The Consultant Roundabout

I wasn't paying much attention to the internet and the goings on of Daryl Gross last night as I was watching Game 1 of the World Series (Go Phils!). In my absence, The New York Times dropped a bomb on their website regarding the coaching situation at Syracuse. The Times reported that DOCTOR Daryl Gross has hired former Big Eight commissioner Chuck Neinas as a consultant on the search for a new head football coach at Syracuse. Neinas was commissioner of the Big Eight from 1971 to 1980. During his tenure, Nebraska (1971) and Oklahoma (1974, 1975) won National Championships in football.

DOCTOR Daryl Gross was quick to deny any such involvement in a supposed coaching search to the Syracuse Post-Standard last night.

"No, it's absolutely not true," Gross told The Post-Standard. "The reality is . . . I haven't hired anyone and the university hasn't hired anyone. It's speculation and it would be inappropriate for me to hire someone (a consulting firm or search firm) at this point."

Asked if someone else may have hired Neinas on behalf of Syracuse University, Gross said, "no, it would be inappropriate."

Are you fucking kidding me? It would be inappropriate to hire someone at this point? How can you even imagine that it would be inappropriate to hire a consultant to look for a replacement for a coach that EVERYONE knows is going to be gone at the end of the season? I mean the guy has a record of 8-34. The only team he has beat this year is a FCS team that is currently 2-5. Yeah, they have a better record than we do!

And you seriously think it would be inappropriate to hire a consultant to look for a new head coach? The only thing that is inappropriate at this point is the fact that you can't get over your ego and fire the head coach that you personally picked. Greg Robinson can not coach. Your refusal to remove him shows that you are an incapable Athletic Director. Get off your damn high horse and actually show the people who are fans of this team that you plan on doing something to ensure that Syracuse Football is worth something again.

One thing that I would like to note about the situation is that I caught an interview this morning that Gomez and Dave of TK-99 were doing with the Voice of the Orange, Matt Park. The only reason I was listening to TK-99 was because I heard that he was going to be on discussing Big East(Basketball) Media Day and I wanted hear what he had to say regarding the team for the coming year. The guys asked Matt what the word was regarding the article and Matt really danced around the topic. There was one line in particular that he said which was really interesting. He said something to the effect of, "I don't know the what is legal to say and what isn't." To me, it sounded like a guy who had a little inside information and because he works for the Athletics Department, didn't want to reveal any information. Hence why he danced around the topic and why he wouldn't comment on the entire situation other than saying that it was a "tough situation".

So perhaps there is more to it. Perhaps the University has hired someone and Daryl Gross is just trying to be PC and doesn't want to make any sort of move until he can actually say that he has hired someone. Although at this point, I don't think we are going to see the dismissal of Greg Robinson until after the season. And quite frankly, that is bullshit.

If you thought the boo birds were bad at half-time of the Penn State game, I can't wait to hear how bad it is at Midnight Madness when Daryl Gross gets up there to give his rah rah speech. If it is anything like last year, we are in for some fun.

DGTII - Week 8

A Tale of Two Halves. I didn't watch the game this weekend so I can't get into the nuances of where we played well and where we played awful. If you are looking for detailed information like that you are better off checking in with The Axeman who sat inside and watched the entire game. Instead of being inside watching what I knew was going to be a pathetic loss to a good South Florida team, I attended the 40 Below Summit.

For those of you who do not know about 40 Below, it is essentially a community engagement organization that strives to make Central New York a much more vibrant and exciting place to live. They are working to remove the defeatist attitude that is pervasive in the community and they are working to get young people involved in the community. It is a good organization and you should definitely check it out.

While attending the 40 Below Summit I took a look at my blackberry to get the score for the game as I was riding a Connective Corridor bus downtown. What I saw was a Syracuse team that was only down 21-13 in the 3rd Quarter. I had no idea how we had looked in the first half or what we had done, but I knew that we were only down by 8 against a team that we had no business playing with. I thought for a moment that maybe we were turning a corner since we have looked decent at times in our recent losses to Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

About an hour later, I looked at my blackberry again and the score was 38-13. So much for the good feelings. Thank you 40 Below for the after party and the beer.

Based on these second half stats alone (0 first downs, 18 plays, 9 total yards, 1-10 passing, 6:40 time of possession), I am pretty sure you know what the team gets for the weekly DGTII:

Daryl Gross thinks Nike is extraordinary

Extraordinary. It is a word that isn't often used these days. It might be used to describe some yuppie restaurant or dessert bar but it isn't something that I would use in a day to day conversation. I think that most people in the blue collar town that is Syracuse would tend to use words such as "great" or "awesome" as opposed to extraordinary regardless of the fact that some of our local towns sound like they come from England where I imagine them using extraordinary to describe their tea and crumpets.

DOCTOR Daryl Gross would actually prefer if you start using the word extraordinary in regular conversation. In fact, it is his mission that Syracuse Athletics and the word extraordinary are used so often in the same sentence that he has named the new magazine of Syracuse University Athletics, "bE".

I appreciate that the Athletic Department has started a new magazine to keep us updated on what is going on with their programs however the presentation is once again just another piece in the DOCTOR Daryl Gross self-promotion machine. It all starts with a picture on the cover of the bad DOCTOR holding what looks like a 3-D rendering of the Carmelo Center.

Inside you will find a letter from DOCTOR Daryl Gross explaining the new magazine and talking about some of the features you will see in the magazine including a word from all of our great coaches. Noticeably absent from the coaches listing was swimming and diving coach Lou Walker. No bother though, I'll just tell the kids that are still competing in NCAA events for the Syracuse swimming and diving team that they are irrelevant.

The one positive thing I will say about this magazine is that it really is not like most magazines or really anything you would expect out of the Athletics Department. There were no advertisements in the entire thing. I was shocked as I was flipping through the pages to not find Billy Fucillo next to a picture of Patrick Shadle from last year saying "It's HUUUUUUUUGE!" Hell, even the "Heavy Hitters" of Alexander and Catalano are conspicuously absent. (Anyone remember when their slogan was "We're two, for you"? no homo.)

I was impressed. That is, until I got to the feature on Nike. Like most other Syracuse related material these days, there was a big old Nike Swoosh in the middle of the page. They talked with the Director of College Marketing for Nike who told us nothing that we didn't already know. I'm really not sure what the piece on Nike had to do with the fact that Syracuse Athletics is Extraordinary, but then again I guess DOCTOR Daryl Gross had to pay for the circulation somehow.

Syracuse Athletics Babe of the Week

Emily Kaier is a Senior on the Volleyball squad. Apparently we have a penchant for Volleyball players in the SABOTW. Emily was recently the topic of a segment on SUAthletics.com called "Off the Court" where she answered some questions that we were all wondering. For instance, Paul Walker of Varsity Blues fame happens to be the person she would most like to have dinner with. Sorry Danny, try harder next time. Emily was a member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll the past three seasons as well as being Big East Academic All Star each year. She also has some hops, setting the record for high jump at Oswego High School (5'6"). Emily is majoring in psychology and forensic science.

[Photo: SUAthletics.com]

DGTII - Week 7

Since we had a bye week in Week 6 of the season there was no DGTII. Although I suppose I really should have given the team 5 Daryl Gross mugs for not losing to the bye week then because it was more of the same with a disappointing loss in Week 7.

The Orangemen had the Mountaineers right where we wanted them, only down by four points, 10-6, until we let Noel Devine go off for 92 yards and a touchdown to seal the victory. Things won't get much easier for the Orangemen this coming week down at South Florida and while Greg Robinson did make some positive adjustments (4-2-5 defense anyone?), he still failed to make the right calls when needed to ensure that we walked away with the victory.

Once again, we did some positive things in the game. If you had told me that we would put up 346 yards, go 8-18 on third down, average 4.0 yards a carry, and possess the ball for 35:16 in the game, I would have told you that we won. The problem continues to be putting all of the pieces together to get a complete game and a win out of the Orange.

So with that, The DGTII for Week 7:

DGTII for Week 7:

Mayorial Links

• Foremer Orangeman, Dave Bing, filed papers yesterday to run for Mayor of Detroit in a special election being held next year


• Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant thinks there is no way Randy Edsall leaves UConn for a much worse program in Syracuse


• There is a new blog out there called The Saltine Warrior. Nice guys. We should bring him back.


• In hot seat news, my mom says that Greg Robinson will not be fired before the end of the season. She is usually right about these things so it is at least food for thought.

Losses to West Virginia Could Bookend Greg Robinson's Tenure

The Charleston Daily Mail has an article about the Mountaineers not looking past Syracuse this weekend. While this is a nice little gesture by Bill Stewart, we all know that WVU has better things to prepare for... such as their date with #20 Auburn on 10.23.

The interesting note that the Daily Mail made was that Greg Robinson made his first appearance as the Head Coach of the Orangemen against West Virginia in 2005. Could his final appearance as Head Coach come against the Mountaineers as well?

I know that there has been plenty of speculation regarding his future, but wouldn't it really be fitting to fire him after a loss at West Virginia? A loss to West Virginia would put him at 2-22 in the Big East and quite frankly there isn't much more that he can do to prove just how inept he is. West Virginia is the closest thing to a rival that Syracuse has in the Big East, with the Schwartzwalder Trophy being awarded to the winner each year.

Much like Paul Pasqualoni's final season was marked by bookend blowouts, it would only be fitting if Daryl Gross did the right thing and fired Greg Robinson on bookend losses to West Virginia. After all, he doesn't have anything to lose.

Syracuse Atheletics Babe of the Week

Brittany Kern is a Senior on the Volleyball team. Brittany led the team with a .348 attack percentage which was good for third best all-time. She has been on the Big East Academic All-Star list each year with the Orange and has also been listed on the Athletic Director's Academic Honor Roll every year. She is a Biology Major from Indianapolis. Congrats to Brittany, our Syracuse Athletics Babe of the Week!

There is no place like Nebraska

Since Syracuse doesn't play this weekend, I decided that I needed to get my fill of college football and I will be returning to the land of my roots to watch Nebraska take on Missouri on Saturday in Lincoln. Growing up in Nebraska in the 90's spoiled me as to what good college football is. After watching Tommie Frazier run all over Florida in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, I have had an expectation of what great college football teams are supposed to be.

I will say that I was pleasantly surprised when I first visited Syracuse University and took in my first football game. We had tickets on the 20 yard line and we witenessed Syracuse beat Miami in Donovan McNabb's last game in the Dome, 66-13. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to go to Syracuse. Little did I know, I would be treated to seeing Troy Nunes and his brilliance the following year.

Regardless, I return to Lincoln with two of my good friends from high school, Matt and Justin. While there we will see friends and family (both my brother and sister live in Lincoln) and will be treated to the finest college football experience you could ever find.

From the moment you see Memorial Stadium off the interstate as you arrive in downtown Lincoln, you get a sense that this is more than just a football game and that these are more than just typical football fans. Bobby Bowden once said, after the home fans applauded his visiting Florida State team which beat Nebraska, "I have never seen people with more class than I saw at Nebraska, the Nebraska fans, players, cheerleaders, band, officials, coaches, etc., gave me living testimony of what college football should be all about."

The sentiments regarding Nebraska football fans can be summed up perfectly by the line that is etched over the gates at Memorial stadium that read, "Through these gates pass the greatest fans in college football".

Anyhow, with this reunion weekend of sorts at Nebraska's homecoming game (Yeah, Syracuse schedules I-AA Northeastern and Nebraska plays #3/#4 Missouri for theirs. Ouch.) I will be away from the blog scene until Monday unless there is major movement by Daryl Gross on any of the fronts that we have been keeping a close watch on.

This would have never happened under Pasqualoni's watch

According to The Idiots, CBS5 was reporting that four members of the Syracuse football team were allegedly involved in a sexual assault on Monday evening/Tuesday morning. While this situation is nothing to make light of, it certainly continues to further show that Greg Robinson maintains zero discipline over his team.

Daryl Gross is happy Lane Kiffin was fired

As reported pretty much everywhere (TNIAAM, Axeman, Idiots, Orange Squeeze, and of course haslanekiffinbeenfired.com), Lane Kiffin was released by the Oakland Raiders. Kiffin will have a press conference today. Some suspect that Daryl Gross, who said that Lane would be near the top of any shortlist for any Syracuse vacancy, will be present at the press conference to announce that Kiffin is the new head coach at Syracuse (before Donnie Webb goes ballistic on me as well, this is complete fabrication).

Syracuse Athletics Babe of the Week

Christina Dove is a sophomore on the Women's Lacrosse team. She is a pretty good player, recording 47 goals in her Freshman season. Those 47 goals put her in third place all time for goals. She also tallied 11 assists en route to becoming one of the most prolific scorers in the history of Syracuse Women's Lacrosse. Did I mention she is only going to be a sophomore? She is enrolled in the Whitman School of Management and made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll both semesters. Congrats to Christina, our Syracuse Athletics Babe of the Week!

[Photo via Suathletics.com]