Well, to say the least, I've been the worst blogger in America the last few weeks. Between finishing up covering the Syracuse football season and the hoopla of finals and traveling and personal business matters, I just haven't been able to keep up with the Slog. There's definitely plenty of great Orange athletics coming up in the next few months, though, and I don't want it to go uncovered here. Unfortunately, while next semester will be much easier for me, I will also be spending it abroad. So, I'd just like to let you all know now that I'm actively looking for a successor to my spot blogging here and that he or she will be doing a much better job keeping this updated. This may very well be my goodbye from the CSTV Slog, but don't worry, somebody will be back to keep you updated on everything SU before you know it. Enjoy the holidays!

Posted by at 06:41 PM on December 22, 2005
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The long, heated argument over "Orange" vs. "Orangemen" may never end, but this one group of guys has added a new twist to the drama.
If you're from the SU campus or surrounding areas, you know about the "Real men wear Orange" t-shirts floating around and all the spin-offs like "Real kids wear Orange," "Real grandparents wear Orange," etc. They came out in the 2003 basketball championship season and have grown wildly popular since.
Well check out these new shirts:

I think you can tell which side of the debate these guys are on. The shirts are for sale and so far the group has sold 200 shirts. I've personally seen them around campus and it's a pretty cool idea and execution. If you're interested, visit http://realteamsarentfruit.com. They're for sale at $15 each.

Posted by at 11:40 PM on November 08, 2005
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Just to let you guys know, we'll hopefully be getting some coverage on other sports up very soon. We had to take care of some administrative issues before we could do so, but soon we'll hopefully have some stuff on all the Syracuse fall sports teams for you to check out. So keep an eye for that sometime soon.

Posted by at 02:29 PM on October 11, 2005
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With the SU football team off this weekend, it's a good time to take a step back and look around the athletics program. It's been about three weeks into the season for all sports, so I think it's a solid barometer to check things out now -- habits die hard and the way teams have performed so far usually indicates how they'll be the rest of the year. Without further ado, a sport-by-sport checkup in the State of the Orange:

FOOTBALL
Record: 1-2 (0-1 Big East)
Every Syracuse fan was ridiculously pumped up for this season with a new head coach, new uniforms, new FieldTurf and -- most importantly -- promises that the team would turn around after a good three or four years of mediocrity. Well, SU stands at 1-2 after three games. Looks pretty mediocre to me, especially considering the one win came against a talent-depleted Buffalo team.
But this team plays hard, especially the defense. The D has kept the Orange in each of its games, with six sacks, six picks, four fumble recoveries and just 14 points per game allowed. But the lackluster offense has got to catch up if Syracuse has any hopes of postseason life. The team is based too much on the run and it's trying to play a West Coast offensive style with players that were recruited to play in the old option offense. It's players with square-peg talents trying to get into a circle-hole system.
My prediction for the rest of the year: SU splits its difficult schedule with a 4-4 record, finishes the year 5-6 and fails to make a bowl game.

MEN'S SOCCER
Record: 4-2-1 (0-2-1 Big East)
SU soccer had the best start to a season since 1986 by starting out 4-0. But the Orange has gone 0-2-1 in its last three games, games against stiffer Big East competition. SU tied conference newcomer Marquette, then lost to Notre Dame and Providence. This team is hurting physically right now and it's tired. They've played a lot of games in a short amount of time and still have three road games in the next week. That's brutal. But then the Orange play six of its last eight games at home. If SU can get healthy, look out. They'll have a chance to potentially make some noise in Big East play, which they haven't been able to do in a few years, as shown by a 7-19-5 record in Big East games the last three season.

WOMEN'S SOCCER
Record: 2-5-2 (1-0-1 Big East)
This team cannot score. Plain and simple. And that's a problem because, obviously, you can't win if you can't score. Syracuse has seven goals in nine games, a pretty paltry .77 goals per game. Not even a goal per game! SU has also been shut out five times, which does not bode well for the young Orange. Nine of the team's final 10 games come against Big East teams, one of the most competitive women's soccer conferences in America. This is another team that's been hit hard by injuries and SU relies very heavily on freshmen and other young players. They miss players like Shana Thomas and Helen Fox, seniors last year who sparked the Orange offense that are is now nonexistent. It's year of growing pains for the women's team, don't expect it to get better this season.

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Posted by at 01:33 PM on September 24, 2005
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