Big East Media Day Winner: The Lobsters

The Syracuse football team representatives arrived at the Big East Media Day Clambake Monday night wity lofty expectations.  They left the table not full not of succulent lobster meat, but of excuses.

Safety/cornerback Mike Holmes offered this take on why the four players — himself, linebacker Derrell Smith, punter Rob Long and center Ryan Bartholomew — consumed only six lobsters:

"Our thing was that it was just too much work. If the lobsters were presented in a way where the tails were already snapped, or the lobster meat was already out, we would have been good for about 20-plus lobsters. But it was just too much work. We didn’t want to hurt our hands, or smell like fish."

Tell that to Ryan Durand, who put his life on the line to eat seven lobsters by himself a few years ago for Orange Pride...

Rob Long only had one himself, which is allowed.  We need Long to stay lean.  Of course, that didn't stop him from going to town on the rest of the shellfish.

"See, I only had one," he said sheepishly. "I kind of wish I had more now, because everybody keeps asking me. But I had a lot of the clams and mussels and corn. I thought all the food was great."

Derrell Smith, who is quickly turning into the Chad Ocho Cinco of the Syracuse football team (in a good way), refused to devour the lobsters, choosing instead to savor each bite ("The lobster is a delicacy. It should be put up on a pedestal).  According to Dave Rahme, Smith even spoke to his lobster before eating it. 

Alright, that makes up for everything.

As for who actually did do the devouring, look to Big East preseason favorite Pitt. 

Pittsburgh defensive end Greg Romeus scarfed down six lobsters at Monday night's clam bake. Add that to the four that Romeus ate at last year's event, and the senior is believed to be the Big East's career leader in crustaceans consumed.

GOD DAMMIT, Why isn't someone keeping track of this?  Screw expansion, we need someone on All-Time Lobster Consumption.

To be fair, Romeus shares top honors with early favorite Sampson Genus, who also consumed six lobsters and said "I could have eaten about 10."  We can now assume Pitt and USF will finish 1-2 in the Big East this year.  Pretty sure there's a direct correlation.