sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Ash Wednesday!
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, observed in many Western Christian denominations. It takes place forty-six days before Easter, and may take place anytime between February 4 and March 10. Depending on denomination, it is observed with religious services, a ritual with ashes, and fasting.
In ancient times, ashes were used to express grief. The sprinkling of ashes on heads takes place in numerous places in the Bible. Christians continued the tradition as a sign of repentance. Christians in Western Europe were receiving ashes on the first day of Lent by the tenth century, although not yet in the Catholic Church. In 1091, the Catholic Church joined the ritual, after Pope Urban II ordered ashes should be given in Rome. The day soon came to be called Ash Wednesday. Some denominations stopped giving out ashes after the Reformation, sometime around 1600, but still observed Ash Wednesday as the first day of Lent.
SU News
Carrier Dome renovation puts Rochester in mix for spring football game, NIT (D&C; Roth)
With Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome shutting down for the next 6 ½ months to complete installation of a new fixed roof among other upgrades, Rochester is suddenly in the mix to host SU’s spring football game.
“It’s possible,’’ Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack said. “We’re looking at sites a little bit closer to the Syracuse area, seeing if they have the necessary facilities, but I wouldn’t rule out Rochester, not just yet.’’
The 13,000-seat Rochester Community Sports Complex, former home of professional soccer, along with St. John Fisher College, home each summer to Buffalo Bills training camp, are possible locations for what Wildhack said would be a “football festival’’ more than traditional intra-squad scrimmage.
“Spring games across the country have evolved into a glorified scrimmage and in some cases teams don’t even scrimmage,’’ he said. “We want to figure out how we can deepen the engagement with fans, give them the opportunity to interact with the players and staff more than we have in the past.’’
This 1,100-ton crane, one of the largest in the United States, has stood outside the Carrier Dome in Syracuse waiting to begin work. The next phase of a major renovation begins in earnest after March 1. The facility will reopen in mid-September for an SU football game against Colgate. (Photo: Steve Jacobs/AP)
Enhancing the fan experience is the push behind a $118 million Carrier Dome renovation project that kicks into high gear Monday after one last weekend of Orange sports for the 2019-20 academic year.
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Ex-SU WR Jackson talks 40 time, Babers, Burrow at NFL Combine (PS; Bailey)
Trishton Jackson was the first of four Syracuse football products at the NFL Scouting Combine to be made available to media.
On Tuesday morning, the wide receiver who left SU with a year of eligibility remaining, discussed his experience in Indianapolis thus far and his outlook for the week to come.
“You’ve just got to be mentally prepared for Thursday,” Jackson said. “Big day coming.”
In two days, the 6-foot-1, 198-pound West Bloomfield, Mich., native will receive his best chance to stand out from a group of 55 wide receivers. Jackson will go through his on-field workout and produce a 40-yard dash time to pair with the on-field speed he displayed last fall. As a redshirt junior for the Orange, he hauled in 66 passes for 1,023 yards and 11 touchdowns, earning All-ACC second-team honors.
“You turn on the tape, you can see that I have great separation from the DBs,” Jackson said, “but nobody knows my 40 time. So this Thursday, not just Syracuse will know. Everybody will know. It’ll be a good experience for me to go out there and showcase how fast I can run.”
Jackson arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday and spent part of Monday measured (his hands are 9 6/8 inches and his wingspan is 80 inches, in case you were wondering). He also did a pre-exam at the hospital and went through his first wave of interviews with NFL team officials.
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How to watch 4 former Syracuse players in 2020 NFL Combine (PS; Bailey)
National Football League hopefuls started arriving in Indianapolis over the weekend in anticipation of the 2020 Scouting Combine.
Among the group of 337 invitees are four Syracuse football products: Kendall Coleman, Sterling Hofrichter, Trishton Jackson and Alton Robinson.
Here’s a quick run-down of the day-by-day schedule and information on how you can watch each player participate in on-field drills.
Schedule
Sunday, Feb. 23: Quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers arrive, register, go through orientation and are available for interviews.
Monday, Feb. 24: QB/TE/WR group goes through measurements, a pre-exam at the hospital and more interviews.
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20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 19: Teams That Will Rebound Big (CFN; Fiutak)
3. Syracuse Orange
2019 PRESEASON RANKING
AP 22, COACHES 22
FINAL RECORD: 5-7
What Went Wrong?
63-20.
The Orange couldn’t generate the same magic of the 10-3 2018 season thanks to a defense that went bye-bye too often – like in the 63-20 loss in Week Two against a miserable Maryland team – and without any ability to come through in key moments.
The run defense was bad, the offensive line worse, and there wasn’t a penalty that the team didn’t try to commit.
Give head coach Dino Babers and the team credit for not quitting on the year, though, after a 3-6 start. It won two of the last three games, showed off an improved offense late in the year, and for all the problems on D, it was great at taking the ball away.
Even with the positives, if was the fifth losing season in the last six years.
Why 2020 Will Be Better: Returning Talent
Losing the terrific NFL defensive end combination of Kendall Coleman and Alton Robinson isn’t fun, but there are just enough young parts returning from last year’s defense to not be any worse than it was in a bad 2019.
The offensive side needs to be the difference, and it has to start with a bigger year from QB Tommy DeVito. The passing game has to be better, the receivers have to do more, and DeVito can’t be used as a tackling dummy again. The line has to be better, but it has a whole lot of options to play around with.
Why 2020 Will Be Better: Schedule
– 2020 Syracuse Football Schedule Analysis
Win at Boston College to start the season, survive what should be a shootout against Louisville, and it’ll be a 6-0 start before going to Clemson. Even if there are some rocky parts early, the second half is manageable with three home games in the final five, and the road dates at Wake Forest and Pitt.
Missing four of the five teams from the Coastal that went bowling last year – Miami, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Tech – is a plus, but more than that, is the team can keep improving as the season goes on, it should be a second winning season in three years.
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Syracuse Football: Kirk Martin’s departure from Orange was justified (itlh; Weisleder)
Following a double-edged, two-year stint as Syracuse football’s quarterback coach, Kirk Martin’s role diverted, and his justifiable departure followed.
Kirk Martin was hired as the quarterback’s coach for Syracuse football in 2018 and succeeded Sean Lewis, who assumed head coaching duties at Kent State.
In wake of the ugly 2019 season (5-7, 2-6 ACC) that succeeded an unprecedented 2018 campaign for the Syracuse Orange (10-3, 6-2 ACC), Dino Babers decided to completely re-engineer his coaching staff. This included replacing Martin with now offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Sterlin Gilbert earlier this month.
In turn, Martin was forced to fill a brand new role that made him the teams’ senior analyst for football strategy. 18 days later, Martin rightfully decided to leave Syracuse and is now set to assume head coaching duties in Texas at Colleyville Heritage High School.
In November, I eluded to how most people have rightfully pinned the Orange’s 2019 misfortunes on their offensive line and former defensive coordinator Brian Ward.
I also eluded to how while head coach Dino Babers and Syracuse critics around the country weren’t targeting Martin, they also weren’t giving him “enough time to emulate his 2018 season with then-senior quarterback Eric Dungey, now with sophomore quarterback Tommy DeVito.”
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Ranking the ACC's starting quarterbacks in 2020 (247sports.com; Crawford)
Contrary to popular belief, Trevor Lawrence isn't the only quarterback in the ACC next season capable of generating national noise. Despite Jamie Newman's transfer from Wake Forest to Georgia, the ACC is still front-loaded under center in 2020 with several players behind the Heisman frontrunner capable of star-level campaigns.
Former four-star Sam Howell's unexpected emergence as a true freshman at North Carolina gives the Tar Heels a sense of optimism ahead of Mack Brown's second season. Howell set numerous records last fall and led multiple fourth-quarter comebacks with a gunslinger mentality and leadership qualities that quickly became buzzworthy.
One of the league's new additions, Miami's D'Eriq King, hopes to bring the Hurricanes only their second Coastal Division crown since the league went to a championship game format in 2005. Miami has sorely missed a player of King's talent level at the position in recent years and Manny Diaz expects tapping the transfer portal a second time for a quarterback yields better results than the first.
The following is how 247Sports national analyst Bud Elliott ranks the league's starting quarterbacks, from top to bottom, ahead of the 2020 season with insight on a few of the most notable. For inclusion purposes, we're throwing Notre Dame's Ian Book in the mix since the Irish largely play an ACC slate:
15. Brennan Armstrong, Virginia
14. Chase Brice, Duke
13. Dennis Grosel, Boston College
12. James Graham, Georgia Tech
The skinny: Armstrong has huge shoes to fill in Charlottesville following the departure of illustrious longtime starter Bryce Perkins. He was Perkins' understudy each of the past two seasons and learned from one of the program's most prolific offensive stars of all-time. Armstrong made seven appearances last season, finishing 15-of-20 passing for 196 yards and one score. ... Graham was up-and-down as a passer in his first season for Geoff Collins, finishing with 12 touchdown and seven interceptions. ... Both Grosel at Boston College and Brice at Duke will be first-year starters and relative unknowns. This group of four to kick things off in Elliott's ACC quarterback rankings are interchangeable.
11. Devin Leary, NC State
10. Tommy DeVito, Syracuse
9. James Blackman, Florida State
Bud Elliott says: "Blackman has had three offensive coordinators in as many years, so it is difficult to know how he will adapt yet again with a fourth."
The skinny: Quarterback play was dreadful at times last season at NC State and coach Dave Doeren hopes Leary can solve some of those woes this fall. ... DeVito said in January "there will be no hype" for Syracuse ahead of the 2020 season after last year's demise for a squad ranked in the preseason was a major disappointment. DeVito admittedly struggled, but it was the Orange's defense that surprised most by failing to be one of the nation's stingiest units despite an impressive lineup. ... Terrific at times in Tallahassee and careless with the football during others, Blackman should be the guy in Year 1 for Mike Norvell if he fine tunes his decision-making.
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Williams Brings ACC and Power-5 Experience to Clawson's Staff - Wake Forest University Athletics (godeacs.com; Johns)
The 2003 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team claimed an Atlantic-10 Conference championship thanks in part to a 51-45 triple-overtime victory over UMass, then marched all the way to the NCAA I-AA title game where they destroyed Colgate 40-0 to claim the championship.
Wake Forest defensive coordinator Lyle Hemphill joined Delaware coach K.C. Keeler's staff the following season, joining two current Wake Forest coaches who won a championship the prior year: assistant head coach for the defense Dave Cohen and cornerbacks coach Paul Williams.
Williams credits Cohen for helping break him into the coaching business, and despite sending 13 players to the NFL Draft in his 23 seasons of coaching, he considers that championship season the highlight of his career.
"That's the goal," Williams said. "That's why you do this, to win a national title. That's your goal. Wherever you go, that's the objective."
Given his close relationships with Cohen and Hemphill, Wake Forest became a perfect fit for Williams when an opening in the staff became available.
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Links, news and rumors - 2/25/20 (RX; HM)
Links, news and rumors - 2/25/20
Most Vacated Wins of All Time
#1. Ole Miss 33
#2. Alabama 21
#3. Notre Dame 21
#4. North Carolina 16
#5. USC 14
#6. Florida State 12
#7. Ohio State 12
#8. Syracuse 11
#9. SMU 10
#10. California 4
The kind of thing you'd expect the SEC to lead in (they do), but you wouldn't expect to see Notre Dame, UNC, Florida State or Syracuse (for basketball maybe, but football?).
OK, you might've expected FSU - but it's a bit of a fluke that landed them on this list, to be honest.
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How does the XFL really compare to the NFL and College Football?
The XFL may be the best football being played right now - but let's dial back those claims of "better".
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Have Ex-Big East Teams Pulled Their Weight? (RX; HM)
Have Ex-Big East Teams Pulled Their Weight?
Have the recent additions (i.e. the teams that came from the Old Big East conference) worked out for the ACC, or have they just been so much dead weight? This is a topic I see debated over and over among fans of the pre-2000 ACC teams. Do they have an argument? Which opinion is closer to the truth? To figure it out, let's take a look at the two main sports: football and men's basketball.
2019-20 Athletic Year
This has been an AWFUL year for the two biggest ACC sports, as illustrated in the tables below. Football finished with just ONE ranked team, and basketball is in danger of sending as few as three teams to the NCAA Tournament (although four or five teams is more likely).
FOOTBALL
Massey Composite FB Ranking
| Rank | Team | Record |
| 3 | Clemson | 14-1 |
| 34 | Virginia | 9-5 |
| 42 | N Carolina | 7-6 |
| 44 | Louisville | 8-5 |
| 45 | Va Tech | 8-5 |
| 48 | Wake Forest | 8-5 |
| 49 | Pitt | 8-5 |
| 59 | Florida St | 6-7 |
| 65 | Miami | 6-7 |
| 68 | Boston College | 6-7 |
| 76 | Duke | 5-7 |
| 87 | Syracuse | 5-7 |
| 107 | NC State | 4-8 |
| 111 | Georgia Tech | 3-9 |
This is the worst finish I can remember in ACC football - and that includes the lost decade of 2002-11! Only one ranked team... for that matter, only one with double-digit wins - and the second-best team mired at 0.643 win percentage! In fact, only seven teams even finished with winning records - which says a lot when you consider that most teams won at least two if not three non-conference games! Ugly.
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Other
Shoppers stroll through Destiny USA's expansion section in a file photo.Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com
Destiny USA’s 22nd outlet store to open this spring (PS; Tampone)
A new outlet store is on its way to Destiny USA.
The Uniform Outlet is set to open in Destiny's expansion section this spring. It'll be located on the second level between Steve Madden and the Beef Jerky Outlet.
The Uniform Outlet provides brand-name scrubs to medical professionals at outlet prices, according to Destiny. It carries sizes from XS to 5X and brands including Sanibel Scrubs, Cherokee, Dickies and Vera Bradley.
Health care employs large numbers of people in Central New York, the mall noted. The outlet should have an eager customer base when it opens.
The new store will open in the location of Ride and Thrill, which features various virtual reality and other attractions. Ride and Thrill is moving to the Our Remedies space on the second level in the Canyon area.
Our Remedies, a CBD retail store, is moving to the second level of the Macy's wing, in a space previously occupied by retailer New York Fashions.
Uniform Outlet has 40 stores nationwide, including locations at the Waterloo Premium Outlets and Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls.
Uniform Outlet will be the 22nd outlet store at Destiny. The mall began focusing on outlets when it added its expansion section in 2012.
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