syracuse orange

The 2002-03 Syracuse Orange, led by Carmelo Anthony, went on a title run through Albany's Pepsi Arena that fans still talk about to this day.

A city in Upstate New York has had a 'March Madness' Cinderella-style run of its own, as it was named the top 'bar city' in America in a 64-city bracket.

'Thank you but we'll take it from here' was the message to a legendary college basketball coach with the second most collegiate wins ever. Jim Boeheim's 47-year coaching career put Syracuse basketball on the map. However, Boeheim's tenure wasn't without controversy, including its ending.

How times change. In a little more than four years, paying high school or prep school recruits to choose a particular college or university went from a felony to an encouraged practice.

When you are a small, family owned supply store with a total of 17 employees, located in Chittenango, New York, you don't often get 22,000 on-line sales transactions in one weekend. So, when Ryan Powell began looking at the sales reports from New Year's weekend, he knew something wasn't right. In fact, he knew something was very wrong.

Rob McClanaghan always seemed like a go-getter. He was a walk-on for Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and later took his learned skills to becoming a trainer for some of the NBA’s biggest stars. Now McClanaghan is being accused of a horrific crime that allegedly occurred at a Boston hotel last week.

What a difference a year makes. Carmelo Anthony played for one season at Syracuse University. In that 2002-03 season, Melo averaged 22 points and 10 rebounds, leading head coach Jim Boeheim's team to their third National Championship. Melo left a few months later in the NBA draft as the 3rd overall pick of the Denver Nuggets. However, Anthony will always be on the Mount Rushmore of Syracuse basketball. Now his son may continue that Orange legacy.

Central New York is once again becoming a hot-bed of college football excitement, as #16 Syracuse continues to play great football under head coach Dino Babers. The success of Syracuse football has not gone unnoticed in the community and now fans are coming from near and far to the JMA Wireless Dome. This Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and their traveling fanbase come to campus.

ESPN's "College Game Day" has been a Saturday morning staple for millions of collegiate football fans for 35 years. The campus spirited show, that debuted in 1987, has not been broadcast live from a location in New York State north of the United State Military Academy in West Point. Well, if things go well on Saturday, one campus northwest of there may get their first visit from the popular ESPN show.

There is a big football game on Saturday at noon on ABC-TV. It features #14 Syracuse taking on #5 Clemson. This is the best Syracuse Orange football team in at least the last 4 years and maybe in decades. Clemson football star head coach, Dabo Swinney, may have summed it up best on Tuesday, “Dino’s got ‘em going, man. He’s got an offense that can score. He’s got a scheme that creates challenges.” Handsome praise from a coach that has enjoyed the highest pinnacle in college football.

After months of reading and talking, I now consider myself a Capital Region sports fan. I learned these ten stories along the way, and want you to learn them now.

In the course of coaching a premier college basketball program for nearly five decades, it would be easy to assume that one would get pretty good at assessing their team's chances from one year to the next. On Wednesday at the ACC Men's Basketball Media Day, Boeheim told several reporters that this year's squad of Orange will go to the Big Dance in March. After suffering his first losing season since taking up the profession at Syracuse, the 77 year-old coach is ready to get his team back to playing tournament basketball.