sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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- Aug 15, 2011
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Welcome to National Vanilla Ice Cream Day!
Made by freezing a custard of cream or milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla beans or flavoring, vanilla ice cream is the most popular flavor of ice cream in the United States and Canada according to some surveys.
Vanilla is a flavoring that comes from the pods of the fruit of the vanilla orchid. A native plant of Mexico, vanilla was unknown to the world outside Central America until the late 1600s. Today, it is one of the world's most recognized flavors. The expression, plain vanilla, is used to refer to something that is commonplace and does not have any special or distinguishing characteristics.
Vanilla Ice Cream Day is also sometimes known as National Vanilla Ice Cream Day in the US.
SU News
NY will revisit ban on fans at Carrier Dome before start of football season (PS; Weiner)
New York will revisit its ban on fans at live sports events, with a final decision expected before the Syracuse football season starts in September at the newly renovated Carrier Dome.
That decision will be based not only on the coronavirus infection rate in New York, but whether cases of Covid-19 are on the rise across other parts of the United States, according to an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“An infection in Texas is as good as an infection here,” said Rich Azzopardi, a senior adviser to Cuomo. “This virus does not respect borders. It does not respect a particular event. We’re constantly looking at the science.”
Azzopardi said he could not speculate on when the state will make its final decision about fall sporting events.
He spoke to syracuse.com | The Post-Standard a day after Cuomo told reporters that college games can take place, but fans won’t be allowed to watch in stadiums anywhere in New York.
The decision prompted Syracuse University to ask the state for clarification of its policy, and whether schools can continue planning to host reduced-capacity crowds at a later date.
SU has been planning to open the Carrier Dome to a limited number of fans for football games in September, modeling out seating plans with different capacity limits.
Azzopardi said the state is aware the coronavirus pandemic is constantly changing and that the state will need to revisit its response. But for now, the state continues to ban large social gatherings of more than 50 people.
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SU football will start its 6-week preseason training Thursday (PS; Mink)
Syracuse University football will continue preparation for a fall season by holding its first walkthrough Thursday, kicking off its six-week preseason training schedule.
The walkthroughs are the most proactive step to date in college football’s march toward a fall season and will bring together dozens of players for non-contact, on-field work.
They also mark the first time SU’s coaches will get to work directly with players on the field since early March, when the coronavirus pandemic emptied college campuses.
The walkthroughs mark the start of the six-week preseason schedule approved by the NCAA on June 17. Since then, a cloud of pessimism has hovered over the sport as the logistical challenges of pulling off a season amid a once-in-a-century pandemic continue to mount.
Training will get underway despite no promise the season will kick off Labor Day weekend.
The ACC is expected by the end of the month to announce its plans for fall sports, including football. That could answer looming questions about a uniform, conference-wide testing protocol and reveal plans for a reconfigured schedule.
Until then, Syracuse will proceed as though it is starting its season Sept. 4 at Boston College.
Approximately 85 members of the football team are on campus working out. Four international players, Max Mang, Mark Petry, Ben Labrosse and Damien Alford, all entering their first season with the program, have yet to arrive on campus due to issues related to the pandemic.
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Gabe Blair 'excited' for Syracuse offer (2467sports.com; McAllister)
Syracuse football is looking for a big haul along the offensive line in the 2021 class. Talent up front is always critical to the success of any college football program, and the Orange is no exception. During the 2020 season, the offensive line really struggled as they replaced experienced veterans with youth and a transfer that did not work out. While things did get better towards the end of the year, Syracuse is still looking for that next crop of young talented lineman to bolster depth and ensure continuity moving forward.
Along those lines, Syracuse extended a new offer to an interior offensive lineman on Tuesday. Three star Denton (TX) Guyer offensive lineman Gabe Blair picked up an offer from Syracuse. It was his second power five offer, with Virginia Tech being the other.
"Ryan Bartow hit me up and asked if I was interested," Blair said. "I said yes and then I got a call from coach (Sterlin) Gilbert and they offered me."
This was the first time there had been direct communication between Syracuse and Blair, but he is someone who has been on their radar for some time. In fact, Syracuse has relationships with some of his high school coaches, which will only help in their recruiting efforts.
"He (Gilbert) told me he knew a couple of my coaches very well and he liked the way I could move and the way I played," Blair said. "I was excited for another ACC offer."
This may have been the first correspondence between Syracuse and the 6-foot-2, 285-pound lineman, but he still holds the Orange program in high regard.
"I know they're a good school with a lot of potential," Blair said. "They're pretty high on my list but I need to learn some more about the program, meet some more coaches and visit a couple campuses, including their's, before I can finalize my thoughts on them."
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Pittsburgh Panthers — 2020 Syracuse Football preview - The Juice Online (the juice; Cheng)
As we countdown to kickoff in September, we’re going to be doing a team-by-team preview each week over the summer. SU will finish its 2020 regular season schedule on November 28 against Pitt.
CONSISTENTLY GOOD, RARELY GREAT
There’s a split among the Pittsburgh fan base with its head coach, Pat Narduzzi.
On the one hand, Narduzzi brought stability to a program that had four head coaches in the span of five years, and has guided them to four winning seasons in his now five-plus years on campus. The Panthers have been steady under his watch, with a 36-29 over record and 24-16 in ACC play, finishing second or better in the Coastal in three separate seasons.
On the other side, Nardizzu has not had a breakthrough year. He’s won the Coastal once, finishing 6-2 in 2018, but the team went 7-7 overall and lost in the Sun Bowl. The Panthers have also maxed out at eight wins under Narduzzi, which is nice, but Pittsburgh has greater ambitions, like the when they went 10-3 in 2009 under Dave Wannstedt.
There was some speculation that Narduzzi might leave for the opening at Michigan State, where he was a former defensive coordinator, when Mark Dantonio retired. But the Spartans hired away Mel Tucker from Colorado, and Narduzzi doubled-down, saying he wanted to win a championship at Pitt.
EXPERIENCED OFFENSE
Quarterback Kenny Pickett looks to build on a 2019 where he completed 61.6 percent of his passes for 3,098 yards, but threw only 13 touchdowns against nine interceptions. He seemed to realize his potential against Eastern Michigan in the Quick Lane Bowl, throwing for 361 yards and three touchdowns, with zero interceptions in a 34-30 win.
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The fate of college football won’t only be decided in conference offices (tampabay.com; Baker)
As Florida college football fans wait for the SEC and ACC to announce updated plans for the 2020 season next week, two recent headlines from New York and New Mexico provide this important reminder: College administrators aren’t the only ones making decisions during the coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that spectators won’t be attending football games this year. “Even tailgating is off limits,” syracuse.com reports.
Syracuse University is trying to clarify “the opportunity to have fans at our games and move forward appropriately under the guidance of the state,” athletic director John Wildhack told the site. But if Cuomo’s decision stands, Florida State’s Thursday night game against the Orange in November will be played at an empty dome instead of one at 25 to 50 percent capacity.
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Florida State Football: Ranking the Toughest Games on the Seminoles' Schedule (athlonsports.com; Ferguson)
Assuming a football season takes place in 2020, it will almost certainly be a shortened one for Florida State and first-year head coach Mike Norvell.
While the Big Ten and Pac-12 have already decided to play conference-only schedules this season, the ACC has yet to make its intentions known. If the conference was to follow suit, FSU would lose high-profile games against Florida, West Virginia and Boise State, as well as its home opener with FCS member Samford, with additional changes likely.
After consecutive losing seasons, FSU will look to right the ship under Norvell. Here's what the road ahead currently looks like from the easiest game to the most difficult:
12. Sept. 12 vs. Samford
Florida State has never lost to an FCS opponent, but Samford did put a scare into the Seminoles in 2018. FSU was forced to rally in the final quarter to avoid the upset. In 2019, the Bulldogs finished 5-7 for their first losing season since 2010.
11. Nov. 14 vs. Boston College
One of only two ACC schools to lose to Florida State in each of the last two seasons, Boston College is undergoing significant changes. AJ Dillon was the heart and soul of the Eagles' offense in 2019. He's now in Green Bay. Jeff Hafley is in his first season as Boston College head coach. BC hasn't won in Tallahassee since 2008.
10. Oct. 3 at NC State
Florida State snapped a two-game skid against NC State last season in Tallahassee. The Wolfpack are coming off a disappointing 4-8 season. NC State had the worst ACC record last year at just 1-7.
9. Nov. 19 at Syracuse
Syracuse demolished Florida State in the Seminoles' last trip to the Carrier Dome to snap a 10-game losing streak to FSU. The Orange return Tommy DeVito at quarterback. DeVito struggled mightily in last season's loss in Tallahassee. FSU is currently set to make a long trip on a short week.
8. Sept. 5 vs. West Virginia (Atlanta)
The opener set for Atlanta will pit two Power 5 teams that struggled last season against one another. This will be the fourth-ever meeting between Florida State and West Virginia. All have been held at neutral fields. This will be the first non-bowl meeting. The Mountaineers finished just 5-7 last season under first-year head coach Neal Brown.
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ACC looking at moving to pods for the 2020 college football season? Bring in Notre Dame, roll with three 5-team pods...and only play those 4 teams for the season? Could it work? We break it all down.
Clemson Football: The ACC is set to take major steps forward in 2020 (rubbingtherock.com; Spencer)
The ACC is steadily chasing behind Clemson football
The Clemson football program has dominated the ACC for the last half-decade, but the conference members are slowly beginning to take steps forward.
While the Tigers remain atop the conference- and seemingly will be there for a while- there are other programs who are at least trending in the right direction as we progress towards the 2020 season.
Clemson football is the overwhelming favorite to win the conference this year and that really isn’t a question, but it certainly doesn’t hurt the Tigers to have some legitimate competition during the year and for the perception of the conference to improve.
Several ACC programs are starting to take steps forward, and that’s good for Clemson football
As we head into the 2020 season, there are two legitimate teams in the ACC that could be ranked inside the top-25 not named Clemson.
First, there’s the North Carolina Tar Heels who are the heavy favorite to win the ACC Coastal Division. Under Coach Mack Brown, UNC seemingly has new life and they’re recruiting at a level not seen there before. Brown has a prolific QB in Sam Howell returning and that Tar Heel offense could be one of the best in the country.
In addition to North Carolina, the Louisville Cardinals– under the direction of Scott Satterfield- are also on the rise. Louisville enters this season with three of the top play-makers in the country and the Cardinals very well could have one of the best offenses in the country, as well.
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Reader Email on Swofford's Replacement (RX; HM)
Reader Email on Swofford's Replacement
Today we have an email which I've posted with the sender's permission:
| I've been doing some alternative reading since I'm not getting my normal preseason fix. But in my reading, a few things have stuck with me as an opportunist... We all know why Notre Dame plays Navy every year (if not: Navy bailed out ND during WWII, designating ND's campus as a naval college training center -- that money kept the entire school afloat). While I don't expect the same treatment from the Irish toward the ACC, this coming season could go a long way in strengthening the bond between ND football and the ACC But something else sticks out even more than the Notre Dame situation...the names I'm seeing as possible replacements for Swofford after next year. Obviously everything published at this time is speculation and we don't know which direction university presidents will go with the new hire, but the number names being tossed around with West Virginia ties are eye-opening. Some of the names I've seen most frequently (this list is simply to get my point across): Jim Clements - current Clemson president (came to Clemson from WVU and has certainly grown the brand; led WVU through the demise of the Big East into the Big XII - the best viable option at the time) Oliver Luck - former WVU AD (his pedigree speaks for itself; Luck has had success on the business sides of WVU, NCAA, MLS, and XFL |
Other
High beef prices mean tough changes for CNY burger joints (PS; Pucci)
Last year, Johnny Angel’s in Skaneateles had to change its popular Thursday night burger special.
The half-pound Angus beef burgers — self-serve topping bar included — had been $3, but due to increased costs, owner Bill Lynn had to raise the price to $5.
This spring, amid temporary shutdowns of beef processing plants due to the coronavirus pandemic, the price increases were too great. The restaurant temporarily suspended the Thursday night promo. The self-serve topping bar has also been removed in favor of pre-packed portions of lettuce, tomato, onion and other toppings.
Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the nationwide impact. The price of meat has increased more than 16% from June 2019 to June 2020. Of all meats, the price of ground beef increased the most — more than 26% year-over-year.
Of all the foods listed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics data, ground beef had the largest jump in price from 2019 to now.
Lynn said his cost increases were even higher. His beef costs jumped from under $3 a pound to around $7 a pound.
“We can’t have another price increase,“ he said.
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