sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Call a Friend Day!
Friends and family are seen throughout the holiday season, but some live far across the country and are not able to be visited. Today is dedicated to calling a friend that lives far away that won't be seen during the holidays. With the rise of social media, email, and texting, conversations with friends by phone happen less and less. Today is a day for talking over the phone and making a connection with the human voice.
How to Observe Call a Friend Day
Make a phone call to one or more friends that you won't be seeing over the holidays. Call them up just to say "hello," or spend the whole day on the phone having long conversations about the past year and hopes for the future.
SU News
30 Minutes in Orange Nation 12-27-23 (ESPN; radio; Orange Nation)
Steve & Paulie started things off discussing ‘Cuse Football. The guys talked about returning players, transfers, and more. Next, the guys took a call from long time listener Scooter where they talked about the CFB playoffs teams and other betting scenarios Finally, the guys talked with another listener on the CFB playoffs teams, set up, and how they felt about the choosing of participants, and more.
Mike McAllister "Orange Nation" 12-27-23 (ESPN; radio; Orange Nation)
Publisher of Syracuse Orange on FanNation Mike McAllister joined Steve & Paulie today to talk about the most recent moves for ‘Cuse Football. He talked about signings, transfers, coaching, expectations and more.
OVERTIME: BEST gifts from FRANTACLAUS to SU football fans (youtube.com; podcast; Orange Zone)
In this Orange Zone Overtime, Samantha Croston and Rachel Culver discuss Fran Brown's endless stream of gifts to the Syracuse Football fanbase. From the highest-ranked recruiting class to the high-caliber transfers, it's safe to say SU football fans were on the 'nice list' this year.
Former Syracuse DB Duce Chestnut enters name in transfer portal (PS; $; Carlson)
Former Syracuse cornerback Duce Chestnut has entered his name into the transfer portal following one season at LSU.
Chestnut played just four games for the Tigers this season, preserving his ability to redshirt this season. He has two years of college eligibility remaining.
Chestnut announced his intention to transfer on Twitter, following a season in which he began the season receiving substantial playing time, struggled and then spent time “away from the team” but remained part of the LSU program.
Chestnut performed well during two seasons at Syracuse, making him a target for LSU and a poster child for Syracuse coaches and officials on the danger of players leaving a program where they had been enjoying considerable success.
Both former coach Dino Babers and athletic director John Wildhack pointed out over the past year how SU players who were finding success have struggled in their new spots.
Chestnut was an All-ACC Third Team performer as a freshman and an honorable mention all-conference player as a sophomore, starting at cornerback in both seasons and recording four interceptions. He was an excellent tackler for an undersized defensive back.
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Syracuse football’s Stefon Thompson will put name in transfer portal (PS; $; Carlson)
Syracuse linebacker Stefon Thompson, who finished sixth on the team in tackles last season, said he will put his name into the transfer portal.
Thompson announced his intention on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. He thanked former head coach Dino Babers, as well as family, friends and SU fans.
He finished last year with 52 tackles, along with four tackles for loss, 1 1/2 sacks, three quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.
Thompson is the second pass-rushing linebacker for the Orange who has entered his name into the transfer portal this offseason, joining Leon Lowery, who will play for Wisconsin next year.
Two Orange’s other starting linebackers from last season, Marlowe Wax and Derek McDonald, both have eligibility remaining. Wax’s return would be particularly helpful for new Syracuse head coach Fran Brown.
Was has led the Orange in tackles the past two seasons. McDonald finished third on the team last year.
Thompson played last year as a redshirt sophomore and will have two years of college eligibility remaining because his freshman season was played during the coronavirus pandemic.
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https://www.si.com/college/syracuse/football/marlowe-wax-returning-syracuse-football-2024 (SI; McAllister)
Syracuse linebacker Marlowe Wax announced on social media Wednesday that he will return to the Orange for the 2024 season.
“These past few weeks have been the most frustrating in my life,” Wax said in a social media post. “This past year did not go as planned and now, after careful consideration, I think it’s best for me to run it back one more time and double down on myself. I love what we are building and I can’t wait to rock the Dome with my brothers again.”
The news comes after Justin Barron and Oronde Gadsden announced their intentions to return as well.
In 2023, Wax accumulated 108 tackles, four sacks, four forced fumbles, one interception and two passes defended.
Syracuse Football: ‘Cuse a finalist for 4-star cornerback, top-20 national prospect (itlh; Adler)
Syracuse football is one of the finalists, at least for the time being, for 2025 four-star athlete/cornerback Jaboree Antoine from Louisiana.
On Christmas Day, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Antoine disclosed via his X page a top eight of Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Miami, Texas A&M, Michigan, Tennessee and LSU.
However, later that day, Antoine said that he had received a scholarship offer from the ‘Cuse coaching staff, and in a separate post on X, Antoine said that his new top nine included Syracuse football.
Antoine is a standout junior at Westgate High School in New Iberia, La. Per his bio on the 247Sports Web site, Antoine holds more than 20 offers from a range of high-major programs.
Top 9
+1 Syracuse pic.twitter.com/DJAhIBb957
— Jaboree “ŚlimeTô” Antoine (@JaboreeA) December 25, 2023
Syracuse football is in the top nine of 2025 four-star athlete/CB Jaboree Antoine.
Antoine’s top nine, to me, illustrates the recruiting prowess of Orange head coach Fran Brown and his staff. The ‘Cuse offered Antoine and then immediately thereafter, made his list cut....
Syracuse football will not play Army in 2024, still needs to fill final non-conference spot (PS; Carlson)
The Syracuse football team will not play its scheduled game at Army in 2024, according to a source familiar with the SU schedule.
That means the Orange still have an opening for a non-conference game, one that it will have to fill on a tight deadline.
The cancellation was caused by Army’s October decision to join the American Athletic Conference, which required the Black Knights to make room on their schedule for eight conference games next season. Traditionally, Army has played a full independent schedule.
Army published a schedule earlier this month that included 10 of 12 opponents that it will play next season. In addition to its eight conference games, Army will face traditional rivals Air Force and Navy.
That list did not include Syracuse, raising questions about the future of a four-game series between the two programs.
Syracuse and Army announced a four-year home-and-home agreement in 2016. The first of those games was played this season in the JMA Wireless Dome, with additional games scheduled at Army in 2024 and 2026, along with a second game in Syracuse in 2025.
The source said it’s uncertain whether the three remaining games in the series will be re-scheduled or canceled.
The source said Syracuse and Kansas had been communicating about filling the open spot but that KU recently broke off those efforts. The possibility of a game between Syracuse and Kansas was first reported by Bleacher Report’s Bryson Stricker, who said the matchup was expected.
Syracuse will now have to fill the final non-conference spot on its football schedule in a very tight timeframe and with a limited number of options.
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Syracuse football: an early look at the 2024 depth chart on offense (TNIAAM; Wall)
The Syracuse Orange will have some new faces in 2024. We took an early look at the depth chart on defense yesterday, so now it’s the offense’s turn.
Quarterback: Kyle McCord takes the starting reins with Carlos Del-Rio Wilson and Braden Davis battling for the #2 spot with freshman Jakhari Williams. Unless one of these guys leaves, I wouldn’t expect the Orange to add another quarterback right now.
Running Back: We have to see if the new offensive staff looks to split carries more in 2024. No matter what LeQuint Allen will see the bulk of the work with Juwaun Price an experienced back-up. Could we see Dan Villari in more of a fullback/tight end role next Fall? Villari showed down the stretch he can be a weapon with the ball in his hands.
Wide Receiver: Damien Alford, Donovan Brown and Umari Hatcher could all be back, but will they hold onto starting jobs? Trebor Pena missed almost all of last season and is expected back to man a slot receiver position. Georgia transfers Yazeed Haynes and Jackson Meeks will be here in Spring with incoming freshmen Emmanuel Ross and Jaylan Hornsby.
Let’s assume it’s a three-receiver set, so Alford, Hatcher and Haynes are the starting group with a lot of snaps for the 2nd unit.
Tight end: Oronde Gadsden II announced he’ll be back next season and once he’s healthy, he’s going to be a featured weapon for McCord. Villari’s versatility could see him playing all over the field as well and David Clement, Jamie Tremble and Elijah Washington offer some tantalizing size and athleticism. Max Mang’s served as a blocking tight end, but we’ll see if he still has a role in the new offense.
Offensive Line: The biggest area of concern for the Orange once again. Returning players include David Wohlabaugh Jr, Enrique Cruz, J’Onre Reed, Joe Cruz, Joe More, Kalan Ellis, Jakob Bradford, Mark Petry and Josh Ilaoa all have starting experience. Incoming transfer Joshua Miller could be an immediate upgrade, but this group is going to being watched closely in the spring as we try and figure out who emerges.
I’ll put the starters as E. Cruz, Miller, Reed, Ellis, Wohlabaugh. There are some solid players here, but depth is a concern.
Which players on the offense will you be watching closely this spring?
Marlowe Wax, Oronde Gadsden II, Justin Barron all announce return for 2024 (DO; Andrews)
Syracuse’s Marlowe Wax, Oronde Gadsden II and Justin Barron all announced on social media over the past three days that they are returning to SU for the 2024 season. Their decisions come in the aftermath of first-year head coach Fran Brown’s quick turnaround of the program. Since Brown’s hiring, the Orange have gotten a litany of new recruits and high-level transfers such as Kyle McCord and Fadil Diggs, among others. Now, Wax, Gadsden and Barron help fortify a veteran presence for Brown.
Barron was the first to release his decision via X on Dec. 25. He opted to utilize his fifth year of eligibility after spending the previous four seasons with Syracuse. Barron, a defensive back, has totaled 194 tackles in his SU career thus far, including a career-high 83 in 2023. He also tallied career-bests in forced fumbles (three) and pass deflections (eight) this past year.
Gadsden announced his return to the Orange a day after Barron did. Gadsden entered 2023 as the suspected No. 1 receiving option, but the tight end suffered a season-ending lower-body injury in SU’s week 2 matchup against Western Michigan. Rather than putting his name in the NFL Draft, Gadsden will come back for his fourth season. Through his first three campaigns, Gadsden has accumulated 1,060 yards and seven touchdowns. Most of that production came in his breakout sophomore season, where he led the Orange in receiving yards (969) and receptions (61). McCord, SU’s assumed starting quarterback in 2024, posted his approval on X in response to Gadsden’s return.
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Syracuse football: how were our preseason predictions? (TNIAAM; Wall)
Now that we’ve hit the Syracuse Orange football off-season, let’s look back at our preseason predictions and see how we did.
Overall record/ACC record & Bowl Game (if applicable)
Andy: 7-5, Military Bowl.
Mike: 8-4, 4-4, Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
Dom: 7-5, 4-4, Pop-Tarts Bowl.
Kevin: 7-5, 3-5, Military Bowl
Max: 8-4, 4-4, Fenway Bowl.
Christian: 6-6, 2-6, Military Bowl.
Steve: 7-5, 3-5, Military Bowl
Christian was the only one who got the overall and conference record correct. We all missed on the bowl game and the Orange are probably glad they went to Boca instead of Annapolis.
Offensive MVP
Andy: Oronde Gadsden II
Mike: Oronde Gadsden II
Dom: Garrett Shrader
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Two Georgia receivers join former coach Fran Brown at Syracuse (redandblack; Warden)
Both receivers Jackson Meeks and Zeed Haynes announced their decisions to transfer to the Orange to join Brown — who was hired as their head coach in November.
Meeks announced his decision to join the Orange on Dec. 12 and spent only eight days in the transfer portal. The 6-foot-2 junior had only one catch for 23 yards in a year where he was expected to possibly make a jump in his third season with the Bulldogs.
Meeks finished his Bulldogs career with 132 receiving yards on 10 catches but never reached the end zone as a Bulldog. Meeks did serve a key role on special teams and earned praise from the Bulldog faithful for his role in that aspect.
Meeks was a former three-star prospect from Phenix City, Alabama. He was the 25th-best player from Alabama and the 99th-best receiver in the 2021 class according to 247Sports. Meeks was also rated as the 274th overall transfer prospect and the 50th overall wide receiver in 247Sports’ transfer portal class.
Haynes announced his decision to join the Orange on Dec. 16 and officially only spent four days in the portal. Haynes, who was in his first year with the Bulldogs, left after one season with the team. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound receiver had only one catch for 20 yards in the first game of the season but didn’t see much playing time after.
The Fort Washington, Pennsylvania native was a former four-star prospect in the 2023 class and was rated the 47th-best receiver and fifth-best overall player from Pennsylvania according to 247Sports. Haynes was only a three-star transfer prospect and was the 137th-best player in the class and the 27th-best wide receiver.
While Meeks heads further away from home, Haynes heads a little closer, as both reunite with Brown to possibly kickstart a program. While Meeks seemingly has only his fourth and final year, Haynes could help Brown more than just this season, as he has at least three seasons left of eligibility.
Syracuse didn’t have a single 1,000-yard receiver on the team last season. Junior Damien Alford led the team with 610 yards, while redshirt sophomore Umari Hatcher was second with 482 yards. While neither Meeks nor Haynes have demonstrated an ability to hit those numbers, their addition could be valuable for a unit that underwhelmed in 2023.
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Georgia football’s offensive line transfers commit to new teams (redandblack.com; Warden)
Georgia football’s transfers continue to find new homes and now both offensive linemen that were in the portal have found theirs as well.
Aliou Bah announced on Thursday, Dec. 21 his commitment to Maryland. The 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman was only in the portal nine days before announcing his transfer to the Terrapins.
Bah didn’t see the field much with the Bulldogs in his two years in Athens but served as a third-string backup. Bah played guard primarily in high school with IMG Academy but was a three-star tackle prospect coming out. Bah was the 40th overall tackle prospect and 50th-best player from Tennessee in 2022.
Bah will likely have an opportunity to start quickly with the Terrapins and block for new quarterback and N.C. State transfer MJ Morris. Bah will also be joined by transfers Alan Herron and former Purdue guard Josh Kaltenberger — a signal that Maryland is looking to improve its offensive line. While it’s unclear where Bah will line up, the rising third year could be a key contributor for the Terrapins.
Joshua Miller, one of the younger players in the portal, announced his decision to transfer to Syracuse on Saturday. Miller was only in the portal for three days before reuniting with Georgia’s former secondary coordinator and now Orange head coach Fran Brown.
Miller is coming off of his first year, in which he earned a redshirt designation. As such, the former three-star prospect from Virginia will have at least four years available with the Orange. While Miller could contribute early, he’ll have an opportunity to be a stable piece on the line for the next few seasons.
Miller is the third Bulldog to join Brown at Syracuse, as he joins wide receivers Jackson Meeks and Zeed Haynes. Miller and Haynes will likely both be redshirt freshmen next season, which allows Brown to have two familiar faces for multiple seasons.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Miller will likely play on the inside for Syracuse and will have the task of protecting new quarterback and Ohio State transfer Kyle McCord. It’s unclear when Miller will see the field, but if he does, the rising second-year could be productive.\
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Jayden Bass is no joke! Syracuse football has an absolute dawg! #football #workout #dawgs (youtube; video; Life on the Line)
Jayden Bass is no joke! Syracuse football has an absolute dawg!
Crazy Bench Clearing Cheap Shot...1962 Edition...Syracuse vs Army #shorts (youtube; video; TA Sports)
1960s football was different...case and point this 1962 cheap shot turned bench clearing turned no-big-deal. No ejections, no theatrics, just man smashing heads. Syracuse vs Army, Polo Grounds, Manhattan
ACC News
https://www.si.com/college/georgiat...predictions-for-every-remaining-acc-bowl-game (SI; Caudell)
By this time next week, bowl game season will be over and the only college football game remaining will be the national championship. The ACC has several bowl games coming up over the next couple of days and a chance for several teams to end their season on a high note. Georgia Tech and Duke got big bowl game wins as underdogs and the ACC has a chance to have a good bowl season if things go right this week.
Wednesday, Dec. 27
Virginia Tech (-10.5) vs Tulane (2:00 p.m. ESPN)Brent Pry did a fantastic job of getting Virginia Tech to a bowl game this year after missing one in 2022 and they are big favorites for a reason here. Bowl games can sometimes boil down to availability and Tulane is missing head coach Willie Fritz (left for Houston) and quarterback Michael Pratt (Opt-out). Virginia Tech finished the season playing well and should not have much trouble with a Tulane team missing many of its best players.
Final Score: Virginia Tech 34, Tulane 20
North Carolina vs West Virginia (-6.5) (5:30 p.m. ESPN)
Like the Virginia Tech vs Tulane game, availability is the biggest thing and North Carolina is missing its star players for this one. West Virginia enters this game playing well after many thought they would be the worst team in the Big 12 this year. The Tar Heels still have the talent to win this game, but it will be tough without quarterback Drake Maye. West Virginia wins this one.
Final Score: West Virginia 27, North Carolina 17
Louisville (-7) vs USC (8:00 p.m. Fox)
No Caleb Williams, Brendan Rice, Marshon Lloyd, the list could go on and on for USC. Given their poor defense and the chance they don't show up caring about this game, I think Louisville wins handily.
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Bowl Previews for Thursday, 2023 Dec 28 (RX; HM)
Bowl Previews for Thursday, 2023 Dec 28
Hey, Bahston, weah playin' a football game hyeah!
Thursday, around lunch time on the East Coast, Boston College will essentially host Southern Methodist in the Fenway Bowl.
From the ACC Bowl Week Release:
Thursday, Dec. 28, 11 a.m. on ESPN
No. 24 SMU (11-2) vs. Boston College (6-6)
SMU leads series, 1-0; Last meeting: SMU, 31-29 (1986)Head Coaches:
SMU: .........Rhett Lashlee
(18-8 in second season at SMU; 18-8 in second season overall)
Boston College: ......... Jeff Hafley
(21-26 in fourth season at BC; 21-26 in fourth season overall)
Notes:
• Boston College trails SMU 1-0 in the all-time series, as the Mustangs defeated the Eagles 31-29 in Irving, Texas, on Oct. 4, 1986.
• Boston College will play in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl for the first time.
• The Eagles are bowl-eligible for the first time since 2021 when the Eagles were scheduled to play East Carolina in the 2021 Military Bowl. However, that game was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.
• BC is 14-13 overall in bowl game history, with the Eagles’ last win a 36-30 victory over Maryland at the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl.
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Wednesday Results 2023 Dec 27th (RX; HM)
Wednesday Results 2023 Dec 27th
Military Bowl
Virginia Tech 41, Tulane 20
Tulane vs. Virginia Tech Game Highlights | 2023 ACC Football
__________
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Louisville vs. USC Holiday Bowl Game Highlight | 2023 ACC Football (youtube; video; ACC DN)
Louisville vs. USC: The #15 Cardinals lost to the Trojans, 42-28, in the 2023 Direct TV Holiday Bowl. Playing for Caleb Williams, USC quarterback Miller Moss was incredible for the Trojans. Moss threw for a Holiday Bowl and USC bowl game record six touchdowns. He completed 23 of 33 for 327 yards in his first career start. For Louisville, Isaac Guerendo became the first Cardinals player to rush for over 150 yards and three touchdowns in a bowl game. Guerendo finished the game with 161 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. He was also Louisville's leading receiver with five catches for 42 yards.
Tulane vs. Virginia Tech Game Highlights | 2023 ACC Football (youtube; video; ACC DN)
Tulane vs. Virginia Tech: The Virginia Tech Hokies snapped a 4-bowl game losing streak with their 41-20 win over the Tulane Green Wave in the 2023 Military Bowl presented by GoBowling.com. On a rainy day in Maryland, Kyron Drones, Bhayshul Tuten and crew put up 362 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground and Drones threw for 2 scores in the win. The Hokies' dynamic quarterback ran the ball 20 times for a career-high 176 yards and a touchdown while Tuten racked up 136 yards and 2 scores on just 18 carries. The Tech defense was relentless all day as well, holding the Green Wave offense to just 252 total yards of offense and forcing 3 takeaways as well.
West Virginia vs. North Carolina Game Highlights | 2023 ACC Football (youtube; video; ACC DN)
West Virginia vs. North Carolina: The North Carolina Tar Heels lost a tough one to the West Virginia Mountaineers, 30-10 in the 2023 Duke's Mayo Bowl. Garrett Greene was spectacular for the Mountaineers, racking up 279 total yards and a passing touchdown in the win. UNC quarterback Conner Harrell, filling in for Drake Maye, was impressive in the loss, completing 18-24 passes for 199 yards with a touchdown while running the ball for 46 yards as well.
Dave Hyde: After Florida State’s snub bowl comes its legal game that will shake college football (sun-sentinel.com; $; Hyde)
The normal questions came in the normal way. Everyone played their role. Reporters. Bowl officials. And especially Florida State’s third-string quarterback and offensive coordinator, who will work the Orange Bowl without Seminoles players who produced 94.4 percent of their yards this undefeated season.
“All we got is all we need,’’ said the freshman quarterback, Brock Glenn, delivering the predictable motto of this remaining team.
“They all think they should have been playing all along,’’ offensive coordinator Alex Atkins said of the replacements.
FSU’s starting backfield? Gone. Its top receivers? Gone, too. It’s secondary? One starter left. Mighty Georgia’s roster is intact. Florida State lost 13 starters to the transfer porthole or NFL draft process, collateral damage to the broad outrage and general derision of the College Football Playoffs snubbing its 13-0 team.
Players are the real assets of college football, a reality formed in recent years with players getting paid above the table. Coaches grumble about a capitalist world. Many fans, too. And a school like Florida State plays an empty roster while preparing for a more serious game in court.
That’s its demand to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference. This move will bleed into everything and everyone in college sports, starting with the Miami team that plays a paperweight bowl game Thursday without its quarterback or several top players, too.
There’s a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo in FSU’s attempt to leave the conference. Fiduciary duties. Grant of Rights. FSU’s Board of Trustees sued the ACC. The ACC sued back. But, come on, you know how this movie ends. You’ve seen it play out in other conferences.
Florida State pulled the Jenga piece that eventually will collapse the ACC. It might take a bit. It certainly will take a negotiation. It probably will involve more schools leaving, as whispers have North Carolina, Clemson and Miami watching from the sideline with similar hopes.
The bottom line is the bottom line: Big Ten and Southeastern Conference schools get $70 million a year from their negotiated television deals. Florida State wants some of that compared to the ACC school’s $30 million. That’s not the full math, either.
ACC schools are locked into that deal through 2036 due to some seriously myopic vision from conference officials about the changing state of television. That annual $40 million difference is a yearly shortfall that will affect recruiting, facilities, coaches and, suddenly, players salaries, too.
“Through chronic fiduciary mismanagement and bad faith, the ACC has persistently undermined its members’ revenue opportunities including by locking them into a deteriorating media rights agreement that will soon result in a vast annual financial gap between the ACC and other Power Five conferences,” Florida State wrote in its lawsuit.
Florida State would pay the $130 million exit fee from the ACC in a heartbeat. It’s the added, annual fees it would have to pay that are the sticking point. They could run the tab to over $500 million, as the ACC sees it. FSU’s lawyers see another way out.
FSU saw a moment of opportunity to announce its bold plan. It wrapped a need for greed into the larger anger of the playoff snub, as if had FSU been in an SEC team, it would have been invited to the playoff.
Maybe it’s right, too. Maybe TV ratings demand an SEC power. But FSU’s snub is irrelevant to the lawsuit. The only change if FSU was in the playoff is that its legal fight with the ACC wouldn’t have been announced before the game. Distraction. Bad publicity. Whatever.
As it is, no one’s talking about FSU’s lawsuit this game because so few are talking about the game. What started as the Snub Bowl between the two angry teams left out of the playoffs has devolved into something lesser with Florida State’s vanishing team.
“Unconquered,’’ read the school-issued shirt Atkins wore Wednesday for the Orange Bowl.
That team will remain so, too. This one playing Georgia is full of so many replacements FSU fans might want to look at the bigger, legal game coming.
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Other
Vandals and thieves are wrecking historic Syracuse convent slated for $100 million housing project (PS; $; Moriarty)
An ambitious $100 million plan to turn a former Syracuse convent and college campus into low-income senior housing has become a race to save the historic site from vandals and thieves.
Hoodlums have ripped out light fixtures, doors, banisters, stained glass windows, parts of a church organ, and copper piping and wiring. They’ve smashed countless windows at the North Side site, formerly home to the Sisters of St. Francis convent and later Maria Regina College.
The criminals have taken particular aim at two of the six structures on the site — the convent’s motherhouse, which was designed by famed Syracuse architect Archimedes Russell and built in 1896, and the convent’s chapel, constructed in 1950.
And someone set fire last year to the gym on the first floor of the Franciscan Center, a religious education facility built in 1970, damaging the floor and sending smoke throughout the structure.
The destruction is not threatening to stop redevelopment plans, which would create the largest affordable housing complex in Syracuse in recent memory.
But the damage and deterioration are adding to the project’s costs and could continue for months on an iconic property that is an anchor for the North Side.
A Rochester-based developer has committed to buying and renovating the site. But it’s waiting for approval of much-needed tax breaks from New York, a process that can take months.
In the meantime, the current owner, Mark Congel, owes tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes and fines from the city, in part for not doing enough to stop the vandalism.
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CNY’s best appetizers of 2023: Our food writers pick their favorites (PS; $; Miller)
A starter at any restaurant can set the tone for the entire evening.
Over the past year, our food writers (Jared Paventi, Danielle Benjamin and Charlie Miller) dined at more than 75 restaurants. If those places had a starters list, we dove in. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t. Right?
The following are our favorite appetizers from spots we visited in 2023. Now, don’t get upset if your favorite restaurant is missing from this list. Remember, these are places we wrote about for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. We don’t review every restaurant in Central New York every year.
Steamed soup dumplings: Mr. Noodle & Ms. Dumpling
Steamed pork soup dumplings with crab at Mr. Noodle & Ms. Dumpling in Syracuse. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
Address: 2841 Erie Blvd. E., DeWitt; (315) 883-0088
From Charlie Miller: I figured the dumpling chef here injected fresh pork broth into these 3-inch purses full of meat. I figured wrong. The soup makes itself within the dumpling. The kitchen here grinds its own pork with spices and adds collagen-rich pig skin. This goes into a thin circle of wrapping dough with roughly 2 tablespoons of the meat paste. Each dumpling is pinch-sealed at the top before landing in a bamboo steamer lined with parchment paper. As the dumplings enjoy a 6-minute rest over boiling water, the pork trimmings liquefy into a soft gelatin and blend with the meat to create a savory rich broth sealed inside the pillowy shell. Each order contains six dumplings and is served with a red chili sauce. Whatever you do, don’t stuff an entire soup dumpling into your mouth with chopsticks. You’ll burn the roof of your mouth, and you’ll douse that clean shirt with brown consommé.
Breakfast Poutine: The Daily Diner
Address: 240 W. Seneca St. (in Limestone Plaza), ManliusFrom Charlie Miller: This shareable appetizer is probably meant for the morning after a night at the pub. It has no cheese curds, and this gravy is more suited for biscuits. This mound of carbs and calories is one layer after another of sturdy waffle fries covered with diced bacon (not imitation bacon bits), shredded cheddar-jack cheese and some homemade sausage gravy. The cook repeats that a few times until the mountain reaches about 6 inches before pouring on one last layer of the sausage lava. Because this is a breakfast poutine, they cap this volcano with a few scrambled eggs. Two of us couldn’t finish this before our actual breakfasts entrées arrived.
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