sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday!
Thoughtful Thursday is the perfect time to be mindful of those around you, at home, work and in public, who may have thoughts, concerns, or needs which you may not be aware of. Try a little harder to break free of your own busy world and try to be more aware of other people’s feelings! It’s a wonderful thing when you can be more thoughtful and considerate towards others. It is quite a gratifying experience.
SU News
Syracuse football's Kenneth Ruff working at TE (practice observations, photos, videos) (PS; Bailey)
Syracuse freshman Kenneth Ruff was recruited as an inside linebacker. When he arrived this spring, he was moved to defensive end.
And now as preseason camp winds down for the Orange, Ruff is getting a look at tight end.
The 6-foot-1, 264-pound Ruff caught passes during the open portion of practice on Wednesday, and could help bolster a murky position group.
Redshirt senior Cam MacPherson finished the spring as the first-team tight end, but none of the team's three returning options — MacPherson, redshirt senior Josh Parris or senior Kendall Moore — excel at both blocking and pass catching.
That likely plays into the Syracuse staff giving Ruff, as well as sophomore walk-on linebacker Kyle Kleinberg, time at tight end.
Here's a couple videos of Ruff (No. 45) catching passes during routes vs. air.
Most interesting note from Syracuse practice today: freshman Kenneth Ruff is working at TE. He's No. 45 in this pic.twitter.com/xgktJTKyHY
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) August 24, 2016
Here's another video of Kenneth Ruff during RVA work. He catches an out on the far side of the field. pic.twitter.com/4QKSxp4Ei7
— Stephen Bailey (@Stephen_Bailey1) August 24, 2016
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Kendall Coleman Moving Up the Depth Charts with a Bullet
Syracuse football defensive line using ESPN article as motivation (PS; Mink)
Printing or cutting out media reports to tack onto the wall inside a football building is a long-standing tradition to motivate a team.
Syracuse football found its source for this upcoming season over at ESPN.com.
A team of writers ranked the defensive front seven for each of the 14 schools in the ACC heading into the 2016 season.
As it was at the end of spring, Syracuse football ranked last.
And now, that article is hanging up somewhere in SU football headquarters.
"We've always been the picture of saying that this is such a young defense, that's going to an issue, it's going to be a handicap for everything," redshirt freshman defensive end Jake Pickard said after Wednesday morning's practice. "We're just taking that as motivation, and we've really come into our own.
"We got the ESPN article taped up saying we're the weak part. Everybody likes to talk trash, and we like to keep it on the DL and just show them what we're about."
Discussion surrounding the inexperience of the defensive line has gone on ad nauseam since the unit was hit with attrition at the end of last year.
The coaching staff tinkered with the unit a lot, moving players from other positions to provide depth across the line during the spring.
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Syracuse football record book: Best performances in Orange history (photo gallery; PS; Bailey & Mink)
We've put some of the Syracuse football records in one convenient place. Go ahead and bookmark this and come back to it throughout the season as new coach Dino Babers and his offense will try to light up the scoreboard.
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Southington’s Rose leaves UConn, football MyRecordJournal.com | (myrecordjournal.com; Lipshez)
Former Southington High School football star Jasen Rose, citing personal reasons, is leaving the University of Connecticut, both as a football player and student, and also opting not to play football for “the foreseeable future.”
Rose, who was heavily recruited by Division I programs before settling on the Huskies, made his announcement in a statement issued online Wednesday through the UConn football team’s Twitter account at 1:37 p.m., shortly before the start of Media Day in Storrs.
“At this time in my life, attending school at UConn is not what is best for me,” Rose’s statement read. “I will instead enroll at a different school this fall, one closer to home and to my family. As much as I love the game of football, I will step away from it and not participate this season or in the foreseeable future.”
Rose’s announcement came after a week or two of speculation. He hadn’t been attending preseason practices with the Huskies.
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Rose was also recruited by UConn, Boston College and West Virginia prior to his junior season. Maryland, Pittsburgh, Wisconsin, Temple, UMass, North Carolina State, Wake Forest and Syracuse later expressed interest. Syracuse loomed as his second choice.
“[Syracuse coach Scott Shafer] was pretty upset,” Rose said after commiting to the Huskies. “But UConn and Syracuse face off next year in I think the fourth game at Rentschler, so he said, “I’ll see you then.’”
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Syracuse Curiosity -- How Relevant Are The 1990s Today (todaysu.com; Holcolm)
Syracuse football has produced two tremendous eras in its history.
The one everybody always seems to remember is the Jim Brown-Ernie Davis days in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1956-1967, Syracuse posted a .740 win percentage.
The second great era of Orange football isn’t as highly regarded, and the program didn’t post as high a win percentage, but it did last even longer than the Brown-Davis era. From 1987-2001, Syracuse went 127-49-4, a .717 win percentage. The Orange won at least 10 games on five occasions during that span.
When Syracuse entered the Big East in 1991, it was already on the national stage again, but the entry into a conference solidified the program’s prosperity. The Orange went 75-31 to finish out the 1990s, and then in 2001, Syracuse hit the 10-win mark for the sixth time in school history.
However, Syracuse football hasn’t reached that level since. Over the last 14 years, the Orange have never won more than eight games, and they have done that only twice. Syracuse lost at least eight games eight times in the past 14 seasons, and in the last two years, the Orange went just 7-17.
So much has changed in college athletics, and Syracuse football has struggled so mightily that one has to wonder whether the successes of the 1990s should determine the standards of the program today. At the same time, the challenges Orange football faces today are the same ones coaches Dick MacPherson and Paul Pasqualoni conquered in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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Other
Day 1 at the NYS Fair 2016: $3 general admission, Kesha to perform at Chevy Court (PS; Healy)
The New York State Fair begins its 12-day run today at the state fairgrounds located on 375 acres just west of the city of Syracuse in the town of Geddes. Last year, 908,147 people attended the end-of-summer event.
Gates open at 8 a.m., and visitors should expect a line. It's also one of two $3 Thursdays. The $3 will cover general admission, which is usually $6 for advance sales and $10 at the gate. It's also Governor's Day.
"Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice will visit the fair at 6 p.m. in Empire Theater in the NYS Fair's Art & Home Center. Tickets are on sale for $30 for the Q&A with a meet-and-greet or $20 without the meet-and-greet.
At Chevy Court, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy will perform at 2 p.m., and Kesha will perform at 8 p.m. At the Lakeview Amphitheater, Keith Urban's show will begin at 7:30 p.m.
» Detailed daily schedule for Thursday, Aug. 25
Good to know
» Admission: Adults are $10 at the gate; Children under 12 free every day. Gates open at 8 a.m. Exhibit buildings are open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. On Labor Day, exhibit buildings close at 9 p.m. The midway is open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every night except on Labor Day, when it closes at 9 p.m.
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