Consigliere
Co 2020 Cali Award Winner, Record Thru 5 Games
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- Aug 27, 2011
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Flew to Atlantis Monday with Mrs. C. and jrgalu and wife. Considered going to Maui last time and didn't pull the trigger but wasn;t going to miss this one. As I travel extensively for work I had a backlog of frequent flier miles and Hilton points so the plan was to make it an economical vacation. (Oops...) We were originally booked at the Hilton in Nassau, but after some coaxing (thanks, cto) decided to join the party on Atlantis.
Basketball paradise in captivity captures the week in a nutshell. As the Atlantis resort is on Paradise Island and pretty much a self contained community you could not help running in to fans, media personalities and players at every turn. And as stated many times Orange dominated the landscape - even the Atlantis staffers were decked out in our favorite color. Guess they knew something.
Ran into most of the syracusefan attendees at one time or another including the ubiquitous CuseTroop. Convinced Adam is really at least triplets since he seemed to be everywhere. Discretion (or age) being the better part of valor we luckily did not participate in his adventures in the Bahamanian legal system! Had the pleasure of having dinner with Leo Eisner one evening and being entertained with roughly 40 years of Orange hoop stories.
Everything on the island was very expensive, but the range of activities and dining options was vast and varied. Unfortunately the high winds and rough seas closed our beach for the entire week though the beach at the Riu next door was active every day. Guess the Atlantis customers are higher value targets! Spent the mornings walking the resort grounds and lounging by the many pools. Mrs. C looked to be drawn to the 7 story dead drop water slide from the Mayan Temple but never took the plunge. Told her if anything went wrong I'd be the one stuck with stuffing cherry peppers for the tailgates next year!
The venue for basketball is like nothing I've ever seen before. Reminded me of an oversized and upscaled version of the old CYO church gyms I've been in. 3500 temporary bleachers set up in the main ball room complete with low ceilings, disco lights and an exemplary sound system created a festive but intimate environment. We have great seats in the Dome but even in the top row behind the Cuse bench we felt much closer to the action. Really enjoyable. After watching the exhibitions and first three games I was prepared to endure a 1-2 showing but it was apparent from the first minutes of the Charlotte game that Cuse brought a different attitude to Paradise. Combination of great shooting and Coleman's energy and activity suddenly raised expectations. The UConn game was a classic. Once the Huskies were whistled for 3 quick hand checking fouls and G, TC, and 'Chi started to drive aggressively to the basket the whole tenor of the game changed. Loved the Coleman, Roberson, Lydon front line. Hope to see more of that with 'Chi sliding to the 2 a bit to spell the seniors. Not going to get into a debate over Cooney's significant improvements but he appears far more comfortable with the ball in his hands and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some minutes at the point giving us a nice 3 man back court rotation. Beating UConn and their condescending fan base bordered on the best Thanksgiving ever. Really cool standing with hundreds in the corridor outside the press conference and continuing the celebration. Had an official come out and ask us to quiet the "Let's Go Orange" chant so they could hear inside. aTm game almost seemed like playing with house money and it took a while for the energy to reach the level of the previous day but things quickly got going. Aggies were big, quick and physical. Loved the way they defended - lots of help, great positioning and playing defense with their feet, not their hands was a throwback to the pre-Georgetown / Pitt / UConn days when fundamentals ruled. Big takeaway was seeing Lydon hold his own using athleticism against bigger, stronger post men. He will be more than a serviceable backup 5 and a likely freshman of the year in the ACC playing lots of 3 and 4.
Flight home yesterday was a continuation of the celebration. Frequent flier miles routed us from Nassua to Charlotte to Philly to Binghamton with our outbound from Nassau 20 minutes after the Cuse charter was leaving. Personally thanked Cooney and Richardson for making the week such a success while standing in line at Dunkin' Donuts. Then had to laugh as the gate announcements for the flight to Syracuse started to echo. "Paging Autry party of 4, Chinoso Obokoh (butchered the pronunciation), Hopkins party. Your flight has boarded and is ready to leave." Also paged Mark Coyle. I guess the charter manifest never got updated. Had the sister of a certain HoF coach on our flight as well as Jay Bilas. Shook Jay's hand and told him how much we enjoyed his work. "Thanks. I'm glad somebody does!"
Had a Cuse insider tell me in the airport that we would be returning to Atlantis in 2019. Already have it marked on our calendar!
Basketball paradise in captivity captures the week in a nutshell. As the Atlantis resort is on Paradise Island and pretty much a self contained community you could not help running in to fans, media personalities and players at every turn. And as stated many times Orange dominated the landscape - even the Atlantis staffers were decked out in our favorite color. Guess they knew something.
Ran into most of the syracusefan attendees at one time or another including the ubiquitous CuseTroop. Convinced Adam is really at least triplets since he seemed to be everywhere. Discretion (or age) being the better part of valor we luckily did not participate in his adventures in the Bahamanian legal system! Had the pleasure of having dinner with Leo Eisner one evening and being entertained with roughly 40 years of Orange hoop stories.
Everything on the island was very expensive, but the range of activities and dining options was vast and varied. Unfortunately the high winds and rough seas closed our beach for the entire week though the beach at the Riu next door was active every day. Guess the Atlantis customers are higher value targets! Spent the mornings walking the resort grounds and lounging by the many pools. Mrs. C looked to be drawn to the 7 story dead drop water slide from the Mayan Temple but never took the plunge. Told her if anything went wrong I'd be the one stuck with stuffing cherry peppers for the tailgates next year!
The venue for basketball is like nothing I've ever seen before. Reminded me of an oversized and upscaled version of the old CYO church gyms I've been in. 3500 temporary bleachers set up in the main ball room complete with low ceilings, disco lights and an exemplary sound system created a festive but intimate environment. We have great seats in the Dome but even in the top row behind the Cuse bench we felt much closer to the action. Really enjoyable. After watching the exhibitions and first three games I was prepared to endure a 1-2 showing but it was apparent from the first minutes of the Charlotte game that Cuse brought a different attitude to Paradise. Combination of great shooting and Coleman's energy and activity suddenly raised expectations. The UConn game was a classic. Once the Huskies were whistled for 3 quick hand checking fouls and G, TC, and 'Chi started to drive aggressively to the basket the whole tenor of the game changed. Loved the Coleman, Roberson, Lydon front line. Hope to see more of that with 'Chi sliding to the 2 a bit to spell the seniors. Not going to get into a debate over Cooney's significant improvements but he appears far more comfortable with the ball in his hands and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some minutes at the point giving us a nice 3 man back court rotation. Beating UConn and their condescending fan base bordered on the best Thanksgiving ever. Really cool standing with hundreds in the corridor outside the press conference and continuing the celebration. Had an official come out and ask us to quiet the "Let's Go Orange" chant so they could hear inside. aTm game almost seemed like playing with house money and it took a while for the energy to reach the level of the previous day but things quickly got going. Aggies were big, quick and physical. Loved the way they defended - lots of help, great positioning and playing defense with their feet, not their hands was a throwback to the pre-Georgetown / Pitt / UConn days when fundamentals ruled. Big takeaway was seeing Lydon hold his own using athleticism against bigger, stronger post men. He will be more than a serviceable backup 5 and a likely freshman of the year in the ACC playing lots of 3 and 4.
Flight home yesterday was a continuation of the celebration. Frequent flier miles routed us from Nassua to Charlotte to Philly to Binghamton with our outbound from Nassau 20 minutes after the Cuse charter was leaving. Personally thanked Cooney and Richardson for making the week such a success while standing in line at Dunkin' Donuts. Then had to laugh as the gate announcements for the flight to Syracuse started to echo. "Paging Autry party of 4, Chinoso Obokoh (butchered the pronunciation), Hopkins party. Your flight has boarded and is ready to leave." Also paged Mark Coyle. I guess the charter manifest never got updated. Had the sister of a certain HoF coach on our flight as well as Jay Bilas. Shook Jay's hand and told him how much we enjoyed his work. "Thanks. I'm glad somebody does!"
Had a Cuse insider tell me in the airport that we would be returning to Atlantis in 2019. Already have it marked on our calendar!
