The thrill is gone

[jekelish]

In Florida, talking to a woman from Nebraska. She noticed my Syracuse shirt and said "oh, syracuse, they have a great football team". She wasent even being sarcastic. We have history baby.

You should all listen to this guy. He plays doctor.

 

[tipphill]

If you have such a distaste for the program then why are you using so much energy posting on the fan forum? Seems logical that you would move on like you are suggesting he do.

if you read my post correctly i said i will go to 1-2 selected games, but do not have the same passion anymore or tolerance for bs. apparently, you are concerned about my energy level---a i assure you at 66y/o i can still play a great game of 3 on 3 half court hoops, w/o gasping, but i still travel a lot. moving on totally given the many years i have been a fan, is difficult---detoxing maybe a better analogy. i do not wish ill will at all--just the opposite

 

[Macky44]

if you read my post correctly i said i will go to 1-2 selected games, but do not have the same passion anymore or tolerance for bs. apparently, you are concerned about my energy level---a i assure you at 66y/o i can still play a great game of 3 on 3 half court hoops, w/o gasping, but i still travel a lot. moving on totally given the many years i have been a fan, is difficult---detoxing maybe a better analogy. i do not wish ill will at all--just the opposite

Fair enough. On a side note..id love to get your take on Tipp Hill and the 2 gun related issues outside bars in the last 3 weeks..I feel like i can only go there for lunch nowadays. I was on Tipp the night of the Mcavans shooting and it was a scary thought that i could have been there.

 

[MSOrange]

In Florida, talking to a woman from Nebraska. She noticed my Syracuse shirt and said "oh, syracuse, they have a great football team". She wasent even being sarcastic. We have history baby.

Well last time we played was the famous 1984 game when we beat the Huskers. So she probably does think we're really good based on that!

 

[Opus]

My first game was 1977 as a kid with my dad. Warren Moon came in with the Washington Huskies. Dave Jacobs kicked three field goals, the last with 15 seconds or so to win the game. Bill Hurley became my favorite SU player of all time. Why do I mention this? Because when things get bad I think of this game. It always brings a smile. Give up on SU football and all the memories? No way! Go Orange!

 

[tipphill]

Fair enough. On a side note..id love to get your take on Tipp Hill and the 2 gun related issues outside bars in the last 3 weeks..I feel like i can only go there for lunch nowadays. I was on Tipp the night of the Mcavans shooting and it was a scary thought that i could have been there.

i was born and raised on tipphill, but left many years ago(work) and live in bethlehem pa. my nieces live there and my nephew has bought a few houses there that he has renovated and rents to family. i visit up there frequently as i attend games and have siblings in camillus and marcellus. it appears that near westside is coming up there and increasing the crime. however there is still a strong sense of community irish or not, that preserve the area. as for macavans, that has never been a tipphill tavern, no matter what the name has been over the years. it was always a marginal bar that no one from the hill went to. most folks went to blarney stone,nibsys pub colemans wheelers,little shamrock etc. in fact when i was going to colemans in the old days, it was a sawdust on floor type place w/o the sawdust. they still have the mugs on wall from the original mug club which my brother belonged to.(mug is still there). it appears to me that there is pride in the hill, no matter what your heritage is as they see the big picture of preserving the area as a good place to live.

 

[Orangepace]

My worst fears from a few seasons ago have materialized. I have become completely indifferent and disconnected from this program.

I was a daily poster on this site. I watched the practice vids, kept track of recruiting and dissected player/coach comments for clues on the team. I mocked Rutgers and UCant, as did most of you. But season after season of mediocrity, coach-speak and stagnation have simply drained my interest.

I know some will say "good riddance" or that i'm not a "real fan". And to be honest, maybe there is truth in that. But i was as fervent a supporter of the football program as there was. Unfortunately, the passion is gone and i've been unable to rekindle that excitement for what appears to be another season of (hopefully) 6-6 ball.

The thing you have to rally yourself around... "What fun is it to root for a team that wins championships every few years?!"... Keep the faith and once the ship is really righted, your excitement will increase.

I'm a San Francisco Giants fan. After their recent success, I'm more indifferent to them than I was during all the previous seasons they couldn't get the job done. I think that's brought on by conversations changing from the idea "can they ever get over the hump?" to defending their successes. That's way less fun than rooting for a team with low expectations.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

This is why we are stalling to become even a mid major BCS program. The fans are not supportive enough and the administration does not fully support the team. I am not saying I have the answer but something needs to change.

When I went to the Clemson game (along with many others), I was amazed at all of the fans. I did not see many empty seats. I believe it was 85, 000 people at the game. The problem is that the whole community should support this team. I travel to Syracuse about once every two years for games, but I have been attending away games long before the transition into the ACC. I just want what other teams have through good and bad seasons, a loyal fan base and a supportive administration. Until these two factors change, we will always be an average program.

Why should the whole community support the FB team, anymore than lacrosse, girls hockey, marching band, jazz ensemble, etc. More people don't care about football than do. When the product is bad, you will lose even some of those.

 

[TexanMark]

In Florida, talking to a woman from Nebraska. She noticed my Syracuse shirt and said "oh, syracuse, they have a great football team". She wasent even being sarcastic. We have history baby.

If she was under 40 saying that...she was hitting on you.

 

[SUfanNC]

My worst fears from a few seasons ago have materialized. I have become completely indifferent and disconnected from this program.

I was a daily poster on this site. I watched the practice vids, kept track of recruiting and dissected player/coach comments for clues on the team. I mocked Rutgers and UCant, as did most of you. But season after season of mediocrity, coach-speak and stagnation have simply drained my interest.

I know some will say "good riddance" or that i'm not a "real fan". And to be honest, maybe there is truth in that. But i was as fervent a supporter of the football program as there was. Unfortunately, the passion is gone and i've been unable to rekindle that excitement for what appears to be another season of (hopefully) 6-6 ball.

I would say you are a true fan because it is obvious that you invest yourself in the team and the past years of mediocrity have taken a toll. That being said I also believe you are not finished. As others have stated here you must have an ember still burning. Keep the faith my man.

Recharge your batteries

 

[Macky44]

i was born and raised on tipphill, but left many years ago(work) and live in bethlehem pa. my nieces live there and my nephew has bought a few houses there that he has renovated and rents to family. i visit up there frequently as i attend games and have siblings in camillus and marcellus. it appears that near westside is coming up there and increasing the crime. however there is still a strong sense of community irish or not, that preserve the area. as for macavans, that has never been a tipphill tavern, no matter what the name has been over the years. it was always a marginal bar that no one from the hill went to. most folks went to blarney stone,nibsys pub colemans wheelers,little shamrock etc. in fact when i was going to colemans in the old days, it was a sawdust on floor type place w/o the sawdust. they still have the mugs on wall from the original mug club which my brother belonged to.(mug is still there). it appears to me that there is pride in the hill, no matter what your heritage is as they see the big picture of preserving the area as a good place to live.

I hope to hell they can preserve Tipp Hill and continue the strong heritage that has been there for a long time. My parents tell me stories about Colemans when it first opened, and describe it exactly the same way. I typically stick to Nibsys or Blarney when im out up there. I used to go to Colemans weekly, but havent in quite some time.

 

[RCDICK44]

My personal answer to the original posters statement is "There is more to College Sports than winning and losing "

 

[orangencpolice]

Why should the whole community support the FB team, anymore than lacrosse, girls hockey, marching band, jazz ensemble, etc. More people don't care about football than do. When the product is bad, you will lose even some of those.

I do support basketball as well. I don't really follow any other SU sports (other than the lacrosse media via ESPN). If I had a son or daughter that went to SU, I would support any sport they were associated with of course.

So what you are saying is we should just accept being a losing football program and not change anything? Captain I may have to demote you to Sergeant. You need to be more positive if you are going continue to post.

 

[Shenexon]

Life is full of high & low spots and though the thrill is gone for some, some of us are overwhelmingly psyched. I've just gotten my first season ticket in a couple of years and am moving to CNY for at least the summer & fall so I can participate with the Syracusefan.com crowd at the fine tailgate and at the dome in 302. It's hard to express how much I'm looking forward to it. It's important to me. I have a couple of things to do in CNY this summer but will be looking for work as well. If you know of anything I'll be ready to relocate anytime after the end of April.

 

[Eric15]

If she was under 40 saying that...she was hitting on you.

Are you implying that elderly women aren't attracted to CuseTroop?

 

[TexanMark]

Are you implying that elderly women aren't attracted to CuseTroop?

No..they might have actually remembered when Cuse was relevant in FB.

We all know women of all ages can't resist the RGLCT

 

[dinosaurbbq]

Dude, we win 8 games this year and many fans' interest, including mine, will be revived. I still have hope. If you don't, that's cool. You'll just be a neo-bandwagoner for coming back after next year instead of never leaving.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

I applaud the OP for his honesty. I haven't posted in a while, and for similar reasons. I'm sure I'm not the only one here in that mid-30 range that has realized there is only so much time in the day for deeply rooted passions as the days go by. For most here, Syracuse still makes its way into that short list of passions that force you to find time for them (something I respect, and ultimately envy). But for me, priorities have been tweaked over the years and it gets tougher and tougher to answer that question, where do you cross that line of loyalty and lifetime commitment to the Orangemen vs the logic of using up limited resources on an entity that no longer makes you consistently happy, rarely entertains, and flat out leaves you angry quite often? And I'm not primarily talking about success via the W-L record, but instead focusing more on whether the school's sense of urgency to compete matches those of its fans. I think football is a great game, but I don't have time to immerse myself in the entire landscape anymore. What I DO have, is time to immerse myself in one team.... but with each passing year it feels a little more like Syracuse does not really DEMAND that it remain that team, and my attitude gradually reflects that accordingly by shifting more attention to other events. In this game you can't sustain that prominence we want back without bringing in the new blood of younger fans, but if Syracuse can't keep the attention of someone who has bled Orange since the age of 5, do I really anticipate that they will be successful? Is it a better odds to just take that time and money I would continue to invest and instead sit down at the roulette wheel letting it ride on red? So again, thanks to the OP for his honesty, because the school can only survive for so long sucking the lifeblood of the diehards, and failing to catch the eye of the sport fan that happens to be passing by.

 

[Pyle]

where do you cross that line of loyalty and lifetime commitment to the Orangemen vs the logic of using up limited resources on an entity that no longer makes you consistently happy, rarely entertains, and flat out leaves you angry quite often? And I'm not primarily talking about success via the W-L record, but instead focusing more on whether the school's sense of urgency to compete matches those of its fans. I think football is a great game, but I don't have time to immerse myself in the entire landscape anymore. What I DO have, is time to immerse myself in one team... but with each passing year it feels a little more like Syracuse does not really DEMAND that it remain that team

You don't cross that line because there is no line. Fan=fanatic which means logic doesn't enter into our equation. Limited resources? There is still the $100 seats for those whose monetary means are lacking. It comes out to less than $15 per game per person next year. I pay that much to watch crappy movies at Destiny or for a decent lunch somewhere. SU football doesn't leave you happy? Losing sucks and I get mad too but I'm not unhappy after a loss, i mean outside of the whole 15 minute What routine. Life still goes on for me win or lose, but when we do win then it's great. Are you going to have times when you're venting and such, yes that's called being a fan and having those conversations with others is fun too. SU doesn't DEMAND that it be your team? I don't get this one, what are your reasons for watching if you don't have some sort of connection to the team whether it be your alumni, your a local with a D1 program in your backyard, your kid goes there or whatever. Those reasons typically don't change. For me it's because I'm a local, have been watching for 20+ years, and have some very fond memories of the Dome, including the final game of the 2013 campaign. Last year sucked, major major major big time. We only won a single game and that was a double OT stinker against a FCS team where we needed not only a trick play but an ill-advised 2 pt conversion call from the other team to secure the win. It stunk. Flat out. Others years don't and that's what keeps us fans going, logic be damned.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

Well I think that's the point. 15 years ago I'd be with you... 10, the same... even 3-5. Eventually, if the product stinks, it stinks. Now we all have our own perception of what constitutes as "stink" (I for one saw the Marrone years as a Godsend, others didn't feel as strongly for instance)... but for me it has hit that point where I no longer feel that way. Syracuse has failed to DEMAND my attention because for years our play was bad, even worse we failed to secure identity, and it became easier to say "i'd rather watch a syracuse game than go because then I can see a whole day of games (i live in rochester since college)"... then it becomes a game of flipping over to a better game when we just look awful (i don't mean losing, i mean awful), and the downward spiral begins. It's not a phenomena, its slow, its gradual, but it does take hold after a while. I loved Orange, but I didn't go to school there, live far enough away that it isn't local connection, and do not have friends out here that are Orangemen.Things change, and Im sure because I don't have those connections anymore, for me quicker than other Orange faithful.

 

[Pyle]

Well I think that's the point. 15 years ago I'd be with you... 10, the same... even 3-5. Eventually, if the product stinks, it stinks. Now we all have our own perception of what constitutes as "stink" (I for one saw the Marrone years as a Godsend, others didn't feel as strongly for instance)... but for me it has hit that point where I no longer feel that way. Syracuse has failed to DEMAND my attention because for years our play was bad, even worse we failed to secure identity, and it became easier to say "i'd rather watch a syracuse game than go because then I can see a whole day of games (i live in rochester since college)"... then it becomes a game of flipping over to a better game when we just look awful (i don't mean losing, i mean awful), and the downward spiral begins. It's not a phenomena, its slow, its gradual, but it does take hold after a while. I loved Orange, but I didn't go to school there, live far enough away that it isn't local connection, and do not have friends out here that are Orangemen.Things change, and Im sure because I don't have those connections anymore, for me quicker than other Orange faithful.

Rochester is still local!!! If I have to attend a meeting/convention/whatever there and my company doesn't offer overnight accomodations then it's local!!! And you forget the fact SU IS IN FACT TRYING! The decay started with facilities under Jake/P. Gross was brought in and tried to hit a homerun with the anti-one but it wasn't for lack of trying. They brought in Marrone to fix it and he did, Marrone didn't like college and they gave the program to the one guy who damn near everyone wanted to take over. Shafer went to a bowl in his first year and last year was a disaster, but giving up after 1 bad year isn't what being a fan is all about. 2012/2013 were good years to be an SU fan again. Last year wasn't. While the team was struggling we left a decaying conference, built a top-notch IPF, and now have a new AD coming in who may or may not be the next step to rebuilding the SU brand but giving up now seems silly.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

I like your view as an extremist, and a true fanatic. Again, I was there with you, thought the same things, and utilized the same arguments when trying to convince others that things were better than they seemed. I think what you miss from my perspective however (and I truly hope you don't personally experience it) is that this has nothing to do with quitting. It doesn't even have to do with a choice. By "normal" people standards I am still a devoted fan... but I know the difference. I try to go to one or two games a year, instead of plotting out ways to hit every game possible. I do a sum up of the recruits at seasons end instead of taking a front row seat to for the day by day updates. And I read the board every couple of days instead of posting hourly. Syracuse got me into football (and basketball of course), but then at some point, my love of the sport started to rival the love of one particular entity, and finally we became a tough team to watch for so long that it became less enjoyable than watching combinations of games. I don't know where this puts me in the breakdown in fandom... but much more important than that rather trivial individual matter, is that I again have to ask how the school and the fans expect to keep the program moving in a positive direction when it does not seem all that easy to market it to someone with a past, knowledge, and room already full of Orange decor, let alone the newbie in search of instant gratification?