sutomcat
2024 Iggy Award (ACC Tournament Record)
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Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Over the past decades, the global community has made a lot of effort in inspiring and engaging women and girls in science. Yet women and girls continue to be excluded from participating fully in science.
In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the United Nations General Assembly declared 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in 2015.
SU News
John Lobon, Class of 1973, earned his undergraduate degree in History. In 2005, he was appointed by the governor to the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. He retired after 29 years from the State of Connecticut as a Senior Vice President of the Connecticut Development Authority:
The Syracuse 8 | The Game Before the Money (thegamebeforethemoney.com; podcast; GBM)
The Game Before the Money Podcast took a look at John Lobon’s experience as a member of the Syracuse 8, a group of Syracuse football players who stood up for student-athlete rights and against racial injustice, in Episode 33 of the football history podcast.
Student-Athlete Rights
In 1970, John Lobon stood among a group of Black athletes who raised questions about Syracuse’s athletic department. The players were ultimately suspended from the team for their actions. They missed the entire 1970 season, and most of them never played football again. Shortly after the 1970 season ended, an investigative report ordered by the university’s chancellor vindicated the player’s position, which not only included concerns about race but other issues that affected all student-athletes.The Syracuse 8 made four demands and eventually boycotted during spring practice of 1970. We’ll look at each of those four demands individually.
Academic Support for Student-Athletes
The first demand we’ll look at was related to academics.“There were four demands that we made in 1970,” Lobon said. “(One demand) consisted of academic support for student-athletes, which is mandatory now for student-athletes.”
There was also a racial element to this demand. Lobon pointed out one example of how his white teammates received better academic support. “White ballplayers had academic advisors. We were given student advisors.”
He said that affected players’ studies after road games. “When you go away on these away games, you leave on a Friday. So, you missed that day of class. In order to catch up, you’ve got to be brought up. And they had academic advisors. We had student advisors.”
Click here to read about the 2015 Missouri football protest and the Wyoming Black 14 of 1969.
Medical Care for College Football Players
A second demand dealt with the medical care football players received. Here, the Syracuse 8, again made advances that improved conditions for all college athletes across the board.Lobon said, “We requested optimal medical care for injured players. Normally, you would have an orthopedic (doctor) as part of the program. The medical doctor that we had with Syracuse at that time was a gynecologist. For the football team! A gynecologist.”
He added that the team doctor likely made a teammate’s injury worse. He told about a hand injury that a white teammate suffered. “Kevin had basically crushed his hand. So, he went in to see Dr. (name withheld). So, (the doctor) takes his hand and he shakes it. Then he says to (head coach Ben) Schwartzwalder, I think he needs to go to the hospital.”
Lobon said that Kevin was taken to the hospital. He remembered the eerie reaction of the hospital’s orthopedic doctor. “The orthopedic says to Kevin, ‘Did somebody touch your hand?’ He (Kevin) said, ‘Well, yeah. (The team doctor) took it and he shook it.’ He said, ‘that butcher?’ The orthopedic said that.”
John added that the injury never fully healed. “Kevin’s hand has never been the same since,” he said. “He had fractured it so bad, it was in pieces. With him (the team doctor) shaking it – that moved the pieces around.”
Sponsors Over Merit
The third concern was the belief that players started and were placed in certain positions for reasons other than ability. John noted that some players had sponsors. He believes that those players who had sponsors were given priority over players who didn’t have sponsors. The Daily Orange from September 15th, 1970, noted, “The fact that no black athlete had a community sponsor, a person who helped provide some of the gravy a player accrues to being a varsity football player.”...
Syracuse football spring position preview: Quarterbacks (TNIAAM; Wall)
So this is going to be the first spring in a while that these Syracuse Orange football previews aren’t going to be handled by John. This year we’re going to do things differently by spreading them out among the staff here just to keep my sanity while giving others an opportunity to share their perspectives.
We’ll get through all the position groups and coaching staff as we move through the spring but we’ll start with the position under the brightest spotlight, the quarterbacks:
Can the Orange find consistent quarterback play for a full season?
Who’s gone?
Tommy DeVito started the first three games in 2021 completing 32 of 52 passes for 388 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. He was replaced by Garrett Shrader against Liberty and never saw the field before deciding to transfer. DeVito will finish his career with the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Dillon Markiewicz has also departed, transferring to Texas State University and so has OC/QB coach Sterlin Gilbert.
Who’s on campus?
Garrett Shrader went from mop-up duty in the season opener to unquestioned starter in week four. He showed a lot of heart and his insertion into the starting line-up pushed the Orange all-in to the rushing attack. Shrader used his legs to cause opponents trouble as he amassed 781 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.
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‘I’m Forever Grateful.’ NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano ’96 Talks Super Bowl, Discovering His Broadcasting Style and the University’s Impact (syr.edu; Boccacino)
Andrew Siciliano ’96 doesn’t know how he got so lucky.
Eighteen years ago, Siciliano, an avid NFL fan, would watch that week’s top games with his Syracuse University buddies in one of their father’s basements, screaming at the television while cheering on his beloved Cleveland Browns.
Today, Siciliano is just as passionate about football, but instead of being glued to his television as a fan, he is bringing the highlights to millions of fans around the world as host of DIRECTV’s RedZone Channel.
Every Sunday is surreal for Siciliano, who earned a broadcast journalism degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He freely admits he’s not quite sure how he got here, but he’s grateful to hold down a job he loves.
This week, Los Angeles is the scene for Super Bowl 56, which pits the Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams. The game has special significance for Siciliano, who has been the preseason television play-by-play voice of the Rams since 2011.
Siciliano can be seen every week on “NFL Now,” and “Thursday Night Football First Look,” as well as NFL Network’s on-location coverage of the Senior Bowl, the NFL Draft and training camps.
We recently sat down with Siciliano, who shares how Syracuse University and WAER impacted his broadcasting style, reveals the big break that launched his career and gives advice to sportscasters looking to follow in his footsteps.
LISTEN: Hear the full conversation with Siciliano on the ’Cuse Conversations podcast.
- 01
You are the Rams television broadcaster for preseason games. How special is it to know that, for your Super Bowl coverage for the NFL Network, you're going to be covering a team that you are quite familiar with?
“I don’t use the word family very often for people outside of my immediate family, but the Rams for me, I’m not ashamed to admit this, are kind of like family. Some of my closest friends are in that organization, and I think it’s 11 years we’ve all been together. So it does mean a lot on a personal level and hopefully it’s better than 2018 when they went to Atlanta and lost to the New England Patriots. It’s going to be wonderful to show off SoFi Stadium. Our network, our entire media group is basically on the grounds of SoFi, directly next door. It’s great to have the Super Bowl in quite literally our building.” - 02
What kind of pride do you get when you look around at a major sporting event and you see someone calling the game who is a Syracuse alumnus?
“Oh, it’s great! There are so many great broadcasters, and many of us are friends. During my travels for “Thursday Night Football,” everywhere you go, you’re going to see someone. You go to Arizona, you’re going to see Dave Pasch ’94. You go to Cincinnati, you’re going to see Dan Hoard ’85. You go to any random game, you’re going to have Mike Tirico ’88 there calling the game for Westwood One for Howard Deneroff ’89. And if it’s not someone in the broadcast booth, it’s going to be a writer or someone in public relations. When I was a student, it was always great how those already in the business would pick up the phone and help you when you reached out to them with questions about your tape.” - 03
Take us back to 1992. You come to Syracuse University from Reston, Virginia. What were your goals and how did Syracuse help you to develop your broadcasting style?
“I actually wasn’t going to be a broadcast major first. I went to SU as a print journalism major, but I had always wanted to maybe try radio. I was surprisingly a pretty shy kid. I had written for the school newspaper, and I was not one to speak to crowds. People still to this day are stunned that that’s what I do. But I was always someone who loved listening to play-by-play on the radio. I never wanted to do television. I loved listening to Jon Miller call Baltimore Orioles games. When I got to Syracuse, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to try the radio thing just for the heck of it.’ And so I walked into WAER, then over at Newhouse upstairs on the third floor, and they had what they called writer shifts. Basically, you sign up to get a chance to audition. I somehow got one of those early shifts to come in once a week and do a fake two-minute sportscast on the cassette and then have the upperclassmen critique it. That year, I was the first freshman that they put on the radio. I started doing this and I felt comfortable doing it. I eventually changed my major over to broadcast journalism, and that was how I got started in radio.”...
Before the Syracuse football 2022 schedule was released, I said that despite the tough teams on the schedule, I thought this team could still have success and be a bowl team based on what I have seen so far this offseason. And when the schedule came out, it does appear difficult but I still stand by it.
So I sat down and decided that instead of just saying that I believe it again, I wanted to break the games down one by one and give you the information you need to decide for yourself. I will go game by game with fun stats like head-to-head outcomes, players to watch, my way too early rating of difficulty, and a few other notes that might help.
Here are the teams scheduled and links to those that are already published in case you missed one:
Louisville
UConn
Purdue
Virginia
Wagner
Bye Week
NC State
Clemson
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Florida State
Wake Forest
Boston College
Breaking down the Syracuse football home game against ACC foe Virginia.
Syracuse Orange vs Virginia CavaliersFriday, September 23, 2022 (time and viewing options TBD)
Location: Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY
Last season head to head: Haven’t played since 2015 when it went to triple overtime in Charlottesville. According to winsipedia, these teams have only played 5 times with Virginia holding a 3-2 advantage with the last Syracuse football win against them occurring in 1977 (which was the same year of the release of the original Star Wars film).
Opponent’s overall record last season: 6-6 (4-4 in the ACC Coastal division). They had a bowl game scheduled but it was canceled.
Stats from their last face-off: As previously mentioned, the last time they played turned into a triple-overtime game of epic proportions. I looked up the stats and game recap on ESPN.com and this is what I found. The game started out with a 44-yard fumble return by Antwan Cordy and ended regulation play with Virginia coming back in the 4th quarter from a 10-point deficit to take it to overtime, including a last-second field goal. Eric Dungey had 150 yards passing and 2 touchdowns and even led the team in rushing with 85 yards and a touchdown on the ground as well (did I mention that rushing TD involved him hurdling a Virginia defender as well?).
Possible level of difficulty on a scale of 1-10: I’m going 6 here. Virginia only finished a game better than the Orange last season but also saw its head coach resign and former offensive coordinator and quarterback coach both join the Orange in similar positions.
Key person on opposing team: Tony Elliot. When Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall resigned at the end of the 2021 season, Virginia hired Clemson’s offensive coordinator Tony Elliot as his replacement. Virginia was a bowl-caliber team last season and bringing in a coordinator from a successful program like Clemson can’t hurt. This does leave many questions surrounding this matchup. Will Coach Elliot make this team better especially with returning QB Brennan Armstrong at the helm? Can new Orange OC Robert Anae and QB coach Jason Beck who formerly coached Armstrong help Syracuse defeat them and maybe help the defense as well? Will the Friday night lights matchup provide enough of an atmosphere for one team to really step up? How will Elliot do coaching his first time in the Carrier Dome as head coach?
How can Syracuse win: One key to winning is definitely stopping or at least containing Brennan Armstrong. Also, this will be Syracuse’s 4th game of the season so by now I hope the passing game has found its rhythm because while Sean Tucker is special, he will be more effective if the passing game is effective as well. And hopefully with the home crowd on a Friday night, if Syracuse football can manage to utilize their special teams or defense to pin Virginia back in Syracuse territory, the crowd can get loud and be a factor. Some of the louder Syracuse football crowds I’ve heard are when it’s third and long or when the opposing offense is pinned back in near safety territory.
Other news, notes and nuggets:
- Virginia has Bojangles. Syracuse needs Bojangles. Actually, they have Waffle House too and while I’d enjoy that as well, first things first. I love me some Bojangles Supremes and their breakfast biscuit sandwiches are so good.
- If you need reasons to root against Virginia, consider these facts. Georgetown OL Mac Hollensteiner transferred to Virginia. Virginia is also the same school that shrugged their shoulders thinking they had the Orange beat when they were ranked #1 in the nation only to lose 68-62 thanks to 23 points by Malachi Richardson.
- This will close out the September portion of the schedule for Syracuse Football. Game 4 will not be a “must-win” but it will definitely tell a story good or bad. Plus 3 of these 4 will be at home in the Dome which means ending September with a losing record will possibly require some road wins if this team wants to vie for a bowl game in 2022. Even if they’re 2–2 with 4 home games remaining, that’s a large task to undertake considering the schedule won’t get much easier with the only exception being Wagner the next week. Like it or not, based on last season’s results at least, this is the easiest portion on their schedule when you include the Wagner game as well so you’d like to see them have at least 3-4 wins by now to have confidence going forward.
- Want to visit Charlottesville someday? It’s about an 8-hour drive to the 434 mostly down Interstate 81 South. Enjoy the Pennsylvania scenery along the way.
- Sean Tucker’s chances at being even in the conversation for the Heisman or being a pro prospect will hopefully be in the discussion by now. Hopefully, he’s happy with his performances at this point in the season. Hopefully, he’s not the only one getting any attention at this point either.
- Did you know literature icon Edgar Allan Poe attended Virginia? Rumor is he left after a year due to financial problems but still pretty cool. Sad that all these years, money still often impacts who can attain a higher education and who can’t… or at the very least leave one in a crazy amount of debt. “Quoth the Raven Nevermore.”
ACC football is considering getting rid of football divisions, and the best news is that it could be coming soon. We look at why this is a fantastic idea, and Jim Phillips could get some major points for getting this done. We also talk about the BC basketball team, how would we evaluate the team so far? Finally, the NFL Combine is coming, and three Eagles are heading to the event. Hear our thoughts on the players, and a few snubs as well.
https://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/duke/article258266558.html (newsobserver.com; podcast; Wiseman)
New Duke football coach Mike Elko acknowledges the crowd as he is introduced during Duke basketball game against S.C. State at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., Tuesday, December 14, 2021. ETHAN HYMAN EHYMAN@NEWSOBSERVER.COM
Virginia Tech football: Hokies feature ACC-high 6 players invited to NFL combine )gobblercountry.com; Manning)
The Virginia Tech Hokies finished Justin Fuente’s final season in Blacksburg with a record of 6-7. Fuente’s record was 5-5 when he was dismissed in November. A big issue for Virginia Tech over the last few seasons was a lack of depth, a boring and unimaginative offense and zero quarterback development.
One thing Virginia Tech did have was talent. That’s evidenced by the NFL inviting six former Hokies to the annual NFL combine, scheduled for the first week of March. No other ACC team had more players invited to the combine than Virginia Tech — even Clemson.
Wide receiver Tre Turner, offensive tackle Luke Tenuta, tight end James Mitchell, guard Lecitus Smith, defensive end Amare Barno and cornerback Jermaine Waller were Virginia Tech’s six representatives.
Defensive tackle Jordan Williams, guard/center Brock Hoffman and running back Raheem Blackshear were combine snubs, who could still impress NFL scouts with an impressive pro day in Blacksburg next month.
It’s an impressive group of Hokies heading to Indianapolis. Mitchell can’t participate in the on-field drills, but the interviews and team meetings are just as important. Anyone who has watched Mitchell knows his athleticism is not an issue. And he will crush those team meetings.
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College football transfer portal: ACC's winners and losers, Big Ten's winners and losers, Caleb Williams transfers from Oklahoma to USC (theathletic.com; $; Staff)
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Syracuse
The Orange had a big list of departures via the portal since the fall, but the sheer volume might outweigh the number of significant losses.
Wide receiver Taj Harris, who finished his career fifth in program history with 151 catches for 1,857 yards, left for Rutgers, although he went into the portal in October, so the Orange essentially played 2021 without him. Linebacker Geoff Cantin-Arku, who transferred to Memphis, had 44 tackles last year. Tight end Luke Benson, who had a promising season in 2019 but saw his numbers drop the past two seasons, ended up staying in the ACC at Georgia Tech. And though Tommy DeVito (Illinois) is a big name, Syracuse made its quarterback choice clear last season, going with Garrett Shrader.
The Orange added some interesting players in the defensive backfield. Cornerback Alijah Clark is a former four-star recruit from Rutgers who was the No. 277 player in the 2021 class and should be in the mix right away. They also flipped Louisville cornerback transfer Bralyn Oliver, who was about to go to Oregon State, and got a commitment from Dartmouth cornerback Isaiah Johnson, who was a first-team All-Ivy League pick last year.
Syracuse added a couple of offensive pieces, notably running back Juwaun Price, who led New Mexico State with 692 rushing yards last year and should be an experienced backup for Sean Tucker.
Orange in the portal
| PLAYER | POSITION | IN/OUT | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alijah Clark | CB | In | Rutgers |
| Dan Villari | QB | In | Michigan |
| C.J. Hayes | WR | In | Michigan State |
| Juwaun Price | RB | In | New Mexico State |
| Isaiah Johnson | DB | In | Dartmouth |
| Bralyn Oliver | CB | In | Louisville |
| Tommy DeVito | QB | Out | Illinois |
| Taj Harris | WR | Out | Rutgers |
| Geoff Cantin-Arku | LB | Out | Memphis |
| Luke Benson | TE | Out | Georgia Tech |
| Dillon Markiewicz | QB | Out | Texas State |
| Landon Morris | WR | Out | Utah |
| Sharod Johnson | WR | Out | FIU |
| Adrian Cole | CB | Out | FIU |
| Curtis Harper | DL | Out | Akron |
| Latarie Kinsler | DE | Out | FIU |
| Jarveon Howard | RB | Out | Alcorn State |
| Ben Labrosse | S | Out | In portal |
| Chase Atkinson | CB | Out | In portal |
| Cooper Lutz | RB | Out | In portal |
| Joe Rondi | DL | Out | In portal |
| Russell Thompson-Bishop | WR | Out | |
| Cody Shear | OL | Out |
Other
Leaking roof, broken sprinklers, monthlong closure: What’s next for Great Northern Mall? (PS; $; Moriarty)
Great Northern Mall remains shut more than three weeks after pipes froze and burst, flooding parts of the retail center and forcing its closure. And it’s unclear when, or if, the troubled mall will reopen.
When the mall shut its doors on Jan. 17, owner Mike Kohan of Long Island-based Kohan Retail Investment Group said it would reopen later in the week.
That never happened.
Two more times in the next two weeks, Kohan said repairs were underway and the mall would reopen soon. As of Thursday evening -- 24 days later-- the mall remained closed.
The flooding is just the center’s latest woe:
- Kohan has fallen nearly $5 million behind on his property taxes.
- Onondaga County officials are weighing their options, which include seizing the property for its unpaid taxes.
- Town officials have cited the mall for multiple code violations.
- Retailers have been fleeing the center. Only about a dozen remain.
“We’ve done everything we can in our power to try to get this guy to correct what’s wrong,” said Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski. “We’re just hitting a brick wall.”
Kohan told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard in a brief phone interview Thursday that burst pipes caused lots of flooding and rendered the mall’s fire sprinkler system inoperable.
“The sprinkler system just busted and unfortunately we had a lot of damage,” he said.
He said workers are fixing the broken pipes. After that, the sprinkler system will have to be inspected to make sure it is working property before the mall can be safely reopened, he said.
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