"LICK-tin-steen." That's the proper way to pronounce Syracuse's freshman kicker's last name. If you're like me, you probably have been saying "lick-tin-stein" or something like that. To be honest, I think I'm gonna stick with that.
There was a kid on my freshman dorm floor, last name Selewski. We always pronounced it "Se-loo-skee." It wasn't until sophomore year that we found out the actual pronunciation was "Se-less-skee." He never corrected us. To the point where he pretty much went by our pronunciation for the rest of college.
I'd like to think we can peer pressure Ryan Lichtenstein into the same thing.
Lichtenstein! is profiled in the Daily Orange today. We get to read all about his rise, fall, rise, fall and rise. Okay, it's not that dramatic, actually.
Eventually, after some stressful waiting, that hard work paid off. Lichtenstein took walk-on opportunity at Syracuse. Following the departure of Wallis and John Barker, Shane Raupers and Lichtenstein became the SU kickers. Raupers was the frontrunner. Lichtenstein was the underdog.
"(Shane) was on scholarship and I was a walk-on, but I treated it as if we were both equal," Lichtenstein said. "I wanted open competition."
Raupers quit the team and Lichtenstein became the starter. He hasn't looked back since and is now on scholarship.
We get the gritty details about how a kid who only kicked six or seven field goals a year in high school ended up walking-on and eventually getting a scholarship at Syracuse. You were already a fan of Lichtenstein!'s before this thanks to the Northwestern kick and his many others, but this should put the issue to bed. He might not have been what we had in mind when we tried to select a kicker this season but he's the right guy for the job.