This Week In Syracuse Football Through The Music of Bruce Springsteen

Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

38-14 good guys behind three touchdowns from "The Fresh" Prince Tyson-Gulley.

The dogs on Main Street howl 'cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land

I believe in a promised land...

Meanwhile, The Fresh Prince works on his touchdown dance for next year:




Finally, courtesy of Syracusefan.com poster "Franz69",  here's Yankee announcer John Sterling w/ the call on one of PTG's three scores:

It's Christmas time again...

and that means one thing: bad music videos from the '80s.

Thank you America's Team for these two classics:

Mark Sanchez Still Haunted by Memory of Completed Pass

Mark Sanchez, tormented by a rouge completion

Benched Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has been tortured all year by hazy memories of a pass he completed to own of his own receivers 2010. It's the last known time such an instance occurred, and while it's been speculated by many that trading for Tim Tebow in the off-season ruined Sanchez's confidence, we can exclusively reveal the real culprit is the massive expectations the completion placed on the QB's tiny shoulders.

The play occurred in a week ten of the 2010 season in a 26-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns when Sanchez hit receiver Jerricho Cotchery for a 25 yard gain. We spoke to Sanchez about the play and how he relives the awful memory every time he practices football, which is approximately once a month.

Sanchez, in his own words, reveals exclusively:

"The play was one of our favorites, X-Right-36- Topanga Cory - Manicure- Dig Dug - Y - Snack. I make the play call in the huddle, get to the line and look at the presnap read. The Browns only have 11 guys on the field, so I know we've got a a two man advantage. Plus the free safety was making funny faces at me. I think he had gas.

So I drop back and the pass rush is coming. I mean its really coming. Like me on Prom Night - last year. I make my first read, and the guy holding the down and distance marker is covered by our equipment manager so I go read two, but our left guard is on the ground. At this point I've got half a second at best to get the hall off , so that's when I trust my training. I see a blur of green streaking across the near hash, close my eyes and cut it loose. 

At this point it all goes to black, as I get sandwiched by the defensive tackle and the end, but we are on the road and no one is cheering, so I think maybe there's a chance it didn't get picked. Sure enough, I look up and Jerricho is making some weird motion with his arm. I asked a buddy about it later, apparently he was doing a sign for a thing called a 'first down.' I'd never seen that before. Anyway, the pass was completed and we go about our business and win the game in OT.

Flash forward  two years later and I just can't believe I have to do that again. Hell, I can't believe people expect me to do it again.  I mean how many passes am I supposed to complete to my own team? It's just not fair. No one expects Tebow to complete a pass and everyone still loves him."

"And you want to know the worst thing? I never even saw the damn thing since I was on the ground. At some point I'm going to have to ask the coaching staff if they have any of our games, or games of our opponents, on tape."

Greg McElroy will  be under center when the Jets take on San Diego. There's been no confirmation to the rumor that Norv Turner has tried to trade for Sanchez.

Greg Robinson a Mere 890 Wins Short of Jim Boeheim

via https://twitter.com/nikebasketball

Jim Boeheim won his 900th game as a college basketball coach tonight, a feat only two other men have accomplished. The win leaves him in the company of Bob Knight, Mike Krzyzewski, and juuuuuust slightly ahead of former SU football coach Greg Robinson.

We caught up with the little engine that couldn't to get his take on the Hall of Famer's accomplishment. Greg, who is now the assistant quality control coach/special teams coordinator of the Laguna Beach Pop Warber Under 8 Mini-Hawks C team was remarkably candid in his remarks about his former colleague's historic feat.

"You know, if they'd just give me another shot I'm sure with the right support I'd be able to catch Jim someday," Robinson said. "Sure I only won 10 games, but if you believe in something, I mean really believe, anything can happen. Heck, Marty McFly went back to the future because he believed he could - how do like that?"

Robinson continued, "Look, we didn't give up when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor. I'm not giving up now. I'm actually ready to get back in the game. I've been watching a lot of tape of other great coaches and I'm inspired by the work guys like Finstock, Klein, Gennaro and Buttermaker did to motivate their players. I can bring that back. Sure Boeheim has won some games, but how hard is it to win when you've got really good players? You give me Mookie Jones and Josh Wright and I could have shown you magic too."

Robinson concluded, "Look, Jimmy's a good coach, but if you look at things more closely, we've got a lot in common. Our teams routinely gave up 60 plus points. Our teams both dribbled the ball. Our teams both gave up long shots over the top of our zone defense....he was just a little luckier than I was. Once I get back I'll show em - because I think I can. I mean I did beat Notre Dame four years ago and look at them now.

Indeed you did Mr. Robinson, indeed you did.

From the Idiots to Mr. Boeheim - congratulations on an outstanding accomplishment. Here are a couple of more tributes we've curated from Twitter to mark the occassion.



Via www.suathletics.com (click to enlarge)





via Kat

Some Guy Really Thought Syracuse Turned The Heat Off in the Carrier Dome Tonight

Sure, the old Boston Garden had its 90 degree playoff games.  However, the Orange have a different advantage... turning down the heat.  According to this guy, it was 46 degrees in the Carrier Dome as Detroit went through their pre-game workout.

In related news, Ty Willingham agrees with this theory.

Exclusive Look Into Mike Rice's Practices

Earlier today Rutgers suspended head basketball coach Mike Rice for three games for a "violation of athletic department policy." What wasn't explicitly stated was the exact nature of this "violation."

When you suspend your head coach for three games and don't say why, people get curious.

Well we didn't have to remain curious for long, as it only took N.J. Star Ledger reporter Brendy Prunty a few hours to break the story and tell us that throwing basketballs at players heads is apparently not sanctioned by the Rutgers athletic department...which is odd since Greg Schiano got away with this for years.

While Prunty may have broken the story, we've got the video - so here exclusively, we bring you the video footage of Mike Rice conducting basketball practice.

Don McPherson is a helluva lot more classy than we are.

Donnie, we're still bitter.  You were robbed.