sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Miner's Day!
The effort to create a commemorative National Miner's Day, on December 6, was successful. First it was introduced in the United States House of Represenatives by Congressman Rahall, Congresswoman Capito, and Congressman Mollohan. It was adopted there and went on to the Senate. Sponsored by Senator Byrd, Senator Rockefeller, and Senator Reid, resolution was passed by the United States Senate on December 3, 2009.
Thanks to the thousands of people who believe it is important to recognize the contributions of miners to the well being of all.
SU News
Orange Earn AFCA Academic Honorable Mention (cuse.com)
For the 23rd time since the birth of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Academic Achievement Award in 1981, the Syracuse University football program was recognized for its academic success, as the Orange received 2016 honorable mention honors from the organization on Monday, Dec. 5.
It marks the 22nd time Syracuse has earned honorable mention status, which is tied with Vanderbilt for the sixth-most of any FBS program.
The award recognizes the FBS team with the highest graduation rate annually, with honorable mention honors handed out to programs that graduate more than 75 percent of its student-athletes. Miami (Fla.), Northwestern and Stanford captured this year's award with 100 percent graduation rates for members of their 2009 freshman classes.
The AFCA Academic Achievement Award is presented annually by the Touchdown Club of Memphis and the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) formula is used to select the winner. This year's award will be presented at the Honors Luncheon on Monday, Jan. 9 during the 2017 AFCA Convention in Nashville.
Syracuse won the award in 2000 in addition to its 22 honorable mention certificates.
Most AFCA Academic Achievement Awards
Duke, 14; Northwestern, 9; Notre Dame, 9; Boston College, 4; Stanford, 4; Vanderbilt, 4; Miami (Fla.), 2; Rice, 2; Virginia, 2.
Most Honorable Mentions
Notre Dame, 26; Rice, 25; Virginia, 25; Boston College, 24; Penn State, 24; Syracuse, 22; Vanderbilt, 22; Wake Forest, 21.
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Infinite 'Cuse football road trip diary: The end (TNIAAM; Suxa)
I WAS DONE AND THEN I WAS REALLY DONE
It wasn't even certified "snow," the kind of precipitation that actually causes mild agita for Central New York. No, "snow" was on the western horizon, marking time until I peddled my Jeep south for what was surreptitiously decided to be my final football road trip of the 2016 season. This "dusting" -- a few inches of frozen and falling bullshit, filling up my windshield for about 200 miles -- etched away the wax seal on the agreement that demanded I attend 10 of Syracuse's 12 games this year, affirming a non-material breach of contract: The promises were substantially fulfilled, and termination was inevitable.
Arriving at that point, though, was essentially a two-week process of existential crisis: Do I push through the final throes of November and cross into the unknown of attending over 80% of Syracuse's dates, or do I rest at 75% -- passing! -- and know that I probably carried more water this year than all but the team, staff, a handful of parents driven by the love for their sons, and those paid to follow around the team? There was no model for this to provide insight as to when to press the eject button and fall safely back to earth, but a feeling steadily matured toward calling it quits after Florida State, if only because my life was bifurcated between Monday-Friday Matt (full toiletries in my bathroom and a pile of clothes earmarked for non-weekend wear) and Saturday-Sunday Matt (full toiletries shrunk by an atom gun and placed in a suitcase that held a non-rotating selection of officially licensed football apparel). I was leading two lives, literally segregated by geography, time, and direction, and it was too much to continue without having brains leak out of my ears. It was time to conclude this whole idea.
This isn't to imply that my final two missions were rote sleepwalks of business-as-usual, beaten down by a football team staring up at a .500 record. In fact, the last two weekends of live Orange football were just as fun and worthwhile as the preceding seven, even if the weather was colder and generally more icky. We all have a hill to die on, and mine is that you can have a riotous good time going to the Dome to watch Syracuse football if you choose to separate the happiness-victory connection. This is anathema to many -- the function of fandom that promotes vicarious success and failure almost necessitates victory in order to achieve an enjoyable experience -- but the proof of concept was put forth in extreme circumstances this year and I somehow survived this sociopathic laboratory experiment.
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WATCH: Fan drills half-court shot, high-fives Dino Babers at Syracuse-UConn game (cbssports.com; Boone)
Monday night's contest between UConn and Syracuse didn't bring a lot of good shooting to start the contest. At halftime, there were only 44 combined points between the two teams.
It took a random fan out of the stands to finally get the fans on their feet at Madison Square Garden. This Syracuse fan who was plucked from the stands drilled a half-court shot with ease. Then ran to Otto the Orange to give him a hug, and high-fived Syracuse football coach Dino Babers.
What a wild sequence! Here's another look at the crowd's reaction.
Kid at the Cuse-Uconn game at MSG just a half court shot for $5,000 pic.twitter.com/sqxcJr7CH2
— Mike Cavalier (@mikecav5) December 6, 2016
Sure, his team fell short to UConn in the final seconds. But hey, walking away $5,000 richer should help ease his mind after a tough loss.
Nebraska Adds Donté Williams to Football Staff (ktic.com)
Head Coach Mike Riley has filled the opening on the Nebraska football coaching staff by hiring Donté Williams as an assistant coach.
Williams joins the Nebraska staff after spending the 2016 regular season on the defensive staff at the University of Arizona. The 34-year-old Williams is generally regarded as one of the nation’s top young recruiters and defensive coaches.
“We are confident that Donté Williams will bring great energy and expertise to our defensive coaching staff,” Riley said. “He has the personality and demeanor that allows him to connect and relate to his players. He will also be a dynamic addition to our staff in terms of recruiting prospective student-athletes to the University of Nebraska.”
Williams is expected to coach the Huskers’ cornerbacks and sub-package specialists (nickels and dimes) and have involvement in pass defense coordination. Brian Stewart will shift his focus to the Nebraska safeties, and defensive coordinator Mark Banker will return solely to the coordinator role after also tutoring the safety position in 2016. Riley said he will likely divide special teams duties among multiple staff members in 2017.
Williams will join the Huskers immediately, allowing him to work with the Blackshirt defense as the team prepares for the Music City Bowl matchup with Tennessee.
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Williams began his coaching career in 2007 as an assistant coach at Los Angeles Harbor College, and worked one season each at El Camino College (2008) and Mt. San Antonio College (2009). In 2012, Williams completed a summer coaching internship with the Seattle Seahawks. Prior to the start of the 2014 season, he was a guest coach in the New Era All-Star Game in Japan.
A 2006 Idaho State University graduate, Williams played college football at Syracuse in 2003 and Idaho State in 2004 and 2005. Williams played two seasons in Arena Football League 2 (AF2) for the Rio Grande Valley Dorados (2007) and Arkansas Twisters (2008). He was a first-team all-league player and a defensive team captain in each of his two seasons.
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Dino Babers on target in final Coaches Poll ballot (TNIAAM; Keeley)
The Syracuse Orange got snubbed by the College Football Playoff committee and will be staying home this postseason. But at least SU head coach Dino Babers got to provide some input into who will play for the title.
The Coaches Poll released their final rankings on Sunday and also released what the final ballot of every voting coach looked like. Babers had a vote (or at least, someone on his staff does) and his top four was right on target with the four programs selected to play for the National Title.
Babers’ Top Five matches the final Top Five. He flipped Oklahoma and Michigan and gave both Florida State and Louisville a bit of an ACC bump. He’s got FSU a spot higher than the overall and the Cardinals four spots higher than the average.
He also has Virginia Tech at No. 19 and South Florida at No. 20.
In total, the Coaches Poll had six Syracuse opponents in the final Top 25 (No. 2 Clemson, No. 10 FSU, No. 15 L’ville, No. 19 VT, and No. 22 USF). Pittsburgh just missed out on a spot (though they did get in over at The AP Poll).
So half of SU’s 2016 opponents ended up ranked. Here’s your obligatory reminder that we need not schedule anyone else who might be on these lists as well...
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Nottingham's Derrick Gore produces 2 TDs in No. 1 Alabama's SEC win over Florida (video) (PS; Webb)
Former Nottingham High School running back Derrick Gore continues to make his presence felt for the No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
In Bama's 54-16 victory over Florida on Saturday in the Southeastern Conference championship game, Gore made plays that produced two touchdowns.
In the first quarter, Gore blocked a punt by Florida's Johnny Townsend that was recovered and returned 27 yards for a touchdown by Alabama's Joshua Jacobs.
And in the fourth quarter, Gore broke a 10-yard run for Alabama's final touchdown.
You can watch both of those plays, here:
Pretty sure Derrick Gore had a great SEC Championship game. Punt block and rushing TD @gore_d1 pic.twitter.com/jaMRD7NsKJ
— West Coast Tide Fans (@WCTideFans) December 4, 2016
On Monday, Gore was recognized as one of 11 players of the week by the Alabama coaching staff.
With Alabama leading 10-7 against the Gators, Gore came through the left side of the line to block the Florida punt. CBS lead announcer Verne Lundquist was caught off guard:
"Woah! Got it! Got it!" Lundquist said on the broadcast.
Alabama coach Nick Saban praised Gore after the game for the play.
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Other
Syracuse man jumps out of ambulance after Mattydale bar brawl (PS; O'Toole)
It was 10 minutes before Woody's Jerkwater Pub & Grub in Mattydale closed Sunday morning when two bouncers noticed a man acting out and causing a disturbance, Onondaga County sheriff's Sgt. Jon Seeber said.
As Woody's bouncers Carl Barber and Jamie Klock escorted the man out of the bar, the customer started flailing his arms and swinging closed fists at the bouncers, Seeber said.
James Acevedo, 23, of Rosewood Street Syracuse, is accused of striking both bouncers in the head several times at about 1:50 a.m. Sunday.
"While outside in the parking lot, several patrons began fighting with one another at which time Acevedo was able to break away from the bouncers," Seeber said.
Acevedo then started fighting with the other customers in the bar parking lot, according to the sheriff's office. As soon as deputies arrived, the crowd dispersed.
"Acevedo, who was still on scene, appeared intoxicated," Seeber said.
Acevedo had minor injuries from the parking lot brawl with other bar patrons, deputies said.
"An ambulance was called to the scene and eventually transported him to Upstate University Hospital," Seeber said.
Deputies followed the ambulance because both bouncers wanted Acevedo prosecuted, according to the sheriff's office.
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