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Message: [QUOTE="pfister1, post: 146268, member: 285"] 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. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?