"Get A Life"...1999 | Syracusefan.com

"Get A Life"...1999

A moment in time that I hope nobody ever forgets.

Talk about clueless.

I think the SUAD would have been much better served if Buzz Shaw & Jake Crouthamel would have left 10 years before they did.

I know they both did a lot of good, but towards the end it was painfully obvious nothing was moving forward and excuses were being made left and right.

Feel the same way about JB at this point in time, unfortunately, though he has earned the right to do whatever he wants. Doesn't make it any easier to take at times, though.
 
That quote, while being extremely inflammatory to the fan base, was taken out of context. If you read the entire quote, given it’s context at the time, was not unreasonable.

But it was a headline writer’s wet dream.
 
Jake said:
That quote, while being extremely inflammatory to the fan base, was taken out of context. If you read the entire quote, given it’s context at the time, was not unreasonable.

But it was a headline writer’s wet dream.
Expand...

He was speaking to me.

Everyone else thought he was speaking to them.
 
Man - this entire time I thought we were talking about this, and I'm like that was way before 1999

1574773060667.png
 
Jake said:
That quote, while being extremely inflammatory to the fan base, was taken out of context. If you read the entire quote, given it’s context at the time, was not unreasonable.

But it was a headline writer’s wet dream.
Expand...

I judge people on there actions not their words. I could careless about the get a life comment. I care that after building the Dome SU went on cruise control for 3 decades and we have paid the price as fans of this program. It has been a painful 20 years of getting donkey kicked in the nads because of Shaw’s leadership and we are still climbing out of the massive crater he left us in.
 
PAcuse said:
www.sun-sentinel.com

Top South Florida News, Sports, Weather and Entertainment - South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The latest headlines and information from Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties including breaking news, weather, traffic, events, sports and more.
www.sun-sentinel.com www.sun-sentinel.com
Expand...

Nice find.

On one hand it's amazing that that could've happened under 365 days after SU was playing Miami for the Big East title at the Dome. Totally unreasonable of the fanbase. Shaw was right.

On the other, I'd forgotten that the first Rutgers loss and 62-0 and the close BC loss after the Sadie's Place stabbing all happened in the same year. It really felt like an all-time low point at the time. Little did we know...
 
OttoMets said:
Nice find.

On one hand it's amazing that that could've happened under 365 days after SU was playing Miami for the Big East title at the Dome. Totally unreasonable of the fanbase. Shaw was right.

On the other, I'd forgotten that the first Rutgers loss and 62-0 and the close BC loss after the Sadie's Place stabbing all happened in the same year. It really felt like an all-time low point at the time. Little did we know...
Expand...

To expand on this a little, I think we look back and see that the slide had begun. But on this date in 1999, SU was rebuilding after losing their best offensive skill players but was bowl-bound, 6-4, and had lost to #6 and #4. Their coach was 64-28 (0.700). And people wanted to fire him.

Again, Shaw was right.
 
Wasn't this at the same time they changed Orangemen to just Orange, then they spray painted "men" out of Orangemen?
 
OttoMets said:
To expand on this a little, I think we look back and see that the slide had begun. But on this date in 1999, SU was rebuilding after losing their best offensive skill players but was bowl-bound, 6-4, and had lost to #6 and #4. Their coach was 64-28 (0.700). And people wanted to fire him.

Again, Shaw was right.
Expand...
Some greater context is needed here. Looking at this from today's lens of where the program is then, yes, it looks as you note. But looking at it from the context of where the program was then and couldve been, on the cusp of really great things, then no he was wrong and they should've made a move sooner as the past history of what happened did show (ultimately, as a truly historic and exceptional player in Freeney created an aberrant year before the permanent slide), and as noted elsewhere they then made the worst hire in history.

Today I'd clamor for the success P had and would be silent and/or supportive like now with DB, but not then. Unfortunately the window of opportunity was lost, likely forever. With the right coach and an administration that was proactive vs. reactive re facilities oh what could've been. And Re Shaw he was wrong then to say what he said despite the somewhat accurate overall context. Bad Pr move, bad business decision to use that language.
 
Last edited:
billorange44 said:
Wasn't this at the same time they changed Orangemen to just Orange, then they spray painted "men" out of Orangemen?
Expand...

We were scheduled for a complete turf replacement in a few years. Didn't make sense to buy 1-2 new rolls of turf just to change one end zone for a few seasons.

EndZone.gif
 
Cuseregular said:
Some greater context is needed here. Looking at this from today's lens of where the program is then, yes, it looks as you note. But looking at it from the context of where the program was then and couldve been, on the cusp of really great things, then no he was wrong and they should've made a move sooner and as noted elsewhere they then made the worst hire in history.

Today I'd clamor and shut up for the success P had, but not then. Unfortunately the window of opportunity was lost, likely forever. But Re Shaw he was wrong then to say what he said despite the somewhat accurate overall context. Bad Pr move, bad business decision to use that language
Expand...

In addition to the funding situation, my chief gripe is that they blew it with quarterback with the personnel they already had. The platoon thing was ridiculous. There's a reason nobody platoons the quarterback position.

Madei Williams might not have been McNabb, but I think that could've been a 2 or 3 loss team with him full-time. Michigan was right there for the taking (in spite of Nunes and the crazy safety), as were BC and Rutgers.
 
OrangeXtreme said:
We were scheduled for a complete turf replacement in a few years. Didn't make sense to buy 1-2 new rolls of turf just to change one end zone for a few seasons.

View attachment 173372
Expand...

Wow, I remember that end zone look...so tacky. I believe, if I recall correctly, it was Jake back then also stating how they couldn't install the up & coming rage at the time (Field Turf) due to the Dome's specific logistics, or along those lines. Just another myopic view from the athletic department at the time. :)
 
orangecuse said:
Wow, I remember that end zone look...so tacky. I believe, if I recall correctly, it was Jake back then also stating how they couldn't install the up & coming rage at the time (Field Turf) due to the Dome's specific logistics, or along those lines. Just another myopic view from the athletic department at the time. :)
Expand...

Installing Field Turf meant purchasing all those plastic trays that get placed down over the turf during basketball season.

Jake did all the research on the tray system, but didn't have the money in the budget (and Shaw wouldn't give him the money).

Chancy Nancy opened up the checkbook when she arrived, and the Field Turf came in 2005.
 
OrangeXtreme said:
Installing Field Turf meant purchasing all those plastic trays that get placed down over the turf during basketball season.

Jake did all the research on the tray system, but didn't have the money in the budget (and Shaw wouldn't give him the money).

Chancy Nancy opened up the checkbook when she arrived, and the Field Turf came in 2005.
Expand...
I think Jake also did not want to give up the indoor track in the dome. People don't care for him, but it was AD Gross who pulled the trigger on the turf upgrade.
 
LeMoyneCuse said:
I've never heard of this or don't remember it. What's the story?
Expand...

I think it was right before the BC game, a bunch of players went out to a bar in the hood (like West Onondaga Street/South Ave -ish, IIRC) for who knows what reason and bad things ensued. A few players (David Byrd was one of them, I think, and a couple more names we'd recognize but that I've forgotten) got stabbed. Pretty scary situation.
 
I always felt that a challenge for Pasqualoni was that because his personality was so... non-existent... the community couldn't connect with him. He wasn't engaging, he wasn't a marketer, he didn't sell a vision, so all he had going for him to garner support was winning.

And while it wasn't entirely fair -- given our difficult schedule and perennial depth issues -- people felt that the McNabb years were ultimately a wee bit disappointing. We won lots of big games, 3 conference titles, and made two New Year's bowls... but we never cracked the top 15, or even got out of September without a loss, in those 4 years. Maybe it was delusional to think we could have competed for a national title, but I certainly did, and I wasn't alone.

So when McNabb left, with some degree of program potential unfulfilled, and the '99 team stumbled late in the season with a silly QB musical chairs game being played out, people were disgruntled. Coach P didn't have a personality-driven reservoir of goodwill built up to help him weather it (which we are seeing Dino draw upon as we speak, incidentally).

This is not to say that the 'get a life' comment wasn't dumb. It was. However, I also think it became a Rorschach Test about how people felt connected to SU. Seemed like a loft of folks used it as an excuse to stop supporting the school for a long time -- and I think many those people were looking for any excuse to do that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

BillSU
    • Like
My Reply to Rob Konrad
Replies
9
Views
2K
JKinPhilly
JKinPhilly
Biaxtar
    • Like
Spring and Summer Offered Prospects Visit List
2 3
Replies
62
Views
8K
CuseLegacy
CuseLegacy
O
    • Like
    • Love
ACC coach of the year
Replies
22
Views
2K
MikeSU02
MikeSU02

Forum statistics

Threads
167,872
Messages
4,734,191
Members
5,930
Latest member
CuseGuy44

Share this page

Online statistics

Members online
108
Guests online
1,639
Total visitors
1,747
Totals may include hidden visitors.


Top Bottom