Ideas for a Dome trademark entrance

[JEF44]

Here's an idea show up on time!

 

[FrancoPizza]

In a twist of the Spanish tradition, we have the running of the oranges... select 44 students in a random lottery for this pregame ritual. Not sure where to do this though - maybe down the steps?

 

[FrancoPizza]

We are the only indoor college football stadium in the country. It would be awesome if they could turn the lights down and make a cool entrance with orange fog and lighting effects.

You mean you don't like the party city fog machines we currently use?

 

[SWC75]

Firstly, it's time to get an orange field. it will contrast with out uniforms which are anything but.

Then bring back the #44 jersey. Give it to the outstanding senior on the team.

Project images of great plays by great players all over the field and have the team charge out over the images, led by the guy wearing 44.

 

[Czar]

Given it's a Dome, have a non essential field access door, have heavy chains and a massive padlock ready. After the players get in, have a captain or whoever simulate "locking" the other team in the dome.

Easy, simple.

 

[Toga]

Every player gets to cold co*k Otto prior to the national anthem.

 

[cuse309]

Perhaps Dino should ride in on a donkey with the players laying down palm leaves at his feet, while everyone chants, "Hosana!Hosana!"
After all, he is the savior.

 

[CuseLegacy]

Most often they don't just happen.

For example the SU BB "stand and clap till we score" tradition was a direct rip off of the same tradition seen by Coach Boeheim's team one year earlier at New Mexico.

We had many traditions in football most of which have been discarded year after year.

We can start bringing them back by re-introducing the Saltine Warrior fight song, the name Orangemen, the TD Bell and the traditional uniforms.

Sorry but the Saltine Warrior is no more, he is dead and buried in Walnut Park. It really is time to move on from any thoughts of bringing him back. Instead we should all embrace Otto...he is our mascot.

 

[CuseLegacy]

I think we should add some orange tinted lighting. With the lighting company in Syracuse and a roof, we should be able to do something cool. Maybe transpose some images on the field like they do for hockey and basketball games in pro arenas. That would be a start.

..

Maybe these guys could handle that.

Why Vikings Fans will love U.S. Bank Stadium's LED Lights

 

[SmilinBob]

I think simply filling the Dome with fans would be #1. That would be the best gift we could give DB and his staff. To me, the rest looks foolish and embarrassing with a 3/5 full or less dome.

 

[sutomcat]

..

Maybe these guys could handle that.

Why Vikings Fans will love U.S. Bank Stadium's LED Lights

One would hope that with the company being local, they would be involved and maybe go the extra yard now and in the future to keep the facility state of the art.

They have been talking together for some time and my understanding is that this will happen.

 

[DoubleDee]

Sorry but the Saltine Warrior is no more, he is dead and buried in Walnut Park. It really is time to move on from any thoughts of bringing him back. Instead we should all embrace Otto...he is our mascot.

Nothing makes me cringe more than picking up some cool hat in a store that I think I'd like to buy and finding "pre school" Otto on it. I don't dislike Otto as a rule, but that one drives me nuts.

I have a few apparel items of old school saltine warrior. My hat in particular gets me a lot of compliments, even from younger generations. Things like "where'd you get that hat?" Because people think it's wicked cool. I'm often shocked at the support our current mascot gets. I think a lot of people who were around for the saltine warrior will always just feel as though Otto is second fiddle. I certainly support Otto but for me he needs a redesign. Like maybe some face paint and a head dress.

 

[Townie72]

We have tried to build some "traditions" when the Dome opened up.

Remember the guy dressed up like the Roman legionnaire? Then there was the Dome Ranger. Then we got Otto, a giant fuzz-ball based on the fruit. That's what we are stuck with, I guess.

We have tried, but I guess we aren't very good at it.

The Saltine Warrior was the tradition and it was a great one. But it's gone now and never coming back, killed by political correctness.

But what the connection is between SU and Indians is lost on me. Sure, the school sits in Onandaga County and there were and still are Native Americans that live close to the school. But beyond that ...?

 

[Cadillac]

In 1978 members of a Native American student organization headed a protest against using the Saltine Warrior as an athletic mascot. Onondagan Chief Oren Lyons, a 1958 alumnus and former SU lacrosse star, explained that it's "all in the presentation...The thing that offended me when I was there was that guy running around like a nut. That's derogatory" (Daily Orange, March 23, 1976). The Saltine Warrior was subsequently "sidelined" and a contest for a successor ensued (Daily Orange, February 12, 1978).

Let's embrace our history, change the 'presentation' to represent the proud, brave history of the natives to cny. Bring back the Saltine Warrior!!!

Like Townie alluded to, it would be the strangest, most confusing thing to anyone who isn't a Syracuse historian.

The explanation it would require, this isn't exactly a guy in warpaint on a horse with a flaming spear.

Isn't the goal national relevance?

We have a Dome and the Best Player Ever, which isn't even challenged. Let's start there.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

But what the connection is between SU and Indians is lost on me. Sure, the school sits in Onandaga County and there were and still are Native Americans that live close to the school. But beyond that ...?

It was all a hoax:

The Saltine Warrior, an Indian figure named Big Chief Bill Orange, was born in a hoax published in The Syracuse Orange Peel, October 1931. The remains of this 16th century Onondagan chief were supposedly found in the excavations near Steele Hall, the relocation site for the women's gymnasium in 1928. In the mid-1950's, the father of a Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity brother owned a cheerleading camp. He made a Saltine Warrior costume for his son to wear at SU football games. Thus began a nearly forty-year tradition of Lambda Chi brothers serving as SU's mascot.

Syracuse University Archives: Exhibits - Spirit of Tradition: Athletic Traditions and Mascots

 

[NKR1978]

Aside from the entrance, I think it's more important to make each game in the Dome sound like "Syracuse." I don't know what that means necessarily, but I know Florida's band plays the same few chords after big plays or first downs. FSU you can watch with your eyes closed and know immediate that they're on.

The band needs to play more. After first downs and big defensive plays the band needs to play a few bars of the same song. Third and fourth down on D they need to play the same bars of a different song. Do it over and over, season after season and eventually it will sound like Syracuse.

 

[Townie72]

Like Townie alluded to, it would be the strangest, most confusing thing to anyone who isn't a Syracuse historian.

The explanation it would require, this isn't exactly a guy in warpaint on a horse with a flaming spear.

Isn't the goal national relevance?

We have a Dome and the Best Player Ever, which isn't even challenged. Let's start there.

You know, Cadillac, that ain't a half bad idea.

What if we were to come up with a physical manifestation of that history?

Just brainstorming, but supposed we had the team led out by students dressed as Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Jim Nance, Larry Csonka and Floyd Little in the uniforms they wore. Or it could be just the great 44's. Or a Sadat-Singh guy?

Or it could be something else that would ties back so that they players and fans would realize that they are all part of something older and bigger.

The Saltine Warrior would do that, but that ain't gonna happen. Unless we could have the Onandaga graduates design a costume and develop guidelines for behavior.

 

[oldpinepoint]

Aside from the entrance, I think it's more important to make each game in the Dome sound like "Syracuse." I don't know what that means necessarily, but I know Florida's band plays the same few chords after big plays or first downs. FSU you can watch with your eyes closed and know immediate that they're on.

The band needs to play more. After first downs and big defensive plays the band needs to play a few bars of the same song. Third and fourth down on D they need to play the same bars of a different song. Do it over and over, season after season and eventually it will sound like Syracuse.

We need a bigger, better band with fresh ideas

 

[Orangefizz]

Firstly, it's time to get an orange field. it will contrast with out uniforms which are anything but.

Then bring back the #44 jersey. Give it to the outstanding senior on the team.

Project images of great plays by great players all over the field and have the team charge out over the images, led by the guy wearing 44.

Love the idea of an orange field, thought it was possible w Coyle since he came from Boise. Hope AD Wildhack sees the potential for SU to advance its national awareness this way. #Fastestteamonorangeturf

 

[Cuse'91]

Can we make it snow indoors? Maybe as the team comes through the tunnel onto the field...

 

[SWC75]

OrangePA wasn't advocating that the Saltine Warrior mascot come back. he just likes the old fight song better than Down Down the Field:

It starts at 1:27 here:
It was played over SU highlights when I was growing up more than "Down Down the Field". I actually like both tunes but I like The Saltine Warrior a little better and it means more to me nostalgically. It would probably mean nothing to younger fans but it would still be fun to hear SUMBA play it from time to time.

By the way, it's not a reference to native Americans as the lyrics to the song show:

the saltine warrior

In the days of old, when knights were bold
Every city had its warrior man.
In the days of new, when fights are few
You will view them from a big grandstand.
In our college town one has great renown
If the game of football he should play.
With his pig-skin ball he is cheered by all,
He's the Saltine Warrior of today.
Chorus: The Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And his weapon is a pigskin ball,
When on the field he takes a good, firm stand,
He's the hero of large and small.
He will rush toward the goal with might and main
His opponents all fight, but they fight in vain,
Because the Saltine Warrior is a bold, bad man,
And victorious over all.

It's about Achilles-type Warriors, not the Haudenosaunee.

Take a look at the more politically correct "Down Down the Field":

down, down the field

Out upon the gridiron stand old Syracuse,
Warriors clad in orange and in blue,
Fighting for the fame of Alma Mater.
Soon those Crouse chimes will be ringing,
Soon you'll hear those fellows singing.
Onondaga's braves are out to win today,
The sons of Syracuse are ready for the fray,
The line holds like a wall and now the Orange has the ball,
So ready for that old long yell. Rah! Rah! Rah!
Chorus: Down, Down the field goes old Syracuse,
Just see those backs hit the line and go thro';
Down, down the field they go marching,
Fighting for the Orange staunch and true.
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Vict'y's in sight for old Syr-a-cuse,
Each loyal son knows she ne'er more will lose,
For we'll fight, yes, we'll fight, and with all our might
For the glory of old Syracuse.

Yes, when SUMBA marches down the field playing our fight song, they are playing the one that refers to Native Americans!

 

[OrangeDW]

Bring back the tomahawk chop before kickoffs, and the "amen" song towards the end of basketball wins.

 

[Phenomenon]

The lights in the stadium go out. Happy Otto shows up on the big screen. He's in the dressing room making sure he's ready to go.

Hair right? Check
No food between teeth? Good
Breath ok? Yes

Then a single spotlight shines on the Clemson Tiger mascot, who's waltzing around in the end zone. Otto's head perks up. Somethings not right. He sniffs the air. Yes, something is definitely off. He stands up. Another sniff. His body stiffens. His hair stands up on end. He recognizes the scent.* In a rage, he flips over the dressing room table and storms out of the room, running straight through the door, leaving an Otto shaped hole into it.

<Big screen goes dark. Attention then returns to the Tiger mascot in the end zone, who has been acting rather flamboyantly in the meantime>

The Tiger suddenly becomes tense. He darts to the left. Stops and looks around. Darts to the right. A second spotlight shines down to the entrance tunnel. Smoke is coming out of it. The Tiger is scared. He knows he should run, but he is frozen in fear. There's a morbid curiosity in him that he must satisfy. He drifts closer to the tunnel. Suddenly, Angry Otto bursts out of there in a dead sprint, straight towards the Tiger. The Tiger flees, with Angry Otto in heated pursuit, closing fast. The Tiger is getting up to speed but Otto is already running fast. Too fast. It's inevitable. Otto makes the final fatal pounce, bringing down his victim at midfield.

The Dome goes black.

What has happened? Why did the lights go out? What was the fate of the poor little Tiger?

After five seconds, the lights come back on. The Tiger's corpse lies at midfield, eviscerated with his bowels strewn across the ground. Otto stands over his prey, holding his victim's heart in the air. Then, taking a page from Kevin Costner, he bites into the heart, causing blood to pour down his chin. Just then, the lights come on to catch Dabo running back to the locker room to change his pants.

*Optional: Otto grabs a syringe of roids and injects it into his backside before storming out of the room.

 

[Trueblue25]

 

[Orangejet]

We need a bigger, better band with fresh ideas

Agree that the band needs to get bigger and better for I have always thought that the Cuse band is among the worse in college football. Nothing against the band members but change is needed along with new songs/fresh ideas as stated above.