sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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The annual fundraiser for the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation was held last night. The venue was again Turning Stone Casino. They have a great facility...the event couldn't be anywhere close to as impressive and comfortable if it were held elsewhere.
Syracusefan.com was represented by a number of people, including a table put together by cto that included OrangeVA, BillOrange, tol22, Mr tol22, Bees, Mrs Bees, Jake, Mrs Jake, Cherie, Mr Cherie, newcomer Jurrie and of course cto herself. She showed again that she is a gamer, playing hurt, nursing a bad cut that required stitches on the back of her left thumb. Thanks as always to cto for putting together the table. As always, I want to point out that a) this is a great event for a Syracuse fan, you get a chance to meet and talk to a lot of people associated with the program, a lot of great fans, the food is wonderful, the entertainment is top notch, the facilities are first rate, and best of all, the money raised is for a great cause. If you ever have a chance, please consider going. It is an experience you will not soon forget.
The night started out with a VIP reception in Club 21, named because it is on the top floor of the 21 floor tower that centers the Turning Stone complex. From there, on a clear day, one can see up to 4 counties and 1 lake. It is a pretty view, there was beverages, some adult and there was a lot of food served as well. As for the beverages, I can saw that the ginger ale was of a high quality and fine vintage. It appeared that the adult beverages were similarly distinguished, as many of these were quoffed with joy and contentment.
Here is a break down on the food:
Black bean and corn based salsa served on a crostini
Good crunch on the crostini, which means literally 'little toasts' in Italian. The black bean and corn salsa was pleasant, I believe I tasted a little lemon in there, but there was little or no heat and I would have appreciated some tomato based acid to cut through the relative blandness of this.
Goat cheese and carmelized onion served in mini tartlet shells (that looked like these). This was well done. The goat cheese was not baaaaaaaaaaad, not really tangy or funky. Solid.
Spanakopita
A Greek treat that translates as spinach pie, it is a Popeye favorite and was well received by the hungry masses at TSC. Spanakopita is from the burek family of pastries. It is a savory pastry featuring a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions, egg and Greek seasoning.
επίθ. νοστιμότατος, υπέροχος!
Perhaps the most controversial incident of the night happened next.
Split pea chasers!
Served in small glasses not unlike shot glasses except they had four sides, the glasses were filled with split pea soup and topped with what I believe to have been bacon bits. Split pea soup and I have a kind of mutual respect thing going. We have for years. I like the pea, believe this soup is nutritious and I know many love it. But the color is hard for me to get past. On this day, I got through that, took one for the team and drained that chaser. It was thick, concentrated pea-goodness, maybe too much pea goodness for someone like me, but the bacon bits cut through that thick blanket and made it surprisingly palatable.
Coconut fried shrimp
Deep dried shrimp rolled in a cocunut beer batter, with a mustard based dipping sauce, this was was a major taste treat. One of the people eating these also ate the shrimp tail, explaining to us that crushed shells from sea critters was really good for you. I am not sure about this, didn't try it, and don't intend to try it. Ever. But the shrimp was excellent.
Later, we were herded into the Great Hall for the General Reception. Here you could stand in line and get your picture taken with the team, partake from the open bar (the ginger ale was again solid), gaze at the items up for blind auction, graze on cheese and crackers, pepper strips, blue berries and strawberries, enjoy salami, grapes, and a variety of other fare. I had plain uncooked shrimp with cocktail sauce, which was excellent, and head cheese, which I am told is Hungarian. This cold cut is kind of like bologna, but with some spicy bits and a more jelly like texture, which I found interesting. I learned later than it literally comes from the head of a calf, pig, sheep or cow. Wish I didn't google that.
After a time, we were directed to a large show room, where we sat down to be entertained. JB and Juli handled the awards presentation (David and Rebecca Shiroff, the Metro Mattress Magnates) were honored as 2012 MVPs. Rebecca made a very nice speech. Excellus Blue Cross/Blue Shield was honored as the event's main sponsor (they have been there for JB from the start) and a mother and daughter paid were honored for beating cancer and 'paying it forward' by serving as volunteers helping other cancer victims deal with their illnesses by serving as navigators. Nick Trivelpiece, the youngster battling cancer for years who has become an unofficial mascot for the team, introduced a nice clip on the pay it forward folks. The other major sponsors were all thanked, including cto, and the Carricks were singled out for their contributions, especially Peg. And Jane, the woman who makes it all happen, got some special recognition.
JB did his hosting as ably as he always does, despite suffering from a bad case of plantar fasciitis. This caused his dogs to bark all night long, but he is a gamer and he made it through the night like you might expect him too. Solid.
Around this point, JB introduced the team, making some uncharacteristically nice comments about what they were able to do and how well they battled adversity through a tough season. Juli took some time to praise the team and the staff for overcoming a lot to achieve a great season. She got a little emotional, gave JB a lot of credit for being a rock that everyone leaned on during the hard times. And she thanked God, giving Him all the credit for getting them through hard times.
The entire team attended the event except for the usual absence of players who have left SU early. That means Melo was not there, nor was Dion. Scoop was in Los Angeles this weekend but flew in specifically to attend and will fly back out to LA again this morning. Impressive. He knew it was his last time to hang with SU fans as a player and felt he had to be there for it. In his brief speech, he told the crowd he loved Syracuse and if he could, he would stay at SU forever. Scoop bleeds orange. Of that, there is no doubt. Of course, he might also have come back to spend the night with his girl, SU frosh Jasmine Jordan. Her dad is supposed to have been a big deal at something back in the day.
The team all wore tuxedos and they looked good. No Billy Celuck fashion faux pas issues (he once had a hard time finding black dress shoes to wear with his tux so he took an pair of ripped up old brown winter boots and tried to cover them with black shoe shone paint. It didn't go well, his teammates gleefully pointed out the problem to anyone that would listen and it was a bad night for the big guy from PA.
JB introduced Sean McDonough in a most ungracious manner, Sean playfully insulted JB back and did a very funny 5 minute monologue, mostly a series of insults and slights against JB. The two of them clearly have a good relationship and the banter between them was priceless. Many of the insults are not possible to repeat on a family board. One that Sean leveled at Bill Raftery went as follows: Bill was in Syracuse to do a weeknight game and after it was over, he headed down to Marshall St to have an adult beverage or two. After some time, he drank too much at one establishment and was asked to leave, as the bar could not serve people who were clearly drunk. He promptly left the bar through the front door, went back in through a side door, went to the bar and was again refused service. The bartender told him he would have to leave. So he left through a side door and re-enter a minute later though the front door. When he was rejected service again at the bar, the bartender asked him "How many times do I have to refuse to serve you before you stop coming back?". Bill waited a second and asked the bartender "How many bars do you work at in this damned town?".
JB then did the live auction. He has become very good at this task over the years and again did a bang up job. Sean delivered occasional comic relief from the other side of the stage. After that, Sean introduced the musical entertainment for the evening, the Pointer Sisters. They did, IMHO, a great job covering their hits and were very good live. I was told the 3 people singing these days are a grandmother, her daughter and her daughter. They can still bring it and even got the very lame and uncoordinated goofy people that attended to move around and dance a bit. Solid.
The one on the left has the serious pipes that made things happen...
After that, we were herded into the dining area to have dinner. We started with a nice salad featuring local greens (they looked kind of dandeliony), long blimp shaped stripes of cucumber, some carrot shavings, baby tomatoes of different colors, a small slice of feta cheese and a strange pinkish-reddish colored liquid that cto correctly determined was a raspberry vinaigrette. Well done cto.
The entree for the evening was beef tenderloin, accompanied by 2 grilled jumbo shrimp with a citrus based treatment, a small twice baked potato, 3 spears of asparagus and a nice truffle hollandaise sauce. Good stuff.
For dessert, we got a disk shaped object the approximate shape of a regulation NHL hockey puck. Only instead of being rock hard, ice cold and jet black, this was soft, room temperature and colored a faint pink. It had a thin shell and a egg based filling. Reminded me of the time my mom asked me for help hiding me sister's Easter basket. I ended up taking apart a register for our air based heating system and hiding her basket in it (it was behind a chair). She eventually gave up on finding it, but when I retrieved it, I found that everything in it had melted completely. Ended up giving her my basket and getting stuck with hers (it was my fault). Anyway, that disk tasted like a peep tastes after it has been melted and lost almost all of its sponginess. The program says that it was a velvet chocolate cassis mousse, but to me, it tasted like a melted peep that was partly filled with raspberry jam.
There was a very capable band that played the whole time we waited for, ate and digested in our seats. I believe it was Nic and the Nice Guys. One of those guys does a great Louie Armstrong.
Let's see, what else? Was told JB is a big man of Gbiniije's. It is pronounced Ben-O-J by the way. Recruiting info for basketball or football was not very forthcoming. Autry is apparently showing some serious chops as a recruiter. He has a lot of contacts.
Great evening. Strongly encourage people to attend in the future if they can. It was wonderful to spend time with the crew. Best wishes to all for a great summer. And thanks again to cto for making it all possible.
Syracusefan.com was represented by a number of people, including a table put together by cto that included OrangeVA, BillOrange, tol22, Mr tol22, Bees, Mrs Bees, Jake, Mrs Jake, Cherie, Mr Cherie, newcomer Jurrie and of course cto herself. She showed again that she is a gamer, playing hurt, nursing a bad cut that required stitches on the back of her left thumb. Thanks as always to cto for putting together the table. As always, I want to point out that a) this is a great event for a Syracuse fan, you get a chance to meet and talk to a lot of people associated with the program, a lot of great fans, the food is wonderful, the entertainment is top notch, the facilities are first rate, and best of all, the money raised is for a great cause. If you ever have a chance, please consider going. It is an experience you will not soon forget.
The night started out with a VIP reception in Club 21, named because it is on the top floor of the 21 floor tower that centers the Turning Stone complex. From there, on a clear day, one can see up to 4 counties and 1 lake. It is a pretty view, there was beverages, some adult and there was a lot of food served as well. As for the beverages, I can saw that the ginger ale was of a high quality and fine vintage. It appeared that the adult beverages were similarly distinguished, as many of these were quoffed with joy and contentment.
Here is a break down on the food:
Black bean and corn based salsa served on a crostini
Good crunch on the crostini, which means literally 'little toasts' in Italian. The black bean and corn salsa was pleasant, I believe I tasted a little lemon in there, but there was little or no heat and I would have appreciated some tomato based acid to cut through the relative blandness of this.
Goat cheese and carmelized onion served in mini tartlet shells (that looked like these). This was well done. The goat cheese was not baaaaaaaaaaad, not really tangy or funky. Solid.
Spanakopita
A Greek treat that translates as spinach pie, it is a Popeye favorite and was well received by the hungry masses at TSC. Spanakopita is from the burek family of pastries. It is a savory pastry featuring a filling of chopped spinach, feta cheese, onions, egg and Greek seasoning.
επίθ. νοστιμότατος, υπέροχος!
Perhaps the most controversial incident of the night happened next.
Split pea chasers!
Served in small glasses not unlike shot glasses except they had four sides, the glasses were filled with split pea soup and topped with what I believe to have been bacon bits. Split pea soup and I have a kind of mutual respect thing going. We have for years. I like the pea, believe this soup is nutritious and I know many love it. But the color is hard for me to get past. On this day, I got through that, took one for the team and drained that chaser. It was thick, concentrated pea-goodness, maybe too much pea goodness for someone like me, but the bacon bits cut through that thick blanket and made it surprisingly palatable.
Coconut fried shrimp
Deep dried shrimp rolled in a cocunut beer batter, with a mustard based dipping sauce, this was was a major taste treat. One of the people eating these also ate the shrimp tail, explaining to us that crushed shells from sea critters was really good for you. I am not sure about this, didn't try it, and don't intend to try it. Ever. But the shrimp was excellent.
Later, we were herded into the Great Hall for the General Reception. Here you could stand in line and get your picture taken with the team, partake from the open bar (the ginger ale was again solid), gaze at the items up for blind auction, graze on cheese and crackers, pepper strips, blue berries and strawberries, enjoy salami, grapes, and a variety of other fare. I had plain uncooked shrimp with cocktail sauce, which was excellent, and head cheese, which I am told is Hungarian. This cold cut is kind of like bologna, but with some spicy bits and a more jelly like texture, which I found interesting. I learned later than it literally comes from the head of a calf, pig, sheep or cow. Wish I didn't google that.
After a time, we were directed to a large show room, where we sat down to be entertained. JB and Juli handled the awards presentation (David and Rebecca Shiroff, the Metro Mattress Magnates) were honored as 2012 MVPs. Rebecca made a very nice speech. Excellus Blue Cross/Blue Shield was honored as the event's main sponsor (they have been there for JB from the start) and a mother and daughter paid were honored for beating cancer and 'paying it forward' by serving as volunteers helping other cancer victims deal with their illnesses by serving as navigators. Nick Trivelpiece, the youngster battling cancer for years who has become an unofficial mascot for the team, introduced a nice clip on the pay it forward folks. The other major sponsors were all thanked, including cto, and the Carricks were singled out for their contributions, especially Peg. And Jane, the woman who makes it all happen, got some special recognition.
JB did his hosting as ably as he always does, despite suffering from a bad case of plantar fasciitis. This caused his dogs to bark all night long, but he is a gamer and he made it through the night like you might expect him too. Solid.
Around this point, JB introduced the team, making some uncharacteristically nice comments about what they were able to do and how well they battled adversity through a tough season. Juli took some time to praise the team and the staff for overcoming a lot to achieve a great season. She got a little emotional, gave JB a lot of credit for being a rock that everyone leaned on during the hard times. And she thanked God, giving Him all the credit for getting them through hard times.
The entire team attended the event except for the usual absence of players who have left SU early. That means Melo was not there, nor was Dion. Scoop was in Los Angeles this weekend but flew in specifically to attend and will fly back out to LA again this morning. Impressive. He knew it was his last time to hang with SU fans as a player and felt he had to be there for it. In his brief speech, he told the crowd he loved Syracuse and if he could, he would stay at SU forever. Scoop bleeds orange. Of that, there is no doubt. Of course, he might also have come back to spend the night with his girl, SU frosh Jasmine Jordan. Her dad is supposed to have been a big deal at something back in the day.
The team all wore tuxedos and they looked good. No Billy Celuck fashion faux pas issues (he once had a hard time finding black dress shoes to wear with his tux so he took an pair of ripped up old brown winter boots and tried to cover them with black shoe shone paint. It didn't go well, his teammates gleefully pointed out the problem to anyone that would listen and it was a bad night for the big guy from PA.
JB introduced Sean McDonough in a most ungracious manner, Sean playfully insulted JB back and did a very funny 5 minute monologue, mostly a series of insults and slights against JB. The two of them clearly have a good relationship and the banter between them was priceless. Many of the insults are not possible to repeat on a family board. One that Sean leveled at Bill Raftery went as follows: Bill was in Syracuse to do a weeknight game and after it was over, he headed down to Marshall St to have an adult beverage or two. After some time, he drank too much at one establishment and was asked to leave, as the bar could not serve people who were clearly drunk. He promptly left the bar through the front door, went back in through a side door, went to the bar and was again refused service. The bartender told him he would have to leave. So he left through a side door and re-enter a minute later though the front door. When he was rejected service again at the bar, the bartender asked him "How many times do I have to refuse to serve you before you stop coming back?". Bill waited a second and asked the bartender "How many bars do you work at in this damned town?".
JB then did the live auction. He has become very good at this task over the years and again did a bang up job. Sean delivered occasional comic relief from the other side of the stage. After that, Sean introduced the musical entertainment for the evening, the Pointer Sisters. They did, IMHO, a great job covering their hits and were very good live. I was told the 3 people singing these days are a grandmother, her daughter and her daughter. They can still bring it and even got the very lame and uncoordinated goofy people that attended to move around and dance a bit. Solid.
The one on the left has the serious pipes that made things happen...
After that, we were herded into the dining area to have dinner. We started with a nice salad featuring local greens (they looked kind of dandeliony), long blimp shaped stripes of cucumber, some carrot shavings, baby tomatoes of different colors, a small slice of feta cheese and a strange pinkish-reddish colored liquid that cto correctly determined was a raspberry vinaigrette. Well done cto.
The entree for the evening was beef tenderloin, accompanied by 2 grilled jumbo shrimp with a citrus based treatment, a small twice baked potato, 3 spears of asparagus and a nice truffle hollandaise sauce. Good stuff.
For dessert, we got a disk shaped object the approximate shape of a regulation NHL hockey puck. Only instead of being rock hard, ice cold and jet black, this was soft, room temperature and colored a faint pink. It had a thin shell and a egg based filling. Reminded me of the time my mom asked me for help hiding me sister's Easter basket. I ended up taking apart a register for our air based heating system and hiding her basket in it (it was behind a chair). She eventually gave up on finding it, but when I retrieved it, I found that everything in it had melted completely. Ended up giving her my basket and getting stuck with hers (it was my fault). Anyway, that disk tasted like a peep tastes after it has been melted and lost almost all of its sponginess. The program says that it was a velvet chocolate cassis mousse, but to me, it tasted like a melted peep that was partly filled with raspberry jam.
There was a very capable band that played the whole time we waited for, ate and digested in our seats. I believe it was Nic and the Nice Guys. One of those guys does a great Louie Armstrong.
Let's see, what else? Was told JB is a big man of Gbiniije's. It is pronounced Ben-O-J by the way. Recruiting info for basketball or football was not very forthcoming. Autry is apparently showing some serious chops as a recruiter. He has a lot of contacts.
Great evening. Strongly encourage people to attend in the future if they can. It was wonderful to spend time with the crew. Best wishes to all for a great summer. And thanks again to cto for making it all possible.
