Sports Then and Now

It was one of the most entertaining games in the history of college basketball. The six overtime marathon of a battle between Syracuse and Connecticut in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Big East Tournament was for starters, thrilling. Adjectives are never ending in describing it. Phenomenal. Amazing. Exhausting. Climactic.

Filled with the suspense and drama on when, not to mention if, the game would ever end, it was equally as attractive for  being a marquee matchup of two longtime Big East rivals lead by prestigious head coaches in Jim Boeheim of the Orange and Jim Calhoun of the Huskies. The glamour and glitz of New York City added to this game as the school’s dueled on the national stage of Madison Square Garden, known as the world’s most famous arena. Both teams were ranked in the AP Poll with Connecticut at No. 3 and Syracuse at No. 18. The sixth-seeded Orange and the third-seeded Huskies were also meeting for the fourth time in the last five seasons in the Big East Tournament with Syracuse having won the prior three matchups from 2005 through ’07.

In playing the longest ever game in the shot clock era, Syracuse and Connecticut tied for the second longest game in the history of NCAA Division I college basketball. Only two other games have ever gone six overtimes. Both those happened in the 1950’s when Minnesota beat Purdue 59-56 in 1955 and Niagara beat Siena 88-81 in 1953. The game was eclipsed in number of overtimes only by a game on Dec. 21, 1981 when Cincinnati beat Bradley 75-73 in seven overtimes. That game in 1981 tied for the most overtimes in the history of college basketball regardless of NCAA classification.

However overtime almost never happened for the Orange and Huskies.

Connecticut freshman guard Kemba Walker’s offensive rebound and layup with 1.1 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 71. Following a Syracuse timeout, Orange junior guard Eric Devendorf gathered a long inbounds pass off a deflection and quickly got off a 3-point shot that went in giving the Orange an apparent victory. However replays showed that the ball was still contacting Devendorf’s fingertips as the buzzer sounded and the basket was waived off by officials and the game went into overtime.

It seems like a day doesn’t go by this time of year without another reminder that college athletics is really a major business that likes to pretend it is something more noble and altruistic.

Full disclosure that today’s example is a bit personal and especially frustrating for me because it involves a former colleague who has spent his entire career representing all the positive attributes that college sports supposedly are about.

After 16 years of success that is unparalleled in the history of William & Mary men’s basketball, the college has decided to part ways with 65-year-old head coach Tony Shaver.

In a statement, Athletic Director Samantha Huge said that “We have high expectations for our men’s basketball program, including participating in the NCAA tournament, and we will not shy away from setting the bar high. Now is the time to begin a new chapter in William & Mary basketball.”

That sounds all well and good, but what Huge seems to not understand is that prior to the arrival of Shaver, “high expectations” for the men’s basketball program basically meant double-digit victories every few years.

Cheltenham hasn’t always been the location for the festival, with both Market Harborough and Warwick racecourses hosting the event in the 19^th century. Since 1911, the permanent home of the festival has been Cheltenham’s Prestbury Park, although it had been held at Cheltenham on a few occasions prior to this.

The Cheltenham Festival always sees plenty of closely fought races, and the Cheltenham odds certainly suggest that this year will be no different. There are plenty of races to focus on at this year’s event, but what about races which no longer exist? We’ve taken a look at five of the races that are no longer run at Cheltenham.

The Curiosity of Gambling
The curious youths are literally curious about everything and anything they hear, see or read. Though gambling is age-restricted, there are some forms of gambling that students end up to try such as online scratch cards games in uk. Gambling has a strong impact psychologically on young student-athletes. A lot of college students try their luck in gambling. More often than not, it gets out of their control after a while. This affects mental and physical health in a bad way.

Effects of wagering
Gambling has shown an adverse effect on the behaviour of the students. Any student playing excess of gambling tend to become socially awkward. This anti-social behavior also affects their academic and sports performance by a great deal. In some cases, it leads the students to depression and drug addiction and they tend to become more abusive.

Besides, poor academic results, the worst impact of gambling is on the athletic performances. The student-athletes often engage them in criminal activities and drugs. This impairs their concentration level and physical prowess. Studies show that male students are more likely to fall prey of gambling than the female students. Many male athletes stop playing totally because of lack of interest.

Online Sports Betting
The authorities encourage young athletes to not put money in any kind of gambling activities. Student-athletes often gamble money on the sports and before they know is they get addicted to it. The records show that more students are engaging in gamble-related activities compared to last decade. The related facts are present at sportsthenandnow.com.

Sports wagering is quite common in student-athletes. But in recent years, sports betting has increased a lot in the youth, mainly online betting. The players are easy to get lured by the cool bonus features of the online betting site. And they like to prove their mettle among the friends by winning the bets based on their in-game knowledge and skills. Read the rest of this entry →

Committing three turnovers, four fouls, and shooting 0-for-3 including one missed layup – all which cause the head coach to make three substitutions over the first 3:02 of the game – is not a recipe for a win, especially against the number one team in the country on its’ home court. Add in the fact that you trail 12-0 before scoring your first point of the game and two of your team fouls are on your starting senior point guard who does not score in the first half, and you have even more of a hole to dig out of. However that is exactly what Syracuse did in a thrilling 95-91 road victory over No. 1 Duke on Monday Jan. 14 at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC. It was the first victory for the Orange over a No. 1 ranked team since Jan. 19, 2013 when it won at Louisville, 70-68.

Tyus Battle elevates for a breakaway dunk during Monday’s thrilling overtime victory over No. 1 Duke.

Junior shooting guard Tyus Battle lead the Orange (12-5, 3-1) with 32 points and had four assists while junior forward Elijah Hughes shot 4-for-9 on three-pointers en route to 20 points and grabbed five rebounds. Senior center Paschal Chukwu added a career-high 18 rebounds and scored 10 points. Battle’s 32 points represented the most points ever scored by a Syracuse player against the Blue Devils. Duke (14-2, 3-1) was lead by freshman forward Zion Williamson who had a career high 35 points and 10 rebounds while freshman forward RJ Barrett fell one assist short of a triple double with 23 points, 16 rebounds, and 9 assists. Williamson’s 35 points were the most ever by a Blue Devil freshman in a single game.

The Orange were coming off a sluggish performance in a 73-59 home loss to Georgia Tech just 48 hours earlier on Jan. 12 in which they had their worst shooting performance of the season  (18-for-57, .316) in dropping their first Atlantic Coast Conference game of the season. However all that was short lived as Syracuse made a quick turnaround to notch a marquee win. Meanwhile, Duke was coming off a thrilling 80-78 win at Florida State on Jan. 12, secured by a late three-pointer by freshman Cam Reddish with 0.8 seconds left to play.

Against the Orange, The Blue Devils assumed control early with a 12-0 lead three minutes into the game. However that would be the largest margin for either side the whole game. Although Reddish did not play at all and Duke starting point guard Tre Jones did not return to the game after suffering a shoulder injury while diving for a loose ball at the 14:23 mark of the first half, Syracuse still faced a major challenge. The Orange soon found its’ rhythm behind the play of Battle and Hughes who literally shot Syracuse back into the game. The Orange mounted a 17-6 run over the next five minutes to pull within one at 18-17. Battle and Hughes accounted for all of those points with Battle netting 12 and Hughes adding five. Each of them hit one three-pointer during the run. While the Blue Devils would push their lead to as many as six at the midway point of the first half, Syracuse would stay close. A 5-0 Orange run on a Hughes three and two free throws by Battle forced the game’s first tie at 29 with 6:38 left in the first half. A Battle free throw gave Syracuse its’ first lead of the game at 34-33 with 5:12 left. The teams would exchange leads over the last five minutes of the half which ended with Hughes converting a three-pointer on a three quarter court heave that beat the halftime buzzer bringing Syracuse to within one, 49-48. Read the rest of this entry →

For the first time in five years, Syracuse University is in a college football bowl game. The No. 17 ranked Orange will face No. 15 West Virginia on Friday Dec. 28 in the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Fl. Kickoff is set for 5:15 pm and the game will be televised on ESPN.

It is the second time Syracuse has played in this bowl game as the Orange also appeared in it when it was called the Champs Sports Bowl in 2004. Georgia Tech beat Syracuse 51-14 in what was the final game for Orange head coach Paul Pasqualoni. This year’s bowl appearance is the first bowl game for Syracuse since it beat Minnesota 21-17 in the Texas Bowl following the 2013 season.

Head coach Dino Babers is restoring prominence to Syracuse football.

Behind a breakthrough 2018 season in which the Orange went 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, head coach Dino Babers has restored Syracuse to national prominence on the gridiron. The Orange finished second behind No. 2 Clemson in the ACC Atlantic Division. The Orange, who handed Clemson its’ only loss in 2017, gave the Tigers all they could handle this season before Clemson handed Syracuse its’ first loss of the season 27-23 on Sept. 29.

In his third year as Orange head coach, Babers lead Syracuse to a five-win improvement from 2017 that was sparked by a pair of four game win-streaks. Along the way, Syracuse defeated perennial national power Florida State 30-7 on Sept. 15 for the first time since 1966 which ended a 10-game losing streak to the Seminoles. Syracuse finished undefeated (6-0) at home in the Carrier Dome this season, its’ first undefeated home season since 2001 and only its’ fourth all time since the dome opened in 1980.

West Virginia is the fourth-most common opponent for Syracuse as the two have met 60 times on the gridiron with the Orange holding a 33-27 edge. Only Pittsburgh (74), Penn State (71), and Colgate (67) have played Syracuse more often than the Mountaineers. The Orange and Mountaineers formerly met yearly as members of The Big East Conference. The last time the two met was in 2012 when the Orange won 38-14 in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY to cap an 8-5 season.

Syracuse emerged this season behind the play of senior quarterback Eric Dungey. Aside from various injuries causing him to miss 10 games over his first three years, Dungey started all 12 games this season for the first time in his college career. Dungey will leave Syracuse as one of the top quarterbacks in Orange history. Dungey and Syracuse legend Donovan McNabb are the only two quarterbacks in school history with 6,000+ passing yards and 1,000+ rushing yards. Entering the 2018 season, Dungey, who is Syracuse’s career leader in rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, stands among the top 10 in school history in 10 other categories including completion percentage (2^nd, 61.7 %), passing touchdowns (5^th, 40), and passing yards (4^th, 6,472). Dungey threw for a season-high 411 yards in a 51-41 win over North Carolina State on Oct. 27 to extend his school career records to 10 300-yard passing games and three 400-yard passing games.

Dungey was healthy nearly the entire season in 2018 and was named the ACC Quarterback of the Week four times. The 6-4 226-pound signal caller was named to the All-ACC Third Team and was the recipient of Syracuse’s Bill Horr award as team MVP. Dungey pressures the defense with his dual threat capability in passing and running where he exudes toughness. In completing 60.1 percent of his passes (205-for-341) this season, Dungey has thrown for 2,565 with 17 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions. On the ground, Dungey is second on the team with 732 yards and a team-high 15 touchdowns. Read the rest of this entry →