Friday, December 31, 2010

Pinstripe Bowl Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-aaCSYLpDI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jd64hNN5GI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLHwOvsXQY8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHDG5HG8y_8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAQkPqP4Go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzDCLnvTk1w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX9jZuv_DNc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7eJfqCJRSw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiqDYM86nMQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGwOWUgOv9A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYftMgZ5FQM

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Cuse Cast XLVIII

KingOtto and Cuseman talk about BC, Boardwalk Orange Empire, Big East Expansion, and Bowling.

Length about 27 mins











Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Cuse Cast XLVII

The holiday addition including FB talk, Casullo talk, and BBall talk.

Length about 32:15











Thursday, November 18, 2010

Cuse Cast XLVI

KingOtto and Cuseman talking SU sports.

Length about 21:45











Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Cuse Cast XLV

Recapping the Louisville loss, previewing the RU win, and talking some BBall.


Length about 20:45












Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Cuse Cast XLIV

Its the 44th Cuse Cast!!! Celebrating a 6-2 record. KingOtto and the Cuseman recap the Cincy game, preview the Louisville game, talk Big East expansion, and comment on the start of BBall.

Length about 23:30












Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Cuse Cast XLIII

The boys recap the amazing win at WV. The way the D kicked ass and how the O did a good job managing the game, with Nassib playing better than his stats showed. Moving on to Cincy, both KingOtto and Cuseman like SU's chances, with the health of Collaros being a factor.

Lenght about 22:45












Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Cuse Cast XLII

King Otto and Cuseman break down the first half of the year grading the team out. They then talk about the prospects for the rest of the year before giving their WV predictions.


Length about 28:45












Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Cuse Cast XLI

King Otto and Cuseman discuss the big win vs USF and its impact. They then discuss the upcoming game against Pitt.

Length about 24:15












Sunday, October 10, 2010

USF recap

First of all great win. Totally unexpected. The last 3 games our D has been MIA but they showed up big time yesterday. And teh same can be said of the OL as the did a great job establishing the run.

The O

Great gameplan and play calling by Marrone/Hackett. We ran the ball really well. Nassib struggled missing some open guys but overall he got the job done. The biggest issue for the O was all the penalties.

The D

Great gameplan by Shafer. The D looked awesome out there. Time and again they came up with big stops. We did get lucky with two blown coverages.

STs

We hit two FGs. We punted and covered well downing the ball at the 2. We had 3 of our best KO coverages of the year. And we blocked a PAT. However we had a ton of penalties, one of which extended a drive. And another which USF took the FG instead of a 4th and 1. Also we extended a drive by letting a punt hit blocker. Luckily the D bailed us out on those. But they couldn't bail us out of the KR for a TD right after we took the lead. Can we get a game where we don't have major issues here?

USF

I really thought their O gameplan was odd. SU had struggles against the spread option vs Maine and Colgate. USF ran it some in the first half with success but in the 2nd half they ran the ball under center the whole time which limits Daniels and plays into our strength. Also UW killed us on the edges with short passes and USF barely used it. The first play they did and got 12 yards. Then later that drive we bit on a fake and Daniels should have had an easy TD but did not see the open WR. Why in the hell did they not try this again? They looked best the first drive and then went away from it. Odd. Maybe our pass rush had something to do with it. It seems Holtz has gone more max protect this year. Then again the announcers said that Holtz didn't want Daniels to run as much. Um big mistake. Very conservative IMO as he had the players to do what UW did passing and what Maine/Colgate did rushing. His gameplan was perfect for our D.




1st Q

-Love deferring to the 2nd half especially on the road. Having the ball to start the 2nd half is big IMO. That way if you happen to be down you can score first.

-The opening KO went to the goaline for once and we covered for once, nice to see. Did anyone else notice all the divots on the field?

-USF their first drive used mostly spread. We were killed with short passes to the slot vs UW, and I feared the same vs USF. In fact USF started the game with one for a 12 yard gain. I also feared we would stay in our base D as we did vs UW and last year vs USF. We did not put much pressure on Daniels last year and he got in a comfort zone. This game we went to the Okie and brought blitzes early and often. They moved the ball well this drive even converting a 3rd and 10. However the drive ended with a nice INT by Merk. On the play Daniels pumped to the slot and both Holmes and Phil Thomas jumped it leaving the 3rd WR running all alone. One of them screwed up. Fortunately for SU Daniels decided to just launch it to a covered man.

-Our first drive was a 3 and out highlighted by a drop by Lemon. It wasn't the greatest of passes but needs to be caught. Lemon seems to be in a Sophomore slump. Was expecting big things from him this year.

-USF was forced into a 3 and out highlighted by a blitz and sack by Suter when USF went 5 wide. However on the ensuing punt Cater "roughed" the kicker. The refs could have let it go IMO as he barely touched the punter. Now with the drive extended we get a big sack out of the Okie on 2nd down. Marinovich got good pressure and had his hand graze Daniels helmet. It looked like it went off Daniels visor and IMO if it were not there Marinovich may have ended up grabbing the facemask. Instead Sharpe, who had a good game, ended up finishing Daniels off. On 3rd and long we put pressure on again causing Daniels to scramble for no gain. USF was forced to punt and it went only 28 yards. Great job by the D stopping USF with two 3 and outs due to the penalty.

-SU took a deep shot and may have dodged a bullet. Pugh got beat and Nassib was hit as he threw. The ball went deep and fell incomplete not near any WR and thankfully any defender. On 3rd down Nassib scrambled for a 1st down. However the play came back due to illegal hands to the face by Tiller, which was a good call. This forced SU to punt from deep in its own territory giving USF the ball at the SU 42.

-Again the D stepped up with another 3 and out. The big play was on 3rd down when Daniels threw it up for grabs. Two SU players had a shot at the ball but it was grabbed by the USF WR. Fortunately he lost control when he hit the ground. Good call despite what the idiot Cangemi said. With it 4th and 5 at the 37 Holtz played it waaay too conservative an punted, giving SU teh ball at its own 5.

-SU started teh drive with a nice jump and catch by Chew, who continues to play well. It gave SU its first, 1st down. On the next set of downs SU faced a 2nd and 7. SU came out with Cater, Harris, Cruz, Provo, and Graham. Very odd personnel for a passing down in which all but Carter went out for a pass. Nassib had time but couldn't find an open man resulting in a sack. On 3rd down Nassib over threw Sales resulting in a punt.

-USF ran a play action pass and Daniels under pressure hit his WR who made a nice one handed catch.

-After 1Q USF had the ball 9:30 mins to 5:30 for SU. Yardage was 86 to 21 in USF's favor. They would only get 133 more yards the rest of the game. Daniels was 4-6 passing but went 5 of 17 the rest of the way. DC3 ran it 5 times for only 7 yards. But ran 21 times after that for 98 yards.

2Q

-USF continued the drive by converting on a 3rd down. Then they were forced into 3rd down again. Expecting SU to blitz, which we didn't, they tried a screen pass which was a dangerous throw that could have been picked. So USF had to settle for 3. They made to FG but SU was offsides. USF kept the points vs going for a 4th and 1 from the SU 8 yard line.

-During the broadcast they mentioned Dodd being the player of the week. Interesting how you can award a guy before the other BE teams play!

-Bailey finally makes an appearance and has a couple nice runs. Nassib throws a dangerous pass to Cruz who takes a lick. Now on 3rd and 8 we get a delay of game. However we convert anyway as Nassib dumps it to Bailey for 30 yards. On the play Nassib nearly fell dropping back. We continue on until 3rd and 10 where Nassib overthrows Wales. SU takes a 35 yard FG which was a nice answer to USF's score.

-Another KO went to the goaline and again covered well. What is going on here? USF gets a big gain but it is called back due to an illegal shift. SU forces a 3rd down and blitzes out of the Okie. Daniels is flushed out and hits his WR but the ball is jarred loose by a hit by Holmes. USF punts but again they have their drive extended. This time the punt hit Fisher who was blocking on the play (a dumb rule). While Fisher is mostly to blame Holmes needs to do a better job of letting his teammates know to get away. That is the PRs job and he did nothing. After getting a 1st down Holmes gets a closeline sack. Surprised a guy Daniels size went down there. SU forces a 3rd and 10 and show the Okie but only rush 2. Daniels throws in a crowd but his WR cannot make the play. USF settles for a 42 yard FG which they hit however a false start turns it into a 47 yard FG which they miss. Another dodged bullet by SU.

-SU now with the ball back starts moving the ball. Eventually SU has a 3rd and 7 at the 26 but a false start by Cruz with 1:50 left makes it 3rd and 12. Marrone calls a TO with 1:42 left which seems odd to me. Why not let more time run off the clock? If you get the first down you have 2 TOs and only need to go 31 yards. And if you have to kick a FG why leave time for USF? Nassib then scrambles and picks up 11 leaving a long 4th and 1. Marrone takes a TO right away with 1:27 left. Again why not let more time run off the clock? You have 20 yards to go for a TD and one TO left. Do you need 1:27? And what if you do not get the 1st down? You leave USF with plenty of time to score themselves. That was awful time management. SU gives the ball to Harris (really?) who comes close with his 2nd effort but was still short. Which brings up going for it in the first place. Why? You get the ball to start the 2nd half. Why not take the lead here? That should be a give me FG for Krautman. He hit two at similar distances in that direction. If the FG were over 40 yards I would understand. If it were 4th and inches I would understand. If it were 4th down or punt I would understand. If it were inside the 10 I would understand. But at that point on the field with a defensive battle you have to take the points. Even if you get the 1st down you still have a lot of work to get a TD. In addition our OL has not been good at getting a push. Which decreases our chances of getting a first down. As my friend said not even Belichick would have gone for it and he goes for everything. I was not of fan of that decision but had more of a problem with the time management. Then we challenge the spot. It is very difficult to get a spot overturned unless it is obvious. Too many bodies in one area. So we lost our challenge which isn't smart as it leaves you without one in the 2nd half. That could be costly in a close game. You cannot rely on the booth to review things. So IMO Marrone bungled 4 things all at the end of the half.

-Now USF takes over with 1:24 left. They run the ball on 1st and nearly fumble. On 2nd down they take a deep shot looking for a big play but the ball is thrown well out of bounds. Then USF runs out the clock to end the half.

-For the Q TOP was pretty even. Daniels was 2 for 7. SU had 10 rushes for 72 yards. And we out gained USF 120 to 38.

3rd Q

-SU gets the ball 1st and feeds DC3 three times getting a 3rd down conversion. Later a chop block puts SU in a 2nd and 22 hole. Then on 3rd and 18 a quick throw to Chew gets a 1st down. It was a nice run by Chew who was sprung by Sales blocking two guys. Moving on SU gets into a 3rd and 10 where a bad pass is dropped by Provo short of the first down. SU settles for a 41 yard FG and the lead. The FG barely wobbled over the upright.

-Well SU did not have the lead long as USF gets a 95 yard kick off return for a TD. It was awful coverage as he easily went right up the field without having to make a move or getting touched. However we block the PAT and are only down 3, which I wish we had at the end of the half.

-A block in the back on the KR sets SU back in its own territory. When will the return teams stop making mistakes? Lemon is wide open on a deep pass which may have been 7 but Nassib misses him badly. Nassib then gets sacked the next play when he runs backwards and had plenty of time to get rid of it. Then a delay of game and false start makes it 3rd and 24. SU ends up punting giving USF the ball at the SU 42. Are things about to unravel?

-USF runs a play action and Daniels throws it deep but it is over thrown and the WR gets tangled with Merk. However on the play another blown coverage left a guy wide open. Phil Thomas was out of position but luckily another bullet dodged. USF ends up getting a first down a Merk is hit with a pass interference on 3rd and 6. SU forces another 3rd down and rushes two out of the Okie. Daniels on the move under throws his man and Wilkes gets a big INT and return. SU survives again.

-USF gets SU into a 3rd down and Nassib is sacked when the LB blitzes right up the middle untouched. Poor blocking. Another 3 and out for SU. A good punt changes field position.

-USF starts moving the ball highlighted by a play action pass to the fullback who goes for 25. Eventually USF gets into a 3rd and 1 and we have the play of the game. SU appears to jump offsides but Daniels is called for a false start. I couldn't see it and IMO SU got lucky. That ended the Q.

-TOP SU lead 9:30 to 5:30 for the Q. SU had 6 penalties. SU had only 21 yards rushing on 11 carries but two sacks lost 22 yards. The RBs had 9 carries for 43 yards. Total yardage was pretty even. Daniels was only 1-4. SU after 3 Qs had 11 penalties for 82 yards.

4th Q

-Now with a 3rd and 6 a QB draws brings up a 4th and 1. USF decides to go for it but a false start makes it 4th and 6. Two huge penalties on USF. They only had 4 for the game and these two came at an awful time. Now with it 4th and 6 at the 38 they punt? Risky as most of the time you will end up with an 18 yard net. But USF downs it at the 2 yard line. Again SU is backed up.

-Runs by Harris and Bailey get SU a first down. Then a shovel passes to Lemon Make sit 3rd and short. A flag was throw for illegal touch as Lemon went out of bounds but it was ruled he was forced out. DC3 gets a big 1st down and SU is on the move. Eventually we get into a 3rd and short inside the 10. And again DC3 comes through. Those would be the only 3rd downs needed on the drive. Which shows that we did great on 1st and 2nd down. With it first and goal at the 3 Nassib hits a wide open Sales for a TD. What a great time for his first catch of the year. An amazing 98 yard drive.

-Now for the KO. The ball only goes to the 10 but we get our best coverage of the year stopping USF at the 20. USF runs a play action pass and under pressure Daniels throws it deep but Merk makes a great play to tip it away. On 2nd down we blitz out of the Okie and Shamwow gets a big sack. On 3rd down Daniels is flushed out of the pocket and Sharpe knocks him out of bounds. On the play USF is called for holding, which was declined. However the refs missed that Daniels was in the endzone and it should have been a safety. Big missed call.

-After the punt we give Bailey a few runs picking up the 1st down. Interesting we didn't use the workhorse DC3 there. Nassib scrambles and is sacked on 2nd down. USF decided to take a TO with 3:49 left which seems early to do IMO. Then after a DC3 run they take another TO at 3:44. SU punts and it is caught by Graham at the 2. That is two straight games he has done this.

-USF gets a couple first downs and then is forced into a 3rd and 5. Then Phil Thomas just misses an INT that likely is a pick 6. Then on 4th and 5 the Daniels pass falls incomplete which may have been aided by the ref being in the way.

-SU then runs out the clock but not before Hay jumps offside on a play where we were going to kneel. Really?

-Daniels finished 9-23 for 124 yards and 2 INTs. Plus 13 rushes for negative 1 yard. He was 2 of 6 in the 4th, which made it 3 of 10 in the 2nd half. TOP in the 4th was 10:30-4:30 and 20-10 in the 2nd half. Nassib was 5-5 in the 4th Q. We rushed 16 times for 83 yards in the 4th. Total yards was 114 to 38 in the Q and USF only had 95 yards in the 2nd half.





Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Cuse Cast XL

Cuseman returns and along with King Otto they discuss SU FB's first 4 games, the USF game, and look ahead to the rest of the year.

Length about 18:15











Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Cuse Cast XXXIX

King Otto recaps the Maine game and the first quarter of the season.


Length about 15:45











Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Cuse Cast XXXVIII

Brian Orange joins King Otto to talk SU football and the new SNY deal.

Length about 12:45













Monday, September 13, 2010

My Trip to Seattle

Gonna give a quick recap of my trip. I flew out Friday afternoon with Cuseman and his brother. When we got to the security checkpoint we had the highlight of our trip: Paulie Walnuts!




Yes he is still rocking the wings. And yes that is a wife beater underneath. He had to take the track suit jacket off to get through security and was walking around with just it on.

Ok now we get through and head toward our gate and who do we see sitting not far from us? Yes Paulie. Well we think it is him as he has sunglasses on and it is hard to tell.



Anyway not too long after his buddy got up and went off looking for food, huge surprise. Then there was an announcement for boarding the flight to Orange County (too bad wasn't a good omen). Paulie then lifted his hand and pointed up his finger like he was trying to figure out what was going on. At this time Cuseman said "I bet he yells for his friend now. He won't give a shit." And yes that was exactly what happened next. Paulie got up and yelled out several times for his friend, but to no avail. Paulie went on to board without him. It wasn't till later that his friend showed up to get on. Anyway that was our highlight.

The flight out to Seattle wasn't bad. I went between reading and sleeping during the trip. One thing I read was an article about how college coaches are over paid. That they should be caped at $500k a year. Where else are they going to go coach? There are only 32 NFL jobs and HS doesn't pay. Crazy Libs.

After the flight we decided to take the lightrail to downtown. It was an easy half hour trip and brought us by the pro stadiums which was nice to see. We then quickly got to our hotel and checked in before heading down to Pike's. I think it was then that we first crossed paths with the Krautmans. We musta walked by them at various places downtown a dozen times before finally stopping to talk and learning who they were. Good people. Anyway while at Pike's we saw the Fish place but since no one bought anything it was boring. We also hit up Beecher's for the Mac n Cheese which was really good. Not much else to say about Pike's. Wasn't as crowded as I expected though. Same can be said about all of Downtown. We felt like everyone had left for the weekend.

We next did the walk over to the Space Needle. Then decided it was time to eat. We hit up a trendy Sports bar that looked brand new and had art on the walls. Speaking of new, just about everything down there seemed built within the last 5 years or so. Was there a city before then? Anyway back to the art there was one really weird piece. It was a 1920s-esque painting of a woman in a long dress lifting up her skirt as a cop watched and a young girl gasped. Odd.

Anyway we ate and wacthed Marshall blow the WVU game. Why they didn't go for it on 4th and 1 with just over 3 mins left and WV having only 1 TO boggles my mind. Put the game away. Food wasn't that great but our waitress was the hotest girl we saw all weekend, which wasn't saying much. All the girls in Seattle had the nose piercing, dumb hat, and looked like they needed a bath. Also the hostess looked just like Sara Jesccia Parker which was kinda fun. So the place wasn't that bad.

After eating we tried to hit up a cupcake place we saw earlier. And of course it had closed. Everything down there closes by 8pm. Annoying. Someone needs to open a bodega and they would make a ton of money. Only issue is it would likely draw all the homeless outside. There were a ton of homeless people around but more on that later. Also the food choices sucked. Especially for breakfast. Have pancakes not migrated to Seattle yet? The people there must live off of coffee because there are very few places to eat. Which brings up the point that coffee is part of one's attire there. Everyone walks around with one in hand. I wouldn't be surprised if there arms are stuck like that.

So we were headed back to the hotel and we came across a concert on a square with a bunch of teenagers dancing around. So we walked by to check it out and learned that it was a Christian group. It seemed so fun but we decided to move on.

I'll fast forward now to game day. We decided to start off at a sports bar to watch the early games. Of course we couldn't find anything before 11am even though games started at 9am. So we get to the bar and see that it is the Michigan HQ for Seattle. Their gamewatching event was pretty good as seen here:




Also there was a disturbing sight there....


Yes an RU banner. But they had a bunch of other banners from schools like Delaware, James Madison, etc that you wonder how they got there. Which means in all likelihood someone brought one in and asked that it be put up. Which would be typical RU fashion.

At about halftime of the ND-Michigan game we headed up to the Stadium to the Zone which was a school run tailgate. What is odd here is that beer is sold and you cannot get it in the stadium! And at half people are allowed to go out there and drink! Another odd thing is that the beers were filled from the bottom of the cups. There was a hole with a magnetic piece that closed after being filled. And that piece was redeemable for 6 free wings at a local place.

We pounded down a few and decided to go in. We did see Sean from Nunes Magician but decided not to bother the celeb and let him be. Well here is what the stadium looked like.




You will notice a few things. One they have a track which keeps fans further away from the field. But they made up for it by having an awesome upper deck. Not only is it pretty large, it is very steep and has a roof that keeps all the noise in. Also notice that they have wooden benches that are painted purple or gold. The purple are the first few rows and typically aren't sold because you are often blocked by the players and cannot see. Great design there. But overall I liked the stadium quite a bit.

As to the game we will skip that. After the game we encountered some weirdos. First was on the bus back downtown. It took us through Fremont which looked pretty cool. The young Husky fans told us that is where everyone moves after they graduate. Looking back we shoulda checked that out. Anyway a girl eventually got on the bus and was staring at her hands the whole time like something was on them and kept moving them around. The 2nd was a well built homeless man (which made me question if he was homeless). He was very drunk and drooling. Came over to us and was saying how great UW was and fuck Syracuse. He eventually swung his arm down toward the ground which made me back off. He then talked about how UW had Nick Montana and Cuseman argued that he was not on UW but ND. Boy Cuseman, it must feel bad to know a bum has greater knowledge of college football then you!

And that was pretty much my trip. Well except being in the longest airport checkpoint I have ever seen. At least twice as long and moved rather slowly. Good job Seattle. Oh and also having something with Obama on your snadwich board is apparently a good thing.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Cuse Cast is back!!!!!!!

Cuse Cast XXXVII - The only education you need this year

King Otto offers closing thoughts on Akron and looks ahead to UW.

Length about 10:30

In addition check out the photographic highlights of the 2nd annual Cuse Cast RV trip. It wasn't quite as awesome as RVing to State Penn. Although we did have the greatest Cuse Cornhole board ever.



















This is the highlight of Akron's cityscape



This is the team coming over to honor King Otto. Also notice the lady trying to hug Charlie Loeb using the "head crushing technique".


Thursday, July 15, 2010

Top 25 Eastern Rankings

Out of curiosity I wondered what was Syracuse's place in Eastern football after this horrible decade called the two thousand aughts. I guess people warning of Y2K were right. But now that the decade is over, hopefully we move back to where we should be.

So where is that? I wanted to use just the modern era but when did that start? I decided to use the time period from the D1 split into 1A and 1AA. That is 32 seasons (1978-2009) and seems like a good starting point. The game was played a lot different before that. And teams where fine playing several smalls schools who ended up in 1AA. By the late 80s most teams had removed those teams totally from their schedule.

Ok now which teams are Eastern? I decided to use Big East teams (including former BE member Temple), ACC teams, Army, Navy, and Penn St. Since that was 24 teams I decided to throw ECU in there as well to make a 25 team field. I took into account overall record, number of winning seasons, Bowl games, Bowl records, national titles, conference titles, Top 25 finishes, and Top 10 finishes. Using that I ranked the 25 teams.







So I have SU as the 8th best program over that period. The point fives indicate a shared title or ranking in just one poll. If the is a 0.5x that means the team had more than one shared title or half ranking with the number after point five being the number of times that occurred. For USF and UConn I only included their records since joining 1A.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

How I'd fix the NHL

It wasn't too long ago that there were only 21 NHL teams (1990-91). There are now 30 teams. How can a league expand by 9 teams (or nearly 43%) and expect to have a good product? You just can't. The talent is spread too thin. On top of that the NHL expanded to cities who just aren't that into hockey (mostly the South). So I think the NHL should scale back to 20 teams. That allows 4 five team divisions. And it also allows you to bring back the Wales and Campbell conference names as well as the Patrick, Adams, Norris, and Smythe division names. Those made hockey original, lets bring them back.

So who gets cut? Well first off the 8 expansion teams of San Jose, Tampa Bay, Anaheim, Florida, Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, and Minnesota. There isn't must history lost there. I do realize that Anaheim and Tampa Bay have won the Stanley Cup but so have the two time champ Montreal Maroons. I don't think that losing those cities would hurt the NHL. I do think that Ottawa should be spared. First hockey is a Canadian sport, so I believe that no Canadian teams should go. Second while this Ottawa franchise has no Cups, the original Ottawa Senators did win 4. Plus having them makes it easier to form divisions.

Well that now leaves 22 teams so who else goes? Well Carolina kinda sticks out all alone down South. So despite having an NHL title they get cut. The other team to go would be Phoenix. No titles and being in a desert doesn't fit my NHL. Which now brings us to the divisions.

Wales Conference

Patrick
NJD
NYI
NYR
PHI
WAS

Adams
BOS
BUF
MON
OTT
PITT

Campbell Conference

Norris
CHI
DAL
DET
STL
TOR

Smythe
CAL
COL
EDM
LAK
VAN

Dallas kinda sticks out. Ideally I think it would be better if they move back to Minnesota. Although you would lose a big market. As to schedule I would have them play 2 times vs teams from the other conference (20 games), 6 times vs teams from the other division (30 games), and 8 times vs teams from the same division (32 games). For the playoffs I would only take 4 teams per conference. Having 16 of 20 would make the regular season meaningless. Also baseball gets by fine having only 8 of 30.

So based on this year (which wouldn't be totally accurate):

Wales
1. WAS vs 4. BUF
2. PIT vs 3. NJD

Campbell
1. CHI vs 4. LAK
2. VAN vs 3. DET


I think with less teams and a lot more talent per team it would bring back the NHL.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Cuse Cast XXXVI

The Nova addition. Tiger style, as in if you want a beef then bring the ruckus, the Cuse Cast aint nuttin to F with (not Mr Woods). Cuse Cast forever.

See College Gameday:



See how far the crowd stretches:



See the crowd that was behind the curtain:



See the crowd waving towels up in the air like they just don't care:



See the D make a stop and Wes almost hit a reverse:



See the Orange close out the game:



Hear the crew as they start their trip to the Cuse. They give pregame thoughts and as usual the mush Cuseman picks SU to lose.

Then hear them as they enter the terrible state of PA, the home of Nova.

Most importantly hear King Otto sing Cuse State of Mind as it comes on the radio. Also note the text messages the Cuseman receives that ruin the recording.

Hear them as they enter NY state and review for Cuse State of Mind.

Hear them as they arrive in SYR but have to take a detour due to 81 being closed.

Finally hear them after the game at Tullys of Mattydale as they give a recap of the game.

BTW after the game the ViceBlogger was telling everyone to "Shut it Down." One woman replied back "Oh yes we gonna shut it down honey." As we pulled away we noticed she had PA plates. Hmmmmm.

Length about 17:15











Sunday, February 14, 2010

Club Four Four Review




I had the privilege to check out the new Club Four Four at the Louisville game. Above is a pic from the inside looking at the court.

Here are my random thoughts:

-Coat check = AWESOME. No more having to worry about where to put your coat or having someone spill beer on it. Almost worth the price of admission.

-No private bathroom = sucky. How can you not have an ultra VIP potty? I expected a mens room where you went pee into a wall water fall like at Tao.

-Food = yuck. Poor selection, small portions, and pricey by NYC standards. I mean $16 for 3 sliders? No wings or mozzarella wedges?

-I tipped and both the waitress and bartender accepted but when I got the food bill it said no tipping, which is weird. Ultra VIPs dont penny pinch. And dont you want your workers to be happy and have a reason to work hard?

-Staff = too old. They were nice but a place for ultra VIPs should have failed model/actresses as staff. If there are none in CNY then import them from Europe.

-Service = good and bad. I got my sliders in like a minute. That was great. What wasnt great was that I got my drink well after. And going to the bar after the game took a awhile as well. Definitely not the NYC style pace. They may need a bigger and more experienced staff.

-The place was kinda empty. Now this may have to do with it being the weekend. That is more family time at games while mid week is more adult time. Also being Valentines day may have hurt. Not to mention it was Sunday and you cannot sell beer till noon. But I think it is the cover charge. There is plenty of room for more people. The $1500 per person for a year or $500 per season is just too much. You dont want everyone to have access but you also dont want it to be empty. I think if they cut the price in half it would be perfect.

-It seemed like half the people there were kids. Seriously what kinda ultra VIP lounge has kids there? It should be adults only. This should not be a family place. That is what the Orange Club tent is for. Sure you may lose some customers but I think you add to the atmosphere and keep the people who will drink ($) coming back. Kids do not add revenue.

-Speaking of the OC tent I wonder if that will be phased out or limited. It really is competition for Club Four Four. Why pay a crazy cover charge at the Club when you can go to the tent and get free food, drink, and beer? It would probably be a good idea to move the free apps into the Club and remove beer from the tent. Limit the tent to free soda, water, popcorn, nachos, and Dome dogs. It is something nice for the donors but not so nice to draw people away from Club Four Four.

-I liked the look of the place. I think I would add more lounge chairs as there is plenty of space. Also the music was ok and not too loud.

-The TVs had ESPN on. Before the game it was SportsCenter so no biggie. But after it was bowling. Someone needs to be on top of that and change the channel. And maybe add a few more TVs.


See for yourself:




Overall I liked the place. Although I thought that atmosphere was kinda dead. That needs to be fixed. Can it? Or is Club Four Four not a right fit for CNY? That and the crazy cover charge need to be worked out. If it is then I think it will be a success.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Cuse Cast XXXV

KingOtto and Cuseman recap the SU road trip. Cuseman says he expected 2-1, but that is why you do not sign for things and let them play out. He then says he would sign up for a Final Four right now. KingOtto discusses Scoops lack of PT and how he only got 15 mins last game. Cuseman insists that he got 20 mins, and of course KO was right. They then discuss how well rounded the team is and has no holes. For some reason Cuseman then takes a shot at Asians. Next up a road trip for the boys to the Cuse to see Marquette and GTown. KingOtto thinks we are due for a loss but we match up well with Marquette and will win both games. Cuseman is scared of Marquette and thinks if we do lose, it will be to them. He predicts 1-1. They then discuss how Marquette has no beef. KingOtto says Hayward is like 6'7 maybe 6'8 (he is 6'6), to witch Cuseman claims size does not matter. Next they brush up on the Rob Moore hire and wonder why the recruiting weekend was not when we had a BBall game. Cuseman thinks the new OC HAS to be Lombardi, and KingOtto says why not Kevin Rogers. Cuseman then says or him too.

Length about 21:45
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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Cuse Cast XXXIV

Length about 8:30 mins
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Post game reaction from the NYC gamewatch. From refs getting commissions for calling charges to love for Jay Bilas (none for Seth Davis) to an NYCFan impersonation of Dickie V.












Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Vinnie, Vidi, Vicky

Not to be confused with the Latin phrase Veni, Vidi, Vici the saying Vinnie, Vidi, Vicky is Jersian for I gymed, I tanned, I laundered. And that is what I did in honor of tonights game at RU. What better way to prepare for the game? So I started off by hitting the gym for a workout, followed it up with some tanning, and topped it all with doing my laundry. I must admit it was quite refreshing. I think I have a new outlook on life.

On to the game. I think the two biggest stories were Mookie and Andy. Mooks came in and hit 3 threes and was very active out there. I like seeing him at SF against smaller teams. Against the physical teams I am not so sure he is big enough to handle it. He kinda of reminds me of TRob in the way he moves around. Both are athletic but both kinda look awkward while doing it. Andy had a nice all around game. He shot the ball well and hit a big shot every time we needed it. And that long bounce pass was great. Not to mention 9 assists and 8 boards. However he still had a bunch of bad passes, finishing with 5 TOs. The SU fast break turning into a three on one vs Andy seems to happen every game.

RU actually seemed to have a crowd show up. I guess the ADs plan worked out for them. But what next of Hill? For some odd reason he is signed through the 2012-13 season. So it isnt likely he is fired after this season, and maybe not even after next season. I know I wouldnt mind 2.5 more seasons of him.

Good job by the Cuse of taking care of business and on to WV.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Cuse Cast XXXIII

On the 33rd Cuse Cast in the new year of our lord...

-KO and Cuseman discuss the Pitt game and address any concerns

-Somehow they get into MLB all time great Lance Painter

-Next up the boys give quick thoughts and predictions for Memphis and USF

-And finally they converse about the FB asst coaching situation

Length about 26:30 mins
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