sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to Annual Medical Checkup Day!
Annual medical checkups detect health problems before they start or before they are too far along, so they can more easily be treated. Checkups prevent disease, help patients maintain good health throughout their lives, and extend the length of their lives. Today is Annual Medical Checkup Day, a day to get or schedule a medical checkup. A patient's age, family health history, and lifestyle choices factor in as to what type of checkups they should get and how often they should have them. An annual medical checkup will include a physical exam, but may also include blood pressure screening, cholesterol screening, diabetes screening, vaccinations, and disease screening such as a breast exam, testicular exam, pap test, prostate cancer screening, and colorectal cancer screening.
SU News
Axe: What makes sense in the madness of conference realignment? (mailbag) (PS; $; Axe)
Axe me your questions and I’ll tell you no lies.
The mailbag was overflowing with inquiries on conference realignment and pro lacrosse in Syracuse.
Let’s get to answering them.
If you want to send an internet correspondence, please do so at baxe@syracuse.com @brentaxemedia on Twitter/X or @brent_axe on Threads.
From Joe on Threads: Do you think it makes sense for schools like Cal, Stanford and SMU to join the ACC? Is this some sort of insurance plan for when/if Florida St and Clemson leave?
Joe, nothing makes sense in the maniacal game of musical chairs being played in college sports these days. I think the ACC should start claiming planets and moons to get ahead of the intergalactic game.
I hear Venus has a heck of a football team.
As for Cal, Stanford and SMU, I honestly do see the value there.
Cal and Stanford are two of the best schools (remember academics?) in the country and excel in Olympic sports. The ACC stands for Atlantic Coast Conference, but it may as well make it a coast-to-coast conference.
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(youtube.com; video; Educating Athletes)
Why you should go to Syracuse to play football
Wax Earns Spot on Butkus Watch List - Syracuse University Athletics (cuse.com)
After leading the 2022 Syracuse defense that finished in the top-20 nationally in total defense in tackles, linebacker Marlowe Wax Jr. has been named to the Dick Butkus Award Watch List.
Wax, who enters the 2023 campaign with 25-straight starts, was an All-ACC selection a year ago. Already voted a team captain for this upcoming season, he enters the year with 184 career tackles (113 solo), 25.0 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and a blocked kick in his time at SU.
The only member of the Orange linebacking corps to appear in every game last season, Wax has a team-best 91 tackles in 2022, with 10.5 tackles for loss. His 91 tackles ranked 11th in the ACC. He Anchored a defensive unit that finished the season 14th nationally in passing defense (184.8) and 20th in total defense (328.6).
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Syracuse football recruiting: Orange get commitment from 2024 TE Elijah Washington (TNIAAM; Wall)
The Syracuse Orange are in the midst of preseason camp but that doesn’t stop the 2024 recruiting. On Wednesday evening, the Orange received a commitment from tight end Elijah Washington.
The 6’ 5.5” Washington is a dual-sport star from Lake Taylor high school in Norfolk committed to Syracuse over offers from Virginia, West Virginia, Rutgers and East Carolina. Washington’s rated three stars by On3, 247, and Rivals. He’s considered a top 25 player in Virginia and he becomes the 17th commit (and 3rd highest ranked by On3) for the Orange in 2024.
Along with his football accolades, Washington had an outstanding junior season for Lake Taylor’s basketball team.
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Syracuse Football: ‘Cuse in final 8 for 4-star athlete, a top-10 player in N.J. (itlh; Adler)
Syracuse football coaches have done a great job so far securing verbal commitments from high-school prospects in New Jersey within the 2024 class, and the Orange is hoping that success extends to the 2025 cycle.
To that end, 2025 four-star athlete Cameron Miller, who is a top-10 player in the Garden State, recently disclosed his top eight on Twitter. The ‘Cuse, encouragingly, made the cut.
Syracuse football, though, faces some hefty competition as it looks to win out for the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Miller, who is rated as a top-300 national prospect in the rising-junior class, per several recruiting services.
Miller’s top eight consist of the Orange, two-time defending national champion Georgia, Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Illinois and Rutgers.
Syracuse football remains in the running for 2025 four-star athlete Cameron Miller.
According to media reports and recruiting services, Miller suits up at both cornerback and wide receiver. He attends Winslow Township High School, which is located in Atco, N.J.
In the 2022 season, as a sophomore for Winslow Township, Miller caught 29 passes for 436 yards and six receiving touchdowns, per his bio on the MaxPreps Web site. On defense, he tallied 38 total tackles. Additionally, Miller had four kickoff returns for a combined 100 yards.
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Syracuse Orange: Notre Dame must join ACC for football or put a sock in it (itlh; Adler)
It remains to be seen whether the Syracuse Orange and its fellow Atlantic Coast Conference peers will see their league’s membership grow, although media reports appear to indicate there’s not much doing at this time.
Of course, the chaos that is conference realignment is fluid and can change at any moment, so buckle up, my fellow Syracuse Orange sports fans.
That being said, as some reports surfaced on Wednesday night, one thing became abundantly clear, at least to me anyway. Notre Dame needs to put up or shut up.
What do I mean by that? Well, reports this week have stated that ACC leaders have discussed the possibility of adding Pac-12 Conference members Stanford and California, as well as SMU out of the American Athletic Conference.
On Wednesday evening, as first reported by Larry Williams of Tigerillustrated.com, Notre Dame is (or was) pushing for the ACC to add both Stanford and California. ESPN’s Pete Thamel and Andrea Adelson, among others, have reported that the ACC bringing on board California and Stanford has “hit significant roadblocks.”
The Syracuse Orange and other ACC schools are awaiting to see if their league expands.
Brett McMurphy of The Action Network quoted an ACC source as saying, “Notre Dame initiated us bringing on Stanford and Cal and continues to push, yet Notre Dame won’t join the ACC as a full-time member. That doesn’t make sense to us.”
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ACC News
Teel: Stanford, Cal, SMU and ACC expansion in FAQ form (richmond.com; Teel)
A parenting book we’re reading tells the story of a teenager who asked to take an American Sign Language class offered at her school instead of Spanish. The answer was a firm no, but the daughter persisted.
When the rejections continued, she created a Power Point detailing her reasons. Swayed by not only the effort but also the facts, the parents changed their minds.
I’m wondering if similar dynamics are at play as ACC presidents and athletic directors vet Stanford, California Berkeley and Southern Methodist as expansion candidates. Might some be warming to the idea, thanks in part to proposals made by the three schools?
ACC presidents convened virtually again Wednesday evening — at least two were traveling internationally — without resolution, so as the deliberations continue, let’s try to address some of the questions folks have raised.
How would this enhance ACC revenue?
With an average per-school distribution of $39.4 million in 2021-22, the ACC lagged far behind the Big Ten ($58.8 million) and SEC ($49.9 million). And those gaps will mushroom with the impending additions of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC, and Southern California and UCLA to the Big Ten.Meanwhile, as those leagues prepare to cash in on new television contracts, the ACC’s with ESPN runs through 2035-36.
Expansion could help the ACC economically on two fronts.
First, planting the ACC Network flag in the nation’s most-populated states, California and Texas, would increase the network’s revenue, as subscription fees in states with conference schools are far more valuable than in other states. The potential increases in California and Texas are unclear and would likely hinge on negotiations between ESPN and television providers.
Also keep in mind that if ACC Network subs in new states generated game-changing windfalls, the conference would have invited Houston and Cincinnati — Ohio ranks fourth among states in population — before those schools joined the Big 12.
Second, Cal, Stanford and SMU offered to accept less than full shares of ACC revenue in exchange for membership, not an uncommon approach in realignment. Indeed, Nebraska, Rutgers and Maryland, the Big Ten’s most recent additions, still hadn’t received a full share through 2021-22.
But sources said Wednesday night that SMU, betting on long-term benefits and thanks to its generous donors, went next level and offered to take no distribution for at least five years. The Mustangs reside in the American Athletic Conference, where their current annual share is about $8 million.
Not even factoring in the Cal-Stanford discount, SMU’s proposal could give the ACC $200 million-plus over five years to divide among current members. That’s less than $3 million per year per school, but the conference could earmark some or all of that money for its impending “success initiative,” which will reward the ACC’s top performers in football and men’s basketball.
Is that enough to clear the untold logistical hurdles of adding two California schools to a league snugged into the Eastern time zone? Still seems a stretch.
Do Stanford and Cal have other options?
Last Friday’s splintering of the Pac-12 left conference staples Washington State, Oregon State, Cal and Stanford in scramble mode. Cash-rich Stanford could afford football independence, but the other three need a conference home.
Joining or merging with the Mountain West, or heading to the American, which has four schools in Texas, would make far more geographic sense than the ACC for Stanford and Cal. But the television revenue and academic linkage would pale in comparison.
What about Clemson?
Strong yet quiet, the Tigers are arguably the most fascinating characters in this drama. They understand the ACC is their clearest path to the College Football Playoff, witness their six consecutive CFP appearances from 2015-20 and two national championships during that span.
But Clemson’s fiercest rival is the SEC’s South Carolina, and the prospect of the Gamecocks having a projected $30 million annual advantage in conference distribution does not sit well. The same dynamic is in play at Florida State, where the Seminoles stew about Florida having the same budgetary edge.
So why have the Tigers been silent while the Seminoles bark? Multiple reasons.
Clemson is a charter member of the ACC, a history that dates to 1953. FSU didn’t join the conference until 1991 and has no institutional affection for the league.
Moreover, the Tigers boast all the components an elite football program needs. Conversely, second-year Seminoles athletic director Michael Alford has said his predecessors did not invest enough in football, an indictment not of the ACC but of FSU’s money management.
That’s what makes the Seminoles loud demands for a greater share of conference revenue ring somewhat hollow.
None of this means Clemson is content. But the Tigers can afford to be more subtle as they explore options beyond, and perhaps before, the ACC’s grant of media rights expires in tandem with the ESPN deal in 2036.
The grant conveys each school’s television revenue to the conference, essentially binding membership. No school in any league has challenged a grant of rights in court.
Does Notre Dame have a say?
Despite their football independence, the Fighting Irish have voting privileges in the ACC, their home for men’s and women’s basketball and Olympic sports. Now consider the ACC’s expansion math.
League bylaws require at least a three-quarters supermajority to invite a new member. That equates to 12 of the 15 current schools, Notre Dame included.
If the Irish did not have a vote, the invitation threshold would be 11 of 14. So their support of Cal and Stanford is irrelevant.
Now if 11 of the 14 current full members voted to invite a school, a Notre Dame no would block passage. Since football is a primary expansion driver, that’s an issue the ACC should address — unless the Irish have vowed never to be the one dissenter preventing approval.
Stanford and Notre Dame have competed in football for 26 consecutive years, the 2020 pandemic season excepted, but the Irish’s support of the Cardinal for ACC membership should not be interpreted as a sign they would join the conference for football.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations — let me put it bluntly — with Notre Dame, and they’ve been very clear,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said last month. “They value their independence, and I think they feel strongly that that will continue well into the future.”
Why now?
Phillips also said last month that expansion deliberations have been central to his tenure since he succeeded John Swofford 2½ years ago. But details of those meetings never leaked.
The difference now is that realignment has become so turbulent that ACC officials — the presidents are a ponderous group — may want folks to know they aren’t sitting idle, regardless of the outcome. Or, Florida State wants to create as much chaos as possible.
Sure, this carries a vibe of desperation, but when members are clamoring for more money and searching for escape routes, inertia is not an option.
Will the ACC expand?
I remain skeptical, but less so than at week’s start. As one source said: “The other day I would have said no way. Today I would say a strong maybe.”
Breaking down our ACC preseason football ballots (dukechronicle; Jindal & Dudley)
With football season just a few weeks away, the ACC released its All-ACC Preseason Team and Preseason Poll last week, featuring three Duke players and a joint-sixth place finish with Pittsburgh. Two of The Chronicle’s beat writers, Ranjan Jindal and Caleb Dudley, were present in Charlotte for July’s ACC Kickoff and voted on both the team and poll, and are here to break down their ballots.
Preseason All-ACC First Team offense
Poll results: (Voting by 176 media members)QB: Drake Maye, North Carolina (107)
RB: Will Shipley, Clemson (169)
RB: Trey Benson, Florida State (125)
WR: Johnny Wilson, Florida State (117)
WR: Tez Walker, North Carolina (51)
WR: Jalon Calhoun, Duke (49)
TE: Oronde Gadsden II, Syracuse (89)
AP: Will Shipley, Clemson (105)
OT: Graham Barton, Duke (110)
OT: Matt Goncalves, Pitt (58)
OG: Christian Mahogany, Boston College (101)
OG: Javion Cohen, Miami (69)
C: Bryan Hudson, Louisville (56)
Ranjan’s ballot:
QB: Jordan Travis, Florida State
RB: Will Shipley, Clemson
RB: Trey Benson, Florida State
WR: Johnny Wilson, Florida State
WR: Jamari Thrash, Louisville
WR: Jalon Calhoun, Duke
TE: Oronde Gadsden, Syracuse
AP: Will Shipley, Clemson
OT: Graham Barton, Duke
OT: Anthony Belton, N.C. State
OG: Christian Mahogany, Boston College
OG: Javion Cohen, Miami
C: Will Putnam, Clemson
At the top of the list, Maye definitely is deserving of this spot, but I put Travis for a couple of reasons. One is the performance of both quarterbacks in the second half of last season, as Travis was a big part of Florida State’s six-game win streak and Maye faltered, especially in the ACC title game against Clemson. The addition of transfers Jaheim Bell and Keon Coleman will give Travis a multitude of weapons to go along with All-ACC wide receiver Johnny Wilson, while Maye lost his top target in Josh Downs and will have a new offensive coordinator, Chip Lindsey. I still think the Tar Heels will put up incredible numbers and lead North Carolina to a successful season, but my nod went to Travis for this year.
Shipley has emerged as the best rusher in the ACC in my opinion, as evidenced by his top running back and all-purpose selections. Seminole running back Benson has serious big-play capabilities, averaging 6.4 yards per carry last season. Syracuse’s Gadsden is a big name to watch after leading all tight ends in receiving yards last season with First Team All-ACC honors.
My ballot included the two Blue Devils selected in Calhoun and Barton. Calhoun’s route-running skills are incredible and he has been underrated amongst ACC wide receivers. Barton was a consensus pick for this spot as an excellent run blocker who created a dangerous rushing attack for Duke in a resurgent 2022 season. Belton and Putnam are two other offensive linemen that I believe will have a big impact on their team’s success. Belton, at 6-foot-6 and 336 pounds is a force to be reckoned with and will play a big role in protecting N.C. State’s new quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Putnam provided stability to a struggling Clemson offensive line, and with a year under his belt at center, he, along with the entire Tiger line, should be much improved.
Caleb’s ballot:
QB: Jordan Travis, Florida State
RB: Will Shipley, Clemson
RB: Trey Benson, Florida State
WR: Johnny Wilson, Florida State
WR: Ali Jennings, Virginia Tech
WR: Jalon Calhoun, Duke
TE: Jaheim Bell, Florida State
AP: Jawhar Jordan, Louisville
OT: Graham Barton, Duke
OT: Matt Goncalves, Pittsburgh
OG: Christian Mahogany, Boston College
OG: Javion Cohen, Miami
C: Bryan Hudson, Louisville
At the signal caller position, Travis over Maye was a decision that I wrestled with. At the end of the day, I went with who I believe to be the quarterback on the best team in the ACC, and who also looks due for a highly productive season in his final go round in Tallahassee. Florida State simply seemed to get better this offseason through the transfer portal, adding tight end Bell while North Carolina lost its top two receivers from last season, spelling a possible decrease in production for Maye and giving Travis the edge.
The running back decisions were probably the easiest choices to make on the entire ballot. Shipley is a proven stud, earning an All-ACC nod at three spots as he is primed for another big year in the Clemson offense. Benson is another standout who will play for a top offense in the ACC, giving a big boost to his all-conference case.
Both of the Duke players who were selected to the All-ACC offense were on my ballot as well. Barton was an easy choice, as he has proven himself to be one of the premier offensive lineman in the country. Another year in the same system should lead to an even more dominant season, making him a shoo-in for an All-ACC selection. Calhoun was a tougher decision for me, as the immense amount of returning production on the Blue Devil offense could make it tough for him to separate himself, but I’m betting on the graduate student to show out in a big way this season as he gets to expand his route tree in his second year in offensive coordinator Kevin Johns’ system.
Preseason All-ACC defense and special teams
Poll results:DE: Jared Verse, Florida State (136)
DE: Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College (58)
DT: Tyler Davis, Clemson (124)
DT: DeWayne Carter, Duke (97)
LB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson (132)
LB: Cedric Gray, North Carolina (109)
LB: Barrett Carter, Clemson (87)
CB: Fentrell Cypress II, Florida State (88)
CB: Aydan White, NC State (85)
S: Kam Kinchens, Miami (117)
S: Andrew Mukuba, Clemson (46)
PK: Andres Borregales, Miami (70)
P: Daniel Sparks, Virginia (54)
SP: Will Shipley, Clemson (68)
Ranjan’s ballot:
DE: Jared Verse, Florida State
DE: Donovan Ezeiruaku, Boston College
DT: Tyler Davis, Clemson
DT: DeWayne Carter, Duke
LB: Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson
LB: Cedric Gray, North Carolina
LB: Barrett Carter, Clemson
CB: Fentrell Cypress II, Florida State
CB: Aydan White, NC State
S: Kam Kinchens, Miami
S: Andrew Mukuba, Clemson
PK: Ben Sauls, Pittsburgh
P: Porter Wilson, Duke
SP: Trey Benson, Florida State
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Les Johns talks Wake Forest Football on ACC PM with Mark Packer (247sports.com; podcast; Debro)
Realignment, a new video game, and even more TV drama is happening around college sports. Cam brings in an expert in Matt Brown from Extra Points to break down what's really happening and why.
You can subscribe to Inside The Forest on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. As always, five-star reviews and comments on Apple Podcasts and Spotify are appreciated!
High school football recruits with famous NFL family members
As the prep season starts, the 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 classes feature a significant number of prospects with noteworthy football backgrounds in their families.
The prep football season kicks off this weekend in certain parts of the country, including in the state of Utah, where the No. 2 player in the state is the brother of a former No. 2 NFL draft pick.
From Super Bowl pedigrees to connections to college stars, the following rundown of 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 prospects showcases some of the most notable football-centric familial associations spanning up to seven decades.
The following list includes several sons of former NFL players, in addition to brothers, cousins, and grandchildren of pro and college luminaries alike. Below is the rundown, kicking off with the son of an NFL Hall of Famer.
KENNEDY URLACHER, LB, 2024
Chandler (Ariz.) safety Kennedy Urlacher is the son of NFL Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, one of the finest linebackers in the Chicago Bears' storied history. While his father played and starred at New Mexico before his NFL career took him to the Midwest, the younger Urlacher spurned his father's alma mater to return to the Midwest, committing to Notre Dame in May.
A three-star in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite Rankings, Urlacher is the No. 67 safety nationally and the No. 14 prospect in Arizona in 2024.
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Why Notre Dame's push for ACC expansion makes perfect sense (thesportingnews.com; Bender)
Notre Dame has entered the realignment chat.
On Wednesday, Action Network's Brett McMurphy reported that Notre Dame – which has a five-game arrangement for football with the ACC and is a full-voting member — is part of the movement to add Stanford and Cal to the conference.
"Notre Dame initiated us bringing on Stanford and Cal and continues to push, yet Notre Dame won't join the ACC as a full-time member," an ACC source told McMurphy. "That doesn't make sense to us."
We can make sense of it. In this case – they are pushing for moves that will help ensure the long-term health of the ACC is more than just the Grant of Rights deal that runs through 2036.
So, what are Notre Dame's motives? We make sense of the Irish pushing for ACC expansion:
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Links, News and Rumors 2023 Aug 11 (RX; HM)
Links, News and Rumors 2023 Aug 11
ACC Football is just 20 days away! (and Notre Dame vs Navy is in just 15 days)...
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From the CFP: College Football Playoff Selection Committee Prepares for 2023-24 Season
Below is a complete schedule for the selection committee to announce its rankings on ESPN:
| DATE | Week# | TIME |
| Tuesday, October 31 | 10 | 7 - 8 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, November 7 | 11 | 7 - 8 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, November 14 | 12 | 9 - 9:30 p.m. ET* |
| Tuesday, November 21 | 13 | 7 - 8 p.m. ET |
| Tuesday, November 28 | 14 | 7 - 7:30 p.m. ET |
| Sunday, December 3 (selection day) | 15 | Noon - 4 p.m. ET |
To be honest, I wish all polls waited until at least Week 4 to start publishing rankings (Week 10 seems a bit late, but in this case late is better than early).
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From Dustin's YouTube channel, College Football Lifer...
Florida State Looks to Private
Equity to Raise Funds, Leave ACC
Florida State Looks to Private Equity to Raise Funds, Leave ACC...
Best 2023 Teams, by State (RX; HM)
Best 2023 Teams, by State
How would you pick the best teams in each state? Do you go by brand, strength of schedule, or simply their total 2022 wins?
CBS Sports picked the best college football team in each state entering the 2023 season. These are their picks for the ACC footprint states (for the other 40 states, click the link):
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From My Twitter 2023 Aug 10 (RX; HM)
From My Twitter 2023 Aug 10
I've been reading some really questionable arguments from some of my fellow ACC fans of other schools (and even from fellow Hokies), so I felt I had to speak out. Here is the gist of my tweets (put into complete sentences because - no word limit here!)
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Clemson Football: ACC looks slow and lost in expansion discussion (rubbingtherock.com; Chancey)
Despite the attention, hype, angst or any other reaction created over the past few days, it does not appear that the Atlantic Coast Conference will expand at this time.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel posted yesterday evening that the discussions within the conference have met difficulties and it appears they will not be able to overcome them.
The ACC was considering the addition of Stanford and California from the PAC-12 Conference, which experienced significant attrition in the past couple of weeks due to difficulties with finding a new television contract.
There were also reports that SMU was being considered for addition to the conference as well.
Tiger Illustrated’s Larry Williams posted the same thing more succinctly.
The idea seemed odd from the moment the news broke. Both Bay Area schools are well respected academically, and it is understandable why a conference like the ACC might be intrigued by them. The conference has always valued academic prowess.
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Hey, ACC, If You’re Looking For Good Football, Try Closer To Home (DBR; King)
As the expansion/realignment idiocy continues to swirl, the estimable David Teel has this summary of where things stand today. Well, at least as of 11:20. It may be obsolete in a few hours.
As we said Wednesday, this is a time to think creatively and a bit outside of the box. For Notre Dame, Cal and Stanford make sense because they don’t want those outstanding schools to be left behind. A noble sentiment, but it’s hard to find the self-interest in that. We’ve talked before about the issues presented by travel from coast to coast. It’s not an issue for football, but it is for basketball and particularly Olympic sports.
It would be better to find schools closer to the, well, Atlantic where almost all the ACC schools are.
Given that this is a football driven mess, when you look around the Eastern seaboard, and even a bit West, there just aren’t that many major programs available. The ACC missed on Penn State back in the day, which would have been a great addition. Too late!
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MWC awaits ACC decision, 'open to everything' (ESPN; Bonagura)
As Stanford and California await a decision from the ACC about possible membership, the Mountain West Conference remains on standby, ready to respond however those dominos fall.
After the collapse of the Pac-12 last week, the MWC has found itself in a position of strength and stands as a potential landing spot for the remaining four Pac-12 schools: Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Washington State.
How quickly the trickle-down effect reaches the MWC will be determined mostly by forces out of its control.
"It is about what's happening with the ACC or whoever [Cal and Stanford] are talking to," MWC commissioner Gloria Nevarez told ESPN on Thursday.
If Cal and Stanford are accepted into the ACC -- a possibility that hit roadblocks Wednesday evening -- there is a widespread expectation that Oregon State and Washington State would move to the MWC, sources told ESPN.
If the ACC does not add Cal and Stanford, however, it's less clear how things will play out. Since Friday, when five of the remaining nine Pac-12 schools announced they were leaving, the MWC has been gaming out various scenarios.
"A lot of it is just trying to sort fact from fiction out there," Nevarez said. "There's just so much information about what's going on, and not all of it is true. From my perspective, it's been a matter of connecting with our athletic directors and presidents and contacts that I have in the industry to try to provide our board the best information out there."
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https://www.si.com/fannation/colleg...ent-more-details-on-acc-interest-in-2-schools (SI; Parks)
The next phase in college football conference realignment may come from the ACC as that league looks to further solidify its own position, but the latest strategy to add Stanford and Cal may have hit a snag in the last few hours, according to insiders.
What's happening: ACC presidents held a meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss the additions and, although they did not vote on the matter and no final decision has been made, there is plenty of disagreement among membership. Some believe that adding two more schools would further dilute each existing member's revenue, which isn't ideal considering the existing acrimony among ACC schools about how much money they are making already. Others are concerned about the travel requirements.
How much money? Reports indicate there is a gap of around $30 million per year per school between the ACC and the SEC/Big Ten, a shortfall that has already found Florida State leadership openly admitting they will consider leaving the conference.
Where ESPN comes in: If the ACC adds members, the network would pay the conference up to $35 million for each new team, and it would be up to the ACC to decide how to distribute it. It is believed that Cal and Stanford would get a 70 percent share compared to existing ACC members.
Where Notre Dame fits in: Although still independent in football, the Irish are members of the ACC in other sports and have been using their influence behind the scenes to advocate for Cal and in particular Stanford, with whom ND has a historic football rivalry, to join the league. Some in the ACC are upset that Notre Dame is trying to influence the outcome given that the school will not join in football and feel they shouldn't have an equal vote on the matter.
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The CW dreams big with addition of ACC football, basketball :: WRALSportsFan.com (wralsports.com; Murphy)
Primetime football games. Men's basketball doubleheaders. A weekly women's basketball showcase. All to involve the ACC's biggest brands.
The CW, an over-the-air broadcast station best known for its teen dramas, is dreaming big as it enters the sports world with a new four-year agreement to carry 50 ACC football, men's basketball and women's basketball games that begins next month.
The network will air Cincinnati at Pittsburgh on Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. NC State's home game against VMI will be televised on The CW on Sept. 16 at 2:30 p.m.
"This will be a terrific inaugural game for us," said Hunter Nickell, the CEO of Raycom, which will produce the games,
Though ESPN owns the ACC's television rights through 2036, Raycom -- a longtime broadcast partner of the league -- still gets a small part of the package through 2027, a much-derided carve-out put in place by former commissioner John Swofford.
The ACC and ESPN reacquired rights to the women's basketball tournament and baseball championships to get greater exposure, one of the biggest wins of commissioner Jim Phillips' tenure.
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Other
Sirloin Tips at Pickle Barrel
NYS Fair Food Hall of Fame: Coming in at #8... an Indiana home-cookin' classic (PS; Miller)
Some concession stands at the NYS Fair will sell you a slab of beef, and you can get potatoes at others. But the Pickle Barrel Sirloin Beef Tips booth will serve you meat and potatoes and other veggies all at once in a carryable cardboard bowl.
Consider this stainless steel booth, conveniently located next door to the Beer Garden at the head of Restaurant Row, a fast-food steakhouse, if there were such a thing.
The beef tips that come out of Pickle Barrel came in at No. 8 in the syracuse.com New York State Fair Food Hall of Fame.
“We serve nothing but the best with only the freshest ingredients,” said Colin Colglazier, a partner in this Indiana-based concession company. “We serve what we would want to eat at home.”
The main attraction here is the $12 half-pound beef tips dinner. It’s half medium-rare sirloin tips, half mashed red-skin potatoes, and half marinated mushrooms, peppers and onions. (OK, my math is slightly off. That’s why I’m a writer and not an accountant.)
For you dainty folks out there, you can get a quarter-pound order for $8, or you can go for the vegetarian version with just hot vegetables sitting in a bed of fluffy potatoes for $5. Whatever you order will fill you up.
Local carnivals and fairs have been the bread and butter for four generations of the Colglazier family. Well, more like fried dough dusted in sugar and cinnamon. The family for decades traveled the Hoosier state and ultimately the country each summer selling funnel cakes and elephant ears.
That lasted until about 19 years ago.
“Fried dough wasn’t doing all that well, mostly because the market was oversaturated, so we needed to find a new revenue stream,” Colglazier said. “My father and uncle then started experimenting with sirloin tips, and they took off.”
These prime-grade beef chunks seared in a 24-inch cast-iron skillet just won the Meat Lover’s Award at the Porter County Fair in Indiana.
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