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SU Football Team Shortens Drum Trip to One Day
By Brian Dwyer
Monday, July 25, 2016 at 05:18 PM EDT
0
FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- I first heard a couple of weeks ago. I tweeted it out, but didn't make it a news story or anything. It was just what I was hearing.
The information I got was correct.
Syracuse University's Football team will not be spending a week on Fort Drum this year as part of its training camp. The team will only come up for one day, Sunday, August 21st.
The information I have is that the team will conduct the youth football clinic and still do the paintball tournament and mix in as much as they can in one day.
The change is understandable. There's a new coach (Shafer was a new coach, but when he took over he was already part of the program) wanting to get things right and maintain focus.
Marrone & Shafer always talked about learning leadership and the fact that cell reception is so poor on-post, the players had to be together and communicate. It seemed to always be about more than just what happened on the field. I'm guessing Babers will still stress that as well.
I do know that four days meant a lot to the 3rd Brigade, who led this camp it when it started. It also meant a ton to the 2nd Brigade, which took over when the 3rd Brigade was eliminated due to budget cuts. It meant a lot to the kids and the spouses as well.
Lets hope the youth activities never end and maybe someday the tradition of spending a few days up here comes back (if warranted).
Let's also not forget what that week and those relationships made with Syracuse staff did for one young man who played college ball at Army. He had an NFL tryout, but duty called. He served his country. Alejandro Villanueva was allowed to participate in Syracuse's pro-day. He is now starting on the offensive line for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I met him that first year of this camp. He was still a soldier.
All of this can and probably will still happen. It'll just have to be done based off of one day instead of four.
----
Also, I will now have to wait until fanfest to meet Mike Hart again.
As a Michigan football fan, he was one of the best the school had. Also, showing my age, I was working at WSTM in Syracuse when Mike committed to Michigan. I covered that ceremony. It was back before kids made videos on planes or to mimic the Walking Dead. It was simply some hats and he put on the Michigan one. I'm sure that upset many a Syracuse fan, but I was maybe a little excited on the inside. Just a little.
I've still never seen anything like him.
I covered most of his high school games and if my memory serves correctly, he took it to the house on every carry. (Maybe not every, but he was the one guy I wouldn't even focus a camera on the quarterback. I'd start the zoomed in on his facemask and finish it with him standing in the endzone handing the ball to the ref.
----
Just so you know, I'm also a Syracuse Football Season Ticket Holder.
There's a lot of people that may think this trip was a distraction. Who really knows except for the team? They've never once said anything of the sort.
I can just go by what I saw everyday those kids were on-post. The moments of two people in uniform chatting. One a football jersey the other an army uniform. The mom holding her kid as his eyes popped open. The scrimmages, the autograph sessions. It was and on that one day now, will be about a lot more than football.
That being said, lets also hope the Orange can use this time to get better on the field, win games, stay healthy and do that both the right way.
By Brian Dwyer
Monday, July 25, 2016 at 05:18 PM EDT
0
FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- I first heard a couple of weeks ago. I tweeted it out, but didn't make it a news story or anything. It was just what I was hearing.
The information I got was correct.
Syracuse University's Football team will not be spending a week on Fort Drum this year as part of its training camp. The team will only come up for one day, Sunday, August 21st.
The information I have is that the team will conduct the youth football clinic and still do the paintball tournament and mix in as much as they can in one day.
The change is understandable. There's a new coach (Shafer was a new coach, but when he took over he was already part of the program) wanting to get things right and maintain focus.
Marrone & Shafer always talked about learning leadership and the fact that cell reception is so poor on-post, the players had to be together and communicate. It seemed to always be about more than just what happened on the field. I'm guessing Babers will still stress that as well.
I do know that four days meant a lot to the 3rd Brigade, who led this camp it when it started. It also meant a ton to the 2nd Brigade, which took over when the 3rd Brigade was eliminated due to budget cuts. It meant a lot to the kids and the spouses as well.
Lets hope the youth activities never end and maybe someday the tradition of spending a few days up here comes back (if warranted).
Let's also not forget what that week and those relationships made with Syracuse staff did for one young man who played college ball at Army. He had an NFL tryout, but duty called. He served his country. Alejandro Villanueva was allowed to participate in Syracuse's pro-day. He is now starting on the offensive line for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I met him that first year of this camp. He was still a soldier.
All of this can and probably will still happen. It'll just have to be done based off of one day instead of four.
----
Also, I will now have to wait until fanfest to meet Mike Hart again.
As a Michigan football fan, he was one of the best the school had. Also, showing my age, I was working at WSTM in Syracuse when Mike committed to Michigan. I covered that ceremony. It was back before kids made videos on planes or to mimic the Walking Dead. It was simply some hats and he put on the Michigan one. I'm sure that upset many a Syracuse fan, but I was maybe a little excited on the inside. Just a little.
I've still never seen anything like him.
I covered most of his high school games and if my memory serves correctly, he took it to the house on every carry. (Maybe not every, but he was the one guy I wouldn't even focus a camera on the quarterback. I'd start the zoomed in on his facemask and finish it with him standing in the endzone handing the ball to the ref.
----
Just so you know, I'm also a Syracuse Football Season Ticket Holder.
There's a lot of people that may think this trip was a distraction. Who really knows except for the team? They've never once said anything of the sort.
I can just go by what I saw everyday those kids were on-post. The moments of two people in uniform chatting. One a football jersey the other an army uniform. The mom holding her kid as his eyes popped open. The scrimmages, the autograph sessions. It was and on that one day now, will be about a lot more than football.
That being said, lets also hope the Orange can use this time to get better on the field, win games, stay healthy and do that both the right way.
