Sports

Pitarresi: Some SU opponents more than lucky

2010-02-16T18:20:00.001-08:00

Maybe these guys are lucky, or maybe they know what they’re doing.

Syracuse University’s basketball team has lost two games this season, to Pittsburgh and Louisville, and both defeats technically were upsets. SU was ranked fifth in the nation and Pitt was unranked when the Panthers won 82-72 Jan. 2. The Orange were ranked second and Louisville was unranked when the Cardinals won 66-60 Sunday.

Technically upsets, yeah, but as Louisville coach Rick Pitino said after Sunday’s game, this is the Big East. There are a lot of good teams. And SU being defeated by Jamie Dixon’s Panthers or Pitino’s Cardinals is hardly unusual. The Orange have not had a lot of success against either team in recent years. Pitt has won seven of its last eight games with SU since 2006. Louisville has won six in a row since 2007.

Those two teams certainly have not been intimidated by the Orange. Nor has Villanova. The Wildcats, who will visit a sold out Carrier Dome Feb. 27, seven of their last nine games against SU.

Why have Pitt, Louisville, and Villanova done so well against SU? It’s not luck. These are consistently strong programs, and so is SU. Sometimes streaks just happen. But Dixon, Pitino and Villanova’s Jay Wright are very good coaches who have well-prepared, talented players. And, maybe the biggest thing, they have learned to attack Jim Boeheim’s signature 2-3 defense in creative ways.

The 2-3 has proved itself. It is a weapon that SU uses well, and it throws many teams into confusion, and reduces others to playing simplistic, uninspired basketball. However, these guys have found ways to crack it, more than one, since they don’t use the same method every time down the court. They make the zone move, get the ball into the lane and at the high post consistently, and get a good number of high percentage shots.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Villanova attacks the zone on that big day at the end of the month, with nearly 35,000 people all but blowing the roof off the Dome.

Pitarresi: SU zone deflates opponents

2010-02-09T16:45:00.001-08:00

By now, it is obvious to everyone, or should be, as Andy Rautins sort of lectured me a couple of weeks ago, that this season’s Syracuse University’s basketball defense is the Orange’s best in a long time.

Coach Jim Boeheim has been criticized at times for his insistence on playing the 2-3 zone, which he does most of the time and this year all but exclusively. Hey, why shouldn’t he? It works! It is working especially well this season because the guards move very well, the big men are getting bodies on people and blocking shots, and the traps along the sidelines and in the corners are creating a lot of turnovers.

It also works because many of SU’s opponents seem to have no idea how to attack it. Sunday, Cincinnati got inside early against the Orange, then seemed to forget about that. The Bearcats did absolutely nothing to break down the zone, ran the shot clock down to the nub several times, and the last 10 minutes of the game settled for long jump shot after long jump shot, which they didn’t make.

Cinci did noting to make the SU zone move, especially to get the big men to defend aggressively, which is a big key. If you are going to just pass the ball around the outside with a man standing still at the high post, you have to snap the ball. The Bearcats kind of threw the ball around half-heartedly and seemed to hope that some SU player or other would forget to face up.

It’s amazing. Maybe teams can’t play against zones because they don’t see them often or because it forces them into a style they are uncomfortable with, but, geez, you have to be prepared. Maybe that’s why long-time Big East teams like Connecticut, Villanova, and Pittsburgh do a better job of attacking the defense. They’ve seen it often. Louisville, too, probably because Rick Pitino has been around a long time, and is a former Boeheim assistant.

Watch those teams against the zone. Win or lose, I guarantee you they will be creative and won’t settle for jump shots the way Cincinnati and so many other teams have.

Pitarresi: Colts will win; Graham might have been the best

2010-02-03T20:16:00.001-08:00

My Super Bowl prediction:

Indianapolis Colts 37, New Orleans Saints 24

If Thomas R. Proctor High’s Will Smith and his friends don’t put Peyton Manning on his back three or four times and create a couple turnovers, they are going to get cut up. I don’t put much stock in saying this guy or that guy is the best ever, but the Colts star certainly is one of the most productive quarterbacks of all time. He has tremendous physical skills, an impressive quarterback demeanor, and prepares for and thinks the game about as well as everyone ever did.

It helps Manning that he has at least four very skilled receivers. You can shut down one good pass catcher, maybe even two, but you can’t shut down four. At least, I don’t think so. And the Saints have been leaky on defense through 18 games as it is.

New Orleans is very good on offense, but the Colts are better on both sides of the ball. Drew Brees is an excellent quarterback, but who would you pick, him or Manning? That’s a rhetorical question.

I’d love to see Will Smith get a Super Bowl ring. He’s been a great player in high school, at Ohio State, and with the Saints, and he’s always remembered his home town and old friends. I just don’t think it’s going to happen unless he and the rest of the defense have a great game, or Brees and his receivers play out of their minds.

As an aside, there was discussion recently on a national sports radio talk show about who might be the best quarterback of all time. Manning was mentioned, along with Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, and Johnny Unitas. Not a bad group, but here is a more complete list, and, yes, it reaches back to the era of leather helmets:

Sammy Baugh, Sid Luckman, Bobby Lane, Norm VanBrocklin, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach – one of the toughest ever, mentally and physically – Steve Young, maybe Jim Kelly and Troy Aikman. A quarterback’s job is to lead his team to victory, and those guys did, many times.

So did this guy, who somehow doesn’t seem to come up much in conversation any more: Otto Graham. He quarterbacked the Browns in 10 consecutive championships games in the All-American Conference and National Football League, and won seven of them. In 1954, he ran for three touchdowns and threw for three more in a 56-10 title game rout of the Detroit Lions. Again, I’m not sure I believe in “the greatest of all time,” but if you held a gun to my head I think I’d have to pick Graham, even if he last played more than a half century ago.

Pitarresi: Who missed Garcon? Good for Will Smith

2010-01-24T20:17:00.001-08:00

Pierre Garcon, a Division III player in college, catches 11 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown as the Colts get the best of the Jets in the AFC championship game.

Who missed that guy? Garcon played at Norwich University, not a small college power in recent years, then Mount Union, which certainly has been. But still, how did a guy with such obvious physical gifts get missed by 120 or so major college programs and a couple hundred more in I-AA and even Division II?

Whatever. Garcon is terrific. Not that it hurts to have Peyton Manning throwing the ball to you. The Jets had Manning rattled early, but the Colts offense managed to pull everything together. Garcon and Austin Collie, another receiver with a modest pedigree – a rookie and fourth-round draft choice from Brigham Young – who caught seven passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, were the stars of the game. That is, if you don’t count Manning, who is one of the all-time greats, no matter what happens Feb. 7 in Miami.

And how about Utica’s Will Smith and his New Orleans Saints going to the Super Bowl? Good for Will, who played a sold second half, and made a huge play stripping the ball from Percy Harvin, in his team’s overtime victory over the Vikings. I feel bad for Brett Favre, who I’ve generally admired for his toughness and all-out style, but he is the NFL’s all-time leader in, not just interceptions, but stupid interceptions. Throwing the ball across your body and across the field in desperation, no matter how much of a rocket arm you still have, getting picked off, and killing your team’s chance for a winning field goal is just crazy. And he had played very well up till then. Inexplicable. You can’t do that.

Favre is, like Manning, one of the best ever at his position, but his sometimes self-destructive propensity to gamble came back and bit him hard Sunday.

Pitarresi: Jackson, Onuaku make a defensive difference

2010-01-19T20:59:00.001-08:00

It was fine road trip by the Syracuse University basketball team, winning three in a row on the road.

The victory at Notre Dame might have been most impressive. The Irish aren’t a great team, but they were playing on their floor, led by one of the Big East’s top players, Luke Harangody.

Harangody got his points (31) and rebounds (14), as he almost always does, but SU won going away. The best thing about it was how the Orange responded after their 10-point lead was whittled down to just two with 9:47 to play. They pulled away little by little, and put the game away. There was the danger of a fold up there, and the SU players didn’t let it happen.

Notre Dame obviously got inside the SU zone pretty well – 26 points in the paint, and you’d think other Big East teams will notice how Harangody was deployed in an unorthodox way on the baseline behind the 2-3 setup – but that defense has been pretty good all season. Opponents are shooting just 38 percent against SU, which leads the nation at the other end of the floor, hitting 53 percent. A lot has been made of the zone’s new-found activity and “length,” and that sure helps, but another reason for the defensive success is sheer bulk.

Wes Johnson is, admittedly, a slim 6-feet-7 (not likely) and 205 pounds (doubtful), and is a great athlete and sensational leaper who is second on the team with 35 blocks. But Rick Jackson (6-9, 240) who has 37 blocks, and Arinze Onuaku (6-9, 261) are true hulks. They make it very difficult for opposing big men whether they block shots or not, simply by taking up room. Really, big guys or guards, anyone who is able to get inside of the SU zone still has to deal with two very large bodies that actually move pretty well. A great many times, they are forced to take off-balance shots or put up weak attempts.

No one ever seems to say Jackson and Onuaku are outstanding defensive players, and maybe they aren’t, but they don’t have to be. They cause problems in there for the opposition, and they do make a defensive difference.

There is a long way to go, and there a lot of very good teams in the Big East, but Jackson and Onuaku are making a big difference on defense.

Pitarresi: Cowboys' Austin a good interview

2010-01-05T15:54:00.001-08:00

I don’t get Jim Rome much of the time.

The sports talk radio host obviously has a large following, but I have to believe few of his fans are in my age group or with my point of view in it. And, really, I often have a difficult time wading through the jargon he uses and figuring out what exactly it is he is talking about.

But, Rome can be good, especially conducting interviews. He might not ask too many tough questions, or maybe any but he does a good job of getting people to reveal themselves. Today (Tuesday), he spoke with Miles Austin, the Dallas Cowboys’ fourth-year free agent receiver from Monmouth University who has had a sensational, Pro Bowl season – 81 catches, 1,320 yards, 11 touchdowns.

I’ve seen only bits and pieces of Cowboy games this season, and a just few everyday catches by Austin, but the interview made me a fan in the space of five minutes. Austin came across as serious but personable, and modest, genuine, team-oriented. He even tossed bouquets to his old school a couple of times. These are all things we have learned not to expect from top-flight NFL receivers.

There was no boasting, no trash talk, no sense that the world revolved around Miles Austin, yet he still had a sense of humor and had interesting things to say. Maybe there are more like him than we know, but his attitude just jumped out at me. Pretty refreshing.

So, good luck Miles Austin in the NFL playoffs.

Pitarresi: Pitt is tough on SU

2010-01-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

Saturday, January 02, 2010

If you were surprised by Pittsburgh’s 82-72 upset of fifth-ranked and previously unbeaten Syracuse today, maybe you shouldn’t have been.

If you’ve watched the Panthers in recent years, you had to expect a dogfight, even with four of their top players from last season gone.

Why? Because Jamie Dixon is the coach of the Panthers and he is just tremendous at getting his team to play physical, defensive, possession-by-possession basketball. Not that there is anything wrong with SU. If you start 13-0, beating California, North Carolina and Florida along the way, you’re pretty good.

You get the idea, however, that SU is not comfortable playing Pitt, or being forced into Pitt’s style. The Panthers have beaten the Orange eight times in 10 games since Dixon became the coach in 2003. Jim Boeheim said his team has to become more physical, and that’s right, because the Big East is a physical league.

Hey, if Pitt doesn’t make 10 of 24 3-pointers and SU doesn’t shoot a miserable 1 of 13 from the same distance, or if Orange big men Arinze Onuaku and Rick Jackson scored more than two points between them in the second half, maybe we wouldn’t be talking about how tough the Panthers are. Still, the Orange, as talented as they are, can take a lesson from the Panthers.

Bowl hysteria

It’s been tough keeping up with all the bowl games.

There are so many of them, I’ve found myself checking out this one for five minutes, that one for 10, another for two. One that held my attention for a while, though, was Penn State and LSU in the Capital One Bowl. And I wanted Penn State, because it’s great to see a Northern team beat the SEC.

But, geez, I hated that personal foul penalty on LSU’s Lyle Hitt as the Tigers were driving to set up for a possible winning field field goal in the waning seconds. Hitt pulled Penn State’s Navarro Bowman off teammate Brandon LaFell after he was tackled. Bowman was obviously intentionally lying on top of LaFell, trying to get more time off the clock before the ball could be spotted for the next play. Hitt wasn’t gentle about it, but it wasn’t a dirty play by any means. A flag was thrown anyway, Hitt was given a personal foul, LSU was penalized back to its 36-yard line, and if the Tigers had any chance to win, it was badly reduced. Two plays later, it was all over.

I don’t blame Hitt one bit from pulling Bowman off the pile. How long was he going to have to wait for the ball to be spotted? And, Bowman’s play, while pretty sly, is not exactly in the spirit of the game.

Did Penn State deserve to win? Yeah, LSU deserved a shot at the end, too. An official threw a flag and didn’t let the game be decided by the players, That’s too bad.

Pitarresi: Biddle a boon for Colgate

2009-12-29T20:32:00.001-08:00

Dick Biddle will be the Colgate University football coach through at least 2012.

That’s good news.

My enduring image of Biddle is of him on the sideline during a 2003 NCAA I-AA playoff game against Massachusetts, hatless and – if I remember correctly – wearing a sweatshirt on a bitterly cold, windy, snowy day at Andy Kerr Stadium. The UMass players huddled by the heaters near the benches whenever they came off the field. The Raiders, perhaps taking a hint from their coach, ignored the weather, played football, won the game, and went all the way to the title game, losing to perennially powerful Delaware and finishing 15-1.

That was a remarkable season, but Biddle’s reputation has been built on consistent excellence. He’s 113-51 in 14 seasons, with six Patriot League championships, four league coach of the year awards, and one national coach of the year honor.

More than that, he rescued Colgate from football mediocrity, or worse. After many years of fair to good and sometimes poor teams, the Raiders enjoyed an outstanding run under Fred Dunlap from 1976 through 1987. After Dunlap retired, the Raiders went 27-60-1 in eight seasons, including 0-11 in 1995. Biddle took over, went 6-5 the next year, and the Colgate has pretty much been on a roll ever since.

An outstanding, perhaps great, college player himself, still remembered with awe by old-timers at Duke, Biddle is a big man and a tough guy. He's a pretty serious person, and some find him intimidating. Whatever he has to offer – and he gives plenty of credit to his assistants, several of whom, like offensive coordinator Dan Hunt, are long-timers – the players obviously respond to it.

So, again, Biddle at Colgate three more years? That’s good news.

Pitarresi: Ultimate Fighting is brutal

2009-12-09T16:53:00.001-08:00

I used to be a boxing fan.

I go back to the days of Rockie Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Emile Griffith, and Carmen Basilio. I watched dozens of fights, scores of them, with my grandfather when I was a little kid. My favorite boxer was Holley Mims, a journeyman welterweight who always was full of action for all six or eight rounds. I’ve covered a lot of boxing, too, and I maintain you haven’t lived until you’ve spent an evening right at the apron of the ring getting splattered by blood, sweat and snot. You want to get close to the action, that’s what you get.

I’m not much of a fight fan anymore, largely because I have seen the game at very, very close range in the ring and out, and, I think, also because so many fights are outright mismatches. I still admire the courage, skills, sacrifice, and preparation it takes to get in there, and I value physical and mental toughness, but, gosh, it is brutal.

Not as brutal, however, as Ultimate Fighting.

I nearly puked the other night watching Jon Jones sitting on top of Utica’s Matt Hamill and rocketing elbow after elbow into Matt’s face during their Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale showdown. I had to turn away a couple of times. No one ever should ever have to take that kind of beating. Hamill was totally helpless until Jones was given a warning for an illegal blow. You can throw elbows, believe it or not, but they have to be from 3 o’clock down, not from the top, or 12 o’clock. If it hadn’t been for the illegal blow, I guess the referee was going to allow Jones to continue until he was out of gas or Hamill was unconscious or dead.

Hamill won by disqualification, but who needs that kind of victory?

Matt Hamill is a tough kid, and he’s worked hard to make himself a national name, but look at the price he paid that night. Ridiculous.

This was beyond brutal. It was nightmarish. Michael Vick and dog fighting? This was worse. I do not see the entertainment value. I wish it would go away.

Pitarresi: Stay in your seat!

2009-12-05T13:29:00.001-08:00

Friday night, the Utica College hockey team was trailing Hobart 6-4 in the third period.

The Pioneers had led 4-2 in the second, but the Statesmen scored three quick goals early in the third, then added another.

However, with 1:57 to play, Hobart was penalized. UC coach Gary Heenan pulled goalie Anthony Luckow to give the Pioneers a two-man advantage with a faceoff in the offensive zone.

And, at that point, scores of fans were seen filing out of the stands and leaving the Utica Memorial Auditorium.

What?

Yeah, it was unlikely that the Pioneers were going to tie the game, but not that unlikely. They get a goal going 6-on-4, and now it is a one-goal game, which means the issue is in doubt till the final horn. It didn’t happen, but it could have. You’ve seen it happen in hockey games more than once. I’ve seen teams score at the end of a period off a faceoff with under two seconds to play. Where were those people going?

I don’t understand that at all. It happens all the time at Syracuse University football games, and it happened even during the Orange’s win over Akron this year. You paid the money, you made a time commitment. Why would you take off, either with your team headed for a victory, no matter the opponent, or still having a chance for an upset win? You’ve got a hot date? Okay, maybe. Otherwise, even if you’re late for work, stay in your seat.

The classic example occurred in a 2002 football game at the Carrier Dome. SU, 3-6 at the time, and 8th-ranked Virginia Tech were tied at the end of regulation. On the first possession of overtime – it might have been the first play – SU’s Troy Nunes threw an interception. In an instant, thousands of “fans” began sprinting to the exits as if they were fleeing the Johnstown Flood.

I remember hollering down to people I knew from the open press box, “Where are you going?” They just shook their heads.

The problem was, the game went on for another half hour, with a couple of dozen plays and tons of excitement. And guess what? SU won, 50-42, a notable upset of a team that was regarded as one of the very best in the nation. The announced crowd of 48,239 was the largest of the season at the Dome. Not half of those people were there when the game ended. Too bad for them.

I’ve been going to games since I was four years old. I'm pretty sure I’ve ever left one early. I hope I never will.

Pitarresi: Tiger in Trouble; Rautins is terrific

2009-12-01T14:53:00.001-08:00

I would love to have won 14 major championships, and more than 80 golf tournaments all told, and be a multi-milliionaire with a beautiful wife.

All those things.

But I wouldn't want to be Tiger Woods this week.

Tiger's misadventure Friday night has made him a laughingstock. His explanation of his car crash just doesn't hold a drop of water - his wife's heroic rescue of him, smashing a back window and pulling him out of his SUV after he hit a fire hydrant and tree, is hilariously preposterous - but there might be no good way to handle this. A fairy tale might serve as well as anything else.

I always have loved Tiger Woods - his great talent, work ethic, and the way he has handled his fame. However, that very fame has made it so he can't just be a regular guy, and because of that he has insulated himself in many ways. Such insulation can lead to arrogance, a terribly unattractive quality, and Tiger is in danger of being perceived as an arrogant man. He has been guilty a few times in the past, especially when things haven't gone his way, blowing off the media or giving terse, less than candid answers after a poor performance. It has to be very difficult to be personable and amiable 24 hours a day, but ... Arnold Palmer managed it, most of the time. Jack Nicklaus, a much cooler personality, didn't for most of his career, which is why, though on the record Nicklaus was the more accomplished golfer, Arnold was the one most fans loved.

Does Tiger owe the public an explanation of what happened that night? He might owe some kind of explanation to the authorities, but, no, he doesn't owe anything to us. However, his image is going to change to some degree among a huge number of fans, and not for the better.

You can say Tiger can laugh it off, or that the world is his oyster no matter what the fallout from this incident, but I'm not trading places with him.

On Rautins:

Syracuse University seems headed for a big season on the basketball court.

This is a very, very talented team, and Jim Boeheim's statement last spring that his team would be well off despite the defections of Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris has been prophetic. I thought he was nuts at the time. I'm waiting till the Big East season starts to see how good the Orange really are, but ... they're good!

A couple of reasons: a zone defense that is so extensive and intensive that most opponents are getting very few good looks, the addition of the supremely talented, smooth-as-glass Wes Johnson - even better than the SU people said he was going to be - and the leadership of Andy Rautins.

Rautins was an all-state player at Jamesville-DeWitt, but wasn't highly recruited. It was assumed Boeheim offered him a scholarship at least partly because his father had been a big star at SU. Boeheim doesn't do such things. He wasn't sure that Rautins would develop into the player he is now, but he bet that he'd be pretty good.

He was right. Rautins is a white guard, which equals "standstill shooter" in the minds of many fans and a lot of coaches. He is much more than that. His natural talent and size, his work ethic, and his experience playing for the Canadian national team against some of the best players in the world have made him into a difference maker. He can shoot, of course, but he also can pass and play defense and run the court.

More than anything, Rautins has developed into a very mature, very smart, exemplary player. There is no question who the leader of that team is. Sometimes subtly, sometimes obviously, Rautins encourages his teammates, calms them down, assesses situations, takes responsibility. That's the biggest thing. Taking responsibility.

SU is rolling right now, but the Big East will be a savage dog fight. The Orange will be ready for it, at least in part because of the leadership of Andy Rautins.

Pitarresi: Belichick decision not that dumb

2009-11-16T14:02:00.001-08:00

Ordinarily, I say punt.

Bud Wilkinson, the old Oklahoma, winner of 46 in a row, once said he could never remember a time he was sorry he punted, and but could recall several times he was sorry he didn’t. I fall on that side of the line, especially when you are deep in your own territory.

That said, I am not sure New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is as much of an idiot as he’s being made out to be today, after trying to convert a 4th-and-2 from his own 29 with just over two minutes to play while protecting a six-point lead against the Indianapolis Colts.

Was it dumb to do that? Yeah. It didn’t work. But had the Patriots converted – and they nearly did – Belichick would be being celebrated as a gutsy genius. Had Tom Brady been able to hold the ball a split second longer, had Kevin Faulk been able to get a couple of steps deeper, had Faulk not bobbled the ball, the Patriots would have won.

Belichick, not the most simpatico guy in the world to begin with and a target of a lot of envy because of his success, is being pilloried today. One angle is that he sent a message hat he had no confidence that his defense would be able to stop Peyton Manning on a 70-plus yard drive, which is probably how far the Colts would have to go had New England punted.

Maybe, but you could also argue that he had plenty of confidence in his defense. The Colts still had to score. Yes, there is a huge difference between 29 yards and 70 yards, and you are playing against one of the great quarterbacks of all time, but the Patriots had a chance to stop them.

So, the Patriots lose an opportunity for home field throughout the playoffs. Again had I been the coach, I would have punted, but I don’t think Belichick’s call was quite as dumb as it is being made out to be. Have a yard more, and today he’d be an even bigger genius than he usually is made out to be.

Pitarresi: Setting the record straight

2009-11-13T06:50:00.000-08:00

After LeMoyne College defeated Syracuse University's basketball team in an exhibition game a couple of weeks ago, I wrote in this space that the Orange hadn't lost to a New York State team since 1957.

That's not true, of course, and at least a couple of readers took me to task for my clumsy attempt at hyperbole and my lack of precision.

What I wanted to convey was that it has been a long time since SU has lost to another team from the state, AT HOME. Obviously, I did a poor job. I picked 1957 out of the air because I mistakenly thought it was sufficiently remote that everyone would realize it was an exaggeration. I should have written "1906" or "since Jim Boeheim was in diapers," but those might not have worked, either, given the eagerness with which readers rush to be offended. Or correct dim-witted sportswriters. And I did not qualify the statement with "at home." No excuse there.

However, I am fully aware that SU has lost many games to New York teams since 1957. I have written many times, for example, that Colgate last beat the Orange in 1962. I'm pretty good at math, and I calculate that was at least five years after 1957. I also grew up a Niagara University basketball fan, and I know the Purple Eagles won four out of five from the Orange from 1968 through 1970, with Calvin Murphy contributing games 68 and 50 points. After the 68-pointer, Roy Danforth was asked what he thought of Murphy. Always good for a laugh, Danforth replied that, "He doesn't go to his left very well." In 1976, in Danforth's last season as head coach, SU lost to St. John's and Niagara in a span of four days. Since Boeheim took over the next season, however, losses to Niagara, Canisius and St. Bonaventure have been rare to nonexistent. St. John's is another matter. Boeheim has won 36 of 56 games against St. John's, so - and here's the math thing again - that's at least 20 in-state defeats. St. John's is located in Queens, which is part of New York City, which is still part of New York State, until further notice.

Some readers became very irritated by that blog. One wrote - you can check back below - that it was "another worthless article by a frivolous writer." I first thought he wrote "priceless" and "marvelous," but, no, that was just another error on my part. Worthless? Yeah, I guess. After all, it's on-line and it's free! And you're not required by law to read it. Frivolous? I hope that doesn't mean what I think it means, or there is going to be a fight.

To set the record straight, St. John's defeated SU 64-60 on Jan. 21, 2007 in New York. That's the last Orange loss to a New York State team. If you took my statement literally, I'd only be off by half a century. St. John's defeated the Orange 75-70 on Jan. 27, 1999 at the Carrier Dome. I've triple checked that, and it appears to be the last Syracuse loss to a New York State team at home. I still had a lot of dark hair back then.

I hope that makes everyone happy now, but I seriously doubt it.

Pitarresi: Agassi impresses

2009-11-11T13:28:00.001-08:00

I’m not a big tennis guy, but I like the game.

One thing I don’t like about it is all the drama, and over-the-top, self-absorbed personalities. Andre Agassi was one guy who sometimes annoyed me, although not as much as some, but he’s won me over.

Agassi’s new book, “Open,” which details his trials as a player and person, has drawn a lot of reaction, much of it negative. He criticized by Marat Safin and Martina Navratilova, for example. I haven’t read the book, but I have heard Agassi interviewed, and he comes across as a truly thoughtful, candid, sincere man who has battled and is battling a lot of demons, and is doing a good job of it.

Why write the book, as Safin asked? Part of the reason is that Agassi thinks his story is a cautionary tale, which it certainly is. I didn’t see him on “60 Minutes” Sunday. I did listen to Dan Patrick interview him today, and it was sensational. One of the greatest things that can happen to a journalist is to have someone truly bare his or her soul to you. Patrick asked good questions, Agassi gave great answers, and the result was a terrific, close-to-the-bone look at one of the most accomplished athletes of our time.

Trying to sell books? Okay, fine, that doesn’t the diminish the sincerity or the power of the story.

One last thing:

Today, give a thought and maybe say a prayer all our veterans, men and women, many of whom gave their all, all of whom gave us plenty. They cannot be over praised.

Pitarresi: Tough guy Evashevski started at Hamilton

2009-11-04T19:52:00.001-08:00

Forest Evashevski died the other day. Evashevski was a savage blocking back for Tommy Harmon and captain at Michigan. He began his coaching career at Hamilton College in 1941, then gained famed for winning two Rose Bowls at Iowa in the 1950s. His best known player probably was Alex Karas, who went on to a great career with the Lions, then was as a Monday Night Football commentator and actor. Evashevski and Karras had an all-out fistfight when Karras played for the Hawkeyes. Not too long ago Evashevski said he got a call from Karras apologizing for his behavior – like 50 years after the fact. Which sounds just like Alex Karras.

Waterville’s Milt Jannone, Hamilton’s first All-American, played for Evashevski, and so when Jannone was inducted into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, I called Evashevski in Florida to get his recollections He told me that Jannone, a great all-around athlete, was better than any back he had at Iowa. Jannone pooh-poohed that, but it was a great compliment.

Evashevski had a reputation as a very tough guy, a stern taskmaster who many players hated, but he also was revered by many as a builder of men and father figure. I know when I spoke to him – he was 81 or so at the time – he was as pleasant and as engaging as could be.

Evashevski’s College Football Hall of Fame plaque, by the way, rests in the trophy case in the lobby of the Hamilton gym. I imagine there are very few people at the college who have any idea who he was. He’s was there just one year before going into the Navy, but I guess he liked the place, which is nice to know.

Pitarresi: Kudos to the Evans family

2009-11-04T19:40:00.001-08:00

Everyone seems stunned by LeMoyne’s 82-79 exhibition basketball victory over Syracuse Tuesday.

Some SU fans see it as the end of the world, others just toss it off.

My thoughts? Congratulations to Rome’s Steve Evans, the Dolphins’ coach – and his dad, Stan “Buddy” Evans – for their victory. I think it is great. LeMoyne gets some good ink, air time, and a lot of confidence, and SU isn’t really hurt much, unless ….

Unless the Orange get off to a slow start in the regular season, in which case everybody is going to remember this game and Jim Boeheim and his players will never hear the end of it.

At the other end, Steve Evans downplayed the win, saying it was just an exhibition and that SU would be just fine. Probably so, and a smart and classy move by Steve, but he has to be walking on air. No New York State team had beaten SU in a game, exhibition game or - I'm assuming - scrimmage since about 1957.

One thing the game did was set off an eruption of comments on syracuse.com. I check in there every now and then when I want to get thoroughly depressed about the state of civility and the level of intelligence in our society, or if I want a good laugh. Today, I got a good laugh, thanks to the people discussing why LeMoyne is known as the Dolphins (a Christian symbol) and SU is known as the Orange (supposedly based on Protestant King William of Orange, although now I’m having trouble verifying that.)

Someone wrote that that there are no dolphins around Syracuse, so another guy writes that there are no oranges, either. Then another writes that SU has that name because the nickname used to be “Orangemen,” which, he claims, is another name for American Indians. What!?!? And I don't think the guy was horsing around.

Pitarresi: Williams' departure hurts SU

2009-11-02T17:50:00.001-08:00

Mike Williams has quit the Syracuse football team.

I’m not sure what his reason was, but I’ll bet you’ll read about it in the national media. For years now, every time there is a controversy involving an SU football or basketball player, the local media get stony silence from the coaches and administrators, and then someone blabs to ESPN or Sports Illustrated.

But …

I don’t care why Mike quit. I just know this is not a smart move for him and it’s a big blow to the team. Williams is SU’s biggest talent, and I think he would have been no worse than a second-round selection in next year’s NFL draft. I’m not sure what his quitting does to those prospects, but I’m certain it can’t be good. Meanwhile, the Orange are robbed of their most explosive player and the only one who has shown he can stretch a defense vertically.

Williams has been an obvious talent since he arrived from the mean streets of Buffalo in 2006. He can run, jump, catch and block. Without him, SU is much less dynamic. Maybe one of the other receivers can take up the slack, but SU has seldom has shown the desire to go deep even with Williams in the lineup. Without him, I think they might be condemned to the low-risk football that won the Akron game but is unlikely to work against Pittsburgh and the remaining Big East teams on the schedule.

I don’t know what this is all about with Williams. He was out of school last year because of academic issues. When I spoke to him in the spring, he seemed a much more mature young man, someone who learned his lesson, and knew what the score was. He said he had grown up, and it really seemed like it. And he was having a really good season until he was suspended for the Akron game last week for violating team rules. Maybe one thing led to another and he didn’t want to deal with school or discipline any more.

The bottom line is the decision is bad for Mike Williams, and worse for the SU football team.

Pitarresi: Football at the Dome: Be there

2009-10-31T18:55:00.001-07:00

Be at the Carrier Dome Friday.

New Hartford versus Whitesboro – for seemingly the 30th time in the last 10 years – and Westmoreland against Weedsport.

These are going to be terrific high school football games, and they’re for Section III championships. All three of the local teams are high energy and fun to watch. They play tough, smart, well-coached football, and it will be well worth the $5 or whatever it is to get into the Dome.

I’d be there even if I had to pay! Yes, I get in for free, but, remember, Ron Moshier, Anne Delaney have to work the whole time, slaving over hot notebooks, and while you can sit there, eat Dome Dogs – although I’d advise against that – and nachos and drink, well, I don’t’ think beer at high school games, but something.

Seriously, this is going to be terrific, highly competitive high school football. Be there.

Pitarresi: "Frillies" too much for Yankees

2009-10-28T20:39:00.001-07:00

I wonder what the New York Post thinks of the “Frillies” now?

Tuesday, the cover of the Post going into the World Series screamed “GOTHAM TREMBLES The Frillies are coming to town!” and carried a doctored photo of Philadelphia’s Shane Victorino in a skirt. Pretty funny.

Inside, several trash-talk stories excoriated the Phillies and Philadelphia from every possible angle. In one, Yankee fans dumped on their City of Brotherly Love counterparts for numerous sins, the chief of which seemed to be throwing beer. Yankee fans, apparently, don’t do that. A chart comparing the two municipalities marked Philly down in every category, including sandwiches, Philly cheesesteak against with a barely printable reference to Derek Jeter’s superior love life. They dragged the Phillie Phanatic through the dirt, too. Not very nice.

It was hilarious, really, even if it is 7th grade humor. It read like an edition of the World Weekly News, which I used to love to read. That checkout line rag ran outlandish stories, like the one about Adolf Hitler coming back from South America at age 100 to help Saddam Hussein fight the United States; or the lady who was kidnapped by a sasquatch on a camping trip and ended up liking him so much she refused to go back with her husband when he came to rescue her, or “Attila the Honey,” which claimed, at a time that women in combat and gays in the military were big issues, that the conqueror of Rome really was a girl.

I think Vince McNamara was jealous, and I’m sure publisher Rupert Murdoch was proud. The problem is, Cliff Lee and Chase Utley led the "Frillies" to a 6-1 victory in the opening game.

So what Yankee will the Post put a skirt on tomorrow morning?

Pitarresi: Marrone backs off, SU builds confidence

2009-10-24T19:51:00.001-07:00

I don’t know how much Syracuse’s 28-14 football victory Saturday over Akron means.

The Zips are a struggling team with a freshman quarterback, and it was clear that the Orange had more athletes. Maybe not a lot more, but more.

A win was badly needed, however, over anyone, especially with fifth-ranked Cincinnati, playing perhaps the best football in its history, coming to the Carrier Dome next Saturday. It is something to build on, for sure, and it least gives the Orange some confidence and belief.

The most interesting thing about the game was how SU coach Doug Marrone changed his offensive style. He wouldn’t say he did, but it was apparent that, with Delone Carter running 30 times (for 170 yards), and Greg Paulus and part-time quarterback Ryan Nassib taking few chances downfield, he was looking for strong, fundamental, low-risk football. The suspension of wide receiver Mike Williams had something to do with that, and it was especially true after Ryan Bartholomew, a starting guard who is filling in at center for injured Jim McKenzie, unleashed several incredibly bad snaps when SU lined up in the spread or shotgun or whatever you want to call. And Paulus, an artful dodger on the field and also of probing questions, obviously was under orders to not take chances, although he would never say that.

The Orange played it safe, going downfield only when the coaches determined that the situation was perfect.

Will that approach work against Cincinnati? Probably not, especially if the Orange let up a long return or two, as they did against the Zips, like Dashan Miller’s 98-yard TD sprint with the second half kickoff. Or if they drop another punt, as Mike Jones did in the first quarter.

However, it’s a win. It’s a positive. The guys are up. They believe a little more in themselves. So Marrone’s dial-back was a good idea.

Pitarresi: Honesty not always the best policy

2009-10-23T14:40:00.001-07:00

We all were told, when we were little kids, that honesty is the best policy.

Well, that isn’t true. Not all the time.

We all know the proof of that. It’s starts with the question, “Do I look fat in this dress?”

I don’t know if Magic Johnson is being honest in the new book he wrote with Larry Bird and Jackie McMullan, especially the parts where he derides Isaiah Thomas. Supposedly peeved because Thomas raised questions about Johnson’s sexual orientation after he revealed he had HIV in 1991, Johnson says in “When the Game Was Ours,” that nobody on the 1992 Olympic team – Michael Jordan, Bird, Karl Malone, Scotty Pippen – wanted to play with Thomas.

Thomas was left off that team, which was perhaps the greatest collection of basketball talent ever. That had to hurt, and now Johnson has made it worse.

These guys were among the greatest ever to play the game, but their day is long since past, which probably is one reason for the book. Some fans might regard it as a honest look at an exciting era of basketball, but it might just be a grab for cash and publicity. I guess it is morbidly interesting that all the big stars hated Thomas, but that isn’t exactly news.

I don’t think you have to lay everything on the line, especially if it hurts someone else, even if you don’t like the other guy. There are such things as decorum and compassion, which sometimes are as important as honesty.

I’d feel a lot better about it if Johnson had said what he had to say to Thomas’ face before it came out in a book. That would have been honest.

Pitarresi: Willis, Motley got there first

2009-10-22T19:27:00.001-07:00

Very knowledgeable sports fan Billy Richards wrote recently to say that Bill Willis of the Cleveland Browns of the All-American Football Conference, and not Woody Strode and Kenny Washington of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League, was the guy who broke pro football color line in 1946.

I wrote about Strode and Washington earlier this month after reading Alexander Wolff’s story on them in Sports Illustrated.

It looks as if Richards is right, at least about Willis. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Washington and Strode signed with the Rams in the spring of 1946. Willis and then Marion Motley signed with the Browns that summer. However, the Browns played their first game Sept. 6, 1946 and had three games under their belts by the time the Rams opened their season Sept. 29, 1946. Willis and Motley both played 13 of the 14 games, so one or the other or both played in one of the first two games. That means one or the other or both were the first blacks to play an official game after World War II. I’d credit all four – Washington, Strode, Willis, and Motley – with being pioneers, for sure.

The next year, by the way, Jackie Robinson became the first black man to play major league baseball since the 1890s. He might not have been able to if those guys hadn’t paved the way.

And if you don’t think the All-America Football Conference was big league, well, maybe not, but Paul Brown’s innovative team won the AAFC championship all four years of the league’s existence, then joined the NFL in 1950, reached the championship game six straight years and won the title three times. They were perhaps the most dominant team in pro football history.

The history of blacks in pro football goes back to the early days of the 20th century. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the first documented black pro was Charles W. Follis, a former College of Wooster player who played for the Shelbyville (Ohio) Athletic Club from 1902 through 1906. There were others through the years as the NFL developed, the most famous being Fritz Pollard, who played for and coached the Akron Pros, and Paul Robeson, the entertainer, social activist and former Rutgers All-American.

There were no blacks in the NFL after 1933, however. It took Willis and Motley and Strode and Washington to change that in 1946.

Pitarresi: Bearcats are scary

2009-10-16T10:24:00.001-07:00

I was watching Cincinnati defeat South Florida Thursday night, doing some scouting for SU coach Doug Marrone – not really, because he hasn’t shown any interest in anything I have to say so far this season – and I became very, very frightened. The Bearcats are scary.

The Orange already have lost to USF this season, thanks in part to seven turnovers, and now they are looking at a Halloween date with the Bearcats, a team that once had very little impact on the big time college football scene and now is ranked No. 8. That’s after, of course, SU plays Oct. 24 against Akron, a team that gets little respect except that it beat the Orange 42-28 last season.

I was frightened because Cincinnati lost its terrific quarterback, Tony Pike, to a wrist injury early in the second half, leading 17-10. So in comes unimposing looking sophomore Zach Collaros, who almost immediately runs 75 yards for a touchdown, showing both speed and some shake. Then Collaros – who is from Steubenville, Ohio, which I think is where Dean Martin was from, although I’m pretty sure Dean didn’t play football – throws for a long gain to his tight end, Ben Guidugli, then overcomes a Guidugli penalty to score on a 3-yard run. The kid just has a great all-around game, and pretty soon it is obvious why the Bearcats are ranked so high, and why the No. 21 Bulls aren’t going to beat them. They have just as much or more talent, all over the place, and win 37-17. This is a very good football team.

SU hasn’t beaten Cincinnati since 2004. It will take a big effort to break that string Oct. 31.

Reader “Tony Soprano,” apparently unaware that he was breaking his own code of silence, chastised me the other day because he read about the subject of a recent blog onWoody Strode in Sports Illustrated first. Of course he did. The blog was written because I always liked Woody Strode and enjoyed the story about him and Kenny Washington. I did credit SI writer Alexander Wolff, although “Tony” didn’t seem to notice.

Tbat Strode and Washington broke the NFL color line in 1946 was something I knew about only vaguely. I’m sure most SI and O-D readers knew absolutely nothing about it, and I wanted to call attention to it. Yes, Wolff wrote the story. I commented on the story. It happens all the time.

See ya around some time, Tony.

Pitarresi: Rodriguez popularity might grow

2009-10-13T15:37:00.001-07:00

Alex Rodriguez might be the least sympathetic sports superstar since Barry Bonds.

Even less. There are a lot of people who like Barry Bonds, despite his acidic personality. Rodriguez seems to get little affection even from most Yankee fans.

There are reasons for that:

The incredible amount of money he makes. The comments he made about Derek Jeter before they became teammates. His former wife’s rude T-shirt messages. His fascination with celebrity, including his real or imagined dalliance with Madonna, and his current romance with Kate Hudson. And the impression he gives, intentionally or not, that it’s his world and the rest of it are here to bring him his coffee.

Then there is his mediocre record in post-season play. That’s where you make your reputation, which is why it seems about half the guys in the Baseball Hall of Fame are Yankees. Or maybe it’s because those guys were so good they were always in the World Series.

Well, Rodriguez is now making his reputation. It is difficult to argue that he is not supremely gifted, but in 39 post-season games with the Seattle Mariners and Yankees prior to this month, he had just six home runs, drove in 17 runs, and hit .261. In this week’s divisional series victory over the Twins, he had two home runs, six RBIs, hit .500, and had a 1.000 slugging percentage.

And, in Sunday’s clincher, he came up with the biggest hit of the game, ruining Carl Pavano’s night – and attempt to rescue his own damaged reputation – with his home run way over the right field wall to tie things at 1-1.

Two things there. The Yankees, even with the Twins’ bad base running and other failures, needed that home run very, very badly. And, not too many guys would have driven that high, outside strike out of there in right center Rodriguez, with his strength, reach, eyesight and coordination, could and did.

If he continues to deliver, sympathy will grow, no matter his past failures and all the other baggage.

Pitarresi: Woody Strode, NFL Pioneer

2009-10-09T13:24:00.001-07:00

The late Woody Strode was one of my favorite character actors.

He played the black gladiator who defeats Kirk Douglas in “Spartacus” and was one of the outlaws blown away by Charles Bronson in the atmospheric opening scene in “Once Upon a Time in the West.” I remember him best for two of his roles the John Ford films “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” and “Sgt. Rutledge.” In the first he plays John Wayne’s hired hand - the movie is terrific, by the way, and Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance is one of the most imposing film villains of all time – and in the second, he is a black cavalryman who is unjustly accused of rape and murder. It’s one of the very first and very few Westerns in which a black man is the hero.

Way before that, however, Strode, of mixed black and Native American heritage, was an outstanding decathlete and great football player at UCLA. He, Kenny Washington and Jackie Robinson started in the Bruin backfield in 1939. Everyone knows Robinson broke baseball’s color line in 1947. What almost no one remembers is that Strode and Washington, past their primes, broke football’s color line in 1946. By what some say was a silent agreement, no blacks had played in the National Football League since 1933.

Alexander Wolff has a terrific story in the current Sports Illustrated on the topic, mostly centered on Washington, but with plenty of stuff on Strode, too. Be assured, being the first black players in the league in 13 years wasn’t easy.

“Integrating the NFL was the low point of my life,” Strode once said. “If I have to integrate heaven, I don’t want to go.”

Strode died in 1994 at age 80. I have no idea if he did get to heaven – I hope so – and I sure hope he didn’t have to integrate it.