sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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National Mutt Day celebrates mixed breed dogs, and was created by Colleen Paige, a pet and family lifestyle expert and animal advocate, who also created days such as National Dog Day, National Puppy Day, and National Cat Day. The goal of the day is to embrace, save, and celebrate mixed breed dogs by creating awareness about the great numbers of them in animal shelters that are in need of a home. Mixed breed dogs make up the largest percentage of dogs that are abandoned and euthanized, and make up about 80% of dogs in shelters. In an effort to further raise awareness, National Mutt Day takes place on two days during the year. The hoped for result of the day is that people visit animal shelters and adopt a mixed breed dog, or possibly donate their time and money to shelters.
SU News
Tyler Lydon talks new beginnings, what he learned in the NBA and returning ‘home’ to Syracuse (PS; Ditota)
Tyler Lydon is in Syracuse this week, mingling with kids at his basketball camp at Bishop Ludden and for the first time since he left the Orange, returning to his college roots.
Lydon visited the Melo Center last week, where he saw former coaches and staff and scrimmaged a bit with Boeheim’s Army and the current crop of Orange basketball players.
He took some time Monday morning to discuss his two seasons in the NBA, what he learned during that span and where he is in his basketball career. The Sacramento Kings signed him to a free agent deal earlier this month and Lydon and his girlfriend will soon make a trip to California to find a place to live. He expects to move there by mid-August.
Our Monday conversation:
Before you signed with the Kings, how stressful were those couple months between the season ending and that deal?
I think I went through my phases. There were a few times throughout the week where it just kind of hit me. I’d be, like, freaking out. What team am I going to go to, am I going to go to a team? All that stuff. But I talked to my agent a lot through the process and he did a good job reassuring me. Honestly, the biggest thing for me was being able to come home (to Pine Plains). If I would have stayed in Denver or was trying to work out someplace else, it would have been on my mind all the time. But being at home, I was able to do stuff with friends, family, have some fun and kind of relieve stress while still staying in the gym, working out, all that stuff.
What kind of stuff did you do?
After the season, I took a couple weeks. I would still run, but in terms of picking up a basketball, I just needed to step away for a little bit. They tell us to do that. I drove back a week after the season. I did a lot of fishing, some hunting. I took some down time. I hadn’t really seen anybody in a couple years, so I did a bunch of different things.
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Syracuse Basketball: Carmelo Anthony is ineligible for proper farewell tour (itlh; Weisleder)
A lack of NBA Titles and unparalleled legacy in one city bids Syracuse Basketball alum Carmelo Anthony ineligible for a proper farewell tour.
Since joining the NBA at 19 years old in 2003, Carmelo Anthony’s 15-year pursuit of an NBA championship, split primarily between Denver and New York has dwindled to the point where his talents are no longer sought after by front offices around the association.
Anthony’s winning pedigree at the collegiate level with the Syracuse basketball squad (2003 NCAA Champion and Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player), and as a member of Team USA Basketball (All-time scoring leader, a gold medal winner in 2008, 2012, and 2016) speaks for itself.
What doesn’t, is his lack of consistent success across 11 trips and 72 career NBA playoff games. Aside from the 2009 Conference Finalist Denver Nuggets, an Anthony-led team playoff team played more than 10 games just once.
With more than 25,000 career points to his name on 45% shooting, the 2003-04 All-Rookie Team Member, 10x All-Star, 2012-13 Scoring Champ, six-time All-NBAer, and eventual Hall of Famer has done enough individually to be memorialized as one of the league’s best scorers ever.
However, what earns players farewell tours is a sustained success in April, May, and June over the course of their career, and for a select few, unparalleled longevity with one or many franchises, fulfilments Anthony remains without.
Only a handful of players each quarter-century are eligible for a proper farewell tour. We saw NBA champions Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki earn and say their goodbye’s to the NBA this past season with tours that enlivened otherwise mediocre, playoff-less campaigns for Miami and Dallas.
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https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article233175691.html (newsobserv er.com; Wiseman)
With an up-and-down junior season behind him, Jack White went far, far away from Duke to recover.
A few weeks at home in Australia boosted the 6-7 forward’s spirits. A bothersome hamstring injury healed, he played with his native country’s entry in the World University Games in Naples, Italy.
By early July, White was back in the Triangle for offseason workouts with his Duke teammates.
Last season, he missed 28 consecutive 3-pointers and suffered a hamstring injury that limited him to just six minutes in Duke’s four NCAA tournament games. Now, however, White’s mind and body have recovered enough for him to expect better things in his senior season.
“I definitely just feel refreshed coming back,” White said. “Being with family and friends back home was a great few weeks. I felt really good about representing my country for those two weeks.
“I’m having a lot of fun playing. My body feels good. Been feeling good and healthy and in a good place mentally with everything. I’m looking forward to getting to work with this group.”
White, who was a captain last season, started his junior year well, but his production fell as his 3-point shot failed him and his injury slowed him.
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How Much Is Your School Spending on College Basketball Recruiting? - Stadium (watchstadium.com; Wittry)
College basketball recruiting can be a fickle beast — at least in regards to how much schools spend on the recruiting trail, the high school recruits that spending attracts and the number of wins that talent leads to.
While we found that there’s a fairly strong correlation between recruiting spending and recruiting class rankings in college football, there’s not an apparent sport-wide correlation in college basketball.
Stadium obtained the NCAA Financial Reports from the 2018 fiscal year for 53 Division I schools — almost all of which play in the AAC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 or SEC — and these reports, which are submitted to the NCAA annually, outline detailed financial data regarding the operating revenue and expenses for each school’s athletic department.
We found that while a serious financial commitment to recruiting in college basketball can lead to highly ranked recruiting classes and NCAA Tournament success, it’s certainly not a prerequisite.
Of course, recruiting is based on relationships, and while there’s no stat or metric to quantify which coaches are the best at developing a strong relationship with a prospect, his parents and/or his high school coach, we can attempt to quantify the role that other factors like spending and winning play in recruiting.
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Pittsburgh Basketball: Jeff Capel’s expectations in second season with Panthers (bustingbrackets.com; Dalzell)
Jeff Capel took over Pittsburgh Basketball rebuild last season after a successful tenure at Duke. The Panthers remained last in the ACC but has the Panthers trending in the right direction. Better days and bigger expectations are ahead for Capel and the program.
Jeff Capel and Pittsburgh Basketball continue the rebuild of a program and after year one and his first recruiting class, it’s safe to say the Panthers are headed in the right direction. Pitt’s 14-19 (3-15) record last season may have seemed underwhelming especially surrounding the hype of Capel and success he’s had with Duke, but after what the program’s been through with Kevin Stallings anything would be considered an improvement.
Capel’s Panthers competed and didn’t quit, unlike Stallings team. At the Zoo, Pitt was at its best. The Panthers won 11 games and lost seven while going winless on the road in 11 attempts. There is no excuse for not winning even one road game but they were impressive in neutral court games.
Pitt won three consecutive neutral floor games with victories over Saint Louis, Duquesne, and Boston College in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The only loss came to Syracuse in the ACC Tournament the following round.
The rebuild began in 2016 with the failed experiment of Stallings replacing Jamie Dixon. The entire hire was a mess from the beginning and put into question-based off Sheldon Jeter’s transfer and the fact Stallings was on the verge of being fired from Vanderbilt. Jeter left Vanderbilt to escape Stallings and Pitt hired him shortly after causing instant negative team chemistry in the locker room.
At first glance, the Panthers 12-2 start with Stallings before conference play seemed like an almost transition-less process post-Dixon but then the collapse began. They won one game out of the next 10 and finished the season 16-17 losing to Virginia in the ACC Quarterfinals.
If that wasn’t enough of a sign, the 8-24 record and an 0-18 conference record the following season really ended attendance in the Oakland Zoo before Capel brought it back to life. Capel’s team scored more points (69.9), allowed less (68.7), and improved in about every single stat category you could think of.
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2019 Recruiting Team Rankings - Duke Report (DBR; King)
2020 Basketball Team Rankings
Powered by 247Sports Composite
- 1
Virginia 5: 0 4: 3 3: 0 2: 0
60.09 - 2
Duke 5: 2 4: 0 3: 0 2: 0
53.36 - 3
Gonzaga 5: 0 4: 2 3: 0 2: 0
50.36 - 4
Baylor 5: 0 4: 2 3: 0 2: 0
49.93 - 5
Xavier 5: 0 4: 2 3: 0 2: 0
48.43 - 6
Houston 5: 0 4: 2 3: 0 2: 0
45.91 - 7
Purdue 5: 0 4: 2 3: 0 2: 0
45.47 - 8
Nebraska 5: 0 4: 2 3: 0 2: 0
45.30 - 9
Wisconsin 5: 0 4: 1 3: 1 2: 1
43.97 - 10
Utah 5: 0 4: 1 3: 1 2: 0
42.54
Chansky's Notebook: Where's The Money? - Chapelboro.com (chapelboro.com; Chansky)
Here is what the ACC Network is up against as the launch nears:
When the ACC and ESPN made a deal years ago to offer a conference-dedicated slew of programming, the so-called cord cutters hadn’t yet sharpened their knives and scissors. Cable TV was still in its prime, the most common way for viewers to get the games.
What has happened since is an important distinction in trying to figure out the future of the ACC Network. While dozens of smaller cable companies and streaming services have signed up to carry the ACC programming, no major cable provider has agreed to yet. And the money those cable companies would pay ESPN could determine what distribution each ACC school receives annually.
If ESPN doesn’t sign the ACC Network to these major carriage deals, its advertising sales will suffer. Meanwhile, the cable companies are already losing revenue with cord-cutters who have been dropping cable service by the millions. DIRECTV NOW, Comcast, Spectrum and AT&T U-verse lost more than 1.3 million subscribers in the second quarter of 2019, which is about 14,000 every day.
If the trend continues, more than 5 million cable customers will be lost by the end of the year. That may be why ESPN and the major cable companies have not been able to make a deal. Whatever they pay, the cable providers have to charge their subscribers to get their money back, and they don’t want to chase away more of them.
Some cable companies will see their subscriber loss double by the end of the year, according to a story on Cord Cutter News. And if the projected revenues are not filtering down, either ESPN has to cover the losses or the ACC schools will not realize the increase in annual distribution they are expecting and have already invested $10-15 million building new production studios on each campus.
The ACC Network seems like a victim of bad timing, caught in the throes of cord-cutting from cable providers but before many people are satisfied switching to unfamiliar streaming services to get their favorite games. With less money coming in than projected, either ESPN/Disney will cover such losses or the member schools won’t have the expected increase in revenues.
Depends on who guaranteed what to whom.
Other
Snow was recorded in Syracuse on July 29. We can explain (PS; Coin)
A little after 5 p.m. every day, the local National Weather Service office issues the daily report for official climate sites. Those reports document the day’s high and low temperatures, precipitation, wind speed and other weather statistics that help build the database of local climate.
Something jumped out of Monday’s report for Syracuse: A trace of snow. How could snow fall on a day when temperatures never fell below 69 degrees?
“Hail counts as a trace of snowfall,” explained weather service meteorologist Joanne LaBounty. “It’s kind of crazy, but it’s always been that way.”
“Trace” means that precipitation fell, but not enough to measure.
While there are many kinds of precipitation – rain, snow, sleet, hail, ice – meteorologists often condense those into two categories.
“We lump things into liquid and frozen,” said Mark Wysocki, New York state climatologist.
The statistical weather models used in forecasting, Wysocki said, don’t distinguish between the types of frozen precipitation. In the model’s eyes, snow and hail are indistinguishable. The four-letter “snow” has become weather service shorthand for frozen precipitation.
Monday’s hail in Syracuse was a half-inch in diameter, about the size of a pea, LaBounty said. Hail is measured by its diameter, not by how many inches covered the ground.
It’s rare for an official climate site like the one at Hancock International Airport to record hail. While hail is relatively common somewhere in Upstate New York on hot days like Monday, it’s isolated to the narrow paths of thunderstorms that usually bypass the few official measuring stations.
“Hail can concentrate in hail shafts that can be just a quarter mile in diameter,” Wysocki said.
To be recorded, the hail has to have good aim: The diameter of weather station collection buckets is only 10 inches.
“It’s not that often you get hail at a climate site,” LaBounty said.
How often? We checked the historical records and found out that summer snow -- hail, that is -- has been recorded at the weather service’s official Syracuse measuring site just 16 times since 1903. (We defined summer the way the weather service does: June, July and August.)
That means hail is recorded about once every seven summers. Here’s another way to look at it: Just one-tenth of 1% of the 10,670 summer days since 1903 has had any recorded hail.
Hail forms when thunderstorms pull moisture so high in the atmosphere the water turns into ice pellets, which fall to the ground before melting. While places like Florida and the tropics get plenty of thunderstorms, they see little hail because the air is warmer and the hail reverts to rain before it hits the ground.
Hail, by the way, is defined by the weather service as “showery precipitation in the form of irregular pellets or balls of ice more than 5 mm in diameter, falling from a cumulonimbus cloud.”
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Huge new Hollywood movie filming in Syracuse needs 2,000 extras (PS; Herbert)
Want to be in a movie? And get paid doing it? Cool, and bring a few hundred friends and family members, too.
A huge new Hollywood movie filming in Syracuse needs 2,000 background extras for a major feature film shooting this August and September. Extras are paid an average of $170 a day for filming.
All ages, genders and ethnicities 18 years old and up are encouraged to apply to AND Casting by Annie Delano at Application | AND Casting by Annie Delano. Delano is looking for 1,000 new faces to be part of the production.
According to a casting call announcement, it’s “the biggest film to ever shoot in Syracuse.” (For comparison, the 1977 hockey movie “Slap Shot” starring Paul Newman hired 500 local extras for scenes at the Onondaga County War Memorial; they were paid $2.30 an hour.)
Details of the new movie have not been released, but Delano previously worked on casting for American High films like “Big Time Adolescence,” filmed last year in Syracuse with Pete Davidson, Machine Gun Kelly and Jon Cryer. The Liverpool, N.Y.-based production company also shot “Holly Slept Over,” “Banana Split,” “Looks That Kill” and “Sid is Dead" over the past two years, using the former A.V. Zogg Middle School (now Syracuse Studios) as a film school and for shooting high school-type scenes.
American High has an upcoming movie called “The Swimsuit Issue,” directed by Hannah Marks (“Banana Split”), in the works; a cast has not been announced. According to IMDb, the comedy will follow a teenage outcast who photographs his fellow high school students for a “swimsuit issue” to make enough money to go to summer camp. It’s unclear if “The Swimsuit Issue” will be the movie shooting in August and September.
Deadline reports American High co-founder Jeremy Garelick, meanwhile, is set to write and direct a separate high-profile project: A reboot of “Look Who’s Talking,” the 1989 movie that starred Kirstie Alley and John Travolta with Bruce Willis as the voice of a baby’s inner monologue. The film spawned two sequels and a spinoff TV series.
“What excited me about doing is, I have four kids, including twins, and this is something they can watch, and share some of the experience I had with my wife,” Garelick told Deadline.
“Like, figuring out how to raise these kids, with all the mistakes that happen. Add in the voices that are keyed to facial expressions, it just really seems like a fun idea. Everyone can relate to babies. The challenge is, that was a really good movie, Travolta and Kirstie Alley had great chemistry and Amy Heckerling wrote a great script. We’re in the early stages of figuring out what the story is for the modern version of the movie.”
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