If you didn't already hear, one of the road signs pointing the way to Syracuse Hancock International Airport misspells the most important word: Syracuse. We don't know who's to blame for this one, but it's both hilarious and sad at the same time. I could understand "Siracuse," but "Sryacuse"? As one dotcom commenter pointed out, how did someone during the process of putting the sign up not notice something was wrong?
Is it so hard to spell Syracuse? Guess so. Sign to airport spells city's name wrong https://t.co/WLxjyg5csI pic.twitter.com/xeWGyJxHUE
— syracuse.com (@syracusedotcom) July 14, 2016
Anyway, there are definitely many more Syracuse-related names that are easier to misspell than Syracuse itself, so here's a short list to start off with. Feel free to add to the list in the comments below! (Ed Note: My list is of current or more recent student-athletes, but we know many from our rich history could fit in this category.)
1. Michael Gbinije (Men's Basketball)
This could go several different ways. Someone could leave out the "G" entirely, hence the nickname "Silent G": Binije. It could be spelled phonetically: Benejay, Beneje, Benajay, or Benaje. Or, if they know that it starts with a "G", it could be spelled the same as the previous four examples with the "G".
2. Paschal Chukwu (Men's Basketball)
Where do I even begin? Have fun with that one next season...
3. Chinonso Obokoh (Men's Basketball)
The more foreign your name is, the less likely someone is to spell it correctly. I even forgot the second "N" because for the longest time I thought that was how it was spelled. I guess that's why he goes by "Chino". On the other hand, Obokoh isn't particularly difficult to figure out. The worst I could see is someone leaving off the "H" at the end.
4. Qaadir Sheppard (Football)
I would think that his first name would be more likely to get misspelled because Sheppard isn't that hard to mess up. Qaadir could go the route of "Quadir", "Quadeer", "Qadir" or "Qadeer". The only misspelling of Sheppard could be "Shepheard" in my eyes.
5. Roos Weers (Field Hockey)
The fact that I thought Roos' name was pronounced "Rooz Weers" alone is proof that trying to spell it would be difficult. I could see Roos being spelled as "Rose" and Weers as "Wares" or "Wears".
6. Karleigh Scully (Women's Ice Hockey)
I will never understand why parents feel the need to spell their child's name in a unique way. The way I've always known how to write Karleigh is "Carly" or "Carli". There's also "Karli," "Karly," and "Carlie".
7. Sarah Konishesky (Women's Rowing)
Sarah's last name is what we're looking at here, obviously. I could see it going the way of "Conisheski" or "Conishezki".
8. Alex Lamontagne (Women's Soccer)
If I were to try and spell Alex's name without seeing it, I would probably either say "Lamontaine" or "Lemontaine".
9. Anna Shkudun (Tennis)
As Shkudun is pronounced "Shuck-done" I could see someone spelling it phonetically without the hyphen. I could also see "Shukdun" as a possibility.
10. Gosia Wlaszczuk (Volleyball)
Why do some names have to have so many consonants strung together? I always wonder how you can get "Shi-chef-sky" out of Coach Krzyzewski.