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The Orangeperson Of The Decade

via media.syracuse.com

Years from now, after The Great Interplanetary Wars are long over, you'll be cruising over New Earth in your hoverboots, sipping on Jupiter Juice that you purchased with $442 space dollars and you'll be asked to look back on the Earth years 2000 - 2009 and name one person that best represents that era for Syracuse sports. 

Remember that as you make your choice for Orangeperson of the Decade from the candidates below (Sorry, DOC, you can't write-in yourself):

Carmelo Anthony - The main reason Syracuse won the National Championship in 2003.  Also the guy who's name is on the state of the art basketball complex on campus as well.

Jim Boeheim - Boeheim reached some major career landmarks in the 2000's.  He finally won that elusive National Title in 2003 and added a third Final Four to his collection.  He notched win No. 800 in 2009, one of only eight coaches to ever reach that number.  And he was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.

John Desko - Desko might be the only active coach at Syracuse University who can sit at the same table with Jim Boeheim and not feel like he doesn't belong there. Desko won five National Titles in the decade ('00, '02, '04, '08, '09), perhaps none more impressive than the '08 one which followed Syracuse's worst season in years.  He oversaw three Tewaaraton Trophy winners and ended the decade where he started...coaching the most elite lacrosse program in the nation.

Gerry McNamara - Without him, we wouldn't have won ten f**king games.  Not ten!  Including the 2003 NCAA Title game, BYU in the first round of the '04 NCAA Tourney, every game in the 2006 NCAA Tournament and many more.  And now he's teaching future generations of SU ballplayers how to be great.

Mikey Powell - A four-time First Team All-American at Syracuse University, he became the first, and only, player to win the Jack Turnbull Award as the top attackman in Division I lacrosse four consecutive times. He was also a four-time finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, the lacrosse equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, and is the only player to win the award twice. He led Syracuse to two national championships and holds the school record for most career points. Not a bad career.

Walter Reyes - His 2003 season was the 2nd best single-season in SU history (1,347 yards) and also featured the 2nd best single-game performance in SU history (241 yards, 2 TDs).  The only SU running back to rush for over 1,000 yards twice in the 2000's.  He rushed for 17 TDs one season and followed it up with 20 TDs the next.  No other SU RB even made it to 15.

Katie Rowan - Rowan ended her career as the most decorated player in Syracuse women's lacrosse history. Rowan ended her career in 2009 as Syracuse’s all-time leader in points (396), goals (232) and assists (164). She ranks fourth on the NCAA Division I all-time scoring list and third in career assists. Rowan is also the Big East's all-time leading scorer with 134 points in 22 regular-season games.

Hakim Warrick - The best Syracuse basketball player of the decade from a statistical standpoint.  Responsible for The Block, Hak was named Big East Player of the Year, All-Big East First Team twice and currently the fifth-best scorer and fourth-best rebounder in school history.

So...who is your Orangeperson of the Decade?

Poll
Who is the Orangeperson of the Decade?
Carmelo Anthony
131 votes
Jim Boeheim
168 votes
John Desko
42 votes
Gerry McNamara
189 votes
Mikey Powell
50 votes
Walter Reyes
4 votes
Katie Rowan
13 votes
Hakim Warrick
26 votes

623 votes | Poll has closed

Comment 18 comments  |  1 recs  | 

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Can I vote "Other"?

Can I also vote “Matt Glaude”?

by Hoya Suxa on Dec 29, 2009 4:57 PM EST reply actions   1 recs

Wow this is tough.

I need time to think this one over…

by NOLACuse on Dec 29, 2009 5:01 PM EST reply actions  

What, no Greg Robinson?

This is tough. Inclined to say Jimmy Boeheim, but it’s not an easy decision.

by wildcatlh on Dec 29, 2009 5:03 PM EST reply actions  

Can't say Melo b/c he was only there one year

Could say G-Mac b/c he had one of the best 4-year careers ever at SU, but his teams didn’t have the same success w/o Melo.

Gotta say Jimmy B- made the NCAA championship game once in the 80s and once in the 90s- and this decade he finally won it. (Then he made the HOF.)

by el_bresidente on Dec 29, 2009 5:12 PM EST reply actions  

Poor Katie Rowan

I fear I’ve sullied her reputation by including her.

Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician - The Syracuse blog that cares.

by Sean Keeley on Dec 29, 2009 5:23 PM EST reply actions  

She deserved to be included.

But a female lax player is a double hit on her notoriety level. Still, she was insanely good, known quantity or not.

by NOLACuse on Dec 29, 2009 6:25 PM EST up reply actions  

this might be the toughest poll question ever...............

but after much deliberation………………….i gota vote mikey……………i think the line he bacame the first, and only 4 time Turnbull award winner was the clincher for me

by 86trash on Dec 29, 2009 8:12 PM EST reply actions  

wow..........

made my vote, thought sure mikey would have votes than that

by 86trash on Dec 29, 2009 8:12 PM EST reply actions  

I voted for GMac

But I can’t really argue with any of these choices.

by MrPlow99 on Dec 29, 2009 8:50 PM EST reply actions  

I voted G-Mac because I think he had the longevity, the moments and the widespread name recognition.

That name recognition maybe being among the most important. My heart is with Mikey really. Purely from an athletic standpoint, he was tops in terms of team and individual success, but even as a lax player myself I can’t yet say it’s important enough of a sport to represent a school like Syracuse that has a strong presence in the bigger sports. (For a school like Hopkins though, I would say Kyle Harrison or Pietramala would be their person of the decade because lax is all they have.)

by NOLACuse on Dec 29, 2009 11:33 PM EST reply actions  

And as others have said, any of the choices has a strong case.

Reyes is the weakest link IMO, but I still look back very fondly on what he did.

PS Isn’t it sad that I can say a women’s lacrosse player beats out the only football player on the list and not be totally crazy (it’s arguable certainly, but that’s the point)? Even a player of Rowan’s ability shouldn’t eclipse our football star(s). Thank you Greg Robinson and plateauing Pasqualoni.

by NOLACuse on Dec 29, 2009 11:39 PM EST up reply actions  

ARE YOU ALL CRAZY????

i love carmelo to death but COME ON!! he was here 1 YEAR and then LEFT. So he begins our countdown at #6.

#5: Katie Rowan. Give the girl some props, the incredibly low number of votes for such a talented athlete is outrageous, even on a list like this.

#4: GMac. Yes Jim, you would have won 10 games. Know why? Because you are one of the best NCAA coaches EVERR.

#3: Jimmy B. See above.

#2: Desko. While Jim “the nose” Boeheim is one of the greatest basketball coaches, he has one championship. Desko has 5. This decade. Syracuse IS lacrosse. If every sport is weighed equally, this is the sport that we are the best at and Desko is the reason for that.

#1: Mikey Powell. Not only the best athlete in comparison to EVER play at Syracuse (1 Heisman Ernie? That’s weak game) but Mikey is also an amazing local singer/songwriter. Oh, and what is this? Orangeperson of the decade? YES.

is this list scientific? no. debatable? sure. but thats the glory of it

~Luke B.

by AZLK on Dec 30, 2009 12:30 AM EST reply actions  

#1 and #1a Athlete(s) of the Decade @ SU

1. G-Mac: five three’s in the first half of the 03 championship and we never looked back. sure we rode melo in the second half and hak’s block was equally as pivotal, but it was gerry’s bombs that delivered a punch in the mouth that KU never recovered from. besides, how could anyone known as “the mayor” not be be the athlete of the decade?

1a. Powell: honestly i don’t follow the lax team, but after reading the statline (2 POY Awards, 2 championships, all-time leader in scoring) he deserves to be #1, only basketball still rules in cny.

by ChriZZYZX on Dec 30, 2009 2:37 AM EST reply actions  

Person-of-theDecade

It’s Boeheim !! Without him there is no Warrick, McNamara, Anthony, and others. No NCAA Championship, no final 4’s !!!

by 'cuse44 on Dec 30, 2009 10:38 AM EST reply actions  

boeheim...

good point. i think i hold boeheim in a higher regard. more like the sportsperson of a generation. probably the first at SU since jim brown to have that kind of cache. mcnamara gets my vote for sportsperson of the 00’s though for the reasons i posted. but you’re right, boeheim will be the face of not just the basketball program, but of syracuse university athletics, for a long time.

by ChriZZYZX on Jan 2, 2010 7:19 PM EST reply actions  

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