sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2011
- Messages
- 25,256
- Like
- 109,001
Memento Mori: The Reminder You Desperately Need
Who wants to think about death?In his Meditations—essentially his own private journal—Marcus Aurelius wrote that “You could leave life right now. Let that de...
youtu.be
Memento Mori, also known as Remember You Die Day, is a day when people focus on their mortality, and how much time they have left to live. "Memento mori" is the Latin phrase for "remember death," which is interpreted as "remember, you die." It came about in medieval Latin Christianity, and it meant that focus should be placed on the importance of the afterlife because earthly life quickly passes.
According to creators of the day, it is a day to cherish everything you have in your life, because there may be no tomorrow. But, true to the original meaning of the phrase, observers of Memento Mori may reflect on death and see it not as a time to pursue as many earthly pleasures as possible, but as a time to live a life of ascetic quiet reflection, with an eye towards the afterlife.
SU News
Baldwinsville teen's season to remember with the Syracuse football team (cnycentral.com; McCarty)
A 16-year-old Baldwinsville teen who has cerebral palsy, became an official member of the Syracuse football team through Team Impact in August. Team Impact is a non-profit organization that pairs children facing serious illness and disability with college athletic teams across the country.
Becoming involved with a team like the Syracuse football team, was a way Andrew Enright could do something he never had before.
"We haven't had an opportunity for Andrew to be involved in sports for obvious reasons," said Andrew's father John. "Not only for him but for us to see him get excited and be able to join in on the excitement around being an athlete and enjoy wins and suffering through loses. It was just an incredible experience and they really pulled him into that."
Since signing with the Syracuse Orange in late August, Andrew and his family quickly grew strong relationships with the players and coaches.
...
A way-too-early look at the 2023 Syracuse football team - The Juice Online (the juice; Cheng)
With the Syracuse football offseason officially underway, here’s a quick look at the 2023 Syracuse football team:
WHO’S OUT:
- OFFENSE: First and foremost, the Orange lose running back Sean Tucker, who will forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the 2023 NFL Draft. Tucker finished his career with 3,182 career rushing yards, which ranks third in program history, trailing only Walter Reyes and Joe Morris.
- Three players who blocked for Tucker will also be leaving the team. All-ACC offensive lineman Matthew Bergeron will forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft, where he is expected to be drafted in the second round. Guard Dakota Davis has exhausted his eligibility and takes 52 games of experience with him, while fullback/tight end Chris Elmore will also move on.
- Seventh year player Devaughn Cooper also declared for the NFL Draft after a collegiate career that spanned three teams (Arizona, UTEP and Syracuse).
- Other players who entered the portal include wide receivers Dom Foster, Anthony Queeley and Courtney Jackson, and offensive linemen Chad Schuster and Tyler Magnuson.
- Center Carlos Vettorello has one year of eligibility remaining, and it’s unclear what he’ll do with the 45 games of experience he’s had with the Orange.
- DEFENSE: Syracuse loses three key pieces of its secondary, starting with All-ACC cornerback Garrett Williams. He tore his ACL in October, but opted to enter the NFL Draft. Two other playmakers in SU’s vaunted secondary, Duce Chestnut and Ja’Had Carter are in the portal after standout seasons. Syracuse nearly lost a fourth, promising freshman Jeremiah Wilson, before he was ultimately persuaded to return to SU.
- The Orange also lost a key piece of its defensive line, with Steve Linton entering the portal. He had 22 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
- Finally, Syracuse loses linebacker Mikel Jones to the NFL draft. He finished 47 tackles and four sacks in 2022.
Fizz Five 1/1: Pinstripe Bowl Recap, Men’s Hoops Lineup Changes, and New Year’s Resolutions – Orange Fizz – Daily Syracuse Recruiting News & Team Coverage (orangefizz.net; podcast; Bainbridge)
Cam Ezeir and Carter Bainbridge are back on Fizz Five to recap SU football’s Pinstripe Bowl, discuss men’s hoops’ lineup and recent clash against BC, and talk New Year’s Resolutions for Jim Boeheim and company.
Syracuse football: LeQuint Allen shines in Pinstripe Bowl (TNIAAM; De Guzman)
Sean Tucker had two words to say to LeQuint Allen before the Pinstripe Bowl.
“You ready?”
That’s all the motivation Allen needed.
“He just had me hyped when he said that,” said Allen. “I went out there with a chip on my shoulder.”
Allen hit the Yankee Stadium turf running and paced the Syracuse Orange offense that ultimately came up short against the Minnesota Gophers. While the Orange left the Bronx 28-20 losers, one of the big winners of the day was Allen. He rushed for 94 yards on 15 carries and grabbed 11 catches for 60 yards. Allen was the first player for Syracuse this season to reach double-digit receptions. His versatility is what gave Dino Babers the confidence to start Allen.
“He plays the game the right way,” said Babers. “He does not give up, okay?”
That’s the praise you want to hear from your coach, especially after spending most of the season on the bench. Allen only carried the ball 26 times during the regular season, with most of those coming in garbage time at the end of games. He mainly saw the field as a special teams player, where he wanted to still play even as the starting running back.
“He got mad,” said Babers. “He got mad that I pulled him off of the four special teams he was on… He kept saying, ‘Coach, I can do all four.’”
Syracuse wisely kept Allen just on the offensive side of the ball, and for good reason. Orange fans have been used to the hard, one cut running style of Tucker over the past three seasons. Tucker likes to find a hole created by the offensive line and hit that hole with authority. Allen instead takes the ball around the tackles before making a move upfield.
...
Syracuse Football: Pa. quarterback with ‘Cuse offer had ridiculous season (itlh; Adler)
Stone Saunders, a 2025 quarterback from Pennsylvania who holds a Syracuse football offer, followed up a stellar freshman season with an even more exquisite sophomore campaign.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Saunders, in the recently completed 2022 stanza, helped guide Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg, Pa., to a state title and put up some video-game-like numbers in doing so.
Per the MaxPreps Web site, as a sophomore Saunders threw for 3,583 yards and compiled 54 passing touchdowns against just five interceptions.
In the 2021 term, Saunders was a second-team freshman All-American, according to MaxPreps, and he tallied 3,037 passing yards, 46 touchdowns and only five picks.
So if my math is correct (never a given), in his two seasons with Bishop McDevitt, Saunders has passed for 100 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions. That’s insane.
...
Syracuse University Mascot Not Happy in New ESPN Ad (fingerlakesdailynews.com; Cotterill)
The Syracuse University mascot should be happy after the men’s soccer team won the national championship, but Otto the Orange looks a little dejected in a new ESPN TV promo.
The Syracuse University sports mascot appears in a “SportsCenter” ad that features U.S. Women’s National Team soccer stars Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Sophia Smith, alongside “SportsCenter” anchor Nicole Briscoe.
You can see why Otto is not happy.
ACC News
Teel: ACC football marginally better in 2022, but considerable work needed (richmond.com; Teel)
Beaten convincingly by Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, and processing his program’s first consecutive three-loss seasons in more than a decade, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney opted for positive spin.
“We’re not anywhere near where we need to be or [are] going to be,” he said during his postgame gabfest, “but we got better. That’s something that we can take away from it.”
He might as well have been speaking for the entire ACC.
The conference’s football product improved in 2022 but still needs considerable work.
In the penultimate year of a four-team College Football Playoff — the field triples to 12 in 2024 — the ACC was excluded for the second straight season. Also as in 2021, ACC teams failed to beat a ranked non-conference opponent during the regular season.
Finally, Notre Dame continued to own the league.
Contracted to play, on average, five ACC opponents a year, the independent Fighting Irish went 4-0 in those games in 2022, including victories over Atlantic Division champ Clemson and Coastal Division winner North Carolina. Notre Dame hasn’t dropped a regular-season contest to an ACC opponent since 2017 at Miami.
The 2022 upsides?
The ACC’s non-conference record of 41-23 was marginally better than the previous year’s 37-25. Most impressive, Florida State toppled eventual SEC West champ LSU, and Syracuse defeated Big Ten West winner Purdue.
Still, ACC teams finished 10-18 against Power Five peers, a tick better than last year’s 8-18.
A 5-4 bowl record was the ACC’s first winning postseason since 2018, and shorthanded Pitt’s Sun Bowl conquest of No. 18 UCLA marked the league’s first victory over a ranked non-conference opponent since Clemson defeated Ohio State in a 2019 CFP semifinal. Panthers backup quarterback Nick Patti engineered a last-ditch drive, and Ben Sauls kicked a decisive 47-yard field goal, his fifth of the day in as many attempts.
Pitt (9-4) closed on a five-game winning binge, and coupled with last season’s 11-3 record, the 2021 ACC champs are on their best two-year run since 1981 and ’82, when they went a combined 20-4.
Similarly, Duke (9-4) concluded Mike Elko’s first year as a head coach with a Military Bowl victory over Central Florida. This is only the third season in which the Blue Devils finished above .500 in the ACC and won a bowl — the others were 1954 and ’60.
...
2023 NFL Draft: Clemson DL Bryan Bresee, former No. 1 recruit, declares after All-ACC career (cbssports.com; Jeyarajah)
Clemson defensive lineman Bryan Bresee, the former No. 1 overall recruit in the Class of 2020, will enter the 2023 NFL Draft after a decorated three-year career with the Tigers. Though Bresee missed significant time in 2021 with an ACL tear, he was a dominant force when he played. The redshirt sophomore posted 51 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and nine sacks while taking home All-ACC honors every year.
"When I committed to play football for Clemson University, I never could have imagined how special the opportunity would be," Bresee wrote in a statement posted to his Instagram account. "The support I have received from the Clemson community the past 3 seasons has been amazing. I truly appreciate this experience."
Bresee missed a handful of games this past season due to a non-football medical issue and to be with his family following the death of his 15-year-old sister, Ella, to brain cancer. With Bresee absent from the Louisiana Tech game, players and coaches from the Bulldogs team penned handwritten letters to the Bresee family to share their prayers and condolences. Louisiana Tech's staff also wore "#E11AStrong" shirts in reference to Bresee's number.
Draft projections
Bresee's career was limited by injuries, but his disruption and physical tools make him a fascinating prospect entering the 2023 NFL Draft. Listed at 6-foot-5 and 305 pounds, Bresee has the size and explosiveness to line up either inside or outside based on the situation....
Arkansas hires Florida State assistant coach (tomahwaknation.com; NT&T)
Since arriving at Florida State three seasons ago, Mike Norvell’s coaching staff has largely remained intact. Former offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham left for the Oregon Ducks before being named the new head coach for the Arizona State Sun Devils this off-season. He was replaced by Tony Tokarz, promoted from within. Norvell now finds himself with another vacancy, this time on the defensive side of the ball, as defensive backs coach and defensive passing game coordinator Marcus Woodson has accepted a position with the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Mike Norvell originally hired TJ Rushing to coach the defensive backs, but Rushing was quickly poached by Jimbo Fisher and the Texas A&M Aggies. Norvell then pivoted to Woodson, who came to Florida State from the Auburn Tigers, where he coached for two seasons. Prior to his time at Auburn, he served as the defensive backs coach for two seasons under Norvell at Memphis.
From his FSU bio:
...
Florida State lands all-ACC cornerback transfer (tomahawknation.com; NT&T & Pick)
Mike Norvell and his coaching staff have developed an excellent national reputation for evaluating and landing talented players from the transfer portal. That reputation was enhanced yet again today, as Florida State has secured the commitment of perhaps the best defensive player in the portal, Virginia Cavaliers cornerback Fentrell Cypress.
“This is another fantastic addition to our program,” head coach Mike Norvell said. “Fentrell is a great player who possesses the unique combination of length and athleticism. He has a huge upside and brings a proven track record of consistent playmaking into our defensive backfield. He has collected incredible experience at the college level while proving himself to be a smart and disciplined player whose success has shown up on the field, in the classroom and in the community. Fentrell is a tremendous fit for the Nole Family as we continue on our CLIMB moving forward.”
Cypress, who measures 6’0”, 185 pounds, is coming off a breakout season in which he led the ACC with 14 pass break-ups, collected 39 tackles, and earned All-ACC honors. Cypress is originally from Rock Hill, South Carolina, the home of Chris Hope, a previous standout Seminole defensive back.
...
Cypress gives Florida State something it’s sorely missed for the last few years: a shutdown corner who can be trusted to operate on an island. He’s likely a one-and-done player with an NFL future, and FSU defensive coordinator Adam Fuller led the charge to bring him to Tallahassee.
Make no mistake about it, landing Cypress is the biggest statement Florida State has made in the transfer portal this off-season (and that’s saying something). The Seminoles are banking on Cypress’ leadership, experience, work ethic, and talent to elevate a defensive backfield in need of a spark with the departure of Jammie Robinson.
FSU gets commitment from No. 1 2024 kicker (tomahawknation..com; Staff)
Florida State football got a new addition to its 2024 recruiting class on Monday, earning a commitment from kicker Jake Weinberg.
Weinberg, the No. 1 kicker in the 2024 class according to Kohl’s Kicking, announced his pledge to play for the Seminoles in a social media post:
The kicker has made multiple appearances in Tallahassee, working out for the Florida State staff:
Some notes on Weinberg, via Kohl’s Kicking:
...
http://allsportsdiscussion.com/2023/01/01/taking-stock-of-acc-football-after-a-decent-bowl-season/ (asd; Fann)
The last few years it’s been hard to find positives for ACC football after the bowl season.
In 2021, we had to say this
The ACC could have used a credible bowl season. Sure with all the opt-outs, transfers, and COVID results you can argue that you can’t make sweeping generalizations about a conference good or bad, but results are results.
And they weren’t so strong for the ACC again. ACC Teams went 2-4 when at the very least they should have gone .500.
In 2020, this is how it went.
From close losses to blowouts, ACC teams found a way to lose them all.
Maybe the conference should have just opted out of the entire post-season.
Looking back at 2019, and with Clemson losing the title game it was actually 4-7 after that article.
With the bowl season going on the last 2 weeks, we’ve been mostly focused on the game results. With a 4-6 bowl record, it hasn’t been a stellar bowl season for the ACC.
It was all the way back in 2018, the last time the ACC had a winning bowl record before this year’s 5-4 finish.
The results were close to being great, but the ACC should take respectable.
Overall the subtle signs of an improved league were there all year. Florida State beat SEC West Champion LSU, and Syracuse beat Big 10 West Champion Purdue. Louisville beat 9 win Central Florida and NC State got a win over a decent Texas Tech team. Let’s not forget Pittsburgh took playoff caliber Tennessee to OT.
During bowl season Wake Forest beat Missouri, Florida State defeated Oklahoma, Duke had a win over Central Florida too. Louisville beat Cincinnati and Pittsburgh produced the ACC’s second-best win of the season over #18 UCLA.
In the first couple of years of the 2020s we could barely list any credible OOC Wins for the ACC, and that’s notable.
Eight teams won at least 8 games, and there will be two teams that finish in the top 15 – Florida State and Clemson.
The resurgence of a national brand like Florida State is certainly a positive for the league.
That doesn’t mean the conference didn’t leave plenty of room for improvement.
Clemson while they won the ACC, flopped on the biggest OOC stages – losing to every decent OOC team they played – Notre Dame, Tennessee and a 5 loss South Carolina team. That’s not what you want to see from your ACC Champion.
The conference has now gone 3 years without a Big 6 Bowl win, and two years without a playoff team. That’s very BCS-eraesque.
There were still some unsightly OOC losses like Miami getting thumped at home Middle Tennessee State. Clemson losing to South Carolina at home was ugly, plus the conference going winless to a Notre Dame team that couldn’t beat Stanford or Marshall.
Overall though it wasn’t a bad season in ACC Football, and certainly better than the last three years.
...
Other
Norman Mordue dies at 80; longtime judge served in Vietnam, played for SU (PS; Alba)
Norman Mordue, a longtime figure in the legal community in Syracuse and Central New York, has died at 80.
Mordue’s death was announced Thursday by the Northern District of New York’s chief judge, Brenda K. Sannes, in an email to staff, according to the Albany Times-Union.
Mordue, one of five children from an Elmira household, was a decorated veteran from the Vietnam War, having earned the rank of captain and being awarded the Bronze Star, a Combat Infantryman Badge, the Air Medal, a Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross.
Before serving, he played halfback for Syracuse University under coach Ben Schwartzwalder. He played alongside future NFL players Floyd Little and Jim Nance.
Mordue got his law degree from Syracuse in 1971. He then joined the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, where he prosecuted the 1973 trial of Robert Garrow, a serial killer convicted of slaying three campers in the Adirondacks and a teenage girl in Syracuse.
He was later elected an Onondaga County judge in 1982 before becoming a state Supreme Court justice in 1986.
...
