The Daily Directive

Why do we all love sports so much? Some will say it is the passion of competition. Some will say it brings us back to our youth. But I think a very large draw is the drama. We all know that there is a chance that something special can happen at any moment. It could be a legendary player adding to his resume. Our it could be a team doing the unthinkable. And upsets are a part of this, ever since Upset beat Man o'War.

Fast forward now to the 2009 Syracuse Orange Football Team. It saddens me when I look around Orangeland and see my loyal subjects so down on the prospects of next season. While the team is not yet good enough to win on a consistent basis, history has shown us that on any given day the underdog can come out on top. In fact we can look to our very own Defensive Coordinator Scott Shafer. He was DC two years ago at Stanford when they went on the road and beat National Title contender USC. The prior year Stanford went 1-11, including a loss to San Jose St. That year USC beat them 42-0 in Palo Alto. But with a new HC and staff in place Stanford was able to go 4-8 and beat USC on the road 24-23. We all know that USC would beat Stanford by 4 TDs 90% of the time, but that day Stanford was the better team. And that is what makes sports great.

Now onto our Orangemen. Why cant we do something similar this year? Are we any worse off than Stanford was? Even if your answer is yes, do we have anyone on our schedule even half as good as that USC team they beat? By no means should we be beating a bunch of these teams but there is no reason why we cant take one of them out. Looking at the candidates I think WV and Cincy could be ripe for Doug Marrones first signature win. Penn St would be a minor miracle and is likely asking too much (although see Stanford again). So the next biggest would be the Big East pre season favorites: WV and Cincy, both of which are at home for SU. Last year SU played WV close on the road, as the game was not decided for good until late in the 4th Q. Cincy however beat SU pretty badly. They did lose their entire D, but WV still seems more likely.

So I am hopeful that we all will see a signature win this year that will Trump Grobs signature wins of the last 4 seasons:

2005 over 1-10 Buffalo
2006 at 2-10 Illinois
2007 at 6-6 Louisville
2008 at 7-6 Notre Dame

Interesting enough all of GRobs "big" wins came on the road. Then again when only one of those teams finished over .500 (and barely), can you consider it a big W?

Just keep this all in mind Orangeland, at any time we could see a signature win this year at the Carrier Dome. So make sure you are there, as you will not want to miss it.


Godspeed

King Otto III