sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Purple Heart Day!
During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington wanted to recognize soldiers for their merit but was not allowed to do this by promoting them. So, on August 7, 1782, Washington ordered the establishment of the Badge of Military Merit. He in part said, "The General ever desirous to cherish virtuous ambition in his soldiers, as well as to foster and encourage every species of Military merit, directs that whenever any singularly meritorious action is performed, the author of it shall be permitted to wear on his facings over the left breast, the figure of a heart in purple cloth, or silk, edged with narrow lace or binding." Washington presented three soldiers with the badge and said the award should be permanent. But, as the Revolutionary War ended, it did not continue being used.
SU News
https://expo.syracuse.com/sports/g66l-2019/08/67110f61074704/syracuse-basketball-the-best-teams-players-games-and-moments-of-the-2010s.html (PS; Waters)
The 2010s marked a decade of incredible success for the Syracuse University basketball program.
During the past 10 years, the Orange went to two Final Fours, one Elite 8 and two Sweet 16s and had three different teams rise to No. 1 in the national polls,
There were heart-stopping victories and memorable moments.
With the decade coming to a close and the 2019-20 season just three months off, it's a good time to look back and recount the best teams, games, moments and players of the 2010s.
No. 5: 2013-14
The 2013-14 Orange won its first 25 games, breaking the school record for consecutive victories to start a season and overall.
Freshman Tyler Ennis took over the point guard duties and guided a team that relied on senior C.J. Fair, junior Rakeem Christmas and sophomores Trevor Cooney, Jerami Grant and Michael Gbinije.
After a 91-89 overtime win over Duke on Feb. 1, Syracuse would rise to No. 1 in the Associated Press poll. The Orange remained atop the polls until back-to-back losses to Boston College and at Duke in late February.
Syracuse's season disappointedly ended with a loss to North Carolina State in the ACC tournament and to Dayton in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
No. 4: 2015-16
Syracuse struggled through the 2015-16 season. The Orange appeared in the AP Top 25 for just one week thanks to a 6-0 start, but that ended with consecutive losses to Wisconsin and Georgetown.
In December, the NCAA suspended Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim for nine games. The Orange went 4-5 without its head coach. When Syracuse lost to No. 6 North Carolina in Boeheim's return, the Orange's record dropped to 10-7.
Syracuse earned a bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 10 seed. The Orange then won four straight games, including a stunning 68-62 comeback win over Virginia in the Midwest Region finals to advance to the Final Four.
A loss to North Carolina in the NCAA semifinals ended the Orange's incredible post-season run.
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https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2019/08/visa-issues-will-prevent-syracuse-basketball-center-john-bol-ajak-from-making-italy-trip-with-team.html (PS; Ditota)
A visa issue will prevent freshman center John Bol Ajak from traveling with his Syracuse basketball team to Italy later this week, SU’s director of athletic communications Pete Moore said.
Syracuse University and its basketball office have been working with federal and state authorities to help secure proper paperwork for Ajak, a native of South Sudan who moved with his family to Kenya as a young boy.
Moore said the university exhausted every avenue that might allow Ajak to travel with his team, but that ultimately “it didn’t work out.”
Moore wasn’t specific about Ajak’s visa issue, but his South Sudan passport and a student visa he is using to study in the United States are probably involved. South Sudan ranks 99th on the Henley Passport Index, which rates the travel freedoms of passport holders from each nation. For reference, the U.S. ranks 6th in that same category.
South Sudan resides on the same line on the Henley Index as Congo, Ethopia and Sri Lanka and ranks just ahead of Kosovo, Iran and North Korea.
Former SU basketball players Paschal Chukwu and Chino Obokoh, both from Nigeria, had visa concerns related to their Nigerian passport, which ranks 98th on the Henley Index. Both were afraid to leave the U.S., worried they would not be allowed back into the country.
Ajak’s issue could be twofold: Italy might not admit him with his current passport/visa or the United States might not let him return once he leaves.
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What do Syracuse basketball players expect from Italian competition? (PS; Ditota)
Nobody knows exactly what to expect from the teams Syracuse will play on its basketball tour of Italy.
The Orange leaves Saturday for a 10-day trip through four regions of Italy. It will play four games against teams called All Stars Varese (Lake Como), Oxygen Bassano (Venice), Siena Summer Team (Florence) and Virtus Roma (Rome). The best anyone can guess is these teams are comprised of area pros, loosely gathered to play an American college basketball team.
Marek Dolezaj grew up in Slovakia and can assume what Syracuse might see on the basketball courts of Italy. Robert Braswell spent nearly four years in Germany while his mother worked on an American Naval base. He, too, has a basic understanding of the way Europeans play basketball.
“I really don’t know what the players are going to be – are they professionals or not?,” said Dolezaj, whose finger injury will prevent him from playing. “But they will be 100 percent smart in their heads, they play really smart basketball. The European side is a little bit different. They play a little bit slower and they’re not trying to rush it too much.”
Braswell lived in Germany until about 2014-15, as he remembers it. He went to an American high school on the base and played basketball for that team. He, too, can only guess what SU will be facing in Italy.
“I think they’re going to be very strong on the fundamentals. They’re going to be able to do the little things,” he said. “The difference here, I think, is guys are more athletic and more flashy. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just how it is. European basketball, they really work on the fundamentals a lot more.”
Syracuse coaches, players said, have begun to indoctrinate players on what they should expect from the brand of basketball they are likely to encounter. SU freshman John Bol Ajak was born in South Sudan and grew up in Kenya. His understanding of European basketball stems mostly from what he has watched and from what he has been told.
“Europe is more skilled. Passing. It’s more of an IQ game for them. For us, it’s more physical,” he said. “They might not be the best leapers, but they’ll use their brains. So as a center, you can’t fall for pump-fakes. You have to stay on your feet. That’s what Coach preaches.”
The rules
The games will be governed by FIBA rules. There are a few distinct differences between FIBA rules and NCAA rules:
1) The game will be played in four quarters of 10 minutes each
2) There’s a 24-second shot clock
3) There’s no jump ball – it’s all alternating possessions
4) Players can touch the ball once it hits the rim, regardless of whether it’s “in the cylinder”
The ball
The Syracuse players hate the international basketball.
They’ve been practicing with it. And guys said it’s oddly slippery, especially once they’ve worked up a sweat. Of the half dozen or so SU players polled on the ball, all of them complained about its slippery surface and strange feel.
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https://basketballsocietyonline.com/joe-girard-iii-the-next-great-syracuse-guard (basketballsocietyonline.com; King)
Jonny Flynn, Earl Washington, Eric Devendorf, Gerry McNamara are all names synonymous with playing in the back-court for the Syracuse Orange. However, New York State’s All-Time leading scorer and four star freshman recruit Joe Girard III has a chance to become the greatest guard in program history.
With Syracuse losing their leading scorer in Tyus Battle declaring for the NBA draft, there remains a lot of points left to be filled for head coach Jim Boeheim’s squad. Leave that up to Girard III.
Instant Offense
Girard averaged 39.0 PPG in five years at Glens Falls high school in upstate New York. His senior season, Girard III averaged 48.6 PPG.
Seeing him first hand several times, he has all the skills that come with being an elite level scorer. As a ball handler, he can split double teams and penetrate and finish with contact among the trees while also getting absurd elevation on his perimeter jump shot.
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https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/sports/2019/08/07/can-girard-live-up-to-the-hype- (spectrumlocalnews.com; Callaway)
All Joe Girard III does is win.
The Glens Falls product led the Indians to state titles in football and in basketball during his senior season. Shortly after taking the state title in football, the sharpshooter made the announcement that he'll be heading to Syracuse for basketball.
"It was always in the back of my mind. (Going to SU) It always had a place in my heart just because it was the hometown school and in-state school. My mom always liked Syracuse and I've always been to a lot of football and basketball games," said Girard.
Over his five years playing varsity at Glens Falls, JG3 notched a whopping 4,763 points, good for the all-time record in the state. After averaging 50 points per game during his high school career, the expectations are high for the freshman sharpshooter.
Kate Callaway got to talk for Joe Girard III about why he chose SU, what it's been like being coached by Gerry McNamara and how he feels heading into his first season on the Hill.
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IU ranks 12th in the country in 2018-19 men's basketball attendance (idsnews.com)
IU found itself ranked 12th in the country with an average of 15,206 fans per game in a report released by the NCAA regarding the top attendance in college basketball.
IU's total attendance in 21 home games, which includes three postseason NIT games, was more than 319,335, the fifth-highest total in college basketball.
Syracuse University ranked first with a total of 417,852 — with an average of 21,992 per game — making it the only school to eclipse the 400,000 mark.
IU was the third Big Ten team on the list behind Wisconsin, fifth, and Nebraska, 10th. IU was just ahead of Michigan State and Purdue, which were 13th and 14th respectively.
The Big Ten as a whole was the number one conference with an average of 12,691 fans.
IU also ranked ninth among all NCAA Division I teams with 501,092 fans seeing the Hoosiers play at home, on the road and in neutral games.
It marks the eighth straight season the Hoosiers have ranked among the top 15 teams average attendance in the country.
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French pastry, aircraft carriers and cracked sidewalks: Remembering Al McGuire (prairie.blogspot.com; PP)
French pastry, aircraft carriers and cracked sidewalks — what do they have to do with the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, aka “March Madness,” which holds the attention of millions of people for three weekends?
Here in South Dakota, we were excited to see SDSU make the tourney for the fourth time in six years. The tourney is one of the biggest sporting events of the year, partially because of the excellent play and also due to the pageantry, the fans, cheerleaders and bands filling arenas around the country with noise and excitement.
The best players pass through in a season or two now, headed to the NBA to play a game that makes them millionaires but often costs them their passion for the game. The people who endure on this stage are the coaches, who are paid like the star players they send to the pros and preen for the cameras for years, sometimes decades.
It was 40 years ago that one of the best coaches, and certainly the most unique basketball genius of all time, had his most celebrated moment. Al McGuire led the 1977 Marquette Warriors to the NCAA crown and then walked away from coaching.
He went to a long career as an announcer for NBC and CBS where his insight and colorful terms — “French pastry” meant showing off, an “aircraft carrier” was a big man in the middle and “cracked sidewalks” were the inner-city neighborhoods where he found players — made him a bigger star than he had been on the sideline.
He was funny, there’s no doubt, and very aware of his persona.
“When I was losing, they called me nuts. When I was winning they called me eccentric,” he said. “I want my team to have my personality: surly, obnoxious and arrogant.”
You can ignore the wit and charm and still admire his hoop resume. McGuire played in the NBA, where he displayed the kind of in-your-jersey defense he taught his players.
He was an outstanding coach, leading the Catholic school in Milwaukee to the top of the rankings for a decade. He went 295-80 at Marquette, a 79 percent run of success, with 11 straight seasons of 20 wins or more, including 28-1, 27-2 and 26-3 campaigns.
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Other
The Mac & Cheese Bacon Dog from Pizza Emporium.
Two outrageous hot dogs, plus chicken and waffle pizza, arrive at the NYS Fair (PS; Pucci)
A hot dog with a side of macaroni and cheese may seem tame, but what about a bacon-wrapped hot dog topped with mac and cheese and even more bacon?
That’s not even the most extreme food the Pizza Emporium is bringing to the 2019 New York State Fair. That title arguably goes to the Spicy PB&J Bacon Dog. Like its pasta-topped cousin, this dog also starts with wrap of bacon. But then comes the peanut butter, bacon crumbles and spicy sriracha jelly that top the dog.
That’s the kind of out-of-the-bun thinking that will land this sweet-and-savory hot dog a spot on an upcoming episode of Cooking Channel’s “Carnival Eats." The episode will air at 9 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11.
You can’t be a pizza emporium without pizza, so they’ll be serving up another wacky sweet treat: Chicken and waffle pizza, which is topped with mozzarella cheese, fried chicken, bacon and waffle pieces, all drizzled with syrup.
Other new arrivals at this year’s state fair include the Cotton Candy Roll, the bacon-wrapped, mac and cheese-stuffed Sudden Death burger and French fries topped with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or caramel sauce and fruity cereal.
The New York State Fair runs from Aug. 21 to Sept. 2.
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