:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/imported_assets/366513/375194791.jpg)
Welcome, one and all, to the inaugural TNIAAMHS! Huzzah! Huzzah! You'll find some very specific topics and sections below and we'll do new ones each week depending on what's going on. So let's get to it...
SYRACUSE GAMES - THE WEEK AHEAD
Saturday, January 30th, 2pm ET - @DePaul (8-12, 1-7)
The Orange (20-1) are looking at their easiest contest in about a month. The Blue Demons have won exactly one Big East game in the last two seasons, and that took a last-second shot and an opponent mired in the worst luck the program has had in years. There is no discernable reason why the Demons should even be within striking distance by the 2nd half. So, naturally, that's why SU will only win by 7.
MookpocalypseWatch - High. This has all the signs of double-digit minutes for Mook. Of course, that usually means it also has all the signs of Mookie taking double-digit shots as well.
If This Game Were A Moment From Jersey Shore, It Would Be... "ONE SHOT, KID!" That's all it should take, probably.
Gametime Snack of Choice - Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza. Like I need to tell you.
Gametime Beverage of Choice - Full Throttle Blue Demon. You're gonna need an energy drink to get through this one once Cuse is up 25. Might as well stay theme-specific. Plus, they have a luchador for a spokesperson.
Movie/TV Show To Watch Afterward If We Win - Lost, Season Five on DVD. There's catching up that needs to be done.
Movie/TV Show To Watch Afterward If We Lose - Heroes on DVD. For a loss this embarrassing, punish yourself by watching the sci-fi show that should have been even better than Lost but somehow ended up being worse than Xena.
Tuesday, February 2nd, 7pm ET - Providence (12-8, 4-4)
The Friars are suddenly frisky after beating UConn on Wednesday. Their NCAA Tournament hopes are dicey at best but they've got a good chance but they've got a chance to make a dent with their upcoming schedule...which is brutal. How brutal? After No. 4 Syracuse they play Marquette, No. 7 Georgetown, @ No. 3 Villanova, No. 9 West Virginia, No. 4 Syracuse again, @ South Florida and @ No. 17 Pittsburgh. THAT'S ridiculous.
MookpocalypseWatch - Moderate. The Orange usually get a good game out of the Friars. I could see this one being a lot like the Marquette game. Providence hangs tough, the Orange can't put them away but they eventually eek out the win. That doesn't bode well for young Mr. Jones.
If This Game Were A Moment From Jersey Shore, It Would Be..."I don't understand that religion, what it is. I just wanna get to the business."- Pauly D. Like Pauly, we don't really care what you're a friar of, we just want to give you the business.
Gametime Snack of Choice - Dunkin Donuts. In honor of the Friars, who play in The Dunk, it's only right that you grab a baker's dozen of the finest glazed you can get your hands on and dig in. Have fun with it, turn it into a game. Eat one donut for every time a broadcaster mentions an interesting relationship fact about a Syracuse player.
Gametime Beverage of Choice - Black Friar's Pint. You'll have to make it yourself and some of the ingredients I've never even heard of. Good luck with that.
Movie/TV Show To Watch Afterward If We Win - Southland (TNT, 10pm) You didn't watch it when it was on NBC. I know. You know how I know? It's on TNT now. But give it a whirl. It's not gonna blow your skirt up every time but it's a pretty gritty look at the life of the LAPD, without most of the Hollywood nonsense.
Movie/TV Show To Watch Afterward If We Lose - The George Lopez Show (Nick, 10pm) - Wallow in the misery. Wallow in it.
THIS WEEK IN SYRACUSE HISTORY
January 28th, 2009 - Syracuse loses at Providence 100-94. Vengeance...thy name is Wes Johnson.
February 3rd, 1904 - Syracuse defeats Postdam Normal 29-11. What's the matter, Postdam Normal? Afraid to schedule us again? Yeah...thought so.
RANDOM SU ALUM YOU NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO RIGHT NOW
Vera Farmiga - You know her as one-third of the Leo DoCaprio-Matt Damon love triangle from The Departed. You may also know her as "that actress who keeps starring in movies about creepy kids." Well the former Syracuse University's School of Performing Arts student has an outside shot at nominated for an Academy Award for her work in Up in the Air. Of course, even if she doesn't get the nod, she's be just fine. She's got a role opposite Jake Gyllenhaal coming up...dreamy!
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Remember Damone Brown? Remember when he formed one third of the Reno Bighorn Cuse Triumvirate? Remember when he got arrested by the FBI for his involvement in a drug ring? Yeah, whatever happened with that? I guess it got cleared up...or something...cause Damone is back on the court. He's playing for the Buffalo Stampede of the Premier Basketball League. The Stampede aren't looking too good so far, but there's still a lot of season to play. Look out, Manchester Millrats! (H/T: RUBasketball)
BUDAPHOR OF THE WEEK
(Wherein we cull Bud Poliquin's latest opus to find the metaphor that most beguiles, befuddles and bewilders...)
From: If you're Skaneateles High School, you just had to hire Tim Green. Well, didn't you?
But an institution must dare to be great. And with Tim Green -- whose upside as coach/mentor in the high school world of sports/academics is off the proverbial charts -- available and interested . . . well, [Ron] Doctor had to come up as Alydar to the other guy’s Affirmed.
POPULAR VIRAL VIDEO THAT I WILL RELATE SOMEHOW TO SYRACUSE SPORTS
I don't understand what the big deal is. Wes Johnson makes that shot ten out of ten times. Scoop even makes it 2 out of 10 times. Nothing new...
NEW MOVIE TRAILER WE WILL NOW OVER-ANALYZE
I think Videogum puts it best:
The tagline for this movie is: "This summer, get ready to--HEY, A BLACK GUY IN A LIMOUSINE?! NOW I HAVE SEEN IT ALL! LOL EVERYTHING IS UPSIDE-DOWNSIES!"
No. 1 - Money Never Sleeps? Welcome to the "Ridiculous Movie Title Hall of Fame" alongside Half Past Dead, Herbie: Fully Loaded, Operation Dumbo Drop & Gigli.
No. 2 - Shia LaBeouf. More like Shia LaYikes!
No. 3 - Remember when Oliver Stone was a relevant filmmaker? Me either...
MAILBAG!!!
Michael P: Why did Edelin leave the team? Its still a mystery to me.
Every Syracuse fan knows a guy who knew a girl who dated a guy who knows the gritty details about Billy Edelin. While the official word has been academics, accusations of sexual harassment and rape by not one but two students certainly weren't just window-dressing. Couple all of that with other examples of dumb moves (playing rec games during his suspension) and I think we can piece together enough of a picture about Edelin that he was a habitually bad decision-maker. The writing was on the wall and all signs point to Boeheim basically telling Edelin his services would no longer be required. He transferred to a D-II school where he could escape the scrutiny...and he even screwed that up.
These days he's playing in the King of Kings League in Utica, so at least he's still trying.
Joe Q: I was at the game Monday night and noticed SU had put together a video montage for the hoops team that is run on the screens before the team is announced. Similar to the football one. I have not been able to find it anywhere on the internet, youttube, suathletics, even the SU sports facebook page. Do you know what I am talkin about and do you have any way to get to it or post it on your blog?
Great question, Joe. Would love to see the video as well. One I have no answer to. Anyone else??? (FOUND!)
Tim H: When was the last time SU was ranked number 1 in either poll, and how many times has it happened before?
Tim, it's times like these I trust in OrangeHoops, the finest SU basketball resource ever created. Let's stick to the modern era and not worry about if we were No. 1 in 1927.
After reaching the finals in 1987, the Orangemen started the following year as the preseason No. 1...only to lose the first game they played. SU also started the '89-'90 year as No. 1, maintaining the ranking through early January. That was the last time. The highest the Orange have been since was No. 3 early in the 2004 season (thanks to the title run the year before). Looks like we might be about to match that.
Twice...that's it. We've only been No. 1 twice in the last 30 years. Seems like it should be more, no? Maybe not.
Afino: What’s your thoughts on MMA, Sean?
Last year, I decided I needed to get more man-ish. So I signed up to take Jiu Jitsu lessons at the Gracie Academy in nearby Torrance. If you don't know the Gracies are like the first family of Jiu Jitsu and MMA.
Now, I've never taken any kind of fighting training in my life. I'm a Jewish kid from the Central New Jersey suburbs. We don't fight, we complain. So this was completely out of the box for me. I showed up, got my gi (uniform) and my white belt, pretended to know what I was doing as I put them on and trotted out into the training area. It was basically a humongous wrestling mat where 3-4 classes were going on at any given time.
My group, the newbies, broke off and we started getting training from one of the Gracies. I don't remember which one. Not one of the major ones. One of the younger ones. There's so many, I don't even think the Gracies know who's who anymore. Anyway, I started learning some basic techniques. I learned how to arm-bar someone. I learned the proper technique for blocking a punch. I learned what to do if someone throws me to the ground and sits on my chest (fun!).
It was interesting. It was educational. It was informative. And I learned a ton.
I lasted three classes.
No rhyme or reason. It just wasn't my thing. I just wasn't cut out for that kind of stuff. I respect the art-form and I think its extremely valuable skills to have...but...you know...
So I guess that's how I feel about MMA. I get it. I think it's probably a purer form of combat than boxing. I can respect how important technique is and how it's not just about strength or muscles. But I'm not going to watch it. I don't really care what happens.
It's just not me thing.
Michael M: I'm going to graduate college in May with undergraduate degrees in history and philosophy and greater than $20,000 in debt. What do suggest is the best way to fake my own death and where should I start my new life?
A philosophy major? Sweet mother, who's been mentoring you??? I took one philosophy class at SU. We watched a lot of Star Trek. At the end of the class the one thing I realized was that you can never prove or disprove anything. PHILOSOPHY!!!
If you want to go down the fake death/new life route, I would suggest a fake boating accident. Rent a dinghy, get one of your friends to take their own boat out into the ocean, dock up, sink the dinghy, throw your life preserver and a your driver's license into the ocean, get on your friend's boat and ride off. Your family will be bummed but they'll probably give up looking after a week or so. No fuss, no muss.
As for your location to start over, might I suggest Kauai, Hawaii? The most secluded of the Hawaiian islands. It's got beautiful, plush rain forests. And rampant wild chickens! There are worse places in this world to live off the grid. You could work as a jet ski rental shop manager. I'm sure they pay in cash. You'll be fine.
Now, if you're willing to step back from the ledge, let me tell you the good news. Your degree is meaningless. I don't mean that to say you wasted the last four years. I just mean that to say that once you get out into the real world, your "focus of study" means absolutely dick. (Unless you're going to be a doctor, accountant, lawyer or marine biologist). Go into any random office some time and ask everyone to tell you their major in college. English majors, public affairs majors, art history majors, marketing majors...you name it, you'll find it.
Five years from now you'll think back to all of that pressure that was heaped on you as a freshman and sophomore to decide your major. Remember that? How they beat it into you how important it was and how you needed to decide ASAP? You'll see where you're at today and you'll realize...holy crap...no one actually cares...
So fear not, brave new soul. The world is full of opportunity, even for philosophy majors. As for the overflowing mountain of debt, you'll chip away. Promise. And if I'm wrong...well then I'll probably see you in Kuaui in a few years when I'm on vacation.
Kevin C: I was listening to one of my favorite 80's R&B classics "Poison" by Bell Biv DeVoe and was wondering if you could confirm or deny one of my favorite Cuse related urban legends. Directly before the final chorus someone is heard whispering, "Rob Moore your dead." I've always been told that this song is about an Orangelady who attended Syracuse and cheated on one of the band members with Moore.
While I wasn't aware of this urban legend, that moment in the song immediately popped into my head. Decided to check it out. And quite frankley, any excuse to watch this video is good enough for me.
Did I own this cassette single? You're goddamn right I owned this cassette single.
The moment in question comes at the 3:58 mark and, by God, if you want it to be Rob Moore you're dead, that's what it sounds like. Alas, all signs point to the lyric actually being "wrong move you're dead." However, piquing my curiosity is the fact that we don't actually see Biv say "wrong move/Rob Moore" in the video. Like they were hiding something...
The rumors run rampant to this day and who am I to deny the possibility? The problem is, the rumor has morphed. You said you heard it was about cheating. Another version says Moore assaulted Biv's sister. We may never truly know the answer to this question...until I'm granted an interview with our new receivers coach...
GO ORANGE!...