sutomcat
2024 Iggy Award (ACC Tournament Record)
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Welcome to National Poisoned Blackberries Day!
It’s time to eat as many blackberries as you can find and stuff in a pie. After September 29, those celebrating the feast of Michaelmas warn you not to eat them.
On the list of forgotten holidays, Michaelmas falls somewhere below Arbor Day and the winter solstice. But just as American Popemania is rousing hoardes of non-Catholics, Michaelmas affects the secular world. A religious holiday celebrated by some Christian churches, it is a centuries-old event with a peculiar food history.
In medieval England, farmers used Michaelmas as a way to delineate the changing of the seasons—made sense, as it fell around the change of seasons. Michaelmas was a time to finish the reaping and start preparing for winter.
But the rule against eating blackberries after September 29 comes not from seasonality but from the story of the Archangel Michael, for whom the day is named. Michael, the greatest of all angels, defeated the angel Lucifer in a huge battle and banished him from heaven, the lore goes. At that point Lucifer became the devil. When Lucifer bounced onto the floor of hell, he landed in a thorny blackberry bush. (Naturally when you land in hell, you land end-first in a bunch of thorns.) This made him so mad that he spit on the bush and cursed its fruit.
SU News
Syracuse football WR Steve Ishmael waiting his turn as Amba Etta-Tawo, Erv Philips shine (PS; Bailey)
Steve Ishmael listened to each question he received on Tuesday night, widened his smile a little further and ensured the next reporter in line that he was just fine with how the offensive has distributed the football through four games this season.
Ishmael, a junior, was a popular pick to break out in Year 1 of Dino Babers' hurry-up spread offense. But a third of the way through the season, he's on pace for fewer receiving yards than last season and hasn't caught a touchdown yet.
"I'm content, man," Ishmael said. "Whatever happens, happens. I'm just glad that we're winning. That's all I really care about. I'm so happy for the guys that are really doing good: Erv, Bris, Amba. Those guys are playing fantastic."
As graduate transfer Amba Etta-Tawo, the nation's leading receiver, and junior inside receiver Erv Philips have dominated targets from sophomore quarterback Eric Dungey, Ishmael has become the team's third option.
According to NCAASavant.com, Etta-Tawo (55) and Philips (53) have each been thrown to over 2.4 times more than Ishmael (22). The latter, however, has the highest catch percentage of the trio and the second-best mark of players who've received at least five targets (senior inside receiver Brisly Estime is No. 1).
Ishmael has flashed the strong hands and route running that he's known for and believes as opposing defenses continue to give more attention to Etta-Tawo, his opportunities will increase.
Babers told him as much.
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Syracuse football coach Dino Babers mum on quarterback Eric Dungey's injury (PS; Bailey)
Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey was not made available for interview on Tuesday night as he was receiving treatment for an undisclosed injury.
On Wednesday, SU head coach Dino Babers declined to comment when asked if Dungey's status was in doubt for the Orange's matchup with Notre Dame on Saturday.
"We're not going to talk about injuries," Babers said on the ACC coaches teleconference.
A sophomore, Dungey was seen shaking his hand at times during Syracuse's 31-24 win over Connecticut, but he did not leave the game. He also missed four games last season as he suffered two concussions.
Through four games this season, Dungey ranks eighth in the country in passing yards per game (341.8) and has tossed nine touchdowns to just three interceptions. He's also rushed for 67 yards and two touchdowns, the second sealing SU's victory over the Huskies.
If Dungey is unable to go, junior quarterback Zack Mahoney would be the likely replacement. Mahoney kept the Orange in close games last season against No. 1 Clemson and No. 8 LSU, and was rewarded with a scholarship this fall. Redshirt junior Austin Wilson has dressed as the team's third quarterback this year.
In memoriam: Syracuse football says goodbye to MetLife Stadium for now (PS; Mink)
Daryl Gross remembers wearing a hard hat walking through an unfinished stadium at the Meadowlands before it opened six years ago, his mind racing thinking what this coliseum soon to be known as MetLife Stadium might provide.
For Gross, the venue served as the platform to enhance Syracuse University's athletic profile in New York City, home to one of its largest alumni bases, and give its football program a chance to increase its visibility on a national scale.
A matter of time and circumstance created a perfect storm for Gross to pounce.
Mark Lamping, President and CEO of New Meadowlands Stadium Corporation, needed inventory for the new stadium, and Gross could pitch a regionally based football program that could attract big-name schools to play against it.
Then-coach Doug Marrone and his staff heavily recruited the New York-New Jersey terrain, and the lure of playing at MetLife became part of the recruiting pitch to keep local athletes home.
Financially, Syracuse needed to explore creative revenue sources to help fund an athletic program that belonged to the Big East and was quickly falling behind other major conferences. The MetLife arrangement bolstered Syracuse's portfolio when it was being considered to join the ACC.
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Syracuse football TE Cameron MacPherson named Campbell Trophy semifinalist (PS; Bailey)
Syracuse football senior tight end Cameron MacPherson was named a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy on Wednesday, the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame announced.
The award is given annually to the country's top scholar-athlete.
After spending his first two years at Georgetown (2012-13), MacPherson transferred to SU and double-majored in international relations and television radio and film. With two bachelor's degrees in hand, he's currently pursuing a master's in Pan African Studies.
MacPherson was a 2015-16 Remembrance Scholar, is a two-time ACC honor roll member and has been named to the SU athletic director's honor roll (min. 3.0 grade-point average) each of his semesters at Syracuse.
He's also involved in community service as the co-coordinator of youth programming for Hopeprint, a refugee resettlement and urban development non-profit organization in Syracuse. He volunteers for the Writing Our Lives creative literacy program and holds a leadership role in SU's chapter of Uplifting Athletes.
On the field, MacPherson has served as the team's primary tight end through four games. The grandson of former Orangemen head coach Dick MacPherson has three receptions for eight yards and is core special teams contributor.
The NFF will announce 12 to 14 Campbell Trophy finalists on Nov. 1. Each will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship.
Then on Dec. 1, one finalist will be chosen as the Campbell Trophy recipient and have his scholarship increased to $25,000.
Some question whether Dungey or Mahoney is Syracuse’s best option (TNIAAM; Gilberg)
Everyone loves rooting for the underdog. The little guy. The longshot.
It’s simply human nature. Why do you think most college football fans hold some disdain towards Alabama and Nick Saban? It’s not fun when the same team wins the National Championship four out of the last seven years.
They’re the “bad guys.”
So when lovable and boisterous third-string quarterback Cardale Jones helped lead Ohio State to an upset win over No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl en route to a National Championship two seasons ago – admit it, you were happy.
It’s that same logic which has led to so many Syracuse fans taking a liking to backup quarterback Zack Mahoney. The junior’s short collegiate career is that of a Rudy-like fairy tale.
After transferring from the College of DuPage, a junior college in Illinois, as a preferred walk-on, Mahoney opened last preseason as Syracuse’s sixth-string quarterback, behind Terrel Hunt, Austin Wilson, AJ Long, Eric Dungey and Kenterius Womack. However, as we all know, injuries took their toll and Mahoney actually ended up starting four games for the Orange, including two against top-10 opponents: No. 8 LSU and No. 1 Clemson.
Despite completing no more than 48 percent of his passes in any of his four stats, Mahoney’s gutsy performance and ability to keep Syracuse within striking distance of both LSU and Clemson earned him praise and appreciation from Orange fans.
The #MahoneyMania reached new heights earlier this season when some fans clamored for the junior quarterback to overtake Dungey in the starting lineup after consecutive blowout losses to Louisville and USF (and if you dare wander into the UConn gamethread).
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Former Syracuse University, NFL football player embraces artistic roots (DO; Boghosian)
Jim Ridlon first came to Syracuse University to play football, but his passion for art brought him back.
The artist and former athlete shined on the football field while pursuing a degree in sculpture at SU in the 1950s. He then returned to the university after eight seasons in the NFL to teach fine art and coach the football team’s defensive backs. He has since moved on to pursue his own art, which will show in an upcoming exhibit at the nearby Edgewood Gallery.
Growing up in Nyack, New York, Ridlon developed into both a talented artist and a promising athlete, but his journey was far from easy.
“I had the most miserable childhood in the world because I was dyslexic,” Ridlon said. “I couldn’t read or write, but I was good on the playground and I could paint.”
When he was 12, Ridlon realized his affinity for art. He said he expressed himself through crayons and paint.
He had a teacher who encouraged him to pursue art, and this drove him to become an art major studying sculpture when he started college at SU.
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Other
BIKE SHARE BLOG: Program stumbles on Day 2 as bikes already begin to fall apart (DO; Farr)
My name is Ben and I like to bike. I’ve biked from Syracuse to Philadelphia and deliver sandwiches in my spare time. This week I’ll be reviewing the Student Association’s bike share program. Follow along each day as I try it out.
Day Two
Bikes were in high demand today at the Schine Student center and at least one — two by the time I was done — were already out of order. I started out impressed by the orange rentals. The seat was comfy, handlebars felt good, and the weather was just right for a ride. All of the parts of the bike functioned initially and it was easy getting downtown on the green bike paths.
It took all of 20 minutes from signing out the bike to get to the Warehouse and then another 20 to get to Destiny on the Creekwalk. Things got a little hairy halfway down the trail when my handlebars started to come loose. At first it wasn’t too bad, just a little bit of sway away from the wheel.
And then oof. Every ten or twenty I was catching myself or using both my feet to stop me from sliding into traffic. I limped the bike down the bridge to Destiny for lunch — a sloppy, dripping bourbon chicken sandwich and root beer — and tried to keep limping the bike back home, but it got bad. I stopped at a hardware warehouse and borrowed a wrench to tighten it up. Fortunately, the problem wasn’t too bad and the bike was fixed.
Once back, SCPS came out and inspected the bike. It’ll be taken out of commission until Mello Velo can check it out.
Although a little harrowing, I think my Bike Share experience was the exception, not the rule. The sheer convenience of the program is great and I wouldn’t have gotten my fix of sweet Cajun without it.
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