sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Asparagus Day!
Asparagus, from the genus family Asparagaceae, is made up of more than 200 species. The most common and economically important is garden asparagus, which is cultivated to be eaten, and is celebrated today! It is usually green with a purple-tinged top, but white asparagus is another common variety and is often grown in Europe. In particular, in France's Argenteuil, asparagus is grown underground so that chlorophyll does not develop. This white asparagus is thick, is smoother than green types, and is known for its tenderness and delicate flavor. There is also a purple variety of asparagus called viola.
Asparagus was a delicacy of the ancient Romans and Greeks, and its name comes from the Greek word "asparagos." The name first appeared in print in English around 1000 CE. Native to the Eastern Hemisphere, it is not known exactly when it came to America; there is record of it growing in New Jersey by at least 1740. It was being grown in California by the 1850s, and 70 percent of the national crop is still grown there.
SU News
Syracuse Basketball: More big-time accolades for five-star Benny Williams (itlh; Adler)
Yet another national honor has arrived for Syracuse basketball 2021 five-star commit Benny Williams.
The 6-foot-8 Williams, a senior at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., has received inclusion on the 2021 roster of the Jordan Brand Classic, an annual all-star game for elite high-school basketball players.
In a press release, the organizers of the Jordan Brand Classic detailed the 30 boys and 30 girls in the 2021 recruiting cycle who would have played in this event, although the game is not moving forward due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
This is a tremendous recognition for Williams, who is expected to soon arrive on campus in Central New York. The Jordan Brand Classic is in its 20th year, and the announcement says that the all-star game “is a celebration of the next generation of basketball stars and features the top high school talent in the country annually.”
By the way, former Orange legend Carmelo Anthony, who led the squad to its only national championship in 2003, is an alumnus of the Jordan Brand Classic.
Congratulations to Benny on this wonderful accomplishment. The native of Bowie, Md., put forth a stellar senior campaign for the IMG Academy, which is one of the best prep-school teams nationwide. Five players from the IMG Academy are on the Jordan Brand Classic’s 2021 roster.
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Justin Taylor Discusses Development of His Game, Updates Recruitment (SI; McAllister)
Justin Taylor, one of Syracuse basketball's top targets in the 2022 class, played at the Hoop Group Southern Jam Fest this weekend for Team Takeover. He helped lead his squad to the championship game of the event, where Takeover fell to Team Final. Taylor scored 20 points in the title game, and had a first half on Saturday in which he drilled five three pointers.
Taylor, who has seen his recruitment really take off over the last year, has been able to become a high major recruit despite the lack of an AAU season.
“It was big for me,” Taylor told SI All-American at the Hoop Group event. “To be able to do that without playing in the EYBL or during the high school season was pretty crazy. I just made the most of my opportunities. Now, I’ll get to play in the EYBL later this summer, so I’m looking forward to what comes from that.”
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Syracuse Basketball: Not feeling great about 4-star wing Ty Rodgers to SU (itlh; Adler)
Syracuse basketball target Ty Rodgers, a 2022 four-star player, is one of the top wings in this cycle. He has spoken highly of the Orange program numerous times, and several media reports have indicated that head coach Jim Boeheim regularly communicates with Rodgers.
However, given that the ‘Cuse recently picked up a verbal commitment from fellow 2022 four-star wing Kamari Lands, some Orange fans in chat rooms have prognosticated that Rodgers isn’t likely to choose the ‘Cuse because of the Lands development.
That being said, the 6-foot-8 Lands, a junior at Prolific Prep in Napa Valley, Calif., can reportedly suit up at small forward, shooting guard and point guard.
So while the 6-foot-7 Rodgers is also characterized as a small forward on recruiting Web sites, perhaps this positional overlap isn’t a deal-breaker for him as it pertains to Syracuse basketball.
But the other thing to consider here is that within the 2022 class, Orange coaches have also reportedly made four-star wing Justin Taylor a high-priority prospect.
The 6-foot-6 Taylor, a junior who attends the St. Anne’s-Belfield School in Charlottesville, Va., is scheduled to make an official visit to Central New York next month. I imagine that Taylor can suit up at either shooting guard or small forward.
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Lawrence Moten shakes hands with Tommy Poveromo, a young man he met for the first time at Thornden Park
How Sports Can Help Save Lives- Returning the Rims to City Courts (cnycentral.com;l Tamurian)
In 2020, there were 31 homicides in the City of Syracuse, up from 20 in 2019.
There are many invariables of course, other struggles that caused issues as the coronavirus pandemic raged on.
But there were many missing outlets for young people. One of the age demographics where violence rose at an alarming rate. As part of COVID-19 safety protocols, rims were taken off rims in Onondaga County, a necessary step to keep kids socially distanced.
Lawrence Moten, the all-time leading scorer in Syracuse Men's Basketball history and a counselor at Clary Middle School in the city says the unintended consequence was taking away something that keeps kids out of trouble. It's good to have all the courts back up, Niko. It was kind of depressing driving around and not seeing one rim up in Syracuse, NY. This is an outlet for some of these kids, also a stress reliever, to have the courts back up for these kids and give them something to do and keep them out of trouble is very important. We have to understand, we're a basketball town. This is a basketball town" Lawrence told me.
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Maggio: Revisiting the historic St. Bonaventure recruiting classes this one hopes to join - Pickin' Splinters (pickinsplinters.com; Maggio)
Jim Brown is arguably the greatest athlete to ever live. A Pro Football, College Football and Lacrosse Hall of Famer, the Syracuse grad averaged over 100 yards per National Football League game and scored 43 goals in just 10 games as a collegiate senior. He lettered 10 times in four sports at SU: football, lacrosse, track and even basketball.
The basketball court is where Brown’s brush with St. Bonaventure took place in the winter of 1957.
Bona fielded an elite freshman squad that year. Sam Stith, who teamed up with younger brother Tom to deliver multiple Brooklyn division and Catholic city championships to St. Francis Prep, helmed the backcourt with Bill Connery, a unanimous 1956 New Jersey All-State selection Bona believed to be Ken Murray’s heir apparent. Big man Stan Koliander was 6-foot-8, oftentimes the tallest player on the court, and left high school as the Southern Tier’s leading scorer.
SBU outplayed Syracuse as a team but had no answer for Brown, who poured in 39 of SU’s 69 points to lead the Orange football team to a three-point victory.
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Other
The Onondaga County Emergency Operations Center is staffed for coronavirus management Tuesday, March 17, 2020N. Scott Trimble | strimble@syra
Onondaga County wants new emergency operations center. Will feds pay for it? (PS; $; Weiner)
Onondaga County wants to scrap its emergency operations center in downtown Syracuse and replace it with a larger, more secure building in the suburbs where officials would coordinate responses to disasters.
County Executive Ryan McMahon is asking for $1 million in federal aid to help convert the former U.S. Army Reserve Training Center at 420 Electronics Parkway in Liverpool into a new emergency operations center.
The existing center – in a sub-basement 24 ½ feet below the Onondaga County Civic Center – has operated since the 1990s. It’s equipped with a backup power generator, satellite phones and technology intended to keep critical government functions running in an emergency.
Last year, the county fully activated the center for the first time in two decades to coordinate the local response to the coronavirus pandemic. The center stayed open for more than 60 consecutive days at the height of the pandemic to deal with the public health emergency.
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