sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Rosa Parks Day!
Rosa Parks Day celebrates the legacy of Rosa Parks, a woman who is a symbol of equality, civil rights, and the American Civil Rights Movement. The holiday is celebrated on either February 4, her birthday, or on December 1, the anniversary of the date in 1955 on which she refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Various states officially observe the holiday on one of the two dates. Some municipalities officially mark the day as well. The holiday can also be observed unofficially on either date by all who wish to do so. Beyond remembering the legacy of Rosa Parks, the day promotes civil rights and equal opportunities in the present day. Events and activities are often organized by church leaders, politicians, and leaders of organizations. In classrooms, the holiday is marked with activities focused on Rosa Parks and her fight against discrimination and for equality.
SU News
Notre Dame Football: Irish open up as huge favorites vs. Syracuse (slapthesign.com; Weiss)
The Notre Dame football team is steamrolling towards the ACC title game, and on Saturday, they will be a huge favorite over the Syracuse Orange.
The Notre Dame football team has two regular-season games remaining before the ACC title game, a spot they are certain to land in following their 9-0 start. Up next, the Irish will take on a Syracuse team that has won only one game this season, and a Wake Forest team that has posted a winning record this season.
Saturday, the Irish will take on the Orange in their last home game of the season, and the game has blowout written all over it. In fact, Notre Dame has opened up as 34-point favorites against the Orange, who have lost seven straight, including a heartbreaker against North Carolina State last weekend.
Syracuse, who played Boston College tough, will be no match for the Irish, who will need to dominate over the next two games as they tuneup for a likely rematch against Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.
Expect a blowout on Saturday
While Syracuse was able to hang tough against North Carolina State last weekend, the matchup with the Irish is more than lopsided. In fact, the Irish are playing so well right now that many, including Kirk Herbstreit, believe they are the most complete team in all of college football.
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Everything Kelly Said Ahead of Notre Dame vs. Syracuse (247sports.com; Loy)
Notre Dame football head coach Brian Kelly spoke to the media for 30 minutes on Monday ahead of Saturday's matchup between the No. 2 Fighting Irish and the Syracuse Orange. Kelly discussed a variety of topics including the health of his team, his impressions of this year's Syracuse team, quarterback Ian Book potentially becoming the all-time winningest signal-caller in Notre Dame history, and much more.
Irish Illustrated brings you everything Kelly had to say.
ON THE UPCOMING MATCHUP WITH SYRACUSE
"Obviously coming off a really solid win on the road, our guys get a chance to finish up the home schedule, the seniors are playing in their last game, the chance to win a 24th consecutive home game, clinching ACC berth in the championship game. All those are outcomes that are in play this weekend. But I think the most important thing for us is to carry on the play that we exhibited in the second half of the game against North Carolina, I think that's the focus. That's what we've talked about.
We're much more interested in bringing that style of football to Syracuse and Wake Forest leading into the ACC Championship. The outcomes that I talked about are certainly important, seniors last game, clinching an acc championship, but the style of play, one that I think was arguably our best two quarters of the season, will be what we talk about all week in our preparation...
Defensively, playing six freshmen, three true freshmen, three redshirt freshmen, and very impressed. It's a 3-3-5 base that can get into four down. They're athletic, they're fast, they play with toughness, they take the football away, they've played their best football against the top offenses in the ACC, they get your attention. You watch this defensive football team and they're gonna be really good.
They have some good players and they have some veteran players. Williams has been there, played us in 2018. Black has been there. Those are good defensive linemen, but their linebackers are young and athletic. The secondary, they got two very good corners. That's what jumps out to me.
Then the special teams, as good a punter / kicker combination in the league. They had a kickoff return for a touchdown. They are top 15 in punt return, so really good and special teams. We know the offense has not lived up to the expectations, but they lost their best quarterback in DeVito. But Taj Harris had a career game last week against North Carolina State. He's a legit player. He can hurt you. We've got to know where Taj Harris is at all times. The freshmen back is going to be really good, Tucker. Dino, he's got a young football team. It's going to be a process for him, but they play hard on defense, they've got some skill players on offense and we'll have to prepare well. As I mentioned, it'll be much more about us carrying on what we did in the second half against North Carolina, more so than Syracuse. We respect them and what they're doing, but this will be about how we prepare and our mindset going into the game."
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https://notredame./news/notre-dame-syracuse-not-much-analysis-needed (notredame.; Somogyi)
Prior to any college football game, analysts preview it by repeating about a dozen times “the key to this game is …”
Not much analysis or probing is needed this week when No. 2 Notre Dame (9-0) is slated on Senior Day to host 1-9 Syracuse, which BetOnLine has made an early 33.5-point underdog.
It mainly comes down to not having a spike in COVID-19 and not entering with a bored attitude — as Clemson did as a 46-point favorite versus the Orange on Oct. 24 and then found itself leading only 27-21 in the third quarter before producing a 47-21 victory.
Syracuse also showed plenty of fight this past weekend while taking a 22-14 halftime lead (led by a kickoff return for a score) against North Carolina State before losing 36-29. The issue is how much fight is left in the tank during such a dismal campaign amid a pandemic — and then having to play a bona fide national title contender on the road in the finale.
Where the mismatch between Notre Dame and Syracuse is most profound is with “the money down.” As an offshoot of its 1-9 start with one of the least productive offenses in the country, Syracuse ranks 124th among 127 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams in third-down conversion percentage at 25.2 percent.
That plays right into Notre Dame’s wheelhouse under defensive coordinator Clark Lea, whose troops this past weekend held a North Carolina team that was averaging 43 points and 563 yards to 17 and 298, respectively, and 2 of 11 on third down conversions. During the 9-0 start by the Fighting Irish, they are third in the country in third-down conversion defense at 25.2 percent (29 of 115).
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Syracuse WR Harris tops chart vs. NCSU (PFF grades, snap counts) (247sports.com; Bailey)
Syracuse football wide receiver Taj Harris reminded the fanbase why he's one of the most talented players to come through the program in recent years. During the Orange's 36-29 loss to North Carolina State on Saturday, Harris caught turned in a season-best performance with 13 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.
Harris, a junior, picked up nine first downs, per Pro Football Focus, gobbled up 68 yards after the catch, avoided four tackles and only dropped one ball -- a fly down the right sideline that he knew he should've held onto after watching the replay on the Carrier Dome video board.
Harris (82.3) earned the highest PFF grade among Orange players this weekend and the numbers likely don't do justice to his best catches. Before quarterback Rex Culpepper took a brutal third-down sack with the clock winding down and then mistakenly spiked the ball on fourth down, Harris made an exceptional sideline grab to keep the possession moving near midfield. He had a step on his cover going down the sideline, but Culpepper threw wide and behind of Harris, forcing him to turn to his right and stretch out over the sideline to make a grab that officials didn't think was good enough live. But a replay review showed that Harris just kept a toe down inside the line.
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18 Sports Flashback – 1983 Syracuse vs. Penn State football (mytwintiers.com; Mainoske)
It’s time to go back to the vault.
In this edition of 18 Sports Flashback we go back to 1983 and the Syracuse versus Penn State football rivalry. We go back to 1983, the year the Nittany Lions topped the Orange, 17-6, at The Carrier Dome. Elmira native, Marty Chalk, was a junior tight end for Syracuse at that time.
The Orange fell to N.C. State last Saturday and will next play #2 Notre Dame. That game will be on WETM-TV this Saturday at 2:30 pm.
Daryl Johnston sounds off on Markus Paul's legacy (247sports.com; Straka)
Dallas Cowboys Strength and Conditioning coach and former NFL defensive back Markus Paul died on Nov. 25 after suffering a heart attack one day prior at the Cowboys' facilities in Frisco, Texas. A former player at Syracuse University, Paul had also spent time as a strength and conditioning coach for the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots and New York Jets before joining the Dallas staff, where he had been since 2018.
Following the announcement of Paul's death came an outpouring of memories from those who were closest to him, including his former teammates. Daryl Johnston, who was a co-captain with Paul at Syracuse before later starring with the Dallas Cowboys, recently sat down with Peter King of Pro Football Talk to discuss Paul's legacy -- one in which he was remembered as a hard-hitter but also a calming presence.
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What's Left for Syracuse Football Recruiting in 2021 Class? (SI; McAllister)
There are not a lot of slots left available for Syracuse football in its 2021 class that currently sits at 21 players. There are some players they are still pursuing, however. Here is the latest with each.
DB WILLIAM WELLS
The Suncoast High product is one of the more versatile defensive backs in Florida in the 2021 class. He can play safety, boundary corner or even in the slot. Wells has fantastic length and is strong in coverage. He is a perfect fit for the 3-3-5 as Syracuse can use him in a variety of ways. Syracuse continues to recruit Wells hard and are one of the favorites to land his services. A decision could come at any point between now and signing day, though it remains unclear if he will sign early. Utah and Washington State are Syracuse's biggest competition.
ATH CALVIN JOHNSON
When Syracuse offered, some balked at trying to flip a Navy commit with no previous power five offers. Since then, Duke, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Florida State, Penn State, Mississippi State, Northwestern and Iowa have all offered. The buzz is he may stay in the south given multiple opportunities to do so at the power five level. Syracuse is still involved for now though.
DB ALIJAH CLARK
There had been some buzz that Syracuse was making some headway with Clark, a talented defensive back and Rutgers commit who happens to be the teammate of Syracuse commit Duce Chestnut. However, that buzz has faded over the last several weeks and the Orange do not appear to have much of a shot there. There best chance is hoping to land a commitment from 2022 linebacker Nyair Graham on Saturday. That would make two Camden High teammates of Clark's headed to Syracuse. That still may not be enough to get a flip, but would at least give him a little more to think about.
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Syracuse Football Recruiting: 2021 Defensive Commits (SI; McAllister)
CB DUCE CHESTNUT
Height/Weight: 5-11, 180
School: Camden High (Camden, NJ)
Other Notable Offers: Baylor, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, NC State, Ole Miss, Rutgers, West Virginia
DE JATIUS GEER
Height/Weight: 6-5, 260
School: Belton-Honea Path (Honea Path, SC)
Other Notable Offers: Coastal Carolina, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Memphis, Central Florida
DT JAELIN MOSS
Height/Weight: 6-5, 260
School: Fairport High (Fairport, NY)
Other Notable Offers: Pittsburgh, Stony Brook
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Syracuse Football Recruiting: 2021 Offensive Commits (SI; McAllister)
OT ENRIQUE CRUZ
Height/Weight: 6-5, 252
School: Willowbrook High (Villa Park, IL)
Other Notable Offers: Arizona, Arizona State, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Utah, Wake Forest, West Virginia
WR UMARI HATCHER
Height/Weight: 6-3, 175
School: Freedom High (Woodbridge, VA)
Other Notable Offers: Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, North Carolina, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech
QB JUSTIN LAMSON
Height/Weight: 6-3, 210
School: Oak Ridge High (El Dorado Hills, CA)
Other Notable Offers: Boise State, Louisville
WR ORONDE GADSDEN
Height/Weight: 6-4, 190
School: American Heritage (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Other Notable Offers: Arizona State, Baylor, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Iowa State, Kentucky, Penn State, Central Florida, West Virginia
OG KALAN ELLIS
Height/Weight: 6-5, 350
School: St. Louis School (Honolulu, HI)
Other Notable Offers: Hawaii, San Diego State, UCLA, Virginia
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Orange Watch: A somber 2020 for the Syracuse football family - The Juice Online (the juice; Bierman)
Item: The recent sudden death of Markus Paul (1985-88) at the too young age of 54, the word that all-time great Floyd Little (1964-66) has entered hospice care in his battle with cancer, along with the October passing of our classmate Terry O’Leary (1976-78) from cancer, a starter in the defensive secondary on two Frank Maloney-coached teams (sadly Maloney himself died this past March at age 79) and who hailed from near-by Baldwinsville, has added more grief to Orange Nation in an already rough 2020.
The downcast news this fall concerning three former Syracuse football players from three distinct eras, at least allows us to share fond memories from the past.
You simply could not find a nicer human being than Markus Paul. He was a joy to cover during his SU career helping Dick MacPherson resurrect the program and compete for the 1987 national title. Paul served as co-captain of the 1988 team with Daryl Johnston, making quite an illustrious duo of eventual NFL draft selections, Paul in the fourth round to Chicago, Johnston in round two to Dallas. The Kissimmee, Florida native ended up playing in 71 NFL games, all but one with the Bears.
We distinctly remember moments of candor with Paul a couple of hours after the infamous 1988 Sugar Bowl 16-16 tie against Auburn. Joining us in our radio network broadcast location at the team hotel in New Orleans, we recollect agonizing with the Orangemen’s free safety about just how close the defense came from stopping the Tigers final drive on a 4th and 6 play with under a half minute left, before a first down and subsequent Auburn tying field goal with 0:01 on the clock sent everyone home unhappy.
“We came so close,” Paul agonized shaking his head. “An inch or two either way and we would have stopped them from scoring.”
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Yellow Pad bowl projections: How the ACC order will work in a pandemic :: WRALSportsFan.com (wralsportsfan.com; Giglio)
I had a fever dream that old ACC rivals NC State and Maryland met in a bowl game in Charlotte and Debbie Yow was on the field for the coin toss.
I woke up and texted an ACC bowl source and asked if that was a possibility (the Wolfpack and Terps part, not Yow, who was the AD at both schools).
The source called back and said: “Anything is possible this year, Joe.”
Welcome to 2020!
The ACC’s bowl order is messy and confusing in a regular year. In a pandemic? Forget it.
As another ACC source texted this morning: “It’s all guess work at this point.”
So, what do we know about the ACC and its bowl affiliations this year? Let’s start with this:
1. The NCAA waived the 6-win eligibility requirement for this season.
While technically eligible, I would not expect to see Syracuse (1-9), Duke (2-7) or Florida State (2-6) placed in a bowl game by the ACC.
I could see the ACC making an exception for a 5-6 team or a team like Wake Forest, who will likely end up playing fewer than 11 games.
2. The ACC ended its affiliation with the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. and the Music City Bowl in Nashville. Also, it no longer has access to the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
For the six-year period from 2020 to 2025, the ACC added spots in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and the Fenway Bowl in Boston. The league has also worked out an access arrangement to the Outback Bowl in Tampa.
The bowls in San Diego and Boston have already been canceled for this year due to the pandemic. The Pinstripe Bowl in New York also has canceled its game.
3. The ACC has six bowl tie-ins for this year: Orange (Miami), Duke’s Mayo (Charlotte), Cheez-It (Orlando), Gator (Jacksonville), Sun (El Paso, Texas) and Military (Annapolis, Md.).
And the opportunity to send one team to either the Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa, Fla.), Birmingham Bowl or the First Responder Bowl (Dallas).
If the Big Ten is the opponent in the Orange Bowl, the ACC would then have a slot in the Outback Bowl. With Texas A&M (No. 5) and Florida (6) expected to hold steady in the College Football Playoff rankings and Northwestern (8) losing, I would expect an SEC team to end up as the opponent in the Orange Bowl this year.
(Note: The Sugar Bowl is part of the playoff, so the highest-ranked SEC team not in the playoff will be available to the Orange Bowl).
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2020 ACC Bowl Updates - 12/1/20 (RX; HM)
2020 ACC Bowl Updates - 12/1/20
Some bowl games which have ACC tie-ins have been affected by the pandemic. Here's what we know so far:*
Bowl Games Canceled For 2020
A few bowls have announced their intentions to postpone their annual games to the 2021 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Those bowls are the Bahamas Bowl, the Fenway Bowl, the Hawai’i Bowl, the Holiday Bowl, the Pinstripe Bowl, the Quick Lane Bowl, and the Redbox Bowl. The Montgomery Bowl will be played as substitute of the Fenway Bowl for this season only. A decision regarding the Las Vegas Bowl will be announced in the near future.
Payouts
Information from the 2019-2020 bowl games had not been released as of September 4, 2020...
| Note: Any numbers you see on the internet at this point are likely to be pure conjecture. All we can say at this point is bowl payouts are likely to be down this year due to lack of ticket revenue. The television portion of the bowl revenue may remain the same. - Hokie Mark |
Of course, the following changes had nothing to do with the pandemic:
Bowl Name Changes
- The Belk Bowl in Charlotte becomes Duke's Mayo Bowl.
- The Cheez-It Bowl in Phoenix becomes the Guaranteed Rate Bowl.
- The Camping World Bowl in Orlando becomes the Cheez-It Bowl.
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https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article247502470.html (newsobsever.com; Wiseman)
In a football season where so much has gone wrong on the field, Duke players, coaches and staff have done enough things right when it comes to managing the pandemic they are likely to get to complete their schedule.
Currently, Duke is scheduled to play Miami on Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium in its ninth ACC game and 10th game overall.
There remains a chance, more likely than not, that the Blue Devils (2-7 overall, 1-7 ACC) will tack on an additional week to their regular season to play on Dec. 12.
“I see us playing the next two weeks,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said Monday, “but I’m not sure, I’m hesitant to say an opponent. We’ve been healthy all year. We’ve been available. I think that’s what’s happening right now. A lot of people are having issues with COVID-19. But we’re up and ready and our team enjoys the challenges and the opportunities to play.”
After losing 56-33 at Georgia Tech this past Saturday, Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils returned from Atlanta early Sunday morning expecting to face Florida State this week.
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U.Va. coach Bronco Mendenhall is done traveling to FSU this season, wants changes in timing of pregame testing results (pilotonline.com; Wood)
Sitting by the pool Saturday in Tallahassee, Florida, wasn’t so bad for Virginia linebacker Zane Zandier and his teammates, and there was time for a good bicep pump in the gym at the team hotel. But U.Va. probably isn’t going back this season.
U.Va. coach Bronco Mendenhall made that clear Monday.
After U.Va. (4-4, 3-4 ACC) was forced to make arrangements on the fly Saturday to jet back to Charlottesville from Tallahassee when Florida State canceled its game against the Cavaliers because of coronavirus issues within the Seminoles’ football program, Mendenhall doesn’t have much desire to make up the game.
“I have no interest in going back to Florida State,” Mendenhall said. “That opportunity was there. It’s no longer there. I’m anxious to play Boston College (Saturday) and then Virginia Tech (Dec. 12), and then, hopefully, we play well enough to be considered for postseason and we go from there.
UVa. heads into the game against BC (6-4, 5-4) seeking its fourth consecutive win. It’ll be the final home game of the season for the Cavaliers, who are 4-1 in Scott Stadium.
Zandier said he and his teammates found out about 10:30 a.m. Saturday the game against FSU had been postponed. They’d arrived in Tallahassee on Friday night, and they had time to kill at the team hotel Saturday after the postponement and before their return flights to Charlottesville.
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https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article247504850.html (miamiherald.com; Jackson)
A six-pack of Miami Hurricanes notes on a Monday:
▪ The Miami Hurricanes are still alive — barely — in the battle for a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. But they’re going to need help to make it to Charlotte for the conference title game at 4 p.m. Dec. 19 on ABC.
Here’s where things stand, keeping in mind that COVID could result in more changes to these scheduled games:
Miami is in third place at 6-1 in the conference, with games remaining Saturday at Duke (8 p.m., ACC Network), Dec. 12 home against North Carolina (time, TV to be announced next weekend) and Dec. 19 against Georgia Tech (which will be played only if it does not affect who will be in the ACC championship game that day).
Notre Dame is first in the conference at 8-0 and plays Syracuse on Saturday at home (2:30 p.m., NBC) and Dec. 12 at Wake Forest and will be heavy favorites in both games.
Clemson is second in the conference at 7-1 (with its one loss against Notre Dame) and closes its regular season Saturday at Virginia Tech (7:30 p.m., ABC).
Notre Dame, Clemson and UM are the only teams who will enter December in contention to play in the ACC championship game.
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Other
https://www.syracuse.com/living/202...usinesses-that-have-earned-their-stripes.html (PS; D'Imperio)
In a time when businesses come and go in the blink of an eye, these places have shown the strength of their staying power. From the oldest store in Albany, to an Irish pub in Syracuse that first opened its doors in 1890, to a florist now in its 90th year, and to a hardware store that has counted down more than 120 years being open, this is a list of great all-time champions. What other venerable businesses would you add to this list from your own area?
Note: Because of the Covid-19 pandemic you might want to check with these businesses to make sure they are open before you visit them. Except for the prison, that is.
B. Lodge and Son (Albany)
This is one of Upstate’s great old department stores. Opened by Barrington Lodge just after the Civil War ended, even from its earliest days B. Lodge was the veritable store with a thousand items. Clothing was their hallmark and over the decades they sold thousands of school uniforms to Capital District students and even more uniforms, gowns and hospital scrubs for the ever-burgeoning medical industry in the region. Today the store is still a key business in downtown Albany and one of the few retail department stores to be found outside of a mall.
The shelves are filled with bathing suits, sportswear, jackets and coats, dress pants and blue jeans, sunglasses and socks and an uncountable number of other items. And you can even get a key made here! The sign over the front door, which hasn’t changed in many years, still mentions their top items; hosiery, underwear, sleepwear and household textiles.
Rumor has it that the store lets its employees out at 5:28 pm sharp so they can catch the 5:30 bus out front to take them home. And they have been doing that for many years.
Established in 1867, this is Albany’s oldest department store.
Website: https://blodgeandcompany.com/
Marilla General Store (Marilla)
Said to be the oldest old-fashioned general store in the state. You can smell the nostalgia just walking in the front door. Lots of bulk foods, gift items, clothing, candy and more. Known for its wide variety of Christmas craft items. First opened in Marilla (Erie County) in 1851.
Syracuse-area Irish Pubs. Nibsy's Irish Pub, 201 Ulster St. David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com
Nibsy’s Pub (Syracuse)
Classic old pub located in the Irish section of the city known as Tipperary Hill. Popular with the working class, SU students, locals and politicians (especially around St. Patricks’ Day). Wide variety of Irish food and beer. Great line-up of almost 30 beers on tap. In a city filled with great pubs and taverns this is the oldest of them all. First opened in 1890.
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