sutomcat
2024 Iggy Award (ACC Tournament Record)
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Welcome to Dance of the Seven Veils Day!
January 22 is known as Dance of the Seven Veils Day. While this sounds more Middle Eastern than American, one does not need to be in the Middle East to observe this day. One does not even have to be of Middle Eastern ancestry to take part in this observance. Both men and women can take part in the celebration although women usually do the actual dance, while the men watch, as is traditionally done.
Having seven veils or long, loose scarves is essential for the dance. Being an expert on belly dancing is not important here: what is important is the fun in observing a rarely-observed holiday set aside for this purpose.
The seven veils can be of all different colors, either patterned or solid. To complement the costume, a pair of finger cymbals to click while dancing makes for an exotic atmosphere. A formal costume is not necessary, for any pair of long flowing pants will do, along with a bikini bathing suit top. Jewelry doesn’t have to be fancy, either. Lots of gold or silver bangles with rings and anklets top off any quickly assembled costume.
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SU News
Maryland WR DJ Turner Cancels Visit to Syracuse, Says He is 100% Committed to Terps (testudotimes.com; Kirshner)
Did Syracuse Screw Taylor Riggins Over? (newyorkstatesportswriters.com; Moriello)
Leading off today: I hate to say it, but I saw this one coming a mile away. (See: Dec. 11, 2015 blog)
Aquinas linebacker Taylor Riggins posted to Twitter on Tuesday that he has decommitted from Syracuse University and re-opened his recruitment. The fashion in which he did it -- tweeting a thank you to Scott Shafer's staff and wishing Syracuse well -- was significantly more classy than the way the new Orange football staff handled relations with Riggins and his family since the recent regime change.
Syracuse.com reported Riggins was the 10th player to decommit from the Orange since Dino Babers replaced Shafer as head coach. Of the 10, only one (quarterback Lindsey Scott) seems to have been actively wooed by Babers' staff. Based on how long it took Babers' people to reach out to others, it's pretty obvious the staff was taking a time-honored tradition -- running scholarship players off the team -- to a new level by dumping them before they had even arrived.
Riggins, rated two or three stars by the various recruiting services, was up against it on two fronts -- the coaching change and his early-season knee injury that sidelined him for the second half of Aquinas' march to the NYSPHSAA Class AA championship and left the new coaches with little film upon which to evaluate him. He'd committed to SU last summer after his film and an appearance at the Orange camp impressed Shafer's assistants (read Shafer's letter to Riggins here, per At their request, this network is being blocked from this site.), but that largely closed the door to the possibility of more offers; the University at Buffalo and other MAC school obviously weren't going to expend energy working on a kid who'd already landed a spot in the ACC.
Elgin Riggins told Syracuse.com the new coaches all but ignored his son even after Orange AD Mark Coyle called the family to guarantee the scholarship offer would be honored. But Riggins was left hanging after Babers' hiring, with no contact for several weeks until two defensive assistants intimated the prospect was no longer in their plans.
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Ahmed Bah Could Emerge as a Late SU Target; Last Best Hope for Including a NYS Player in the Class of 2016 (.com; Kelly)
Ahmed Bah’s name is one that’s been tossed around a bit over the past month as a potential wide receiver target for the Syracuse University football team, but for awhile it seemed that the Rutgers decommit was either on the back burner or the two sides had decided to move on. Then today, Bah tweeted out a picture of himself with tight ends coach Reno Ferri, who was in New York to see the 3-star receiver.
What does that mean with regard to Bah’s recruitment? Well, at the very least it shows that he’s still on Syracuse’s radar, and wide receivers are certainly a priority position for Dino Babers and his staff. The 6-foot-4, 195 pound Bah would give Syracuse a couple things it currently lacks, if he does eventually receive an offer and chooses the Orange: size at the wide receiver position, and a presence in New York state in the 2016 recruiting class.
With the decommitment of Taylor Riggins, Syracuse doesn’t currently have any pledges from within New York, which is something that gets noticed in recruiting circles. The Orange already have the New York State Defensive Player of the Year locked up for the 2017 class in Isaiah McDuffie, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing to get a representative from the Empire State in the class of 2016. Especially one at a position of real need.
Of course considering Bah doesn’t currently have an offer or a visit to SU set up, it stands to reason that at this point he remains a bit of a backup option to players like Malik Harrison (who is expected to choose Ohio Sate), Devin Butler, Jerron Rollins, and DeVaughn Cooper. Outside of Harrison, however, those other options offer a different style than Bah.
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Dwight Freeney
SU Fan's Rooting Guide for the NFL Conferewnce Championship Games (TNIAAM; Cassillo)
Believe it or not, there's still football going on. No, the season didn't end when the Syracuse Orange wrapped up a win over Boston College. Nor did it conclude when Alabama beat Clemson last Monday night. For those that care about this sort of thing, the NFL's conference championship games are still coming up this weekend, with the winners heading to the Super Bowl.
Many of you have a team already. But for those who don't, or whose team is not playing this weekend, perhaps you'd like a Syracuse football rooting guide to help dictate your opinion. No? Well, you're getting one anyway...
First, the AFC Championship Game:
Denver Broncos (0)
NOT A SINGLE DAMN SYRACUSE PLAYER. Not only that, but the Broncos also lack any Syracuse grads on the coaching staff. Now, the Broncos do wear orange just like us, so perhaps that earns them some points with those that identify with team colors over school loyalty. But overall, it's an uphill battle for Denver to win over 'Cuse fans wondering what to do on Sunday.
New England Patriots (1)
Just one Syracuse player for the Pats, in former Orange standout Chandler Jones. Since leaving SU, Chandler's been a force of nature in the pros, and earned his first Pro Bowl nod after racking up 12.5 sacks in the regular season this year. But New England also has Matt Patricia too. The former Orange offensive grad assistant serves as Bill Belichick's defensive coordinator. So it doesn't "count" but...it sort of counts.
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Other
Strong
Former Syracuse Soccer Player Loses Job Over 2014 Video (PS; Sturtz)
A former Syracuse University soccer player who suffered withering criticism in 2014 after she was captured on video using homophobic and racial slurs has apparently lost her teaching job over the incident.
Hanna Strong, of Monson, Mass., was recently dismissed from her job as a substitute teacher with the Springfield Public Schools, MassLive.com reported.
The decision to dismiss Strong came after several discussions between the Springfield mayor, the school district's superintendent and Bishop Talbert Swan, president of the Springfield chapter of the NAACP.
Swan apparently brought the matter to their attention. It was not clear who made him aware of the video of Strong or her job as a teacher.
Strong was a standout soccer player in high school who went on to be a midfielder on the S.U. women's soccer team. She was a senior in 2014 when she was identified as the person calling another person a — and n— in a video posted on Instagram.
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