sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to Orangeyes Day!
Today, Dan would have turned 71 years old. Happy birthday buddy, hope you are playing 36 today! Shoot your age!
A tribute to Dan Johnson, beloved SU sports fan (cnycentral.com; Tamurian)
SU News
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Let’s Recap Syracuse Basketball’s Scholarship Situation | Otto's Grove (ootosgrove.com; Kelly)
When news came out that Syracuse is hosting East Carolina transfer Elijah Hughes in a couple weeks, it left some Orange fans asking questions about what kind of impact it could have on the team’s recruiting efforts. And indeed, with a limited number of scholarships available and a ton of prospects that look awfully enticing to Jim Boeheim and his staff in 2018, it’s worth taking a closer look.
First things first, let’s push the reset button for what we know about the 2017-18 roster:
- Frank Howard / Guard (Junior)
- Paschal Chukwu / Center (Junior or Sophomore, depending on medical redshirt)
- Tyus Battle / Guard (Sophomore)
- Taurean Thompson / Forward (Sophomore)
- Matthew Moyer / Forward (Redshirt Freshman)
- Oshae Brissett / Forward (Freshman)
- Bourama Sidibe / Center (Freshman)
- Howard Washington / Guard (Freshman)
- (open)
- (open)
- (open)
Obviously, it’d be nice if Kevin Knox would go ahead and pick Duke already, to take that option off the table as a team that could come swooping in at the last second and pluck him from the Orange. Still, for now let’s assume Tucker is deciding between Georgia Tech and Syracuse. For the sake of this discussion, let’s say he picks Syracuse.
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Virginia Tech and the A.C.C.: Five Year Forecast (gobblercountry.com; Hatfield)
What will the A.C.C. look like in five years? That’s a very interesting question. There has been a ton of churn at ESPN, and that has a bigger impact that most fans out there realize. ESPN is losing share at an alarming rate. Any business that is not growing is losing, and ESPN is showing typical signs of a struggling business in its decline. First step? Cut payroll. There was a purge of sorts in Bristol, CT, and some very talented folks got let go. Why is ESPN so important to the A.C.C.? ESPN has paid the A.C.C. for years, and with a promise to be on cable/satellite platforms by 2019 the next evolution, ESPN has good value with the monopoly. The trial baloon for this “conference channel” was the S.E.C. network. It has done reasonably well showing third tier games for football, decent basketball, and a ton of non rev sporting events. The one thing the S.E.C. Network did that was a home run was to hire Paul Finebaum. Finebaum is a polarizing figure for sure, but Finebaum and his crazy callers eat up four hours of programming per day. I’m not sure the A.C.C. has that type of media personality yet.
John Swofford may not be around in five years. That’s a fact. There are a ton of folks who dislike Swofford, but the growth of the conference can’t be undersold. The musical chairs of realignment a few years back garnered some support for Swofford. He protected the A.C.C. (save Maryland), and expanded the footprint. I guess it would boil down to the HB2 issue, for which I will not comment, but as an administrator, he has done really great things for the conference. The A.C.C., historically a basketball conference, has been well represented in the new football playoff format. Reigning hoops champ? Check. Reigning football champ? Check. These are the gravy times, my friend. I won’t go so far to say that the A.C.C. is where the S.E.C. is in football, but for the complete package we have an argument. The same couldn’t be said 5 years ago. The scary thought is that in five years, Roy Williams is not at U.N.C.. Odds are Mike Krzyzewski is not at Duke. Coach K is 70 folks. In 2022, it’s hard to envision a 75 year old Krzyzewski calling a timeout. That effectively cripples the blue bloods of the conference.
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Other
Aspen Dental halts plan to move 600-worker headquarters to downtown Syracuse (PS; Moriarty)
The main commercial anchor for the City Center development at the former Sibley's Department Store in downtown Syracuse has pulled out, dealing a major blow to the project.
Gary Thurston, chairman and CEO of Hayner Hoyt Corp., said Aspen Dental Management Inc. pulled out of its lease at City Center in December because of delays in the project. The dental office support company had planned to move its headquarters and 600 workers from DeWitt to City Center.
"Aspen signed a lease last year, but they pulled out in early December because things they expected to happen didn't happen," he said.
The loss of Aspen prompted the project's original developer, Robert Doucette, to sell his stake in the development in late February to Hayner Hoyt, which had previously signed on to be the project's general contractor.
"Hayner Hoyt had a desire to come in and we said OK," Doucette said. "We're rooting for them. We conceived of this project and brought everything together."
The loss of Aspen is a major blow to City Center and to downtown Syracuse in general. Local business and political leaders had been looking forward to the economic impact that the addition of 600 office workers would make to the heart of downtown.
However, Thurston said he is busy looking for another tenant for the project.
"The only thing I can say is, the balls are in the air," he said.
Though Aspen Dental is out for now, Thurston said he would be glad to talk to the company if it changed its mind and wanted back in.
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