"Broyld drops back...he's gonna run with it...no wait...now he's looking pass...he looks off the safety.....and fires deep to the endzone for...FUNDERBURK!!!"

That's gonna be fun to say now that the former Arkansas Razorbacks WR is transferring to play for the Syracuse Orange, per Ryan Murray.

Murray spoke with Quinta's high school coach who made the confirmation. Murray also told Brent Axe that Funderburk will be enrolled in summer school. While we can assume that he'll have to sit out the 2012 season due to NCAA rules, some have wondered if the coaching situation at Arkansas gives him grounds to ask for a waiver. Don't count on it, but...you know.

Funderburk will join former high school teammate, and current Orange cornerback, Jaston George in Syracuse.

One of the top receivers in the nation and a four-star prospect, Funderburk originally chose Arkansas over offers from some of the top football programs in the nation...and the Orange. Catching 64 passes for 1,412 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior in high school will do that. His final list was Arkansas, Michigan, Florida and West Virginia.

After missing practice last year due to some kind of emotional issues, the freshman was redshirted. He entered this season No.3 in the Razorbacks depth chart at one of the wide receiver spots. And two weeks ago, possible related to the Bobby Petrino business, he decided to leave Arkansas.

WR coach Rob Moore has been cited as a major reason why SU picked up the transfer who will help fill the void left when Marcus Sales and Alec Lemon graduate.

Funderburk has some work to do in repairing his image after some questionable issues in Fayetteville. He'll have a year to get used to the weather up here and then we'll find out if he can come through on that potential.

Former Syracuse star Roosevelt Bouie honored by his high school | syracuse.com
Former Syracuse basketball star Roosevelt Bouie will be the inaugural inductee in the Kendall Central Schools Athletic Hall of Fame, the school announced recently. The ceremony will be held on June 6.

Colts waive former Syracuse University cornerback Mike Holmes | syracuse.com
The second-year pro signed with the Chicago Bears last year as an undrafted free agent. He reportedly impressed coaches as a special teams player and reserve cornerback, but the Bears released him in late August.

Syracuse Orange Basketball - Joseph To Participate In Nets Draft Combine
This is a big weekend for Kris Joseph. The former Syracuse star will be one of 44 NBA hopefuls participating in the annual Nets’ draft combine. Joseph will take the court during session three, which will take place on Sunday, May 20th at 9:30am.

Jon Rothstein Files: Top Breakout Players For The 2012-13 College Basketball Season; SU's Michael Carter-Williams And More... " CBS New York
MICHAEL CARTER-WILLIAMS, SYRACUSE - This 6-foot-5 point guard logged just over 10 minutes a game as a freshman and that number should drastically increase next season. With the departure of both Scoop Jardine and Dion Waiters, Jim Boeheim will hand the keys to the car to Carter-Williams, a savvy floor general that should fill up all areas of the box score in 2012-13 and beyond.

FB | Syracuse lands 1st commitment in class of 2013 - Sports - The Daily Orange
"Every time he had an offer, Syracuse was still on the top of the list, so Coach Hackett came down today and he kind of sealed the deal with him," his father, Sam Provo, said. "He came down to see him and when he got here he said, ‘I don't think there’s any sense in just waiting around, I think I would just get it done today.’"

Competitive lacrosse landscape forcing Syracuse out | The Juice Online
Welcome to the new normal, Syracuse men’s lacrosse fans. Get to know how regular people spend their weekends at the end of May. Get used to the barbecues, pool openings and extra day of spring cleaning and yard work. We can’t block off the Saturday and Monday afternoons on Memorial Day weekend anymore.

Listen to Glisson
A Syracuse native, rooting for the home team in his weekly cartoons comes naturally to Glisson. "I’ve always been a Syracuse fan from the Chiefs to the SU teams to the old hockey teams," he said. "In this town, obviously, with doing an SU cartoon, I am not going to do a cartoon between UConn and Syracuse basketball and make Syracuse the butt of the joke and make UConn look good. It’s not happening. I’m a fan like everybody else."

SB | Early-season wins over elite teams give Syracuse confidence heading into NCAA tournament - Sports - The Daily Orange
"In most of those games, we weren't getting routed," said Daniels. "We stuck with them. So that gave us confidence heading in to the next tournament when we beat teams like Baylor and Michigan and it'll give us confidence again heading out there again."

First I was afraid this was another Syracuse-themed, hip-hop parody video. Then I started wishing it was...

The ACC spring meetings are in effect right now. When everyone isn't in a fake non-panic about Florida State, they're getting some stuff done so that by the time the Syracuse Orange and Pittsburgh Panthers show up, we can just slide into place.

On the football side, the league has decided to alternate by division how many home and away conference games each school will have.

"Swofford: ACC 9 game ACC schedule when Pitt/SU join; Atlantic will have 5 home games in odd yrs; Coastal 5 home games in even yrs"

If Syracuse joins the ACC in 2013, they'll have five ACC home games, four ACC away games, an away game against Northwestern and a game against Penn State at MetLife Stadium. They'll want to fill in that final game with a home game against a patsy, methinks.

Over on the basketball side, the conference decided to invite all 14 schools to the ACC Tournament and expand play to start on Wednesday and run through Sunday. Not a surprising move though I think the idea of keeping it at 12 teams and watching the bottom of the standings turn into a late-season scramble has value.

Commish John Swofford also added that "sooner than later is preferable" when it comes to SU & Pitt joining the conference, though he admits it's up to the Big East. He also added that 16-team expansion is not on the "frontburner," which just means Notre Dame still isn't taking their calls.

The NCAA pulled a bit of a shocker today, announcing that the Verizon Center, home of the Georgetown Hoyas (and Syracuse Orange when they're in town) will host the 2013 NCAA Tournament East Regional.

The Verizon Center was not amongst the list of possible sites that have been bandied about publicly. They included Madison Square Garden, Barclays Arena in Brooklyn and the Carrier Dome.

While a Regional in Syracuse would have been nice for the locals, I'm more than glad to see it being played elsewhere as a Syracuse fan. If the Regionals were in the Dome, Syracuse would be unable to play there, meaning that even if they ended up getting a top seed again, they' be shipped off to another Regional.

Plus, it means that if Georgetown (somehow) has an amazing season, they can't play in the East Regional. So that's nice.

Now, it might end up being inconsequential. If the Orange end up a 3-4-5 seed this season, they probably won't have any control of where they go. But it's nice to know that the possibility exists. The ideal assignment for the Orange in the 2013 NCAA Tournament is now an opening weekend in Philadelphia before a regional appearance in D.C. It would be like a grand finale tour of Big East locations before heading to Atlanta for the Final Four.

Let's do that.

An attorney I am not. Let me make this perfectly clear; the words that follow have no legal expertise whatsoever. In fact, there isn't any expertise at all.

This is strictly opinion, or at least I think it's opinion, on a story that I have followed intently but still don't understand. One thing I do know, Laurie Fine's lawsuit may finally may produce answers to all of our questions.

It was November when the allegations of Bernie Fine sexual abusing Bobby Davis (and then others) either first surfaced or resurfaced, depending on who knew what and when. Initially, I reacted as a fan. I pointed to Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim's defense of Fine and the University's investigation into the claims years earlier and finding nothing credible.

Then, somehow, the story took a turn (Actually, it took turn a turn and veered off a cliff and blew up on rocks. Only to survive the wreck and comeback with a Jason Voorhees like vengeance.) toward an even darker place. More alleged abusers popped up and almost as quickly as they appeared they were proven liars. Gloria Allred showed up and was promptly beaten by Boeheim in civil court.

Now, we watch Laurie Fine at a press conference at a castle near the shore of a lake. Sane in its complete craziness.

We hear Laurie defend herself, coming across forceful and at the same time beaten down. Both parts appealing and appalling.

She is suing ESPN with an attorney that may be in way over his head, or may be crazy like a fox waiting to pounce. Who knows? It's par for the course, really. When ever someone, think baseball players and steroids, says they are falsely accused, we all ask, 'Well, why don't you sue then?' So she's doing the only real thing she can to defend herself against lies, sue.

But then there's this;

@CapCarey 'her phone call on tape is more than enough'

The audio recording heard around the world. Bobby Davis and Laurie Fine. Either doctored or implicating Bernie as a sick predator.

Continue reading this post »

We're a long ways away from the 2012-2013 college basketball season, but that's no reason why we should get all worked up over arbitrary ratings meant for gamblers.

Bovada has released their odds on who will win the 2012-2013 Men's NCAA Basketball Championship. Indiana is their favorite (chortle) with 7-1 odds, followed closely by Louisville (8-1) and Kentucky (10-1).

The Syracuse Orange clock in at 20-1 odds, which they share with Michigan, NC State and Ohio State. If you're using these odds to rank the teams, the Orange are in the No. 9 - No. 12 range overall.

Other Big East schools on the list include St. John's (30-1), Georgetown (40-1), Pitt (40-1), Cincinnati (50-1), Notre Dame (50-1), West Virginia (50-1), Marquette (60-1), Villanova (65-1), Seton Hall (100-1) and USF (100-1). Sorry, UConn.

Take these as you like. A whole lot can change in either direction between now and the start of the season. Still, would you jump on those odds right now? My guess is that they're gonna go down once everyone realizes they're underestimating the talent on this team.

Here's the most interesting nuggets hidden in Laurie Fine's defamation lawsuit against ESPN...

• "Lang asked Bernie in 2009 or 2010 to allow Lang’s sons to serve as ball boys for the Syracuse Men’s Basketball team, thereby allowing them to follow in their father’s footsteps. Lang further asked Bernie to show his sons the locker room, introduce them to the players, and otherwise give them the same experience he, Lang, had as a child."
• Mike Lang attended Bernie Fine’s 60th birthday party in 2006, and as recently as 2010, used Bernie’s personal tickets to attend Syracuse Orange Basketball home games.
• None of the men identified by Bobby Davis in 2003 as being molested by Bernie, including Mike Lang, corroborated his accusations.
  
• "Schwarz obsessed over Davis’ story. His obsession is apparent during his December 1, 2011 interview with Deitsch: "I would have taken a run at [Davis’ story] every month of my career between 2003 and 2011 if I could have been pulled off other events and other coverage. If someone said you can either do this story, or you can do 100 NBA championship events or 17 World Series, which would you do, I would do this story and let other people cover the World Series."
• In 2003, ESPN reporter Mark Schwarz spied on Laurie Fine, shooting a hidden camera video of her without her knowledge.
• "Although Davis had finally outgrown his story, Schwarz kept calling Davis, pressuring him until November 2011, at which time the Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal broke."
• Mike Lang was suffering "severe financial hardship" when he changed his story.
• Mark Schwarz put Zach Tomaselli in touch with Bobby Davis first and not the police. Despite knowing that Bobby Davis did not find Tomaselli credible, he still leaked Tomaselli’s story to The Post-Standard.

Since the whole Bernie Fine allegations broke, we've heard Bobby Davis' side of the story in full. That he was taken in by Bernie and Laurie, that they helped raise him and they eventually took advantage of him, sexually-abusing him and then cutting him off.

Since Bernie and Laurie went into hiding, there wasn't anyone there to give their side of the story. Explain why Bobby Davis spent so much time in their house as a child and whether or not the claims were true.

The lawsuit that Laurie Fine released today tells that story. This isn't to say that her side is true, but for all the time we've spent hearing one side of the story, it's only fair to hear the other...

In a nutshell, the basics are the same. Davis was a troubled kid, the Fines took him into their home and helped raise him. At times when he was disobedient, Bernie would scold him privately. The Fines helped Davis get into college and play basketball professionally in Europe. At that point, Davis became dependent on their support and began to take advantage of them. He would trick the Fines into giving him money and eventually they cut him off. Davis began fabricating stories that Bernie molested him. Upset that they were unable to "save" him, the Fines tried to keep helping him but Davis was too far gone, eventually taking his accusations to the Post-Standard and ESPN, both of them could not verify them.

And so, there you go. The other side of the story is officially out there.