sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Leif Erikson Day!
Leif Erikson Day is an annual holiday honoring Norse explorer and Viking Leif Erikson, the man who is believed to have led the first Europeans to continental North America, shortly after 1000 CE, centuries before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. The holiday takes place on October 9—not on the anniversary of a date related to Erikson, but on the anniversary of the arrival of the Restauration to New York City from Stavanger, Norway, in 1825. This ship marked the first organized immigration from Norway to the United States.
In 1874, Rasmus Anderson published America Not Discovered by Columbus, which raised the popularity of the idea that the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot on continental North America. Nordic Americans began celebrating Erikson around this time. Acknowledgment of Erikson was brought to the national level when President Calvin Coolidge appeared at the Norse-American Centennial in 1925, and credited Leif Erikson as the first European to have discovered America.
SU News
Syracuse Basketball: Orange predicted to make the Sweet 16 in 2018-19 (itlh.com; Patrick)
After an appearance in the Sweet 16 round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, Athlon Sports believes the Syracuse basketball team will do the same in 2018-19.
It was a surprise to pretty much everyone when the Syracuse basketball team was able to make it all the way to the Sweet 16 in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Especially considering the Orange were one of the eight teams that participated in the tournament’s four play-in games.
But despite being an 11-seed in their region, Syracuse was able to upset TCU and Michigan State to make their 23rd appearance in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately, the Orange fell to Duke in the round of 16 and were sent packing back home to central New York. Syracuse had plenty to be proud of though after last season’s performance in March.
For the upcoming 2018-19 college basketball season, the Orange are hoping to play even further into the NCAA Tournament and possibly be one of the final four teams to play for a championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
One notable publication believes Syracuse is at least capable of getting back to the Sweet 16 in 2018-19.
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Jim Boeheim talks Syracuse hoops, college basketball rules ahead of 2018 season (DO; Gutierrez)
Ahead of the 2018-19 season, The Daily Orange sat down with SU head coach Jim Boeheim to discuss the upcoming campaign, his personnel and the new college basketball rules. Boeheim enters his 43rd season at the helm of his alma mater. The Orange, who have held practice for the past two weeks, tip off the season Nov. 6 against Eastern Washington in the Carrier Dome.
Here are a few highlights from the conversation.
Eric Devendorf’s position probably won’t be filled
On Sept. 6, Eric Devendorf announced he left Syracuse to be special assistant to head coach Mike Davis at Detroit Mercy. Devendorf had rejoined the Orange in 2016 as assistant strength coach after playing for Syracuse from 2005-09: He ranks 14th on the school’s all-time scoring list, with 1,680 points, and he averaged 14.5 points across 116 career games.
Aside from his strength responsibilities, Devendorf offered players tips and was “like a big brother,” senior point guard Frank Howard said at the end of last season.
“We won’t probably fill that,” Boeheim said of Devendorf’s position. “We had that role to help him get started in coaching. He was good to be around the players, his attitude, personality. We’ve got really good young coaches who are really good at what they do.”
Boeheim said he wishes, like several other Division I coaches, that the NCAA had passed a rule allowing for lower-level staff members — such as the director of operations or strength coaches — to conduct on-court drills. As the rule currently stands, Syracuse’s director of operations Kip Wellman is not allowed to be involved in practice.
“It would have been good if they had passed that rule,” Boeheim said.
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Syracuse Basketball: Orange Team Preview and Season Prediction 2018-19 (athlonsports.com; Staff)
There will be a rare air of familiarity surrounding the Syracuse Orange this season. For the first time since 2000, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim will return all five of his starters from the previous season.
“I think it’s been 15 or 20 years since we’ve had everybody back,” Boeheim says. “To have juniors and seniors is unheard of at our level.”
Syracuse was the last team selected for the 68-team NCAA Tournament field, but once in, the Orange advanced to the Sweet 16. SU’s three NCAA victories all came thanks to Boeheim’s stingy 2-3 zone. Syracuse didn’t score more than 60 points in any of its NCAA wins over Arizona State, TCU and Michigan State.
Now, Boeheim has a squad full of veterans who understand his zone plus an influx of young talent to address the lack of depth that plagued last year’s team.
At a Glance
HEAD COACH: Jim Boeheim
2017-18 RECORD (ACC): 23-14 (8-10)
2017-18 POSTSEASON: NCAA: Lost to Duke 69-65 in the Sweet 16
KEY LOSS:
F Matthew Moyer (3.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg)
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Cox Mill boys’ basketball star Wendell Moore commits to Duke (thestate.com; Wertz Jr)
Two weeks ago, on an official visit to Durham, Wendell Moore told Duke coach Mike Kryzewski he was going to be a Blue Devil.
“He was very ecstatic,” Moore said Monday, after officially announcing his commitment at a gathering in the Cox Mill High School auditorium. “He was jumping up and down. He said he was excited to have me.”
Moore, ranked No. 18 nationally by ESPN, will be the first Charlotte-area player at Duke since former Charlotte Christian star Seth Curry played for the Blue Devils during the 2012-13 season. Moore chose Duke over North Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest, calling Duke “his dream school”.
Home And Happy (dukebasketballreport.com; Jacobs)
There’s no question it’s advantageous to play at home. Otherwise why would a Hall of Famer like Jim Boeheim go to such lengths to make sure his teams fatten up on as much home cooking as possible?
Without question there also are budgetary and scholastic reasons for a team to play on its home floor, but competitive edge is not to be discounted, not when the NCAA pot of gold is at the end of that rainbow.
Of course Boeheim also fattens up on home cooking by playing in-state against out-of-state opponents, usually at Madison Square Garden. FSU’s Leonard Hamilton and Miami’s Jim Larranaga likewise contrive to stay within Florida, the latter even though the Hurricanes sold out at home in each of the past three seasons.
Note that the two Hall of Fame coaches not located in upstate New York are among those most willing to venture away from home, even if the one in Durham chronically avoids playing on hostile nonconference courts. Tony Bennett is similarly included to leave UVa.
For some reason, despite three losing seasons in four, Wake’s Danny Manning continues to travel more than most coaches. And to struggle doing so.
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Other
Locker room DJ: What Syracuse athletics teams are listening to (DO; Staff)
Field Hockey
DJ: Borg van der Velde
Go-to music: van der Velde typically tries to feel the mood of the team to decide what to play but a remixed version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” originally by John Denver, is one song that hypes up the locker room.
“Borg, for sure, 100 percent. She controls our pre-game music,” Caroline Cady said.
Apart from the locker room DJ, there’s a pregame mix that plays during warm-ups. This season it was Jamie Martin’s job to put that together — she took requests from different players to build a mashup that includes parts of “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada, a trap remix of “The Backyardigans” theme song, and “7 Things” by Miley Cyrus. Cady is the one who picked Miley Cyrus music for the pregame playlist.
“Jamie made our playlist, but Borg is in control,” Cady said.
Football
DJ: Sean Riley
Go-to music: Anything West Coast, specifically YG and E-40
Riley, otherwise known as DJ Riley, is actually a trained DJ, not just the person who gets the aux cord in the locker room. He started training during his freshman year of high school after he started playing around with turntables at his friend’s house.
“I just couldn’t stop messing with it,” Riley said. “I saved up some money and I bought my own. And that was my side job in California.”
For the remainder of high school, Riley was widely popular in his neighborhood of Harbor City, Los Angeles. He performed at family functions for people in his neighborhood as well as school-sponsored events at Narbonne High School. And while he doesn’t perform at events at Syracuse, he still mixes music when he’s hanging out with teammates and friends. He has even taught other teammates to play. Ravian Pierce picked it up very quickly, Riley said, and is now good. But not everyone is a huge fan of Riley’s DJing.
“I ain’t giving him the aux,” Nykeim Johnson said.
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