No, I will not title this "Here's the Scoop." Well, I guess I just did. SCOOP UPDATE

So while wandering around some of the Syracuse message boards, I found this link to the official arrest report from Public Safety in the Scoop Jardine food scandal that I posted on yesterday.
[Props to Llandz on realcusefans.com, I don't know who you are, but props regardless for the report link]

Apparently, two girls, Maureen and Shannon, who are somehow not being charged and just hang up their cell phones on police officers, found a student ID card at Denny's. They then suggested to use the card, so they went out to breakfast with Jardine's 40 year old cousin in early January.

According to Robert Washington (Jardine's cousin), he got coffee, a donut, and the girls got pancakes eggs and juice. They then ordered food later that night, or the next day, from Goldstein Dining Hall on south campus. As an answer to my questions in the last post on Scoop, this was their order: gatorade, juice, philly cheese steaks and hamburgers. Washington had a philly cheesesteak and juice, and the girls ate philly cheese steaks, burgers and juice.

Take it as you will from Scoop's troublemaking cousin, but that's quite a bit of food for two girls. Also, how does a small breakfast and a dinner equal $115.65? I totaled how much food would have to be purchased to reach that total. These girls must be Kobayashi like in their consumption - there had to be numerous sandwiches and burgers (which go for about $5).


Two ridiculous things here. Washington ironically comes from Philadelphia, home of the cheesesteak. He has to come all the way over to Syracuse, order some horrible college knock off of the great sandwich from his hometown, and get everyone in trouble. Second, what the hell is the deal with these girls? This is Washington's statement from the report, "I called Shannon and she told me she was in class, I handed the phone to Lt. Thompson but Shannon hung up as soon as Lt. Thompson spoke to her." So you're just allowed to do that to a police officer in an investigation with no reprecussions? Good to know.

This whole thing is getting a bit absurd. Get a statement from the girls, either charge them or don't, and figure out what involvement Scoop had. Even if he took a bite of the food, I'm pretty sure stealing laptops, getting invloved in huge brawls, assaulting girlfriends or driving drunk like these Missouri players or most other incidents leading to suspension are worse than Scoop's actions. Sure, his actions warrant a suspension...but a season long punishment or even the boot from school? As the great Bob Barker would encourage his contestants to say, "That's too much!"

-Pat

Photo credits: whatsckooingamerica.net, cbit.syr.edu

OK sir, your total will be $115.65

I remember during the 2004-05 school year, I was grabbing some food at Schine’s cafeteria between classes. I had about $6 or $7 worth of food and stepped in line before a mammoth white guy. It was former Syracuse Basketball center Craig Forth. Now while a Craig spotting isn’t as exciting as say, seeing Hakim Warrick, it was kind of cool. Craig was treating his girlfriend (I believe) to a nice romantic Schine dinner, and in an act of great kindness, turned towards me and said to the cashier, “swipe for him too.” After I thanked him, Craig said “you’re welcome” and walked away as if it were no big deal. When I got to class I told a friend about it, and he said that athletes get around $2,000 on their SUpercard (used for campus eateries outside of dining halls) per semester. Regardless, I still thought it was a nice gesture.

So why am I telling this irrelevant Craig Forth story? He’s been long forgotten on the Hill hasn’t he? Well, with the recent development of why SU’s latest scholarship guard is not playing, it’s quite relevant. Scoop Jardine, a freshman that had stepped in for the injured Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins, was suspended because he had knowledge of a purchase of $115.65 on a stolen student SUpercard. Apparently, according to the Syracuse Post Standard, Jardine had his 40 year old cousin Robert Washington visiting. Washington and two girls ordered a lot of food and had it delivered to Scoop’s apartment. Scoop had knowledge of the whole thing and apparently helped carry the food inside (nearly $120 of food is gonna take some extra hands).

OK, so it’s not as bad as we probably thought. But it’s pretty boneheaded. With $2,000 on your SUpercard for the semester, there is no way Scoop maxed it out a few days into the spring semester (that is if they reset it before January 13 – it may have counted for the end of the fall semester, but I doubt it). And then ordering it to your apartment, brilliant. Scoop had to know this was going to come back to him, all for some crappy Campus Delivery pizza and wings. Honestly, what did they get for nearly $120? That’s more than 4 people could eat for dinner. Were they stocking up on Campus Delivery sandwiches? Let’s be honest, their food isn’t that great. I would have at least sent someone out to Kimmel to nab a couple hundred tacos from The Bell. I believe athletes also have card access to dining halls (and if they didn’t I’m sure they’d be let in anyway), I used to see basketball players at Sadler all the time. So you really have to question why Scoop and his cousin had to splurge on Campus Delivery, when they could have easily gotten food elsewhere. Or we could just blame it on the student who’s ID card it was. You gotta cancel the lost card, and then swiping it would not work…and Scoop would still be playing.

So what do you think the order was that now has given Syracuse a rotation of 4 good players, and 3 guys who probably wouldn’t be playing normally?

First, it was a Sunday. It could have been slightly after midnight Saturday night, and they could have been intoxicated like many college students are at that hour, so I’ll consider that in my estimation here:

Judging from the Campus Delivery Menu (below), I’d say the threesome (we won’t include Scoop I guess because according to his cousin he didn’t eat anything) ordered a combination similar to this:


- 100 wings: $65.29
- 4 extra blue cheese sauces: 4 @ $0.79 each = $3.16
- 2 supreme Sbarro pizzas: 2 @ $14.99 each = $29.98
- 3 Pints of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream: 3 @ $3.59 each = $10.77
- 3 Gatorades: 3 @ $1.69 each = $5.07
- 1 bottled water (for the next morning): $1.49

Total: $115.76

So give or take a couple dimes that could be a possible order. I don’t even think ordering that much Campus Delivery is worth the risk of an indefinite suspension. Let’s hope Scoop did nothing more. It could have been a lot worse, and hopefully the SU Judicial Board will realize that and just force Scoop to take the student out to dinner. Sounds fair to me.

-Pat

Photo credits: foodservices.syr.edu, rivals.com

Toby Maguire Unstoppable?

I love media day and the coverage of it. My favorite story came from ESPN’s Hashmark blog.
Michael Strahan was asked what actor would play him in a movie. "Someone funny," he replied. When one reporter suggested Forrest Whittaker, Strahan responded incredulously. "Forrest Whittaker!?!? C'mon man." Strahan finally settled on Will Smith: "We could bulk him up and put a gap in his tooth." As for the QBs, Strahan's choices: Eli Manning would be Toby Maguire. Tom Brady would be Brad Pitt.



First of all, sorry Mike, but Forrest Whittaker is right on.

Second, can there be a less confidence inspiring comparison? Toby Maguire vs. Brad Pitt? If for some reason Pitt was cast as the villain in Spiderman 4, I’m pretty confident that it would mean death for Spidey, as there is no way a character played by Pitt is being defeated by a character played by Toby. In the rare case that Pitt does die in a movie, it’s always a cowardly sneak attack by a much lesser character (Troy, Jesse James).

The more I think about it, though, it’s actually a pretty good call by Strahan. Eli does look a lot like Maguire and they both have the same “I’m about to cry but I’m not really sure why” facial expression. Plus, Toby always plays an underdog character. Based on his Sportscenter commercial with Peyton and Archie, I’d say Eli is a little better of an actor than Spidey. Pitt always plays the hero with an air of invincibility, which Brady clearly has.

Somewhat of a tangent, but I cannot tell you how sick I am of all the articles written about how “cool” Brady is. There was the Rick Reilly article months ago about him, in which Reilly sounded like a 13-year-old girl writing about a guy she had a crush on. Jemele Hill of ESPN.com recently wrote about how Brady was so cool that it was ok for him to leave his pregnant girlfriend for a supermodel. I know he’s a good looking guy, and has been a clutch player throughout his career, but people seem to ignore the fact that his charisma level is somewhere between Tim Duncan and Janet Reno. Brady could never do any of the commercials that Peyton does. As a matter of fact, I am recasting Brady as Keanu Reeves.

Other thoughts
-Either Johan lost his pitching hand in a shark fishing accident and everyone knows about it except for Minaya, or the Mets made the steal of the century.
-Just to echo what Pat said yesterday: I hope Brady’s boot means that he has irreparable tendon damage and will not be able to play this Sunday, but realistically, it’s pretty much meaningless. Curtis Martin once said that he could never walk on Monday after a game, so the fact that Brady decided to wear a brace while walking around New York City two weeks before game day doesn’t make me want to house to bet on the Giants. And the only reason for Schilling’s bloody sock is that he didn’t put a Band-Aid on because he was afraid it would hurt ripping it off (does anyone really think Schilling is the first athlete in the history of sports to have a shot before a game?)

-Hey Pat, now you know how I felt in the Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl


Andrew Vitelli

Picture Credits: http://www.ncaa.org/awards/honors_program/top_eight/2004/ManningEliHead.jpg (Eli)
http://www.boxofficepsychics.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/tobey-mcguire.jpg (Toby)
http://www.thesportshernia.com/football/images/brady.jpg (Brady)

Should We Amputate?

I am hating the upcoming Super Bowl. My co-blogger Andrew can’t wait. We’ve expressed our differences. But there’s something I think that Andrew will agree with me on. This boot incident with Tom Brady is just annoying.

Of course, a few weeks before the big game, some photographer snaps a picture of Tom Brady strolling around in a walking boot. Only hours later he’s spotted out, not limping at all, without the boot on. End of the world. He must have a broken foot! Quickly, let’s devote eight hours of ESPN and an entire NFL Live segment to it! You know what…I know that there’s a two week gap between games to kill time, but I just can’t take this story.

You may remember a few years back, in 2004, when the Boston Red Sox regrettably won a title. And, unless you were stranded on a desert island, you saw one sock dyed red with the “blood” of a Red Sox pitcher in the American League Championship Series. Curt Schilling apparently was having tendon trouble in his right ankle. Team trainers allegedly stitched up Schilling in an attempt to keep the tendon in place before Game 6 against the Yankees.

Now I know I’m a Yankee fan, but the authenticity of this sock has been questioned by more than just angry Yankee fans. I mean, if it weren’t for a sloppy job by this group of trainers that supposedly stitched it up, then it wouldn’t have been bleeding and there would be no famous sock. They probably just left a stitch open for attention. I wouldn’t put it past the Bush endorsing moron that is Curt Schilling (little side note: He’s obsessed with the video games that 12-year-olds outgrow. I don’t know how South Park missed him on their Warcraft episode but here’s a must read interview with Curt explaining his experience on a game called Everquest).

Back to this sock. Fox of course loved it and Joe Buck and Tim McCarver could not stop talking about it. It got tons of attention, just like how Tom Brady’s boot is getting 20 times more chatter than the flu that is plaguing a good deal of the Giants’ squad. So we have Schilling’s sock, and Brady’s boot. They seem like just stupid icons – icons that Boston media and fans relentlessly drool over, and then boast about if the athlete overcomes such improbable horrific odds. It’s just another annoying rally cry, and another slogan we have to hear in that infuriating accent, “but duuude, Tom Brady’s booooot!” It's lose-lose. The Patriots win, he's the next Kirk Gibson. They lose, it was because his foot was in shambles.

-Pat

Who's Calling Dan?

Last week, we posted a video of Dan Marino’s cell phone ringing during a halftime show. The question remains, however, who was calling him? While there is no way to know for sure, here are a few of our best of who couldn't stop blowing up Dan's T Mobile phone on the Sprint Halftime show:


-Cleo Lemon, reminding Marino they both had the same amount of Super Bowl rings.

-Boomer, just looking for someone to yell at.

-O.J. asking for his ****ing Super Bowl ring back.

-The Los Angeles Express, asking him when he planned on reporting to camp.

-Billy Volek, telling him to stop interrupting Bill Cowher.

Or perhaps it was just Ray Finkle, saying “Laces out!!!”

If you think you’ve got an idea who was calling, let us know by posting it in the comments section.

Barack Obama, a.k.a, Barry O’Bomber

I’m not going to flesh out much political thought on this blog, but I briefly wanted to speak about democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. Personally, I think he’s the right guy for the job. With many of the candidates holding a similar stance on most of the issues, what separates Obama is his charismatic personality. He seems to be an orator and politician that can unite this country which has recently been struggling both domestically and internationally. On top of all that, and most importantly, the man can flat out ball. And yes, he’s left handed, hardy har har.

Obama, who is 46 years old and stands 6 feet 2 inches tall, is a bit removed from his organized playing days. In the late 1970s, he donned No. 23 for Punahou High School in Hawaii and was referred to as Barry O’Bomber. Apparently he didn’t see too many minutes, but Punahou is a school with over 3,000 students and impressive sports programs (in 2005, its sports program was ranked by Sports Illustrated as the fourth best in the country).
Here's a video of Obama in the state championship game, in which Punahou was blowing out its opponent (there have been some debates about its authenticity, but I believe its real). I'm impressed with his play, but he's really gotta hit his free throws.

Obama did not play in college but got back into pickup games at Harvard Law and has kept up with the sport. Although he can’t dunk anymore (he first did when he was 16), Obama still apparently has a pretty wily game.

I’ve read quite a few articles on Obama’s interest in basketball. It’s great to read these stories in outlets like The New York Times or ABC News that speak about pick-up basketball like its some sort of dark, foreign and dangerous activity. Nonetheless, they are pretty interesting.

Here are some of my favorite tidbits from the Times article, including a bit of a scouting report:

“He has been playing since adolescence, on cracked-asphalt playgrounds and at exclusive health clubs, developing a quick offensive style, a left-handed jump shot and relationships that have extended into the political arena.

Mr. Robinson, now the coach of Brown University’s men’s team, said the 6-foot-2 senator is too skinny to be an imposing presence, but he is fast, with good wind even when he was a smoker. Mr. Obama is left-handed, and his signature move is to fake right and veer left, surprising players used to guarding right-handed competitors.

He is gentleman enough to call fouls on himself: Steven Donziger, a law school classmate, has heard Mr. Obama mutter, “my bad,” tossing the other team the ball.”


It seems as if Obama is a glue guy, a shifty guard/forward that is fundamental sound. Kind of like another southpaw and one of my favorite players, Josh Pace from Syracuse. Speaking of the Orange, as the team lost its fourth scholarship guard this season due to a suspension, maybe Jim Boeheim can make a contribution to Barack’s campaign and get Obama to suit up for a game or two (unfortunately, AD Daryl Gross has already contributed to Hillary’s campaign)

Anyways, back to Barack. I’d like to think that Americans, who have a propensity to like a leader they can relate to, will see Obama’s play on the hardwood as something that makes him a “down to earth” guy. Such a hobby is certainly more impressive than what attracted voters to George W. Bush, which was his average – cough, debatable, cough -- intellect.

Obama just seems like the man. He’s a great speaker, is very intelligent, and plays pickup games not only in fancy health clubs, but on the streets of Chicago too. I’ll leave you with a quote from a piece in Sports Illustrated, where S.L. Price played Obama one-on-one before the Iowa caucus.

"All right," I say coyly, flipping him the ball. "This is for the presidency...."
He drills a 19-footer, heels barely leaving the ground. "Did you hear me?" I say.
"Why do you think I hit it?" he says.

I mean if the man called his shot, I say it’s only fair to give him the presidency. No way Hillary pulls that off.


-Pat


Photo credits: si.com, nytimes.com

Eli Manning Unstoppable!!

First of all, I would like to apologize for letting Pat, a Giants hater, fill the blog up with anti-Big Blue propaganda since the Giants’ historic win Sunday. I have had little free time, but will now counter Pat with a pro-Giants post.
After two weeks of the season, I was convinced that the Giants could make a realistic run at the number one pick in the draft. They then turned it around and won their next six games. Late in the season, the Giants looked like a team that would once again stumble into the playoffs and get wiped out in the first round. Amazingly, they have won three playoff road games, including two against the NFC’s elite, and made it the Super Bowl. Eli Manning, who many were doubting (some chumps went as far as to question claims that he was unstoppable), is finally looking like the franchise quarterback the Giants thought that they were getting when they traded 12 first round draft picks and Jon Bon Jovi to move up three spots.
Have New Yorkers ever seen an underdog make a run like this? The answer is yes. In 1999, the New York Knicks (RIP) headed into the playoffs as the number eight seed. They then pulled off three consecutive upsets before falling to the Spurs in the NBA Finals. How does Big Blue’s run compare to the Knickerbockers ’99 shot at the title? Let’s take a look. (Picture Credit: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2007/10/13/2007-10-13_giants_coaches_want_eli_manning_to_compl.html)
Preseason Expectations:
’98-’99 Knicks: The Knicks were coming off a solid 1998 season, and had added Latrell Sprewell and Marcus Camby to the mix. They were expected to be a contender in the Eastern Conference, and had a full season been played (only 50 games were played because of a players’ strike) they probably would have been a little higher than the 8 seed.
’07-’08 Giants: The G-Men lost 7 of their last 9 games in ’06, including a second consecutive first round KO at the hands of the hated Eagles. They also lost their best offensive player, Tiki Barber. Michael Strahan, the face of their franchise, had missed all of training camp. 8-8 was a generous estimate at how the Giants would finish.
Expectations Heading into Postseason Play:
Knicks: While the Knicks were considered a dangerous 8-seed, most expected the Heat to take care of business. The ‘bockers were also without franchise center Patrick Ewing for much of the playoffs, and had played uninspired ball all season.
Giants: The Giants valiant effort in week 17 against the undefeated undisputed New England Patriots got many to pick the Giants to beat Tampa Bay in the first round. However, no one thought that they could do any more than that, and ESPN had even anointed the Seattle Seahawks, with the ghost of Shaun Alexander as their starting running back, as the NFC’s underrated sleeper team. (Just a side note, but how could any player get as bad as quickly as Alexander? Does anyone still think the Giants were mistaken in passing on him and drafting Ron Dayne instead? The guy must have worked out with Eddie George after his MVP season in 2005.)
Playoff Wins:
Knicks: The Knicks shocked their bitter rivals, The Miami Heat (led by Alonzo “I sign with a title contender to play 15 minutes a game and win a ring because I couldn’t win one when I was good” Mourning) in an epic 5 game series in round 1. Two years earlier the two teams had brawled in their playoff series and the Knicks lost the series because of the NBA’s idiotic “If you stand up to tie you’re shoes during a fight, you’re suspended and thrown into a pit of lava” rule. The Knicks then beat the Reggie Miller-led Pacers in six games. In the 1990s, Miller was to the Knicks what Will Smith was to Aliens, so knocking him out of the playoffs (the Pacers were the 2 seed) was especially sweet. Oh yea, they also swept the Hawks.
Giants: The Giants win over the Cowboys was comparable to the Knicks heat series, as the two teams legitimately hated each other and the Cowboys were the heavy favorites. While the two teams hadn’t gone to fisticuffs, there had been serious trash-talking all season. The Giants win over the Packers doesn’t quite measure up to the Knicks topping the Pacers in terms of being a revenge win, but we were all pretty sick of hearing about Favre and no one was giving the Giants a chance in that game. Oh yea, they also beat the Bucs.
Defining moment #1:
Knicks: With the Knicks down 1 in the closing seconds of Game 5, Allan Houston took a short jumper that bounced off the front rim before miraculously changing course and landing in the basket. That shot going in completely defied all laws of phyisics. I take it as proof that even God did not want to see Mourning win a title, and that the refs of the 2006 NBA Finals are all going to hell.
Giants: With two weeks off, Cowboys star quarterback Tony Romo decided to take a trip to Mexico with girlfriend Jessica Simpson. He lost the game and drew a ton of scrutiny, proving that going to Mexico is never a good idea.
Defining moment #2:
Knicks: Down three late in game three, Larry Johnson nails a trey and draws a foul. There is actually a song written about what has gone down in history as “The Four point play.”

Giants: After missing two chip shot field goals, including a potential game winner, in regulation, kicker Lawrence Tynes somehow nails a 47 yard walk off in overtime.
Player who did little all season but stepped up in the playoffs:
Knicks: Talented center Marcus Camby was acquired from the Toronto Raptors in the offseason, but for some reason got less playing time than an Orioles backup shortstop in the Cal Ripken era. With Ewing injured, Van Gundy was forced to put in Camby and as it turns out, the guy’s not bad.
Giants: Coming into the season, Ahmad Bradshaw was the 12th running back on the depth chart, behind Brandon Jacobs, Derrick Ward, Reuben Droughns, and Tom Coughlin. Ward got hurt, Droughns fell into a black hole (I think. I’m not really sure what happened to him) and now Bradshaw is flourishing in a platoon role with Jacobs.
How they fared in the Championship:
Knicks: The Knickerbockers were no match for Tim Duncan, David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs took the series in five.
Giants: TBD