The chocolate chip cookie is the most popular cookie in America. It was invented after 1930, most likely in 1937 or 1938, by Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, when she added cut-up chunks of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate to a cookie recipe. Her Butter Drop Dough cookie recipe called for melted baking chocolate, which she did not have, so she cut up chunks of the Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate instead. Some believe she was hoping the chocolate would melt in the batter, and that she created the chocolate chip cookies by accident, but others believe she knew that it would not melt, and she was trying to create the new cookies on purpose. No matter the case, she gave us chocolate chip cookies!
People loved her recipe, and as it became more popular, more Nestlé's chocolate bars began being sold. Wakefield eventually made an agreement with Nestlé, where her recipe would be added to the chocolate bar's packaging, in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Initially, Nestlé included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars, but by about 1940, Nestlé began selling chocolate in chip form. A few decades later, in 1963, Chips Ahoy! became the first brand selling pre-made chocolate chip cookies across the country. Since their invention, the affection for chocolate chip cookies has not subsided.
SU News
Interview with Syracuse Men's Basketball Forward Quincy Guerrier | (edgesportsnetwork.com; Gatte)
Enjoy our interview with Syracuse forward Quincy Guerrier. In his first season with the Orange, Guerrier averaged 6.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and shot 50% from the field while averaging 20 minutes per game. Prior to his time at Syracuse, he was selected to attend the NBA Americas Team Camp and also played for the Canadian Under-17 World Cup Team.
We cannot thank Quincy enough for taking the time to speak with us about his first year with the Orange, his experience playing with the team in Italy prior to this season, the legacy he wants to leave at Syracuse, and much more.
The NCAA is handing out tons of waivers for players to have immediate eligibility, and one of them better go to Syracuse basketball wing Alan Griffin.
Syracuse basketball fanatics are anxiously awaiting word from the NCAA on whether Illinois transfer Alan Griffin will have the ability to officially compete for the Orange this fall – or whenever the next season occurs amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein recently tweeted out that the “NCAA is handing out waivers for immediate eligibility like they’re seedless watermelon at the 4th of July Party. Why the gray area? Why not take a stand and add clarity for everyone involved? WHERE IS THE LEADERSHIP?”
Rothstein is one of the best in the business, but we don’t see eye to eye on this matter. I believe that every student-athlete, in ALL sports, should have the ability to transfer once without having to sit out a term.
Currently, that doesn’t hold true for players in college basketball, football, and a few other select sports. It’s ridiculous. Every student-athlete should have the right to transfer on a single occasion without having to sit out one year. Level the playing field, NCAA.
The NCAA is handing out waivers for immediate eligibility like they're seedless watermelon at the 4th of July Party.
Why the gray area?
Why not take a stand and add clarity for everyone involved?
WHERE IS THE LEADERSHIP? https://t.co/4UnxItAylT
Our SU Top 100 list adds yet another basketball great. While he’s not talked about as much as he should be, Bill Smith was one of the best players in Syracuse history. The 6-foot-11 big averaged a double-double in all three of his seasons with the varsity team. He was also incredibly skilled around the basket, never hitting less than 57 percent of his field goals in his three years.
In a two game spree in January of 1971, Smith had the best back-to-back performances in SU history. On January 12, Smith scored 28 points and grabbed a career high 30 rebounds against American University. Two days later, Smith set a different career high. Against Lafayette University Smith dropped 47 points. To this date that’s still the Syracuse school record. Only Dave Bing came close to breaking it, with a 45 and 46 point performance.
While Smith’s career was filled with highs, there were some lows as well. Valentine’s Day in 1970 was one of those lower moments. Syracuse was on the road at Morgantown, West Virginia, facing off against West Virginia University. After Syracuse pulled back from behind to take a three point lead, WVU went on a spree of their own. With just over a minute left, the Mountaineers had taken back the lead and were ahead by 10. Smith had just picked up his fifth foul and decided to swing on the ref.
His teammate, Bob McDaniel – who had been ejected seven seconds earlier – leapt off the bench and joined Smith in the beating of ref Herb Young. That led to a brawl between the teams.
Besides this low moment for Smith, he had a remarkable career at Syracuse. Upon graduation, Smith ranked second in points scored all-time, just behind Bing. He was also second all-time in rebounds, behind only Jon Cincebox.
He was then selected by the Portland Trailblazers with the 42nd overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, and played two seasons.
...
Five Syracuse basketball alumni are on NBA teams for the season restart. Between clutch shooting and key bench points, they’re taking the NBA by storm.
The NBA restart has been back for roughly one week and former Syracuse basketball players have been in the headlines. Dion Waiters made his return to the court with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Carmelo Anthony proved his clutchness to lead Portland to a game one win. Meanwhile, Jerami Grant helped pace Denver in a loss, while Michael Carter-Williams and Oshae Brissett wait for the right moments to shine.
Perhaps most impressive, was Grant’s game in the Nuggets’ loss, where his 19 bench points tied for the team lead. Unfortunately, his big game wasn’t enough, as Nikola Jokic was held to just 19, while the Nuggets shot just below 44% as a team. If Grant can continue to be a steady double-digit point scorer off the bench, it should give Denver a solid chance in the playoffs.
Long-time NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony had a very big first game back, as Portland came back against Memphis in an all-important race to the playoffs win. Melo scored 21 on the night on just ten field goal attempts, while also securing seven rebounds and two steals. However, his biggest six points of the game came at the end of the fourth quarter when Anthony hit two go-ahead threes to keep the Trail Blazers on top. They eventually won in overtime, with those two trifectas as a big reason for the victory.
...
If you can score well in the ACC, chances are good you’ll be convinced you can do likewise in the NBA.
This hasn’t necessarily proven true.
Clearly convinced of their offensive worth, four of the last six players who entered a season as the ACC’s top returning scorer left school before their eligibility expired. So far, neither Syracuse’s Tyus Battle, BC’s Jerome Robinson, FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes or BC’s Olivier Hanlan have made much of a splash since jumping ship.
At last report Battle is on a Russian team, Robinson is in the NBA, Rathan-Mayes is a G-Leaguer, and Hanlan is playing in Greece.
This year’s top offensive returnee is North Carolina senior Garrison Brooks, who like his team struggled through injuries last year. The lack of a healthy and adept playmaker, and a pool of surrounding talent denigrated even by coach Roy Williams, further hampered the 6-9 postman.
Brooks’s 16.8-point average didn’t even lead the Tar Heels, who shockingly posted a losing overall record in 2020. That’s unlikely to be the case in 2021, or whenever the next season might be.
In keeping with the inside-out orientation of UNC basketball, as handed down by Dean Smith, Brooks will get plenty of chances to score.
In fact, both Heels who returned to school as the ACC’s best scorer were big men – Tyler Hansbrough in 2007 and 2009 and Tyler Zeller in 2012. Zeller went on to be the ’12 ACC Player of the Year; Hansbrough won the award in 2008 between his exemplary scoring highs.
Brooks should be a favorite for 2021 ACC Player of the Year, particularly if Carolina returns to form as a national power.
Besides Brooks four of the other top 15 scorers return, and six of the top 20. Only once this century (2001) have 10 of the 20 scoring leaders returned. The last time even 9 of 20 came back was 2009.
Half of last season’s top-10 scorers were underclassmen, including No.2 Anthony Cole of UNC and a pair of Blue Devils, No.4 Vernon Carey and No. 6 Tre Jones. Anthony and Carey were freshmen.
...
Other
Some closed-up local bars and restaurants are reopening in CNY (PS; Cazentre)
It’s starting to be a little bit of a trend: Several restaurants and bars around Central New York that had closed their doors in recent weeks and months are starting to open back up.
On Tuesday, the Wolff’s Biergarten bar on Montgomery Street near City Hall in downtown Syracuse will reopen after shutting down completely in early July. At that time, owner Matt Baumgartner said “bars do not feel safe right now” amid continuing new cases of coronavirus, especially among the staff at his four locations.
A month later, Baumgartner says, “The numbers (of new cases) are looking positive, staying low, heading in the right direction. I have employees who really want to get back to work.”
The Wolff’s locations in Albany, Schenectady and Troy will also reopen Tuesday.
Meanwhile Laci’s Tapas Bar in the Hawley-Green neighborhood opened last week. It had tried the takeout model after the initial coronavirus shut down orders in March, but stopped it and shut down completely after just a few weeks.
Owner Laura Serway waited until late July to reopen, she said, in part because the $600 unemployment benefit bonuses her employees had been receiving were about to run out.
“Back and stronger than ever!,” Serway posted Sunday on Facebook.
Both Wolff’s and Laci’s are now operating under the new restrictions, which include a limit of no more than 50% capacity indoors and outdoors, social distancing, and mask requirements for staff and for customers unless they are are seated.
There’s also a requirement that bars and restaurants serve food along with any alcohol order. For Wolff’s in Syracuse, which has always had just a limited food menu, that will be met, too, Baumgarnter said.
“We’ve added some sausages,” he said.
Meanwhile, other restaurants are looking ahead to a planned reopening. Attilio’s Restaurant & Bar at 770 James has been closed, with no takeout, since March. It is now looking at a reopening around Labor Day, according to a Facebook post this weekend.
Other restaurants that have been closed up for the past few months are also looking ahead to the fall, like Riley’s on Syracuse’s North Side and the Dark Horse in DeWitt.
Meanwhile, there is a growing list of restaurants that have closed permanently during the coronavirus, though it’s not clear in every case that the pandemic is to blame.
Ironwood Pizza in Manlius, for example, announced last week it will not reopen after having been shut since April 8. Owner John Freightenburgh said he couldn’t figure out how to “make money safely during a pandemic,” but clarified he didn’t blame the state restrictions.
At syracuse.com were have been compiling a running list of permanent closings and are working on one about the restaurants that have been closed but plan to reopen. If you know of places that fit either scenario, send an email to dcazentre@syracuse.com.
Meanwhile many other restaurants have remained open for takeout and/or dining-in with restrictions all along.
...
The chocolate chip cookie is the most popular cookie in America. It was invented after 1930, most likely in 1937 or 1938, by Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, when she added cut-up chunks of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate to a cookie recipe. Her Butter Drop Dough cookie recipe called for melted baking chocolate, which she did not have, so she cut up chunks of the Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate instead. Some believe she was hoping the chocolate would melt in the batter, and that she created the chocolate chip cookies by accident, but others believe she knew that it would not melt, and she was trying to create the new cookies on purpose. No matter the case, she gave us chocolate chip cookies!
People loved her recipe, and as it became more popular, more Nestlé's chocolate bars began being sold. Wakefield eventually made an agreement with Nestlé, where her recipe would be added to the chocolate bar's packaging, in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Initially, Nestlé included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars, but by about 1940, Nestlé began selling chocolate in chip form. A few decades later, in 1963, Chips Ahoy! became the first brand selling pre-made chocolate chip cookies across the country. Since their invention, the affection for chocolate chip cookies has not subsided.
Enjoy our interview with Syracuse forward Quincy Guerrier. In his first season with the Orange, Guerrier averaged 6.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and shot 50% from the field while averaging 20 minutes per game. Prior to his time at Syracuse, he was selected to attend the NBA Americas Team Camp and also played for the Canadian Under-17 World Cup Team.
We cannot thank Quincy enough for taking the time to speak with us about his first year with the Orange, his experience playing with the team in Italy prior to this season, the legacy he wants to leave at Syracuse, and much more.
The NCAA is handing out tons of waivers for players to have immediate eligibility, and one of them better go to Syracuse basketball wing Alan Griffin.
Syracuse basketball fanatics are anxiously awaiting word from the NCAA on whether Illinois transfer Alan Griffin will have the ability to officially compete for the Orange this fall – or whenever the next season occurs amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein recently tweeted out that the “NCAA is handing out waivers for immediate eligibility like they’re seedless watermelon at the 4th of July Party. Why the gray area? Why not take a stand and add clarity for everyone involved? WHERE IS THE LEADERSHIP?”
Rothstein is one of the best in the business, but we don’t see eye to eye on this matter. I believe that every student-athlete, in ALL sports, should have the ability to transfer once without having to sit out a term.
Currently, that doesn’t hold true for players in college basketball, football, and a few other select sports. It’s ridiculous. Every student-athlete should have the right to transfer on a single occasion without having to sit out one year. Level the playing field, NCAA.
The NCAA is handing out waivers for immediate eligibility like they're seedless watermelon at the 4th of July Party.
Our SU Top 100 list adds yet another basketball great. While he’s not talked about as much as he should be, Bill Smith was one of the best players in Syracuse history. The 6-foot-11 big averaged a double-double in all three of his seasons with the varsity team. He was also incredibly skilled around the basket, never hitting less than 57 percent of his field goals in his three years.
In a two game spree in January of 1971, Smith had the best back-to-back performances in SU history. On January 12, Smith scored 28 points and grabbed a career high 30 rebounds against American University. Two days later, Smith set a different career high. Against Lafayette University Smith dropped 47 points. To this date that’s still the Syracuse school record. Only Dave Bing came close to breaking it, with a 45 and 46 point performance.
While Smith’s career was filled with highs, there were some lows as well. Valentine’s Day in 1970 was one of those lower moments. Syracuse was on the road at Morgantown, West Virginia, facing off against West Virginia University. After Syracuse pulled back from behind to take a three point lead, WVU went on a spree of their own. With just over a minute left, the Mountaineers had taken back the lead and were ahead by 10. Smith had just picked up his fifth foul and decided to swing on the ref.
His teammate, Bob McDaniel – who had been ejected seven seconds earlier – leapt off the bench and joined Smith in the beating of ref Herb Young. That led to a brawl between the teams.
Besides this low moment for Smith, he had a remarkable career at Syracuse. Upon graduation, Smith ranked second in points scored all-time, just behind Bing. He was also second all-time in rebounds, behind only Jon Cincebox.
He was then selected by the Portland Trailblazers with the 42nd overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, and played two seasons.
...
Five Syracuse basketball alumni are on NBA teams for the season restart. Between clutch shooting and key bench points, they’re taking the NBA by storm.
The NBA restart has been back for roughly one week and former Syracuse basketball players have been in the headlines. Dion Waiters made his return to the court with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Carmelo Anthony proved his clutchness to lead Portland to a game one win. Meanwhile, Jerami Grant helped pace Denver in a loss, while Michael Carter-Williams and Oshae Brissett wait for the right moments to shine.
Perhaps most impressive, was Grant’s game in the Nuggets’ loss, where his 19 bench points tied for the team lead. Unfortunately, his big game wasn’t enough, as Nikola Jokic was held to just 19, while the Nuggets shot just below 44% as a team. If Grant can continue to be a steady double-digit point scorer off the bench, it should give Denver a solid chance in the playoffs.
Long-time NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony had a very big first game back, as Portland came back against Memphis in an all-important race to the playoffs win. Melo scored 21 on the night on just ten field goal attempts, while also securing seven rebounds and two steals. However, his biggest six points of the game came at the end of the fourth quarter when Anthony hit two go-ahead threes to keep the Trail Blazers on top. They eventually won in overtime, with those two trifectas as a big reason for the victory.
...
If you can score well in the ACC, chances are good you’ll be convinced you can do likewise in the NBA.
This hasn’t necessarily proven true.
Clearly convinced of their offensive worth, four of the last six players who entered a season as the ACC’s top returning scorer left school before their eligibility expired. So far, neither Syracuse’s Tyus Battle, BC’s Jerome Robinson, FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes or BC’s Olivier Hanlan have made much of a splash since jumping ship.
At last report Battle is on a Russian team, Robinson is in the NBA, Rathan-Mayes is a G-Leaguer, and Hanlan is playing in Greece.
This year’s top offensive returnee is North Carolina senior Garrison Brooks, who like his team struggled through injuries last year. The lack of a healthy and adept playmaker, and a pool of surrounding talent denigrated even by coach Roy Williams, further hampered the 6-9 postman.
Brooks’s 16.8-point average didn’t even lead the Tar Heels, who shockingly posted a losing overall record in 2020. That’s unlikely to be the case in 2021, or whenever the next season might be.
In keeping with the inside-out orientation of UNC basketball, as handed down by Dean Smith, Brooks will get plenty of chances to score.
In fact, both Heels who returned to school as the ACC’s best scorer were big men – Tyler Hansbrough in 2007 and 2009 and Tyler Zeller in 2012. Zeller went on to be the ’12 ACC Player of the Year; Hansbrough won the award in 2008 between his exemplary scoring highs.
Brooks should be a favorite for 2021 ACC Player of the Year, particularly if Carolina returns to form as a national power.
Besides Brooks four of the other top 15 scorers return, and six of the top 20. Only once this century (2001) have 10 of the 20 scoring leaders returned. The last time even 9 of 20 came back was 2009.
Half of last season’s top-10 scorers were underclassmen, including No.2 Anthony Cole of UNC and a pair of Blue Devils, No.4 Vernon Carey and No. 6 Tre Jones. Anthony and Carey were freshmen.
...
It’s starting to be a little bit of a trend: Several restaurants and bars around Central New York that had closed their doors in recent weeks and months are starting to open back up.
On Tuesday, the Wolff’s Biergarten bar on Montgomery Street near City Hall in downtown Syracuse will reopen after shutting down completely in early July. At that time, owner Matt Baumgartner said “bars do not feel safe right now” amid continuing new cases of coronavirus, especially among the staff at his four locations.
A month later, Baumgartner says, “The numbers (of new cases) are looking positive, staying low, heading in the right direction. I have employees who really want to get back to work.”
The Wolff’s locations in Albany, Schenectady and Troy will also reopen Tuesday.
Meanwhile Laci’s Tapas Bar in the Hawley-Green neighborhood opened last week. It had tried the takeout model after the initial coronavirus shut down orders in March, but stopped it and shut down completely after just a few weeks.
Owner Laura Serway waited until late July to reopen, she said, in part because the $600 unemployment benefit bonuses her employees had been receiving were about to run out.
“Back and stronger than ever!,” Serway posted Sunday on Facebook.
Both Wolff’s and Laci’s are now operating under the new restrictions, which include a limit of no more than 50% capacity indoors and outdoors, social distancing, and mask requirements for staff and for customers unless they are are seated.
There’s also a requirement that bars and restaurants serve food along with any alcohol order. For Wolff’s in Syracuse, which has always had just a limited food menu, that will be met, too, Baumgarnter said.
“We’ve added some sausages,” he said.
Meanwhile, other restaurants are looking ahead to a planned reopening. Attilio’s Restaurant & Bar at 770 James has been closed, with no takeout, since March. It is now looking at a reopening around Labor Day, according to a Facebook post this weekend.
Other restaurants that have been closed up for the past few months are also looking ahead to the fall, like Riley’s on Syracuse’s North Side and the Dark Horse in DeWitt.
Meanwhile, there is a growing list of restaurants that have closed permanently during the coronavirus, though it’s not clear in every case that the pandemic is to blame.
Ironwood Pizza in Manlius, for example, announced last week it will not reopen after having been shut since April 8. Owner John Freightenburgh said he couldn’t figure out how to “make money safely during a pandemic,” but clarified he didn’t blame the state restrictions.
At syracuse.com were have been compiling a running list of permanent closings and are working on one about the restaurants that have been closed but plan to reopen. If you know of places that fit either scenario, send an email to dcazentre@syracuse.com.
Meanwhile many other restaurants have remained open for takeout and/or dining-in with restrictions all along.
...
Ha. Thanks for that Smith article Tom. You have a good memory. As a young teen he was my favorite player. Could score inside with the best of them, was a beast on the boards and was tough as nails. Probably one of the three toughest Orangemen I’ve seen along with Tommy Stundis and DC. So very underrated as an Orangeman. IMO, #55 is too low.
The chocolate chip cookie is the most popular cookie in America. It was invented after 1930, most likely in 1937 or 1938, by Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, when she added cut-up chunks of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate to a cookie recipe. Her Butter Drop Dough cookie recipe called for melted baking chocolate, which she did not have, so she cut up chunks of the Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate instead. Some believe she was hoping the chocolate would melt in the batter, and that she created the chocolate chip cookies by accident, but others believe she knew that it would not melt, and she was trying to create the new cookies on purpose. No matter the case, she gave us chocolate chip cookies!
People loved her recipe, and as it became more popular, more Nestlé's chocolate bars began being sold. Wakefield eventually made an agreement with Nestlé, where her recipe would be added to the chocolate bar's packaging, in exchange for a lifetime supply of chocolate. Initially, Nestlé included a small chopping tool with the chocolate bars, but by about 1940, Nestlé began selling chocolate in chip form. A few decades later, in 1963, Chips Ahoy! became the first brand selling pre-made chocolate chip cookies across the country. Since their invention, the affection for chocolate chip cookies has not subsided.
Enjoy our interview with Syracuse forward Quincy Guerrier. In his first season with the Orange, Guerrier averaged 6.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and shot 50% from the field while averaging 20 minutes per game. Prior to his time at Syracuse, he was selected to attend the NBA Americas Team Camp and also played for the Canadian Under-17 World Cup Team.
We cannot thank Quincy enough for taking the time to speak with us about his first year with the Orange, his experience playing with the team in Italy prior to this season, the legacy he wants to leave at Syracuse, and much more.
The NCAA is handing out tons of waivers for players to have immediate eligibility, and one of them better go to Syracuse basketball wing Alan Griffin.
Syracuse basketball fanatics are anxiously awaiting word from the NCAA on whether Illinois transfer Alan Griffin will have the ability to officially compete for the Orange this fall – or whenever the next season occurs amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein recently tweeted out that the “NCAA is handing out waivers for immediate eligibility like they’re seedless watermelon at the 4th of July Party. Why the gray area? Why not take a stand and add clarity for everyone involved? WHERE IS THE LEADERSHIP?”
Rothstein is one of the best in the business, but we don’t see eye to eye on this matter. I believe that every student-athlete, in ALL sports, should have the ability to transfer once without having to sit out a term.
Currently, that doesn’t hold true for players in college basketball, football, and a few other select sports. It’s ridiculous. Every student-athlete should have the right to transfer on a single occasion without having to sit out one year. Level the playing field, NCAA.
The NCAA is handing out waivers for immediate eligibility like they're seedless watermelon at the 4th of July Party.
Our SU Top 100 list adds yet another basketball great. While he’s not talked about as much as he should be, Bill Smith was one of the best players in Syracuse history. The 6-foot-11 big averaged a double-double in all three of his seasons with the varsity team. He was also incredibly skilled around the basket, never hitting less than 57 percent of his field goals in his three years.
In a two game spree in January of 1971, Smith had the best back-to-back performances in SU history. On January 12, Smith scored 28 points and grabbed a career high 30 rebounds against American University. Two days later, Smith set a different career high. Against Lafayette University Smith dropped 47 points. To this date that’s still the Syracuse school record. Only Dave Bing came close to breaking it, with a 45 and 46 point performance.
While Smith’s career was filled with highs, there were some lows as well. Valentine’s Day in 1970 was one of those lower moments. Syracuse was on the road at Morgantown, West Virginia, facing off against West Virginia University. After Syracuse pulled back from behind to take a three point lead, WVU went on a spree of their own. With just over a minute left, the Mountaineers had taken back the lead and were ahead by 10. Smith had just picked up his fifth foul and decided to swing on the ref.
His teammate, Bob McDaniel – who had been ejected seven seconds earlier – leapt off the bench and joined Smith in the beating of ref Herb Young. That led to a brawl between the teams.
Besides this low moment for Smith, he had a remarkable career at Syracuse. Upon graduation, Smith ranked second in points scored all-time, just behind Bing. He was also second all-time in rebounds, behind only Jon Cincebox.
He was then selected by the Portland Trailblazers with the 42nd overall pick in the 1971 NBA Draft, and played two seasons.
...
Five Syracuse basketball alumni are on NBA teams for the season restart. Between clutch shooting and key bench points, they’re taking the NBA by storm.
The NBA restart has been back for roughly one week and former Syracuse basketball players have been in the headlines. Dion Waiters made his return to the court with the Los Angeles Lakers, while Carmelo Anthony proved his clutchness to lead Portland to a game one win. Meanwhile, Jerami Grant helped pace Denver in a loss, while Michael Carter-Williams and Oshae Brissett wait for the right moments to shine.
Perhaps most impressive, was Grant’s game in the Nuggets’ loss, where his 19 bench points tied for the team lead. Unfortunately, his big game wasn’t enough, as Nikola Jokic was held to just 19, while the Nuggets shot just below 44% as a team. If Grant can continue to be a steady double-digit point scorer off the bench, it should give Denver a solid chance in the playoffs.
Long-time NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony had a very big first game back, as Portland came back against Memphis in an all-important race to the playoffs win. Melo scored 21 on the night on just ten field goal attempts, while also securing seven rebounds and two steals. However, his biggest six points of the game came at the end of the fourth quarter when Anthony hit two go-ahead threes to keep the Trail Blazers on top. They eventually won in overtime, with those two trifectas as a big reason for the victory.
...
If you can score well in the ACC, chances are good you’ll be convinced you can do likewise in the NBA.
This hasn’t necessarily proven true.
Clearly convinced of their offensive worth, four of the last six players who entered a season as the ACC’s top returning scorer left school before their eligibility expired. So far, neither Syracuse’s Tyus Battle, BC’s Jerome Robinson, FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes or BC’s Olivier Hanlan have made much of a splash since jumping ship.
At last report Battle is on a Russian team, Robinson is in the NBA, Rathan-Mayes is a G-Leaguer, and Hanlan is playing in Greece.
This year’s top offensive returnee is North Carolina senior Garrison Brooks, who like his team struggled through injuries last year. The lack of a healthy and adept playmaker, and a pool of surrounding talent denigrated even by coach Roy Williams, further hampered the 6-9 postman.
Brooks’s 16.8-point average didn’t even lead the Tar Heels, who shockingly posted a losing overall record in 2020. That’s unlikely to be the case in 2021, or whenever the next season might be.
In keeping with the inside-out orientation of UNC basketball, as handed down by Dean Smith, Brooks will get plenty of chances to score.
In fact, both Heels who returned to school as the ACC’s best scorer were big men – Tyler Hansbrough in 2007 and 2009 and Tyler Zeller in 2012. Zeller went on to be the ’12 ACC Player of the Year; Hansbrough won the award in 2008 between his exemplary scoring highs.
Brooks should be a favorite for 2021 ACC Player of the Year, particularly if Carolina returns to form as a national power.
Besides Brooks four of the other top 15 scorers return, and six of the top 20. Only once this century (2001) have 10 of the 20 scoring leaders returned. The last time even 9 of 20 came back was 2009.
Half of last season’s top-10 scorers were underclassmen, including No.2 Anthony Cole of UNC and a pair of Blue Devils, No.4 Vernon Carey and No. 6 Tre Jones. Anthony and Carey were freshmen.
...
It’s starting to be a little bit of a trend: Several restaurants and bars around Central New York that had closed their doors in recent weeks and months are starting to open back up.
On Tuesday, the Wolff’s Biergarten bar on Montgomery Street near City Hall in downtown Syracuse will reopen after shutting down completely in early July. At that time, owner Matt Baumgartner said “bars do not feel safe right now” amid continuing new cases of coronavirus, especially among the staff at his four locations.
A month later, Baumgartner says, “The numbers (of new cases) are looking positive, staying low, heading in the right direction. I have employees who really want to get back to work.”
The Wolff’s locations in Albany, Schenectady and Troy will also reopen Tuesday.
Meanwhile Laci’s Tapas Bar in the Hawley-Green neighborhood opened last week. It had tried the takeout model after the initial coronavirus shut down orders in March, but stopped it and shut down completely after just a few weeks.
Owner Laura Serway waited until late July to reopen, she said, in part because the $600 unemployment benefit bonuses her employees had been receiving were about to run out.
“Back and stronger than ever!,” Serway posted Sunday on Facebook.
Both Wolff’s and Laci’s are now operating under the new restrictions, which include a limit of no more than 50% capacity indoors and outdoors, social distancing, and mask requirements for staff and for customers unless they are are seated.
There’s also a requirement that bars and restaurants serve food along with any alcohol order. For Wolff’s in Syracuse, which has always had just a limited food menu, that will be met, too, Baumgarnter said.
“We’ve added some sausages,” he said.
Meanwhile, other restaurants are looking ahead to a planned reopening. Attilio’s Restaurant & Bar at 770 James has been closed, with no takeout, since March. It is now looking at a reopening around Labor Day, according to a Facebook post this weekend.
Other restaurants that have been closed up for the past few months are also looking ahead to the fall, like Riley’s on Syracuse’s North Side and the Dark Horse in DeWitt.
Meanwhile, there is a growing list of restaurants that have closed permanently during the coronavirus, though it’s not clear in every case that the pandemic is to blame.
Ironwood Pizza in Manlius, for example, announced last week it will not reopen after having been shut since April 8. Owner John Freightenburgh said he couldn’t figure out how to “make money safely during a pandemic,” but clarified he didn’t blame the state restrictions.
At syracuse.com were have been compiling a running list of permanent closings and are working on one about the restaurants that have been closed but plan to reopen. If you know of places that fit either scenario, send an email to dcazentre@syracuse.com.
Meanwhile many other restaurants have remained open for takeout and/or dining-in with restrictions all along.
...
He is a a legendary figure in SU basketball. Anyone know if he has ever come back for an basketball alumni reunion or just to attend a game? I would love to see him in person.
