sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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In America, Arbor Day got its start in 1872. Julius Sterling Morton, a journalist, and his wife, Caroline, moved to Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1854, the year Nebraska became a territory. They bought 160 acres of land, which was mostly desolate, and planted trees and shrubs on it. The topography of their land was reflective of much of the land in the Nebraska Territory, and knowing the importance of trees for fuel, building, shade, and keeping soil in place, they set out to help add trees to the landscape.
Julius Sterling Morton began writing about the value of trees in the Nebraska City News, Nebraska's first newspaper, where he was the editor. He joined the Nebraska Board of Agriculture and at different times held various other positions in the territory—and then state—such as the Secretary of the territory. On January 7, 1872, Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture the idea for a day for everyone in Nebraska to plant trees. The board agreed to his proposal, but they needed to agree on a name for the day. At first, it was going to be called Sylvan Day, but in an effort to include all trees in the day and not just those in forests, Arbor Day was chosen.
SU News
3 takeaways from John Wildhack’s Zoom press conference (DO; Emerman)
On Thursday, Syracuse University’s Director of Athletics John Wildhack addressed the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on Syracuse sports. Though Wildhack hesitated to speculate on uncertain matters, his overall message is that SU Athletics’ primary goal is to “control the controllable.” In fact, he reiterated that exact message three times in 40 minutes.
That objective, as of now, entails sending weekly updates to athletes and their parents, allowing coaches to communicate with their players as much as possible, and encouraging everyone to follow social distancing and other public health guidelines.
“We all want to get back on campus as quickly as we can,” Wildhack said.
Here are three takeaways from Wildhack’s Zoom press conference.
Untested
Wildhack said that the health and safety of everyone involved with athletics is the main concern. However, he dodged a question about whether any players, coaches or staff members — specifically those returning from the canceled ACC tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina — have either been tested or tested positive for COVID-19.
Instead, Wildhack said “right now, knock on wood, we’re healthy.” He also stressed the importance of following social distancing protocols.
When pressed further, Wildhack said “Thank goodness, we’re in great shape. We’re in great shape.”
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Syracuse AD: No ACC talk to cancel '20 football (ESPN; Adelson)
Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack says the ACC has had no conversations about canceling the 2020 football season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on a Zoom teleconference about the state of his athletic department and the fate of the fall sports schedule, Wildhack said Thursday that the consensus is, "We want to play."
Said Wildhack: "We have not, as a conference, had any discussions in terms of not playing. We want to play. We plan to play. What we don't know is when we're going to start and what form or what format we're going to start. Do you play with fans, do you not play with fans? So much is unknown, but the ADs and the conference office, we meet twice a week, and there's not been one second of conversation about not having a football season in some way, shape or form."
Wildhack cautioned that the decision is not going to be up to people like him.
Responding to comments that University of Arizona president Dr. Robert Robbins made Wednesday about not having a fall football season, Wildhack said, "There's so many things that people have stated that are floated out there, and the one thing I don't want to do is engage in speculation because there's so much we don't know, and we don't control this. What we do as a university, what we do as a conference, it will be led by the progress we make against the virus. It will be led by our elected officials, the governors of the individual states, in our case here the county executive, obviously the medical experts."
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A Syracuse football season in the spring of 2021? It could happen (D&C; Roth)
With the fall college football season in jeopardy due to COVID-, “spring football’’ may take on new meaning across the country.
Syracuse University’s John Wildhack said that during twice weekly meetings with fellow athletic directors in the Atlantic Coast Conference, “we haven’t had one second of conversation about not having a football season in some shape or form.’’
The question is what shape, what form and when would that season be?
During a video conference call with reporters on Thursday, Wildhack said the university is taking its cues on what to plan for from elected officials and medical experts regarding when it will be safe to reopen campus and welcome tens of thousands of fans into a remodeled Carrier Dome.
But he’s reluctant to engage in speculation.
“We have not as a conference, the ACC, had any discussions in terms of not playing (football),’’ Wildhack said. “We want to play. We plan to play. What we don’t know is when we’re going to start and in what format. Do you play with fans, without fans? There is so much that is unknown.’’
Playing without fans would add to the enormous financial burden athletic programs are bearing after cancellation of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, which generates $1.1 billion annually in television rights alone. What might be a better solution is playing football in the spring of 2021, when more time will have passed to safely allow for stadiums to open.
“No. 1 is prioritizing the safety of everyone,’’ Wildhack said.
But is playing two seasons in one calendar year doable for players who would likely be looking at a two-month off-season?
“We haven’t spent a lot of time (on this) but if, to play out that scenario if it came to that, one of the concerns is the impact on the 2021 (fall) season and how would it impact the off-season, how would it condense the off-season?’’ said Wildhack, who is leading the effort to make certain SU's 600 student-athletes are engaged with their schoolwork and interacting with their coaches. “Clearly if that was the path that ultimately conferences wanted to pursue, those conversations would be front and center.’’
Determining if television networks would be willing to broadcast a college football season in the spring would not be a long conversation, said Wildhack, a former executive with ESPN.
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Rewatch SU football’s win over Clemson during ACCN Takeover (PS; Burrows)
The ACC Network will be all Orange on Friday as Syracuse takes over programming for 24 hours.
Highlighted by Syracuse football’s win over No. 2 Clemson in 2017, the ACC Network will show 12 straight Syracuse games starting at midnight Friday.
The schedule starts with the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team beating Johns Hopkins this past season and ends with Syracuse basketball’s overtime win over Duke in 2014.
Here’s the full schedule for Friday:
2020 Men’s Lacrosse: Syracuse vs. Johns Hopkins, 12 a.m.
2019 Football: Syracuse vs. Duke, 2 a.m.
2019 Women’s Soccer: Colgate vs. Syracuse, 4:30 a.m.
2020 Men’s Basketball: Syracuse vs. Notre Dame, 6:30 a.m.
2020 Men’s Basketball ACC Tournament: North Carolina vs. Syracuse, 8 a.m.
2019 Men’s Soccer: Syracuse vs. North Carolina, 9:30 a.m.
2017 Men’s Basketball: Duke vs. Syracuse, 11:30 a.m.
2014 Men’s Basketball: Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1:30 p.m.
2015 Men’s Lacrosse ACC Championship: Duke vs. Syracuse, 3:00 p.m.
2020 Women’s Basketball: Florida State vs. Syracuse, 5 p.m.
2017 Football: Clemson vs. Syracuse, 7 p.m.
2014 Men’s Basketball: Duke vs. Syracuse, 10 p.m.
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Colgate Raiders — 2020 Syracuse Football preview - The Juice Online (the juice; Cheng)
As we countdown to kickoff in September, we’re going to be doing a team-by-team preview each week over the summer. SU will continue its 2020 non-conference schedule on September 19th against Colgate.
STEP BACK YEAR
Colgate took a step back in 2019 after a historic season.
In 2018, the Raiders went 10-2 behind a stingy defense that allowed an FCS best 9.3 points per game. Colgate won the Patriot League, and along the way knocked off powerhouse James Madison. Their only regular season loss came against FBS Army.
The magical season ended against eventual FCS champion North Dakota State, but Colgate wanted to show in 2019 that they weren’t flash in the pan.
But with 25 seniors gone from that team, Colgate stumbled to a 4-8 overall record, and 3-3 in conference. Still, the Raiders closed out the season in impressive fashion, allowing a combined 27 points over their last three games.
That coincided with a three-game winning streak and a 16-0 shutout of Lafayette in the season finale.
ROSTER ANALYSIS
Colgate has a chance to build on their 2018 finish, with 14 projected returning starters.
But one of those starters who graduated was defensive lineman Nick Wheeler, a third-team AP All-American. He recorded 33 sacks throughout his career, which landed him third in Patriot League history and first on Colgate’s all-time list.
But rising senior Abdoul Kouyate is finally healthy again after an injury that sidelined him for the entire 2019 season. The former three-star recruit was one of Colgate’s top signings in the 2017 class, and he started four games in the 2018 season with 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Defensive back Collin Heard was named Second Team All Patriot League as just a sophomore and will lead the secondary.
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Here's where Clemson football players were taken in the 2020 NFL Draft (greenvilleonline.com; Keepfer)
for gbo
Isaiah Simmons drafted in first round by Arizona Cardinals
Former Clemson players Isaiah Simmons and A.J. Terrell were both drafted in the top half of the first round Thursday night in the opening round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Simmons, a hybrid linebacker, was tabbed by the Arizona Cardinals with the eighth overall pick while Terrell was taken by the Atlanta Falcons at No. 16 overall.
Simmons has been described as “position-less” by many NFL analysts, and the 6-foot-4, 238-pounder has embraced that label, saying quite simply that he plays “defense.”
Last season Simmons logged 100 or more snaps at five different positions, including free safety, strong safety, slot corner, defensive end and inside linebacker.
“I don’t even know how to classify myself,” Simmons said. “You could put me anywhere, really.”
The Cardinals had other pressing needs, but Simmons was too tempting to pass up.
“He can do so many different things,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “One week he might be lined up against (San Francisco tight end) George Kittle; the next week they may use him as a spy against (Seattle quarterback) Russell Wilson.
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What if: 3 X 20 teams (RX; HM)
What if: 3 X 20 teams
JRsec of CSNBBS had this idea:
We'll assume that the 3 conferences still standing are the ACC, Big Ten and SEC, and that every team currently in those leagues moves forward (albeit JR has one team switching conferences), while absorbing all of the Big XII and a good chunk of the Pac-12.
JR says "try this 3 x 20 on for size" (new teams in each conference in bold):
What we end up with is an ACC containing most of the private schools (including Vanderbilt), thus allowing the SEC to absorb most of the Big XII while the Big Ten picks up teams from the Pac-12. The ACC would expand into some new states, too: Indiana (officially for football), West Virginia, Tennessee and Texas.
Of course if ESPN or whoever really wanted to do this, they'd have to keep the ACC close to the other two in terms of revenue - which might mean overpaying the ACC.
Not that it'll ever happen, but... interesting, to say the least, huh?
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2020 NFL Draft, Round 1 (RX; HM)
2020 NFL Draft, Round 1
Round 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft is done, and 3 ACC players were selected.
From the ESPN coverage...
2020 NFL draft, Round 1
1. Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow, QB, LSU
2. Washington Redskins Chase Young, DE, Ohio State
3. Detroit Lions Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State
4. New York Giants Andrew Thomas, OT, Georgia
5. Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama
6. Los Angeles Chargers Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon
7. Carolina Panthers Derrick Brown, DT, Auburn
8. Arizona Cardinals Isaiah Simmons, OLB, Clemson
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North Carolina Football: Tar Heels' 2020 Schedule Analysis (athlon; Kinne)
Carolina has two big early non-conference tests before entering ACC play
Everyone with even a passing interest in college football has a strong desire to see the 2020 season start on time. There are few fan bases that want this to happen more than those that cheer for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
First, the basketball season left a bitter taste in the mouths of all Tar Heel supporters. Plus, Mack Brown's first year back offered so much promise and Carolina returns emerging star Sam Howell at quarterback along with an exciting receiving group. Defensively, Jay Bateman's crew should be even better in year two with linebacker Chazz Surratt ready for a huge senior campaign.
While UNC faces two very stiff non-conference foes, the ACC slate is very favorable. Here's a look at how the 2020 schedule shapes up for the Heels.
North Carolina Tar Heels 2020 Schedule
Bye: Week 9
Week 1 — Sept. 4 at UCF (Orlando, Fla.)
North Carolina is accustomed to jumping right into the fire. The Tar Heels have opened with a Power 5 opponent in each of the last five seasons. While this year is different in that UCF is in the AAC, the Knights will again challenge for the Group of 5 New Year's Day bid.
Week 2 — Sept. 12 vs. Auburn (Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta)
And it doesn't get any easier in week two. Gus Malzahn's team loses defensive stalwarts Derrick Brown, Marlon Davidson, and Jeremiah Dinson, but the offense hopes to improve with quarterback Bo Nix entering his sophomore season.
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Other
During the coronavirus shutdown, reporter Katrina Tulloch tries to make iconic Syracuse foods at home. Next up? Mother's Cupboard's 6-pound frittata.
