A Rick Jackson Threesome Adorns My Christmas Tree

Today was "put up the Christmas tree" day at Champhouse. And let's be honest, you haven't really decorated until you've got Rick Jackson on your tree. Baby Jesus just doesn't hit the glass enough for me....I needed some more rebounding on my tree this year. The fine folks at Forever Collectibles have all of your Syracuse University holiday decorating needs. The picture above is apparently this year's model. I was fortunate enought to pick up the beauty below last year at Target.

Now when does my Chaz Cervino nativity scene arrive?





















And you thought the Dynasty symbol was dead



Rick-in-the-middle, what is your right hand reaching for? The poor guy became an amputee after surviving a fall from the tree. Let's hope Real Rick doesn't develop any ankle problems this year.

DEAR GOD NO

Here's hoping there is absolutely NO TRUTH to this rumor. The last thing Syracuse needs is another long-tenured NFL assistant to lead the program. Especially a guy who has spent the past 15 years with one of the worst franchises in NFL history.....

The Tour's Over

The tour mercifully ended yesterday

The Greg Robinson Farewell Tour has made its last stop. The last game under Greg ended the way it began, with a horrific display of offensive football that lead to yet another loss. By all accounts Greg is good man who just so happened to also be the worst head football coach in the 119 year history of SU football, so he's got that going for him - which is nice.

We've had more than our share of things to say about Greg and needless to say, we're ready to move on, but before we do, let's see what everyone else is saying about Robinson's swan song:

- Donnie Webb says THAT'S A WRAP.

- Bud thinks yesterday's loss was Robinson's final indignity.

- Sean says the era ended now with a bang, but a whimper.

- The Daily Orange headline says it best, THE END.

- Orange 44 has the last crying child of the year - thank god.

- Cuse Country keeps is short and sweet, saying good freaking riddance. Amen to that.

- Hoya Suxa says maybe Greg should look into a position at George Mason University.

- The Saltine Warriors note the end of an era.

- This has nothing to do with Greg, but Orange Chuck is looking for hot chicks, so I had to pass it along.

- The Seattle Post Intelligencer notes that the Greg Robinson era came to a merciful end.

So to you Greg we say goodnight sweet prince. Your services will not be missed.

The Chaz Watch: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Chaz Cervino's Heisman campaign concluded today with the Orange's 30-10 loss at the hands of the Cincinatti Bearcats.

WR Chaz Cervino did not see any action today, but we're hoping he still gets an invite to the Downtown Athletic Club come December.

Chaz, along with the SportHump's adopted son Van Chew, were the Mantle/Maris of this year's Heisman race. Here's how our two favorite Orangemen finished the year:

Chaz: 3 Rec., 37 yards, 0 TD

Chew: 4 Rec., 56 yards, 1 TD.

It may be a dark time right now in Orange history, but let's begin looking forward to 2009. Next season will be the year of Chaz and Chew....the rest of the nation will fear "The C&C Touchdown Factory." Stopping them will be one of those things that make our opponents say hmmmmm. After all, they are just a couple of squirrels trying to get that nut.

Forget the M&M Boys, the C&C Touchdown Factory will really make you sweat.

Cincy-Cuse: The End of An Era

We've got about 3 hours left in the Greg Robinson Era. Say what you want about the man, and we certainly have, but you have to admit, he did it his way.

"Yes, there were times,
Im sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could (Van) chew. "




Tell 'em Frank:

Losing to Greg Robinson is Not Good for Job Security

Tomorrow the beloved Greg Robinson concludes his four year stint as the head coach of the Syracuse University football program. Over that four year span, Greg has engineered 10 victories. Certainly everyone, including Greg, hoped for more. A little known side effect of this poor performance is that if you were the coach that happened to lose to Greg well.........that's a pretty good indication you aren't staying in your current position very long. Those 10 victories have come at the hands of 9 different coaches, let's take a look and see what has become of them.

2005

Greg's sole victory in his first year was over the Buffalo Bulls, lead by ex-Syracuse assistant Jim Hohfer. At the end of the season Jimbo was fired after compiling an 8-49 record (sound familiar?). His firing ushered in the Turner Gill era, which we'll get to in just a bit.

2006

Greg's victims in season two were Illinois lead by Ron Zook, Wyoming coached by Joe Glenn, Miami of Ohio, coached by Shane Montgomery and UConn lead by Randy Edsall. Glenn was fired this week and Montgomery could very well be next. Zook should stick around Illinois for a while based on last year's performance (which included blowing out SU in the dome) and Edsall is hotly rumored to be the next coach at Syracuse.

2007

Teams who fell to Robinson in 2007 include Buffalo's Turner Gill and Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe. Gill is also rumored to be a candidate at Syracuse, while Kragthorpe has struggled through two season in Louisville. They are already to the point that their AD is having to publicly defend him.

2008

With one game left in the 2008 season, coaches out witted by GRob include Northeastern coach Rocky Hager, Kragthorpe AGAIN, and Notre Dame's Charlie Weis. Hager's team acquitted itself well in the dome and he should be fine. Besides no one cares about I-AA football anyway. We've covered Kragthorpe's story, he's not getting canned this year, but he better bring it next year or he's screwed. That brings us to Charlie Weis, a man a former colleague of mine (and Notre Dame alum) dubbed "Gerry Faust in a fat suit." After last week's crushing loss to the Orange, Weis' job is in serious jeopardy, with Tim Layden today calling him overmatched.

Conclusion

So to review, of the coaches that have lost to Greg, two have been fired, two more could be next week, one needs a big season next year to be secure, two others could be coaching at Syracuse or somewhere else next year and the last two are relatively safe for now. By my math, that means only 22% of the coaches that lost to Greg are secure in their position.

The lesson, a loss to Greg Robinson means you should keep the movers on speed dial, because you're either getting fired or SU is considering hiring you. A funny thing that happened at Thanksgiving yesterday - my 87 year old grandmother who asked, "Why do you have to be so mean to Greg Robinson?" The answer grandma is because I care about others - Greg is causing too many guys to lose their jobs or have to move.

The Enemy is Upon Us

Your 2008 CBE Classic champions return home tonight to face the Virginia Cavaliers at the Carrier Dome. Let's get to some formalities:

Donna Ditola on the Orange mindset.

The Mike Waters preview.

The Daryl Gross Propaganda Machine

We have a chance of all three idiots making it to the game tonight, Boss included. And there is a reason I've looked forward to this game since the schedule was announced....the ACC is showing their face in Syracuse.

I despise the ACC. I can't stand them. I refuse to watch an all-ACC football or basketball game on TV. And yes, I know that means I miss out on Carolina-Duke, but honestly I'd rather watch the America East game of the week then watch two teams from that conference battle it out.

Growing up in the '80's I was force fed the "ACC is the best thing since the polio vaccine" ramblings of Dick Vitale and Billy Packer. The icing on the cake was John Swofford's public wooing of Syracuse University just months after our '03 national title. This man is a scumbag, in my idiotic opinion. He couldn't have been happier to get his smiling, used-car salesman mug all over the cameras of CNY while trying to court the Orangemen into the ACC during the spring of '03. We know how the rest of the story goes and how much he had our back during his conference meetings.

In 2005, I had the pleasure of "debating" some points of the ACC-Big East debate with some UNC fans during the Syracuse NCAA Regional. Let's just say Labatt's Blue, Southern Comfort, and Jack Daniels made some interesting fuel to that fire.

It's especially uplifting now to see that the Super-Sized Big East has destroyed the myth of ACC supremacy in college hoops. Go Orange and beat the ACC tonight.

John Swofford, he can get you financed:

SU beats Kansas (again)

Photo: Donnie Nett, Post-Standard

It wasn't quite 2003, but "rock chalk" up another victory over the Jayhawks. Be sure to check out:

Axe's Happy Recap (which, check out Axe's commenters....has some Mets fans unhappy)

Beers are on the SportHump.

Sean at Nunes has a ton of his usual good stuff.

Eat well and break out the stretchy pants.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. In the spirt of the holiday, here are a few things I'm thankful for - video style.

Kige:



Kenny:



Jonny Flynn:



Troy Nunes is an absolute magician:



Poncho Sinatra's decidedly insane stylings:



And of course, free delicious lethal weapon turkeys.



Have a good one everybody - eat too much, drink too much and eat too much again. I expect nothing less.

Chat Soup - SU - Kansas

I've relented, we'll be chatting through the SU-Kansas game, starting about 10 PM, or whenever the Ball State football game gets over.

Syracuse Wears Gatorskin Boots

OK, that headline made no sense, but whatever. Syracuse scored a huge early season win tonight, defeating Florida on a neutral court in Kansas City in the semi-final of CBE Classic -- sponsored by O'Reilly Auto Parts. They play Kansas tomorrow night in the finals. Right now Syracuse fans should hope Florida puts together a respectable season so this win looks as good in March as it does now.

Here are a few idiotic observations from the game:

- Paul Harris had 18 and 11, but he's the ultimate wild card. You don't know if he's going to turn it over or dunk on someone.

- Great job by the crowd tonight - all 13 people that were there. I swear I heard two guys in the third row discussing whose turn it was to buy nachos.

- I would have liked to have seen more man to man tonight, the way this team is built I believe its their most effective defense -- however a win is a win and if they beat teams playing triangle and two all night, I'm good with that too. Just win games baby.

- If you don't love Kris Joseph's game, you don't love basketball. He reminds me of a more athletic Ryan Blackwell.....and he's only a few games into his college career.

- Florida looked like they learned their 2-3 zone from watching Syracuse tapes - of last year's team. Their D sucked.

- Andy Rautins found his stroke, they will need that as the season progresses.

- No playing time for Mookie Jones tonight. I like his game and think he'll play more once SU gets to the softer part of their schedule. It will be interesting to see if Boeheim reaches a comfort level with him once Big East play starts.

- Even with Mookie on the pine, right now the team is legitimately 8 players deep. It's been a while since that happened, and it's nice.

- Is it me, or does the O'Reilly Autoparts logo look like something that should be competing with Big Tom Callahan's company?

Big one tomorrow against Kansas, let's go Orange.

SU - Florida Live Blog

It's go time.

Who Wants to Chat With Idiots?

Tomorrow Syracuse and Florida go head to head on the hardwood. Yesterday, we test drove a little liveblog/chat program the Sean has used before, and wouldn't you know it, we had so much fun we're going to do it again tomorrow. Here's are all the details you need to join in:

What: Live Blog/Chat

Where: You're already here - just come back at 7:30

Time: Monday, November 24 - 7:30 pm.


That's it - it's so simple that even an idiot can do it. In terms of what to expect, I'll let Champ explain. Anyone can join in, we hope you'll stop by - and yes this directed at you Boss.

Here's some info on Florida, so you'll be ready to roll:

- The gators will be short handed tomorrow.

- Former point guard Jai Lucas is eyeing Kentucky.

- They've made at least one three pointer in 546 consecutive games.

- And they can stop people.

Show up tomorrow and we'll celebrate or commiserate together.

Syracuse-Florida and Mike Leach Should Be Fired

Watch out for Kirby Dar Dar taking the opening tip 95 yards Monday night.

Syracuse-Florida. I prefer to remember the Gators' '91 trip to the Dome over Donovan's swang song in the Orange Bowl. The Gators will attempt to excorsize the hardwood ghost of Dwayne Schintzius when they battle the Orange Monday night at 7:30 as part of the CBE Classic.

Donna Ditota gives us some things to think about before Syracuse plays Florida including the mutual respect between Eric Devendorf and Billy Donovan.

It will be interesting to see how deep Jimmy goes Monday night. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of the 2-3 and less of the man-to-man.

Some College Football Thoughts, Idiot Style:

* Anyone else have Coach P flashbacks with that Texas Tech performance (goose egg laid in front of a nationat TV audience) Saturday night? I was having some serious Blacksburgesque post dramatic stress disorder. Thank you Charlie Weis for bringing me back to reality.

* Who's number 2? What a logjam. My vote if for Texas, having beaten OU and taking TT to the end. While I still think Florida beats Alabama in the SEC title game, their loss to Ole Miss keeps them from the #2 spot in my stupid brain. Of course a little thing called a playoff would fix everything.

* I think everyone knew Michigan would be down this year, but Rich.....9 losses?

* Cincinnati, Big East Football Champions and BCS bound....is anyone else having a hard time with this?

* Joe Pa-- go enjoy retirement. I'll be honest, I'd retire tomorrow if I could. When I'm 82 I don't want to be putting off hip replacement surgery because I still have to go into the office.

* Wisconsin/Cal-Poly, coming up next on ESPN Classic. Seriously, what is going on in Madison? Wasn't Cal-Poly where Craig T. Nelson offered a scholarship to Tom Cruise at the end of All The Right Moves?

The Badger lockeroom after their big overtime win:

Will Someone Please Fire Andy Reid?

All good things must come to an end - and today, November 23rd, 2008 should mark the official end of the Andy Reid era in Philadelphia. Simply put, the man hasn't been very good for a long time. Today's ass whooping that the Baltimore Ravens administered effectively ended the Eagles play off chances, meaning that Philly will have missed the playoffs three out of the last four years.

Since taking the Eagles to the Superbowl at the end of the 2004 season, Reid has a .500 record and one playoff appearance.

After a terrible first half, Reid benched Donovan McNabb for last year's second round draft pick, Kevin Kolb. Kolb promptly threw a couple of picks, including one from the 6 inch line, which Ed Reed returned 108 yards for a score. In doing so, he threw read meat to the buzzards that have been waiting to get at McNabb and really effectively ended number 5's career in Philly as well.

Let's review Reid's recent performance:

- In the preseason he made a decision to use a tailback - Tony Hunt - as a fullback. Without a lead blocker and with Westbrook being small, the Eagles cannot run the ball in short yardage situations. Hunt was cut weeks ago and a D tackle, Dan Klecko is now the fullback. The Eagles have been abysmal in short yardage this year.

- Last year he did the same thing with the punt returner position. He cut Jeremy Bloom late in camp, went into the opening game against Green Bay without a proven returner and they fumbled two punts that cost them the game.

- The imbalanced play calling is embarrassing and getting worse. He's a man in love with the pass, yet he refuses to bring in big time receivers. Adding DeSean Jackson this year was a good addition, he needs help. Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown are marginal at best. The latest example of this today against the Ravens. After running an unsuccessful QB sneak on first down, he called a pass from the 6 inch line - the one Ed Reed picked off and returned 108 yards for a TD.

- In today's game he dressed on two running backs, knowing full well that Brian Westbrook was banged up going into the game. Of course, Correll Buckhalter got hurt early and they were stuck playing a hampered Westbrook all game long. He dressed 6 receivers though - gotta have those guys.

- Last week the Bengals said they knew what to expect in terms of play calling.

- In the last 2 years he's 2-7 against the NFC East.

- He pressed the panic button today in benching McNabb. To be fair, McNabb was TERRIBLE today - but throwing untested Kevin Kolb out there against a very good defense was a no win situation for him.

- He's traded out of the first round of the draft two years in a row, passing on a starting left tackle this year. Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan are OLD - there's no one waiting in the wings.

- The Ravens gave up over 200 yards on the ground last week, yet the Eagles came out throwing the ball.

- There is more talent on this Eagle team than their 5-5-1 record suggests. The man responsible is Andy Reid. Ten years is a long time to coach one team in the NFL, it's time for him to step away, because he's not getting the job done.

And in regards to the post below, I stand by it. The writer wanted to see Kolb and we know what he can do - no better than McNabb.

John Gonzalez Couldn't be More Wrong

Philadelphia fans are insane. Everyone knows this, including the fans - I know because I am one. So while fans correctly get ridiculed for booing Santa Claus and being so rowdy they put a court room in Veterans Stadium, the local media isn't helping things either.

Today, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Gonzalez says starting McNabb is pointless. It's a muck raking piece of drivel where he basically lays the struggles of the Eagles at the feet of Donavan McNabb. Gonzalez argued that since the Eagles "can't win the Superbowl" they might as well play Kevin Kolb. He conveniently ignores the fact that their are other problems, like a head coach who refused to establish the run, the lack of top flight wide outs, and a defensive coordinator who designs schemes that give up tons of rushing yards. Here's what we know:

- I will absolutely concede that McNabb has played poorly lately.

- The Eagles can still make the playoffs.

- Once in the playoffs, ANYTHING can happen.

After 10 games last year, there wasn't a person alive who thought the Giants could win the Superbowl. While the Eagles have a tough road ahead of them,and right now certainly do not look like Superbowl contenders, NOT playing McNabb is giving up. And that's unacceptable. To quote Herm Edwards, you play to win the game.

If Gonzalez really wants to know what's wrong with the team, he should John Smallwood.

T3I Notre Dame Victory Celebration

If celebrating with Kool and the Gang is wrong, then we never want to be right:

Give 'em hell Greg!

Even Harry thought he'd be reading this headline.

Huh? 24-23. Let's get to the professionals:

Donnie's initial reaction

Syracuse.com calls it an amazing upset.

The Daryl Gross Propaganda Machine (which includes a nice photo from the WVU game....cmon people).

The Southbend Tribune declares an Orange Crush.

Notre Dame fans, classy.

The Daily Orange on winning one for the Gregger.

Now what we're talking about in Idiotland:

* I was the first screaming about Antwon Bailey taking away minutes from the other RB's...but my hat is off to you #29. Helluva an effort.

* What was that coverage on the last pass play? How does that pass get completed?

* I've knocked the guy, I've called for his job, and even celebrated his firing, but I'm man enough to say that Greg Robinson is one classy guy. How often do you see someone refusing to do an interview because the other team's alma matter is playing? Nice job Greg. Also I give you credit for your presser last Sunday. Wait a minute, am I getting soft?

* Where was Chaz?

* The "Wildcat" formation--- have we been holding off on this all year or is Greg just playing any card now that he's on borrowed time.

* Special teams for the Orange aren't very special

* So the TE is eligible to catch a ball now and then?

* When I eat breakfast tomorrow, will there be pictures of Delone Carter and Doug Houge on my milk carton?

* After the game I flipped over to ESPNEWS for Grob's presser and I'm going to paraphrase an exchange that went something like this:

Reporter: "Coach, after the game your players were chanting GRob, GRob, can you tell us what that meant to you."

GRob: "Well, that's kind of like text messaging talk, GRob means Greg Robinson."

Crickets, crickets, crickets.

Greg, when the reported asked what that meant to you, he wasn't asking what does "GRob" literally mean. Man, I'll miss these pressers

* Art Jones is something special. The best thing to come out of Utica since Utica Club.

* Congrats Greg (did I just say that) and most importantly to the players.

During the game at T3I Corporate Headquarters, we test drove the "Live Blog/Chat" thing, courtesy of the Russianator. Thanks to HoyaSuxa and Orange Chuck for stopping by and joining us along with some of our regulars: DDubs, The Captain, and Eddie Money. Those of you not in attendance didn't miss much cutting edge analysis and breakdown of game action. However we did manage to babble on such varied topics why Sonic is an overrated fast food joint and GRob's porn name (Greg Throbbinson won in a landslide).

We're going to try again Monday night for the Syracuse-Florida hoops game. The Russianator will be posting details soon. Come join us, we promise we're as stupid as we say we are.

And if any Notre Dame fans give you crap:

Late Starting SU-ND Live Blog

We didn't advertising this and we're trying something new - let's roll.

Syracuse-Oakland: A Running Diary

Gamenight in CNY. After being inspired the Russianator's fine running diary effort from the Richmond game I thought I'd step up to the plate tonight and provide some commentary to all the out-of-town Cuse fans who would not be tuning in to Time Warner 26. It's go time:

6:56- With comfy pants and hoodie on, I settle in to TW26 to catch the end of Greg Robinson's "Syracuse Sidelines" show. Greg compares the football game day scene in South Bend is "just like" the Carrier Dome. Tonight at Wiseguys, enjoy the comic stylings of Greg Robinson.

7:00- Your announcing team of Mark Lawson and Danny Liedka warns Orange fans of Oakland's guard play. Stopping the 3 will be key. Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf highlight packages set the stage.

7:04- A TV commercial for the NYS High School Football Championships being played at the Carrier Dome. Championship football...Carrier Dome....I'm confused.

7:06- We're back and Mark informs us that Oakland is in Michigan, not California. Dammit I was hoping for lots of Al Davis/Syracuse reminiscing tonight. Flynn, Devo, Harris, Waffle, and AO get the start. "Welcome To The Jungle" blares from the Dome PA before tip. Could we please get some updated music in the Dome? Is it too much to ask to hear something from an album I didn't get from my Columbia House CD club during high school? **Quick aside** Was there a better feeling than getting that 1st package from Columbia House? You know the "10 CD's for a penny" package. **End of Aside**

7:08- Paul nets the first score and the Dome crowd gets to sit down. Syracuse is starting out in man-to-man (insert Raftery audio here). Oakland's jerseys have the players names below their numbers on the back, ala the 80's Sacramento Kings. And this is a good idea because???

7:11- At the 16:43 mark, Waffle has hit the floor for the 4th time. Cuse up 9-2. Oakland head coach Greg Kampe is absolutely LOSING IT on his players. Kampe is going with all-black Johnny Cash look tonight. He kind of looks like he could play Tony Siragussa in a made for TV movie.

7:13- An AO slam puts the Orange up 11-2. Harris with a nice assist. During the under 16:00 timeout Johnny Cash falls into the ring of fire and unloads on his players again. Play by play man Mark Lawson tells us how last night Coack Kampe ordered a sub when he got into town and it took 1 1/2 hours for it to be delivered. I know you can sleep better knowing that.

7:17- TW26 throws up a graphic showing the Golden Grizzlies' road trip that keeps them away from home until December 5th. Apparently the players will get to watch their classes over the internet during this stretch. "Yeah, Coach...those hotel extra charges were only for my internet access."

7:20- Rick Jackson in for AO, we have our first substitution of the night.

7:22- Waffle draws a foul and hits the floor for the 5th time tonight. We love this guy. Rautins into the game and his faux-hawk is looking extra pointy tonight. Rick Jackson blocks two straight shots and Flynn attacks the hoop on a run-out.

7:24- The 2-3 makes its first appearance for the night and leads to an Oakland airball. This Oakland team looks awful. Syracuse on the other hand, great defensive effort, solid ball movement...what team am I watching? Orange up 22-5, however they are well behind Texas Tech's 167 point pace.

7:29- A Flynn three puts the Orange up 25-7.

7:33- Oakland forward Will Hudson goes to the line to shoot two FT's. Mark Lawson points out Will is from the great state of Wisconsin. Several cheese jokes commence. Color man Danny Liedka points out that Mookie is showing a scorer's "flash" out there. Greg Robinson, we can't escape him.

They really need to get the women's 3 point line off of the court. Too many lines.

7:36- As we go to commercial break the Dome breaks out Bad English's "When I See You Smile." Nothing fires up a crowd like an '80's power ballad:

Sometimes I wanna give up

I wanna give in, I wanna quit the fight

And then I see you baby

And everything's alright, everything's alright

7:38- Back from commercial, we're shown some video of Bernie Fine's son David in action at Binghamtom. The kid had 12 assists in their first game. Jonny with a steal off the inbound and gets fouled. No one sells a foul like Jonny. He's like an '80's WWF good guy wrestler getting beat down by a rule-breaking bad guy. Really sellling it.

7:40- A Flynn-to-Harris-to-Rick Jackson break is followed up by NO ONE getting back on D.

7:42- Flynn goes flying into the crowd after getting an atomic leg drop from The Big Bossman. He barrels into a TW26 camerman that looks just like Tony Kornheiser.

7:46- Rick "Action" Jackson follows up another block with a good hard foul. I don't know what's gotten into Rick tonight, but he's active as hell.

7:48- We're back after a commercial break and the Axeman gets a promo and some TV time.

He's the hardest working man in CNY.

7:50- Paul gets his second block off of the backboard tonight. Liedka tells us there are "quite a few athletes" out there on the floor. Actually there are 10 of them out there. Rick Jackson has turned into a young Hakeem Olajuwon as he blocks another shot.

7:56: Cuse tries to hold for the last shot before halftime. Sloppy play leads to a 3 on none run out by the Grizzlies. Your halftime score: 47-28 good guys.

8:04- Halftime means channel surfing time. Duke is up 29-22 on Michigan at MSG. Do you ever notice that Duke will only play out-of-conference opponents at home or MSG? Seriously, have you ever seen Duke play an out-of-conference opponent away from Cameron? Dickie V where is your outrage over this?

Rockets-Wizards on ESPN....NBA...keep surfing Champ.

Over on Food TV, Alton Brown is taking care of Thanksgiving leftovers. Surivorman is still an hour away on Discovery. Back to TW26, Charlie Caprara can get me on a 2009 Polaris for only $79 a month. The SportHump's favorite movie, Armageddon, is staring on WGN.

8:14 Back to live action and the Waffle launches a three that gets wedged in between the rim and backboard. Lawson lets us know that the still-waiting-for-the-first-score crowd isn't clapping for that shot. Thanks Mark.

8:17- A Flynn three puts the Orange up 53-32. AO picks up his 2 fouls in 30 seconds, his 3rd overall.

8:20- TV timeout. The United States Air Force has just asked Harry Stamper to save the world. Alton has some turkey soup cooking and explains the differences between stock and broth.

8:23: Extreme closeup of the dance team welcomes us back from the break. Waffle clanks another baseline J. AO picks up his 4th foul at 15:13. Now this is the team I know.

8:29- You can tell Jonny wants the ball here. A botched alley-oop leads to an Oakland 3 point play. Timeout, 58-42. I wonder what Bruce Willis is doing right now.

8:31- Andy is still struggling from behind the line. Maybe those baseball players in the 70's knew what they were talking about when they dissmissed weight lifting.

8:33- Kris Joseph reverse slams off of a break away. Anyone know what that "ok" symbol thing means that he does after he scores?

8:36- We've got another stoppage in play, and Bruce Willis has just told his crew they're saving the world.

8:38- The 2-3 zone reappears, and at the 8 minute timeout the Orange lead 67-48. Alton Brown has moved onto frying turkeys. Duke leads 47-38.

8:45- Devo puts a shot in off of the 35 second shot clock. It didn't count but looked pretty cool. Lawson tells us Eric is a new Dad.

8:51- AO with a nice drop step and baby hook. That's 75 points for the Orange and free tacos for the fans! At the under 4-minute timeout its 75-57 good guys. Duke is up 53-38 a, and Alton Brown is a lowering a turkey into a fryer with this ladder/pulley contraption that looks like something a James Bond villain would use to lower 007 into a volcano.

8:54 Both freshmen (KJ and Mookie) are on the floor. Sean Williams checks in. If there was a Manute Bol 's Arms Lookalike contest, Sean would win. Mark Lawson tells us his favorite holiday of all-time is Thanksgiving. Me, I'll go with V-G Day.

8:58- I see walk-ons at the scorers table. After a timeout, Persutti and Reese get in the game. Smartly, they get the ball to KJ who looks like MJ with a sweet baseline reverse layup. Sean Williams, why are you fouling with 30 seconds left? A Mookie three caps off the scoring. Your final:

86-60 good guys.

What were the odds?

If you took "under one week" in the "How Long Until Something Bad Happens at that Hookah Place" pool....well congratulations you are a winner!

Ebay Item of the Week & The Greatest Song Ever Recorded

Up until the late '80's basketball was known for one thing and one thing only: short shorts.

Real men wear short shorts. Don't believe me, ok.

But you do have to believe Mr. T...who reminds us real men wear short shorts and treat their mothers right:


I have 6 months for my son to practice his lip-synch for Mother's Day 2009.

A Running Diary - Syracuse - Richmond

Welcome to the real beginning of the Syracuse hoop season. To celebrate, I thought I'd rip off an idea the Sports Guy came up with about 7 years ago (yeah, I'm current like that) and put together a running diary of the event. I haven't done one since last March, let's knock the rust off.

6:03-- Doris Burke calling the game - kill me now. Where's John Celestand when you need him?

6:21 -- Sorry about that, I didn't know dinner was on the table. I told you I'm rusty. When the girlfriend cooks, I eat, because she's a good cook and and she'll kick my ass. On a related note, my pants don't fit well anymore, there might be a correlation. To catch up, SU is up 23-17, they are substituting and switching defenses, Doris Burke still sucks, and ESPN thinks its a good idea to scroll comments from internet users across the top of the screen.

6:23 - Richmond buries another 3, that will happen when no one bothers to put a hand up.

6:23 - Doris Burke just compares this game to Duke-Rhode Island game. SU proceeds to throw up a bad shot, then foul a guy who was shooting a 3. Right now, neither one of these teams compares to either Duke or Rhode Island.

6:26 - By the way, Richmond Coach Chris Mooney looks like he's Mark Walhberg's geeky cousin. He looks just dorky enough that even Donnie would have beat him up, then hummed a New Kids song. Incidentally, Richmond takes their first lead.

6:27 - Jonny Flynn misses his 286th dunk since coming to Syracuse. It was spectacular looking - and lead to nothing. Great work Jonny.

6:30 - We are back from commercial. Devo manages to make 2 0f 3 free throws and the Waffle picks up a quick foul, I have a feeling this won't be the last time something like that happens.

6:33 - Devo is pulled after another bad turnover, I'm getting flashbacks to 2006...........the game is tied at 25.

6:36 - In the last few minutes we've seen Richmond baffled by the zone and Syracuse refusing to run half court sets of any kind. Ahhh, November basketball, it's FANTASTIC.........

6:38 - Richmond with back to back 3s, Boeheim takes a timeout. SU simply doesn't challenge shooters, and by challenge them I mean get them to put the ball on the floor. A weak hand up in someone's face isn't going to do it.

6:40 - The under 4 minute time out happens with less than 2 minutes to play. Richmond has made 4 consecutive field goals, leads 35-31 and SU has been stagnant on offense. My instincts tell me it's Greg Robinson's fault.....

6:43 - Doris Burke just mentioned Levance Fields. How is Levance Fields still in college?

6:44 - Richmond hits a 3, Flynn comes down on offense, leaves the waffle a sure lay up and of course he misses. What's amazing is that he somehow left it short, off the board. I'm not even sure how you do that.

6:45 - Weak ass crowd tonight. I don't care if it is a 6 pm game, show up people. It's not like there's anything else going on. Happy hour at the Chili's on Route 31 in Clay isn't that interesting on a Tuesday, trust me, I know.

6:46 - Halftime. Richmond leads 38-31. SU's defense has been spotty, the offense bogged down the last 10 minutes of the game and they've settled for long jumpers. In other words, it's last year all over again. Let's hope the second half is better.

Second Half

7:04 - And we're back. SU opens in man to man, Doris again reminds us about the Duke game Sunday - and a Flynn lay-in allows the 27 people in the Dome the chance to sit down.

7:11 - SU has been playing straight man to man in the second half. It hasn't been great, but the the team is playing with more energy, so that can't be a bad thing. Devendorf catches fire and runs off 11 straight points. SU leads 44-40, Richmond calls a TO.

7:12 - An Ameritrade commercial......that's what I'd like to be doing right now, trying to convince people to use your services to invest in the stock market.

7:18 - Paul Harris almost throws the ball away, Boeheim blows a blood vessel screaming at him.

7:20 - Richmond is missing free throws and SU is on a 14-2 run, they lead 47-42. Call me crazy, but I feel a Richmond run coming soon.....

7:22 - No one will mention this, but Arinze Onuaku just threw a beautiful outlet pass to Jonny Flynn that lead a run out and Flynn getting fouled at the other end. Little things like that win games.

7:28 - Doris Burke makes her first solid comment of the night, saying SU needs to play with more intensity. She said it appears the Orange players believe they are better than the spiders and she's right. It certainly appears that way. SU leads 50-48 with a little less than 12 minutes to play.

7:29 - I'm not sure of everyone's minutes played, but Flynn hasn't been out of the game much, there's been no Mookie Jones and Kris Joseph has played a few spotty minutes....hmmm.

7:35 -With Richmond trailing by 1 and gaining confidence, Jonny Flynn buries a 3 and then a tough fade away to sap confidence out of the Spiders. Flynn and Devo have 24 of the 27 second half points. 58-54 SU, with 7:46 to go. This one's not over.

7:37 - Did you know ESPN has interactive polls? Really, you'd never pick that up from the broadcast....they tell you results and everything. I can't get enough of these polls - how innovative. I hope they ask what your favorite type of cheese is - I'll be all over that one - Gouda kicks ass.

7:40 - Flynn goes up for another dunk and gets blocked. Not only that, he's in pain. I'm going to keep a missed dunk running tally for the season for him. It should be higher than the team's combined GPA..... Good thing Devo is unconscious, because Richmond would be killing SU without him. Arinze with a monster dunk, SU up 9 with 5 to play.

7:44 - Arinze cleans up another miss, the Waffle grabs a big rebound on the other end, SU is up 11 with 3 and half to play. This is looking much better. Richmond is OK, but they appear to be a middle of the pack A-10 team this year.

7:50 - I can hear fans bitching already, Boeheim is taking the air out of the ball, but it's working so far. SU leads by 6 with 1:50 to go, and they have the ball.

7:55 - Remember when I said taking the air out of the ball was working??? Well it stopped working - until Jonny Flynn took one to the tin, LAID IT IN (instead of missing the dunk) and got fouled. He missed the free throw. SU gets a stop the next time down, things are looking good again.

7:59 - Syracuse misses an ass-load of free throws down the strech but ultimately wins 76-71. A win is a win and Richmond is a decent team, but overall, this team is going to need to get much better as the season progresses and learn to play with more intensity. Even with the missed dunks and my snarky comments, Flynn was excellent, and Devendorf's offense put them over the top. Here's hoping that this allegation turns out to be nothing.

It's also worth noting that Boeheim played 7.5 guys. Rautins and Jackson logged some minutes, Kris Joseph made a few cameos, but that was it.....

On the Road Again

Demetris Nichols and Donte Greene are locked in a duel too see which former Orange forward can occupy time on the most NBA rosters. D-Nic got some bad news today, as the Chicago Bulls cut him.

I guess it's time to update this YouTube video.

T3I Exclusive: Gross/Robinson, The Final Meeting

If a Basketball Game Happens and No One Notices, Does it Count?

Amid all the Greg Robinson related news, the SU basketball team opened its season last night. Since it happened more than 24 hours ago, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you've already been fully debriefed on the situation. I also lament the fact that I can no longer waste valuable company time by blogging during the day, so this post is a little late. I was planning on getting something up last night, but got distracted drinking bleach and contemplating exactly what is between Andy Reid's ears.


As you know, SU crushed LeMoyne 85-51 in front of about 17 people in the Dome. Before I offer a few feeble observations, let's see what everyone else is saying. As always Sean has the situation covered, while over at Cuse Country they ponder the difficulties of a nine man rotation and Orange44 went the guest blogger route.


Now for a few brief Idiotic observations:

• It was impossible to learn ANYTHING from this game, as LeMoyne was more physically over matched than Jeff Van Gundy versus Alonzo Mourning.


• College basketball on Sunday night just doesn't feel right.


• I thought we'd see a little more of Mookie Jones last night (see the Cuse Country link above, they do great work).


• Conversely, Rautins played more than I thought he would. I know he takes a lot of threes, but the kid has a great basketball IQ, as he racked up 9 assists last night.


• Jonny Flynn is really, really good - but play the damn game and save the playground shit for the playground. And yes, I'm talking about trying to throw the ball off the backboard for a crazy dunk instead of taking the lay up. You and Paul aren't in Niagara Falls anymore.


• Three straight games and they still aren't making free throws....I'm just sayin.....

Richmond tomorrow night, that should be a better barometer for where the team is at. The early line on the number of flashbacks ESPN shows from the 1991 upset is 267......place your wagers now.

A Note From the Captain - and from Me

Sunday, November 16th was a bittersweet day. Greg Robinson's time in Central New York ran out, while in Southern Ohio, the Philadelphia Eagles somehow managed to TIE the freaking Cincinnati Bengals 13-13. Andy Reid's game plans now resemble his diet plans -- as he managed to call 56 pass plays versus 18 runs.

This has the Captain and the Russianator (talking in the third person rules) fired up. First, let's get to the Captain:

This game was for the Birds.....

As a resident of Pennsyltucky and a former Central New Yorker, I follow the Eagles. I am confused to how / why there isn't more scrutiny around the coaching/leadership of the organization. Does anyone else notice the similarities between Andy Reid and GRob?

How the Eagles are over .500 is a mystery. What is more of a mystery is why there is a false sense of security around the short yardage packages that are inserted weekly, ( weakly..) The Eagles are not a power running team, and yet 3 of their losses this year were due to the fact that Andy Reid thinks they are (CHI, WAS, NYG).

There were also flashes of this fantasy power running game today at Cincy. A tie, what a joke. High caliber teams get the job done week in, week out....period. Cincy is a team that the Birds should've beat by at least 14. Here are some lowlights from the game ....

- Donovan McNabb is newly colorblind. Apparently he got a memo stating that the new team colors were orange and black, not green and white.

- Also, Philly instituted a don't use your best receiver/runner plan for the day. McNabb had 58 pass attempts when Westbrook, the team's best player ends up with 3 receptions and 14 carries.
- Anyone know how the highest scoring kicker in the NFL is ???? That's right David Akers. Just as long as he's inside 40 yards, he money. 41 yards plus, not so much. What does this show us? Lots of red zone attempts, no few touchdowns.

- Time of possession PHI 33 CIN just under 42.

- Highlight here... The Eagles are the 2nd least penalized team in the league...wait, let me check .... 8 penalties today = 60 yards.. my mistake, lowlight.

It has been a rough sports year thus far for this friend of the idiot, I'm going to drink Woodchuck till I pass out.

- The Captain

Russianator

The Eagles problems are really simple - the league has Reid figured out - and he refuses to change. 10 years into his regime the team still can't run a 2 minute offense, the imbalance between running and passing is something even Mike Leach would laugh at, the receivers didn't have a good day, and I'm as big a fan of Donovan McNabb as you'll find - but he's been pretty bad lately. Today Reid punted with a minute and half left in overtime. It was 4th and 1 and he punted. A tie doesn't do them any good, it's effectively a loss, yet the fat man punted.

I'm sure McNabb agreed with it because I saw Don on Sportscenter and he DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS SUCH A THING AS A TIE. I mean come on, did he think they were going to play forever? That game wasn't going to end unless a defense scored. McNabb even made a comment that he would hate to see a tie in the playoffs or Superbowl.

Uh Don.........in that case they keep playing, but the way things are going, it's not something your team is going to have to worry about. Hey, Greg Robinson is available, maybe he can help...........

V-G Day: A World Reacts

Bells are ringing in the churches of CNY as members of Orange Nation remember November 16, 2008 as V-G (Victory over Greg) Day.

Orange fans around the world joined in on the celebration:

The Good Doctor was right, Orange was the Apple upon news of Greg's firing

Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll closed Salina Street upon hearing the news.

"Au revoir Greg!"

The Northside of Syracuse was illuminated as the Simones lit up the night sky over Alliance Bank Stadium.

Orange fans in London danced in the streets.



Ickey got the crew together in Cincy for one last shuffle.

Times Square, NY

Brandy Chastain, closet Orange fan

Ewoks on the planet Endor celebrated the rebirth of Syracuse football and began their campaign for Chewbacca as the new head coach.

Sunday November 16, 2008, 3:30 PM ET

Our Nightmare is Over

The shoe has finally dropped on Greg Robinson, his tenure as the head football coach at Syracuse University is officially over. Statistically Greg will go down as one of the worst head coaches in Syracuse history, as the man he replaced won 6 games in his final season - it took Greg for years to win 9. Everyone under the sun knew this day was coming, as evidenced by the huge package of stories and interactive materials the Post Standard had up 5 minutes after Greg was fired.

Today we rejoice, tomorrow we worry about the next guy Gross hires.

Tick...tick...tick...

39-14, Storz.

Before I offer up some incoherent observations from an idiot dumb enough to trek up to the Dome for last night's debacle, let me first serve you up some real news and commentaries:

UConn Beats Up SU (Syracuse.com)

Axe is once again Sorting Through the Rubble

Dave Rahme

Donnie Webb

Hookah-mania is runnin' wild brother!

The Daryl Gross Propoganda Machine

An Idiot's observations:

• in four years of "ugliness" this game ranks right up there, we're talking "it's 2AM and I wouldn't even talk to her at last call in a bar after several shots of tequila ugly."
• T3I's Adopted Orangeman Chaz Cervino vaults back into the Heisman Race with a big 3rd down grab
• To all the members of the "Mitch Browning Is Doing a Great Job Club" let me know when your next meeting is, I would love to drink some of your Kool-Aid
• Great use (insert sarcasm here) of Cody Catalina
• UConn fans, they're so precious...from my section they fell into one of two categories: 1) older fans wearing every single piece of Husky merchandise they own, or 2) younger fans wearing bad Red Sox camo hats (true story) ...either ones were as annoying as you'd expect coming from Storz
• A further related UConn fan observation....when you come to the game late and are coming down the aisle to find your seats, WAIT UNTIL THERE IS A STOP IN PLAY. Even though it's a bad brand of football, I'd rather see what's happening on the field than see you fumble to find your tickets and try to figure out which side of the aisle to enter. Football etiquette people.
• Did you know Pat Shadle is an Exercise Science major?
• The UConn band was bigger, louder and more involved than the Cuse in our own house. I'll take emasculation for $100 please Alex.
• Max Suter was everywhere
• I'm pretty sure I'd rather watch a Lifetime Made for TV Movie over tape of the 3rd quarter of this game
• Dome ice cream chipwich....hi old friend, it was nice to see you again.

What People Are Saying:

"We're not functioning, obviously." ~ Greg Robinson

"It sucks." ~ Bruce Williams

"It's been rough these four years that I've been here." ~Curtis Brinkley

"It wasn't our type of game." ~ Nick Santiago

"Can we play Syracuse every week?" ~ Randy Edsall*

* 100% made up

Ebay Item of the Week

Calling all Nets fans. Ok, ok...stop laughing.

11.o PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.6 APG.....former NJ Net Chris Morris has some pretty big shoes to fill.

However, for just $99.99 we think you are up for the job.

These kicks will look great next to my Sam Bowie tube socks.

Silly Eagles Fans

Here's a quick math problem for you. What do you get when you take an 8:15 pm start add Philadelpia Eagles fans and divide it by the city's first championship in 25 years? Why drunken human jousting of course.......I can't believe you guys didn't know that.



Don't forget Part II

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

The Boston Globe is reporting that John Marinatto will be elevated from his current Senior Associate Commissioner position and will succeed Mike Tranghese as the next Big East Commissioner.

Like Tranghese and Dave Gavitt before him, Marinatto comes from Providence College. What this means for the future of the conference is certainly up for debate, but there are big challenges ahead and it's not a stretch to think Marinatto will have a similar mindset to that of his two predecessors and mentors. Let the football schools v. basketball schools battle continue...

A Few More Thoughts on the Lunacy That is SU Football

The latest news coming out of the inept Syracuse football program is making my head hurt. I feel like Kenny Haas at the end of a three day jolt cola bender.

Let me try and organize my rage in some sort of coherent manner, which already makes me the exact opposite of Greg Robinson.

On Dr. Gross' announcement that there is no announcement:

- Obviously Gross is painted into a corner here, but shut the hell up. We're all smart enough to figure out that no news is exactly what we think it is - no news. Thanks to this crazy things called "the internet" and "television" the second you say anything, we are going to know.

- While we're on the subject, here are a few other things Gross is focused on other than firing his coach:

- Lindsay Lohan finally talking about her girlfriend but refusing to admit she's a lesbian. There are a lot of good lessons here, like admitting you have a football program, but refusing to admit it stinks.

- Getting Lee Corso to stop attending college parties.

- Trying to figure out if anyone would care if Mike Francesca and Keith Olbermann killed each other in a fight to the death.

- And getting this bride out of the pool.

On what we learned from Greggo's latest press conference.

Take a deep breath, settle in and I'll try and summarize this one:

- We learned that the quarterback that completed 4 passes last week will start and the former starter who looked even worse on Saturday "may" play. Of course, when asked by the media, the back up said he has been told he WILL play, so they've got that nice disconnect going there.

- No Champ, I'm pretty sure he has no clue as to whether he can play them at the same time.

- We learned that the red shirt freshman quarterback they moved to tight end a few weeks ago might not actually BE a tight end and then learned that the 3rd string quarterback isn't in the picture to play - even though we already know based on their performances this season that the first two guys on the depth chart aren't very good.

- While this may be confusing to some, I've decoded this latest Robinson QB ploy. It's clear he has installed a version of the wildcat offense where the TIGHT END will be taking direct snaps from center. As soon as they can figure out how to get the center to snap the ball sideways, they'll be shredding opponents.

- We also learned that the back up middle linebacker Mike Stenclik, who played well last year in a limited role and frankly can't be any worse than the incumbent, was told last week he would play, but Greg only managed to get him on the field for 3 plays. Coincidentally, Rutgers went 3 and out that series.

Greg Robinson and Daryl Gross - one guy announces he's not announcing anything, the other announces so much that half of what he says contradicts the other half. Is it me or is this whole thing getting more and more bizarre by the day?