Where Are We From/Fan History. | Page 7 | Syracusefan.com

Where Are We From/Fan History.

Recently rejoined board after long absence. Inspired by this thread. My Dad taught at SU and moved to Utica College in the late 50's when it started. I was a freshman at SU in 1961 and got hooked on Dave Bing and company (including JB) in 1962 and thereafter, leading the team back to respectability and a bright future. Remember many raucus times in Manley Field House stomping to cheer the team, etc. Learned to hate G/Town, especially when John Thompson announced that Manley was officially closed.
Of many, many favorite games, one of the best at the Dome was when G/town's Thompson got tossed, waved his towel at the crowd, Billy Owens made two free throws with almost no time left and SU won in overtime. One of the loudest SU crowds ever. FWIW this happened to be the honeymoon location for my wife and I.

It's about darn time Mr. Tim. Many have been looking for you, trying to get in touch with you, etc. Glad to hear from you. Hopefully Cherie sees your post.
 
I am late to this party, but here goes.

I was born in Brooklyn in 1949 & mostly raised on Long Island

My first memory of college sports as a kid was watching an Oklahoma-ND football game during the Bud Wilkerson years @ OU. Maybe, it was the little schooner, but something made me root for OU & when ND stopped their famous winning streak I became an ND hater, which has lasted to this day & probably makes me the longest duration ND hater on this board. I still like the Sooners as my backup college football team.

Went to the Cuse from 66 to 70. The early hoops teams from my era included Vaughn Harper, Rick Dean, Gorge Hicker, Richie Cornwall & some kid named Jimmy, whose last name escapes me. The football team starred Floyd Little. I still remember, as a freshman, going home on Thanksgiving break & everybody asking me about Floyd. I said he was terrific, but only the second best in our backfield. Everybody thought I was loco, but that other kid named Csonka turned out OK.

Post 70 it was pretty hard to follow Cuse hoops - just not much publicity for awile back then. I got very re-engaged during the Louie & Bouie years. To this day Rosy is still one of my all-time favorite Cuse players. Loved the Sherm Douglas teams & Sherm is still my all-time Cuse favorite.

I remember back then, pre-internet, when recruiting news was hard to come by. Couldn't wait to get my copies of "Eastern Basketball." Fantastic publication for it's time. Almost a shame that now with the internet all news is instantaneous. Nothing to look forward to getting in the mailbox.

I spent most of my adult like in enemy territory - Connecticut. It was always fun being the "only" Cuse fan in the Hartford Civic Center. Thirteen years ago, something akin to a mid-life crisis occurred, hence, we moved to New Mexico. Gotta say, I love the West - great climate & wide open spaces. Would love to show Albuquerque to any Cuse fans wandering out here for vacation.

Anyways, since those early days, I have shared the glory and the frustration with many other posters on this forum.

It is too bad that we now have an era of one & dones for the mega-talented. We will never see careers again in future stars that resembled the careers we saw from from the likes of Rosy, Sherm, Pearl, Rony, etc. That is one reason why a player like Scoop is so important. He played and stayed and probably is about as good as a four year player can be in this era. Any better & they are off.
 
Born in 1975, grew up in Camillus. Earliest solid memories are from The Pearl era, remember my brother and father waking me up when they got home from the halfcourt shot game to tell me about it. In the mid-eighties I started going to every game, my Dad ushered and would sneak my brother or a friend and I in and we'd be there an hour before the gates opened. We'd head right to the backcourt behind the blue curtain, and run around on the turf and throw a football around.

By 1987 I was a diehard 11 year old and was devastated when they lost. Georgetown games were always the best - I can remember JT getting tossed and the Dome going nuts. Basically was at 95% of home games for a solid 12 years.

Went to college in the Albany area but still managed to get to a handful of games each year. Been to several BET's since the early 90's, and a handful of NCAA trips.

Got season tickets right out of college. Moved to Rochester a couple years later for work, and held on for a couple of years but ended up giving them up. Between my father, brother and friends I can get to as many games as I want anyway, and I still manage to go to 5-10 games a year.

Favorite players... definitely Sherman, who is far and away the best I've seen (in my life) at the position come through Syracuse, with Lazarus a close second. Z was just awesome his senior year, that 95-96 season was so much fun.
 
Grew up in Tully, became an SU fan in 6th grade during the 75 Final Four run.

I've been generally a lurker on this board in its various forms since it broke away from Syracuse.com I post VERY occasionally but enjoy the info I can get here.

Do not have season tickets but have enough connections that I get to 5-10 games a year.

Nothing unusual in the "favorite moment" list. Final 4 advertising on tv always kills me with shots of Howard Triche unsuccesssfully defending that jumper but revives me with shots of "The Block". One I will mention was being close enough to the court to be able to hear DC yapping at Canisius's Ed Book after Book started it by some words after an early dunk he had when DC had left the post to contest a shot. I think Mr Book regretted motivating DC that way

Favorite players would be too many to list, but some include Louie and Bouie, Sherman, Pearl, Leo, Stevie, DC, Preston, Lawrence Moten, JDub, Otis Hill, Carmelo, Kristof, James Southerland, Wes... Actually there are only 2 over the years I am not too fond of - if a guy played for SU, he's okay despite whatever.
 
Never did this...

Been a Syracuse fan basically all of my life. I was born in Syracuse and dad played football at Syracuse and graduated in '78. My mom taught English at Syracuse for a while. My dad has Syracuse football season tickets so we would go when we could but we moved out of Syracuse a long time back so we didn't see as many as we wished. For years I always made the trip to see SU vs. Georgetown at Georgetown so those games will always be some of my favorite memories.

Die hard for life
 
I remember back then, pre-internet, when recruiting news was hard to come by. Couldn't wait to get my copies of "Eastern Basketball." Fantastic publication for it's time. Almost a shame that now with the internet all news is instantaneous. Nothing to look forward to getting in the mailbox.
Eastern Basketball was the greatest. It was like the internet of its time (although, obviously only devoted to Eastern colege basketball). I lived for each new edition.
 
Born Camillus 1955.
Hooked 1975 FF.
First season holder '76. Have missed one game since. I had a flight delay.
Best regular season win Purdue with Joe Barry.
Best victory N.C. game, never thought I would see that day in my lifetime.
Many great road trips but that one takes the cake times 5.
Favorite player Louie. He alway came to play on the road, a great player. He once said when asked why he performed so well on the road "I just imagine they are all screaming for me not against me"
Best dunker Red Bruin. Electrifying.
Best shooter Billy Drew. I would sit in awe of him at Manley.
Best finisher Stevie. Still can't believe some of the circus shots he would make on the break.
Worst loss R.I., but Butler was close.
JB is like a fine wine, just keeps on getting better.
I truly believe we win it all again very soon. If you keep putting enough runners in scoring position sooner or later you will score.
Oh and BTW Most hated team Pitt.
Next year might surprise 'ya.
 
I was originally born in Ithaca in 1966 and moved to Weedsport when I was 4. I spent my whole child hood growing up in Weedsport. I graduated in 1984 and went on to join the Air Force. As a result I have been to Minot, ND, Cheyenne, WY, Colorado Springs, Co, D.C. area, Lompoc, CA, Del Rio, TX, Ankara, Turkey, Rome, NY, Kandahar, Afghanistan, Muscat, OMAN and now currently living in Land O' Lakes, FL (30 miles north of Tampa). No matter where I was I always and will always bleed orange.

My greatest moment would have to be the NC in 2003. I was in Colorado watching the game surrounded by many Big 12 fans when Warrick blocked that shot at the end. Of course I had to remind all the Big 12 fans of how Su dismantled them in the tournament. Second greatest was the half court shot by Pearl where he kept running off the court straight into the locker room.

The two worst moments that stick out is 87 when I was in Minot, ND watching the game with many co-workers who were hating on SU (many Duke and NC fans). If only DC would have hit that 1 and 1 free throw. The other moment was when I deployed to Oman in support of Desert Storm. I was there for the whole season and remember getting up at 0200 hours to watch/listen to the game against Richmond. Huge disappointment. This of course after the heart breaking lost to Nova in the BET.

My favorite players would have to be DC, Sherm, Leo, Moten, Owens, Thompson, GMAC, and Scoop. I also think MCW will be on list when he is all said and done.

I know now the best part of being a huge fan is watching how that was passed down to my son and daughter. I thought I was intense whenever they played, but he is 100x worse than I ever was. He was literally shaking after SU beat Wisconsin this year. My daughter is a huge Triche fan. My wife who grew up in Fulton is also a huge fan.
 
I was a Syracuse cheerleader in 1973. Sweet D, the Lees and Bobby Dooms. Don't remember all that much of the season because I joined the team for the girls.
I have always followed the teams but I became a real fan in 1987 and although I've lived all over I never missed a game that was available. Because of the internet and SU's great success I haven't missed a basketball game in years. I saw Dr. Gross when the football team came to USC last year and congratulated him on the ACC move.
I'm hoping to come back to Syracuse some time next year and hopefully I can score some decent seats.
If we make the Final Four next year I will be in Atlanta.
 
Father attended SU in 1941, served in the Army and graduated in 1948. I graduated in 1977. We made the final four in 1975(?) and we were probably a 15 or 16 seed. Not one nationally recruited player on the team (that I can remember). That launched the whole program.
 
images


West Genny!
 
Born back in 48.
graduated from Maxwell
used to bumper ride to get to Manley for the games
have followed virtually every single game for the last 30 years.
remember the old days sitting at the local public radio station so i could read the ticker tape to keep up with the score of games in progress.
never been to the Carrier Dome but it is on my bucket list.
used to watch live when they played in Anchorage.
I will be in Maui for the games.
 
Born in St. Joe's Hospital in 1946 and grew up on the Nort(h) side. Loved to listen to SU games on the radio when Jim Brown played (I think it was WSYR). Played for NY state Pop Warner Champs in 1959 and attended my first SU game in Archbold with my team that championship season. It was the Colgate game and I cheered for Dick Easterly who attended the same High School I did. I vividly remember watching the Cotton Bowl on black and white TV and will take to the grave the excitement I felt watching Ernie Davis run the length of the field on a pass he caught for a TD. I also recall watching Ernie Davis play basketball against Penn St. in the War Memorial. He was a athlete that could probably have played any sport he chose. I also watched all the Syracuse Nats home games and Dolph was one of my heros.

I played my college ball at SUNY Brockport a few years ahead of Casullo. I never met Casullo but found it amusing after reading an article that he had the same college coach I did and coached with the same guy I did that was from Little Falls, early on in his career.

I did my graduate work on the hill and was on campus 72-74. The two most memorable basketball games for me were beating LaSalle in Manley when they were ranked in top 10 and of course the infamous Georgetown game that closed Manley.

I live in Florida now and have too many thrills to list over the years but one that I particularly enjoyed was McNabb's last game in the Dome. We blew out Miami and Donavan put on a show. I was with my brother and nephew and still recall my nephew shouting"Go for Two!" after we scored the last TD.
 
add another one here. Came and went came and went and now have stayed. Great place this little burg...

Crazy how much it's changed, too, like when I arrived there was a department store with a soda counter where Bon-Ton is now, and Price-Chopper where Wal-Mart is, and that became a Hills, P&C moved in, and the plaza became a mall. Then by the time I was in high school the mall was quickly going past it's prime and now it's a plaza again with big box stores!

My science teacher in I think 9th grade used to talk about how the golf course originally had holes where the mall/plaza is now, and I think maybe a drive-in? But that was before my time, or at least before I lived there and can remember.
 
Who was your science teacher in 9th? Who was best teacher you had?
 
Earth science teacher was Mr. Bozych (I'm sure I spelled it wrong)

For whatever reason, the best teachers to me were all social studies -- Ms. Bayus, Ms. Evans and Mrs. Rothbaler (not sure I have the name right there, but her husband taught science).
 
Mole - my brother, who is on the board as well - told me who you were. Graduated in '94 with you, one of my good friends went to college with you (he is a Doctor now). Small world...

I gotta go with math teach Mr. Tyzka (retired the year I graduated in '94), Mr. Baldwin or Mr. Weidman
 
Oh yeah, hi there! Small world indeed. Hope things are goin well for you.

Ah Mr. Tyzka, he used to draw circles free-hand!
 
im late to the party.
born in utica.
graduated from ithaca college.
dad took me to SU football and bball season tix since i was 5.
stopped after college when I moved to LA.
live in santa monica, ca.
watched the 2011 SU-WVU football game 100 yards from the ocean as the only Orange clad person in the crowd.
think its boeheim's time to go.
think Marrone is the real deal.
think Saint tristan is the real deal.

rrlbees, please DM me, I have a question.
thank you for your time.
 
Born in 45, Cambridge, MA.
Army brat, moved all over.
Guidance councilor at Heidelberg American High School recommended SU and the rest is history.
Met my wife at SU. Graduated in 67.
During the McNabb era, my son attended as well.
Now retired at Smith Mountain Lake in VA.

Couple of favorite memories.
-Freezing my fanny off in Archbold with a flask of something to ease the pain.
-Sitting behind the back board at Manley for BB games watching JB and Bing.
-Asking my frat brother (starting safety) for a course from the "football list" for a filler my last semester. He said "Marriage and Family Relations, School of Home Ec." First day, me and 25 women and I'm thinking I'm screwed. 5 minutes later in walks Floyd Little and 5 teammates and I'm like "thank you God"!! BTW, got an A.
 
Nice Thread!!

Originally from Chicago area and a admament Depaul fan. Our family moved to Omaha and I starting following Creighton Hoops and Cornhusker football. I moved to Syracuse in the 9th grade during basketball season, and immediatly I was overhwhelmed by SU Basketball. Hated the fans, the color orange and there talking nature... I fought the good fight but by 1985 season I was all in.. followed the orange since... Lots of great times and some great folks who I consider close friends to this day.. I've been a board poster since late 90's. Weirdest story was the first time I went to an event in DC where there were going to be other board members, and for the like of me I never thought about meeting up with folks from the internet, who I didn't know nor how they looked until I stood in that restuarant full of SU folks in SU gear trying to figure out how to say "are you from the board?"!! Oh the stories, road trips and hoops since then. In DC...Mase, JOC, Bayside, BillOrange became some of my BOYZ! and VAOrange, CTO and DCcuse, dear friends! Aris, I still want to borrow the green blazer!!!

Now married and 5 kids later, we are re-settled in beautiful CNY..

I don't get to post as much as in the past but this board is typically the first or second thing I check out each day.
 
Oh yeah, hi there! Small world indeed. Hope things are goin well for you.

Ah Mr. Tyzka, he used to draw circles free-hand!

There was another math teacher I can't remember his name right now but he looked like Bob Newhart and drew almost perfect circles free hand. I would have to say my favorite teacher was Sam Dantz sp. Taught economics which you had to take in 12 to graduate.
 

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