sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Zip Code Day!
Before there was the ZIP code there were postal zones or postal districts. These were also numbers that helped mail carriers figure out where pieces of mail needed to go. They started in large European cities, like London.
By the early 1920s they’d spread around the world, including to the US. Most major cities were using some form of postal code by the end of World War II. Around that same time the idea of a Zone Improvement Project (ZIP) code was introduced in the US.
The ZIP plus two-letter state abbreviations was the brainchild of Henry Bentley Hahn, Sr., a postal inspector. And it was J. Edward Day, Postmaster General who made it a reality.
SU News
Orange Watch: After 28 years, how did that ‘SYRACUSE’ sign disappear from Rupp? (the juice; Bierman)
(Editor’s note: Over the summer, leading up to the 2016 football preview series in late August, Orange Watch will highlight various antidotes related to Syracuse athletics.)
Item: Thanks to statute of limitations, we feel we can now share the story of how we came to be in possession of the “SYRACUSE” scoreboard sign (pictured) that was used during the Syracuse-Kentucky basketball game on February 28, 1988 in Lexington, a game the Orangemen couldn’t hold a nine point lead over the last 12 minutes with the Wildcats rallying to win 62-58.
As Syracuse basketball made its march through the 1970s into the early 80s, growing from an upstate New York regional program with fierce rivals such as St. Bonaventure, Niagara and St. John’s, to a national brand with Jim Boeheim taking over in 1976 and the Big East and Carrier Dome following a few seasons later, igniting the all-time Georgetown rivalry along the way, programs that the Orange now join in the all-time top five in victories – Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina and Duke – were still the envy to SU’s faithful.
All but Duke had won at least one national title prior to Boeheim’s first season, and the Blue Devils had been national runners-up three times by the end of Boeheim’s second season in 1978.
Simply put, aiming towards those winning Blue Blood programs with Big Blue Kentucky on top, was the direction Syracuse basketball aspired, and even a shocking ‘Cuse Final Four appearance under Roy Danforth in 1975 which resulted in defeats to Kentucky and Louisville, was dismissed by many, Kentucky included, as merely a blip on the national college hoops radar.
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Hak is back: Boeheim's Army adds familiar piece to The Basketball Tournament roster (PS; Ditota)
Hakim Warrick will return to Boeheim's Army this summer, making an already large lineup even taller and more talented.
"I think we had a great team last year and this year, we're pretty stacked," Boeheim's Army general manager Kevin Belbey said. "We're built for the long haul. It's not easy to win six games. I think we've got the right mix, the right talent and the right skills."
The Syracuse-based entry in The Basketball Tournament can officially add one more player to its roster by July 1. Warrick, who played for Boeheim's Army last year and spent the first summer of TBT on a different roster, is a veteran of the winner-take-all tournament. This year, Boeheim's Army will attempt to win $2 million.
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Tyler Ennis, Team Canada attempt to qualify for Rio Olympics basketball tournament (PS; Ditota)
Tyler Ennis and Team Canada are heading to Manila to prepare for a FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament that will determine which of the six teams competing in the Philippines will advance to the Rio Summer Games.
Canada plays Turkey July 5 at 6:30 a.m. in Manila, then plays Senegal at that same time on July 6. The host nation Philippines, featuring Syracuse native and naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche, is also fighting for an Olympic berth. The Philippines plays the second of two games on the same days Canada competes next week.
Ennis started at point guard for the Canadians on their recent exhibition swing through Croatia and Italy, where the team went 4-1. He had hoped to play for Canada last summer, but shoulder surgery intervened.
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Other
Tesla driver killed in crash while using car's 'Autopilot' (PS; AP)
The first U.S. fatality using self-driving technology took place in May when the driver of a Tesla S sports car operating the vehicle's "Autopilot" automated driving system died after a collision with a truck in Florida, federal officials said Thursday.
The government is investigating the design and performance of Tesla's system.
Preliminary reports indicate the crash occurred when a tractor-trailer rig made a left turn in front of the Tesla at an intersection of a divided highway where there was no traffic light, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. The Tesla driver died due to injuries sustained in the crash, which took place May 7 in Williston, Florida, the agency said. The city is southwest of Gainesville.
Tesla said on its website that neither the driver nor the Autopilot noticed the white side of the trailer, which was perpendicular to the Model S, against the brightly lit sky, and neither applied the brakes.
"The high ride height of the trailer combined with its positioning across the road and the extremely rare circumstances of the impact caused the Model S to pass under the trailer," the company said. The windshield of the Model S collided with the bottom of the trailer.
The company said this was the first known death in over 130 million miles of Autopilot operation. It said the NHTSA investigation is a preliminary inquiry to determine whether the system worked as expected.
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