Syracuse vs. Canisius (The Youk freakout edition)

I know we've missed a few game previews over the past two weeks, but there's only so much you can say about the likes of Monmouth and Eastern Michigan.

Thankfully, we had big news with the Yankees signing of Kevin Youkilis this week, giving us a chance to dissect the actions of the turncoat.  So buckle in and enjoy the armchair quarterbacking of 2 Yankees fans (Tripodi and Dan), 2 Sox fans (Schirmer and Pat Shores), and 1 impartial observer (yours truly).  I asked everyone to give their take on (a) the Youk signing, (b) the Cuse team so far this season, and (c) a prediction for tonight's game.  Here's what transpired...

The Yankees Corner:

Tripodi - As a Yankees fan it pains me to say Youk is now somebody I'll have to root for, but on paper he actually fits in well. If A-Rod wasn't on the shelf for almost half the season I'd feel differently because no team needs two aging, injury-prone players at the same position, but his surgery changes everything. Youk is a patient hitter who takes pitches, something certain Yankees (ahem, Granderson and Cano) seemed to get away from last year, especially in the playoffs. While I would have preferred to pay him $8M instead of $12M, what's an extra couple million to the Yankees? I've warmed up to the signing but he will need to stay healthy and hit at least .280 to fully get me on board. Over anything, I root for the name on the front of the jersey and not the (non-existent) one on the back.

As for 'Cuse, they have done everything expected of them with their usual weak non-conference schedule. I have been pleasantly surprised with the ability of Michael Carter-Williams as far as distributing the basketball goes. Either I was ignorant to his true abilities from the start or he has developed this part of his game in practice but either way, I'm on board and his talent is top-5 NBA pick legitimate. I'm intrigued to see how he performs once conference play begins and teams start to focus on shutting him down and making other players create offensively.

Canisius may be 8-1 so far this year but I don't think they can hang with the Orange for more than 30 minutes, if that. Syracuse 76, Canisius 64.

Dan Theal - The Greek god of walks comes to the Yankees:  Should I be excited? Had this move been made two years ago, I would have been thrilled.  After the 2010 season, the career .294 hitter was at the pinnacle of his career.  He was launching a homer every 19 at bats over a three year stretch where his slugging percentage was averaging .560. Surely, even as a corner utility infielder splitting time as a DH, this bat would have been welcomed in any lineup.  But there were two reasons that he was traded to the Pale Hose last season: Health and Production.  The guy has NEVER in his career eclipsed 150 regular season games played and over the past 3 seasons, he has only averaged 115 games. In that stretch, we have seen his batting average tail from .307 to .258 to .235.  That, my friends, is the wrong direction.  His 51 walks in 2012 amounted for his lowest total since he was a part-time starter in 2005.  He hasn't hit 20 homers since 2009.  To sum it up, the guy is washed up.  Will he be the next Wade Boggs and make the Red Sox look silly when he produces in Pinstripes?  Perhaps. I guess I am a rare breed of Yankee skeptics, the type of fan that doesn't expect to win the World Series every season.  Good enough to win 95 games, sure. But with too much money tied up to players on the wrong side of 35, Youk will not be the solution to the quest for the 28th Championship. 

Side note: Many readers may not know this, but the author of this blog is an avid Fantasy Baseball player.  He has perennial success in our keeper league because he manages to pick up players in the Braves farm-system right before they make major league impact.  In 2011, he drafted Kevin Youkilis in the 1st round.  With Youk's lineup protection of newly acquired Adrian Gonzalez, it seemed like a safe pick.  Well, blame it on Jay's wedding or Arinze Onuaku's injury, but Jay finished in 2nd last place that year.  Lesson learned: Don't get married in the middle of baseball season and don't draft Kevin Youkilis. 

Question: As a proud alum of Canisius College and former Mr. Canisius, how will your upstart Golden Griffins (6-1) under new head coach Jim Baron fare against your first love: the Orange?
Answer: For the first time in as long as I can remember, Canisius basketball is relevant in Buffalo.  The Griffins have escaped from under the broad shadows of University at Buffalo, Niagara, and St. Bonaventure.  Will they manage to pull off an upset at the Dome?  Probably not.  But when these teams played in 2006, Canisius led at halftime.  So don't go thinking this will be blow-out city.  It might be, but I will not allow myself to predict such outcome. Final score: Cuse 126, Canisius 117, 6OT.  Go Griffs. 

The Red Sox Corner:

Pat Shores - I can learn to hate Youkilis just like any other Yankee.  It was painful to watch the way his exit went down and would have loved to see him consider coming back now that Bobby V is gone, but that is just wishful thinking.  I think the Yanks made out well as Youk is going to come back to the AL East with a bit of fire to ensure Boston understands just how much they could use him - and for just a one-year deal, Yanks played that one well.  Unfortunately, the free agent market looks weak - so I hope all those prospects the Sox have lined up become major league quality quick or we're going to have another painful year.  Hey at least we don't have to pay Dice-K anymore!

On to a more encouraging topic: Cuse basketball.   I really like how Cuse is looking this year so far.  However, as with most years of the past I am grateful for the first 2 months of lesser conference games as we clearly need it.  One of our greatest strengths this year is that we don't have one all-star player which allows different members of the team to step up each game (much tougher for the competition to design a game plan around a team whose best player will rotate throughout the season).  Unfortunately, this is also what makes Cuse vulnerable.  The way I see it, the whole team gets a lot better if Cooney starts to become a threat behind the ark.  Defenses will need to push up and guard him tight.  Triche and Southerland will become more effective shooting with less pressure.  Carter-Williams will become even more of an assist machine.

Canisius' chances of winning reflect their mascot: mythological, they don't exist.   Cuse 74 over the Griffins 61.  Sorry for those going to the game, Cuse will leave you 1 point short of the free taco.

Schirmer -  I distinctly remember when I started to realize that Santa Clause wasn't real. My first grader brain had reached the mental capacity to analytically deduce that there's no way in hell that Santa could travel to every Christian kid's house, have enough time to put the presents under the tree, eat the cookies, feed the carrots to Rudolph, and move on to the next house. I mean, I even considered that maybe he could have been aided by time zones! But I resigned myself that despite this crushing blow to my childhood, it was a rational realization and a fair one, and that I'd still be getting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles under the Christmas tree from my loving parents.

Youkilis signing with the Yankees is sort of like this. My head can logically fit the pieces together, only instead of life moving on for Little Steve Schirmer, my parents then abducted the Marketplace Mall Santa every year, doused him in gasoline, and forced me to set him ablaze as I watched what I once loved turn into ashes.

Listen, I get that baseball players, let alone athletes in general, have short shelf lives and have to capitalize on getting the buck when they can. Particularly in cases where franchises irresponsibly throw their money around like they were starring in a Flo Rida video. But for Kevin Youkilis to sell out? Seriously?!? This was the one guy on the Red Sox the past 7 years that seemed like he really, truly hated the Yankees. Even David Ortiz and Dustin Pedoia was often seen getting chummy with the likes of Derek Jeter and Robbie Cano. But Youk? Ooohhh, Youk. That annoying batting stance that drove Yankee fans nuts. Shooting death stares at Joba when a pitch flew two inches inside. And you can bet he was game to slide spikes up into the groin of Jeter just to break up a double play in a 10-2 ball game. He embodied everything that Red Sox Nation could rally behind towards our unrelenting hatred of everything Yankees.

Was his divorce from the Red Sox ugly? Absolutely. It wasn't fun seeing him painted as a clubhouse cancer and a distraction. But when he ultimately proved to be right on that homicidal maniac Bobby Valentine, at least I started to take solace that he directly contributed to one World Series and left a trail of aggravated Yankee fans in his wake. 

Only instead of relishing in these memories, I now have to watch him don the pinstripes. Maybe Yankee fans were right. Maybe he really was that douchebag that I so vehemently defended for years. Hopefully he'll be so unrecognizable after he's forced to shave that trademark beard that he'll just become another forgettable member of the evil empire. Not the player I once loved.

As for Cuse, I could deliver more divine inspirations from our Lord and Savior Trevor Cooney, or wax philosophical on Michael Carter-William's wingspan. But considering I just gave a eulogy to one thing I love, I think it's time I give one more eulogy. The Big East.

With news today that the seven Catholic Schools were officially leaving the conference, the despicable destruction of the Big East was complete. Sure, Syracuse had already abandoned ship long before the conference hit the iceberg. But as a general College Basketball fan, it really is a sad day for me personally.

The Big East Tournament was always near and dear to my heart. In college, I remember rushing home from my Accounting 101 class my sophomore year, just in time to stand at the edge of my throw rug to watch Gerry McNamara nail the game winning 3 against Cincinnati. Being the superstitious whack job that I am, I stood in that same spot for each game forward, all the way towards Syracuse capturing the most improbably Big East Title in its history.

And who can forget the 6 OT game vs. UConn? Jay and I certainly cant. Mired in the middle of our busy season, we told our sleep schedules and client obligations to cram it and stayed up for the whole shebang. We howled along with Devendorf when he seemingly hit the game winning three, only to be cripplingly disappointed when it was called off. We cursed Paul Harris again, and again, and again, and again. We giggled like school girls when our most hated UConn player, A.J. Price, finally fouled out. We wondered who this Kris Joseph fellow was as he took the floor in the 4th OT. And finally, we shared a relieved bro-hug after Andy Rautins put the game away in the 6th OT, as it dawned on us that we had just been a part of sports history.

And now with the mass exodus that occurred today, it's all over. All because of a collegiate sport that's decided by stat geeks. I hope you're happy Kirk Herbstreit and Lou Holtz. I'm just glad I got to attend a Big East Tournament game in my lifetime before the conference came tumbling down.

The Agnostic Center:

Jay - I think it's important to take a step back here and judge this signing from the perspective of some of the key stakeholders...

Joe Girardi:

Positive - He can't possibly hate me as much as Bobby Valentine
Negative - I already know my binder doesn't have any plays for aging, broken down corner infielders

Alex Rodriguez:

Positive - If Youkilis bounces back, I might not have a position in the lineup anymore
Negative - If I'm stuck on the bench, I'll have more time to hit on women in the bleachers.

Derek Jeter:

Positive - I don't have to listen to A-Rod hit on women in the bleachers from 3rd base anymore.
Negative - People might actually start paying attention to me hitting on women in the bleachers.

C.C. Sabbathia:

Positive - Finally somebody to point me to all the best fried chicken restaurants on the road.
Negative - It's going to be very hard to pitch 200+ innings when I weigh 500 pounds.

Hal and Hank Steinbrenner:

Positive - This brings us one step closer to obtaining all the 2004 Red Sox, so that we can perform some sort of Freaky Friday type voo-doo magic and go back in time to change the course of history.
Negative - In order for this premise to work, we'd also have to obtain Jamie Lee Curtis.

America:

Positive - We don't have to stare at this anymore
 

Negative - We don't get to see this anymore.  There just aren't enough good fu manchu's anymore.

As for Syracuse, I won't waste a lot of breath here since my opinions on this year's team are already readily available throughout this site.  However, I will point out one thought that popped into my head the other day which seems even more relevant as I watch Butler pulling the upset over the #1 ranked Hoosiers while writing this piece...

Prior to 2010, Syracuse had not been ranked #1 in the country in 20 years.  Now, we're just a few more games breaking the right way away from being #1 3 times in 4 seasons.  I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.  That'll do Jim, that'll do.

If Canisius had the audacity to bestow the label of Mr. Canisius on one Daniel Theal, then I have to question their judgment of character.  Clearly they can't be good at recruiting with that kind of taste.  I'll take the Orange to start slow, but then bust out in a big way midway through the 1st half before ultimately cruising to an 84 - 68 victory.

Top Chef Fantasy League Update / Quarter Season Thoughts

Ok, so I haven't really had time to address any of my thoughts on this season so far.  Let's correct that before Josh picks a fight with me for slacking on the blog...

-  Let's get this out of the way upfront.  Top Chef clearly is aware of my blog and is really pissed off that I created a fantasy league without paying them royalties.  Like reallllly pissed off.  How else do you explain them bringing back 3 chefs from past seasons, eliminating multiple chefs on the same episode (twice), and bringing back the Last Chance Kitchen?  Wait, what's that?  This is the 10th season of a reality show, so they have to do stunts like that?

No, I don't think that's it.  Has to be my fantasy league.

-  So if a reality show has to painstakingly remind you episode after episode that one of the contestants is an asshole, and there is another contestant that is constantly getting in fights with the "asshole" (and with other contestants as well), who is the real asshole?

Obviously I'm speaking of John and Josh.  Thanks to the editing, we get reminded at least three times an episode that John is the "most hated chef in Dallas".  Never mind that he seems perfectly willing to play nice with other contestants, complimenting Kuniko effusively in episode 1 and voluntarily taking a backseat each time he has had immunity.  The few times he has come off poorly for criticizing other contestants choices or execution, he's usually at least had a valid point (even if he wasn't always tactful in expressing it).

Meanwhile you have Josh, who always likes to remind everyone he's just some country bumpkin from Oklahoma.  He acts more like a bull at the rodeo though, picking a fight with John every chance he gets, jumping down Tyler's throat for comments in a conversation he wasn't even a part of, and just generally coming off as pompous blowhard.

I guess we shouldn't be that surprised though.  I mean any guy that would leave his newborn baby at home to go on a reality television show and grows a mustache like that has to have a little villain in him.

-  Disappointing showing for the returning contestants thus far.  Their results have been forgettable at best and more often bordering on amateurish.  Things got off to a bad start for them right away, being one of the two bottom teams in the first episode.  Since then, they've all been on the bottom at least once more and C.J. was eliminated last week.  

In hindsight, I guess this makes sense.  It's probably not the best sign for your cooking potential when you jump at the chance to go have a second chance on Top Chef for some regular season.  If they were any good, they would've been brought back for the All-Stars season or moved on to some new reality T.V. venture (like Spike and Marcel on Next Iron Chef).  

 -  Kristen's been really impressive so far, being one of the few contestants I can ever remember winning an elimination challenge by making two side dishes.  This seems patently unfair.  I mean she's already a model, now you're going to tell me she's a great chef too.  What next, she was one of the two winners of the Powerball lottery last week?  She tried to make a bechamel sauce, but accidentally found a cure for cancer instead?  All bets are off with her.

-  I hate to admit this, but I kind of miss Carla.  Don't get me wrong, she was more annoying than Dick Vitale during a Duke-Kentucky game, but I miss the excitement of turning in every episode not quite sure whether someone might get stabbed.  It adds a different element of suspense to the show when there's a 50/50 shot Josh will get shived if he throws Carla under the bus at Judges Table.  My ear drums on the other hand are just fine without her...

-  With Tyler going home last week, I'd be remiss if I didn't take the chance to address this topic before it's too late.  Am I supposed to be impressed that you work at the John Elway chain of restaurants?  Is there any type of restaurant that has a lower standard of chef and a higher likelihood to fail than a famous ex-athlete's chain restaurant?

-  Bart and Sheldon as a team this past week was hilarious.  Who at Bravo do we need to send the petition to in order to get them their own spin-off after the season is over?

My updated guess for Top 3 is John, Kristen, and Micah

And here are your updated standings through 4 weeks for those of you playing along at home (humor me):

John - 11
Sheldon - 10
Kristen - 10
Kuniko - 6 (eliminated)
Carla - 4 (eliminated)
Bart - 3
Lizzie - 2
Micah - 1
Josie - 0
Stefan - (-1)
Tyler - (-2) (eliminated)
C.J. - (-2) (eliminated)
Danyelle - (-2)
Eliza - (-3)
Josh - (-3)
Brooke - (-5)
Chrissy - (-5) (eliminated)
Jeffrey - (-10) (eliminated)

Recaps on Recaps on Recaps

Forgive me father, for I have been delinquent in my Syracuse basketball recaps this week. Boy, oh boy, do I have a lot to say after tonight's game though.  Order a pizza, grab a six-pack, and buckle in.  It's gonna be a long one...

-  Let's start with tonight's game.  Holy freaking crap.  As I said to approximately 5 people within the first two minutes after the game, I'm not going to overreact to one game against an over matched opponent, but that is a team that can absolutely win the national title.  Like OH EM GE guys.

Obviously they have to keep improving and stay healthy, but wow what a ceiling that is.

-  The box score from the Monmouth game was straight out of a video game.  I've been staring at it for five minutes trying to figure out where to start and I'm flummoxed.  It's really just amazing.  It ate the whole wheel of cheese, pooped in the refrigerator, and I'm not even mad.

-  I think I have to start with Michael Carter-Williams.  I know it's not the highest level of competition, but he has 5 double-digit assist games already and is averaging 10.3 per game, including a ridiculous 37 assists in 3 games this week.  As a frame of reference, with the exception of last year (which had to players average just under 10 assists per game before a drop off to 3rd at 8 per game), basically no player since 2005-06 has averaged more than 8.5 assists per game.

Does he turn the ball over a little too much?  Yes.  Is he potentially one of the worst alley-oopers ever?  Maybe.  But all I know is if he keeps racking up games like tonight, he can turn the ball over a few times and that will just be a-ok.

And oh by the way, he's fourth in the country in steals too.

I think my preseason bold prediction that Michael Carter-Williams would be a first-team all Big East selection is looking a tad bit conservative.  I don't want to get carried away here, but he has a legitimate chance to be a national first team All-American.

-  With the being said,  allow me to be Smokey the Bear and douse this forest fire just a little bit.  We need to have a serious conversation for a minute.  Is Michael Carter-Williams the all-time worst "alley-er" ever?  It's a legitimate question.  My vote is wavering towards yes.

I mean, it's hard to make fun of the nation's assist leader for his passes, but he's bordering on two alley-oop attempts per game that either clang off the backboard or sail out of bounds untouched.  I think he just gets a little too excited sometimes, and I'm willing to deal with that (I mean, we survived 5 years of Scoop after all), but man it can be painful sometimes.

-  Speaking of Michael Carter-Williams.  His name is really long.  Like, I'm getting sick of typing it long.  So let's come up with a nickname.  I've mostly used MCW here (and occasionally the Hyphen).  But here's a first in the Great White Forth's history.  I'm letting the fans decide.  What do you prefer I call him when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to type his full name for the 17th time in a post?  Vote in the sidebar for the next couple weeks.

-  Trevor Cooney.  Oh my boyfriend Trevor Cooney.  My how fortunes can change in one short week. There was one point during the Eastern Michigan game, after a particularly egregious Cooney airball, when I was just broken.  I mean, I wasn't to the point of calling Taylor Swift for pointers on break-up songs, but I was wondering whether I needed to give Trevor some space in order to let him blossom.  The Curse of the Jay Schwartz man crush was seeping from every three-point shot he clanged off the back of the rim.

10 3-pointers and a couple of nice dunks later and I'm outside Trevor's window with a boom box, professing my love for him and begging him to take me back.

Ok, in all seriousness though, it was good to see Cooney finally find the range during some live action.  Based on the reaction of the fans when he finally sank a three against Eastern Michigan, I'd guess I'm not the only one with big hopes for Cooney.  And honestly, based on his teammates reactions these 3 games, I think this is what they see every day in practice and they were just waiting for it to translate to a game.

-  Forgive me if I've made this point on the blog before.  I've talked about it with Lindsey so many times that I honestly can't remember if I ever wrote about it here or not.  Does anybody else feel like Trevor Cooney is the equivalent of a 7th grader playing up on Varsity?

He gets so excited after every play and plays so hard and so fast at all times, its like he has to prove himself with every second on the floor.  Not a bad thing certainly, but funny to watch.

-  Good to see Fair finally bust out of his funk.  It was hard to criticize him too much, because he was still putting up good stat lines at the end of the day, but he had certainly been very quiet over the last few games.  Then he proceeded to put up 16-13 and 14-10 in just over a half of play in back-to-back games.

I particularly liked the article I saw on the Syracuse newspaper's website, where Fair essentially said that he didn't think it was right that a point guard was leading the team in rebounding.  He wasn't overly concerned with individual stats, but those where his rebounds and he was going to do something about it.  And then he went out there and backed it up with back to back double-doubles.

-  Lindsey has claimed Jerami Grant as her's.  She was on him before I was, and I'm very jealous after his breakout week.  I still think Grant is a year away, as I think he's going to lose almost all of his playing time once Big East play starts.  But he is going to be reallllly good.  He is just so steady and doesn't really seem to make many bad plays.

He's also a much better shooter than I thought, knocking down a three in back-to-back games and a couple of outside jumpers too.  If he keeps working on that jumper, he's going to be a stud next year.

-  Speaking of unexpected outside shooting, how about Cuse making 26 3-pointers in 3 games this week with an 0-fer from Arkansas hero James Southerland?  Like I said in my preseason predictions, this team has a lot of people capable of shooting the deep ball and that is what is going to make them so dangerous this season.  On any given night, Cooney or Southerland are capable of putting up 5+ threes in a game, and MCW, Triche, and Fair can all knock down a few in their own right.

-  Kind of a random note, but did anybody else notice the announcer going all John Madden on us in the Long Beach State game?  In describing Michael Carter-Williams game, he said something to the effect of...

"This kid is might just get a triple-double this season.  He has a double-double tonight.  That's a double-digit point night and a double-digit assist night.  And he might just get double-digit steals too, which if he did it with double-digit rebounds, that would be a quadruple-double.  Because you see, that's like a double, double-double.  Speaking of double double-doubles, CJ Fair's got a double-double tonight.  So when you have two players with double-doubles, that's a double double-double, not to be confused with a double double-double by one player, which is really a quadruple double and that's what we're talking about here.  Boom, tough acting Tinactin.

- Poor Brandon Triche.  He just put up 18 points and 8 assists, and nobody even noticed, because his assist total was half that of MCW's.

-  In the spirit of full disclosure, Lindsey managed to somehow get me into a conversation about which Syracuse players were the hottest and which were the most busted during the game tonight.  I still maintain that she slipped something into my beers, but I can't deny that I did play along.  In case you're interested here were the unofficial results....

Good Looking:  Christmas, Southerland, Keita

Ok Looking:  Cooney, Triche,

Kind of Weird Looking:  Grant, Carter-Williams

Pretty Ugly:  Fair (sorry buddy, it's the gapped teeth)

Really Ugly:  Coleman.  It's never good when you look like a heavily tattooed pitbull/pug hyrbid.

I've got more thoughts on this week, and the team in general, but I'll hold on to them for now since this post is probably already unnecessarily long.  Next game's not until Saturday, so use the week off to get caught up on Top Chef.  There will be a scoring update and recap coming up later this week, I promise.

Arkansas Recap

Make Jimmy Dykes happy and make sure you obey the yield sign and proceed cautiously while reading this blog...

MVP:  James Southerland

I'm going to go out on the limb here and say that this will be the most obvious MVP honors of the season.  It wasn't just that Southerland tied the Syracuse record for most three-pointers in a game with 9 or smashed his previous career high in points with 35.  It was the manner in which he did it.

Check out these highlights.  With Syracuse off to a slow start, Southerland came in and proceeded to hit 5 treys in a 5 minutes span, turning a one point deficit into a 15 point lead in the process.  After Arkansas stormed back to cut the Orange's huge lead down to three early in the 2nd half, Southerland hit threes on consecutive possessions to bump the lead back to 9.  Then, after a trip to the bench due to foul trouble, Southerland came back to hit a final three pointer, a free-throw line jumper, and a dunk in the final three minutes to salt away the victory.

Without James Southerland, the Orange lose that game plain and simple.

LVP:  Rakeem Christmas

Christmas had been quietly having a pretty good year so far.  Not a Fab Melo-like sophomore year leap by any means, but he was averaging close to 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 1/2 blocks per game in only 20 minutes coming into this contest.

Then he came into this game, put up a bagel on the scoreboard, and had the (SC)OOPS of the game (more on this in a minute...), all while only getting 12 minutes of playing time.  I say blame it on the haircut.  If Christmas puts up one more stinker like this, we all need to start a petition for him to grow the James Harden fauxhawk / beard combo again.  It's our duty as Cuse fans.

Play of the Game:

With all James Southerland's record-tying 9 three pointers, it was his dunk that earned play of the game.

For those of you who missed it, it's included in the highlight reel linked above.  Southerland went flying through the air, got hip-checked by an Arkansas defender, and finished the slam anyways.

Then, after landing, Southerland did a 360 degree, helicoptering fist pump that luckily did not have any unexpectant Razorbacks in its path.  We don't want any Ron Artest incidents on our hands.  We already know Southerland has a silky, smooth jump shot and crazy hops.  I'd prefer to leave MMA elbows out of his bag of tricks for the time being.

(SC)OOPS of the Game:

Rakeem.  Poor, poor Rakeem.  Already our scapegoat for LVP of the game.  Then you had to go and miss a wide-open dunk in the opening minutes of the game.  Unfortunately, video of this incident does not appear to have made its way to YouTube just quite yet.  So for now you'll just have to trust me, it was Susan Boyle level ugly.

The only possible explanation to me, is that Christmas is still struggling to adjust to the lack of wind resistance on his new ergonomically shaved face.

Hopefully a couple extra days of practice will rectify this situation in time for Christmas to posterize DaShonte Riley on Monday night.

General Observations:

-  Despite an early trip to the bench with foul trouble, MCW came up one assist away from making me look like a genius with his first career triple-double.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, he's going to flirt with triple-doubles multiple times this year, and I think he'll get one at some point.

-  Of course, with the good comes the bad.  Carter-Williams was more than halfway towards making that a quadruple-double with 6 turnovers.  Although I don't like the turnovers, they're somewhat understandable given the pace the game was played at and the fact that Carter-Williams is our primary ball handler.

The bigger concern to me, though, is just the overall feel of the game when MCW gets sped up.  It seems like once he gets going to the basket, he can't slow down.  And that leads to bad shots or passes.  This is a problem that the Orange will need to figure out sooner rather than later, because you can bet Louisville and other future opponents have taken note of that and plan to use it to their advantage.

-  After another slow start, Brandon Triche finally came alive a little in the 2nd half.  He had his own personal 10-0 run, including back-to-back three pointers that led to a very un-Triche-like moment in which he turned around and let out a huge yell in a rare show of emotion.

I couldn't find a photo of that particular incident, but I did find this picture, which proves that Brandon Triche has shown emotion exactly twice in his life...

-  Another game, another offensive bust for Trevor Cooney.  I'm smelling a little bit of the stink of the Jay Schwartz mancrush curse on him.

I'm guessing (hoping?) that it's only a matter of time before one falls from outside for him.  We sure could use another consistent outside threat, since Southerland can't possibly continue torching the nets at this pace.

At least he's been able to keep his head in the game and contribute defensively so far.  If he keeps that up, he'll earn enough time on the floor to break his slump.

-  We were commenting during the game that Cooney seems to just play a little too fast for his own good sometimes.  Case in point, when he nearly blew a fast-break opportunity by dribbling the ball off his own knee, before recovering in time to find an open teammate.  It's almost like the seventh grader who's playing up on varsity and feels like he has to prove his worth with every single second on the floor, and winds up forcing the action as a result.

-  C.J. Fair sure has been quite since the opener.  At the end of the day you look up and he has his stats, but you sure don't remember how he got there.  I hope he gets it going again soon.  I miss screaming non-sensical acronyms starting with CJ at my tv.

-  Another solid performance from Baye Moussa Keita.  If he keeps this up, he will make Schirmer look verrry smart.  He also will be contractually obligated to keep the Moussa in his name for next season.


Next Games:

Busy week for Cuse this week, with matchups against Easter Michigan (Monday), Long Beach State (Thursday), and Monmouth (Saturday).

Colgate Recap / Arkansas Preview

I apologize in advance for not having time to complete a full blown recap of the Colgate game and preview of the Arkansas game.  I know you've all been hanging on the edge of your seats all week wondering where it was.

As a mea culpa, I offer an abbreviated recap and a top five list of ways ESPN will avoid giving Syracuse credit for playing a true non-conference road game.

MVP:  Michael Carter-Williams

James Southerland had another great game, but this was MCW's day.  He controlled the game from the opening tip, and did it without looking for his own shot for the majority of the day.  Carter-Williams finished in sight of a top three all-time assist day for Syracuse, and did so despite his teammates blowing a few lay-ups and open jump shots and only getting 28 minutes due to the game getting out of hand.  Carter-Williams even managed to avoid getting a SC(OOPS) for the first time this year! I'm excited to see how well it carries over to the next game, with some better competition and a more hostile road environment.

LVP:  Pat Moore

The Raiders guard came into this game having made an astonishing 14 of 17 three pointers in the last 2 games.  That's good for 82%, eighty fricking two percent.  No matter how you write it, it's pretty damn impressive.

What was not impressive was his 2-8 shooting in this game and fouling out with 5 minutes to go.  Colgate needed another 7-8 shooting night from this kid to have any chance of even hanging close with the Orange, and he didn't deliver.

Play of the Game:

Nothing stuck out to me in this game, so I'm going to kind of cop out on this one and go with Michael Carter-Williams finding DaJaun Colemand in the corner 8 seconds into the game for an open jumper.  Pretty non-descript play, but it was the beginning to a very impressive day.

(SC)OOPS of the Game:

With Michael Carter-Williams staying pretty much in control all game, we've got to turn our sights elsewhere.  And mind land squarely on the Colgate Red Raiders outside shots, and I'm pretty sure specifically Murphy Burnatowski.  They banked in not one, but two three-pointers this game.  Call me crazy, but if you bank in a three-pointer there should be some sort of penalty.  Maybe you don't lose points for it, but you only get two instead of three.  Something needs to be done.

Top Five Reasons that tonight's game against Arkansas isn't a true road game for Syracuse:

5)  The Razorbacks are planning a "white-out".  Syracuse is in Upstate New York near Lake Ontario.  Lake Ontario often has lake-effect storms that create white-out conditions.  Advantage Syracuse.  HOME GAME

Side note: What is the point of a White-out anyway?  Are the home players inspired when they see a bunch of free-trade cotton in the crowd?  Does the student section cheer louder when they are color coordinated?  

(Courtesy of Dan Theal)

4)  Arkansas plays in the SEC.  Florida State and Clemson want to play in the SEC.  Florida State and Clemson do play in the ACC.  Syracuse will play in the ACC next year.  HOME GAME

3)  Arkansas's campus is in Fayetteville.  There is a Fayetteville on the east side of Syracuse.  Syracuse players have probably driven through there before.  HOME GAME.

2)  Arkansas has the words Kansas within their name.  Syracuse beat Kansas for their only national title ever.  HOME GAME.

1)  Arkansas's mascot is the Razorback.  The Razorback is a type of pig.  Hot Dogs can be made from pigs.  Syracuse is famous for Hoffman's Hot Dogs.  HOME GAME.

Top Chef Fantasy League Update (Week 2)

So Top Chef clearly didn't like the lack of royalties I paid them when creating a Top Chef Fantasy League and publishing it on my blog, as they immediately threw a monkey wrench into the plans by adding three returning chefs from previous seasons in Week 1.

I don't have much time to elaborate this week, but wanted to at least get a scoring update out before tomorrow night's episode.  I may try to get into some thoughts on this season during next week's update.  Like the epic chokejob pulled by Kuniko, going from week 1 winner to eliminated in week 2 and the subsequent cursing by Lindsey, who thought she had a late round steal only to be reminded why she lasted so late in the draft again a week later.

In the meantime, here is the scoring update for anyone who is playing along at home.  Or in other words, for Steve Schirmer and my one fan from Russia...

All scores through two weeks:
Carla - 9
John - 7
Kuniko - 6 (Eliminated Week 2)
Sheldon - 5
Lizzie - 2
Micah - 1
Josie - 1
C.J. - 0
Kristen - 0
Chrissy - 0
Eliza - (-1)
Josh - (-1)
Danyelle - (-1)
Stefan - (-1)
Tyler - (-2)
Bart - (-2)
Brooke - (-3)
Jeffrey - (-10) (Eliminated Week 1)

Just for fun, I'll cop to the fact that Lindsey is currently holding a slim 1 to (-1) lead over me in our competition.  Also, I'll throw out my prediction for the final 3 as of right now: John, Micah, and C.J.

Syracuse vs. Colgate Preview

Here's a little light reading for your Sunday afternoon.  Check this out and then settle in for a nap, because this game should be a snoozer.

Chris Tripodi

Q: How badly are Peyton Siva and Shabazz Napier licking their lips watching replays of Michael Carter-Williams getting his lunch money taken repeatedly against Wagner?  Just an anomaly or concern going forward?

A: Turnovers have certainly been an issue for Carter-Williams so far and to be honest, I'm not sure I see it changing. He has 24 assists through three games in addition to his 10 turnovers so it's not all bad, but this is a disturbing trend especially considering he had 3 turnovers against both Wagner and Princeton, teams that are certainly among the weakest the Orange will face this season.

The double-digit assist totals from those games won't be there against teams like Louisville and UConn either, especially with harassing point guards like Siva and Napier defending Carter-Williams and looking for opportunities to take the ball. This reminds me of watching Jeremy Lin with the Knicks last season; a young point guard showing off his ability as a playmaker but also struggling to limit mistakes and maximize possessions. Turnovers lead to easy transition baskets, something that will hurt the Orange as their games get tighter.

I'd like to see improvement from Carter-Williams as the season goes along and I think we will, but until that happens this will be a major issue for the Orange entering Big East play. Scoop Jardine really improved his (decision making) and cut his turnovers as a senior last year and for Syracuse to continue winning once (the) conference slate begins, Carter-Williams will need to do much of the same.

(Ed. Note:  Tripodi accidentally omitted a predicition for the game, so I will assume that what he meant to say was Syracuse a lot, Colgate a little.)

Steve Schirmer

Q:  Short of Adonal Foyle finding an extra year of eligibility, any chance Colgate keeps this one close?

A:  A tangent on Adonal Foyle before I wax philosophical on this game: let's play a quick game of Price Is Right. I'm going to present to you Adonal Foyle's career numbers, and you're going to bid on what the actual retail value of Adonal's career earnings are.

 

4.1 PPG, 4.7 Rb/G, 0.5 Ast/G, 1.6 Blk/G.

 

Got a number in mind? Alright, the actual retail price on Adonal Foyle's career earnings is...

 

$63,361,840.

 

Sorry Jay, your $1 bid was woefully short and you won't be going to play Plinko.

 

$63 Million?!?!?!?!?! No wonder the NBA had a major work stoppage last year. Better yet, after being a tremendous first round bust as the 8th overall pick of the 1997 draft (one spot ahead of Tracy McGrady, oof), the Warriors actually granted him a 6 yr, $42 million contract in 2004, often regarded as the worst NBA contract of the decade. What was the rationale behind it? Did Adonal give fantastic high-fives and chest bumps they felt they needed him to compete with Mark Madsen's Lakers? Did he cook fantastic Caribbean Jerk Chicken for the post game spread? Maybe they felt they could trick the executives of Colgate-Palmolive Company into fully funding a state of the art arena because of Adonal's Colgate University connections. Whatever it was, props to Adonal for garnishing $50 million more than he was entitled to towards wasting it on failed car washes and record labels.

 

Back to the game at hand: there's actually two key factors that makes me think that Colgate can hang around for a little bit, or at least long enough to give Cuse some tryptophan induced meat sweats. For one, Colgate shoots a very impressive 46.3% from 3 point land, and 40% of all their field goal attempts are from beyond the arc. Second, they have length in their guards that'll help them neutralize the length we've so glorified from Syracuse this season.

 

Colgate is lead by 6'5 Junior Guard Pat Moore, who's a ridiculous 21-35 (60%) from three point land so far this year. They also have 6'7 Sr. Forward Murphy Burnatowski, a poor man's version of Kevin Pittsnogle, who spends as much time on the arc as he does in the paint, stretching defenses and shooting 48.5% from three point land. If these two guys get hot, Colgate can certainly give Syracuse a post-Thanksgiving scare based on the sheer volume of three point attempts the team will have.

 

What'll doom Colgate, though, is that it gets virtually nothing in the paint, only generating 39% of their points from the interior and only snags an offensive rebound on one of every four possessions. In addition, Colgate coughs up the ball at a rate to make Louisville envious, while also having one of the lowest turnover rates on the defensive end in the country. Not a good combination when playing the opportunistic and over aggressive Orange.

 

Colgate would have to shoot lights out to have any chance to pull the upset, and even then I don't think it'll be enough to overcome Syracuse's tremendous length at the top and bottom of the zone.

 

Syracuse takes it 79-57.

Dan Theal

Q:  James Southerland sure has looked good so far this year.  Very confident with his shot, and even showing some aggression off the dribble in addition to his normal spot-up shooting.  Is he turning a corner or is this just him using and abusing inferior opponents as per usual?

A:  In the post-Princeton game interview, Time Warner Cable Sports (TWCS) color commentator Danny Liedka mentioned that, in his opinion, James Southerland is the most entertaining player to watch on the court.  It is easy to understand why the Mayor of East Syracuse feels this way about the Senior swingman.  When I think back to the greatest Syracuse moments on TWCS the last few years, I think of one man: JaSo.  Of course, TWCS broadcasts the games that ESPN is not interested in airing, you know, against the Maine's and Albany's and Manhattan's of the NCAA.  And right on queue, Mid-Major James is at it again, putting up 37 combined points against Wagner and Princeton with the spectacular rainbow threes and power slams that we have grown to love.  But there are a few reasons why this year's James has promise to become "Big Game James."

1) Necessity - We have been very spoiled over the last few years to have 6th man of the year winners in Kris Joseph and Dion Waiters.  Those guys had the ability to own the court when they stepped off the bench, often with their slashing drives against their tired opponents legs.  This year, the baton has been passed to Southerland.  He may not be able to drive to the rim with the quickness and control of his predecessors, but he has added it to his repertoire of moves. This will keep defenders honest and grant him space for his signature launches from deep.  

2) Improved Defense - To play significant minutes on Jim Boeheim's teams, you have to either be a good defender or a good shooter, preferably both.  JaSo has never been a good defender and historically, when the calendar has turned, his streaky jumper has been quick to follow, turning colder the January windchill in Central NY.  So without the ability to defend or shoot, he has often found himself as one of the victims of JB's shortened rotations.  This year, however, it is clear that his defense had been an off-season priority. With 4 blocks and 6 steals in the past 2 contests, I think we have witnessed James turning the corner defensively and he is beginning to earn Boeheim's trust for the games against the Big East's best. Granted he is not perfect yet, as he left a handful of shooters unmarked on the perimeter against Princeton, but the increased focus and aggressiveness is evident.  So this year, when he hits his annual cold shooting stretch, he won't get the quick yank.  And then, with the increased court time, his early-season shooting form will hopefully be quickly rediscovered.

3) No pressure - James is a Senior with little chance of being drafted into the NBA.  He is not a starter.  He has not been called to be the team's leader (Triche), he has not been called to be the three point specialist (Cooney) and he has not been called to be the board crasher from the wing (Fair).  Really, JaSo has been called to do a little of all of the above, and that suits him perfectly.  He is going to have fun this year; this is his last go-around at the NCAA party.  We should expect a confident and mature leader who can feel free to let loose that toothy grin and do the Oppan Gangnam Style.

As for the Colgate game, yawn...  This is usually a blowout. Cuse wins 96-51.

Schirmer's Sisters Friend Mandy

Q:  "As a former captain of the Colgate cheerleading squad, you seem qualified to answer two questions that have always fascinated me. 1. When is the best time to utilize the "our team is like an alligator because we're really sharp <clap clap clap> and 2. What is your go to cheer when you're losing by 35 points in the second half like you will this Sunday?"

A:  1. If my memory serves me correctly, the so-called "alligator cheer" was reserved only for high school athletics.  I believe that cheer finds its genesis somewhere in upstate New York where the tanning was plentiful.  I have to admit though, it's a pretty catchy cheer.

2.  I'm not sure we had a specific "go-to" cheer for David + Goliath events.  We just pulled an Energizer Bunny and kept on going.  After all, that's what good cheerleaders do--you keep on cheering even in the face of inevitable defeat.  In those situations, I think Colgate athletes took solace in the fact that although the scoreboard wasn't favorable to them that day, they would eventually have their vengeance in the board room or courtroom--i.e., when they became the bosses of those other team members.  Because Colgate alumni are, to borrow language from the alligator cheer, "really sharp".  GO 'GATE!!

(Ed. Note:  Mandy also elected to ignore the part of the blog where she submits a score prediction.  I will assume this is because she's like Jim Carey and cannot tell a lie, and also can't stand to predict her alma mater losing.

Jason Schwartz

Q:  What circumstances lead to Rakeem Christmas cutting off all his hair?  He used to be so easy to spot on the court, now he just blends in with everyone else.  (Courtesy of Jessica Lord via Steve Schirmer)

A:  To be fully transparent, I feel it is my duty to share this anecdote.  I was hosting family for dinner on Wednesday night and thus I found my attention divided between watching the game and being a mediocre host.  This led to a moment where, having not previously noticed Rakeem's drastic change in appearance, I found myself noticing a large, baby-faced, unfamiliar player checking into the game.  It seemed a little extreme to me that Boeheim would be putting in a walk-on to send a message this early in the game.  Thirty seconds of confusion and 3 bad puns by the announcers later, my fog was lifted and I realized the real drastic decision was Christmas shaving off his legan- wait for it... dary beard and fauxhawk.

So why the change?  I can come up with only three logical explanations.

1) Mama Christmas doesn't allow facial hair in the house.  If Rakeem wanted him some home-cooked turkey and mashed taters, the beard had to go

2)  Jim Boeheim decided he could only look at one ridiculous beard every day in practice, and since Southerland has seniority, he won the beard-off.

3)  His barber on campus was a Princeton alum and "slipped" while giving him a touch-up, hoping that the loss of facial hair would have a Samson-like affect on Christmas.

Luckily for us, it looks like the close shave had no such impact, as Christmas put up 10 points against the Tigers anyways.

Look for another double-digit scoring day from Christmas and a blowout from Cuse today, 85 - 58.

Syracuse vs. Princeton Review

Let's fit in a quick review of Wednesday night's game before I dive into this massive, garbage plate pile of leftovers stuffed between two slices of bread and pass out on the couch.

MVP:  James Southerland

Southerland came in and got a career-high 5 steals in the span of about 7 possessions.  30 minutes later, he had a career high in points (22) too, and with that his first MVP honors of the season.

It's certainly early in the season, and James has been prone to going from scintillating hot to frigidly cold and back in the blink of an eye throughout his career, but it's good to see him being so confident in his shot.  He's really been showing a lot of growth in his game this season too, taking his man of the dribble and then pulling up for jumpers as an alternative when players close out on him behind the arc too hard.

If he keeps playing like he has early on in this season, he could be the favorite to be the 3rd Orange bench player to take home the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award (in only its sixth year in existence).  

LVP:  The Walk Ons

I don't want to hate on the walk-ons.  I love cheering for them as much as the next person at the end of a blowout.  And I know they only got into the game with about 30 seconds since Princeton stayed within striking distance for the majority of the 2nd half.

But to not get a single shot up?  When their only job is to shoot at a faster pace than Jack Taylor and give the fans something to cheer about at an otherwise meaningless point in the game?

Bad job by them.

Play of the Game: 

My favorite whipping boy, Keita, had a great defensive play in the 2nd half.  A Princeton player leading the fast break lobbed up an alley-oop to a teammate streaking down the lane.  The Tiger went up for the lay-in only to be met at the glass by Moussa Keita, who came flying in from behind to pin the ball against the backboard.

The play led to a run out the other way that James Southerland finished, plus the foul, and all of a sudden what would've been a 10 point game had opened back up to a 15 point lead.

There may or may not have been a little contact on the block, but I can't blame the refs for letting it go because it was one hell of an impressive play by Keita.

(SC)OOPS of the Game:  I may need to start thinking of how I am going to make a clever play-on-words award name in Michael Carter-Williams' honor next season, because he has been putting an even stronger stranglehold on this award than Scoop ever would've been able to during his tenure on the hill.

On this night, it was a play during the 2nd half when Carter-Williams came up with a loose ball and tried to immediately lob it up in an alley-oop attempt to C.J. Fair.  Unfortunately, not only did MCW get the pass off so fast that the Princeton defenders couldn't react, but also so quickly that Fair himself did not have time to react.  The result was an "alley" flying at the backboard that had no "oop-er" on the slamming end.

Fair did come up with the rebound and lay it back in for 2 points, so all's well that ends well.  However, it is a little concerning that The Hyphen has managed to throw 2 alley-oops in the first 3 games that hit nothing but backboard.  Although, on the flip side it is impressive that he's managed to do this without so much as a sideways glance from Boeheim.  Maybe all those years with Scoop just broke Jim's will to reprimand alley-oops gone awry.

General Observations:

-  As much as I've been picking on Carter-Williams in some of these recaps, I have to give him credit for putting up some numbers without even looking particularly good yet.  Through 3 games, he's averaging a tidy 11 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals per game.  The scary part is I don't think he's even come close to scratching his potential.

-  Boeheim was in mid-season form,with multiple of these...

  and these 

Followed by a classic Boeheim post-game presser in which he went off on the absurdity of conference realignment, and claimed that if college basketball league commissioners were our founding fathers, we'd be looking at country with Brazil and Argentina as states.

He's a real gem.  I'm going to miss him when he's gone.

-  It's a little disconcerting that for the 2nd time in 3 games, Boeheim employed a very short bench.  This game is even more worrisome than the opener, given that this game was against an inferior opponent (nobody cares if  Princeton is the preseason Ivy League favorite, they are no where near the Orange's level), rather than a top 25 foe.

Boeheim basically utilized a 5 man rotation in this game - Triche, Carter-Williams, Fair, Southerland, and RaJuan Moussa Chriseitaman.  Cooney and Grant combined for only 15 minutes, and I'm fairly certain all those minutes were in the first half.  If either played in the 2nd half, I don't recall noticing them at all.

Hopefully the bench will earn a few more minutes the rest of the non-conference schedule and do some things that build Boeheim's trust.

-  Mmmmm, pie...

Thanksgiving Day Pie Rankings:
1) Pumpkin
2) Apple
3-157,925,023) Anything Else
158,025,024) Pecan

Regular Day Pie Rankings:
1)  Triple Berry
2)  Apple
3)  Peach-Blueberry

Next Game:  Syracuse takes on Colgate in the Dome on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., with Michael Carter-Williams trying to make me look good by piling up a triple-double.

Syracuse vs. Princeton Preview

Princeton comes to the Dome tomorrow night looking to lull the Orange into an early tryptophan-induced coma and sneak out a victory.  What do our friends have to say about the Princeton offense, Thanksgiving buffets, the likely underwhelming battle between the Colts-Bills, and the Gospel according to Cooney?  Read on to find out...

Dan Theal:

Q:  Worse Princeton offense so far this season, the Tigers or the Lakers?

A:  Oh boy! I was hoping that I would one day have the opportunity to take this blog to NBA school. 

Just imagine for a second... 

Considering the players from the past decade in the NBA, let's hypothetically place the following players on the court at the same time: 
The best point guard + the best shooting guard + the best center + a top 5 power forward + the most suspended player at any position.  What you will end up with is a team that closely resembles the current Lakers squad.   

Now using those same players, let's design an offense that freely rotates the guards and forwards within the half-court, relying on a slow-developing but efficient use of passes to create and exploit mismatches.  What you will end up with is a coach looking for a new job that closely resembles Mike Brown. 

The Princeton offense does have its place for certain teams that do not have 32 combined all-star appearances in their starting lineup.  With the personalities and egos of the Lakers, you have plenty of mouths to feed and only 48 minutes to do it.  Mike D'Antoni's high-tempo offense will suit them well and perhaps he can orchestrate a trade to take his son Amare Stoudemire off the Knicks payroll. 

Back to the current Princeton Tigers, who actually don't use a prototypical Princeton Offense, but instead use a "Drain The Clock And Jack A Three Offense".  I call it the "Keep Your Opponent Close But Still Lose Offense" for short.  Three games into the season, the Tigers have shot a stunning 46% of their attempts from beyond the arc. With a 29% conversion rate, you may consider them one of the top offensive juggernauts of the Ivy League.  Unfortunately, Syracuse is in a different league and shooting 29% from deep will not get it done at the Dome.   

Syracuse will have to mark Will Barrett and Clay Wilson, who have combined to average 6 triples per game, albeit on several wasted attempts. Their offense will flow through Senior forward Ian Hummer, who has averaged 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists while being the only player on the team who has realized through his four years of prestigious higher education that a 2 can be better than a 3.   

Princeton will keep the possessions low, but the Orange fans will still get their tacos. Final score: Cuse 75, Princeton 52

Tim Schuldt:

Q:  Fact:  The Bills are going to finish 7-9  

Fact:  They will do so either by (a) winning their next 3 games and setting up the old rope-a-dope on their fans, before ultimately pulling the rug out from underneath them and losing their final 3 games or (b) losing the next 2 games to eliminate any shot of the playoffs, before infuriating their fans by winning 3 of the final 4 game to ruin their draft spot

This means the Bills have a 50/50 shot against the Colts.  Nervous?

A:  

Very. I haven’t been this nervous since you and I…well, never mind.

The Colts are coming off an embarrassing loss to the Patriots where they were made to look stupid in all aspects of the game. I wasn’t expecting them to win this game, but I was expecting it to be closer than it actually was. Andrew Luck looked terrible, there was no presence of a running game, and the defense looked like they were trying to tackle the greased-up deaf guy from Family Guy all game.  

The Bills are coming off a home win, and have had a few extra days of rest giving they played last Thursday.  They didn’t look exceptional at all either, but they did have a big punt return early that sparked some momentum and their defense shut down a usually prolific running game. I’m sure that they have some confidence going into this week…especially since they are 3-0 in their last few games against the Colts.

It’s really hard to say how this game might go. Andrew Luck is still a rookie and the Bills are still, well, they are still the Bills. However, given that the Colts are playing at home and a young Andrew Luck > a Grizzly Adams looking Ryan Fitzpatrick, I’m going with Indy 31 – Buffalo 21. Spiller will still get his and I think Stevie Johnson breaks through with his first 100 yard game of the season, but the arm of Luck plus the speed of Wayne, Hilton, and Avery will be too much. 

As far as Cuse goes, Syracuse 71, Princeton 54

Jason Schwartz:

Q:  Suppose DaJuan Coleman finds himself at the Woodcliff Thanksgiving Buffet.  What's on his plate?  (Courtesy of Steve Schirmer)

A:  I was going to go literal here, but unfortunately the Woodcliff decided not to publish their Thanksgiving Day buffet menu online, leaving me only to guess what would be available.  I can only assume this is so they can offer Monday's leftover seafood surprise and charge $75 for it.

Anyways, DaJuan has really reigned in his eating habits since back in his high school days.  He's down to a svelte 275 lbs these days and looking to keep it that way.  So I'd have to assume his plate would be filled only with turkey (lean white meat, sans skin), green beans (steamed, no fried onions on top), a baked sweet potato, homemade applesauce, and a sliver of pumpkin pie.

Unfortunately, I've heard rumors that the Woodcliff just had some budget cuts and had to let go of their sports package, meaning they will be left with nothing to broadcast Thanksgiving Day but a replay of the Syracuse-Wagner game on Time Warner Sports Network.

After seeing the horrific performance he put forth that Sunday afternoon, Coleman will be driven back to the buffet line in a confused state similar to Sasquatch from the Jack Links commercials.  In a blind fit of rage he will pile stacks on stacks of medieval sized dark-meat turkey legs, Rocky Mountain-sized ranges of mashed potatoes smothered in rivers of gravy, enough pecan pies to feed his local food pantry, and just for good measure a homewrecker burrito from Moe's for the ride back to Syracuse.

I kid, I kid.  I mean, this isn't Josh Smith or JaMarcus Russell we're talking about here.  I predict he'll finally find his stride against Princeton, to the tune of 10 points and 8 rebounds (or else I'll be wolfing down a spread similar to the one described above...)

Syracuse 69, Princeton 52 

Steve Schirmer: 

(Ed. Note:  Steve Schirmer gets the cleanup spot this week over myself.  Why you ask?  Isn't this your blog?  You should get to go last every week, screw those other schmucks.  Well, in the words of the immortal T.J. Lavin, Steve Schirmer absolutely killed it this week.)

Q:  Trevor Cooney had 6 steals, made a three-pointer on a pass he didn't catch cleanly, and provided approximately 325,283 hustle plays.  Pontificate...

A:  Pontificate? I believe the word you're looking for is TESTIFY! Cue the organ music sister!

 

And now, a reading from The Trichians:

 

Trevor Cooney said to his disciples: Behold my prowess beyond the Great Arc! For it is he who must compose thyself in the face of wild and inaccurate receptions from kick-outs in the paint. The path towards attainment of Triple Salvation is not always straight and clear, though we must still overcome! Those who walk among the blessed remain steadfast on the mission at hand, as they shall never waiver to gather thyself, set their feet and hoist the Stone into the heavens, only to be touched with nothing but net.

 

But lest you not forget that strong Triple Powers are worshiped by many of false gods, including the pagan Caliparians and Pitinos. For it is the one true god, The Great Boeheimian, who most graciously devotes minutes only to those who comprehend his Creation: The Zone.  

 

Many of Orange lore, including the Archangels Donte and Devo, have thrived beyond the Great Arc only to still reek rapture on Syracuse seasons by inadequate and lazy Zone Rotations. Though blessed by superior athletic ability and god graced talent, it is these heretics who your brethren fans most vehemently curse when recalling failed Syracuse Odyssey's of past.

 

Even I, my brothers, found myself alone and hopelessly out of position one time against Wagner. For I allowed Kenneth Ortiz to blow by me and penetrate the most vulnerable area of his Creation, only to allow the Stone to be kicked out to a wide open Latief Rogers.

 

But I did not fall to temptations of resignation, like the Archangels Donte and Devo before me. I anticipated the pass to the left wing, sprinted from the right elbow, and met my adversary head on! And as I struck down his attempt from the Sacred Bowl, did I let out a howl to the heavens and allow my opponent to recover? Never! With all the strength left in my body, I dove for the loose Stone, tipped it to a streaking St. Michael, who took the Stone home to the promised land as our brethren fans erupted in satisfaction.

 

This is the path to Orange Legend, my brothers! Follow me until March, and we shall dine on luscious Georgia Peaches as our One Shining Moment is donned.

 

The Word of the Lord! Thanks be to Boehemian.

Syracuse 73, Princeton 60

Enjoy the game and have a safe, happy, and filling holiday everyone!