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Message: [QUOTE="Flacusian, post: 1199091, member: 264"] I absolutely agree with your points regarding our ability as fans to connect with and vicariously experience the progression through college that the "program" type players undergo. That's one of the wonderful things about Syracuse basketball. Jimmy B mixes a blend of highly rated elite players with program type players who are going to stay for at least 2 years if not more and who lend consistency to the program. We've been following the career of Rakeem Christmas for nearly 6 years now. From the time we first heard about the staff pursuing him to come to Syracuse to this year as he emerges as our "go to" player and elder leader. Unfortunately the reality of todays world is such that elite players are not going to stay in the college ranks for very long. The economics of professional sports as big business dictates that and we see it encroaching into every aspect of amateur collegiate sports. For those of us who are older, we were lucky enough to have experienced some of the magic which happened prior to the contamination of $$$. We saw the coming of age of the Big East Conference which was an incredible incarnation and provided a framework inside of which Syracuse Basketball, the 2-3 zone and Jimmy Boeheim became household words. Ultimately those same forces which aided in the creation of that wonderful conference also transformed the landscape into one which resulted in it's demise. I just consider myself lucky to have been at a lot of those Big East Tournaments in the Garden and to have seen Pearl, Moten, Carmelo, and even farther back, Wendell Alexis, Rosie, Dennis Duval etc. etc. Now it's different but my zeal for Syracuse basketball is still as high as ever. It's just different now. All of College Basketball is different. But on any given night you can still see something special happen. The 6 OT game. I'll never forget that as long as I live. In all of sports many of my favorite moments have been with Syracuse Basketball. That's why I come to this forum every day of the year. Often 5 or 6 times a day. There is just something special about THIS PROGRAM, this group of fans, and the players who wear the ORANGE uniform. I've lived in Florida since 1993 and as a result most of the games I've been able to see have been vs. Miami, or S. Florida or on several occasions the Florida Gators. When I go to the games here in Florida there is, more often than not, as many if not more Syracuse fans at the game than the particular Florida team that they are playing. And the volume of the Let's Go Orange" chants can make you feel like you are back in Manley if you close your eyes. So...good luck to Kentucky. I hope they have a great season. But I hope that we just happen to have a season that is a wee bit better. It will be better in my eyes no matter what the outcome. [/QUOTE]

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