sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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As noted by a number of earlier reports, last night the 16th Basket Ball was held at Turning Stone.
I attended as a guest of a mysterious benefactor (okay, maybe not so mysterious, thanks you again cto). What follows is my report on this event.
cto sponsors a special VIP reception that occurs before the 'normal' reception that marks the start of the event for most people. Here one can hobnob with the rich and famous, enjoy some delicious hors d'oeuvres and the hospitality of a well stocked open bar. Yes, of course I did, yes, they did have Schwepes and yes, it was an excellent vintage.
The best hors d'oeuvre was, IMHO, the old staple, bacon wrapped scallops. The weakest was probably the deep fried pasta, maybe cavatelli? Whatever it was, not enough a massive dollop of marinara sauce could rescue it. The buffalo wing tacos were good, which kind of shocked me. I passed on the optional fresh jalapeno slices as my supply of ginger ale was not unlimited.
The dish presented to my group as 'cuban cigars' were actually mini deep fried egg rolls filled with cuban sandwich fixings; ham, pickle and some kind of cheese. They weren't bad. The skewed cherry tomato/fresh mozzarella were pretty nice. The big surprise of the night was the lack of tempura dipped scrimp with coconut, which have been around longer than the NCAA investigation. Both are gone. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe not.
There was also the usual assortment of crackers and cheese, cut up vegetables and fruit to enjoy. And a substance that I was unable to make a 100% positive identification on but that I suspect were simply deep fried little triangles of dough. Oh my. I passed on the chance to have my first brie experience for the 16th time at this event, and believe I am a good bet to keep doing this indefinitely. I don't have anything against brie but I just don't trust it. But let's change the subject. No one likes to talk about brie for very long, except for the insufferable brie producers, and we certainly don't want to put the spotlight on them any longer than is absolutely necessary.
While it was a tough year in many respects, it was great to see the syracusefan.com people that made it to the cto reception. Great to see other syracusefan.com people at the general reception that followed. Great to see so many familiar faces of the many great SU fans who come to this event year after year.
Back to the general reception. cto introduction my crew to Devo, who as she says, appears to have effected a rather amazing chance in his general appearance, demeanor and behavior and now looks to be a normal contributing member of society. Someday, he just might drive a minivan and coach a youth soccer team. All I can think is that New Zealand must be the ultimate place for a 'scared straight' experience.
You can peruse a wide variety of cool blind auction items at this time, admire the annual J&J ice sculpture or stand in line and get a picture taken with the team (not a great deal of enthusiasm from the players during this experience except when a wait staff member dropped something that resulted in a series of extremely loud crashing sounds (like they dropped the 1st and 2nd string offensive line of SU from a height of 45 feet). That got them smiling and exchanging high fives. The usual finger foods and hors d'oeuvres were available again as well, as was another open bar. Yup, I did, yes, it was still Schwepes and yes, it was still solid.
Not long after this, we were herded not unlike cattle to the Event Center for awards and live auction part of the evening (my personal favorite part). Everyone takes a seat and things start out with Jim and Juli taking the stage. Juli dominated the speaking, which is kind of unusual, and gave a heart felt and emotional review of the past few months, which have been tough for all SU fans but were especially tough for her, as she lost her mom in the fall and is close to losing her dad now as well. She defended JB and expressed great pain and sadness regarding the NCAA's unprecedented penalties against her husband. JB largely avoided the subject, whichis probably wise given the appeals currently being pursued.
JB introduced Bob Costas shortly afterwards. Not sure everyone knows but Dan Dakich was supposed to be the guest emcee and he apparently pulled out 2 weeks before the event because he realized it conflicted with his daughter's HS prom. Props to Bob, who apparently reworked his schedule and pulled a number of strings to make himself available for this event. He did a great job with his short remarks, giving his usual eloquent and thoughtful take on things. It turns out his father died about the time he was graduating from HS. Good man but a bad gambler who left the family with nothing. A friend of his father's went to bat for the family however and came up with $6K in 'uncollected winnings' that ended up playing a key role in Bob being able to come to Syracuse and fulfill his great potential. Amazing how many of SU's best alums ended up there based on an unlikely, unexpected almost random event or two.
Bob's best line of the night was early on, shortly after he was introduced by JB, who intimated that Bob was getting up in years and must be nearing retirement. Bob paused a second, agreed with JB and told him he was going to retire in 3 more years, echoing JB's recent public airing of his retirement date. That even got a brief smile and laugh from JB, which is about as common as an albino tiger. His second best line was talking about a meeting he had early in his NBC career with Don Ohlmyer, the head of NBC Sports. Don praised him for doing a good job. told him he looked too young and asked him how much older he would look with a beard. Bob told him 5 years older. Not because the beard would make him look 5 years older but because it would take him 5 years to grow a beard!
Anyway, props to Bob, who was also great helping JB with the live auction (JB continues to be a master of this) and was also extremely gracious talking to fans and posing for pictures afterwards. Props to Neil Gold, who seemed to win most of the things that JB put up for bid and broke the heart of young Todd in the front row repeatedly. outbidding him for things at the last minute. Lots of other SU fans were also extremely generous bidding and I am sure that as a result of this, J and J met their goals for cash raised. Rakeem was a good sport when his bowtie was raffled off and as Bees mentioned, much respect goes out to Rak for flying back from Vegas and his NBA prep work just for the ball, and to BJ, Buss and CMac for showing up even though they won't be part of the team next year. JB praised them all for these things and was greatly very grateful for their support. Many players who have announced they are not returning do not show for this event. Among the live auction items that were bid on: an away game on the team carter for two, 2 season tickets for SU mens basketball for the 2015-16 season, including a parking pass, a trip for two to the Final Four in Houston, dinner for 10-12 with the Legends of SU Basketball at Prime Steakhouse, a trip for two to the Battle 4 Atlantis (Paradise Island, the Bahamas), courtside seats for 4 for one game/Melo Center tour and a NY Yankees trip for 2. And some bow ties (see above).
I promised to mention that the air conditioning was a little too high and a number of people became uncomfortably cold during the event. Especially women wearing dresses with no sleeves and no back. I don't know how Juli did not turn blue (though come to think of it, she WAS blue for large parts of the evening. Was it the lighting or the cold? We will probably never know.
One of the big award winner was Mary Nelson, who made a wonderful speech praising the Boeheims for their kindness and support over the years. Mary runs a support center for under privledged youth and has done many wonderful things for the poor in Syracuse. One of the kids she has helped came up and talked and showed a great deal of poise and intelligence during her short speech.
The other big winners were Karen and Michael Rubenstein, the owner's of the famous SU apparel store Manny's on Marshall St. They have done a great deal to support the local coummunity and the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation.
Dinner was served in the room next store. It included a mixed green salad, a grilled beed tenderloin with pan seared crab cake, smashed potatoes, prosciutto wrapped asparagus and a lovely, very chocolatey terrine with a salted caramel mousse and a solid malt sauce.
This is a great event. If you have an opportunity to attend, you should seriously consider doing so. You have direct access to the players, the coaches and many fans just as crazy and passionate about SU basketball as you are. Thanks much again to cto for making it possible for me (and a number of others) to attend and thanks much to the Boeheims for doing such a great job making this event happen. And when I say the Boeheims, I am talking about Juli.
I attended as a guest of a mysterious benefactor (okay, maybe not so mysterious, thanks you again cto). What follows is my report on this event.
cto sponsors a special VIP reception that occurs before the 'normal' reception that marks the start of the event for most people. Here one can hobnob with the rich and famous, enjoy some delicious hors d'oeuvres and the hospitality of a well stocked open bar. Yes, of course I did, yes, they did have Schwepes and yes, it was an excellent vintage.
The best hors d'oeuvre was, IMHO, the old staple, bacon wrapped scallops. The weakest was probably the deep fried pasta, maybe cavatelli? Whatever it was, not enough a massive dollop of marinara sauce could rescue it. The buffalo wing tacos were good, which kind of shocked me. I passed on the optional fresh jalapeno slices as my supply of ginger ale was not unlimited.
The dish presented to my group as 'cuban cigars' were actually mini deep fried egg rolls filled with cuban sandwich fixings; ham, pickle and some kind of cheese. They weren't bad. The skewed cherry tomato/fresh mozzarella were pretty nice. The big surprise of the night was the lack of tempura dipped scrimp with coconut, which have been around longer than the NCAA investigation. Both are gone. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe not.
There was also the usual assortment of crackers and cheese, cut up vegetables and fruit to enjoy. And a substance that I was unable to make a 100% positive identification on but that I suspect were simply deep fried little triangles of dough. Oh my. I passed on the chance to have my first brie experience for the 16th time at this event, and believe I am a good bet to keep doing this indefinitely. I don't have anything against brie but I just don't trust it. But let's change the subject. No one likes to talk about brie for very long, except for the insufferable brie producers, and we certainly don't want to put the spotlight on them any longer than is absolutely necessary.
While it was a tough year in many respects, it was great to see the syracusefan.com people that made it to the cto reception. Great to see other syracusefan.com people at the general reception that followed. Great to see so many familiar faces of the many great SU fans who come to this event year after year.
Back to the general reception. cto introduction my crew to Devo, who as she says, appears to have effected a rather amazing chance in his general appearance, demeanor and behavior and now looks to be a normal contributing member of society. Someday, he just might drive a minivan and coach a youth soccer team. All I can think is that New Zealand must be the ultimate place for a 'scared straight' experience.
You can peruse a wide variety of cool blind auction items at this time, admire the annual J&J ice sculpture or stand in line and get a picture taken with the team (not a great deal of enthusiasm from the players during this experience except when a wait staff member dropped something that resulted in a series of extremely loud crashing sounds (like they dropped the 1st and 2nd string offensive line of SU from a height of 45 feet). That got them smiling and exchanging high fives. The usual finger foods and hors d'oeuvres were available again as well, as was another open bar. Yup, I did, yes, it was still Schwepes and yes, it was still solid.
Not long after this, we were herded not unlike cattle to the Event Center for awards and live auction part of the evening (my personal favorite part). Everyone takes a seat and things start out with Jim and Juli taking the stage. Juli dominated the speaking, which is kind of unusual, and gave a heart felt and emotional review of the past few months, which have been tough for all SU fans but were especially tough for her, as she lost her mom in the fall and is close to losing her dad now as well. She defended JB and expressed great pain and sadness regarding the NCAA's unprecedented penalties against her husband. JB largely avoided the subject, whichis probably wise given the appeals currently being pursued.
JB introduced Bob Costas shortly afterwards. Not sure everyone knows but Dan Dakich was supposed to be the guest emcee and he apparently pulled out 2 weeks before the event because he realized it conflicted with his daughter's HS prom. Props to Bob, who apparently reworked his schedule and pulled a number of strings to make himself available for this event. He did a great job with his short remarks, giving his usual eloquent and thoughtful take on things. It turns out his father died about the time he was graduating from HS. Good man but a bad gambler who left the family with nothing. A friend of his father's went to bat for the family however and came up with $6K in 'uncollected winnings' that ended up playing a key role in Bob being able to come to Syracuse and fulfill his great potential. Amazing how many of SU's best alums ended up there based on an unlikely, unexpected almost random event or two.
Bob's best line of the night was early on, shortly after he was introduced by JB, who intimated that Bob was getting up in years and must be nearing retirement. Bob paused a second, agreed with JB and told him he was going to retire in 3 more years, echoing JB's recent public airing of his retirement date. That even got a brief smile and laugh from JB, which is about as common as an albino tiger. His second best line was talking about a meeting he had early in his NBC career with Don Ohlmyer, the head of NBC Sports. Don praised him for doing a good job. told him he looked too young and asked him how much older he would look with a beard. Bob told him 5 years older. Not because the beard would make him look 5 years older but because it would take him 5 years to grow a beard!
Anyway, props to Bob, who was also great helping JB with the live auction (JB continues to be a master of this) and was also extremely gracious talking to fans and posing for pictures afterwards. Props to Neil Gold, who seemed to win most of the things that JB put up for bid and broke the heart of young Todd in the front row repeatedly. outbidding him for things at the last minute. Lots of other SU fans were also extremely generous bidding and I am sure that as a result of this, J and J met their goals for cash raised. Rakeem was a good sport when his bowtie was raffled off and as Bees mentioned, much respect goes out to Rak for flying back from Vegas and his NBA prep work just for the ball, and to BJ, Buss and CMac for showing up even though they won't be part of the team next year. JB praised them all for these things and was greatly very grateful for their support. Many players who have announced they are not returning do not show for this event. Among the live auction items that were bid on: an away game on the team carter for two, 2 season tickets for SU mens basketball for the 2015-16 season, including a parking pass, a trip for two to the Final Four in Houston, dinner for 10-12 with the Legends of SU Basketball at Prime Steakhouse, a trip for two to the Battle 4 Atlantis (Paradise Island, the Bahamas), courtside seats for 4 for one game/Melo Center tour and a NY Yankees trip for 2. And some bow ties (see above).
I promised to mention that the air conditioning was a little too high and a number of people became uncomfortably cold during the event. Especially women wearing dresses with no sleeves and no back. I don't know how Juli did not turn blue (though come to think of it, she WAS blue for large parts of the evening. Was it the lighting or the cold? We will probably never know.
One of the big award winner was Mary Nelson, who made a wonderful speech praising the Boeheims for their kindness and support over the years. Mary runs a support center for under privledged youth and has done many wonderful things for the poor in Syracuse. One of the kids she has helped came up and talked and showed a great deal of poise and intelligence during her short speech.
The other big winners were Karen and Michael Rubenstein, the owner's of the famous SU apparel store Manny's on Marshall St. They have done a great deal to support the local coummunity and the Jim and Juli Boeheim Foundation.
Dinner was served in the room next store. It included a mixed green salad, a grilled beed tenderloin with pan seared crab cake, smashed potatoes, prosciutto wrapped asparagus and a lovely, very chocolatey terrine with a salted caramel mousse and a solid malt sauce.
This is a great event. If you have an opportunity to attend, you should seriously consider doing so. You have direct access to the players, the coaches and many fans just as crazy and passionate about SU basketball as you are. Thanks much again to cto for making it possible for me (and a number of others) to attend and thanks much to the Boeheims for doing such a great job making this event happen. And when I say the Boeheims, I am talking about Juli.
