sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to National Kale Day!
National Kale Day celebrates kale's incredible health benefits, highlights kale's culinary versatility, and promotes eating, growing and sharing kale throughout America. National Kale day is the first Wednesday in October and is an annual celebration.
SU News
Rising Syracuse no longer a laughingstock in football (sfchronicle.com; Kekis; AP)
Nearing the halfway mark of his third season at Syracuse, coach Dino Babers has finally made the Orange relevant again.
Relegated to a national laughingstock a decade ago during the four-year tenure of Greg Robinson , Syracuse is receiving votes again in the AP Top 25, a measure of respect long overdue for a program with a rich history. The 74 points Syracuse received this week after a 4-point loss at then-No. 3 Clemson placed the Orange (4-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) on the cusp of being ranked as they begin to prepare for Saturday's game at Pittsburgh (2-3, 1-1).
"I'm really proud of them," Babers said. "We work hard on our culture. I really want to be consistent with these young men. That consistency is what's got to transfer over to the football field. I believe this team has it. We have to prove it, and this is an opportunity right now to prove it.
"We've had a setback, our first one of the year. What are we going to do now?"
The Orange, who haven't been ranked since defensive standout Dwight Freeney led them to a 10-3 record in 2001 under Paul Pasqualoni, won their first four games before the loss in imposing Death Valley before more than 80,000 fans. And the unbeaten Tigers (5-0, 2-0), again in the hunt for a berth in the College Football Playoff, had to rally late in the fourth quarter for a 27-23 victory, the decisive points coming on Travis Etienne's 2-yard touchdown run in the final minute.
"It was really, really a big feat," Babers said Monday. "That team is really good. I can't even remember the final score I'm so numb."
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Orange Watch: Upward direction of Syracuse football is as fast as its offense - The Juice Online (the juice; Bierman)
Item: it’s taken only 29 games of the Dino Babers era to put Syracuse football within shouting distance of the Top 25 polls. Shoot, we’re proclaiming Orange football IS ranked this week, No. 28, so a shout-out to all for an eye-opening accomplishment now being absorbed by the sport’s national followers, especially in such a short amount of time considering the millisecond world we live in. Going back to Babers introductory press conference on December 7, 2015, Pearl Harbor Day for the Hawaiian-born son of a Navy officer, and which seems so long ago, it was the new coach’s request for “belief without evidence” that became the early pitch to his holdover players and recruits alike, and which has quickly taken form to turn the program’s fan base into a large group of believers.
If anything, and ironically, Syracuse football didn’t play fast enough in the end last weekend, worn down by the conditions and a talented team, allowing just enough time for Clemson’s gutsy comeback and resulting in the first SU football defeat since the Saturday after last Thanksgiving.
The last minute loss certainly wiped away thoughts of back-to-back 4-8 seasons under Babers, and beginning with Saturday afternoon’s annual dual with Pittsburgh (12:20 p.m. ET / ACCN-Sirius XM) at Heinz Field (SU is 1-7 all-time there since the stadium opened in 2001), it’s now a question of how many wins this team can achieve against a now seemingly friendlier remaining schedule, up first on the road with the taste of defeat evaporating slowly as each day of practice leads to week six, with a much appreciated off weekend looming after Pitt.
“We have to move on from that game (the Clemson loss), Babers quickly pointed out at his weekly Monday press outing at the Manley football complex. “We can’t finish and reach our goals if we keep looking back to the past.”
With the theme of, what else, but fast, Babers has asked everyone to move on to preparing for Pittsburgh, already pleased with how his team reacted watching the Clemson film, installing the mindset that this week’s challenge is beating a Panther’s program that Syracuse has lost to 13 of the last 17 times they’ve met.
“We work hard on our culture. You guys (the media) are around us, you guys see us,” Babers reiterated Monday.
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Is It Really Time to Raise SU’s Season Expectations? – Orange Fizz – Free Syracuse Recruiting News (orangefizz.net; Singer)
Despite entering at 4-0, Syracuse clearly had doubters to prove wrong as 24.5-point underdogs against Clemson. Safe to say, it did just that. SU led for a majority of the game, but a masterful drive capped by a Travis Etienne touchdown robbed the Orange of one of its biggest wins ever.
With that said, there is plenty of positive to be taken away here. A win would have been surreal, but even on a more realistic note, not many teams can still march into Death Valley and play the way Syracuse did. The performance also has the Orange a mere 14 votes away from cracking the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2001.
So, with the way Syracuse has played through five games, would it be appropriate to increase expectations for this season?
The answer may not be as obvious as you think. Syracuse is 4-1, but its remaining schedule features four teams with winning records, two ranked opponents (one in the top 10), and a composite opponent winning percentage of .636 thus far. It should be noted that last year’s team that won just four games did so with a .627 opponent winning percentage for the season.
Not to say this team isn’t much improved, but we sure will get more clarification in due time. Even after the Clemson game, SU’s schedule isn’t a cakewalk, and after losing for the first time all year, it’ll be interesting to see how the Orange handles a bit of adversity. Let us not forget that this team lost its last five games last season.
All told, Dino Babers deserves credit where credit is due. He’s pushed all the right buttons thus far, helping reshape SU’s season outlook. Expectations surrounding his team should definitely be raised, and despite a loss, locker room confidence should still be high. A goal that started as just making a bowl game has become posing a legitimate threat in the ACC. However, for now, the focus is on Pitt, a game the Orange certainly should not lose.
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Against the Odds: Syracuse favored against Pitt (cardiachill.com; Whaley)
Pitt welcomes Syracuse to Heinz Field for homecoming this weekend but the Panthers aren’t expected to win, according to Vegas.
The Panthers opened up as a 4 1/2-point underdog to Syracuse and that line has grown to five in most sports books.
Probably about right, though I could see the argument that the line should be more in favor towards Syracuse. I actually like Pitt’s chances this weekend but make no mistake about it, the Panthers are the underdog here. The Orange have looked much better thank Pitt has this season and if you told me the line was more in favor of Syracuse, I wouldn’t be too surprised.
What do you think of the spread this week? Vote in the poll below.
Clemson gets College Football Playoff help from unlikely ally (greenvilleonline.com; Robinson)
Clemson has been running the Atlantic Coast Conference so long it can put a 26.2 marathon sticker on the back window of its bandwagon.
Clemson may not be miles ahead of the pack this season, as the photo finish against Syracuse indicated Saturday. However, the ACC is counting on Clemson to sprint ahead once again.
The ACC was represented in the College Football Playoff in each of the previous four seasons. Clemson accounted for three of those appearances. Unless Clemson extends that streak this season, the ACC will be left out of the bracket this year.
Clemson is the only ACC team ranked in Top 15 of the Amway USA TODAY Sports coaches poll. Miami is ranked No. 17, but it stumbled out of the blocks with a 33-17 loss to Louisiana State in the season opener.
No. 23 Virginia Tech defeated previously ranked Duke but that win followed an embarrassing loss to Old Dominion. Virginia Tech’s inclusion in the Top 25 is a residual of its inflated preseason placement at No. 17.
More: Clemson football winces but wins as worst-case scenario unfolds
No. 25 North Carolina State is the only other undefeated ACC team, but its three nonconference victories were against James Madison, Georgia State and Marshall.
The ACC’s reputation, which suffered another blow Saturday as Central Florida crushed Pittsburgh, will hinder Clemson more than help him. Clemson will need assistance from outside the conference. It received a boost from an unlikely source Saturday evening.
Notre Dame knocked off Stanford, the final undefeated team in the Pacific 12. With Washington, Oregon, Southern California, California and Arizona State, the Pac-12 has become the cannibalistic league. It may very well be the best or second-best collection of teams, top to bottom, but the teams compete so fiercely they trip each other out of the CFP race.
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Pitt Football JUCO TE commit Travis Koontz has decommitted (cardiachill.com; Sta7ic)
With the way Pitt has started the season, it’s not surprising if a few commits question if they want to still go to Pitt for their future.
JUCO TE Travis Koontz has decided he wants to open his recruitment back up.
iceman koontz@koontz101
I've been thinking a lot over the last couple weeks and I'm deciding to open my recruitment back up, I'd like to thank Pittsburghs staff for recruiting me, it's nothing against them they're a great program, I just need to make sure this decision is the BEST one for me.
11:50 AM - Oct 2, 2018
Considering Pitt’s usage of tight ends in the offense so far, I can’t really blame him. Combined, Pitt’s current tight ends have caught 6 passes for 45 yards total through 5 games. Unless a tight end recruit really likes blocking, it’s hard for them to get excited seeing something like that.The staff could say to Koontz that the reason they’re not using the tight ends is they’re not good enough to use them the way they want to, and that Koontz would allow them to do what they want to with the position. There’s ways to explain things away in recruiting, but Koontz still might not have liked what he was told....
Syracuse Football: 2018 Orange bowl possibilities are delicious (itlh.com; Esden Jr)
If the Syracuse football team can find a way to .500, they’ll have a bevy of choices to pick from in terms of bowl possibilities.
Now we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. The Syracuse football squad is currently 4-1. They still need two more wins to guarantee a bowl berth (while there are some scenarios where five wins will do it, let’s not think about that).
With seven games left to go, chances are really good that Syracuse will make a bowl. Although we’ve seen over the past two years that nothing is guaranteed. After two program changing wins over No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 2 Clemson, Syracuse has gone 1-9 after those wins. So the proof will ultimately be in the pudding if Syracuse can keep those wins.
But let’s play in the hypothetical world that Syracuse makes it into a bowl, what are their possibilities?
- College Football Playoff
- If an ACC team is selected:
- Orange bowl
- Cotton bowl
- If an ACC team is selected:
- New Year’s Six
- ACC teams eligible for selection:
- Peach bowl
- Fiesta bowl
- Camping World bowl
- ACC teams eligible for selection:
- Tier One Bowls
- Four selections, all equal selection status:
- Belk bowl
- Music City bowl
- Gator bowl
- Pinstripe bowl
- Sun bowl
- Four selections, all equal selection status:
- Five Additional Bowls
- Up to five selections, listed in selection order:
- Military bowl
- Independence bowl
- Quick Lane bowl
- Gasparilla bowl or Heart of Dallas bowl
- Birmingham bowl (secondary)
- Up to five selections, listed in selection order:
Pitt Football | 2018 Syracuse Week Interviews | Shocky Jacques-Louis
Shocky Jacques-Louis was recruited heavily by Syracuse
Week 6 ACC football power rankings (cardchronicle.com; Tompkins)
Week 5 is in the books and we almost saw the conference’s world turned upside down, but luckily for Clemson, nothing major ended up happening. The league went 8-6 last week, 5-6 against Power 5 opponents, and 3-1 when facing opponents outside the ACC. Here’s your power rankings as we enter the sixth week of the college football season.
1. #4 Clemson (5-0 Overall, 2-0 Conference) (LW: #1)
The Tigers were able to hang on against Syracuse and retain their No. 1 spot but nearly suffered an upset after a concussion knocked Trevor Lawrence out of the game in the second quarter. And since Kelly Bryant announced his intent to transfer and is no longer suiting up, it was third-stringer Chase Brice who was tasked with saving the day. He did just enough, and Clemson rallied from a 23-13 fourth quarter deficit to remain perfect atop the ACC.
Up next: Saturday 10/6 vs. Wake Forest (3-2) at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN
2. #17 Miami (4-1 Overall, 1-0 Conference) (LW: #2)
Miami had no problems breezing past North Carolina in their Thursday night matchup. The Canes forced six turnovers and tied a school record with three defensive touchdowns as two pick-sixes and a scoop-and-score on a fumble powered them past the Tar Heels.
Up next: Saturday 10/6 vs. Florida State (3-2) at 3:30 p.m. on ABC
3. #23 NC State (4-0 Overall, 1-0 Conference) (LW: #4)
Even though they didn’t beat Virginia by as wide of an expected margin, 257 yards and 3 TDs from NFL prospect Ryan Finley was enough to help the Wolfpack jump out to their first 4-0 start since 2015 and get a slight bump in this week’s rankings.
Up next: Saturday 10/6 vs. Boston College (4-1) at 12:30 p.m. on ACC Network
4. #24 Virginia Tech (3-1 Overall, 2-0 Conference) (LW: #7)
Up three spots from last week, the Hokies bounced back from their humiliating upset loss to Old Dominion with an upset of their own against No. #22 Duke. Filling in for the injured Josh Jackson, backup Ryan Willis threw for 332 yards and a career-best three touchdowns. All things considered, Virginia Tech is still one of the better teams in the conference, but they’ve got a couple more weeks to atone for their embarrassing loss before they receive any positive reviews around here.
Up next: Saturday 10/6 vs. #6 Notre Dame (5-0) at 7:00 p.m. on ABC
5. Syracuse (4-1 Overall, 1-1 Conference) (LW: #5)
Here’s the deal, despite Syracuse’s loss and the fact that Boston College won underneath them, most people probably have these teams switched. But I’m not going to penalize Syracuse with a one-spot demotion because they lost to No. 3 Clemson, and I’m not going to award Boston College simply because they beat Temple by 10 points. After all, even though they ultimately were unable to stifle Clemson’s rally, Syracuse still led one of the best teams in the nation by two scores until there were just 11 minutes left in the game.
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ACC Football: Week 6 Staff Predictions (tarheelblog.com; Staff)
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ACC Panic Room: NC State's schedule about to get real :: WRALSportsFan.com (wralsports.com; video; Brownlow & Ovies)
Lauren Brownlow and Joe Ovies discuss NC State's upcoming slate and how all questions have a chance to get answered.
Louisville seeks 1st ACC win, with more challenges ahead (apnews.com; Graves)
Louisville coach Bobby Petrino wants his struggling team to focus on the next opponent rather than looking toward bigger goals such as a ninth consecutive postseason appearance.
An opportunity looms for the Cardinals on Friday night against Georgia Tech in an inaugural matchup of teams seeking their first Atlantic Coast Conference victory. That’s still a tall order for the Cardinals (2-3, 0-2) after giving one away to Florida State, making bowl eligibility even more challenging with No. 4 Clemson among their upcoming opponents.
“What we need to focus on is Georgia Tech and one practice,” Petrino said Monday. “I think that’s the biggest thing, to play one game at a time and work on improvement.”
The Cardinals face an uphill climb in many phases after Saturday’s devastating 28-24 home loss to the Seminoles .
Besides dropping to the Atlantic Division cellar, Louisville remains winless against Power Five opponents. It needed second-half rallies to beat Conference USA Western Kentucky and FCS-level Indiana State.
The Cardinals appeared headed toward a critical win with a first down at the FSU 21 and a three-point lead with under two minutes remaining. Quarterback Jawon Pass was intercepted on the next play and FSU converted it into the winning TD, a stunning turn that has resulted in second-guessing of Petrino’s play-calling on local sports talk radio.
The fifth-year coach said that in retrospect, he’d run the ball to “make it easy,” but suggested that passing was the right call in that situation because the play had worked earlier.
“I’ve always felt that way that when you have to make a call and it does work out, it’s a good call,” Petrino said. “When it doesn’t, it’s a bad call and throughout the game you have those situations. This one became a big turnover, so it ended up being a real bad call.”
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Friday Night Lights Await Tech in Louisville (ramblinwreck.com)
Georgia Tech Football (2-3, 0-2 ACC) at Louisville (2-3, 0-2 ACC)
Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 • 7 p.m. • Louisville, Ky. • Cardinal Stadium (61,800)
TV: ESPN | Watch Online
Radio: Georgia Tech IMG Sports Network | Where to Listen (In Atlanta: The Sports X 1230 AM / 106.3 FM) | Sirius 119 / XM 193 | Listen Online | GT Gameday App | TuneIn
Information: Gameday Central | Game Notes/Depth Charts | 2018 GT Football Info Guide | News Clippings | Multimedia
Top Storylines
• Having snapped a three-game overall losing streak with a convincing 63-17 win over Bowling Green last Saturday, Georgia Tech sets its sights on ending a seven-game skid in games played away from home when it visits Louisville for a nationally televised Atlantic Coast Conference battle on Friday night.
• Georgia Tech is in search of its first win away from home since its 33-18 triumph over Kentucky in the 2016 TaxSlayer Bowl (Dec. 31, 2016) and its first true road victory since it beat Georgia, 28-27, on Nov. 26, 2016 in Athens, Ga.
• Despite the fact that they’ve been conference-mates since 2014, Georgia Tech and Louisville are meeting for the first time on the gridiron. The last time that Georgia Tech had a conference matchup against a team that it had never faced before was in 1988 when it squared off with Maryland for the first time (Maryland won the ACC contest, 13-8, on Oct. 8, 1988).
(this is wrong; they played Syracuse when Scott Shafer was the HC)
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The Maroon Men's ACC College Football Podcast (themaroonmen.com; podcast)
In this mega episode the Maroon Men Discuss all the action from week five and preview what is to come in week 6! AN orange bowl always lives up to the hype, the Hokies bounce back, Louisville finds creative new ways to suck, Boston College is scary (not in the good way) and much much more!
ACC Football Rx: Are GoRs enforceable on State U? (accfootballrx.com; HM)
Another opinion from an anonymous source:
...there is a huge unanswered question as to whether GOR's are enforceable against state entities whose budgets are underwritten by the taxpayers of states. How can a contract signed by only one state employee, and not subject to the state legislature's budgetary considerations, limit the earning potential of a state supported school for a determined length of time, and potentially do so at taxpayer's expense? There are many in the legal profession who would argue that such a contract limiting the scope of the states elected budgetary control isn't enforceable.
The expense of fighting it is the only thing that heretofore has kept the GOR's, as they apply to state schools, enforced. Remember that GOR's grew out of the entertainment industry and until they were applied to sports conferences for the first time ever in 2011-12 they had only applied to the product of bands, singers, and other individual entertainment entities and never to a collection of them.
So their legality for all involved from a conference perspective has never been tested. It is merely assumed that Private schools could legitimately assign their rights. And it was from the beginning a major question as to whether state funded schools could do so. Since we still technically hold states to be sovereign entities I have profound doubts that such individual assignment of rights would be binding upon the state
COMMENTS: He brings up some very interesting points here... If this turns out truly to be the case, it might even lead to a public/private split within the NCAA (with privates bound by GoR's, but publics all acting as unrestricted free agents)... then we'd have something new to argue about: who's the REAL national champion -- the winner of the USC/Notre Dame/Miami/TCU playoffs, or the Washington/Alabama/Ohio State/Clemson playoffs? Then there's the whole question of whether players at private schools will form labor unions, demand pay, etc., etc.
Other
Lafayette Apple Festival
LaFayette Apple Festival, Alice Cooper: 11 things to do in CNY this weekend )PS; Pucci)
Welcome to October, Central New York! Celebrate with the impressive slate of live music, stage performances and other entertainment the area has to offer this weekend.
Super DIRT Week
The paved Oswego Speedway will be covered in clay as Super DIRT Week returns to Central New York for five days of racing that culminates Sunday with the Billy Whittaker Cars 200, with a $50,000 prize at stake.
For the full schedule of races, visit superdirtweekonline.com.
Where: Oswego Speedway, 300 E. Albany St., Oswego.
When: Wednesday, Oct. 3 to Sunday, Oct. 7.
How much: Daily tickets for adults range from $25 to $45. Children's tickets are $10.
MacKenzie-Childs Fall Festival
This high-end decor and furniture company best known for its summertime barn sale is giving everyone a reason to come in the fall too. Stop by the barn for MacKenzie-Childs' Fall Festival, pick a pumpkin, snack on cider and doughnuts, tour their farmhouse and take advantage of special sales.
Where: 3260 State Route 90, Aurora.
When: Friday, Oct. 5 to Monday, Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
How much: Free admission.
LaFayette Apple Festival
For nearly half a century, the LaFayette Apple Festival has served as one of Central New York's preeminent fall festivals. It's back again with carnival rides, contents, live entertainment, pony rides, the Apple King & Queen Contest, apple pie bake-off, hundreds of vendors and all sorts of apple-based treats.
Where: 5330 Rowland Road, LaFayette.
When: Saturday, Oct. 6, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
How much: Admission is $5 for adults and free for children 12 and under. Parking is free.
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