Spring Practice Day #1: Sun March 4 | Page 2 | Syracusefan.com

Spring Practice Day #1: Sun March 4

Yes Jim was a member of that team and I'm sure I could bore the younger crowd to death with stories from a different era. One quickey. I was a local walk on, one of four that made the final cut (that's a story in itself) and a member of Lafayette Ave. Methodist church (I believe it is now gone) and we had a men's basketball team. I took Jim and some of the other guys from the team over to the church to scrimmage the men's team. It wasn't pretty!!! Avatus Stone was a friend and a good guy and not as portrayed in "The Express" I have the picture of that team hanging on the wall of my den and it brings back great memories of another and (I feel) better era. It was a game - not a business.

No boredom here. I eat this stuff up! Thank you for sharing.
 
Our local journos are amazing. The passion they have for covering this program just oozes from every pore. 15 mins of open practice? 28 golden seconds of footage. God we are blessed. Rich beyond measure.

The questions are impeccible, by the way. Two new staff members...nothing. Two transfers and three (?4?) early enrollees...nada. Replacing seniors at LB...zilch. But somewhere in there, if I keep asking the same two questions, I'll finally uncover a quarterback controversy and get coach to talk about recruiting players by name so the NCAA can nail him.

1) 10 minutes of practice to record, and they keep it as milquetoast as humanely possible in those 10 minutes. We're not missing anything, in the 9:30 that didn't show up on Twitter.
2) The two new staff members were covered in detail on signing day last month. What new is there to ask?
3) Early enrollees and transfers were covered last month on signing day.
4) What's Babers going to say about replacing the seniors at LB on the first day of spring practice? "We have a lot of talent, and we look forward to the competition." You realize they have like 7 more opportunities to talk to him before availability is over, right?
5) The most hyped QB recruit in years is off red-shirt this year. How does he fit in? How will Babers handle it, especially because Dungey is so likely to get hurt? I thought he gave a really interesting answer about how they handled it at Arizona, as well as why they did it.
6) The people asking about recruits are likely Daily Orange / Citrus TV kids, not guys who, you know, do this full time.

But by all means, we're so blessed by your opinions. Rich beyond measure.
 
Yes Jim was a member of that team and I'm sure I could bore the younger crowd to death with stories from a different era. One quickey. I was a local walk on, one of four that made the final cut (that's a story in itself) and a member of Lafayette Ave. Methodist church (I believe it is now gone) and we had a men's basketball team. I took Jim and some of the other guys from the team over to the church to scrimmage the men's team. It wasn't pretty!!! Avatus Stone was a friend and a good guy and not as portrayed in "The Express" I have the picture of that team hanging on the wall of my den and it brings back great memories of another and (I feel) better era. It was a game - not a business.

I'm not quite as old as you, but I do remember listening to WSYR radio when Jimmy Brown played and watched the bowl game against TCU on TV. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time.

I was curious about Avatus Stone, so I googled him. He just has a VERY short place on Wikipedia, but the link below is much more interesting. Be sure to read the comments, ESPECIALLY, from his son, who has the same name.

Unpopular Ideas: Avatus, Jim, and Ernie, at Syracuse
 
I'm not quite as old as you, but I do remember listening to WSYR radio when Jimmy Brown played and watched the bowl game against TCU on TV. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time.

I was curious about Avatus Stone, so I googled him. He just has a VERY short place on Wikipedia, but the link below is much more interesting. Be sure to read the comments, ESPECIALLY, from his son, who has the same name.

Unpopular Ideas: Avatus, Jim, and Ernie, at Syracuse

Thank you for sharing. On a somewhat tangential note, a friend of mine’s dad was a one time roommate of Jim Brown’s while at SU. For some reason I’m thinking freshman year, though I’m not really sure.
 
Interesting to see all the youngsters posting their years of experience. I was a member of the 49 Freshman team (Bens' first year) can anyone beat that?
I can't beat it but my Grandfather played for Syracuse from 36-39. Played with Sing, Duffy Daugherty, Marty Glickman. I have his scrap books from the years he played there. An absolute treasure to me. Anything you want to post about your time on the hill would be greatly appreciated by everyone here I'm sure.
 
Lets clear the air. I was Stoneys partial backup as a freshman (a very unenviable position) as he was quarterback, safety and punter and all I did was tackle people. We also had a black single wing fullback on the team who I hated tackling. He was a real stud but ran leaning to far forward a could be brought down if you hit him low. Avatus,to my knowledge, had a very good reputation on campus and the bad rap went to somebody else who came slightly later and shall go UN-named but, remember, this was 1949 and early 50's and a lot of things were looked at differently. The varsity quaterback then was Bernie Custis, a black guy who could throw a jump pass 50 yards. He and a white running back,I believe Bob Young, were designated as unhittable during scrimmages as they were the core of the varsity. Back then we had freshmen, who couldn't play varsity and a JV team as well. The freshmen scrimmaged the varsity as we were loaded (by the new coach Ben)and were competitive. Also check out Sidat Singh (sp) who was a black varsity QB in the late 30's. Great story
 
I'm not quite as old as you, but I do remember listening to WSYR radio when Jimmy Brown played and watched the bowl game against TCU on TV. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time.

I was curious about Avatus Stone, so I googled him. He just has a VERY short place on Wikipedia, but the link below is much more interesting. Be sure to read the comments, ESPECIALLY, from his son, who has the same name.

Unpopular Ideas: Avatus, Jim, and Ernie, at Syracuse
Interesting, but they completely overlooked Wil Sadat-Singh
 
1) 10 minutes of practice to record, and they keep it as milquetoast as humanely possible in those 10 minutes. We're not missing anything, in the 9:30 that didn't show up on Twitter.
2) The two new staff members were covered in detail on signing day last month. What new is there to ask?
3) Early enrollees and transfers were covered last month on signing day.
4) What's Babers going to say about replacing the seniors at LB on the first day of spring practice? "We have a lot of talent, and we look forward to the competition." You realize they have like 7 more opportunities to talk to him before availability is over, right?
5) The most hyped QB recruit in years is off red-shirt this year. How does he fit in? How will Babers handle it, especially because Dungey is so likely to get hurt? I thought he gave a really interesting answer about how they handled it at Arizona, as well as why they did it.
6) The people asking about recruits are likely Daily Orange / Citrus TV kids, not guys who, you know, do this full time.

But by all means, we're so blessed by your opinions. Rich beyond measure.

Keep in mind it's just the first day of spring practice for everyone.

The press-bashing will probably improve with more reps.
 
I can't beat it but my Grandfather played for Syracuse from 36-39. Played with Sing, Duffy Daugherty, Marty Glickman. I have his scrap books from the years he played there. An absolute treasure to me. Anything you want to post about your time on the hill would be greatly appreciated by everyone here I'm sure.
Yeah my dad grew up in that era watching SU so any stories would be amazing. Thanks to the old timers who will share these.
 
Keep in mind it's just the first day of spring practice for everyone.

The press-bashing will probably improve with more reps.
You'd think after all of these seasons I'd learn to just ignore it.
 
1) 10 minutes of practice to record, and they keep it as milquetoast as humanely possible in those 10 minutes. We're not missing anything, in the 9:30 that didn't show up on Twitter.
2) The two new staff members were covered in detail on signing day last month. What new is there to ask?
3) Early enrollees and transfers were covered last month on signing day.
4) What's Babers going to say about replacing the seniors at LB on the first day of spring practice? "We have a lot of talent, and we look forward to the competition." You realize they have like 7 more opportunities to talk to him before availability is over, right?
5) The most hyped QB recruit in years is off red-shirt this year. How does he fit in? How will Babers handle it, especially because Dungey is so likely to get hurt? I thought he gave a really interesting answer about how they handled it at Arizona, as well as why they did it.
6) The people asking about recruits are likely Daily Orange / Citrus TV kids, not guys who, you know, do this full time.

But by all means, we're so blessed by your opinions. Rich beyond measure.
Thank you for politely telling me to shut up and keep my opinions to myself.
I got the message.
 
It was an era of transition as far as equipment is concerned. I wore Vic Hansen (a SU all American) leather shoulder pads in high school and none of us, except some linemen, had a face masks and no one had mouthpieces. We were taught to slide our head to the side, wrap up, tackle with our shoulder and drive through. The first day of college practice was enlightening to me as I felt I was in the minority in the locker room as a great many of the players took their teeth out and put them on the shelf of their locker. By that time we were all issued plastic helmets with, mostly, single bar face masks. Still no mouth pieces. There was no weight lifting, would make you musclebound. Jim Brown looked like he was wearing shoulder pads even when only in a T shirt. Probably the greatest athlete of the century. He could have varsity lettered in ANY sport he wished to play. He did letter in football, basketball, lacrosse and track. Hard to believe but probably as good or better lacrosse player as football. He and Vic Hansen have been, to the best of my knowledge, SU's only 2 sport All Americans Oh well just some reminiscents of a very proud SU alum. Anybody want anymore?
 
I just realized this.

This is my 51st Syracuse University Football season - 51 years?!

Are you kidding me??

I just don't feel that old.
I feel for you. This year is my 50 year reunion! :oops:
 
It was an era of transition as far as equipment is concerned. I wore Vic Hansen (a SU all American) leather shoulder pads in high school and none of us, except some linemen, had a face masks and no one had mouthpieces. We were taught to slide our head to the side, wrap up, tackle with our shoulder and drive through. The first day of college practice was enlightening to me as I felt I was in the minority in the locker room as a great many of the players took their teeth out and put them on the shelf of their locker. By that time we were all issued plastic helmets with, mostly, single bar face masks. Still no mouth pieces. There was no weight lifting, would make you musclebound. Jim Brown looked like he was wearing shoulder pads even when only in a T shirt. Probably the greatest athlete of the century. He could have varsity lettered in ANY sport he wished to play. He did letter in football, basketball, lacrosse and track. Hard to believe but probably as good or better lacrosse player as football. He and Vic Hansen have been, to the best of my knowledge, SU's only 2 sport All Americans Oh well just some reminiscents of a very proud SU alum. Anybody want anymore?
City kid back then, like you. Started watching at 13 in '44. City buses parked right on the old oval. Can't believe this will 74 years.


That George Davis could sure run.

And what about "Automatic" Brown?
 
It was an era of transition as far as equipment is concerned. I wore Vic Hansen (a SU all American) leather shoulder pads in high school and none of us, except some linemen, had a face masks and no one had mouthpieces. We were taught to slide our head to the side, wrap up, tackle with our shoulder and drive through. The first day of college practice was enlightening to me as I felt I was in the minority in the locker room as a great many of the players took their teeth out and put them on the shelf of their locker. By that time we were all issued plastic helmets with, mostly, single bar face masks. Still no mouth pieces. There was no weight lifting, would make you musclebound. Jim Brown looked like he was wearing shoulder pads even when only in a T shirt. Probably the greatest athlete of the century. He could have varsity lettered in ANY sport he wished to play. He did letter in football, basketball, lacrosse and track. Hard to believe but probably as good or better lacrosse player as football. He and Vic Hansen have been, to the best of my knowledge, SU's only 2 sport All Americans Oh well just some reminiscents of a very proud SU alum. Anybody want anymore?


Yes. We want more.
 
It was an era of transition as far as equipment is concerned. I wore Vic Hansen (a SU all American) leather shoulder pads in high school and none of us, except some linemen, had a face masks and no one had mouthpieces. We were taught to slide our head to the side, wrap up, tackle with our shoulder and drive through. The first day of college practice was enlightening to me as I felt I was in the minority in the locker room as a great many of the players took their teeth out and put them on the shelf of their locker. By that time we were all issued plastic helmets with, mostly, single bar face masks. Still no mouth pieces. There was no weight lifting, would make you musclebound. Jim Brown looked like he was wearing shoulder pads even when only in a T shirt. Probably the greatest athlete of the century. He could have varsity lettered in ANY sport he wished to play. He did letter in football, basketball, lacrosse and track. Hard to believe but probably as good or better lacrosse player as football. He and Vic Hansen have been, to the best of my knowledge, SU's only 2 sport All Americans Oh well just some reminiscents of a very proud SU alum. Anybody want anymore?
I believe Qadry Ismail was AA in football and track, but I'll let it slide this one time. ;)

I think you should make a thread just for your stories and the admins can pin it at the top of the page.
 
Reflections from a Wrinkled Orange; How many of you remember when Colgate was the BIG rivalry? The raids to their campus and the fabulous Colgate Band kidnapping. We (the freshmen) played them on a Friday at Colgate and they played the varsity the next day in Archbold. Earlier in the week 2 adventuresome members of the freshmen team drove to Colgate to, I believe, put orange dye in the lake. They got caught and had Colgate block C's shaved on their heads. From the time we got on the bus Friday at Syracuse to drive to the game til after the game was over when Colgate students forcibly remove the helmets from the 2 players in question the helmets had been put on in Syracuse and never came off. Avatus was our quarterback (and punter and safety) and he took a hard blow in the first half. He finished the game and on the way back to the dressing room it was apparent to some of us he was totally out of it. When we got in the locker room we took off his uniform, got him showered, dressed and on the bus home. We were part way home before he came around and returned to this world No concussion protocols then and, frankly, there weren't many as the helmet was used for protection and not as a weapon. Lot of great guys on that team who went on to do some pretty great things. Glad to answer any questions if you have any. Oh yea - Lets bring back "The Saltine Warrior" To hplare we are about the same age. I went to Central graduated in 48 PG'd a year to play football (you could do that then) and started matriculating at SU in 49 How about you?
 
Reflections from a Wrinkled Orange; How many of you remember when Colgate was the BIG rivalry? The raids to their campus and the fabulous Colgate Band kidnapping. We (the freshmen) played them on a Friday at Colgate and they played the varsity the next day in Archbold. Earlier in the week 2 adventuresome members of the freshmen team drove to Colgate to, I believe, put orange dye in the lake. They got caught and had Colgate block C's shaved on their heads. From the time we got on the bus Friday at Syracuse to drive to the game til after the game was over when Colgate students forcibly remove the helmets from the 2 players in question the helmets had been put on in Syracuse and never came off. Avatus was our quarterback (and punter and safety) and he took a hard blow in the first half. He finished the game and on the way back to the dressing room it was apparent to some of us he was totally out of it. When we got in the locker room we took off his uniform, got him showered, dressed and on the bus home. We were part way home before he came around and returned to this world No concussion protocols then and, frankly, there weren't many as the helmet was used for protection and not as a weapon. Lot of great guys on that team who went on to do some pretty great things. Glad to answer any questions if you have any. Oh yea - Lets bring back "The Saltine Warrior" To hplare we are about the same age. I went to Central graduated in 48 PG'd a year to play football

Small world. Also went to Central. Graduated Jan '50 (you could do that then) and enrolled SU 3 days later. My smart classmates PG'd and came to the Hill the next Fall. Played Lax, so know the old dank locker room and Al Zack and Doc Hugo well. You guys were up we were down . Sure you recognize my avatar.
 

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