December 31, 2005
Big Crowd, Big Noise
20,514 people showed up to watch Syracuse beat (up) a scrappy Kent State team 78-66 last night, and for the first time this year the true size of the crowd actually seemed to support the University's attendance numbers. Big ups to the fans for getting out to the hill for the last game of 2005 in person instead of watching on Time Warner 26 - it's about time that fans figured out basketball is more fun to watch without a local TV producer repeatedly forcing viewers to watch the replay of Watkins missing an 8 footer instead of the action on the floor, leaving them to wonder what that massive cheer from the live crowd is for. Overlapping replays are by far the worst feature of Time Warner 26, easily surpassing their graphics from 1983 and the grainy commercial for Jerry's Carpets. Someone needs to get on that.
Anyways, it was refreshing to see the dome crowd back in full force, especially since it was the most exciting game of the season since the Manhattan Miracle. The spirit of Hak was in the building last night, and the Cuse channeled it to dominate their opponents inside. Roberts was throwing down alley-oops. Nichols went to the hoop from the top of the key in two steps . Watkins blocked like 43 shots from behind. On more than one occasion, Fast Eddie would lean over to me and say, "That was a Warrick move, man!" in reference to a play that had just happened on the court. The fans were into it as well, especially after a second-half offensive spurt that caused Devendorf to lose his mind and morph into Steve Wojciechowski, waving his arms and screaming for the fans to get out of their seats to cheer him on as he locked eyes with the opposing point guard, daring him to make a move on the perimeter. It was one of the key moments in the game for me - that specific point in the season when the crowd realizes that this is Syracuse basketball, and it's going to be an exciting year. Devendorf avoided the floor-slap, (it's a little played out) but the attitude was there: just bring it, son, 'cause we're gonna whoop your butt.
The Orange really showed their aggressive side last night, as evidenced by the scrum on the Kent State end of the court during a battle for a loose ball. SU's lead was more than ten points, but the Cuse were still playing with heart. After the fight, McCroskey and one of the Golden Flashes were both charged with personal fouls for the brief shoving match that occured while on their backs after the whistle blew. When it was over, though, it was the Orange slapping each other five and commending one another for their tough play. Kent State, however, simply went back to their coach to figure out how they could keep up with the faster, better skilled Syracuse players who finally had more determination to boot.
Paul Harris and Johnny Flynn were in the house as well, if only to get a small taste of what their home crowd will be like when they end a fast break with their own version of Mac to Hak in 2007. I can only assume they left the building impressed and excited to put on some orange and make 30,000 people go nuts.
It was fun to go to the game last night and see more season ticket holders actually making use of their seats. It was good to know that if the usual 2,000 or so students were there, the crowd would have been as loud as a UConn game. Even though the shirtless ones were back home on break, us older folks had a good time making some noise and letting our team know that their home floor is still going to give them the edge necessary to beat the Huskies and Wildcats when they bring their players up to Cusetown. It's 8 days till the Big East, and we couldn't be more eager to get it rolling.
Anyways, it was refreshing to see the dome crowd back in full force, especially since it was the most exciting game of the season since the Manhattan Miracle. The spirit of Hak was in the building last night, and the Cuse channeled it to dominate their opponents inside. Roberts was throwing down alley-oops. Nichols went to the hoop from the top of the key in two steps . Watkins blocked like 43 shots from behind. On more than one occasion, Fast Eddie would lean over to me and say, "That was a Warrick move, man!" in reference to a play that had just happened on the court. The fans were into it as well, especially after a second-half offensive spurt that caused Devendorf to lose his mind and morph into Steve Wojciechowski, waving his arms and screaming for the fans to get out of their seats to cheer him on as he locked eyes with the opposing point guard, daring him to make a move on the perimeter. It was one of the key moments in the game for me - that specific point in the season when the crowd realizes that this is Syracuse basketball, and it's going to be an exciting year. Devendorf avoided the floor-slap, (it's a little played out) but the attitude was there: just bring it, son, 'cause we're gonna whoop your butt.
The Orange really showed their aggressive side last night, as evidenced by the scrum on the Kent State end of the court during a battle for a loose ball. SU's lead was more than ten points, but the Cuse were still playing with heart. After the fight, McCroskey and one of the Golden Flashes were both charged with personal fouls for the brief shoving match that occured while on their backs after the whistle blew. When it was over, though, it was the Orange slapping each other five and commending one another for their tough play. Kent State, however, simply went back to their coach to figure out how they could keep up with the faster, better skilled Syracuse players who finally had more determination to boot.
Paul Harris and Johnny Flynn were in the house as well, if only to get a small taste of what their home crowd will be like when they end a fast break with their own version of Mac to Hak in 2007. I can only assume they left the building impressed and excited to put on some orange and make 30,000 people go nuts.
It was fun to go to the game last night and see more season ticket holders actually making use of their seats. It was good to know that if the usual 2,000 or so students were there, the crowd would have been as loud as a UConn game. Even though the shirtless ones were back home on break, us older folks had a good time making some noise and letting our team know that their home floor is still going to give them the edge necessary to beat the Huskies and Wildcats when they bring their players up to Cusetown. It's 8 days till the Big East, and we couldn't be more eager to get it rolling.
