sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to National Wiffle Ball Day!
Whiff! That was a strike! But this isn't baseball or softball, this is Wiffle ball! Wiffle ball—the game and the ball itself—is celebrated today with National Wiffle Ball Day. In the summer of 1953, David N. Mullany was in his backyard in Fairfield, Connecticut, watching his 12-year-old son and his son's friend play a game with a perforated plastic golf ball and a broomstick handle. They were hitting the plastic golf ball around because they didn't have enough players for a game of baseball or softball, didn't want to break any windows, and didn't have enough space for a field. After trying to throw many curve and slider balls with the golf ball, the son told his father his arm felt like jelly. Mullany had an idea. He got some plastic parts shaped like balls from a nearby factory, cut designs in them, and sent his son out to test them. The ball with eight oblong perforations on one side worked best—it was easier to throw curve balls with and harder to hit than the perforated golf ball. The Wiffle ball was born!
Wiffle balls (stylized as WIFFLE) were soon being produced and sold. The balls were designed to take the place of baseballs, softballs, and stickballs on city streets and in backyards, and could be used indoors too. Hollow, lightweight, and made from tough, rubbery plastic, Wiffle balls didn't fly very far, and they didn't cause damage to neighbors' houses.
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Texas Basketball to Face Syracuse in Non-Conference Play (SI; Dimmitt)
Texas Longhorns men's basketball has reportedly secured its matchup for the first game of the 2024 Legends Classic this upcoming season.
According to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, the Longhorns will play the Syracuse Orange in the first game of the 2024 Legends Classic at the Barclays Center this fall. The Texas Tech Red Raiders will face off against St. Joe's in the other matchup, meaning Texas and Texas Tech could be set for a rivalry reunion as non-conference foes should thet both win their first game.
The 2024 Legends Classic will begin on Thursday, Nov. 21 in Brooklyn. Despite Rothstein's report, matchups and game times have not yet been made official.
Per Texas Athletics, the Longhorns will make their fourth appearance in the Legends Classic. The team played in the inaugural event in 2007 and competed in the tournament during the 2011 and 2016 seasons. Texas won the Legends Classic in 2007 after taking down the Tennessee Volunteers in the championship game.
Texas has played Syracuse just once all-time, and it happened on one of the biggest stages in sports.
The Orange took down the burnt orange 95-84 in the 2003 Final Four in New Orleans, as Carmelo Anthony scored a game-high 33 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead Syracuse to the National Championship, where they won it all two days later.
Legendary Texas guard T.J. Ford scored 12 points and dished out a game-high 13 assists in the loss. Longhorns great Royal Ivey had four points and four assists while Brandon Mouton led Texas with 25 points.
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Syracuse basketball 4-star recruits make big moves, up and down, in new 2025 rankings (itlh; Adler)
Recruiting service and media outlet On3 recently updated its national rankings for the top-150 prospects in the 2025 class, with various Syracuse basketball four-star targets seeing their ratings significantly climb or fall.
At this juncture, the Orange has one commitment in its 2025 cycle. In late May, elite forward Sadiq White Jr. verbally committed to the 'Cuse. He is a four-star prospect, according to On3.
At the time of this writing, the industry-generated 247Sports Composite had White as five stars, while he's inside the top-20 nationally, per 247Sports.
Where Syracuse basketball 2025 four-star recruits reside in refreshed national rankings from On3.
Sadiq White Jr.
White has unofficially visited the Orange twice, and he will spend his senior year at the powerhouse IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.
New On3 national ranking: No. 44 overall
Kiyan Anthony
The four-star shooting guard, a rising senior at Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., has the 'Cuse in his top six and took an official visit to Syracuse basketball last October.
New On3 national ranking: No. 30 overall
Shon Abaev
Abaev, a standout at the Calvary Christian Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is a four-star wing/small forward. He is expected to go on an official visit to the Orange from August 30 to August 31.
New On3 national ranking: No. 39 overall
London Jemison
The four-star wing/small forward, who attends the St. Thomas More School in Oakdale, Conn., took an official visit to Syracuse basketball in late December of last year. Not too long ago, Jemison disclosed a top six, and the 'Cuse made the cut.
New On3 national ranking: No. 40 overall
Acaden Lewis
Lewis, a four-star guard, will contend for All-America honors in the upcoming 2024-25 season for the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. Last month, Lewis put the Orange in his top eight, and he took an unofficial visit to Syracuse basketball on August 1.
New On3 national ranking: No. 55 overall
Derek Dixon
The four-star combo guard out of Gonzaga College High School in D.C. took an official visit to the 'Cuse in late September of last year. A few weeks ago, Dixon dropped a top six that included Syracuse basketball.
New On3 national ranking: No. 71 overall
Tyler Jackson
The four-star point guard from Baltimore spent his junior year with the Atlanta-based professional league Overtime Elite. Jackson, who says he'll trim down his list of contenders soon, took an official visit to the Orange in late January of this year.
New On3 national ranking: No. 96 overall
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Why 4-star basketball recruit Shon Abaev is coveted by Maryland, Syracuse, Auburn, and more (sbnation.com; Chakravarthi)
The Under Armour Next Elite 24 showcase wrapped up on Saturday with a competitive game between 24 of the top men’s high school and international basketball players, and nobody came out strong than 2025 Florida four-star recruit Shon Abaev.
Abaev, who attends Calvary Christian Academy, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was seen as a top-40 recruit in the Class of 2025 coming into the weekend, and solidified that status with a 22-point, 10-assist, and seven-rebound performance, while shooting 8-for-19 from the field.
Standing at 6’7”, 185 pounds, Abaev was handling the ball nearly every time he was on the court, commanding the offense as a point-forward, while specifically working well out of the pick and roll, using his leverage to create shot opportunities off the dribble or generating looks for his teammates.
Abaev came out really strong, starting the game with a tough fadeaway jumper on the baseline. A few possessions later, he separated off the dribble to connect on an open three before getting a big slam in open space in transition.
“I’ve been able to shoot since I was younger,” Abaev shared during the weekend. “I was a shooter. I had a feel for the ball since a young age, so I just felt like I had to keep the vertical, keep getting better because that’s something that I had since little. I was always a really good shooter, so I just had to keep on working on and keep getting better.”
The four-star was battling early with 2025 five-star Nate Ament at the forward position, attacking him on the offensive end, while picking up the assignment defensively as well, leading to the competitive nature that stemmed around the whole game.
After fouling Ament on a drive to the basket, Abaev got his get-back, recording a sweet block on a fadeaway after holding his ground in the post, despite the five-star having two inches on him.
Abaev’s strong start wasn’t done yet, as the forward hit a floater and another three off the dribble in response to an Ament three, leading to an extremely productive first half.
In the second half, while the shot cooled a bit, the Florida native looked to get his teammates involved more, commanding the offense well and communicating all around.
He especially connected with forward Marcus Jackson on a pair of alley-oop dunks, attracting multiple defenders in pick-and-roll situations to free up his teammate with a few nice passes.
Towards the end of the game, with both sides beginning to play more hero ball, Abaev did have a few unnecessary shots, lowering his overall efficiency, but it was an “All-Star” type game to be fair.
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Inside Syracuse Basketball: young staffers shaping SU's approach to recruit, develop and NIL
Alex Kline, former NBA scout, and Eugene Tulyagijja, basketball analytics whiz kid, join Mike Waters to discuss how they are using data analytics to help t...
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Last season, Syracuse basketball coaches leaned into analytics like never before in program history.
Adrian Autry, in his first season as SU’s head coach, said the number-crunching provided more “clarity” to the staff. His new assistant coach, Brenden Straughn, was a firm believer in analytics and shared his analytics acumen with the staff.
“We use it a ton,” Autry said during an ACC weekly conference call with reporters last winter. “It’s a lot more than we have in the past. We use it to fit how we want to play and what we want to do and kind of set up the parameters of what we’re going to game plan and what we’re going to deal with.”
Syracuse used analytics to scout opponents, Straughn said. It used them to point out to its own players how deficiencies in certain categories contributed to losses. It used them to detail specific defensive strategies for specific opposing players.
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Micron update: See latest on hiring, environmental review, timeline for Central NY (PS; $; Coin)
Micron Technology hasn’t broken ground yet on its planned chipmaking complex in the northern Onondaga County town of Clay, but the preliminary work continues to chug along behind the scenes.
Micron has hired its first handful of employees to build and run the complex and has won a pledge of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies. The company is compiling exhaustive environmental reports for both state and federal regulators. Micron has started construction on its plant in Idaho that will be a smaller version of the one Clay.
Meanwhile, state and county officials are wooing semiconductor suppliers, designing wastewater systems, studying a new exit on I-81 in Cicero and issuing guidelines for a $500 million community improvement fund.
While much of the project is moving forward, it remains tentative. Micron has said repeatedly that construction and operation of the fabs will depend on “market conditions,” which are volatile in the chip industry. The $20 billion in taxpayer subsidies Micron has tentatively won from several levels of government to build the the first two fabrication plants, or fabs, isn’t guaranteed until the company meets certain milestones.
Still, Micron and government officials are pouring millions of dollars and thousands of hours of time laying the necessary groundwork. Micron still says it will spend $48 billion over the next decade on the first two fabs, and another $50 billion on two more fabs by 2041.
Here’s a topic-by-topic look at where the project stands and what’s coming next.
Finding enough workers
What’s happening: The U.S. Department of Labor awarded the Manufacturers Association of Central New York $6 million to expand its registered apprenticeships program. That money is expected to help more than 800 workers train for careers with Micron and other semiconductor-focused companies such as Indium, Wolfspeed and others across the region. Micron says it has already hired 17 people for Clay, most in construction oversight.Why it matters: To start construction next year, Micron needs to have people on board ready to begin the work and to begin work on infrastructure. Micron also needs to start training thousands of workers that will be needed by 2030 to operate the first two fabrication plants, or fabs.
What’s next: Micron will continue hiring employees to launch the construction and to set up fab-specific processes like wastewater treatment.
Getting government subsidies
What’s happening: Micron has signed a tentative agreement with the federal CHIPs Office to get $4.6 million for the Clay project and $1.5 billion for the Boise fab. Micron also told county officials they plan to get $11.5 billion in federal tax breaks and $2.2 billion in state and local subsidies.
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Awesome aurora: See epic photos of northern lights in Upstate NY (PS; House)
For two incredible nights, a brilliant celestial show danced over Upstate New York.
The aurora borealis appeared over the Empire State overnight on Sunday and Monday, coloring starry skies in neon shades of pink, purple, green and blue. The northern lights visited Upstate as the yearly Perseid meteor shower was peaking — treating stargazers to two brilliant natural events.
One photographer even captured three jaw-dropping skyward phenomena (the Milky Way, shooting stars AND the aurora) in one unforgettable shot taken in the Adirondacks.
The northern lights were spotted across much of Upstate, from Western New York and the Finger Lakes to the Catskills and Adirondacks.
Sadly, the northern lights aren’t forecasted to be visible from New York tonight or tomorrow, according to the daily aurora forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center. But the Perseid meteor shower will continue to shoot stars over us (albeit not as brightly) through the end of August.
The August aurora borealis show wasn’t the first time the northern lights have made a widespread appearance in Upstate this year.
The aurora borealis lit up Upstate skies in early May as a strong geomagnetic storm hit Earth. Thanks to the sun’s place in its current solar cycle, the aurora is expected to remain active through the rest of 2024.
Here are some of the incredible shots photographers captured around the Empire State:
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