160 times, Syracuse and Colgate have battled for the right to be called the best in Central New York and 115 of those times the answer has been Syracuse. And considering the Raiders already have losses to Kennesaw State and UC Riverside, expect that number to grow tonight when the two teams rekindle the not-really rivalry.
It's been tough-goings for Colgate so far this season. First, they lose their star in the off-season to an ACL injury (must be going around). So far, they're 2-2 and haven't scored more than 65 in a game. Their leading scorer, Mike Venezia, is averaging 11 PPG and he's the only Raider in double-digits. Although they do have one guy who can match-up with Arinze Onuaku in the great names department...Yaw Gyawu (Please tell me it's pronounded guy-a-woo...please?).
Not that Colgate is all that far away but it's a homecoming of sorts for Raider's center Nick Pascale, who played high school ball in Cuse. He played at the same high school as Andy Rautins, although the two never crossed paths at the time.
This really shouldn't be a contest. And I don't mean that in the way that Virginia shouldn't have been a contest but they almost beat us cause they stepped it up and Syracuse played too loose. I mean, this shouldn't even be within 25 points by the time we get into the 2nd half even if Paul Harris plays the entire game walking on his hands. No excuses on this one.
Game's at 7pm EST. Mike Waters has a much more informative preview here. We'll have a game thread here and I'll keep you posted if I hear of any gamechats. Brush up on your O'Reilly Auto Parts commercial knowledge regardless.
I leave you with something I posted a couple years back which I always like to reference, if for no other reason than the fact that historical, misplaced racist rhetoric is always funny in a not-so-funny-but-it-kinda-is way...
Need a reason to get fired up for the 'Gate? Here's a fun fact for you, courtesy of Wikipedia:
Ellis Island National Monument displays an anti-immigration statement by George Cutten, Colgate's eighth President, warning that "The danger the 'melting pot' brings to the nation is the breeding out of the higher divisions of the white race...."
So what you're telling me is that he wouldn't have been a huge Yaw Gyawu fan?