As a product of New England, with its history of pro sports teams from Boston, I’ve never been much of a college sports fan. I don’t even know the roster of the Syracuse University teams from year to year. For as much as New Englanders like their hockey from Northeastern University and the football from Boston College, they really are a professional sports lot. I say they’re missing something. You haven’t lived until you’ve watched a basketball game at the Carrier Dome.
I was privileged to watch the Syracuse-Georgetown game on Monday night. There is nothing like a classic rivalry to put electricity in the air. Army/Navy, Red Sox/Yankees, Leno/Letterman, Couric/Palin; A good contest makes you sit up straighter to watch.
I sometimes wonder what I would miss most if I ever moved away from Syracuse. The abundance of fresh water is at the top of the list; Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, the Thousand Islands. I would lament the loss of decent skiing 20 minutes from my house. My sister in South Carolina has to drive eight hours to reach a little hill in Virginia. I would miss the wineries throughout Upstate New York, and the Adirondacks so close. Niagara Falls is a few hours away and route 81 can easily get you to Canada or through Pennsylvannia to the nation’s Capital with relative ease, and without the nightmare I-95 corridor that tortures New Englanders.
And S.U. basketball games at the Dome. They are a thrill. There is so much to see that doesn’t even occur on the court. The student section itself is worthy of a television show; absolutely everyone wears orange shirts and entertains that giant venue with their various traditions and chants. It makes you feel you’re 19 again. I attended a small liberal arts college housed in mansions on cliffs above the Atlantic Ocean, but when I watch the student section during a game I think I should have come here instead.
Equally impressive are the thousands of Central New Yorkers who make their way through the biting cold to manage parking restrictions and snow banks to get to the Dome and cheer the team. We are lucky to have a team of S.U.’s caliber, but the team is fortunate as well to have this level of community support.
Which brings me to this exciting 2009-10 team. Everyone is talking about them, even people like me who don’t normally talk about them. I watched the last ten minutes of their contest with DePaul today and warmed with pride as the announcers warned a national television audience that Syracuse was too good a team this year to go down in an 18 point defeat. They didn’t. As we all know, they turned it around and won by two.
It may be 10 degrees outside with plenty of winter left on this last day of January. But when the ‘Cuse is in the House and climbing up in the ranks, winter is the very best season of all.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tribute to Syracue area and the Orangemen. I had basketball tickets for some years and enjoyed so many games in the Dome. I was there when Pearl made the buzzer shot to beat Boston College. Nothing was more exciting than being in the Dome for the Georgetown games. We could almost hear the rocking last Monday night as we sat in a bar on the beach. There were 6 of us, no one had orange on but everyone knew we were from Syracuse. This team has brought so many thrills and some scares like yesterday, but they are awesome. I’ve enjoyed reading the sports sections on the Internet. Great blog Maureen, thanks for sharing. Carol
Considering they weren’t even ranked at the begining of the season makes it even more impressive. I believe this years team is so good because they play as a team. No one player stands out, they all do.
On an off note, I found a whole bunch of old photos of wtvh and WHEN, that would most likely bring back alot of fond memories for you. You might have all ready seen them.
Carol, I can picture you and your friends cheering the Orange from a bar in Florida. What fun. You must have been so proud of your home team. xo
Ken, that’s what makes sports so much fun to watch; the anticipation of whether a team will do better or worse than predicted. Isn’t it great when they do better, not worse? lol. Those old photos, are they online? I’ve seen a bunch on syracusenostalgia.com.
Good mornin Maureen,Read both Babes and your comments this morning. Thank you ! I love SU basketball and I used to drive people to the games on the limo from the casino and sit outside and listen to the games even that was exciting. Yesterdays game with DePaul was a real knukle buster. I watched the whole game and the last 5 minutes made me so tired that I had to take a nap before I could watch the golf match.
On facebook Legends of wtvh
here is the link to the pics.
http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?v=photos&ref=search&gid=26164822174
You look like a college kid in some of the pics. Looks like you liked long skirts also..Hope you find them. Brought back memories for me and I never worked there, just watched ya’ll…If you don’t have a facebook account let me know and I’ll send them to your email address. It will take awhile 300 plus photos.
Maureen and Readers:
I’m a product of Central NY, Cortland to be exact and am quite proud that I am also a Syracuse University Alum. I love that place and there’s nothing better than being in that Carrier Dome for every home basketball game. I am especially thrilled when the roof blows off the top of that place when Andy makes a three or Wes a high flying dunk or Arinze slams it with a jam! It sends chills up and down my spine!
Every year I think do I really want to renew our tickets??? Oh yes, every year my husband, son and I venture out in the bone chilling weather on the top of that hill where I swear the wind blows more there than anywhere, but it’s worth every chilling minute when we get inside to the most exciting place on earth. I’m proud of our team and the community that supports them!
And by the way Carol I was at that Pearl half court shot game too. Wow – what a memory.
Denise
Denise this is a great post. Thank you! And Carol, I’m not the only one thinking of you in FLA. right now.
Denise, that was such a great blog. I love your description of the roof blowing off the top of the Dome. Well it’s not a typical Florida day, it looked much like Syr. Dark, cold and gray. We went to St. Peterburg to the Dali Salvador Museum and it was an experience. Just added some culture to my time here. Looking forward to S U games this week. My son has good seats behind the basket, opposite the students. I usually get to use his tickets once a year. I’ll be home in a few weeks. Love the description of walking up that hill in the wind and cold but worth the struggle. Carol
S.U. basketball makes Syracuse winters bearable! It is unwritten law that when the game is on, the T.V. is mine. My grandson used to yell “Gerry! Gerry! Gerry” and “3 3 3″ at the screen when he was about 2 or 3 years old. We don’t get to the Dome very much, but we were there when Gerry played his last game. Go S.U.!!