sutomcat
No recent Cali or Iggy awards; Mr Irrelevant
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Welcome to Bugs Bunny Day!
On April 30, 1938, a cartoon character known as "Happy Rabbit" made his debut in a short Warner Bros. cartoon titled "Porky's Hare Hunt." He was the prototype for Bugs Bunny, having a similar personality, but looking a bit different. It is on the anniversary of the release of this short film that we celebrate Bugs Bunny Day.
Bugs Bunny is an anthropomorphic gray hare with a relaxed and passive personality—but he is also a trickster. He became a cultural icon and is best known for starring in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, short films that were made by Warner Bros. from the 1930s through the 1960s. He appeared in many other formats, such as feature films, comic books, and musical records. He has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character, and TV Guide listed him as the greatest cartoon character of all time. In 1997, he became the first cartoon character to appear on a postage stamp. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The name "Bugs" or "Bugsy" means crazy or loopy and was used as a nickname in the first half of the twentieth century. For example, mobster Benjamin Siegel is best known as Bugsy Siegel. Today the name survives in phrases such as "You're bugging me," and in Bugs Bunny.
SU News
ESPN
Former Cornell kicker/punter Jackson Kennedy will transfer to Syracuse (PS; $; Carlson)
Former Cornell kicker/punter Jackson Kennedy will transfer to Syracuse, he announced on Monday night.
Kennedy was an All-Ivy Second Team kicker last year, handling placekicking, punting and field goal duties for the Big Red. He gives the Orange a backup specialist who has seen action in a Division I football game.
Kennedy averaged 39.42 yards per punt, made 14 of 19 field goals and recorded seven touchbacks on 27 kickoffs last season with Cornell. He missed one of his 17 point-after attempts. He has two years of college eligibility remaining.
The Syracuse football coaching staff did not immediately note his announcement on X (previously Twitter), which is traditionally an indication that the commitment is for a preferred walk-on position.
Syracuse appears to have capable starters at both specialist positions to open the season.
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Syracuse Football: 4-star edge CJ May, former Notre Dame commit, sets official visit (itlh; Adler)
Syracuse football is among the schools pushing hard for 2025 four-star edge CJ May, who will officially visit the Orange in mid-June.
The 6-foot-4, 225-pound May, a former Notre Dame verbal pledge, has unofficially visited the 'Cuse in the past.
Now the top-150 national prospect says via his X page that he will take an official visit to Syracuse football from June 14 to June 16, which is the same weekend that several other Orange 2025 four-star recruits are planning to officially visit the program.
A recent post on X from On3 Recruits noted that a handful of suitors are pushing for May, including the 'Cuse, Auburn, Louisville and Ole Miss.
Syracuse football appears to be a big contender for 2025 four-star edge CJ May.
Orange head coach Fran Brown and his staff offered a scholarship to May on January 21 of this year, he said on social media. Throughout his recruitment, he has received more than 20 offers, according to 247Sports....
Where will Syracuse's 2025 draft class land? (orangefizz.net; Shalam)
SU defensive back Isaiah Johnson signed a free-agent contract with the Miami Dolphins over the weekend. The redshirt senior started every game of the regular season this year, tallying six pass breakups and one interception. Johnson is the only player from Syracuse to sign with an NFL team so far, with zero Orange players being drafted. So, will Syracuse’s presence in the draft look different next year? Here are three Syracuse players to keep your eye on when the NFL draft rolls around in Green Bay next year.
QB Kyle McCord
This should not come as a surprise to anybody. The junior had over 3,000 yards last season along with 24 touchdowns, leading the Buckeyes to an 11-win season. The Philadelphia native is a proven winner and is looking to bring the same energy to the 315. The quarterback looked solid in the spring game, completing 18-of-28 passes for 242 yards and a touchdown in just the first half. McCord’s success this season will all come down to the weapons around him. If he has a similar season to last year, its safe to say that the quarterback will be an attractive option to any team in need of a new playcaller.
TE Oronde Gadsden II
Gadsden has a lot to prove coming into this year after being out for the majority of the season with an injury last year. In his sophomore season though, the tight-end earned first-team All-ACC honors. Gadsden caught 61 passes for 969 yards and six touchdowns. The Florida native led all tight ends nationally in yardage. Gadsden has shown glimpses of greatness throughout his time at SU. Where the tight end falls in the draft though is fully dependent on his performance this upcoming season.
RB LeQuint Allen Jr.
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Syracuse football: Three linemen enter the transfer portal (TNIAAM; Ostrowski)
The last transfer portal window is open and there have been a few final entries from Syracuse Orange players.
One is OL Joe More, who just joined the program last summer from Richmond (FCS). More played very sparingly this past year while dealing with injuries, and despite being right in the thick of the competition in the spring, he will now take his chances at starting elsewhere.
The other two are a pair of redshirt freshmen: OL Jaylen Bass and DL Jalil Smith. Bass entered along with More on Friday after the Orange added a transfer and another freshman earlier in the week. He appeared off the bench in the first two games of 2023.
Meanwhile, Smith is re-entering the portal after withdrawing to participate in spring camp. The Brooklyn native made his college debut against Boston College on November 3 but did not suit up again after that.
Syracuse appears to have one remaining scholarship left. Fran Brown mentioned that wide receiver Donovan Brown could return, or the Orange could be looking at another incoming transfer...
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Arkansas football signs transfer offensive lineman from Syracuse | Arkansas Democrat Gazette (arkansasonline.com; Davenport)
Arkansas landed the signature of a transfer offensive lineman from the ACC on Monday.
Syracuse offensive lineman Joe More, 6-5 and 306 pounds, committed to Arkansas during his official visit. He arrived in Fayetteville on Sunday night.
Razorback offensive line coach Eric Mateos led the recruiting efforts for More.
More has appeared in 44 games during his career while playing one season at Syracuse and four seasons, including a redshirt year, at Richmond. He transferred to Syracuse in December 2022 as a graduate transfer.
He missed most of the 2023 season due to an injury. He played in three games for the Orange.
More, who entered the NCAA transfer portal last Friday, started all 12 games during the 2022 season at Richmond and helped the Spiders average 424.1 yards per game on offense. He allowed 4 sacks in 542 pass coverage snaps.
He was rated a 2-star recruit by two recruiting services as a senior in 2018 at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Franklin, Tenn.
More is the fourth transfer to commit to the Razorbacks this spring and the first offensive lineman.
Syracuse defensive back Jason Simmons Jr. (14) unsuccessfully defends a touchdown catch by Minnesota wide receiver Daniel Jackson (9) in the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 29 at Yankee Stadium, New York, N.Y. Simmons received a rookie mini camp invite from the Buffalo Bills. Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com
Syracuse football DB Jason Simmons Jr. lands Bills rookie mini camp invite (PS; $; Leiker)
Another former Syracuse football player will get his shot at the next level following the conclusion of the 2024 NFL Draft on Saturday.
Defensive back Jason Simmons Jr. is invited to the Buffalo Bills’ rookie mini camp, his representation, Elite Loyalty Sports, announced on Instagram on Monday.
Simmons spent three seasons with the Orange after transferring from New Mexico State. He started 36 games across five seasons of college ball and primarily played free safety for SU.
The 6-foot, 198-pound Texas native had 48 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass breakups in his senior season. He finished his career with 189 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 17 pass breakups, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and one touchdown.
Simmons had a solid outing at SU’s Pro Day in mid-March with a particularly eye-catching 40-yard dash. No official times were released from the event.
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Pondering a Richmond reunion and analyzing SU's backup QBs (podcast) (PS; podcast; Axe)
The latest episode of Syracuse Sports ponders three questions.
What would happen if Syracuse starting quarterback Kyle McCord went down?
Is a Kadary Richmond reunion in Syracuse possible?
Why can’t Syracuse women’s lacrosse beat Boston College?
ACC News
(youtube; podcast; ACC DN)
The 2024 NFL Draft has come and gone, and 41 ACC players got to have their names called, the most since the ACC had 42 selected in 2021. It was a big day for the conference with 11 of the 14 schools having at least one player drafted and the ACC talent being spread to 24 different NFL teams. Florida State had 10 players selected which was the most by one ACC school since 2015 when FSU had 11 players drafted. Take a look into some of the historic stats and notes from the 2024 NFL Draft with the ACC By The Numbers.
Which new college football coach will win year one? (youtube; podcast; College Football Overtime)
Garrett Chapman and Abe Gordon are back to discuss the new coaches in college football and see who could find some early success in their first seasons at new schools. They also talked about some that may struggle year one.
Manny Navarro: Miami’s Recent Transfers Put Them in Position to Compete for the ACC | The U (youtube; podcast; 365 Sports)
Manny Navarro, TheAthletic.com joins 365 Sports to discuss his thoughts on the transfers Miami was able to get over the weekend, can Miami finally get its flare back, what is Miami missing as the season approaches, and more.
Uiagalelei? Ward? Martinez? Which Transfer Addition Will Have The Biggest ACC IMPACT? (youtube; podcast; Locked on ACC)
Impact Transfer Portal stars like quarterback Cam Ward, running back Damien Martinez and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei have found new homes in the ACC. Ward and Martinez landed at Miami from Washington State and Oregon State. DJ left Oregon State for Florida State. Will these three be the highest impact transfers at their new destination or will players like new Louisville QB Tyler Shough, NC State QB Grayson McCall, or Florida State defensive lineman Marvin Jones Jr have something to say about that?
Football drove Hokies' marked 2022-23 revenue increases (roanoke.com; $; Teel)
Marked increases in media rights, ticket sales and postseason distributions combined with a decline in severance payments of nearly $10 million enhanced Virginia Tech’s athletics finances in fiscal year 2022-23.
Long the Hokies’ centerpiece program, football was central to each of those developments, according to the school’s most recent annual budget filing to the NCAA. The 81-page document, provided to The Times-Dispatch by the university, shows the athletic department reported $129.5 million in revenue and $116.9 million in expenses, a surplus of $12.6 million, or 9.7% of revenue.
This marks the fifth time in the last six years Tech has shown a surplus, all under veteran athletic director Whit Babcock.
Year-to-year, Tech’s revenue increased 14.9%, up from $112.7 million, while expenses were essentially flat, falling .3% from $117.3 million.
Though the NCAA reports have a consistent, year-to-year protocol, they don’t reflect the entirety of an athletic department’s economics.
For example, only donations that were received and used during the reporting year are included. Hence, a contribution or pledge toward a future project — the Hokies launched a $400 million “Reach For Excellence” campaign three years ago and are more than halfway toward their goal — is not counted.
Notable line-item changes for Tech include:
- Total media rights, the vast majority of which come from the ACC’s contracts with ESPN, rose 30.9%, from $32 million to $41.9 million.
- The largest subset of media rights, $31.5 million, was from football, up from $22.3 million.
- ACC bowl distributions grew from $5.3 million to $7.9 million, a 49% hike.
- Ticket sales increased 37.8%, from $13.5 million to $18.6. Football accounted for $15 million, up from $10.1 million, a reflection of enthusiasm for Brent Pry, who replaced Justin Fuente prior to the 2022 season.
- Severance payments to Fuente and his staff cost the Hokies $10 million in 2021-22 but only $362,000 this past fiscal year.
- Compensation for football’s 10 assistant coaches increased 26.8% from $5.6 million to $7.1 million.
- Total football revenue increased 41.4%, from $48.8 million to $69 million, this in a year when the team finished 3-8 and did not play its home finale against rival Virginia. Football accounted for 53.3% of all revenue.
- Reflecting a landmark Final Four appearance in 2023, women’s basketball revenue jumped 73.5%, from $865,000 to $1.5 million.
- Men’s basketball revenue increased 10.1%, from $13.8 million to $15.2 million.
- Contributions provided and used rose from $25.8 million to $27.3 million, or 5.8%.
Top 15 OOC Wins, 2020-23 (ASD) (RX; HM)
Top 15 OOC Wins, 2020-23 (ASD)
AllSportsDiscussion(ASD) actually released their Top 15 as 3 sets of 5 games, so what I've done here is to combine their 3 lists into one...
ACC's Best 15 Out of Conference Football wins of the 2020s
Here's their combined Top 15 list:...
ACC New Years Bowls Without Clemson or FSU, 1989-2009 (RX; HM)
ACC New Years Bowls Without Clemson or FSU, 1989-2009
I had a discussion with a Clemson fan on X today. He wanted to justify teams like his being separated from others because, while the Tigers were national championship contenders, most other ACC teams simply are not. I suggested that if a decision like that had been made 15 years ago, his Tigers would've been on the outside looking in, and that Clemson was down for a long time between Coach Danny Ford and Coach Dabo Swinney.
He said no one but Clemson and Florida State have gone "toe to toe" with "the best of the P2", to which I pointed out that, while the rest of the ACC may not have won any national championships in football recently, they have played in a number of "New Year's Bowls". In fact, here are the teams in the 2024 version of the ACC - not including Clemson or Florida State - which played in a NY6 Bowl between 1989 and 2009 - the years between Ford and Swinney for the Tigers:
| Clemson dismisses Danny Ford | |
| '89-'90 | Sugar #2 Miami * |
| '90-'91 | Sugar (UR)Virginia |
| Fiesta #18 Louisville | |
| [#1 Georgia Tech] | |
| '91-'92 | Orange #1 Miami * |
| '92-'93 | Sugar #1 Miami ** |
| Fiesta #6 Syracuse | |
| '93-'94 | Fiesta #10 Miami |
| '94-'95 | Orange #3 Miami |
| Sugar #13 Virginia Tech | |
| '96-'97 | Orange #10 Virginia Tech |
| '97-'98 | Fiesta #14 Syracuse |
| BCS Begins | |
| '98-'99 | Orange #15 Syracuse |
| '99-'00 | Rose #22 Stanford |
| Sugar #2 Virginia Tech ** | |
| '00-'01 | Sugar #3 Miami * |
| '01-'02 | Rose #1 Miami ** |
| '02-'03 | Fiesta #1 Miami ** |
| '03-'04 | Orange #9 Miami |
| '04-'05 | Fiesta #21 Pitt |
| Sugar #8 Virginia Tech | |
| '05-'06 | |
| '06-'07 | Orange #6 Louisville |
| Orange #14 Wake Forest | |
| '07-'08 | Orange #3 Virginia Tech |
| '08-'09 | Orange #19 Virginia Tech |
2024 NFL Draftee Hometowns (RX; HM)
2024 NFL Draftee Hometowns
Here's a tweet I found very interesting...
Miami produces lots of NFL talent; so does Atlanta, Charlotte, and Washington, D.C.
The areas around the newbies are well-represented, too. The Bay Area and Dallas are both NFL sources.
Future expansion candidate USF is sitting in another rich area (Tampa Bay). I was surprised by the players coming out of Philadelphia - a secret gold mine! Maybe Temple should be on the radar as well?
I can't help but notice how wide a net the Seminoles cast - that FSU logo pops up all over the Eastern half of the U.S.!
Big 12 Insiders | Clemson steps into the fray to leave the ACC (youtube; podcast; GoPowerCat)
The Big 12 Insiders is a new show covering everything related to and affecting the new 16-school Big 12 Conference, hosted by former Kansas State football player Brien "Big B" Hanley. In today's edition, Big B talks with Cory Fravel of the Clemson site on the 247Network about the future of the ACC as it pertains to possible additional Big 12 expansion.
LOUISVILLE Will Be Added to Expansion Big 12 as Florida State, Clemson Kill ACC IF Big 10, SEC Balk (youtube; podcast; Locked on Big 12)
LOUISVILLE Will Be Added to Expansion Big 12 as Florida State, Clemson Kill ACC IF Big 10, SEC Balk
Will Louisville DECLINE Expansion Big 12 Invite as ACC, Jim Phillips Lose Control in Realignment (youtube; podcast; Locked on Big 12)
Will Louisville DECLINE Expansion Big 12 Invite as ACC, Jim Phillips Lose Control in Realignment
Other
The 276-room Crowne Plaza hotel at 701 E. Genesee St. in Syracuse has been owned by TJM Properties Inc. since 2016. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)Rick Moriarty
A big Syracuse hotel plans switch to apartments. Local tourism chief calls it 'devastating' news (PS; Cazentre)
The owner of the Crowne Plaza, one of Syracuse’s largest and best known hotels, is planning to transition the property into a residential apartment building.
The plan would convert the 277-room hotel into a building with 287 residential units, while keeping the ground floor restaurant open, according to a proposal filed with the Syracuse Planning Commission.
The iconic 20-story round hotel at 701 E. Genesee St. is owned by Clearwater, Fla.-based TJM Properties. The planning commission will review the plan at its next meeting on May 6. TJM has not responded to a syracuse.com request for more information.
The Crowne Plaza plan, combined with Syracuse University’s recent decision to convert its Sheraton Hotel near campus into dorm, could be “devastating” to the city’s convention business, said Danny Liedka, president of of Visit Syracuse, the area’s tourism agency.
The Sheraton has 200 hotel rooms, which will be converted into a 400-bed dorm this fall. With the Crown Plaza proposal, that means a potential loss of 477 rooms in the downtown/SU area.
The Crowne Plaza, the Sheraton and the Marriott Syracuse Downtown are the three main hotels supporting events at the Onondaga County Convention Center and nearby venues, Liedka said. The Marriott (formerly the Hotel Syracuse), has 315 rooms.
“That’s shutting down two of our three main hotels, so it’s going to make our convention business extremely difficult, at least in the short term,” Liedka said. “I think it will right itself eventually, but it’s going to take time, perhaps a few years.”
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Syracuse restaurant known for its fresh lobster has closed for good (PS; Miller)
A Westcott Street restaurant known for everything lobster announced this morning that it has closed for good.
Lobster Babe, a mostly take-out seafood restaurant that has operated at 466 Westcott St. since late 2022, had closed in November. Owner Danielle Mercuri said at the time that she hoped to reopen this spring. This morning, Mercuri said Lobster Babe would not reopen.
She said the spot just wasn’t the right fit for such a restaurant. She also blamed the rising costs of food for the closure.
“We really did our absolute best, and we had the most amazing customers and support,” Mercuri said. “It’s just the cost of goods alone, especially with lobster, is crazy right now. What we’d have to charge as a brick and mortar would be insane.”
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