Where Are We From/Fan History.

[SWC75]

Born in 1953. The only sports I was aware of in the 1950's were in my back yard. I have no living memory of the 1959 national championship- or of Carmen Basilio's career or of the Nats. :bang: That's still the greatest sports era in this burg. Maybe that's why I'm fascinated by the past and like to "live" it by reading about it, especially as it was reported at the time.

In 1961, just before the NFL season began, my Dad brought home from a bank a booklet previewing the NFL season. I recall it had a picture from each's team's glorious past, a 1-2 page write up, a roster and a schedule for each. Something clicked. I was fascinated by it. Dad and I started to sit down Sunday afternoons and watch the NFL game of the week. he told me that the greatest player was Jimmy Brown and that he had played here for Syracuse. (He'd taken my older brother to the 1956 Colgate game where Jim scored 43 points). I became a Jim Brown and Cleveland Browns fan. I hated the Giants because they always seem to beat Jim and the Browns. Geography never met much to me in pro sports. If they weren't "Syracuse", they weren't "us".

The Browns were eliminated from the race on December 10, 1961 when they lost 14-17 at Chicago, after taking a 14-0 lead into the fourth quarter. It looked like Bobby Mitchell might run for the winning touchdown on the last play but he was forced out of bounds on the 9 yard line. I cried myself to sleep that night. I think I actually might have throught there would never be another football season and that the Browns would never get another chance to win a championship. They had been ELIMINATED!

Incredibly, U-Tube has the Cleveland Browns highlights for the 1961 season. I actually remember most of the games. Here is the final segment:

Dad said that Syracuse had another Jimmy Brown on the way and that this new guy, Ernie Davis, would be playing in the Browns backfield next to Jim next year. The first SU game I ever watched was the 1961 Liberty Bowl, where Ernie led a second half comeback to beat Miami, 15-14. That was on December 16, 1961. I felt a lot better. A year later I excitedly talked about the coming season when Jim and Ernie would be playing together for the Browns. Nobody had the heart to tell me they wouldn't, or why.

That was my first of 51 seasons following pro and college football. I followed the Browns as long as they were winning and later did the same with the Broncos due to Floyd Little and the Dolphins due to Larry Csonka. When they all faded, I found myself following the Eagles due to Donovan McNabb and the Colts due to all the 'cuse players there. Why didn't I follow the Patriots when they had Jim Nance or the Redskins with Art Monk or the Giants when they had Joe Morris or now with Tom Coughlin? I have no explanation other than to say that while the ingrediants were there, the oven didn't turn on. I don't know why.

I became a baseball fan when I entered little league in 1964. My team was called the Pirates and we won the championship when the American League champions, the Tigers didn't show up for the title game. Nobody had told them they'd won the pennant. That's the difference between the big leagues and little league: in the big leagues, they tell you if you've won the pennant. I was a Pirates fan for years after that, through the "We are Family" days. Then, when they collapsed and got involved in drug scandals, I lost interest, not just in the Pirates but in baseball. I regained it in the mid-eighties when I graviated to the Mets as I liekd their broadcast crew, my best friend at work was a big Mets fan and I liked the idea of rooting for a perennial underdog who ahd the chance to become an overdog. I've stuck with them through thick and thin since, reinforced by getting all their games on cable, which I never did with the Pirates.

I became a basketball fan in 1966 when I began reading about this SU basketball team with Dave Bing which was threatening to be the first team to average 100 points a game. I recall when they went to play in the "Bruin Classic" in LA and hoped to get a shot at the two time defending national champion UCLA Bruins, who used the zone press jsut like SU. But Vanderbilt and 6-10 Clyde Lee got in the way. SU also came up just short of 100ppg and to Duke in the Eastern regionals. What really clinched things was the following year when SU was supposed to be rebuilding and won 19 of their first 21 games. I got my Dad to take me to the St. John's game that year, (they were 18-3 and it was basically a battle to see who the best team in the east was). We led for 39 minutes until Sonny Dove jammed through a couple of dunks that made the birds fly all over the Manley rafters.

I again cried myself to sleep. You know you've become a fan when you do that.

 

[RandygoCuse]

Class of '99...Being from Boston, I was never a big college sports fan before I came to Cuse. My freshman year we made the Final Four, thus that will always be my favorite SU team. Though we lost to Kentucky, we played well against a team that I think had 9 or 10 guys spend time in the NBA (maybe our team will do the same, guess being "balanced" ain't so bad after all...) Favorite player is tough, though I'd say Melo if you forced me. For some reason, I really like Billy Edelin too. I was living in Japan when we won in '03 and only got to see the game on tape, but it was worth it. I live in Boston now and am still a huge Celtics fan, but at this point, I'd prefer another Cuse championship before another Celtics one.

 

[CUSEBB1]

BORN AND RAISED IN THE CUSE!!BLEED ORANGE!!HATE ALLLLLL PRO SPORTS!!!!

 

[Aweart23]

Born in Rochester in 69. Mom grew up on the North Side and went to North High. We moved back to Liverpool in 1978. I went to CBA and then Syracuse for my undergrad degree.

Fondest memories

My father, like many in Syracuse, had a life long hatred of road salt. Growing up, he owned many "winter rats" but my favorite was the 1963 Red VW beetle that he drove for about four years in the early 80's.

That Beetle may have had heat at one time, but at that point in its life, heat was just a distant memory. The only heat that car produced was from a vacuum cleaner hose someone had run from the firewall in a failed attempt to warm the car. When you lifted the floor mats, you could see the road through the rusted out holes in the floor boards. It was the only car I could remember where you had to scrape the ice off the inside of the windsheild before you could drive it.

His boss was a season ticket holder, and he would give my father tickets to SU Basketball games that the bossman was not using. They were never the really good game tickets, usually it was someone like Iona or Fordham. Bossman always kept G'Town and the Big East games for himself.

My father would drive us in that 63 Beetle, with no heat, in zero degree weather to see Fordham or Iona or St. Bonnie's, park down the hill by E. Genesee Street. We would walk up the hill to see Gene Waldron, Raf Addison, Wendall Alexis and Leo Ruatins play in the Dome. We'd stop for a dog at Heids on the way home...Best times of my life

As a side note, prior to moving south, my old man personally delivered a large envelope of road salt, sand and rocks to the Town of Clay supervisor's office after the Town has "salted" his street one afternoon. Ahhh Winter...I miss it so...

 

[NKR1978]

* Born in 1989 in Connecticut
* Dad was a lifelong UConn fan
* Had season tickets to Gampel
* Can never remember NOT rooting for Cuse
* Dad said I started in 1998 (9 years old)
* Remember going to UConn/Cuse games as a young teenager wearing Cuse gear; got cussed out by the UConn student section at the Civic Center (now the XL Center) as a 12 year old.
* Been to every Syracuse game since 2000 in Connecticut
* Lived in CT till I graduated high school
* At the University of Cincinnati right now
* Still bleed orange and always will

As someone who grew up in CT and has family members who are uconn fans I sympathize. Sadly, my Syracuse fandom isn't as pure as yours.

Born in 78, I came of age just in time for the Dream Season and the height of Huskymania in Connecticut. As someone who loves the state, those teams and years brought a lot of pride, and uconn fans should be ashamed of themselves for their failure to fill up their gyms. I remember running up to my room as a 12 year old with 1 second left and not watching as my mother screamed so loud I thought my father was beating her when Tate George hit the shot. And I remember 1999 like it was yesterday.I listened to uconn's first final four game on the radio on a ride from Hilton Head back to upstate after my college tennis team's spring break trip. And I remember jumping into a friend's arms in my fraternity house when uconn beat duke.

Going to SU for law school and my first game at the Dome sitting in the student section against uconn, not knowing who I would cheer for, my new school or the team I grew up with. Without even thinking, I chose Syracuse.

That friend now looks at me as a traitor. I now have to deal with family who are nominal uconn fans asking me how they look and basically fishing for compliments.

Now I smile when I remember watching 81-78 at a friend's house right by the Dome. Walking to Marshall St. in that snow storm and slapping the hands of strangers walking and driving by us. I was wearing this relatively light jacket unbuttoned and a Syracuse tshirt. In a driving storm. And I was perfectly warm because people from outside of CNY who complain about a foot of snow on April 7 in Syracuse and actually turn it into a negative are pu$$ies and I have no use for them.

My favorite SU memories that I was in attendance for:
Pitt and Notre Dame at the Dome in 2003. Energized crowds and fantastic endings.
6OT - my first BET game ever. Had a painful hangover by the 3rd overtime.
Doug Marrone's first win.
Pinstripe Bowl.


Aside from the Championship, the 2006 BET was amazing. I snuck the end of the UConn win in my office and had to restrain myself from screaming when Gerry sent it to overtime.

The 2009 team is a team I look back at with a lot of love. They made us relevant again and were a fun team to watch. But other than the 01-02 team, I liked or loved them all.

For those of us who are jealous of UConn, don't be. As someone who has been there, being one of their fans isn't that great.

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[rrlbees]

Hey OE, do you still have that link to the old profiles? I can't find it.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Born in 1961, grew up in Queens, NY.
First became aware of Syracuse because of my cool uncle who drove a Mustang convertible & worked in Ithaca. He's my Mom's youngest brother & we looked so much alike that as a kid, my folks told me we were twins...naturally, he was my idol.
When he moved to Syracuse as a grad student, my brothers & I went to visit him. Sure enough, those were the days of Dennis Duval & Jimmy Lee & Rudy Hackett & that Final4 run in '75. I vaguely remember Dennis Duval starring in a game on NBC w/ the crowd going crazy, and knowing that my uncle lived in that city- well, that did it for me!
When picking a school my 3 finalists were Drexel, Duke, & Syracuse. It was a no-brainer. Having family in the Cuse made my Mom feel better & it certainly helped during the lean college days filled w/ ramen noodles.
First live game as a student was versus Rutgers & Jammin James Bailey @ Manley. My era started from Louie & Bouie, the Cohen-Headds, Dale Shackleford w/ t-shirts under his jersey, Fast Eddie Moss, of course, JTII "Manley Field House is officially closed" (I was at that game)!!
I saw the demolition of Archbold Stadium, lived in Townsend Towers & saw the Dome being built, w/ the roof being inflated for the first time. I remember SU getting Pearl Washington & how it immediately elevated the program.
Living in Manhattan after graduation, & going to the BET to see Pearl DOMINATE, was the icing. I'll always hate Ewing, & Ron Rowan, & Matt Brust, & Jon Pinone for giving my Orangemen fits during those years.
Also, SU's Sean Kerins will always be a sore-spot for me...why? Because if he'd converted a perfect fastbreak assist from Pearl, we'd have beaten GTown & won the BET.
He missed, we lost, & he'll forever suck...not that I'm bitter or anything...its only been 30+ years!!:bang:

 

[NovaOrange]

Growing up I was raised by my grand parents in northern Virginia and the only sport they really liked was soccer. So every year I would go up to Ridgefield CT for the holidays to spend with my Aunt, Uncle and two cousins. Around the age of 8 I was watching SU with my cousins (who are both fans) every since then I have been a SU fan. The only down falls are the cousins also influenced me to become Bills and Mets fans it's been a joy for me rooting for one of the three teams at least.

 

[NKR1978]

where in CT? Southeast CT was brutal.

All of CT was insane for uconn in the 90s. In naugatuck we had every tv in the school on for the uconn colgate 1st round game in 96. Teachers didn't even try to teach.

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[imdevo]

- Born in Lima, Peru in '84
- Moved to Huancayo, Peru in '86
- Moved to Santiago, Chile in '98
- Moved to Sao Paolo, Brazil in '99. Might have played in the same soccer team as Fab Melo**
- Moved to Long Island, NY in '00
- Accepted into Syracuse University in '02
- Watched Syracuse win the National Championship as a freshman in '03
- Moved to Albany, NY in '07
- Moved to Keyport, NJ in '09
- Moved to Philly, PA in '11

** Odds of this are 1/10000000000

That's my life in a nutshell. Something fun about me? I can tell you the time and the fact that gtown still sucks in 3 different languages

 

[Hoov50]

I grew up in upstate NY and attended SU. Unfortunately I graduated in '02 missing the NC by a year! I have always been an SU football and basketball fan. I have had season tickets on and off over the years but now just attend weekend games since the nearly two hour drive each way was a killer on weeknights.

Another Cuse connection is that my grandfather coached Ernie Davis in his high school all star game. Always old an interesting story of Ernie nearly drowning in the camp lake during the week of practice.

 

[CorduroyG]

Born in '79. Born and raised and still living in queens ny. Have no geographical or family connections to syracuse, just remember seeing them on tv in the late 80s and instantly loving their uptempo/fast break/alley-ooping style of play, and the dome was amazing. Plus them being in the state of NY helped too with the new york connection. Vaguely remember the indiana loss in '87, can pretty much remember exactly where i was for every tournament loss from '89 onward. Before i got cable in my room i can remember listening to many cuse games on the radio, specifically remember listening to the conrad mcrae buzzer beater against nova in my room and going nuts. Finally making my first trek to cuse and the dome for mondays game against pitt, cant wait!!!

 

[pfister1]

Born in '68 grew up in Liverpool. Left to go to school elsewhere. I think if you grew up in Syracuse, you are a fan, there just is no other plausible possibility.

First game I attended was at Manley, it was the Carrier Classic that featured Magic Johnson's Michigan State, unfortunately the tix we scored were to the semis...I think it may have been SU vs. Lemoyne.

As a reward, my elementary school principal took a group of us to an SU basketball practice around that same time. To this day I still have the autographs I got that day...Rosie Bouie, Marty Byrnes, Marty Headd, Dale Shackleford and Eddie Moss.

I left for school in the fall of 86 and my parents promptly invested in season tickets for the first time. How is that for timing? Despite never having had seasons tickets I have managed to make it to my share of home games over the years including the NCAA debacle against Navy in '86 and the game against Notre Dame that same year where Notre Dame shot something like 50 free throws.

Had twins in 2003 that were born about 12 weeks premature. They came home about the 1st of April. I still remember the night of the NC sending the wife off to bed with assurances that I would take care of the kids and then sitting on the couch watching the game against Kansas trying to feed them both and praying they would stop crying long enough that I could catch the end uninterrupted. Fortunately they did and it was an ending to behold.

I went to the NCAA opening round games in Charlotte in '05 and was so convinced that we were repeating that I made my buddies drop me at a sports bar about a mile from the arena so that I could sit in the bar and watch SU's first step towards that second championship. Unfortunately, I had to sit there by myself in a decidedly anti-SU (or pro underdog) crowd and try to understand why Edelin and the Wright Bros. were suspended and then how Vermont could neutralize our offense. I had agreed to meet my buddies after the game at the arena. That was one hell of a long sorry walk.

My kids are now old enough to be SU fans in their own right. We attend at least one game every year in the Dome and usually make it to a road game or two. Two years ago my son and I went went to the Opening round games in Buffalo with my old man. It was a great multi-generational SU road trip. Last year we made it to Atlantic City. Tomorrow we'll be at the Nova game.

Before 2003 life as an SU fan was defined by premature exits and missed opportunities. There were the crushing upsets like Richmond in '91, Navy in '86, Rhode Island in '88, W. Kentucky in '78; the unrealized promise from losses to Illinois in '88, Iowa in '80, Minnesota in '90, or snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against Indiana in '87 (missed FTs) or Arkansas in '95 (the freaking TO).

After 2003 I feel like I have a whole different perspective. Sure we have still had more disappointments, but having that NC makes any disappointment go down a bit easier. Nonetheless I am ready for that second National Championship that got misdirected in 2010, seems like this April is about right.

It's been a heckuva lot of fun being an SU fan over the years and I've found that it's a lot of fun raising the kids to be fans as well.

 

[44cuse]

haha, yeah, that dude and I go way back... like little league baseball teammates and such.

STEVE HOLT!

44cuse

 

[44cuse]

Have to admit it's my favorite as well. It's one of the only times a handle has popped up on this board and I felt a little sad that it wasnt' mine. lol

STEVE HOLT!

44cuse

 

[shermstheman]

Born in '56. No ties to the Cuse other than taking my first job in a NE territory and settling in BVille...for one year before moving away. I was a hoops junkie with a respect for John Wooden but when I saw how the fans responded to the Cuse (this was early in JB's career) I adopted them hook, line and sinker. The fans fully supported the team win or lose...never a criticism, only undying support- very infectious. Now that expectations are so high that has changed a tad. Then when Stevie and Sherm were making phenomenal alley oops and Pearl and, well it sorta became a religion. Take my kids to a game or three every year (DePaul and PC this year)- coming up from the CT shoreline. Don't miss a second of any game and will go crazy searching for the game if it's not on in the usual places.

Guess the best memories are of those Sherm to Stevie passes, Pearl taking over, the wars against G-town (and when I and some friends beat some G-town walk ons in a game when I lived in DC), the emergence of Allen Griffen, all 0f 2003, John Wallace putting the team on his back (and that shot), the agony of seeing AO go down and our championship hopes with it, too many to list.

 

[pearl31]

Had twins in 2003 that were born about 12 weeks premature. They came home about the 1st of April. I still remember the night of the NC sending the wife off to bed with assurances that I would take care of the kids and then sitting on the couch watching the game against Kansas trying to feed them both and praying they would stop crying long enough that I could catch the end uninterrupted. Fortunately they did and it was an ending to behold.

That is awesome.

 

[EastCoast2]

Born in Crouse (on Irving Ave for the non-natives) and spent entire life in Syracuse.

 

[CiscoCuse]

Born in 1951 in Rome, NY...first exposure to CUSE was the 1959 FB season. My Dad and uncles were all talking about SU Football. Saw the Cotton Bowl game on TV and was hooked. That Christmas I got one of those Tudor Tru Action Electric Football Vibrating Board games and played Syracuse all the time. Eventually I went to SUNY ESF and graduated in 1975 (Landscape Architecture). In those days you got degrees from both SUNY and Syracuse University...while paying tuition of about $1,000 a semester! CUSE FB stunk while I was there '72-'75. But Basketball was king and Roy's Runts were entertaining at Manley. Not all the times, but most of the time I sat in the Zoo Section...loved to hassle Lou Carnesecca especially! Traveled to Univ Penn to see the 1 point win in '73 NCAA tourney game vs Furman...and ever since then the biggest CUSE fan. Life after CUSE was from '76 - '98 in Florida...mostly Tampa and since '98 here in the Atlanta area. I have traveled several times during the NCAA tourneys to watch the CUSE and have occasionally done some guest lecturing @ ESF ...for some CUSE B-ball tickets. Saw the CUSE FB team at the Outback bowl in Tampa in 1991... sat next to Ben Schwartzwalder...quite an experience! I'm a big CUSE fan...my license plate here in GA is CUSE 1...and hope that this April, 2nd...it will stay there. LGO!! !!!

 

[jimsonjunction]

• Born in 1987
• Grew up in CT (Trumbull) and lived there until I was 13. I will admit to attending one UConn game as a youth (vs Miami in Storrs).
• Moved to Pennsylvania (Philly area) in 2001.
• My first Cuse game - SU vs. Notre Dame, 2005. I had applied to SU and we figured we'd catch a game while visiting campus. There was a record-size crowd on hand to set the mark for largest crowd, and SU won 60-57. Needless to say, I would be attending Syracuse next fall.
• Graduated in 2010 (not the greatest 4 years for SU hoops but certainly entertaining with many interesting characters)
• Now living in NYC. I've attended at least one game per year since graduating and I'll try to get to more. Will be at the St. Johns game later this year.
• GO ORANGE!

Edit: My favorite things about this board is hearing from the older generation of fans. Keep dropping that knowledge!

 

[pearl31]

some more memories of my fandom...

In '87 I was the sole 'cuse fan in school and it seemed everyone was on the Indiana bandwagon. In the days leading up to the game I boldly predicted an SU victory and was absolutely crushed when Smart's shot went through the net. I endured a lot of trash talk in the weeks that followed, and that was probably the genesis of my defiant me-against-them Cuse fan mentality.

In '90, as a high-school senior, dealing with everyone around me all gaga about the Minnesota Gophers when SU faced them in the tourney. Again, had to deal with much ridicule after the Gophs handled 'cuse (was in the sweet 16, I believe).

In '91, sitting in the Huber H Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis watching the first-second round games there, with my head in my hands, as the scoreboard kept flashing the SU-Richmond score. I was absolutely inconsolable.

In more recent years, prior to ESPN fullcourt and streaming and Direct TV and whatnot, I had to go to sports bars to catch many of the SU games. I can remember in '06 screaming at the top of my lungs, pointing at other (bewildered) patrons and dancing around the bar after SU defeated uconn in OT on their way to the BET title. In '05 I had to be physically pulled away from a dude who was cheering for Vermont after the final buzzer sounded for that game - I then rushed out the door of the bar and into my car, leaving my friends there shaking their heads. When Sorrentine hit the prayer 30 footer I let out the loudest " ME!!!" ever yelled by a human.

I like to think I've mellowed some over the years, but in reality not too much. I still pace around during close games and have actually had to request that I watch bigger games by myself so as not to be distracted or annoyed by others. Luckily, my current girlfriend is generally a sports fan and doesn't find my November-April behavior to be too objectionable.

 

[jdubs30]

where in CT? Southeast CT was brutal.

Like 15 minutes from downtown Hartford. If you're familiar with Wethersfield/Rocky Hill/Newington/Glastonbury area, that was it.

Everyone is pretty hardcore, not sure how that compares to the rest of CT, but I can't imagine it's much different.

I was happy to see that whenever Syracuse played in CT there was plenty of Orange, so based on that and reading this thread, we got quite a few in Connecticut.

 

[orangefan13]

My first syracuse moment was back around 87 88 i remember watching like 5 minutes of a syracuse basketball game. I remmber seeing some of coleman and he had the ball at the three point line.

My second moment was back in 1996- jumped on the bandwagon and starting rooting for Syracuse.
I remember watching the title game. During that title game I had my first teenage revelations of death. It was then I realized I would die someday before the game was over.

My third moment was the MSU game in 2000 where we were up 16 at halfime and fell apart.
Just getting out of high school around that time jumped on the bandwagon.

01-02 I started watching more seriously. Watched all the games that year.
All the games the next year. And have been watching all the games ever since (well when work wasn't in the way anyway.)

First game I ever went to was UNC Charolette in the dome back in 02-03. And the second was Missou the same year on my bday. I Rememeber Gmac stealing that half court pass and putting the ball in right at the end of the half. Simply awesome!

Also remember seing Jordan and the bulls play Coleman and the nets preseason in the dome. Jordan had one of his jordanesque just inside the free throw line dunks in very little playing time.

Also remember getting to see the orange lacrosse play during a blue orange syracuse football scrimmage. It was awesome to see people way up in the second deck to watch a lacrosse game!
My family always had 50 yardline football tickets until about 5-6 years ago.
Lots of good football moments, but I would sell football alltogether for syracuse basketball I just love Cuse hoops!

 

[Dick_in_MI]

Born in Syracuse in 1951 and grew up in East Syracuse.

Entered Syracuse University in 1969 and graduated in 1973. Also did some graduate work there too. Football basically sucked during my college years as Ben was in decline. Hoops was taking a rest between the Bing years and what would shortly follow in 1975.

Became an SU football fan via my parents in the late 50's. Ernie and several other players gave me autographs. The slip of paper still resides on my desk and a partial scan can be seen on the left of this post. Got into hoops a little later in the Bing/Boeheim years.

After college I remained in the CNY area until we moved to Michigan in 1991

Favorite players? Football is easy; Davis, Little, McNabb, and Freeney.

Hoops? A little tougher although Bing is #1. Pearl and Wallace are in the next tier. In addition, I've always been partial to the unsung guys; Griffin, Hopkins, Duany, etc

 

[007]

After reading many of your stories, I am pretty sure several of you owe me money.