sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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SU News
Pitt season in balance with Syracuse game (cardiachill.com; Whaley)
With Pitt's game against Rice now in the books, the Panthers now turn their attention fully to ACC play for the rest of the year. Safe to say, if the football team wants to do much of anything this season, this weekend's game against Syracuse looks like a must have.
Pitt is only 2-3 on the year but that's really where the team should be given the level of competition they've faced so far. It would have been nice to defeat Penn State, Oklahoma State, or Georgia Tech, but in reality, winning any of those would have been an upset. The first two teams mentioned there are ranked and the third is just outside of the Top 25, receiving many votes. The argument about Pitt's season, of course, is more the ugly fashion in which they lost those games.
This weekend's game is extremely important for Pitt if they have any aspirations of making noise in the Division and getting to a tenth straight bowl. No one will excuse the Panthers for not upsetting Virginia Tech or Miami but they need to win games like this one if they're going to get to .500 on the season.
Last year's game, of course, was the wild 76-61 shootout where neither side played much defense. Safe to say, if Syracuse scores even half of the points they did last season, Pitt will be hard-pressed to keep up.
Beating Syracuse has been pretty commonplace for Pitt. They've won 13 of the past 15 games and even one of those defeats was only by a single point. The games have sometimes been close but, for the most part, Pitt has dominated the series lately. Winning this one, however, won't be quite as easy.
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Does Pitt Have the Advantage in the Syracuse Game? (pittsburghnow.com; Vukovcan)
Can Pitt make it two wins in a row and more importantly pick up the first ACC win of 2017?
Based on recent success against Syracuse, the Panthers are playing the perfect opponent.
Talk about dominance, Pitt has won 4 straight against Syracuse, 11 of the 12 and 13 of the 15 games played.
Simply put, Pitt is a team that matches up well against Syracuse.
Will this be the case on Saturday?
PSN talked with 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi, a Syracuse alum, to get his insight into Saturday’s game and how he sees the game playing out.
“I believe they [Syracuse] has one of the more under recognized passing offenses in the country, the offense is all pass. Their leading rusher is [Eric] Dungey the quarterback,” said Fillipponi.
“They don’t conventionally give the ball to the running back. It’s the Baylor offense, super fast, super up-tempo.”
“One of the things I think you’ll see Saturday is them splitting Ismail out and running him as s deep target forcing Pitt to defend those deep, fade patterns that have given Pitt problems in the past and they’ll run Phillips underneath,” said Fillipponi.
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Syracuse will play 'cat-and-mouse' with Pitt defense (post-gazette.com; Batko)
When Pitt faced Oklahoma State’s fast-paced offense three weeks ago, it was almost like a big game of Whac-a-Mole across the width of the football field.
Stop All-American James Washington over here, and here comes the other outside receiver over there. Take away both outside wideouts, and there goes the slot guy down the seam.
Oklahoma State may have set a new high score that time around, but the Panthers (2-3) think they’ll be better prepared this week when they face a Syracuse offense that wants to exploit the same weaknesses in an opposing defense.
“They play that cat-and-mouse with you,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said Monday. “Throw it out there, and then run it inside. It’s a challenge.”
Syracuse’s ground game should be the least of Pitt’s worries. Junior quarterback Eric Dungey can move, leading the team in rushing with 277 yards and 55.4 per game, but it’s what he’ll do through the air that’s of more concern.
First, there’s 6-foot-2, 209-pound receiver Steve Ishmael, who operates outside and specializes in winning jump balls. He leads all Football Bowl Subdivision players in receptions (52), receptions per game (10.2) and ranks second in yards (632) behind only Washington, whom the Panthers know well.
But Ishmael isn’t even the hottest receiver for the Orange (2-3). Fellow senior Ervin Philips, a 5-11, 181-pounder, is coming off a performance unlike any in ACC history. His 17 catches Saturday in a loss at North Carolina State are a school and conference record, and the most by an FBS player this season, accounting for a career-high 188 yards.
While Narduzzi and his defensive assistants have watched plenty of Syracuse’s five games this season, they’ve also watched film of their own failed attempt at stopping pass-happy Oklahoma State.
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Does Syracuse Have The QB Advantage Against Surging Max Browne? – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Aki)
It’s not often that two quarterbacks from the Pacific Northwest come play on the Atlantic Coast, but that is the matchup we have this weekend. By now, Syracuse fans are familiar with Eric Dungey’s Oregon roots. He squares off against Pitt quarterback and Washington native Max Browne, who was once the football darling west of the Mississippi. The grad transfer had the picking of which football powerhouse he wanted to play for. Browne was the top quarterback in the Class of 2013. He was a part of a recruiting class that is stocked with current NFL players and ranked ahead of budding stars like Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Henry and Joey Bosa. But after a lackluster career that saw very little playing time at USC and eventually getting benched in favor of Heisman contender Sam Darnold, Browne is the latest grad transfer under center for Pat Narduzzi’s team.
Through the first four games of the season, it was the same old Browne. He never eclipsed 140 yards, threw two interceptions compared to just one touchdown and Pitt was reeling with a 1-3 record. But last week against Rice, Browne exploded. He threw more touchdowns in the Panthers 42-10 beatdown than he had thrown in his entire collegiate career. Browne nearly doubled his season total for yards after dropping 410 on the Owls and completing all but four passes. This was the Max Browne Trojans fans were expecting, but never received.
Dungey is coming off of a nearly as impressive performance as Browne. The junior rebounded from a first pass interception for the second consecutive week and tossed for 385 yards and a touchdown against the Wolfpack. He also ran in for two more scores. Dungey is playing his best football of his career at the moment, now he just needs it to translate to wins.
The optics show Dungey is a far better and more consistent passer than Browne. That should continue this week. Pitt ranks outside the top 100 (out of 129 teams) in passing defense. Meanwhile, Syracuse’s aerial prevention is much better than Rice, who ranks in the bottom 10. SU sits right in the middle of the pack at 62nd in the nation.
Browne may be the hot hand after last week and SU’s first half struggles may be all he needs to channel the confidence of the quarterback he was thought to be back in 2013, but the edge clearly goes to Dungey who clear-cut established himself as the ACC’s second best quarterback last week.
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Syracuse still trying to put complete games together (usatoday.com; AP)
Coach Dino Babers is still waiting for that breakthrough, when his Syracuse Orange put everything together for more than a game or two. They've shown that his system can work wonders, but only in fits and spurts.
There was the upset of No. 17 Virginia Tech at home last October and an impressive offensive show the next week in a victory at Boston College. Those wins didn't spur any sort of momentum, however, because in the following game quarterback Eric Dungey was injured. Hit hard in the helmet area early at Clemson, Dungey was lost for the season and the Orange dropped their final four games.
Nearly halfway through this year, Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) is still struggling to find any sort of consistency. The Orange, who host longtime rival Pittsburgh (2-3, 0-1 ACC) on Saturday, have lost two straight road games and are very aware their record could be much different.
"It stings," senior wideout Erv Philips said Tuesday. "It's the little things in the game that we need to change. You never know what could happen if we did."
Just over a week ago, a struggling LSU took a 14-3 halftime lead over the Orange and held on for a 35-26 victory to stay ranked at No. 25.
Last Saturday at North Carolina State, the Wolfpack scored on five straight possessions at the outset to lead 26-7 at the break, then staved off a late Syracuse rally to win 33-25 and crack the AP Top 25 .
Too little, too late, and too much given up too early in each loss.
"We're being inconsistent in the first half," said Babers, in his second year at Syracuse. "Our mistakes are keeping us from functioning at that level that we need to function at."
The other setback was 30-23 at home to Middle Tennessee , which rallied in the fourth quarter and held on. Syracuse drove deep into Middle Tennessee territory in the final minute of the game before failing by inches to convert on a fourth-and-15 play.
Mistakes were front and center against the Wolfpack. The Orange were called for 12 penalties for 93 yards, one of which nullified a touchdown catch by Steve Ishmael.
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Syracuse Football: New opportunities are helping Cuse in recruiting (itlh.com; Esden Jr)
The Syracuse football program is being helped by some key spotlights. ITLH breaks down how this could change the future of recruiting with Orange
I’m a huge Syracuse football fan. Ever since I moved to the area back in 2008 everything intrigued me:
Literally every year four and five star recruits are there for the picking down South. So typically the Orange are forced to pluck two and three star guys and develop them into better prospects.
Although a recent trend could help the Orange launch into a new stratosphere as far as recruiting is concerned.
Dreams really do come true. I've been invited and committed to play in the U.S Army All-American Game pic.twitter.com/AQfx4U8LUm
— T. Sampson (@TSamp_51) October 3, 2017
One of SU’s most prized recruits is four-star offensive lineman prospect, Tyrone Sampson. He intends to sign early to the Orange, so nothing to worry about Cuse fans. But he’s been invited to participate in the annual Army All-American Bowl.
So we have a hard commit who is highly touted who could help spread the message at a major televised event? That’s a major win for the Orange.
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Bottom 25 college football rankings: FSU makes it out, but ACC team takes its spot (cbssports.com; Fornelli)
There are significant changes in the Bottom 25 this week, though none of them occur in the Bottom Five, where everybody held serve. The biggest change is that Florida State won a game and is no longer ranked. We all knew it was going to happen one day and that every day we had with the Seminoles was one to be cherished. They will be missed, but remember not all hope is lost. Florida State plays Miami this weekend, and if it loses, well, it might sneak its way back here.
As for the rest of the rankings, last week we set a Bottom 25 record with seven Power Five teams ranked. Well, three of them picked up wins (Boston College and Pittsburgh being the other two besides FSU), and they're only replaced by two more Power Five squads, so this week's rankings have a respectable six.
Who are they?
You'll find out soon enough, but first a quick reminder on how all of this works (full explanation here).
25. Temple 2-3 The loss to Houston wasn't a horrible loss, but what's killing Temple right now is its point differential. (Last week: NR) 24. Georgia State 1-2 Georgia State had the weekend off but ends up here due to other teams winning. (NR) 23. North Carolina 1-4 I thought the Tar Heels would take a step back this season, but I didn't realize they had such a long stride. (NR) 22. Tulsa 1-4 When you're 1-4, you're 1-4, but Tulsa's last three losses have come by a total of 16 points. (NR) 21. Rutgers 1-4 Rutgers has now played 27 Big Ten games. It has allowed at least 40 points in 12 of them. (NR)
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Other
Onondaga County greenlights $8.5 million facelift at War Memorial (PS; Knauss)
The $8.5 million renovation of the Onondaga County War Memorial got the final go-ahead today when county lawmakers approved the last two sources of funding needed to pay for the project.
New York state will kick in $1.25 million in grants. And the county will borrow $1.345 million against anticipated ticket surcharges to be collected over the next 12 years.
Those were the final two pieces needed to pay the $8.5 million cost, said Bill Fisher, deputy county executive. The money secured today means the county will do the full renovation it promised earlier this year.
"We got a green light across the whole project,'' Fisher said.
The ticket surcharge, or "facility use fee," will remain at the current level of $2 on single-game tickets for the Syracuse Crunch hockey team, Fisher said. Season ticket buyers do not pay the surcharge.
The county is close to finalizing a new 12-year lease with the Crunch, but is still hammering out details, Fisher said.
There are no immediate plans to increase the 50 cent surcharge on tickets for the Syracuse Silver Knights soccer team, which also uses the arena, Fisher said.
County lawmakers today authorized SMG, the company that manages the War Memorial, to raise at least $1.345 million from ticket fees over the coming 12 years. The legislature also accepted $1.25 million in state grants, said Ryan McMahon, legislature chairman.
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By finding National Kale Day, you’ve taken the first step to joining Team Kale and being part of the Kale Army. Whether you are a parent, a foodie, a teacher, a healthcare professional or more – we’ve got tools and resources to help you spread the good word on kale. So KALE AWAY!
SU News
Pitt season in balance with Syracuse game (cardiachill.com; Whaley)
With Pitt's game against Rice now in the books, the Panthers now turn their attention fully to ACC play for the rest of the year. Safe to say, if the football team wants to do much of anything this season, this weekend's game against Syracuse looks like a must have.
Pitt is only 2-3 on the year but that's really where the team should be given the level of competition they've faced so far. It would have been nice to defeat Penn State, Oklahoma State, or Georgia Tech, but in reality, winning any of those would have been an upset. The first two teams mentioned there are ranked and the third is just outside of the Top 25, receiving many votes. The argument about Pitt's season, of course, is more the ugly fashion in which they lost those games.
This weekend's game is extremely important for Pitt if they have any aspirations of making noise in the Division and getting to a tenth straight bowl. No one will excuse the Panthers for not upsetting Virginia Tech or Miami but they need to win games like this one if they're going to get to .500 on the season.
Last year's game, of course, was the wild 76-61 shootout where neither side played much defense. Safe to say, if Syracuse scores even half of the points they did last season, Pitt will be hard-pressed to keep up.
Beating Syracuse has been pretty commonplace for Pitt. They've won 13 of the past 15 games and even one of those defeats was only by a single point. The games have sometimes been close but, for the most part, Pitt has dominated the series lately. Winning this one, however, won't be quite as easy.
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Does Pitt Have the Advantage in the Syracuse Game? (pittsburghnow.com; Vukovcan)
Can Pitt make it two wins in a row and more importantly pick up the first ACC win of 2017?
Based on recent success against Syracuse, the Panthers are playing the perfect opponent.
Talk about dominance, Pitt has won 4 straight against Syracuse, 11 of the 12 and 13 of the 15 games played.
Simply put, Pitt is a team that matches up well against Syracuse.
Will this be the case on Saturday?
PSN talked with 93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi, a Syracuse alum, to get his insight into Saturday’s game and how he sees the game playing out.
“I believe they [Syracuse] has one of the more under recognized passing offenses in the country, the offense is all pass. Their leading rusher is [Eric] Dungey the quarterback,” said Fillipponi.
“They don’t conventionally give the ball to the running back. It’s the Baylor offense, super fast, super up-tempo.”
“One of the things I think you’ll see Saturday is them splitting Ismail out and running him as s deep target forcing Pitt to defend those deep, fade patterns that have given Pitt problems in the past and they’ll run Phillips underneath,” said Fillipponi.
...
Syracuse will play 'cat-and-mouse' with Pitt defense (post-gazette.com; Batko)
When Pitt faced Oklahoma State’s fast-paced offense three weeks ago, it was almost like a big game of Whac-a-Mole across the width of the football field.
Stop All-American James Washington over here, and here comes the other outside receiver over there. Take away both outside wideouts, and there goes the slot guy down the seam.
Oklahoma State may have set a new high score that time around, but the Panthers (2-3) think they’ll be better prepared this week when they face a Syracuse offense that wants to exploit the same weaknesses in an opposing defense.
“They play that cat-and-mouse with you,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said Monday. “Throw it out there, and then run it inside. It’s a challenge.”
Syracuse’s ground game should be the least of Pitt’s worries. Junior quarterback Eric Dungey can move, leading the team in rushing with 277 yards and 55.4 per game, but it’s what he’ll do through the air that’s of more concern.
First, there’s 6-foot-2, 209-pound receiver Steve Ishmael, who operates outside and specializes in winning jump balls. He leads all Football Bowl Subdivision players in receptions (52), receptions per game (10.2) and ranks second in yards (632) behind only Washington, whom the Panthers know well.
But Ishmael isn’t even the hottest receiver for the Orange (2-3). Fellow senior Ervin Philips, a 5-11, 181-pounder, is coming off a performance unlike any in ACC history. His 17 catches Saturday in a loss at North Carolina State are a school and conference record, and the most by an FBS player this season, accounting for a career-high 188 yards.
While Narduzzi and his defensive assistants have watched plenty of Syracuse’s five games this season, they’ve also watched film of their own failed attempt at stopping pass-happy Oklahoma State.
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Does Syracuse Have The QB Advantage Against Surging Max Browne? – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Aki)
It’s not often that two quarterbacks from the Pacific Northwest come play on the Atlantic Coast, but that is the matchup we have this weekend. By now, Syracuse fans are familiar with Eric Dungey’s Oregon roots. He squares off against Pitt quarterback and Washington native Max Browne, who was once the football darling west of the Mississippi. The grad transfer had the picking of which football powerhouse he wanted to play for. Browne was the top quarterback in the Class of 2013. He was a part of a recruiting class that is stocked with current NFL players and ranked ahead of budding stars like Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Henry and Joey Bosa. But after a lackluster career that saw very little playing time at USC and eventually getting benched in favor of Heisman contender Sam Darnold, Browne is the latest grad transfer under center for Pat Narduzzi’s team.
Through the first four games of the season, it was the same old Browne. He never eclipsed 140 yards, threw two interceptions compared to just one touchdown and Pitt was reeling with a 1-3 record. But last week against Rice, Browne exploded. He threw more touchdowns in the Panthers 42-10 beatdown than he had thrown in his entire collegiate career. Browne nearly doubled his season total for yards after dropping 410 on the Owls and completing all but four passes. This was the Max Browne Trojans fans were expecting, but never received.
Dungey is coming off of a nearly as impressive performance as Browne. The junior rebounded from a first pass interception for the second consecutive week and tossed for 385 yards and a touchdown against the Wolfpack. He also ran in for two more scores. Dungey is playing his best football of his career at the moment, now he just needs it to translate to wins.
The optics show Dungey is a far better and more consistent passer than Browne. That should continue this week. Pitt ranks outside the top 100 (out of 129 teams) in passing defense. Meanwhile, Syracuse’s aerial prevention is much better than Rice, who ranks in the bottom 10. SU sits right in the middle of the pack at 62nd in the nation.
Browne may be the hot hand after last week and SU’s first half struggles may be all he needs to channel the confidence of the quarterback he was thought to be back in 2013, but the edge clearly goes to Dungey who clear-cut established himself as the ACC’s second best quarterback last week.
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Syracuse still trying to put complete games together (usatoday.com; AP)
Coach Dino Babers is still waiting for that breakthrough, when his Syracuse Orange put everything together for more than a game or two. They've shown that his system can work wonders, but only in fits and spurts.
There was the upset of No. 17 Virginia Tech at home last October and an impressive offensive show the next week in a victory at Boston College. Those wins didn't spur any sort of momentum, however, because in the following game quarterback Eric Dungey was injured. Hit hard in the helmet area early at Clemson, Dungey was lost for the season and the Orange dropped their final four games.
Nearly halfway through this year, Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) is still struggling to find any sort of consistency. The Orange, who host longtime rival Pittsburgh (2-3, 0-1 ACC) on Saturday, have lost two straight road games and are very aware their record could be much different.
"It stings," senior wideout Erv Philips said Tuesday. "It's the little things in the game that we need to change. You never know what could happen if we did."
Just over a week ago, a struggling LSU took a 14-3 halftime lead over the Orange and held on for a 35-26 victory to stay ranked at No. 25.
Last Saturday at North Carolina State, the Wolfpack scored on five straight possessions at the outset to lead 26-7 at the break, then staved off a late Syracuse rally to win 33-25 and crack the AP Top 25 .
Too little, too late, and too much given up too early in each loss.
"We're being inconsistent in the first half," said Babers, in his second year at Syracuse. "Our mistakes are keeping us from functioning at that level that we need to function at."
The other setback was 30-23 at home to Middle Tennessee , which rallied in the fourth quarter and held on. Syracuse drove deep into Middle Tennessee territory in the final minute of the game before failing by inches to convert on a fourth-and-15 play.
Mistakes were front and center against the Wolfpack. The Orange were called for 12 penalties for 93 yards, one of which nullified a touchdown catch by Steve Ishmael.
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Syracuse Football: New opportunities are helping Cuse in recruiting (itlh.com; Esden Jr)
The Syracuse football program is being helped by some key spotlights. ITLH breaks down how this could change the future of recruiting with Orange
I’m a huge Syracuse football fan. Ever since I moved to the area back in 2008 everything intrigued me:
- Weather
- History
- Traditions
Literally every year four and five star recruits are there for the picking down South. So typically the Orange are forced to pluck two and three star guys and develop them into better prospects.
Although a recent trend could help the Orange launch into a new stratosphere as far as recruiting is concerned.
Dreams really do come true. I've been invited and committed to play in the U.S Army All-American Game pic.twitter.com/AQfx4U8LUm
— T. Sampson (@TSamp_51) October 3, 2017
One of SU’s most prized recruits is four-star offensive lineman prospect, Tyrone Sampson. He intends to sign early to the Orange, so nothing to worry about Cuse fans. But he’s been invited to participate in the annual Army All-American Bowl.
So we have a hard commit who is highly touted who could help spread the message at a major televised event? That’s a major win for the Orange.
...
Bottom 25 college football rankings: FSU makes it out, but ACC team takes its spot (cbssports.com; Fornelli)
There are significant changes in the Bottom 25 this week, though none of them occur in the Bottom Five, where everybody held serve. The biggest change is that Florida State won a game and is no longer ranked. We all knew it was going to happen one day and that every day we had with the Seminoles was one to be cherished. They will be missed, but remember not all hope is lost. Florida State plays Miami this weekend, and if it loses, well, it might sneak its way back here.
As for the rest of the rankings, last week we set a Bottom 25 record with seven Power Five teams ranked. Well, three of them picked up wins (Boston College and Pittsburgh being the other two besides FSU), and they're only replaced by two more Power Five squads, so this week's rankings have a respectable six.
Who are they?
You'll find out soon enough, but first a quick reminder on how all of this works (full explanation here).
- My opinion plays no factor in the rankings
- There is true equality to start the season as math doesn't play favorites
- Wins and losses mean more than anything
- The formula is in no way predictive; it's a meritocracy
- I won't share the formula
25. Temple 2-3 The loss to Houston wasn't a horrible loss, but what's killing Temple right now is its point differential. (Last week: NR) 24. Georgia State 1-2 Georgia State had the weekend off but ends up here due to other teams winning. (NR) 23. North Carolina 1-4 I thought the Tar Heels would take a step back this season, but I didn't realize they had such a long stride. (NR) 22. Tulsa 1-4 When you're 1-4, you're 1-4, but Tulsa's last three losses have come by a total of 16 points. (NR) 21. Rutgers 1-4 Rutgers has now played 27 Big Ten games. It has allowed at least 40 points in 12 of them. (NR)
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Other
Onondaga County greenlights $8.5 million facelift at War Memorial (PS; Knauss)
The $8.5 million renovation of the Onondaga County War Memorial got the final go-ahead today when county lawmakers approved the last two sources of funding needed to pay for the project.
New York state will kick in $1.25 million in grants. And the county will borrow $1.345 million against anticipated ticket surcharges to be collected over the next 12 years.
Those were the final two pieces needed to pay the $8.5 million cost, said Bill Fisher, deputy county executive. The money secured today means the county will do the full renovation it promised earlier this year.
"We got a green light across the whole project,'' Fisher said.
The ticket surcharge, or "facility use fee," will remain at the current level of $2 on single-game tickets for the Syracuse Crunch hockey team, Fisher said. Season ticket buyers do not pay the surcharge.
The county is close to finalizing a new 12-year lease with the Crunch, but is still hammering out details, Fisher said.
There are no immediate plans to increase the 50 cent surcharge on tickets for the Syracuse Silver Knights soccer team, which also uses the arena, Fisher said.
County lawmakers today authorized SMG, the company that manages the War Memorial, to raise at least $1.345 million from ticket fees over the coming 12 years. The legislature also accepted $1.25 million in state grants, said Ryan McMahon, legislature chairman.
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