sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to D. B. Cooper Day!
Yes, it’s hard to believe it’s been 39 years, since that epic skydive took place…but..it is.
Yes, D.B. Cooper is quite the man. The FBI remains on the hunt today…can you believe it?
His jump caused a major shift in airline travel comfort, and actually spawned the word: Skyjacking.
Brave soul to exit via the tail ramp at faster than terminal velocity. Worse yet, without being able to spot the pilot to give him a sporting chance of hitting the intended DZ.
To top it off, he did it with a “round.” I suspect it was a C-9 28′ flat circular canopy, which, unless you were pretty light, it would have made for a tough landing, so you needed to be well practiced forPLFs, and tree landings, too. Heck, toss in the fact you may have had to pull off a successful water landing at night, without a few buddies in a boat nearby, and in November in the North West.
Guts…and we still don’t know if he made it, or became worm food that night.
Never fear, the tradition continues: Many years back, the annual World Freefall Convention began bringing in a 727 with the DB Cooper Lock removed, so skydivers could jump the ramp.
SU News
Orange Watch: What Direction Will Syracuse AD Mark Coyle Take with New Coach? (thejuice; Bierman)
Item: Similar to his predecessors Les Dye (Frank Maloney), Jake Crouthamel (Dick MacPherson, Paul Pasqualoni), and Daryl Gross (Greg Robinson, Doug Marrone, Scott Shafer) since Ben Schwartzwalder ended a twenty five year reign in 1973, it will be Mark Coyle who ends up making the recommendation to the chancellor and board of trustees for Shafer’s replacement as the school’s 30th head football coach, and what timing it will be. The fifth person to hold the title since Dec. 2004 will occupy the job at never at a more critical period in Syracuse’s century and a quarter long football history as it seeks to climb from the bottom of the ranks among Power 5 Conference programs, and slowly but surely build back to becoming nationally relevant again.
Let’s face it, if it wasn’t for Sports Illustrated tweeting out the news Monday morning that Shafer and his staff were not going to be retained after the Boston College season finale in the Dome Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET / ACCRSNs/ESPN3), that announcement would have simply been on its way days from now following the B.C. game, instead of the university being forced to officially acknowledge the report with a one paragraph statement from Coyle issued Monday shortly after the original SI tweet:
“I want to thank Scott, his wife Missy, and their family for their seven years of dedication and service to SU Athletics and Syracuse University. Scott has worked tirelessly to educate our students on and off the field and to build our program. However, I feel a change in leadership is needed at this time. A national search will begin immediately.”
Save for having his special assistant, all-time Orange great Floyd Little, get out front to clarify that the department was going to review Shafer’s job status following the season during a Nov. 9 interview with the Syracuse Media Group, this has been the only entrée to Coyle’s thinking on the matter as the brief euphoria of a 3-0 season start spiraled downward to the angst of the current eight game losing streak, and they’re also Coyle’s first public comments since the week of the Rhode Island opener when he reminded one and all to let the season play out saying the upcoming campaign was, “not a sprint, we’re going to play 12 games.”
So, which path does Coyle now pursue? A current head coach or a coordinator? Experienced or an up-and-comer? Offensive-minded or defensive expertise? FBS or FCS? East Coast or West Coast?
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Syracuse vs Boston College: Addazio's Weekly Press Conference (bcinterruption.com; Rubin)
For the final time this year, Coach Addazio met with the media to discuss his thoughts during a game week.
For the full transcript, head on over to the BC Eagles website.
Wrapping up the Notre Dame loss...
As we move forward those are the games that this group of guys will learn how to win. That was a top-four team, a top-end team in college football today, and we played them nose up. It was all three phases at different times. Intensity, effort, how hard our guys played - I'm pretty proud of that.
After going back and watching Saturday's loss, I came out of it feeling pretty good. I didn't think BC would win that game (I said that at the beginning of the season), so I was hoping they would come out, play tough, and show intensity. They did exactly that.
BC faced the #4 team in the nation, a team potentially playing in theCollege Football Playoff. They forced five turnovers and madeDeShone Kizer look like a sophomore quarterback. Offensively, they made plays on the ground, and there was execution we hadn't seen all year. It was a giant step forward, something that hadn't been there all year.
Did it end in victory? No. As BC fell to 3-8, the detractors will once again say that youth and inexperience is just an excuse. But having this memory of this game and knowing what they did? I can't help but think this game will help BC learn how to defeat teams in the future. Against Florida State, they had no idea how to win. Against Notre Dame, they executed but couldn't do enough. In the future, they'll figure out how to take the next step.
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Fans React to Firing of SU Football Coach Scott Shafer (twcnews.com; LaFlore)
In the three seasons Scott Shafer was head coach of the Syracuse University football team, fans say times were challenging.
"The first year was good, last year was very rough," said Simon Myhill, a sophomore at Syracuse University. "This year again started out well and then it was rough. But overall, he brought in more recruits than people anticipated. The program looked like it was going in a positive direction."
Some fans thought Shafer's dismissal was premature, and that he'll never be able to finish what he started.
"I'm kinda shocked," said Matthew Parolin, a Syracuse football fan. "I kinda figured they would give him at least another year."
"If he stayed longer, maybe he would have been able to develop the team," said Myhill. "He was involved in the community, and coming from a community standpoint, everyone is a little sad to see him go."
Fans say Shafer shouldn't be blamed for the team's losing streak.
"We had some injuries," said Parolin. "We had the quarterback go down a couple times for some cheap hits, and it's kind of shocking to see him go."
But some fans say, while they may not agree with it, they understand the athletic director's decision.
"I was not surprised at the loss of the coach," said Brian McLean, a season ticket holder. "You've got a new athletic director, and his future will be judged on the win-loss record of the football team. At the end of the day, football is king on campus."
Fans say whoever the new head coach is, they want the person to have lots of experience, not just as a coach but as a recruiter. The university's athletic department says it has already started the search..
Scott Shafer Fired After 8 Straight Losses (charlotteobserver.com; AP)
Syracuse became the latest school to join in the search for a new coach when Scott Shafer was fired on Monday, two days after the team's eighth straight loss.
Shafer will finish out his third season when the Orange host Boston College on Saturday. He had one more year left on his contract, but too many injuries, too much losing, and too many empty seats at the Carrier Dome sealed his fate.
"I feel a change in leadership is needed at this time," athletic director Mark Coyle said in a statement.
The Orange (3-8, 1-5 ACC) started the season with three wins before the losses began piling up. The latest was 42-29 to North Carolina State on Saturday.
Shafer is the latest of more than a dozen coaches to be either be fired, retire or resign. Among other schools looking or will soon be looking for a new coach are USC, Miami, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.
Coyle, hired as athletic director in June, had not spoken publicly about Shafer's future since issuing a wait-and-see approach before the season. The Orange finished 3-9 last season after a 2-0 start, and Shafer has gone just 2-13 in the ACC the past two years.
Syracuse has been plagued by injuries the past two seasons, especially at quarterback.
Last year, Terrel Hunt started the first five games before suffering a season-ending broken calf bone against Louisville. A senior captain this year, Hunt suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the season opener and again was lost for the season.
Freshman Eric Dungey was then tabbed as the starter, but he suffered a concussion in the third game of the season and has missed three games, including the past two. Junior college walk-on Zach Mahoney, who enrolled at Syracuse last January, has started three times, the first two coming against LSU and Clemson.
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Other
Nick Cannon to DJ at Turning Stone's LAVA Nightclub on Thanksgiving Weekend (PS; Tulloch)
On Saturday, Nov. 28, Nick Cannon will DJ a set at Turning Stone Resort Casino's LAVA Nightclub.
Cannon is an actor, comedian and producer which People Magazine once named among the "top ten most successful young people in Hollywood." He currently hosts "America's Got Talent" on NBC.
Cannon's first television gig was as a stand-up audience warm-up for the Nickelodeon hit show "All That." He made an appearance alongside Will Smith in "Men in Black II" before getting a leading role in the film "Drumline." As a musician and DJ, Cannon has collaborated with Kanye West, Mary J. Blige and Will Smith.
