Um, Wow.

Seriously, ladies, what are you going to do next? After seeing a 7-3 halftime deficit grow to 12-5 with 17 minutes and change left, I was prepared to waste a couple of paragraphs here bitching about Long Island traffic (long story short, it sucked). Between twitter snippets and bits and bobs from the crowd, Things didn't seem to be going in favor of the Orange. The score was 5-3 Florida when we arrived, and Gator goalie and Liverpool native Mikey Meagher had 7 saves and 9 on the half. Curse of the hot goalie strikes again. The second half didn't start out much better.

Continue reading this post »

In the national semi finals of the Women's NCAA Division 1 Lacrosse Championship Tournament, the fourth seeded and fourth ranked Syracuse University Orange women's lacrosse team makes its third ever appearance in the Final Four of the Women's NCAA Lacrosse Championship.

Awaiting the Orange are the number one seeded and number one ranked Florida Gators women's lacrosse team. The two teams will square off at 5:30 today at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook. The Orange women look to advance to their first ever championship game, as do the Gators who are making their second NCAA tournament and first Final Four appearance in only their third year as a D1 program.

You should be there since the game is on ESPN3.com and that's no fun. But if you're not, we'll be here and there will be commentary in the comments. Join us as we urge our Orange to their first national championship game appearance.

Leave your pre-, in- and post-game comments below. G'ORANGE!

In the national semi finals of the Women's NCAA Division 1 Lacrosse Championship Tournament, the fourth seeded and fourth ranked Syracuse University Orange women's lacrosse team makes its third ever appearance in the Final Four of the Women's NCAA Lacrosse Championship. Awaiting the Orange are the number one seeded and number one ranked Florida Gators women's lacrosse team. The two teams will square off at 5:30 today at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook. The Orange women look to advance to their first ever championship game, as do the Gators who are making their second NCAA tournament and first Final Four appearance in only their third year as a D1 program.

Today's game will be the second meeting this season between the two teams this year and features Tewaaraton Award finalists Brittany Dashiell (Jr. Midfielder, FL) and Michelle Tumulo (Jr. Attack, SU).

Continue reading this post »

Dion Waiters took a gamble.

When he announced his intentions to leave Syracuse and enter the NBA draft, there were plenty who questioned his decision. Almost everyone recognized his talent and potential, but there was debate on whether he was truly ready, whether he needed another year of seasoning before going pro.

In true Dion fashion, he's proving all the doubters wrong.

Reports out of Las Vegas, where Dion is training at Impact Basketball, say that he's impressed scouts to the point where he's lept from fringe first rounder to mid-lottery pick in the eyes of many NBA decision makers. They like his strength, quickness and his potential to play both guard spots.

ESPN draft guru Chad Ford recently sat down with Dion and talked with him about his training, his game and his NBA future.

Even as a lottery pick, Dion is apt to come off the bench, a role he's very familiar with:

"You've got an advantage sitting on the bench because you can see things your teammates aren't taking advantage of. So, when you get in the game, you're finding spots and you're finding holes and that made me a much better player."

Continue reading this post »

The Rimington Trophy is awarded annually to the best center in college football. And since it's way too early to be making guesses about who's going to be up for the award this year, they've released one of those spring watch lists where they throw the names of 50 players on there and hope they stick.

Syracuse Orange center Macky MacPherson made the list!

All growns up, Macky makes the initial list for what I'm pretty sure is the first time. Most of his accolades have been academic in nature up until now (Member of 2010 Fall, 2011 Spring and 2011 Fall Athletic Director's Honor Roll, 2011 BIG EAST All-Academic Team selection) but it's nice to see that he gets consideration, even if half the centers playing FBS football are on there.

Unless I read it too quickly, Louisville and Pitt were the only other Big East schools to get a player on there.

Party at Macky's place tonight...

I know you're itching for another Orangeman profile. I've got what you need.

Name: Cameron Lynch

Year: Sophomore

Nunber: 38

Position: Linebacker

Height: 5'11"

Weight: 223

Hometown: Lawrenceville, GA

High School: Brookwood

2011 Stats: Lynch was among ten true freshmen to see game action last season. He played in 10 games and recorded 35 total tackles, 23 of which were unassisted. He also threw in two sacks for 18 yards for good measure.

2012 Projections: After spring practice, Lynch is listed as the second string weakside line backer. There is, however, a big "OR" between him and the first string WLB, Dyshawn Davis. It's the only such qualifier on the depth chart, so fully expect Lynch to have a shot at the starting job and to see a good amount of time even if he's not the "starter".

How'd He Get Here?: Cam was an all-everything backer in his home state of Georgia and was a member of the Max Prep Sports-U.S. Airforce All-America Second Team. As a senior, he helped the Brookwood Broncos to a 14-1 record and a class AAAAA state championship. He must be one of those genius football players because he received offers offers from the likes of Vanderbilt, Harvard and Air Force before he went with the Orange.

What Did Scout/Rivals Say?: Both gave him three stars, which counts as the recruit lottery for Syracuse. Interpret that as you will.

Money Quote: On being thrust into action early as a frosh:

"It’s a lot of pressure on us young guys. I got some playing time against Wake Forest, so it wasn’t as bad, but other than that it went pretty well."

Continue reading this post »

This post is sponsored by, well, me.

I had a lot of fun teaching my three online blogging classes last week. We had a bunch of folks taking Intro To Blogging for beginners, Blogging 2.0 for next-steppers and Sports Blogging 101 for those interested in writing about sports. Some folks took all three classes while others picked the one perfect for them. I hope everyone got something out of the classes and I look forward to checking out their blogs as they grow.

Now that the classes have been completed, that means the video recordings and slides are available for anyone who might have missed the classes. Anytime you want, you can view the video of each of the three blogging classes and read-along with the slides to get all the information you could possibly need to get your blog started or keep your blog growing.

Intro To Blogging - This class is for anyone who has ever wanted to start a blog but didn't know where to begin as well as the blogger who signed up for Wordpress, wrote their first post and then realized they didn't know where to go from there. The two-hour online course will hold your hand as we go over the basics of blogging (how to start a blog, how to name it, what to write about, tips for building traffic). Everything you need to get off the ground and get blogging.

Blogging 2.0 - Not only will this class build on what's discussed in the Intro class, but it will also provide critical info for those who want to really expand their community, their traffic, their search engine optimization and make a little money while doing it. If you've already gotten a blog off the ground but need help taking it to the next level, this class should be extremely helpful for you.

Sports Blogging 101 - As a sports blogger, I know that there are certainly rules, topics and tricks that apply only to us. Building a sports community is unlike anything else on the web and this class will be all about how a sports blog goes from a voice in the crowd to leading the discussion. If you're just starting a sports blog or want to learn some tips and tricks to make your current one even more popular, this is for you. If you're interested in signing up for any or all of the classes, you can do so below.

Each class is $50 and that's good for the class video and slides. Upon payment, you'll receive an email confirmation from me that includes a link to the webinar page where the classes will take place as well as an attachment with a PDF of the class slides, which you can keep. The video link will never go away either so save the classes to watch later on as well.

Class Options

Intro To Blogging$50.00 USD Blogging 2.0$50.00 USD Sports Blogging 101$50.00 USD Two Classes (Specify On Payment)$100.00 USD All Three Classes$150.00 USD

Click here to get more information on the classes as well as more background on me.