I went. Here is a brief report.
It rained for the first 2 hours or so of the tournament. Sometimes it was pretty hard, sometimes it wasn't. The course was actually pretty dry beforehand...the greens were quite fast and firm and there was no standing water in the fairways. That changed as the rain came down.
We were playing in the group behind Dino Babers. Dino is a trash talker and early on, shortly after we put our rain gear on, he questioned on manhood. "C'mon guys. Real men don't wear rain gear". He was wearing rain gear. He plays left handed. Has a pretty good swing but he is really jacked up these days and I think it hurts his game. He mentioned he rarely plays later.
It is a fun course to play Captain and Crew. Some risk/reward holes out there where you can do things you normally would not do.
They set up a big tent in the middle of the course, where you come across it multiple times during your round. All the beer, soda (alas no ginger ale), steak sandwiches, hot dogs and coneys you want. Seneca Falls Country Club is near the Hofmann/Zeigler border, so I always worry, but they again featured Hofmann. Gotta help that they are a sponsor of SU athletics.
Rocco's team won in a scorecard match with an impressive score of 61. Congrats to him and the his team. My team featured
upperdeck but we didn't help him out much and struggled to a -1 score.
A bunch of former players attended, including Jim Ridlon and Chuck Zimmerman.
I think all the assistant coaches were there, as well as most of the supporting staff and as mentioned, the HC as well. Even John Wildhack attended. One of the Auburn organizers said it was the first time the SU AD had attended since Jake Crouthamel.
The steak sandwiches are excellent. My teammates like the Southern Tier IPA. Might have been called 2X? Many beers were quaffed. Much beef was ingested. Many balls were lost and many laughs were had.
If you ever go, check out the big nest near the 9th green. I believe it is an osprey nest. We have seen a massive osprey flying around the course in past years but not this one. What an impressive bird.
Matt Park also attended. He, Coach Babers and John Wildhack all spoke briefly after the nice steak dinner.
Matt mostly talked about the coming ACC Network and how he and his Newhouse students were very excited about it coming.
Dino mentioned he was a little under the weather. He was more subdued than normal but gave a very engaging speech, as always. Told how he loves his family but sometimes wishes they wouldn't do certain things. Said scheduling Clemson for Homecoming was poking the bear.
Talked briefly about last year. Said he thought it was all about 3 things: the performance of the SU 'hippos and elephants' in the trenches, turnovers the defense produced and special teams play.
Said the SU OL and DL usually outplayed the opponent, and if they didn't, they at least played to a standstill, and gave the team a chance to win. Thinks the SU DL will be as good as last year. Thinks he has the ingredients to have a good OL but with players who haven't done it in games before, you never know and he won't know until 2 weeks into preseason camp.
Said he is a cook; a chef and he prides himself on making something based on what ingredients he has to work with. Said the offense will change with Eric gone. Took pains to not explain what changes to look for. Didn't want to see it on syracuse.com. I think he meant syracusefan.com.
Introduced all his assistants, including the director of operations and recruiting coordinator types. They all gave their educational background. Lots of advanced degrees. Smart group.
Bragged about how well educated his staff is, and reminded us to think about that the next time we complain about coaching at the water cooler.
He took 7 questions from the crowd.
One was on the status of the Dome renovation, which he immediately deflected to John Wildhack. John gave an update (one of the biggest cranes in the country is being built on site for use on the project, the focus for 2020 is a new sound system, a new lighting system and a new 4 sided scoreboard. He said the company we are working with for the LED lighting system did the stadium in Georgia, Hard Rock stadium in Miami and is doing the new Raiders stadium in Las Vegas. If I have new, it is probably here. I did a little sleuthing and that company is Ephesus Lighting. Ephesus is a local company. Was kind of hoping they would get the work because I like money to stay in the local economy but I know we have a guy on the board from a competitor and if they lost, I am sorry for him. Sounds like they are doing really well anyway.
John also mentioned that not only did we get the right head coach for Syracuse, we got the right PERSON for Syracuse in Dino. And lastly, he (and Matt) pitched for fans to demand the ACC Network from their cable companies.
Come for the 40 football games, for the 150 men's and women's basketball games, and the 250 Olympic sports events. Come for it all.
getaccn.com
Back to Dino. Someone asked why he came to Syracuse. He apparently had 4 choices and opted to head to CNY. He asked 'Why NOT Syracuse?' in typical Dino fashion. But he got serious and said it was a spiritual thing. I think he prayed and God told him this was the place for him. That is my interpretation. But he left it vague, which I am sure was his intention.
He was asked about depth on the team. He said it remains a problem. Said he will tell us when it is not a problem but we are not at that point yet. Said he thought a big reason why we were successful last year as opposed to previous years was because last year, when we had injuries, they were mostly in areas where we had some depth and could survive. His first two years, injuries occurred in areas where there was no depth.
He was asked about how the team seems to be ready to play every week and always plays hard. Was that a reflection on him? He said no, he thought that all started with the assistant coaches. They do a great job getting the kids ready to play each week. Thinks he has a great staff and that is a big part of having a successful program.
Was asked what he thought of the support for the team at the bowl game. He thought it was TRE-MEN-DOUS and it could not have been better. He said after SU got the bowl bid, he asked John W about ticket sales. Would we have a decent turnout. John told him 'we will sell out our allotment. I guarantee it!'. John nailed that one.
I think it was at this point he started talking about fan support and how while it is great there is going to be 49K for Clemson ('John, what is the biggest crowd in the Dome since I have been hear? 43K?'), we need to have 49K for EVERY game. Urged all of us to come to the games, and bring our friends and family.
One of the question askers asked his question with his arms crossed. 'I like what you are saying but I don't like those crossed arms. C'mon, open yourself to me! (Big smile after the arms dropped). That's better!'
Rocco's team won with a 61. Props to him. I am pretty sure my team won the beer drinking competition though and I didn't even help them.
Great to see so many fanatics out there and to talk a lot of SU football this time of year. If you have been thinking about playing, go next year. The steak sandwiches are top notch. The dinner afterwards features a big steak. Very nice.
And go to the Orangeyes Open in a couple of months. You will be glad you did.
War Damn Otto!
