Syracuse Sports Writing
The Penn State Riot is an Embarrassment to College Students Everywhere
This article was originally written for and published on Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician
Syracuse University isn’t a “rioting” campus. A couple dozen students flooded the quad to celebrate the election of Barack Obama back in the fall of 2008, but aside from that, we don’t have a student body that rises up and treats every national story as a reason to get blackout drunk and walk around Marshall Street, at least not since I’ve been here.
And I’m fine with that.
The fact that thousands of Penn State students have found it not only acceptable, but necessary, to march on their campus in order to shout for the retainment of Joe Paterno as head football coach and flip over media vans, all while letting everyone possible know that “[they] are Penn State,” is truly embarrassing.
Joe Paterno had a remarkable career at Penn State. 409 total wins, including 24 in bowls. Two national championships. No one can make an argument against Paterno’s lasting effect on college football.
None of this preclude’s him from doing the right thing.
Joe Paterno failed to do the right thing.
The “riots” at Penn State are a demonstration of a disgusting lack of perspective in State College. We all love college football, it is a large reason why many of you are visiting this website. But no amount of college football success, no number of years that make up a legendary career is worth compromising the innocence of even one child.
By failing to notify the proper authorities, and becoming complicit in the University’s decade-long cover-up of Jerry Sandusky’s disgusting streak of pedophilia, Paterno failed a most basic test of human morality. We may never know the number of children whose assaults could have been prevented by Paterno and others.
There have been many events that have been worthy of collegiate protest. Arguing that someone who helped protect a serial pedophile should be absolved of all blame because he won over 400 games is not among them.
Many are citing the fact that Paterno was fired via phone call as a reason for all of the outrage. The ultimate irony in all of this is that a simple phone call nine years ago could have prevented this whole situation, and secured Paterno’s legacy as the man of high character that we all believed him to be.
Penn State students should be rallying together and finding ways to prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again. Instead, they are flipping vans and blaming the media, while burying their heads in the sand. ESPN’s reporters on the ground are quoted as saying “80-90% of [the rioters] aren’t able to form cogent thoughts.” The novelty of the collegiate riot at Penn State is superseding basic human decency.
My peers out on the streets of State College are an embarrassment to college students everywhere.
As the rioters shout “We Are Penn State”, I’m glad that I am not.
***
Dr. Gross or: How I Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the ACC
This article was originally written for and published on Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician
But it was absolutely paramount that we leave the conference.
As fun as that conference was for basketball, and it almost equally drab for football, and the 8/16 model was just not sustainable in any way. When football is the major money maker in college athletics at this point, it makes no sense for teams to handicap themselves with basketball-only schools. As we all know, the landscape is shifting towards this long-fabled 4×16 superconference format. There may be a fifth 16 team conference amalgamation made up of Big East/XII also-rans and leftovers, but that conference will be more of a red headed step-child in this new world we’re stepping into than the Big East is already. There is incredible stability within the ACC, PAC-whatever, Big-10 and SEC, and stability is quickly becoming the most valuable commodity out there in college sports.
The story about John Marinatto finding out about Syracuse and Pitt’s applications to the ACC is pretty much the icing on the cake of this whole ordeal. While John Swofford was out making deals and adding value to his conference to kick-off this massive expansion that we’re on the cusp of, Marinatto was sitting on his hands getting news about two of his three biggest programs via text message. Swofford is playing chess while Marinatto is still reading the rule book on checkers. The initial round of expansion back in 2004, which should have included SU to begin with, should’ve been what triggered the Big East to look at how it was structured, to see if the football-basketball hybrid was sustainable, whether or not selling it’s soul to the Leprechaun was worth it. Instead, it buzzed along adding more teams of marginal value, on both the football and non-football side, and while it worked out for a little while, it was not something that was ever going to stand in the face of the superconferences that have been knocking on the door for some time and withstand that wave of massive change.
What we learned this weekend is that Dr. Gross, Chancellor Cantor, and Pitt’s Chancellor Nordenberg saw the writing on the wall and have been incredibly proactive on the expansion front for some time, and I’m incredibly impressed that this whole thing stayed under wraps and moved as quickly as it did. I know there’s the ridiculous notion that what Syracuse and Pittsburgh did were dishonest or sneaky, but those schools aren’t responsible for the well-being of Cincinnati and DePaul. If we had been more open about it, I could’ve easily seen another school blowing it up.
The fact of the matter is that these conferences are all well and good, but as we’re seeing all over the country, schools need to do what’s best for them. No one in the Big East is a victim. There are 8 other schools who’ve been talking to the ACC…one of whom is apparently Villanova of all people (lol). We know that UConn has been throwing themselves at the ACC since the Pitt/SU news broke, and who can blame them? How much do you want to bet that Rutgers, Louisville, WVU and ND are included in that number? You can’t blame Syracuse and Pitt for being proactive and protecting the futures of their athletic departments, and then claim to feel bad for a bunch of other schools who are doing the same thing. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Were we supposed to wait until the last possible minute before jumping ship, and run the risk of their being no more lifeboats available? Were we supposed to just accept the fact that the conference we helped start was turning into the Conference USA and be cool with that?
The Big East as we know it is flatlining, and John Marinatto is no Kiefer Sutherland. More on this whole ordeal after the jump…
What I’ll Miss:
As I said above, the Big East tournament and the Georgetown rivalry were very special things to me. I’ve been to all three BETs since enrolling at SU, and it really is an event. I shudder to think what the ticket prices are going to look like this year or next, whenever the final tournament with SU, Pitt and whoever else is. It’s going to be a zoo.
Now, there is no chance a year passes by without SU playing in the Garden. Literally 0%. Doctor Gross has built up Syracuse as New York’s college team, his work there is not done just because we’ve landed safely in a new conference. I expect that we’ll schedule St. John’s often, we’ll be in those preseason classics and tournaments every year, and I would be surprised if the ACC Tournament isn’t held there, at least occasionally. I don’t see MSG standing by the Big East tournament if the conferences turns into a de facto mid-major or if it drops football all together and becomes a souped up A-10 conference. The ACC tournament at the garden would be a spectacle, especially if UConn enters the fold. I was at the Garden for our win over UNC in 2009, and while I’d say we had about 55% of the crowd, UNC traveled really well. Duke plays there pretty often as well, and have a huge following. A semi-final of Syracuse, UConn, Duke and UNC would absolutely blow the roof off of the place.
As for Georgetown, I would be surprised if we didn’t schedule them at least once a year. There is far too much history for either school to give up. It won’t be quite the same as it is now, or as it was in the 80s, but check out those Cincinnati-Xavier games. Out of conference basketball rivalries are pretty sweet. I hope they would hold the game early on, or make it mid-ACC play so that the students will be in town.
To a lesser extent, if WVU doesn’t make it into the ACC (I don’t expect them too), I’d like to play them in football every year if possible. We’ve played them for 50+ years in a row if I remember correctly, and it’d be a shame for that to end. Luckily, BC and Georgia Tech are opening up some OOC game spots, so maybe this can become a reality.
What I’m Excited For:
Well, legitimate BCS level football every week, first and foremost. I completely agree that currently, the ACC isn’t much better than the Big East on the gridiron, they get by on perception. However, perception is reality. North Carolina, Miami, Virginia Tech, Florida State are just much better names than Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati. Even Duke, who is just a miserable football program (don’t tell Boston College), is a more attractive name then most of the Big East. I think that the switch is going to sell us some tickets for football. People are going to come out for Florida State and Va Tech no matter what…when Cincinnati came here two years ago ranked #4 and undefeated, we probably didn’t have 30,000 people in the Dome. They might not actually be much better most years, but the ACC teams are just more attractive names for the average fan.
Basketball’s going to be ridiculous as well. I’ll miss playing Villanova and St. John’s, and as I said earlier, Georgetown, although I believe all three will be scheduled in the future. However, I hope I never hear the name DePaul again. Or Providence. Or Seton Hall. Ever. The Big East was far and away the best basketball conference, but the bottom was just so weak. The ACC has some crappy teams as well, but they’re not DePaul-crappy.
I don’t think I need to say anything about Lacrosse.
Also, I think we actually fit in better with the ACC in many ways than we do with the current Big East. In the Big East, we’re the only private football school. The ACC has many more similarly sized, strong academic schools. If I’m an academian, I’d much rather associate with Duke, UNC, BC, UVA, and Georgia Tech than Cincinnati, West Virginia, Louisville and South Florida. While the ACC doesn’t have a consortium like the Big-10 does, it is very heavy on academics, and Syracuse is a perfect fit in many ways.
Where Do We Go From Here?:
One of the big questions we all have is when are we starting in the ACC? While that 27-month period is in place, it makes no sense for either party to stick with that. Pitt and Syracuse want to get to the ACC as soon as possible, and the Big East needs to move forward, find new schools and start trying to reestablish their brand. Holding Syracuse and Pitt hostage doesn’t make any sense, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they let us go after this spring. We may have to take one more victory lap in 2012-2013, but I really don’t see the whole 27 months holding up, which would place us at December of 2013. The Big East would have to hold some kind of grudge, and have no vision for the future for that to be the case. With that said, maybe it happens?
As for the ACC, I think it’s inevitable that they take two more teams to get to 16. Here are the candidates, at least as I see them:
Texas: It sounds like they’re heading west to the PAC-1#, so I highly doubt we see them, and that’s for the best. I want no part of the Longhorn Network, and I don’t want to be handicapped by Texas like the Big-12 is now. There is one glaring similarity between the Big East and Big-12, besides the fact that both are crumbling to pieces before our very eyes. They allowed one school to take advantage of the rest, in the Big East’s case it was Notre Dame. It proves that conference don’t work with inequality. Texas would be an awesome get, but not if they’re coming with their ridiculous network and the rest of their baggage. Likelihood: Very Low.
Notre Dame: This one is a bit more interesting. Now obviously, any conference is going to take Notre Dame. While they haven’t been relevant as a contender for football in years, they still have a sprawling fanbase and a ton of clout, warranted or not. Many Irish fans are probably still holding on to the possibility of staying independent, but I just don’t think that will work with the superconferences like it does now. They need to land somewhere as a full-fledged all-sports member. I wouldn’t be so quick to pencil in the Big-10 either. While they’re probably the leader at this point, Notre Dame has an interesting choice to make, do they go with their friends in Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue, and associate themselves with the huge midwestern land grant universities, or do they join the ACC where they’ll be with schools who are much more like them, geography aside. Notre Dame is a mid-sized private school, they’re much more like Syracuse, Boston College, and Duke than they are like Michigan, Michigan State or Ohio State.
Syracuse and Pitt’s move from the Big East to the ACC may throw a wrench into Notre Dame’s plans. I’m going to paraphrase a bit, but check out this post over at SyracuseFan.com from “Jake”, who is usually spot-on with his analysis of stuff like this. If you remember back to the first round of expansion, when the Big-10 had its feelers out everywhere, a lot was written about SU and Pitt being tied to Notre Dame in a lot of ways. Notre Dame may have wanted to bring those two schools along, because as I said above, they have a lot more in common with ND than the Big 10 schools do, it would’ve kept Notre Dame from being a fish out of water, Northwestern-style. By grabbing SU and Pitt first, the ACC forces ND’s hand, and it may have taken Jack Swarbrick aback a bit. Now he has no great options for teams to bring along if Notre Dame ultimately decides on the Big-10, so the ACC, where Notre Dame can keep up its rivalry with BC, rekindle one with Miami, and keep their series’ going with Pitt and Syracuse, may be a more attractive option.
As a brief aside, this is Swarbrick’s comment on SU/Pitt leaving:
“I don’t understand it. How do you vote as a collegiate president on something that has the potential to provide some benefit for your institution and the conference you’re affiliated with but has a very negative consequence for a host of other members of the academy, as presidents like to call it? I’d like to know how much of these discussions are: What’s right? What is the best thing for the larger enterprise, and how many other schools would be adversely impacted?
Are you kidding me Jack? “What is the best thing for the larger enterprise?” I don’t know, maybe giving up this whole independence thing that went by the wayside in college football decades ago, and joining the conference that’s been housing your other sports and allowing your basketball and lacrosse teams to thrive? Maybe if you had joined the Big East instead of using them, you wouldn’t have to be oh so ‘adversely impacted’. That quote is absolutely baffling to me.
Anyway, I wouldn’t bet on Notre Dame ending up here, but it’s definitely on the table, and it would be a coup for the new ACC. If they come, and the ACC doesn’t pander to them in any way, shape or form, it’s a hell of a power move by Swofford. Likelihood: Low
UConn: I really want to see UConn make it over. It would preserve our other great basketball rivalry, and give the football one a chance to blossom. UConn makes a lot of sense for the ACC. It’s a very solid school academically, helps surround New York City and gives us (that feels weird) another state on the eastern seaboard. I think UConn’s basketball program puts it over the top, and I’d be very surprised if they don’t become #15. Likelihood: Very Good
Rutgers: I don’t really care if they come or not, but they may be #16 by default if Swofford can’t land Notre Dame. This would give us New Jersey, and would help keep the Big-10 out of New York City. Also, the academics fit. They provide much more value geographically than they do on the field or the hardwood, but I could see it. I think if Notre Dame goes to the Big-10, you’ll see the ACC go after Rutgers aggressively. Rutgers is going to throw itself at the Big Ten, much like UConn is doing with the ACC. Likelihood: Decent
West Virginia: I’d love to see the ‘Neers come along, but I think their weak academics keep them out. It’s too bad, and again, I’d love to keep our football series going. I really hope they land in the SEC, it’d be a shame for them to get left out. Likelihood: Low
Kansas: There isn’t much out there about this possibility. A lot of people have them linked to the PAC or the Big-10. I’m mostly including them because of this thought:
ACC Basketball:
Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, UConn, Kansas
Just think about that for a minute…
…
There we go. Was that good for you too?
Likelihood: Low
—
The Big East was plenty of fun, and it will be a part of Syracuse’s history forever, but we moved at the perfect time. Not only did we get a seat at the 64-team table, but we got the second (or third seat), right across from Texas A&M. Right now, we are in a considerably better situation than:
Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas State, Kansas, Missouri, South Florida, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Louisville, Rutgers, Connecticut, TCU, Boise State, and all of the other mid-majors. There are a lot of good schools on that list, and we landed before any of them.
I know Doctor Gross still gets a lot of flack from segments of our fanbase, but he did a tremendous job in positioning us for total stability in the conference that we fit in best as a university, athletically and academically, maybe even more so than the conference we’re leaving. This move isn’t perfect, no move would’ve been, but it’s the best one that we could have made.
***
A Clockwork Orange: Three Days in the Carrier Dome
This article was originally published on Bleacher Report and SUAthletics.com
The Hype
When this season’s college basketball schedule was released in the summer, Orange fans everywhere highlighted one game in particular: On February 27, 2010, the Orange would take on preseason Big East favorites Villanova, who were ranked No. 5 in the nation to start the season.
However, this was not just a big weekend home game against a name opponent—the Carrier Dome faithful are used to those, in the Big East they are played multiple times a year—this game would also be the scene for College GameDay, the weekly pregame show/university pep rally that puts one school and one game in the forefront for all of the nation to see, as ESPN previews the weekend matchups.
This game was going to be big.
The entire season seemed to lead up to this game. Out of conference play, Villanova only dropped one game, at cross-town rival Temple.
However, it was Syracuse who made the big splash onto the scene and into the polls. The Orange, led by Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim and stud Iowa State transfer forward Wes Johnson, defeated No. 13 California and No. 6 North Carolina in back-to-back nights at the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden.
The two teams felt a little more adversity as they waded through the rugged Big East conference. Villanova lost at Georgetown and Pittsburgh, and were upset at home against Connecticut, while Syracuse dropped games to Pittsburgh and Louisville, with both games taking place at the Carrier Dome.
By the time the polls were released on Monday, February 22, the final polls before the matchup, Syracuse was all the way up to No. 4 in the nation, with Villanova just four spots below them at No. 8, and the two schools topped the Big East standings.
Syracuse University has the benefit of playing in the largest on-campus basketball arena in the country, and when a matchup like this comes around, the central New York community pounces on it.
On March 5, 2006, for Syracuse legend Gerry McNamara’s final game, 33,633 Orange fans filled the Dome to the brim, breaking the NCAA on-campus attendance record. As the Villanova game approached, and both teams found themselves in the top five spots in the polls, a similar phenomenon occurred: Everyone wanted a seat.
Syracuse’s athletics department decided to let this game sell out, and once again, break the attendance record. Thirty-four thousand, six hundred and sixteen tickets later, they announced the game to be sold out.
Fans would be sitting in the uppermost corners opposite the game, where Andy Rautins and Scottie Reynolds would appear to be mere specks on Jim Boeheim Court.
This game was going to be really big.
The Camp-Out
An hour before the 7 pm tipoff of the women’s basketball game between Syracuse and undefeated No. 1 UConn on Wednesday, Feb. 24, over a hundred Syracuse students anxiously lined outside of Gate C at the Carrier Dome.
However, most of them were not here to see a showdown between Nicole Michael and Maya Moore, although many of them would stay. They were here to enter a raffle for the ability to choose the seats of their choice for the game.
The Syracuse student section, Otto’s Army, generally picks seats on a first-come-first-serve system, which is run by a a system called “The List”, where each group of up to four members has to have at least one representative at the Carrier Dome’s Gate E (lovingly known as Boeheimburg by Otto’s Army members).
For small games, like an out of conference matchup with a team like Robert Morris or Oakland, the first group may show up a few hours in advance. However for big games, students may camp out in the harsh Syracuse winter for days on end in order to claim their seats.
For a normal game, there might be a dozen groups camping.
This was not going to be a normal game.
In recognizing the safety issues that go along with potentially hundreds of students sleeping in below freezing temperatures and the impending snow that would come to Syracuse that weekend, the Carrier Dome staff decided to bar any camping until that Wednesday, before the women’s game. Because of the utilization of a start time, a lottery was set up that would include every group present at exactly 6 pm.
Over 80 groups arrived.
The groups wrote on cards and were randomly drawn, and then put in order onto the List. One student, who was lucky enough to draw the fifth spot on the List, did not realize that he could not add non-season ticket holders to his group, and also, that he needed his group represented at all times at the Carrier Dome.
He reached an impasse: Leave and give up front row seats to what would be literally the biggest basketball game on any college camps, ever, or stay in the Carrier Dome from 6 pm on Wednesday the 24th until the Villanova game ends late at night on the 27th.
The choice was not as hard as it would seem. He remained in the Carrier Dome with just his laptop in tow, for about 83 hours straight.
The groups entered the Dome and watched Syracuse hang strong with the absolutely dominant UConn women, but to no avail, as the Huskies would extend their winning streak to 67 games. Afterwards, they headed to the concourse outside of Gate P inside the Dome, where they would line up and begin the campout.
Students began to stock their campsites. Extension cords littered the floor, and laptops were everywhere. Some students brought TVs, Xbox’s, and did their best to recreate their dorm rooms in their new locale.
By 11 pm, when the extra members began to head home and leave their group representatives for the night, over 80 groups lined the concourse, ready for the next few days.
On Thursday, Syracuse got over 18 inches of snow. The storm was bad enough to warrant Syracuse University to close classes for snow for the first time since 1993. Dome patrons quickly found out what happens when two feet of snow rests on the Carrier Dome—the Dome gets heated to melt it.
As more and more groups entered the Dome to start their camping and their weekend, they were hit with a wave of heat, a very uncomfortable feeling for students bundled up in their heaviest winter jackets, boots, gloves, and ski pants.
Thursday saw about another fifty groups enter the Dome, braving the elements outside to reach the arena, and the elements inside once they got there. By Friday morning, the snow had melted, and the Dome’s temperature had returned to normal.
Friday was the largest day for the camp-out. Students who stayed in the Dome for the afternoon were greeted by a few surprise visitors, when most of the Syracuse basketball team came by to sign autographs, take photos, and for forward Kris Joseph, play a few video games.
The team wanted to let all of their fans know how much they truly appreciate the incredible fan support they had from the students all season.
Although the Dome staff originally planned to lock the doors and stop admitting groups at 6 am on Saturday, no one could foresee the incredible groundswell of interest on Friday night. By 11 pm, 208 groups lined the concourse, and the camp-out officially spanned more than half of the Carrier Dome.
For security reasons, as over 700 students could potentially be in the Dome with only a handful of guards on hand, the doors close and new groups were not admitted.
The night saw dozens of students in and out, heading to Marshall Street or Euclid Avenue for the normal Friday revelry, as well as an incredible number of delivery people beckoned to the Dome to bring the campers dozens of pizza pies and hundreds of wings.
The campers were afforded a few hours of sleep on the cold concrete, but by 6 am everyone was awake, and taking shifts to bring all of their camping supplies to their various dorms, apartments, and houses.
By 8 am everyone was back, getting ready for the GameDay broadcast by feasting on the donuts and Capri Sun juices supplied by the Dome staff. Past editions of GameDay at the Dome were not very successful, with only a few hundred students coming out to support the University.
That amount was topped just by the students who camped in the Carrier Dome, and by 7 am, a few hundred more students were lining up outside Gate E, all the way into the campus quad.
Syracuse’s GameDay crowd was not going to disappoint.
Game Day
Most Syracuse students had never seen College GameDay live, and they took full advantage when ESPN decided to bring their show to the ‘Cuse for this game. With the numbers being fortified by a few local fans, over 7,000 fans showed up to see Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, Bob Knight, and Hubert and Rece Davis preview the day’s games, and most importantly, talk about their beloved Orange.
GameDay was a very interesting production. Digger Phelps was the first analyst to come out and greet the fans, and he calls many of the directorial shots that involved the students, cheerleaders, and the band.
When Digger calls for a cheer, he gets that cheer.
When he called for a song, Sour Sitrus Society played that song.
When he wants to dance, no one can stop Digger from dancing.
One thing that Digger did need was a leader. When he called for someone who knew the student section inside and out, a student who could rally his 7,000 peers, one name began to resonate through the students, until finally, the chants broke out.
“Gumby! Gumby! Gumby!” thousands of the students roared, until finally, the man himself emerged from the middle of the section and stepped onto the court.
Ryan “Gumby” Henry, a SUNY ESF Senior from Augusta, Maine, is one of the most visible and vocal leaders that Otto’s Army has. Donning his iconic white 2006 Eric Devendorf jersey, Gumby immediately broke out into a powerful rendition of “Let’s Go Orange!” With him, the entire student section erupted into the chant, the Sour Sitrus drummer began to provide the backbeat, and GameDay had begun.
Gumby followed Digger’s cue as he began a litany of “Let’s Go Orange”, “Who’s House? ‘Cuse House!” and “Go! Orange!” chants that supplied the loud background for the SportsCenter cut-ins and the entire one hour GameDay broadcast.
The Orange fans, and their army of big heads and witty signs, were all energy for the two or more hours they were on display, cheering Jim Boeheim’s presence when he came out to the show, and any Syracuse mentions, booing rivals Georgetown and Villanova, as well as commonly hated programs like Kentucky and Duke, and letting their thoughts be known towards every comment made by the analysts.
After the production had ended, the groups lined up back in order, and marched back to Gate P, where they would remain until 3:30, when preparations for the big game would get underway.
34,616
By 5 pm, everyone had arrived back at the Dome and met up with their groups, had been counted, swiped in, and wristbanded for the game, and eventually made their way down to the seats. By 7, two hours before tip-off, the student section was virtually full.
However, this was not the only game on the mind of Syracuse fans, and for good reason.
By 4 pm, No. 2 Kentucky had dropped their game at the streaky Tennessee Volunteers, and No. 1 Kansas was losing at Oklahoma State.
This situation, coupled with the fact that No. 3 Purdue was without their best player, Robbie Hummel, for the rest of the season and could likely lose the next day against Michigan State, brought one thought to the forefront of each Orange-minded fan in the Dome:
The thought of being the nation’s number one team.
Syracuse had not been No. 1 in the nation since their 2003 national championship, and not in the regular season since 1990, before most Syracuse freshmen were born.
As they sat in their seats or wandered the backcourt area of the Carrier Dome, students kept checking Mobile ESPN on their phones, or in some cases, watching the game live with applications on their iPods, iPhones, and Blackberries. As Kansas came closer and closer to losing, the reality of the situation started to really kick in.
As the time ran down, the student section erupted in excitement.
The sold-out game, a game that would see 34,616 fans in attendance, just somehow got bigger.
As the general public entered, it became very apparent that the crowd was going to live up to that vaunted number. Orange stretched as far as the eye could see. As tip grew nearer and nearer, the energy in the Dome became palpable.
The national anthem went along, and as the singer hit the line “gave proof through the night/that our flag was still there”, thousands of students put up giant “Os” with their arms. As the letter was sung, the students erupted, following the deafening boom of the “O” by loudly singing the rest of the song.
As the “Star Spangled Banner” reached its conclusion, it was apparent that this game was going to live up to the hype.
Syracuse went down early, but the crowd never let up, and much like they willed the Orange back from the 14-point deficit that opened the Georgetown game at the Dome a few weeks before, Syracuse took a lead late in the half and went into the locker room up 10, 46-36.
The second half saw the Orange surge ahead to a large lead that they would maintain for the rest of the game.
However, it was not a typical Syracuse blowout win.
Where fans will often start to file out of the Dome with a few minutes left, on this day, everyone stayed and got their money’s worth. The noise level rarely dipped; the crowd was all energy to the final buzzer, being measured at around 115 or more decibels, a level of noise comparable to a rock concert or a construction site.
Where usually only a few Syracuse students stay to sing and sway to the alma mater, after this game the section was bursting with pride. Almost the entire lower level remained in their spots, standing on the bleachers, swaying to the cool tones of the Syracuse alma mater, until “…to thy memory!” rang through the bleachers.
The students, many of whom had been there for thirty or forty hours in the last few days, did not want to leave.
Some may call the Syracuse students crazy; say it’s not worth sleeping on concrete just for a seat to the game. However, on Monday at noon when the latest polls were announced and Syracuse became the number one team in the country, not one person who was there would tell you they would do things differently.
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