Espn just can't help themselves

[HOFCeluck]

BTW part of the reason ESPN does this is because they make more money if SU plays more made for TV games against major conference teams as opposed to staying home and beating up the Wagners and Marshall's of the world.

Take it as a compliment. Syracuse is a big ticket.

 

[Gabjon]

And there was the obligatory graphic during the game about the "true" road games we have played Oh Lord

You know what upset me about that graphic? We won them all! JB has one of the highest road winning percentages in college basketball history. Why not play more true road games if you win most of them anyway?

 

[pfister1]

Understood. But UF doesn't count on their basketball team to fill the AD's coffers.

It is what it is. Here's hoping the scheduling gets better now that we are in the ACC.

Cheers,
Neil

Whenever we have this discussion, I return to the point; why do we care such that we end up making excuses about it?

Unless you are located in or near the location where the road game would be played and would plan on attending, why is it a negative.

There aren't any championships awarded for playing the toughest OOC road schedule and JB has done a very good job in recent years of blending neutral site game and home games against low mid-major types with our Big East schedule to allow us to maintain a more than respectable RPI, so much so that it has been an asset and not a hindrance at selection time.

This is very similar to the Tebow talking point with ESPN. For whatever reason ESPN has determined that it moves the needle when they talk about it, so they continue to talk about it even though it has absolutely no impact on the season.

 

[normaliswear]

I guess we can start scheduling a couple tough games a year at Manley and calling them nuetral court games since they aren't technically at our home arena.

 

[KingOtis]

Well 99 percent of sports fans would disagree with your definition of road game, so there not much I can offer.

Perhaps you could offer a percentage based in reality. And you don't seem to mind anyone who considers MSG a home environment for us, so you have a real logic problem.

 

[KingOtis]

You're right...KC is 40 miles away.

It's a longer drive from UCLA's campus to the Rose Bowl.

 

[KingOtis]

"Big" piece of the story? How big?

You listed three games from the past five years, none of which was a road game. At one, Syracuse fans made up half the crowd. Another was a game played outdoors on the deck of a ship, at which Syracuse had no "road" disadvantage other than having taken a flight to get to the game. The third was an exciting win in front of a loud and partisan crowd, but not a road game, which was, of course, the graphic that ESPN was showing. It wasn't a graphic depicting intimidating venues or inconvenient trips for Syracuse. It was about road games. That was the story.

Three neutral court games played within an hour of the opponent's campus out of 65 non-conference games in the past five years is not a big piece of that story.

When UConn plays in Hartford, is it a home game?

 

[samspann1]

I guess we can start scheduling a couple tough games a year at Manley and calling them nuetral court games since they aren't technically at our home arena.

Be reasonable...how about playing in Rochester?

 

[OttoMets]

When UConn plays in Hartford, is it a home game?

Uh, yes. They play many of their home games there and have for three decades. They have their own locker room and court. It's part of their season ticket package.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Perhaps you could offer a percentage based in reality. And you don't seem to mind anyone who considers MSG a home environment for us, so you have a real logic problem.

I consider a road game to be a game that is played in your opponents gym. Very straightforward.

Under no criteria does Syracuse playing in MSG (unless its against the Johnies and its not our fault they have no fan base) qualify as a road game.

 

['72 Orange]

I can't fault them for that one. If true, that was truly a noteworthy graphic. They had to go all the way back to 2004 to find the 6 OOC road games they gave us credit for having played.

It is truly remarkable that we've been able to combine a mixture of neutral site tournaments and MSG appearances into as few road games as we have over the years.

The implication in the graphic that SU does not play a "true" road game for the casual viewer - is that SU must be playing their games at home. The distinction made by including the word "true" is probably lost on many as they would not consider "neutral" site games. A more interesting stat might be what percentage of OOC games are actually played at home by various teams.

 

[samspann1]

The solution is simple: SU should schedule "neutral" site games at the OnCenter, in Buffalo, Rochester and Albany.

 

[PoppyHart]

As someone here implied, do we want to be compared with the big boys (Dukes, UNCs, etc...)? Then one way to change the discussion is by scheduling like they do.

 

[Timonen]

"Big" piece of the story? How big?

well, if they showed 6 games and i showed 3 additional, that makes it a 50% increase, which I'd define as big.

it changes the story from "they never travel" to the more realistic "SU plays in hostile environments about once every year...and happens to win every time." one side is them fitting the data to their story. the other side is letting the data define the story.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

The real irony here is that we have one of the best road records in the of any team in the NCAA over the past decade, yet the talking heads continue to doubt us because we don't play very much on the road before Christmas. Just lazy research by the World-wide Leader.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

So KU in Kansas City, and UCSD in San Diego are not road games, but SU in NYC is a home game? Yeah, that's logical.

 

[Timonen]

the are ga

I consider a road game to be a game that is played in your opponents gym. Very straightforward.

Under no criteria does Syracuse playing in MSG (unless its against the Johnies and its not our fault they have no fan base) qualify as a road game.

then are games at VZ Center or Wells Fargo neutral site, as well?

 

[HOFCeluck]

So KU in Kansas City, and UCSD in San Diego are not road games, but SU in NYC is a home game? Yeah, that's logical.

Going by the logic of a lot of Syracuse fans, yes.

Can't have it both ways.

 

[OttoMets]

well, if they showed 6 games and i showed 3 additional, that makes it a 50% increase, which I'd define as big.

...

OK, I can't dispute that. 50% is significant.

Still think the graphic was fair - technically accurate regarding road games and still not misleading if it is intended to convey the larger theme that Syracuse travels infrequently out of conference.

Too many on here are reading their repetition of the "few road games" theme as a value judgment, and a negative one at that. I don't know if it is, but that's neither here nor there. Syracuse does not, in fact, travel out of conference with any frequency. That is the Boeheim and Syracuse University policy of the past decade. Rationalize the policy, fine. But let's not all pretend it doesn't exist. SWC nicely listed all regular-season non-conference trips for Syracuse in the past decade in another thread. Difficult to argue with numbers. Syracuse does not travel very often before Big East play starts.

 

[HOFCeluck]

the are ga


then are games at VZ Center or Wells Fargo neutral site, as well?

I have no idea what point your trying to make here...Georgetown and Villanova play there pretty extensively.

 

[Timonen]

As someone here implied, do we want to be compared with the big boys (Dukes, UNCs, etc...)? Then one way to change the discussion is by scheduling like they do.

fine, then make the graphic and apples to apples comparison with them. that's an interesting story. what they did isn't THAT.

 

[Timonen]

I have no idea what point your trying to make here...Georgetown and Villanova play there pretty extensively.

referencing your rule about needing to play in an opponent's gym. if vz and wf work as true road games, then where we played Kansas works.

 

[HOFCeluck]

referencing your rule about needing to play in an opponent's gym. if vz and wf work as true road games, then where we played Kansas works.

I get it now...Thanks.

I tend to agree about KU.

 

[OttoMets]

referencing your rule about needing to play in an opponent's gym. if vz and wf work as true road games, then where we played Kansas works.

Georgetown only plays at the Verizon Center these days; no more games at McDonough. Definitely their home arena.

Nova is trickier, similar to Connecticut's use of the Civic Center has a second home. They play 12 games (and both exhibitions) on campus this year and they only play three times at the Wells Fargo. That's not a lot. Of course, those games are included in the season ticket package, they have their own logos on the court (and banners in the arena, if I recall correctly), and they have student sections at those games. Smells like home. Though it's unorthodox, it's pretty different than Kansas's arrangement at the Sprint Center.

 

[KingOtis]

Uh, yes. They play many of their home games there and have for three decades. They have their own locker room and court. It's part of their season ticket package.

Then it's no different than KU and KC. They schedule games there all the time.