Hey, did you hear? A guy who used to play quarterback, and whom everyone thought would never play quarterback again, is back in the news because he's going to play quarterback.
Jack Carey of the USA Today has a piece of Paulus up today. Greg talks a bit about the shape he's in and how he's preparing for the upcoming season.
"It's the strongest I've been," he says. "Switching from basketball condition to football is a little different, but after a couple of months of running, with our strength coaches, I feel I'm in pretty good shape."
Greg also mentions that he wouldn't change the way his career played out i.e. going to Duke for basketball rather than going straight into football.
Probably the least shocking development in all of this? Bud Poliquin loves the move.
...if he's not indisputably the most evolved quarterback on the Syracuse campus, he's certainly the one with the greatest upside (i.e., the guy who has the best chance to produce victories) over these next 100 days or so. When the alternatives to a mature and developed and competition-tested athlete with an unquestioned intellect and celebrated leadership skills are (a) a redshirt freshman and (b) a former walk-on, there is nothing to discuss. Well, is there?
Bud even chimes in on the Meadowlands deal and, I have to say, makes a fantastic point:
Try putting SU-vs.-Georgetown or SU-vs.-Connecticut in Madison Square Garden rather than in the Carrier Dome -- this, after the Orange plays the Hoyas in D.C. and the Huskies in Hartford/Storrs -- and let's see how giddy the Orange faithful would be.
The more I think about moving the USC game, the angrier I get. And I don't even live in Syracuse!
Speaking of the Meadowlands, that's where DOC Gross is as he prepares for the formality press conference. Donnie tries to talk Cuse fans off the ledge by saying neutral-site games happen all the time. That's not the point though, Donnie. We know this is all the rage in college football. The point is that SU doesn't welcome many elite programs into the Dome, let alone the most elite program of them all. That was going to be the most anticipated game played inside the Dome from now until 2016. Take the Minnesota game to Chicago or take the Penn State game to Philadelphia...fine. But we really wanted to see USC in our own backyard. It's not the fact that it's a neutral site game, its the fact that it had to be THAT game.
Donnie also mentions that Yankee Stadium apparently asked SU and Rutgers about playing their regular-season game in the Bronx and both schools told them to take a hike. Thank God.
Check out the latest practice photo gallery and get ready for Marrone to finally speak on the Paulus issue this afternoon after practice.