Orangeyes
R.I.P Dan
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The only SU non-game events I can compare this to are the Dome celebration for our NC team of 2003, it was like a Rock Concert. 690 will attest to that, I met him that night for the first time, he sat right in front of me.
The parade downtown three days later, where Melo's limo was mobbed by crazed fans just wanting to reach out and touch him, feel the magic which comes with a precious National Championship . The reception at Hancock in 1987 after we took down the mighty North Carolina Tarheels & JR who, JR who, JR Reid. The Manley Field House send off for the team as they headed off for New Orleans in 2003 and the Pep rally at City Hall in 1996.
These old Orangeyes are now red eyes as I begin my report. Four hours of reading articles and posting them will do that. I have had about five calls from friends buzzing about last night.
Before the night begins, as I'm leaving the house with my wife and granddaughter, a guy with a vintage SU shirt comes striding up my driveway. Why it's the poster known as Henry & Coke all the way in from Buffalo to take in the event called Midnight Madness. He picks up his ticket, then says, wait a minute, I have something for your granddaughter. He comes back with two gorgeous 8 x 10 photos, one of Kris Joseph, the other of Jonny Flynn with Wes Johnson together in Timberwolf gear. What a nice random act of kindness. Ain't our board members the greatest?
This granddaughter I speak of is the same one who, 8 years ago uttered the word Otto as her first formed word. Right then I knew I had a partner for my Orange addiction.
Now we head up to the Dome and park in the upper lot in the row right next to Irving Ave, love it. We enter the dome at about 6:50 thinking we would have to wait 10 minutes to get in. No such, we are allowed to go in right away. I leave two tickets for a friend who is coming in from New Jersey. Upon entering the Dome I see the curtain side is three-quarters filled. I looked around the lower concourse and it's already half filled. There are people in the second deck too.
Nice, this is going to make a great impression on the recruits. (The official, official attendance from the person who would know was 15,000 but it looked like more) Things are getting pretty humid so I decide to get some fresh air. I'm outside for a moment and my son & his wife arrive. This was not coordinated, as I still refuse to get a cell phone. My breed are dying very quickly. I get a kick out of seeing people in their 80's using these new contraptions. I usher my brood in and attempt to head back outside. But wait... I spot two very tall young men entering through will-call. These aren't the usual type of citizens who attend these affairs. These two young men have a presence about them that is different. One has a gnarly checked hat, the other an ordinary baseball cap. They are tall enough to be Nerlen Noel ( what a perfect complement to Christmas huh?) and Goodluck Okonoboh (love that first name, try pronouncing the last. I remember trying to pronounce Arinze's when he first got here, near impossible for this sylabicly challenged individual.) I'm trying to imagine that high flat hairdo in the picture I posted yesterday, some of you call it the fade. Then I hear them say, damn look at that crowd. I over heard someone else say, that's nothing wait till you see this place with 34,000. Suddenly people are starting to figure out who they are and the autograph's start flying. I'm taking all of this in and standing there like a dummy with my camera around my neck collecting dust. Soon they are descending the stairs at mid-court and off they go never to be seen again. Ah, no that's not quite the end of that story. I'll get back to it in sequence.
The place keeps filling up as we approach 8 PM There are a few announcements then that Russian Group comes on and just wows the crowd. What a step up from any of the entertainment we've had before. Oh I know there were those trampolinist (not sure if that's a word), I think last year. But this Russian outfit had a lot of pizzazz and the kids loved their daring act. Most of you who tuned into ESPN3 probably saw most of the goings on, so I'll spare you the details of what you saw or are going to see later when you watch a replay on your computer.
I do want to make a few comments though, I was very pleased to see both Michael Carter-Williams and Trevor Cooney make their first three-point attempts. MCW's dunk over Fab Melo was impressive. Christmas was very athletic and quick down the floor. This is as deep a team as we had in 1987. I hope JB can manage this much talent. As reported by Mike Waters both Triche & Waiters have taken a few pounds off and they both look more explosive. With everyone on the same page, this team will be tough to contend with. As with our NIT run of a few years ago, there were people there who don't normaly attend games. The demografic was much younger and more boistrous. They react in a louder fashion than some of the staid fans who are leftovers from the olden days. Loved the unbridled enthusiasm.
Seeing the past greats of the program introduced, then play a scrimmage brought lots of smiles and appreciation for each players glory days. There was John Wallace bombing away three pointers and connecting on more then you would think. Moten doing his magic, Devo throwing up his cork-screw jumper, Hak igniting the crowd with his thunderous dunks. Wes Johnson replying on the other end with some vicious dunks of his own. Jonny Flynn doing some fancy dribbling on his way down the court and finishing with an Oop to Wes. On the sidelines Melo smiling as the crowd chants his name. One of the players throws him a pass and from his seat he attempted to make an assist. GMAC nails a three and memories of that first half against Kansas in 2003 come flooding back.
Vanessa, my granddaughter, cheered & smiled from the moment we got to the Dome right through to the end as she was gathering discarded Orange glow-in-the-dark bracelets that had been handed out along with the team posters.
I feel sorry for the antsy pantsy people who dart out to beat the traffic, they never get the desert an event like this serves up. Head down to floor level, there's Lawrence freaking Moten, Poetry in Moten, the Big East's all-time leading scorer (thank you Lord for that small favor, you know what I'm talking about. I know, I know I'm not supposed to pray for stuff like that to happen to anyone but I did it and for whatever reason you answered my prayers?) No I'm not looking at the #2 scorer I'm looking at #1. It was so great to watch Lawrence once again grace the Carrier Dome floor.
He had, and I might add, still has a game unlike any other player I have ever seen. That's thousands upon thousands upon thousands of players throughout the years in both college and the pros. Unique, one-of-a-kind, scrumptiously delicious. Absolute poetry, a genius on the baseline. There he was a few feet away from me, smiling at fans, posing for pictures, signing autographs and just absorbing the adulation, the same kind he had once experienced in his career here at Syracuse from 1991 to 1995. Lawrence freaking Moten!
Just over Lawrence's shoulder I once again spy the number one center in all of America, Nerlen's Noel being interviewed. Not sure who was doing the interviewing?
Woo, who's coming at me now, he's big, oh my God, oh my God it's Cuse is in the house, oh my God, oh my God, Big Bad John Wallace. The guy who wore the number 44 as gracefully on the hardwood as Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little did on the gridiron. A man who wasn't afraid to carry a team on his back. This is the guy who knocked down that shot against Georgia, one of the greatest clutch shots in SU history. The kid who had the courage to chose Syracuse at a troubled time. "Hey John remember me?" (When John was a freshman I had a word with him after a practice early in the season, I told him that he was further along at this stage than Derrick Coleman was. I'll never forget that ear-to-ear smile that lit up on his face. What I said may or may not have been the total truth, I'll never tell, but the reaction? The reaction made the whole arena brighten up. One thing I have learned in my long life is, it never hurts to say nice things to people. It doesn't cost a cent and makes people feel like a million dollars) Sure I remember you, how could I forget and he gave me a warm hug.
As John was making his way out of the arena who pops into the picture but The Pearl. The guy who announced he was choosing Syracuse because of it's school of communications. He told that to a national audience who were tuned in to hear the big announcement. It was a very big national recruiting coup for Jim Boeheim and the Syracuse Basketball program. Al McGuire said, Ok Pearl where are you going to spend the next four years of your life. It was one of those you can remember where you were and who you with moments that happen just a few times in your life. I was on Tipp Hill at my buddy Al's apartment, knocking down a few cold ones. When I heard the word Syracuse I nearly jumped out of my skin. Visions of national championships danced in my head. This vaulted us right up there in the rare air of college basketball super teams. I pictured people in Durham and Chapel Hill kicking their sets. Wow, Peral Washington was going to be playing for my Syracuse Orangemen.
Pearl had fans asking for autographs when the Carrier Dome security team asked everyone to exit. There he was walking next to me toward stadium control. Back when SU was heading to New Orleans in 2003 I was shopping at Manny's. Who should come over and look at the shirts I was looking at but the Pearl. He said he was planning on heading down there soon and needed some sharp stuff. I gave him a tour of the best shirts in the store. It was neat watching him choose the stuff I had suggested. Last night I mentioned that meeting and he laughed and said, I remember you. So I didn't leave the Dome early and I run into the Pearl. I asked If I could get a picture of him with my granddaughter and he gladly obliged. Vanessa's dad is going to go crazy when he sees that picture. I have given my granddaughter a treasure she can hold onto forever and it didn't cost a dime.
Now we're outside and there are fans being held back across the street from stadium control. There are people lined up on the Dome side, on either side of the entrance. It looked a bit like the old scenes you would see from a Beatles news reel as fans screamed every time the control doors would open. The big prize they were after was Melo. He was the Beatles last night. During the introductions before the Legends game he was the last player announced and he got, by far, the biggest ovation of the night (If you don't believe me check it out starting at the 6:05 mark of this video) . Well, getting back to the outside scene, I run into Craig again(Henry & Coke is his stage name). He has a beautiful signed picture of the Dome. He said, he needed a few more signatures, before he framed it and hung it in his den.
We are talking, when all of a sudden, who should appear but Eric Devendorf. Remember that kid who jumped up on press row stretching his #23 jersey for the world to see, that night in Madison Square Garden, when 5 overtimes were not enough to decide a basketball game. When walk-ons played on the most famous basketball stage in the world. When Syracuse and Connecticut were at the center of the basketball universe. When Raf, Bilas and McDonough had the honor of doing the most fantastic game of basketball ever played in the Big East Tournament. Yeah, that Eric Devendorf is standing right in front of me signing autographs and accepting every request. Just then I had a chance to speak with him about Tailgate Ivan. You see Ivan was well known to every Syracuse basketball player for at least the last 25 years. He worked most of JB's camps and attended practices on a regular basis. I let Devo know that Ivan passed last January. He was both shocked and saddened. I gave him Ivan's wife's phone number so he could pass on his condolences.
As Devo made his way down the street along comes the MacNamara clan. Grandpa has a carrier with his grandchild in it. I congratulate the family, say hello to Joyce and wish them luck. On the other side of the entrance there is some autograph action going on. Craig and I, the curiosity getting the better of us make our way over there. It turns out to be Noel & and Okonoboh. Some kids are saying come to Syracuse, don't go to Duke. They laugh. Craig had a Noel photo he gets signed. We get pictures. I over hear the pair got to meet with Melo in the SU locker room. Syracuse showed their best face last night. If we don't land DCII, and get Noel I would still be one happy camper.
Just a great ending to a great night, one that I will never forget.
PS I'm not saying I don't want Coleman but his being in Kentucky when he should have been here IMHO just isn't a good sign.
