So what is it ??

[OrOrange44]

What is it that drives us as fans
My father was allowed by SU to keep his FB scholarship after a freak injury destroyed his knee
My Dad met with prospective students and alerted coaches regarding local (York, Pa) talent
Ben Swartzwalter (Sp?) used to come to dinner at our house
Been rooting for the Orange since I was old enough to understand
Then I attended SU in 76/77 JB's 1st yr
I remember walking thru snow tunnels from the Vincent Apts w my buddy John O'Mahoney
to Manley...that place rocked and I caught the fever
So come every Oct when practice starts the feeling begins again
Just trying to deal with the seasons sudden end and I wondered what is it that causes us to latch onto
18-22 yr olds most of us only know by TV games and follow them with such fervor

Well thanks to the team and all the Orange Nation for a wonderfull 2011/2012 season

OO44

 

[JoeSU]

I am also a Vincent "survivor".

 

[sufandu]

Just grew up in the CNY and it's a part of my identity. I'm a child of the Sherm, Coleman, Thompson, Owens era. I vaguely remember the Keith Smart shot and the loss to Richmond was my first true heart breaking loss.

 

[jec1521]

My case is unique. I'm from NJ and I didn't even go to Syracuse, but my aunt went there. She got me a few cool autographed balls and hats by DC, John Wallace, and Stevie Thompson. Ever since then I've been hooked.

I'm not from Syracuse and not an alum, yet I know very few people who are as attached and emotionally invested as I am. I don't love it for any reason other than that I love it.

 

[EastCoast2]

Born and raised in Syracuse

 

[Hoov50]

Born and raised in the Southern Tier and graduated from SU in '02.

 

[cto]

Lifelong sports fan (thanks to my father). SU football team won NC my freshman year. And I thought it would always be like that. Oops. Wrong sport.

Was also there when basketball team set the then-alltime NCAA record for consecutive losses (right after football team won NC). SU was definitely a football school at that time.

Then, during my senior year, Manley opened and Dave Bing showed up. And suddenly Manley was the place to be ... and we became a basketball school.

Just a crazy four years to be on campus ... in terms of sports.

 

[Marsh01]

born and raised and wouldnt ever think of living anyplace else

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

My dad got his MBA from SU. I had a bib with Otto on it and grew up watching all the SU football and basketball games. I only ever wanted to go to one school during my entire childhood. I'm blessed to have had the opportunity to and the last four years have been better than I ever could have imagined.

 

[orangenirvana]

My orange blood began when my grandfather (father's side) went to SU (class of 1953). Syracuse is where my grandmother grew up and they met there when he was at SU and she was a senior in high school. My mother grew up between Rochester and Syracuse and had two sisters and two brothers both attend SU (who has children who attended SU). So I have orange blood from both sides of my family. Grew up between Binghamton and Syracuse. I nearly attended my dream school in 2002 but decided to go the cheap (state) route at the last minute (). No regrets I guess. But I do plan on getting my MBA from SU. Can't wait to officially call myself a Syracuse University alumnus...no matter how old I am when it happens.

 

[JackBauer44]

Went to a prospect camp in 2004. I was being recruited (lightly) by some MAC schools and mostly division 2/3 schools. Mansfield University recruited me the most. I knew I wasn't division 1 caliber but I tried like hell. I'm pretty sure the only reason I was invited tot he camp was because my head coach knew George D. I ended up tearing my knee up shortly after the camp and had a conversation with Coach DeLeone about how SU wasn't interested. Crushed because I wanted to stay local, but totally understood. I told Coach D I appreciated the opportunity and I would always bleed orange. Always have, and always will.

 

[MSOrange]

This is a repeat of my first ever post on the site but here goes:
My first memory was the the BET game when Leo Rautins had the tip-in to win in the 3rd overtime. At that point, I was too young to really care and I just wanted the game to end so we could finally go to Ground Round for dinner. Little did I know, that I would become the guy in the family that eventually would make everyone wait for the game to end before we could do anything.

Went to a few games when I was younger, but moved to Georgia and then to Kansas and haven't been able to make it to a game in Syracuse since. I did go to the game in Kansas City a few years ago when we beat Kansas in the "neutral" court game. I started following pretty closely when I was 9 or 10 years old and remember pretty much all of the players from 1985 on. My parents went to the Hardwood Club dinner a couple years and remember waiting for them to get home one year to see if they were able to get the Pearl's autograph and I still have those programs.

I was born with spina bifida and have had some health issues resulting from that occasionally throughout my life, so another memory is when I was younger and my roommate in the hospital room was going to be on the cover of the SU basketball program with JB. I was all ready to talk some strategy with him when he came into the room - but then I got shy. So sadly, he didn't get the man vs zone advice of a 10 year old But he was very nice and talked to me for several minutes and these were the days where he really wasn't known for his charming personality.

Worst memory was the 1987 loss to Indiana. Yes, I did cry after that game. Also ended up with double homework for that week because our teacher was an Indiana fan who happened to live in Syracuse.

Best memory is, of course, 2003 as I also lived in Kansas at the time so I go to rub it in to all the KU fans. At that point, I considered my life complete and I could die in peace whenever the time came.

I think the only time I can remember missing a game on tv was when I was in middle school and found out I wasn't quite as good at signing my dad's name on a test paper as he was. So I was grounded and missed the Georgetown game where Billy Owens got fouled as time expired and we won in overtime.

I don't really have a favorite all time player - just all the guys that represented the university well on and off the court. Least favorite players is anybody that wasted an opportunity that I would kill to be able to do by doing stupid things off the court. I can think of an example of that from this year

 

[85SUAlum]

I'm a diehard SU fan since junior high and always will be.
I wanted to go to SU ever since junior high when I thought I wanted to be a lawyer and that was the closest law school.
Gave up on the idea of becoming a lawyer in high school, but SU was still the only college I applied to.
I really became a big fan of SU basketball in high school during the Louie and Bowie Show years.
I still remember a friend (who was also an SU fan) and I wearing black armbands to school our senior year in high school when SU lost to Georgetown in the last game played at Manley.
I was there for the inaugural year of the Carrier Dome (and the Rautins (Leo), Santifer, Bruin era. - also got to see Joe Morris play football in the dome and despite being about as poor as a student could be, scraped together enough money for season tickets for basketball.)
I remember SU winning the Big East tourney in '81 but not getting the automatic NCAA bid because the Big East league hadn't been in existence long enough (not the last time SU got screwed over come tourney time). They ended up losing in the NIT final (remember a bunch of us sitting around a tiny TV in someone's dorm room watching the game), the first of many heartbreaking tournament games.
I still can't stand whenever someone brings up the '87 title game and Keith Smart (I came so close to actually throwing my TV out the window it's scary!).

 

[ar inj]

My first Orange sports memory was running to a radio to give reports of Floyd Little's exploits during my sister's wedding. Then Syracuse football at Yankee Stadium.

But my brother eventually roomed w/ Rick Dean, who played center/forward for the Orange w/ Bing and Boeheim. When I arrived on campus it was basketball and Manley Field House. The zoo; Coach Danforth keeping a promise to lead the crowd in a cheer; a technical being called on the crowd; there was no turning back.

My best away game experience: somehow getting seats immediately behind Left Driesell in a game against the Orangemen in Cole Field House. They did not throw us out, but did have a security guard sit between us and the bench in the second half. The Terp players reported in the paper the next day that they heard us loud and clear -- and it helped spur them to the victory. Oops

 

[shandeezy7]

My father is an SU grad ('72) and former season ticket holder (had to give them up when kids and other responsibilities took priority). I've been going to SU games for as long as I can remember. In fact, my parents love to tell the story that when I was 3 years old, they used to threaten to not let me watch SU games anymore because I would cry too much when they lost. Die hard for life.