sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to International Lego Day!
Lego (stylized as LEGO) are plastic construction toys, including interlocking plastic bricks of various colors—as well as accompanying minifigures, gears, and other parts—that can be put together and taken apart, and be used to construct many objects, like model buildings, vehicles, and robots. It was on today's date in 1958 that a patent for Lego bricks was applied for, which is why today is known as International LEGO Day, a day on which we celebrate all things Lego.
Lego bricks and other items are manufactured by the Lego Group, which is based in Billund, Denmark. It was in this city in 1932 that a carpenter by the name of Ole Kirk Christiansen began making wooden toys. Two years later, his company began being called "Lego," which came from leg godt, the Danish phrase meaning "play well." The company started making plastic toys in 1947, and interlocking bricks in 1949. Called "Automatic Binding Bricks," they were based on Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks.
On January 28, 1958, Christiansen's son, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, submitted an application for a patent for a "Toy Building Brick." These new bricks were made with ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer. All Lego bricks, then and now, are compatible with each other, no matter their size or what they are used to build. Since the 1950s, thousands of Lego sets of various themes and environments have been produced. Some of them include space, castle, city, pirates, and trains. Lego themes have also been licensed from film, cartoon, and video game franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Batman, Indiana Jones, and Minecraft. Additionally, Lego manufactures Mindstorms, a robotics line of Lego, and Duplo, consisting of bigger blocks for younger children. Minifigures walked onto the scene in 1978 and can be found in many sets. Some older Lego sets are quite valuable today.
SU News
Jim Boeheim’s radio show touched on Jesse Edwards, Benny Williams and Symir Torrence’s injury (PS; $; Ditota)
Jim Boeheim touched on various topics that seemed to resonate with listeners on his weekly radio show Thursday night.
The Jim Boeheim Show airs each week on TK-99 with host Matt Park asking questions and fielding calls. Callers inquired about a couple hot-button topics this week. Boeheim, earlier in the day, had a “the buck stops here” conversation on a different radio show; Cuse Sports Talk is hosted by Steve Infanti and Paulie Scibilia.
On his own radio show, he reiterated some of those same thoughts. The Orange, at this point in the season, is 9-11 with Wake Forest awaiting in the Carrier Dome on Saturday.
The Syracuse coach said he understands there’s a current of unhappiness rippling through the community about his team.
“When you’re not winning, people are going to be upset. They’re not as upset as I am, but they’re upset.”
Here are a few topics he touched on:
On the bottom line: “With this team, everyone on this team is trying. Everybody is doing what we ask them to do. They’re pushing, they’re working, they come in on their off days. But we just haven’t been good enough. And that completely falls on the head coach. Either I didn’t get good enough players, or I’m not coaching them good enough, whatever you want to say. That’s the facts. People say ‘He doesn’t take responsibility.’ I always have. I’m the head coach.”
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College basketball notes: Syracuse needs Girard III to snap out of shooting slump (nny360.com; St Croix)
The Syracuse University men’s basketball team is anticipating the next thrill on the roller coaster experience conducted by Joe Girard III, but the ride has appeared stuck on the anxious trek up recently.
The junior from Glens Falls has struggled over the last two games, extending an up-and-down stretch that has peaked with flashes of scoring brilliance but bottomed out with forgettable performances amid the overall difficulties of the Orange to remain in contention in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The next chance for the enigmatic point guard and SU (9-11 overall, 3-6 ACC) to snap out of its collective funk will come Saturday night when it hosts Wake Forest (17-4, 7-3) at 8 p.m. at the Carrier Dome, to be televised on the ACC Network.
Girard III has made just 4 of 22 shots in back-to-back SU losses to Duke and Pittsburgh over the past week, including a 1-for-15 mark on 3-point field goals for a combined 10 points to go with six assists and nine turnovers.
“I’m disappointed in Joe because he missed a couple early and he just never really got into it,” SU coach Jim Boeheim said after SU matched a season low in a 64-53 setback at Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
“He’s missed shots before, but generally if he gets off to bad start, he’s not playing through it, generally, and when he gets off to a good start, he gets it going,” Boeheim added. “You can’t do that. You’re going to have bad starts and bad spots, but for us to be successful, we have to have the balance.”
Syracuse has lost six of its last eight overall in the ACC since the start of January.
Girard III has been held below 30 percent shooting in four of those losses, and SU has a 1-3 record in games that the guard has been held below double figures scoring during that stretch.
The high school state record holder for total points (4,763) has flashed his ability to pour it in for spurts amid the recent challenging stretch. He scored 26 in a loss to Miami and 23 in a victory over Clemson, shooting a combined 11-for-17 from behind the 3-point arc in those offensive outbursts.
In the other six games this month, Girard III has averaged 7.5 points per game while shooting just 24 percent from the field along with a combined 6-for-35 showing from deep for a mark of 17 percent. Syracuse has lost five of those six outings.
“Joe is hard to figure out this year,” Boeheim said. “He’s played really, really well in games and then when he gets off to a bad start, he just struggles.”
For the season, Girard III is averaging 13.1 points, 4.3 assists, 1.8 steals and has made 53 total 3-point field goals at a 41.7 percent rate.
He enters the weekend ranked second in the ACC for total 3-pointers, 13th in 3-point percentage, fourth in assists and fifth in steals average.
“They put a tough defender on him, tough, quick guy who works really hard,” Buddy Boeheim said when asked about his backcourt mate after Tuesday’s loss. “Joe got some good looks and just wasn’t able to convert tonight, a couple sloppy turnovers, but it’s on all of us and he’s going to be better. We know that.”
The absence of backup point guard Symir Torrence did little to help Girard III bust out of his slump.
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Why is attendance down at Syracuse and through ACC? Officials offer number of reasons (PS; $; Waters)
About 10 minutes before Syracuse’s game at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night, the Petersen Events Center echoed with the sounds of squeaking sneakers and basketballs hitting the hardwood.
Pittsburgh’s student section, the famed Oakland Zoo, was full, but the rest of the 12,500-seat arena had more empty seats than fans.
The announced crowd of 8,000 was far below an accurate count of bodies in seats.
The Syracuse-Pittsburgh game was a reflection of attendance throughout the ACC this season. Every school in the league aside from Duke is experiencing a drop in attendance this year compared to the 2019-20 season, which was the last pre-Covid college basketball year.
At some ACC schools, the drop in attendance is a mere blip – 4.6% at Virginia and 6.7% at Clemson.
But many schools in the conference are looking at decreases in attendance of more than 20%. The list includes Louisville, Miami, Virginia Tech and North Carolina State.
Even the tradition-rich schools are looking at significant dropoffs. North Carolina is down 12.4%. Wake Forest is down 18.5%.
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Syracuse Basketball: Highly efficient offense has suddenly gone ice cold (itlh; Adler)
Since Syracuse basketball has often struggled in its zone defense throughout the 2021-22 campaign, the Orange has relied on its often potent offense to light up the scoreboard and outscore its opponents.
However, over its last two games, both losses on the road, the ‘Cuse offense has proven anything but potent. In fact, the team’s offense has been downright dreadful, and that’s obviously concerning.
After the Orange fell at Pittsburgh by a count of 64-53 earlier this week, Syracuse basketball head coach Jim Boeheim said in his post-game press conference that his squad can’t score in the 50s and expect to emerge victorious.
The Panthers are a solid defensive group, but not an elite one. Last weekend, the ‘Cuse lost 79-59 on the road to a top-10 Duke team that likely has several future NBA players on its roster.
So in its two most recent Atlantic Coast Conference clashes, the Orange (9-11, 3-6) is averaging 56 points per game on offense. That amount of scoring output will not result in many successes moving forward.
Syracuse basketball needs to pump up the volume on offense.
Against Pitt, according to ESPN statistics, the ‘Cuse connected on just 30.2 percent from the field, 19.4 percent from downtown, and 56.3 percent from the charity stripe.
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Schayes & Higgins 1-27 (espn; radio; Schayes & Higgins)
Danny and Brian preview Syracuse’s matchup Saturday night in the dome with Wake Forest and are joined by WXII reporter John Johnson.
Syracuse Orange v. Wake Forest Demon Deacons Prediction & Preview (1/29/22) - The Juice Online (the juice; Sen)
Syracuse will try to snap a two-game losing streak when it hosts Wake Forest on Saturday evening. Here’s a preview of the game.
- Teams: Syracuse Orange (9-11, 3-6 ACC) v. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (17-4, 7-3)
- Date: Saturday, Jan. 29
- Game Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
- Venue: Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
- Network: ACC Network
The Juice Online Season Record: 7-2 (ACC)
Syracuse will welcome Wake Forest into the Dome this Saturday, and the two teams could not be headed in more opposite directions at this time of season. Wake Forest is currently tied for second place in the ACC, while SU is only one game above last place in conference play.
The biggest challenge for the struggling Syracuse zone will be containing the powerful Wake Forest offense. The Demon Deacons boast the ACC’s leading scorer and leading assist man in Alondes Williams. Williams forms a tough one-two punch with Jake LaRavia, who is shooting at almost 60 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, Syracuse’s defense continues to struggle to stop opponents. SU is ranked a paltry 217th in defensive efficiency according to KenPom, and is surrendering 75.3 ppg. Even though the Orange held the Panthers to 64 points in an 11-point loss, Pittsburgh also shot over 50 percent after halftime.
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Facing a losing record, Jim Boeheim and Syracuse must find another gear - The Juice Online (the juice; Cheng)
Syracuse is in the midst of its worst season in the Jim Boeheim era and is coming off an embarrassing loss to Pittsburgh. We spoke with ESPN’s John Gasaway to make sense of it all on this week’s The Juice on the Cuse Podcast, presented by SNY.tv.
Aside from being a college basketball analyst at ESPN.com and the author of ESPN’s Bubble Watch column, he is the author of Miracles on the Hardwood, a look at the rise of Catholic college basketball (with significant Syracuse basketball references).
We went over a variety of topics with Gasaway, including the top storylines from the 2021-22 college basketball season so far and his picks for best team and best conference in the country. As it specifically relates to Syracuse, we also chatted with Gasaway about why the Orange is struggling so much, his thoughts on whether it’s time for Jim Boeheim to retire, and whether Boeheim can avoid his first losing season as head coach of Syracuse.
Afterward, we chatted with former Syracuse lacrosse midfielder Al Giocondi about his thoughts on the upcoming season, which will feature a new head coach for the first time in 24 years. Giocondi played from 2008-11, which coincided with the last national championship that outgoing head coach John Desko won.
He also gave his favorite Desko memories, while giving his thoughts on where the program is headed under new head coach Gary Gait.
Giocondi has continued his strong Syracuse connection after graduation, teaming with former Syracuse linebacker Brandon Card to launch a new tech company, Terzo, an enterprise software platform for vendor relationship management.
Other Syracuse athletics alumni working for Terzo include former linebacker Jake Flaherty and one of its most recent hires, former Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey.
Syracuse in the NBA: Jerami Grant on the trading block - The Juice Online (the juice; Dagostino)
While the experience of being there in person was fantastic, I’d rather not talk about Syracuse’s performance on the floor this past Saturday at Duke. So, instead, let’s check in with the former Syracuse players in the NBA as the league nears the trade deadline in February:
Carmelo Anthony. The Los Angeles Lakers stand at the definition of mediocrity in late January, 24-24 on the season and eighth in the Western Conference standings. But, Anthony continues to fill his role well, one of the few Lakers who seem to be doing that these days.
Anthony’s minutes are lower in January (23.9 per game) than any other month this season. However, his points per game this month (13.4) is more than any month other than a small sample size of seven games in October.
Anthony has reached double figures in six of the eight games so far in January, including four straight. For the season, he’s averaging 13.4 points per game, the exact number he finished with in two of the last three seasons.
Oshae Brissett. The Indiana Pacers are a mess right now. Perhaps one of the more disappointing teams in the NBA in Rick Carlisle’s first season back with the club, the Pacers have signaled that they are open to moving just about all their best players. Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, Caris LeVert and perhaps Malcolm Brogdon have all been mentioned in trade rumors.
While that is bad news for the team, in general, the subpar performances and the injury bug have led to increased opportunities for guys like Brissett.
After not playing in eight of the first 16 games this season, he has played in 30 of the last 32. He did not even log double-digit minutes in any December game. But, since then he averaged 23.5 minutes per game in December and 21.8 minutes in 13 January games.
While his 6.8 points per game in January has not been as robust as his 8.7 points per game average in December, Brissett (who is actually earning about $500,000 more this season than Anthony is earning for the Lakers) is still proving he can hang with the crowd when given the time.
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Jimmy Boeheim "On The Block" 1-27 (espn; radio; Axe)
Jimmy Boeheim joins Brent to discuss the team’s loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday and how the team is dealing with their recent struggles.
Orange Weekly: Why both SU basketball teams are below .500 (PS; video; Axe & Curtis)
Both Syracuse University basketball teams currently have records below .500.
How did they get here and is there time for things to improve before it’s too late this season?
Syracuse.com’s Brent Axe and Mike Curtis discuss that and more on the latest episode of “Orange Weekly” presented by Crouse Health.
Brent also discusses the latest news with Syracuse football and men’s and women’s lacrosse, including the loss of a key player for the season for Kayla Treanor’s women’s team and the addition of a key transfer for SU football.
You can watch a replay of “Orange Weekly” in the YouTube video above. The show streams live on Facebook and YouTube Thursdays at 1:00 p.m.
Axe: SU basketball’s voyage is in uncharted losing waters, and Boeheim hears your frustration (PS; $; Axe)
The 2021-22 Syracuse men’s basketball season has floated further into unfamiliar territory.
The Orange sits with a record of 9-11 with 11 games to go in the regular season. Jim Boeheim’s team has never been two games under .500 until now.
For 51-straight years (46 under Boeheim) SU fans have watched winning basketball.
How are SU fans handling life in uncharted losing waters with no GPS to guide them to a safe destination?
Let’s just say the life boats better be in good shape.
The Hall of Famer has heard your frustration loud and clear.
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On The Block On Demand 1-27 (espn; radio; Axe)
With a month left in the season, Brent thinks SU fans need to reconsider their level of criticism.
10 reasons why Hurricanes lead ACC near midway point (247sports.com; Stock)
The Miami Hurricanes lead the ACC following a thrilling victory at Virginia Tech on Wednesday with Charlie Moore hitting a half-court, buzzer beater.
Miami improved to 15-5 overall, 7-2 in the ACC, which tops the conference near the midway point of the 20-game conference slate.
Miami is in first place, but five teams are within one game with No. 9 Duke (6-2), Notre Dame (6-2), Wake Forest (7-3), North Carolina (6-3) and Florida State (6-3) in the mix.
So what have been the keys to the Hurricanes' success? Here's 10 reasons:
ONE OF THE BEST OFFENSIVE TEAMS
Jordan Miller (Photo: Getty)
Miami has been led by being highly efficient on the offensive end of the court, ranking 18th nationally out of 358 teams, scoring 115.2 every 100 possessions according to Kenpom, and posting even higher marks in conference games in having the highest adjusted offensive efficiency rating in the ACC. In comparison only Miami’s 2015-16 team, which went 27-8 and advanced to the Sweet 16, has had a higher rating at 119.4 (ranked 11th) in the last 21 seasons. Not only are they shooting the ball well from inside and outside the arc (more on that later), but Miami is shooting 74.5 percent from the free-throw line. They also do not turn the ball, ranking fifth nationally in turnover percent at 13.7. All of these numbers are extremely favorable and they have been carrying over, and sometimes even better, in conference play, making them a very tough team to guard.
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Other
The 16 oz. bone-in ribeye with house-cut fries at Scotch 'N Sirloin, DeWitt, NY. (Jared Paventi | jaredpaventi@gmail.com)Jared Paventi | jaredpaventi@gma
While the steaks are perfectly aged, Scotch ‘N Sirloin remains a timeless destination (Dining Out Review) (PS; $; Paventi)
The salad bar at Scotch ‘N Sirloin is no more.
No explanation was given as to why, but it appeared to be the gravest concern amongst the waitstaff during our recent Saturday evening visit. Employees who came by our tables, and others within earshot, repeatedly apologized for its departure. Service is a team activity at the restaurant, so we saw a variety of faces, none of whom were aware if we had been informed.
As this was our first sit-down meal at Scotch ‘N Sirloin, we weren’t really missing it but understood how loyal longtime customers might be disappointed. A mainstay at the restaurant since its opening in 1967, the metal structure topped with a sneeze guard sat lonely in the corner but for the occasional visit by a waiter using it to bag takeout orders.
Salads remain on the menu, including the restaurant’s self-titled famous chopped salad. It’s rare to stand back and praise a salad, but this one was rather notable in its combination of flavors and textures. Available as an entree or split into two dinner salads, it starts with a blend of spinach, romaine and iceberg lettuces. Artichoke hearts, chickpeas, tomato, red onion, bacon and walnuts are tossed with the greens and topped with crumbly blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. The large dinner salad portion offered quite a value and, as one salad with the addition of a protein, would have made for a sufficient dinner.
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