SU Basketball: Turning Lemons Into Lemonade Couldn't Be Easier

Hi, fellow Orange fans...got a second?

I am The Invisible Swordsman. You may know me from the critically acclaimed possibly-ignored "What the P-S Won't Tell You About" football preview series, and some of the more recent episodes of "The Quindenion" (yes, the ones that take an entire lunch hour to read). As you know, I like to try and make the jokes on this site from time to time, but I want to speak to you from the heart about a serious matter in these most serious of times.

In case your iPhone has been broken over the last 24 hours or you logged on to TNIAAM and excitedly clicked on my article without looking at any of the other dozen or so articles next to it (and for that, I say "thanks Dad"!), you may have missed that our very own Syracuse Orange men's basketball team have given themselves a self-imposed ban that will see them miss all post-season competition this March. For Syracuse fans (and Syracuse residents in particular) this seriously sucks. It is the equivalent of being told that there will be nothing at all to look forward to but dark grey skies and snow until Mothers' Day. Why? Because historically, without Syracuse Orange men's basketball, there is nothing at all to look forward to but grey skies and snow until Mothers' Day!!!

But, my friends, before we give up on our happiness and sporting joy, I ask you...does it have to be this way? No, no, A THOUSAND TIMES NO!!! There is hope and happiness to be found. Indeed, Chandra Wilson once famously commented on finding a silver lining that speaks to us as Syracuse fans:

Our happiness is certainly mixed in with the tragedies of life. You have to find the lemonade. You have to find the silver lining in the middle of everything that happens in life.

It is a tragedy that our men's team has put themselves on the shelf this March for something Fab Melo must have done back in 2012...jerk. But Ms. Wilson is right. We HAVE to move forward and find the lemonade. Find that silver lining and evolve as a fan base into something better. Something that can rival anyone who truly claims to be college basketball's finest.

You see, the lemonade is right in front of us! The lemonade features a team who calls The Dome its home, and is nationally ranked. The lemonade features a competent coach that trades sarcasm for style, and a team that, like their male counterparts, plays an attractive brand of basketball featuring some of our region's top athletes. The lemonade has also been completely ignored by our proud fan base despite amazingly going from a laughingstock to a legitimate and consistent nationally relevant program.

Let me ask you a few questions:

You want McDonalds All-Americans on your team's roster?  THEY GOT McDONALD'S ALL-AMERICANS ON YOUR TEAM'S ROSTER!

You want an all around player to root for in the mould of a Wes Johnson or Rafael Addison??  THEY GOT AN ALL AROUND PLAYER TO ROOT FOR IN THE MOULD OF WES JOHNSON OR RAFAEL ADDISON!!

You want someone who once scored twenty-five consecutive triple-doubles???  THEY MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE SOMEONE WHO ONCE SCORED TWENTY-FIVE CONSECUTIVE TRIPLE-DOUBLES!!!  That last one may be false, but until you actually go to a game in-person, you aren't in any position to call me a liar...

Folks, we have done the SU women's basketball team a disservice for too long. They have gone about playing the right way, and are winning the right way despite empty seats. It is an embarrassment. But NOW is the time to change that.  The Orange will be in The Dome three more times between now and the ACC and NCAA tournaments, where they will proudly represent us.  If you are a student, get to Section 103 and give our team the game day experience they deserve...even just once. Residents of Syracuse, circle one of the following dates and take your kids to see our only ranked basketball team in action:

MIAMI - Thursday, Feb. 12th @ 7pm

BOSTON COLLEGE - Thursday, Feb 19th @ 7pm

PITTSBURGH - Sunday, Feb 22nd @ noon

I see Orange Eagle points in there people!!!

Come on!  Go see Coach Q and the ladies and get some lemonade. Start a new tradition for our school. One where we, the greatest college basketball fans in the world, fill the stadium up for our basketball teams regardless of their combination of X and Y chromosomes. One where when one team falters, we turn to those still playing for glory and give them your full voice in equal quantities for perhaps the first time ever. One where we may enjoy a deep and thrilling tournament run by the Syracuse Orange after all.

Let's give it a shot friends. It's long overdue!