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Message: [QUOTE="PeteCalvin, post: 19403, member: 439"] My friend and I were talking about the very same conflicting feelings. This is exciting and heartbreaking at the same time. I think his biggest concern really sums up that small pit many of us have in our belly about this: Will we become the next Boston College? I would love to say that we'll never falter, that this move will make us stronger and more appealing in the long run. But the reality is these are uncertain times. Did we make the right move? Will we be the same without the lights of MSG, our quintessential home away from home? All of these questions are rushing around with no simple answers. I tried to tell my friend that yes, we will remain the same strong bball program we always have been, and become a strong football power again. After all, we used to compete on a high level with Miami and VaTech not all that long ago. And the last I checked, Miami hasn't become world beaters since 2004. And Va Tech is as strong as they were when they left the BE, and we always played them tough. No doubt in my mind we will compete and win in the new ACC. But, my friend keeps going back to the total collapse of BC's relevance in both major sports, particularly hoops. He worries about SU Basketball being sucked into the southern abyss, never to be heard from again. How do I talk him in off the ledge? How can I convince him that Syracuse Basketball will flourish in it's new confines? I mean, we still have the Dome, Jim Boeheim, a rock solid staff, a tradition many lesser programs would kill for, and some of the best facilities going. The only things we won't have are MSG, the BE tournament, and The Georgetown Hoyas. If UConn is added, I don't think we will lose much at all. And if another BE team is added on top, we'll have a solid block of teams in the NE corridor for added support, something BC never had the luxury of when they made the leap. We won't be an island like they were, although it may seem like it for awhile if the BE remains in some semblance of it's former self. Sure, we'll find ourselves looking back across the rift, checking out their successes, and failures, always wondering '"what if...?" But Things will never be the same, and that is a fact. But they could also be AMAZING, much like they were back in 1979. Syracuse has been at the precipice before and made a leap of faith. That turned out to be a success beyond anyone's imagination. And here we are again, all these years later, embarking on another new frontier, taking yet another calculated risk, AND with the very same rugged captain who steered us through what was probably more uncertainty some three decades ago. I think I will tell my friend that JB weathered these waters before and built something that will not easily founder. If this was going to happen, thank our lucky stars that we still have this man here when it happened, a man who can turn uncertainty into certainty, almost effortlessly. How do I know Syracuse will succeed? Because we have the right people (Boeheim, Marrone, Desko) in the right places, and have the right tools with which to foster an even better success story than before. Let the naysayers take their shots. Let them say their worst. Syracuse will be better than it ever was. I hope my friend comes in from the ledge. [/QUOTE]

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