Tale of the Tape: Syracuse at Minnesota

Welcome to this week’s ToT where the Syracuse Orange take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers. We need to go out and beat every one of them. We don’t even have to have a reason. Our players should have a license to beat the Gophers by the government of the United Nations. To win you must know your enemy, and in this case the enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit, ever. They’re like the Viet Cong, Varmint Cong. So we will have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. In order to conquer the Gophers we need to learn to think like a Gopher. So let’s take a look…

They were…

Born on Date

Minn: 1851 vs SU: 1870

Otto’s Edge: Minn… although they didn’t have students until 1867 due to financial issues.

In the city of…

GPS

Minn: Twin Cities (Minneapolis-Saint Paul) vs SU: Salt City

Otto’s Edge: Minn… two is better than one

Where they hold the…

State Fair

Minn: in St Paul vs SU: in Syracuse

Otto’s Edge: Minn… because of heavy traffic from the fair, classes do not start at Minn until after the fair is over. I wish we did that for our first home game so people would show up.

People also enjoy going to the…

Mall

Minn: Mall of America vs SU: Destiny

Otto’s Edge: Minn… the largest in the US

Malls have plenty of…

Stores

Minn: Target vs SU: Wegmans

Otto’s Edge: SU… screw the French

The Target Center is where BBall was played by…

Former T-Wolves

Minn: ex GM Kevin McHale, ex HC Flip Saunders vs SU: ex players Jonny Flynn and Wes Johnson

Otto’s Edge: SU… they didn’t put the team in a hole

Getting out of a hole is easier when you have a…

3pt sharp shooter

Minn: Trent Tucker vs SU: GMac

Otto’s Edge: Minn… he could hit a shot with only 0.1 secs left

Sticking with BBall…

Former Pro Franchises

Minn: Lakers, NorthStars vs SU: Nationals (76ers)

Otto’s Edge: Minn… they eventually got replacements while Syracuse is now a one horse town

That horse has been playing since…

1^st year of FB

Minn: 1882 vs SU: 1889

Otto’s Edge: Minn… although they do not have as many

All Time Ws

Minn: 651 vs SU: 692

Otto’s Edge: SU… however they have more

National Champs

Minn: 6 vs SU: 1

Otto’s Edge: Minn… who knew?

Speaking of which…

We’re going streaking

Minn: three straight titles from 1934-1936 (last team to do so). During that time they had a 28 game unbeaten streak with a string of 21 straight Ws.

Vs SU:  22 straight .500 or better seasons 1950-1971 and 15 straight winning seasons 1987-2001

Otto’s Edge: Minn… they also won back to back in 1940-41 with an 18 game W streak. Their last title was in 1960 in which they lost to Wash in the Rose Bowl (polls ended before Bowls back then).

They got to the Rose Bowl by winning their…

Conference

Minn: B1G vs SU: BE

Otto’s Edge: Minn… but the ACC is getting closer every day

In that conference each has been…

Conference Champs

Minn: 18 vs SU: 4

Otto’s Edge: Minn… they haven’t won since 1967 and haven’t been to the Rose since 1961

That has resulted in a…

Bowl Record

Minn: 5-9 vs SU: 13-9-1

Otto’s Edge: SU… pretty healthy lead

But we do not lead…

Head to Head

Minn: 2 Ws vs SU 1 W

Otto’s Edge: Minn… hopefully we even it up

Having only played 3 times we certainly are not…

Rivalry Trophies

Minn: Paul Bunyans Axe (Wisc 1948), Floyd of Rosedale (Iowa 1935), Governors Victory Bell (PSU 1993), Little Born Jug (Mich 1903) vs SU: Schwartzwalder Trophy (WV 1993)

Otto’s Edge: Minn… their rivalry with Wisc is the most played game in D1A. Since 1890 they have played 121 times (having only missed 1906). Before the Axe they played for the Slab of Bacon, a piece of wood with an M or W depending on how you held it. The trophy was lost in 1943. The schools also partake in the Border Battle, a year long competition for each sport in which 40 points are allocated. So the FB game winner gets 40 points and each basketball game is worth 20 points each.

Speaking of trophies…

CFB Award

Minn: Bronko Nagurski Trophy ( D MVP) vs SU: Mackey Trophy (TE)

Otto’s Edge: Minn… more important

But the most important trophy is the…

Heisman

Minn: Bruce Boo Smith (1941) vs SU: Ernie Davis (1961)

Otto’s Edge: SU… Davis was a part of

African American History

Minn: Bobby Marshall (1^st Big 9 AA player and along with Fritz Pollard 1^st AA in NFL) vs SU: Ernie Davis first AA Heisman winner

Otto’s Edge: Push… we are all winners here

Davis was coached by…

Best HC

Minn: Bernie Bierman (16 years, 93-35-6 record, 6 B1G titles, 5 National, 5 undefeated seasons) vs SU: Ben Schwartzwalder

Otto’s Edge: Minn… that was a great stretch

From college to pros…

NFL HC

Minn: Bud Grant vs SU: Tom Coughlin

Otto’s Edge: Minn… we all know about the four SB Ls by Grant’s Vikings but he also went to six Grey Cups winning four of them. He also played on the 1950 NBA Champion Lakers. In addition Tony Dungy went to Minn.

Grant is also a…

NFL HoFers

Minn: 6 (Bobby Bell, Carl Eller, Bud Grant, Bronko Nagurski, Leo Nomellini, Charlie Sanders) vs SU: 7 (Jim Brown, Kim Ringo, Larry Csonka, John Mackey, Al Davis, Art Monk, Floyd Little)

Otto’s Edge: SU… however they beat us in

CFB HoFers

Minn: 22 (Bert Baston, Bobby Bell, Bernie Bierman, Tom Brown, Fritz Crisler, Carl Eller, George Franck,. Paul Giel, Lou Holtz, Herb Joesting, Pug Lund, Bobby Marshall, John McGovern, Bronk Nagurski, Leo Nomellini, Eddie Rogers, Bruce Smith (not of Buffalo fame), Sandy Stephens, Clayton Tonnemaker, Ed Widseth, Dick Wildung (awesome name), Henry Williams)

vs SU: 14 (Biggie Munn, Buck ONeill, Ben Schwartzwalder, Joe Alexander, Larry Csonka, Ernie Davis, Vic Hanson, Floyd Little, Jim Brown, Tim Green, Don McPherson, Tad Jones, Howard Jones, Dick MacPherson)

Otto’s Edge: Minn… one of those for SU was a

Denver Bronco Great

Minn: Karl Macklenburg vs SU: Floyd Little

Otto’s Edge: SU… although they got a steal with the 12^th round, 310^th pick

Another great RB was…

Boston Pats Great

Minn: Gino Cappelletti vs SU: Jim Nance

Otto’s Edge: Minn… he is the AFLs all time leading scorer (mostly as a K) and a Top 10 WR. In addition he played DB and returned kicks.

While we are on Kicking…

NFL Ks

Minn: Chip Lohmiller vs SU: Gary Anderson, Olinda Mare

Otto’s Edge: SU… a Chip is something that you eat

Speaking of which…

NFL DL Great

Minn: Carl Eller vs SU: Freeney

Otto’s Edge: Minn… win goes to the Purple People Eater, for now

Let’s put the women and Cchildren to bed and go lookin for dinner

Minn: Lutefisk (Scandinavian fish dish) vs SU: Salt Potatoes

Otto’s Edge: SU… a potato is a vegetable and not a fruit like

Apples

Minn: Haralson, Honeycrisp (both developed at Minn) vs SU: Cortland, Empire, Northern Spy

Otto’s Edge: SU… NY is the 2^nd biggest apple producing state

The Big Apple is where we play some of our home games…

No one, and I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around

Minn: TCF Bank Stadium vs SU: Carrier Dome

Otto’s Edge: Push… both are missed named. Ours does not have AC and theirs is not a bank.

Before that they played in a…

Dome

Minn: Metro vs SU: Carrier

Otto’s Edge: SU… really, you named it after metros?

Other Past Stadiums

Minn: Northrop Field (1899-1923), Memorial (known as the Brick House 1924-1981) vs SU: Archbold Stadium

Otto’s Edge: Minn… they had greater success in theirs

In the stadiums you can often hear the…

Fight Song

Minn: Minnesota Rouser vs SU: Down, Down the Field

Otto’s Edge: SU… no one likes a trouble maker

Someone often causing trouble…

Mascot

Minn: Goldy the Gopher vs SU: Otto the Orange

Otto’s Edge: SU… Goldy? Really?

The mascot often gets the crowd to…

Cheer

Minn: Ski-U-Mah vs SU: Let’s Go Orange

Otto’s Edge: SU… Ski is a Sioux battle cry and U Mah is for U of M

Orange is the…

School Colors

Minn: Maroon & Gold vs SU: Orange

Otto’s Edge: SU… which is often worn by the

Students

Minn: 52k  vs SU: 20k

Otto’s Edge: Minn… they are huge

Students live in

Minn: Dinkytown vs SU: South Campus

Otto’s Edge: SU… Dinkytown is just North of campus. The area has small business, restaurants, bars, and apartments that house mostly students.

They get around by…

Walkways

Minn: the Gopher Way (tunnels) vs SU: walking between snow banks

Otto’s Edge: Minn… also Minn has a busway that was created in 1992. However there were many accidents the first 5 years. So they used a new invention called stop signs to alleviate the problem.

Students are there for an…

Edumacation

Minn: 68^th vs SU: 58^th

Otto’s Edge: SU… boy being in the ACC is paying off already.

Which reminds me of the big dance back in St. Olaf to kick off Pretzel Week. It was covered in the…

School Paper

Minn: The Minnesota Daily (est 1900) vs SU: Daily Orange (1903)

Otto’s Edge: SU… they only prints M-Th with Friday being an online only version.

From print media to…

TV News

Minn: Aaron Brown vs SU: Ted Koppel and many others

Otto’s Edge: SU… always big news are elections

State once elected

Minn: Jesse Ventura, Al Franken vs SU: Hillary Clinton

Otto’s Edge: Minn… if Howard Stern runs as Jesse’s VP I might have to vote him President

Staying with VPs…

VP

Minn: Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale vs SU: Joe Biden

Otto’s Edge: SU… he is still in office (for the time being)

Other Politicians

Minn: Eugene McCarthy, Tim Pawlenty vs SU: Al D’Amato

Otto’s Edge: SU… NY is more important

An important position at a school is the…

School President

Minn: Rodney Erickson (PSU) vs SU: Donna Shalala (Miami)

Otto’s Edge: Push… both have FB programs in big trouble

Someone who was trouble for their opponent…

Pro Wrestling

Minn: Rick Flair, Brock Lesner vs SU: Mike Rotunda

Otto’s Edge: Minn… Wooooo!

Staying with wrassling…

Other sports known for

Minn: Hockey, Wrestling vs SU: Lax

Otto’s Edge: Minn… since we no longer have a wrestling program. Their hockey team has 5 titles and 20 Frozen Fours. Herb Brooks and 9 members of 1980 US team were Gophers. Side note: men’s hockey plays in Mariucci Arena while the women play in Ridder Arena (sounds like a dirty name), the 1^st dedicated women’s hockey arena. Minn wrestling has been around 95 seasons.

A sport that has been around a long time…

Baseball

Minn: Paul Molitor, Terry Steinbach, Dave Winfield vs SU: has a minor league team

Otto’s Edge: Minn… Big Dave was my fav as a youngin

Miscellaneous Athlete

Minn: Tom Lehman vs SU: Myer Prinstein (Gold medalist 1900 Triple Jump, 1904 Triple and Long Jumps)

Otto’s Edge: SU… from little known to why are they known?

BBall player with celeb wife

Minn: Kris Humphries (Kim Kardashian) vs SU: Melo (La La)

Otto’s Edge: SU… Kris is no longer married

La La works with…

Musicians

Minn: Yanni, Bob Dylan vs SU: Lou Reed

Otto’s Edge: SU… Yanni, enough said.

While we are taking a walk on the wild side…

Adult stars

Minn: Dahm Triplets vs SU: Lexington Steele

Otto’s Edge: Minn… hey now!

Speaking of which…

Fictional Alumn

Minn: Larry Sanders vs SU: Veronica Corningstone

Otto’s Edge:  Push… those were characters played by

Actors

Minn: Loni Anderson, Henry Fonda, Ron Perlman, Robert Vaughn, Peter Graves vs SU: Vanessa Williams, Peter Falk, Jerry Stiller, Taye Diggs, Peter Weller

Otto’s Edge: Minn… this ToT will self destruct in five seconds.

But not before the category of the year…

WWTD?

Minn: cheer that the backup QB is starting vs SU: cheer that we finally run a college O

Otto’s Edge: SU… our situation is an improvement

And there you have it. Minnesota will win by a final score of 27-24. In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, au revoir Gophers.