Solution to the Running Game Problem

[cuse309]

Our OL will be very good in future years.

Our running game is entirely contingent upon that IMHO.

Add in the fact we have a few stellar RBs in the mix (along with Pierre)...

And there's your solution.

Agree. The only solution is time.

 

[dooey139]

I just find it hard to believe that #44 would be much of a carrot to dangle to a 17 year old who wasn't even alive when Rob Konrad last wore it. Nor would a kid care much about some guy that wore it before color tv. In 1996-1997 I was a senior in high school. It would be like a recruiter telling me if I went to "X" school, I could have "X" number just like the last guy that wore it in 1975. Sorry, but that just wouldn't matter to me. That's just me. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe some stud athlete would care, but I highly doubt it.

"This number hasn't been worn since the 90s. We have been waiting for that special one of a kind player to come along to bring it down from the rafters. We know YOU can be that player that can carry it on his back and be legendary for this school."

A pitch going something like that would have to leave an impression on a kid.

 

[CuseIsGodsTeam]

Exactly, give it the right pitch and it will sell, ancient history or not.

Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost. #44 will always be a part of the 'Cuse no matter what.

 

[cuse309]

"This number hasn't been worn since the 90s. We have been waiting for that special one of a kind player to come along to bring it down from the rafters. We know YOU can be that player that can carry it on his back and be legendary for this school."

A pitch going something like that would have to leave an impression on a kid.

Don't think so. That same pitch could be made minus the jersey number which is irrelevant to a kid born in 2000-2002. "We haven't had a great r.b. come here since the 1990's. You are the one. You are our first great r.b. since Rob Konrad. With you, we can get to where we need to be. " The number 44 is irrelevant to the kid. If anything it may make the recruit think, "Wow...they haven't been able to land a decent recruit since years before I was even born? There must be a reason no great r.b. has picked the cuse in over 2 decades."

 

[cuse309]

Exactly, give it the right pitch and it will sell, ancient history or not.

Everything changes, but nothing is truly lost. #44 will always be a part of the 'Cuse no matter what.

Retire it, un retire it...just seems bush league.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

Run farther

 

[SWC75]

Once again, don't give it to an untried HS kid, (and what if we give it to a 4 star and a 5 star might be available the next year?). Give it to an outstanding senior - and it doesn't have to be a running back. Make it something to shoot for, rather than something that is bestowed - or something gathering dust in the rafters.

Having a #44 make a big play and the announcers talk about what the number means woudl produce more good results than having it hang in the rafters or sit on the bench.

 

[blizz]

It was our one true tradition. Daryl Gross, Nancy Cantor, and whoever else had absolutely no right to take that away. On top of it all, it is an absolute insult to look at that damn garbage bag that's supposed to symbolize a jersey hanging in the rafters. They couldn't put an actual jersey or even something that looked like a jersey, but a cheap piece of plastic.

That damn thing should come down. And 3 actual jerseys, bearing the names Brown, Davis, and Little should go right up in it's place.

The tradition should be restored and that means giving it to the right player at the right time under the right circumstances. What that actually means is anyone's guess, but in my mind it's the kind of thing that is obvious when the time has come.

I think bringing it back for a recruit is misguided. But using it as a recruiting tool is a no brainer. The jersey represents a legend that is long and storied, wrapped in mystique and intrigue. To wear 44 at Syracuse draws on that legend, it taps into that ethereal something that the legends were plugged into, pulsed with it, possessed by it. Who would not want to be part of that? Who would not want a chance to earn that opportunity?

The tradition should be restored. In order for that to happen, that sad cheap excuse for a jersey needs to come down.

 

[W'boro'Cuse315]

Just posted this on the Lax board (FYI we have our 1st 2 Fall scrimmages in The Dome this Sunday ) but might as well drop it here:

I know there's differing opinions on this throughout the board but, just like #44 in football, I think people need to stop viewing a player being given the number as comparing them or putting them on the same level as Brown, Davis, & Little or the Gaits & Powells. Those players are on a separate level that will likely never be matched again in this modern era but that doesn't mean you scrap the tradition. Evans wearing #22 doesn't diminish anything previous #22s have done. Keeping the #s active ensures that the tradition lives on, that it's mentioned on every broadcast & kids grow up with a knowledge/understanding of it.

Most of this is more directed at #44 in football so I apologize for the rant but I've just always felt that retiring #44 was a horrible decision & simply a move by Gross to drum up publicity for the movie & that 1 game. I'd hate to see the same happen with #22. Don't hand them out to incoming recruits or if there's not a deserving player that year but don't shelf them, allow players to earn them. Traditions are such a huge part of college sports & we must preserve the few cool ones we have.

 

[Ish88888]

"This number hasn't been worn since the 90s. We have been waiting for that special one of a kind player to come along to bring it down from the rafters. We know YOU can be that player that can carry it on his back and be legendary for this school."

A pitch going something like that would have to leave an impression on a kid.

You think so? After the kid googled "Syracuse, 44, ernie davis, jim brown, watched the express on net flix? Most kids today dont know or care about our historic 44. As previously stated, i think its disrespectful to the other players to ordain a kid with a historical #.

 

[upperdeck]

Kids/parents know who Jim brown is if they follow football at all.. the number 44 wont mean much until they put it in that context.. but to think there is not 1 big time RB out there who would care about 44 is wrong.. until we show we can run though its hard to know if it matters anyway.. i would settle for someone who can be our next 47

 

[OrangeTarheel]

They made a movie about the man who wore that number, what more do you want for recruiting?

<steps on soapbox >

And there is a tradition of giving it to a recruited player when they come to the university. That is all that has been done with the number. Why would we change that? If you're going to bring it back as part of a tradition then respect that tradition -- don't go inventing new ones.

<steps off soapbox>

 

[CuseIsGodsTeam]

You think so? After the kid googled "Syracuse, 44, ernie davis, jim brown, watched the express on net flix? Most kids today dont know or care about our historic 44. As previously stated, i think its disrespectful to the other players to ordain a kid with a historical #.

This is a great point. It is very reasonably disrespectful.

Instead, you could rotate who wears the number each week. Alternate between defense and offense each game, speciel teams gets love too, (Hofrichter should wear it after Saturday's performance) even let the team decide who wears it.

I believe that would be pretty awesome, as well as honor past, present, and future.