sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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September 2 has a special significance for all coconut-growing countries of the world. It is the day observed annually as ‘World Coconut Day’ in several countries of the Asia-Pacific region, including India. Let me narrate a story about this remarkable fruit and its journey across the globe today.
First, the naming. Have you ever wondered where this fruit got its name? If you de-husk a coconut, you will find three indentations on the surface. Almost like a human face.
Now, it is said that when the Spanish and Portuguese saw these three indentations, they reminded them of a witch or bogeyman from the folklore of the native lands. The mythical character was called Coco. And so, it turns out that “coconut” — the word in English — has its roots in ancient Iberian folklore.
But what were Iberian sailors doing with coconuts? Well, they found them in islands like Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Native to the tropics or the region of the Earth surrounding the Equator, the coconut has its origins in the coastal regions along the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
SU News
Orange Watch: Predicting games 4-7 of the 2020 Syracuse football season - The Juice Online (the juice; Bierman)
Item: On Monday, we began our annual forecast of the entire (11-game) regular season in schedule order with games 1-3. We predicted the Orange to get off to a 1-2 start, but can the Orange rebound in games 4-7? We explore further below.
Duke-October 10
Last Time: Syracuse scored the second-most points in a game last season throttling the Blue Devils 49-6 in Durham, gaining its first win over a Power 5 team in the process. All-American safety Andre Cisco did what he does best with a 48-yard scamper for a pick-six, and Moe Neal and Jarveon Howard each rushed for 115-yards and a touchdown.
This Time: Following the first of two open weeks, the Orange have the luxury of not traveling for four weeks with a second straight home game against the Blue Devils. The fluid nature of players returning from injury, and/or players contracting COVID-19 as the season progresses is realistic, necessitating lineup/depth chart changes on the fly. This will turn out to be a defensive affair with an Andre Szmyt field goal the difference. Syracuse 24-Duke 21 (2-2).
Liberty-October 17
Last Time: In a surreal scene, Liberty coach High Freeze watched on his back in bed in the press box recovering from back surgery. In Tommy Devito’s debut as the starter, SU blanked the Flames 24-0 in the 2019 season opener in Lynchburg, Va. Afterwards, instead of an on-field handshake, Dino Babers acknowledged Freeze with a hand wave towards the press box booth.
This Time: This is the only 2020 game that is being played as scheduled, but many SU fans wish the lone non-conference contest was changed to another opponent. Liberty has been an embarrassment off the field. Two players transferred in June alleging racial insensitivity, followed by the recent resignation of school president Jerry Falwell Jr. after the exposure of extra-marital affairs involving his wife and other men. Syracuse 35-Liberty 3 (3-2, 2-2).
At Clemson-October 24
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Syracuse Football: Uncertainty at running back for the Orange? (itlh; Adler)
It’s unclear what the status is of the Syracuse football No. 2 and No. 3 running backs from a season ago.
Coming into the 2020 campaign, which kicks off in fewer than two weeks on Saturday, Sept. 12, when Syracuse football travels to North Carolina, the thought is that Abdul Adams and Jarveon Howard would significantly contribute at the running-back spot.
Adams, a redshirt senior, and Howard, a junior, each accumulated more than 300 yards rushing in 2019, when the ‘Cuse went 5-7, and both could certainly amount to contenders for the starting job.
However, it appears that there is some ambiguity regarding the status of them on the 2020 roster. Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com notes in a story that Adams and Howard “haven’t appeared in camp content or been mentioned directly during interviews.”
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Syracuse has new coordinators, looks for bounceback season (AP; Kekis)
Syracuse coach Dino Babers enters his fifth year at the helm facing a rebuild after a down season.
Not an easy task in this environment. Less than two weeks before the season opener, Babers was trying to answer every health question while molding his team and assuaging any fears the players voice regarding both the coronavirus and the racial tension across America.
"Every day there's something else popping up that you've got to put out," Babers said. "It's one of those times where there's a lot of pain, and where there's a lot of pain there's normally a lot of growth as well once it's all over."
Rapid growth is a top priority. The Orange finished 5-7 and 2-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference last fall after posting 10 wins the previous season.
"Coming into camp last year we felt like we were at the top. We had high expectations for ourselves, everybody did the way we performed," redshirt senior defensive lineman Josh Black said. "Maybe we got a little bit too comfortable, maybe we kind of slacked here and there, didn't do the things we did in our 10-3 season, but we learned a lot last year. We haven't arrived yet, I like to say."
Babers has two new coordinators to help turn things around. Defensive boss Tony White's unit is adapting well to his 3-3-5 scheme and offensive guru Sterlin Gilbert has a veteran in redshirt junior quarterback Tommy DeVito (213 of 337 for 2,360 yards and 19 TDs passing) to guide the team's uptempo spread offense.
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Dino Babers discusses challenges as season opener approaches | The NewsHouse (thenewshouse.com; Miller)
While skepticism remains about playing college football in the midst of a pandemic and social justice has garnered national attention from athletes at all levels, Syracuse head coach Dino Babers says his team is still trying its best to be ready for its season opener less than two weeks away.
“It’s extremely different, there’s nothing to relate it to, and every day you feel like the fires over in California,” Babers said Monday. “Every day there’s something propping up that you got to put out.”
Syracuse is scheduled to return to the playing field in Chapel Hill, N.C., against North Carolina for a noon game on Sept. 12. Football pre-season has been peppered with concerns about COVID-19 outbreaks, protests in support of Black Lives Matter on top of the return to classes.
"IT’S ONE OF THOSE TIMES WHERE THERE’S A LOT OF PAIN, AND WHEN THERE’S A LOT OF PAIN, THERE’S A LOT OF GROWTH WHEN IT’S ALL OVER."
HEAD COACH DINO BABERS
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Mack Brown PC: Backup QB, Sideline Protocols & Syracuse (247sports.com; Barnes)
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SYRACUSE PREP
“We're just starting to work on [Syracuse] even though it's a new game for us. So, but we felt like that looking at them, they've got a new defensive coordinator. He came in from Arizona State. He's got multiple look stone defense, he blitzes a whole lot. They had 10 sacks and four interceptions and their scrimmage. So, it's something that we've got to continue to look at. I like the fact that coach Bateman blitzes a lot against our offense every day because that will help us in preparation for the Syracuse game.
“Offensively, Dino Babers is one of the best offensive coaches in the country. I coached against him when he was at Texas A&M. I coached against him when he was at Baylor with the Art Briles system and they'll wear you out. They go at a very high tempo and that's why we're working so hard on TD two-deep because they can make your pass rushers were out in the fourth quarter and that's where they get you and they've got a seven starters back on offense. And they also have a tremendous kicking game their ticker was 11-for-11 inside of 40 yards last year, their punter was third in the FBS with 43-yard average per punt."
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2020 ACC expert picks: Most overrated and underrated teams, order of finish, bold predictions (cbssports.com; Patterson)
In what is already going to be a season unlike any other in college football, the ACC enters unprecedented territory with a 15-team, one-division league in 2020. Not only are Atlantic and Coastal Divisions gone for a year as the league adopts a 10-game conference schedule in response to the challenges of playing football in the era of coronavirus, but Notre Dame is all in. A partial member with 5-6 games against ACC opponents in a normal year, the Fighting Irish have their own 10-game conference slate, which will make them eligible to play for and potentially win the 2020 ACC Championship Game.
This in a conference that has become all too easy for expert picks at this time of year. You write in Clemson as the winner of the Atlantic, randomly pick literally any of the teams from the Coastal -- seven different teams have won the division in the last seven years -- and then pick the Tigers to win in Charlotte to claim the conference championship. Now there's more to consider, not only with Notre Dame but with the potential of a Louisville or Florida State to finish with the second-best winning percentage in the one-division setup and thus earn a spot at the league title. North Carolina and Miami, a pair of teams that would be in the running for that Coastal spot if divisions were being played, still have a shot at Charlotte but now have to fend off a certified top-10 to top-15 program in Notre Dame.
All of the sudden, the ACC has taken on more intrigue. Clemson remains the overwhelming favorite, but how the rest shakes out and how the notably independent Fighting Irish fare in their one year of conference dependence will bring some unpredictability to a league that has become among the most predictable in the College Football Playoff era.
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Six ways to shake up same-old College Football Playoff in 2020 (TSN; Bender)
Sporting News released its revised 2020 College Football Playoff predictions, and those picks offer no surprises.
Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia have a combined 15 playoff appearances in the past six years. The Tigers and Crimson Tide have met in the CFP four times — including three times in the championship game. That's our pick again this year.
Boring, right? That's been the nature of a top-heavy sport, and not having playoff contenders such as Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State in the mix this season thins out the possibilities.
Could there be some college football chaos in 2020? Here are some factors that could alter that otherwise vanilla playoff outlook.
ND or UNC wins ACC
The easiest team to pencil into the College Football Playoff is Clemson. The Tigers have made five straight CFP appearances and have a 43-2 record in the ACC (including conference title games) in that stretch.
Dabo Swinney returns another loaded team led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is 25-1 as a starter heading into his junior year.
Who can stand up to that?
Would it be one-year ACC rental Notre Dame, which is eligible to compete in conference play for the first time in school history? The Irish host Clemson on Nov. 7 and could get another swing in the ACC championship game. It's one of the season's most interesting developments.
Could it be North Carolina? Mack Brown's rebuild in Chapel Hill is way ahead of schedule, and the Tar Heels took Clemson to the limit in a 21-20 loss. Quarterback Sam Howell is one of the top players in college football, and North Carolina does not play the Tigers in the regular season.
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2020 Broadcast Teams (RX; HM)
2020 Broadcast Teams
Who will be calling your favorite game?
ESPN Continues its Industry-Leading College Football Coverage with Familiar Faces and Veteran Commentator Teams in 2020-21
ACC football can be telecast by any combination of ABC/ESPN/2/U/ACCN, and during the upcoming season those networks will "again feature the deepest, most accomplished broadcasting roster in college football"
This year’s [main] broadcast teams:
...and here is the main ACCN team.
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ESPN Top 50 College Players of 2020* (RX; HM)
ESPN Top 50 College Players of 2020*
ESPN just published their annual list of the top 50 players* of the college football season. I've taken the liberty of compiling the list of players - sans comments from the article - and I've bolded ACC schools in (more or less) school colors, while also striking through any player who isn't planning to play this Fall, whether because his team has postponed the season or because he has opted not to play. Here's the list:
| Rank. Player | Pos, Team | Year | Status |
| 1. Trevor Lawrence | QB, Clemson | Junior | Playing |
| 2. Derek Stingley Jr. | CB, LSU | Sophomore | Playing |
| 3. Penei Sewell | LT, Oregon | Junior | postponed |
| 4. Justin Fields | QB, Ohio State | Junior | postponed |
| 5. Ja'Marr Chase | WR, LSU | Junior | Opted out |
| 6. Kayvon Thibodeaux | DE, Oregon | Sophomore | postponed |
| 7. Travis Etienne | RB, Clemson | Senior | Playing |
| 8. Marvin Wilson | DT, Florida State | Senior | Playing |
| 9. Micah Parsons | LB, Penn State | Junior | postponed |
| 10. Patrick Surtain II | CB, Alabama | Junior | Playing |
| 11. Chuba Hubbard | RB, Oklahoma St. | Junior | Playing |
| 12. Gregory Rousseau | DL, Miami | Sophomore | Opted out |
| 13. DeVonta Smith | WR, Alabama | Senior | Playing |
| 14. Najee Harris | RB, Alabama | Senior | Playing |
| 15. Rashod Bateman | WR, Minnesota | Junior | postponed |
| 16. Trey Smith | OT, Tennessee | Senior | Playing |
| 17. Tylan Wallace | WR, Oklahoma St. | Senior | Playing |
| 18. Jaylen Waddle | WR, Alabama | Junior | Playing |
| 19. Dylan Moses | LB, Alabama | Senior | Playing |
| 20. Alex Leatherwood | OL, Alabama | Senior | Playing |
| 21. Shaun Wade | CB, Ohio State | Junior | postponed |
| 22. Sam Howell | QB, N. Carolina | Sophomore | Playing |
| 23. Walker Little | LT, Stanford | Senior | postponed |
| 24. Rondale Moore | WR, Purdue | Junior | postponed |
| 25. Sam Ehlinger | QB, Texas | Senior | Playing |
Packer And Durham Show - PodCenter - ESPN Radio (ESPN; radio; Packer)
CBS National College football writer Dennis Dodd makes his debut on the show & gives us some ACC schools that could give Clemson a run for their money this year. Plus we visit with Lauren Brownlow from WRALSportsfan.com and get her thoughts about NC State's women's soccer team canceling their fall season and could it have a ripple effect on the ACC. And we tell you who we think the best to ever wear the #10 in the ACC is..
Other
Cash-strapped Onondaga County spending $1.6 million to upgrade vacant business park (PS; Knauss)
The same day they authorized up to 250 layoffs to deal with a fiscal crisis, Onondaga County legislators today approved spending $1.6 million in hopes of attracting a tenant to the county’s vacant 450-acre business park in Clay.
The money approved today would pay engineers to design a sewer system for the undeveloped site, including a major pump station and a 4-mile sewer main. The full construction cost for the sewer project would be about $16 million, which would require further authorization from lawmakers.
The expense comes at a time when the county is suffering big deficits caused by the coronavirus. But County Executive Ryan McMahon said the White Pine project will be paid for out of the county sewer fund, which gets money from sewer fees, and won’t affect general operations. Meanwhile, the project could help lure a major new employer, he said.
Companies have expressed interest in White Pine but won’t commit to the undeveloped site if there’s a risk they’ll have to wait for sewer service to be installed, he said. County officials hope to attract a high-tech manufacturer to the site at the northeast corner of Route 31 and Caughdenoy Road in Clay.
“We’ve had a lot of activity at White Pine, but what we’ve learned is there is a time-to-market challenge,’' McMahon said. “Nobody is going to go to a site that doesn’t have (sewer) utilities.’'
McMahon said he would like to see the sewer infrastructure in place next year.
Five Democratic legislators voted against spending the $1.6 million. Legislator Peggy Chase, D-Syracuse, said she would only support the expense if a tenant were committed to locating in the business park. She noted that county officials have tried to market the property for years.
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