate buddy and I might not always be able to carpool to games -- and street parking is dodgy and doesn't seem like it'd be too appealing when it's 2º outside with a foot of snow on the ground in the middle of January. (Tried getting away with street parking only during my last semester at Syracuse, and about a week in, I accidentally parked in front of an unplowed driveway after a blizzard and got towed... and then sucked it up and bought a West-campus pass. Hurrah for sunk costs.)

Any information would be much appreciated, and I might as well go ahead and add that if you're reading this and happen to be a student/permanent resident living reasonably close to the Dome and want to rent out driveway space or something, I'd be up for discussing that with you.

Looking forward to tomorrow and the start of the season—I'll be screaming from Section 309.

What a tough way for Rick Jackson to go out: A very solid, hard-working four-year player plays arguably the worst game of his senior season in an early NCAA tournament loss. Marquette was playing tough defense against him and he never seemed like he was in the flow of the game... Really a shame, because you'd like to see him go out strong. We have a pretty strong recent history of miserable sendoffs for four-year(-plus) players, though...

• Hakim Warrick and the 2005 Orange lose to Vermont in one of the ugliest Syracuse games ever played after Gerry McNamara dribbled off his leg. We also get the bonus of making a star out of Tom Brennan and his tendency to start every sentence with "When we beat Syracuse..." for the next three years on ESPN (and still today on Westwood One).
• McNamara, not to be outdone, leads Syracuse on a magical run through the Big East Tournament, taking down number-one UConn and hated rival Georgetown on the way, only to get blown out by (an admittedly underseeded) Texas A&M in the first round of the NCAAs.
• Arinze Onuaku sadly busts his knee in a mostly meaningless game against Georgetown in the BET, and then gets to watch helplessly from the bench as fellow five-year player Andy Rautins and company sleepwalk through the first fifteen minutes of the Butler game and drop a weird one in the Sweet 16 after maybe the best regular season in school history.

And don't forget Lawrence Moten, of course, who will probably—hopefully—never be topped.

A friend and I are making plans to take the trip from Syracuse to New York on December 7th to see Syracuse play Michigan State in the Jimmy V Classic at the Garden. I haven't heard this event talked about much yet—it is still early—but I figured before I bought nosebleed tickets on Stubhub, I'd ask around these parts to see if anyone had any sage advice regarding tickets for this event.

Like, is Syracuse selling any tickets itself, or is it all MSG/Ticketmaster? Does anyone know of any alumni groups buying ticket packages for the game? (I am an alum if that makes any difference.) Has this been easy to scalp for in the past? (I remember Syracuse has played in the Jimmy V a number of times.) Or, of course, is anyone here selling tickets to it?

It would be fun for Nunesians going to the game to have some kind of official meetup beforehand but seeing as it's a month out, that's a discussion probably best left for later. Thanks in advance for any input.

Interesting comment by Chris Mortensen during halftime of Monday Night Football, saying he thinks Paul Pasqualoni, now Dallas's defensive line coach, could be the interim head coach for the Cowboys if when Wade Phillips is sacked by Jerry Jones. Honestly don't even know what to say about this except good for him, a hard-working guy who's put in his time in the NFL and might get a shot. He's been by all accounts grateful for his time at Syracuse and gracious to alums, so he'd be a good ambassador for the University before Bill Cowher replaces him after the lockout or something.

Thoughts, NunesNation?

This was a pretty run-of-the-mill episode... not terrible, not great.  I thought they did the Dinosaur justice (though I wish they'd have mentioned the Today show thing that ranked it #1), and Heid's with Jim Boeheim was, of course, fantastic even knowing it was coming.  I've never been to Mother's Cupboard so I don't want to comment on that... what'd the Nuneseratti think?

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I'm moving to the Baltimore area this weekend and I was wondering if anyone else in Nunes Nation* lives in the area and could tell me if there are any Syracuse stronghold bars, or at least good places to catch an SU game (or any game) with some fellow fans/alums.

I know there's a Baltimore Area Alumni Club but it seems silly to pay $10 to probably just get the name of a bar where the local SU fans hang out, so I thought I'd ask here first.

* - Is there any sort of catchy name for followers of this site besides "The Commenters of Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician"?  If not, should there be?  I actually kind of hate the "X-Nation" thing.

The talk of Big 10 expansion is at the forefront yet again and it looks like it's on a shorter timetable than expected a few months ago. There will be plenty of discussion to come about whether or not Syracuse would/should go to the Big 10 if offered, and what will be done if the Big 10 pillages the Big East and Syracuse is left behind, but I want to discuss one thing: What would life as a Syracuse sports fan be like if Syracuse were in the Big 10? In what ways would things be better or worse in the Big 10? Let's break it down sport-by-sport and discuss...

Football - I think the pluses are pretty obvious here. The Big East is a weak football conference that doesn't command much national respect, while the Big 10 is tradition-rich. Syracuse would be playing big-name teams like Ohio State and Michigan every year, as well as an annual rivalry game with Penn State reignited. Even though the competition would be much tougher than it is now, potentially stunting the HCDM Syracuse Football Comeback Tour, I think the increased exposure and attendance at the Dome -- even if it is largely from out of town fans -- would be good for the team and the community. Recruiting would almost certainly improve, as well. There isn't really one entrenched football rivalry Syracuse would lose by leaving... Perhaps Rutgers or West Virigina, and SU could schedule them OOC.

Lacrosse - I think that joining the Big 10 really has no downside here. There is no Big 10 lacrosse league (although they may seek to start one... Michigan has been dominating on the Club circuit and they have a number of D1 programs already). This means that Syracuse could go back to freely scheduling as an independent superpower. Not much else to say here. Net gain, albeit an insignificant one.

Basketball - Really the most intriguing argument. I've heard a number of people saying that it would be a shame for Syracuse to go to the Big 10 because the basketball program would suffer. While it would be a shame to lose scheduled rivalry games (and potentially cut ties permanently because of bad blood) with UConn, Georgetown, and Villanova, I don't know that the basketball program really takes that big a hit in the Big 10. The Big East has obviously been at or near the top of the college hoops world since its expansion -- above the Big 10, certainly -- but the Big 10 isn't exactly Conference USA, and Syracuse's presence would strengthen the reputation of the conference nationally. I think recruiting and attendance would stay near constant, but playing in a somewhat weaker conference could also potentially mean that, if nothing else, Syracuse may have a better chance of finishing at or very near the top more consistently. You want to beat the best, but with the net gains in other sports, it might not be the worst thing to feast on a slightly easier conference schedule and pad those win totals (see also: Memphis, University of).
(And if any angry Big 10 fans want to rip me for this: I'm saying the effect is slight. Ranking conferences is overrated. But it's hard to deny that playing Iowa and Northwestern and Penn State once or twice a year each is a wee bit easier than playing everyone in the Big East once and a few tough teams twice.)

Non-Revenue Sports - I've heard issues raised that other teams may have trouble competing, or even raising the money to get to opponents' sites in far away places like Minnesota and Iowa, but 1) SU will have much more Athletics revenue to go around in a 12-team Big 10 and 2) Tampa and Milwaukee aren't exactly close, either. I think this is a wash, at worst.

I realize there are various factors in play here and this is FAR from a done deal, but I'm not talking about whether or not it could happen, just about what SU Athletics would be like if it DID happen. What do you think?

I am NOT one of the nutjobs that thinks that 4 minutes a game in the Big East season would have helped DaShonte Riley "develop"—that's what practice is for. (Yes, we're talkin' 'bout practice.) If he were good enough, he'd have been out there, that simple.

That said, IF Onuaku can't go in the NCAA Tournament, I think Riley should get some time. Not a lot... maybe 5 to 7 minutes a game tops. Just enough time to give Jackson a breather. My thinking if they did that would be that he's only their seventh most-important player if he's getting that time. They're not winning or losing on his back; he's just spelling Rick for a minute and taking up space. So you send him in there, tell him "you've got five fouls—don't let them get easy buckets," and let him go to town. Don't use him as a Chaney-like goon, don't have him play dirty. Just have him realize that he'd basically be in as a placeholder and he should be super-aggressive. If he fouls out, eh, whatever.

I say this just as a worst-case. No matter how good the top six are, if AO can't go, Rick WILL need some time on the bench (due to fatigue or fouls), and they will run into teams where "going small" (especially when nobody can foul in a six-man rotation) won't be the answer.

I know he's extremely raw and I know Boeheim knows best; if he thinks Riley would be a liability he won't play him—he's miserable on offense. It's just a thought. Hopefully it's not an issue.

Thoughts? Am I completely freaking nuts? Is Riley even athletic enough to pull this off?

In light of Louisville's answer to Rudy, Kyle Kuric, destroying Syracuse in the second half of today's game, I am compelled to finally address the issue of how many no-name, quirky players have career days against Syracuse. It seems like every single game, some guy on the other team has a career high and plays out of his mind—or at least very unexpectedly well. I want to see how many of these dudes we can come up with. They aren't the great players who have torched the 'Cuse—you expect Scottie Reynolds to score 90 points. We're looking for the weirdest and most embarrassing guys who have gone bonkers against Syracuse. (Doesn't necessarily have to be in a loss but that's usually how these things go.)

Consider this an open thread to brainstorm these players. I'll start off with a few I can remember from this year and the past off the top of my head. Stats are optional; if the game was significant we'll all remember the name.

• Kyle Kuric, Louisville - 22 points in the second half, averages 3!
  
• Mike Marra (aka Devendorf South), the first 2010 Louisville game - 12—all threes, natch
• Mouphtaou Yarou, 2010 Villanova - 13 points, career high (though we'll probably see more of him)
• Chris Hill, Michigan State, 2002-03 - 10 threes, but the 2003 team handled it
  
• Brendan Plavich, Charlotte, 2003-04 - 10 threes at the Dome, and the 2004 team did not handle it
  
• Quincy Douby, Rutgers - that crazy overtime game where Terrence Roberts hit the game-winning three; Douby had about 41 points?
• Kevin Bettencourt, Bucknell
• Germain Mopa-Nigila (whatever), Vermont, 2005 - duh

There are TONS more and I am blanking right now... how many can you remember?