Mostly Bad News, but a Bit of Good News

Let’s start with the bad news, considering there was so much of it. For the first thirty-five minutes of yesterday’s Villanova game, pretty much the entire Syracuse team seemed to be sleepwalking. Jackson’s missed dunk early in the first half was a harbinger of the afternoon’s sloppy play. How often did the Orange dribble the ball off their feet, or allow passes to go right through their hands? And although it was a good idea to try and get the ball inside to Jackson, our guards kept telegraphing these lazy passes that would immediately get picked off. Most of the Cuse turnovers were really unforced, just gift-wrapped deliveries for a Nova team that really didn’t need any assistance.

Second, our backcourt play was just awful. Jardine and Waiters went a combined three for twenty, with a single three-point shot all afternoon. Eight points total. I don’t know if this had anything to do with the Philly connection, but both of those guys are Philadelphia natives, and maybe they were pressing. Maybe they wanted to show up the hometown team, who knows? But in the end, Nova’s guards ate them up at both ends of the court. Not only could they not hit anything, but Jardine especially kept making bad choices with the ball – playing selfishly even though he couldn’t manage to score; driving into the lane when Nova was collapsing inside, giving him nowhere to go; trying to force the ball into teammates who were completely surrounded by Nova’s defenders.

Third, until the last five minutes of the game, the Orange were consistently getting out-hustled by Villanova. On several occasions, they had two or three guys under the boards, yet one of Nova’s big men would manage to come down with the rebound. And late in the game, on those few occasions when they seemed to get a stop because Stokes or Fisher finally missed a three-ball, they’d fail to come up with the rebound, giving Villanova yet another chance to score, but worse, giving them another thirty-five seconds when time was running short.

Fourth, the zone was largely ineffective for the first time this year. That had something to do with the fact that Villanova’s guards seemed to be hitting everything they threw up. In the first half, they shot over sixty percent from three point range. Partly that resulted from patience – many of those shots went up with only a few seconds left on the thirty-five second clock. But it also resulted from the Orange not extending the zone – not getting out and challenging those three-point shots. Of course, Nova’s guards seemed a step quicker than the Orange guards, and were able to get into the lane almost at will. Our zone often suffers when the opposition has real quick guards who can penetrate and cause havoc. So the zone was vulnerable outside and inside, and surrendered forty points in the first half.

And because the zone was ineffective, there were almost no fast break opportunities. Their most productive offense all year has been the fast break; the team plays well in the open court, but seems to go stagnant in the half court. Yesterday was no exception. The offense looked static much of the afternoon.

Let’s stop counting, but another weakness was the failure of the freshmen centers to show up. For a couple games, it looked like Fab Melo might be coming around, and even though he won the opening tip for one of the few times this season, he and Keita were not a factor. As a result, Syracuse could not take advantage of its height. In fact, all afternoon it seemed like Nova’s big men were more of a presence inside than any of the Orange big men.

So if the Orange got outplayed on offense and defense, and if their guards had their worst game of the season, what’s the good news? Well, despite all I’ve said, Syracuse was within four points late in the game. Give Jackson his dunk, and eliminate just a couple of those sloppy turnovers, and it’s a tie game. We don’t put Nova’s guards on the foul line late in the game, and the whole thing comes down to the last couple possessions. Or to state all that another way, even playing their worst game of the year, the Orange still managed to keep it close against one of the nation’s top teams. So even though they can’t beat good teams when their guards take the day off, I think that when the team plays well, they can play with anyone.

The other good news, as far as I’m concerned, is that they won’t be ranked in the top five, and probably not in the top ten, come Monday. That’s a good thing. They need a chip on their shoulder. They need to feel that everyone has lost respect for them. They need to know that they must bring a sense of urgency to each of the remaining Big East games.

One final observation. In the second half, when they began to come back, when they cut the lead to single digits, and then to six, and later to four, I thought back to the championship team in 2003. On more than a dozen occasions that year, the team fell behind early, and then stormed back to win. On several occasions, they came back from double digit deficits. I recall the last home game of the season against Rutgers, when the Dome was packed to the rafters, when the crowd, over 33,000, set the record (since broken several times) for on-campus attendance. The team trailed by around twelve points early in the game. They came back, and that sent the crowd into a frenzy, raising the decibel level to the danger zone. In the end, those Orange won by more ten points, and the huge crowd went home happy. But yesterday, every rally seemed to stall. At one point in the second half, they cut the lead to six, and held Nova to a single point for almost four minutes. But on three or four straight possessions, the Orange couldn’t manage to score, couldn’t even manage to get off a decent shot. Soon they were again trailing by ten points. I know it’s unfair to compare this team, or any current team, to the mythical 2003 team. But wouldn’t they have a better chance in the tournament if they had the ability to come from behind – if they had the confidence to know they could rally from a big deficit?

This week they play Seton Hall, and before anyone gets too sanguine about that game, keep in mind that the Hall did not have Hazell in the lineup when they narrowly lost to the Orange earlier in the month. I’d hate to see three losses in a row. Let’s go Orange; let’s wake up, and get back to winning ways.

Dear Dr. Gross -- One Last Time

Dear Dr. Gross,

I knew this day would come, especially once Doug Marrone turned the football program around. I knew you would renew your efforts to change my seats from “B” to “A”, notwithstanding the fact that they have always been “B”, ever since my dad first signed up for season tickets when the Dome was first open. And I knew that there would come a day when you raised the cost of those seats to a level I was simply unwilling to pay. And that day has come. I am not renewing, even though my dad and I have been in these same seats for over thirty years, even though I’ve been a Syracuse sports fan for longer than you could possibly recall. I’m done, and you can sell the seats to someone else.

I was going to write a long letter, but then I reread the letter I had written in the spring of 2009, when you first jacked me from “B” to “A”. That letter says enough, so I’m enclosing another copy for you to reread, even though I know you don’t intend to read either of these missives. I’m writing not because I expect you to do anything; I just feel better getting all this off my chest. It’s cathartic.

I have only a couple things to add to my previous thoughts. First, the inoffensive way to accomplish your goal would be to grandfather existing ticket holders until they surrender their seats. When I give them up of my own accord, then you can change to “A”, without offending anyone. But to punish me after loyally supporting the University for so many years seems indefensible. Second, since we last went through this in 2009, you have raised the cost of my seats by another 30%, even aside from the change from “B” to “A”. Other than health insurance, what else has gone up 30% in the past two years?

Third, and most importantly, I have learned something from this whole experience, and after all, the University is an educational institution, so it’s appropriate that I do learn, even at my advanced age. I have a football signed by the 1959 championship team. My dad was friends with one of the assistant coaches, who gave it to him shortly after the Cotton Bowl. I had intended to give it back to the University during the 2009 season, on the 50^th anniversary of the national championship. But of course, that was the year when you first tried to change me from “B” to “A”, so I was in no mood to do the school any favors. But now, after giving thought to what has happened here, I have learned that, in the end, all that matters is money. That’s the lesson you are teaching. Loyalty has no value; past support means nothing; the fact that I kept my tickets through the four miserable Robinson years – that’s less than nothing.That only showed what a sucker I was. So if money is the only important thing, I’ll hang onto the signed football and eventually sell it on E-bay. Now if you’re old fashioned, as I am, that’s a sad coda to this whole story. But if you’re all about money, and that seems to be the new perspective in the Athletic Department, then I have learned from this experience, and it’s a fine ending to the whole episode. Especially considering that I’ll save three thousand dollars next year. By the way, did you know that the games are broadcast on TV? I don’t have to drive down the Thruway in a snowstorm; I can watch them on a big flat screen here in Rochester, enjoying a beverage and a sandwich without having to pay twelve bucks to park my car.

Don’t bother calling. This time I’m not renewing, even if you return me to “B” for another two years, as you did in 2009. The way I’ve been treated, I just don’t care any more.

Very truly yours,

David Rothenberg

Glenfarclas

After posting about whisky for over five years -- yes, MannyMontaigne is over five years old -- it’s always fun to write about something new. Or more accurately, something old, that we are posting about for the very first time. In this case, it’s Glenfarclas, and old school Speyside malt, which for some reason doesn’t seem to get the respect it deserves.

This posting originated when John recently visited Federal Wine and Spirits in Boston. One can’t visit Federal without talking whisky with Joe Howell, and during their recent conversation, Joe told John that he thought Glenfarclas was a vastly underrated malt-- that especially with the higher age statements, one could acquire a great bottle of whisky at less than half the cost of many better known labels. And although I trust Joe’s advice, and don’t ever recall being steered wrong by him, just for the hell of it, I checked out Michael Jackson to see what the great whisky critic thought. And I learned that Jackson and Joe are of like minds. Jackson gives good reviews to most Glenfarclas. He claims it’s the most independent of all scotch distilleries, independently owned, unaffiliated with any other distillery or distributors, and also family owned for the past 150 years.

So last week, when I was driving from Andover north to Portland, to visit G-Man, I stopped at the New Hampshire liquor store, where, apparently in celebration of the holidays, much of the whisky was being given away for next to nothing. I picked up a bottle of Glenfarclas 12 for only $31, tax included.

First of all, the Glenfarclas packaging tells you that this malt will have to stand or fall on its merits, because no one is going to pick up a bottle because of its clever marketing. The case for the bottle is as unattractive a blue color as one could possibly find. Ugly. The shape of the bottle, and the design of the label look like they haven’t been changed for fifty years. I can’t attest to that, obviously, but something tells me that the distillery didn’t hire any clever marketing firm to design an old school look for this malt. Instead, it just is old school.

When G-Man and I tasted the whisky in Portland, we compared it to a sixteen year old Longmorn, and didn’t find the flavor as rich, nor the finish quite as long. But having retasted it back home a couple times now, I think that was an unfair comparison. The twelve year old is uncomplicated malt whisky. It’s not finished in any wine barrels, and doesn’t have any of the sweet characteristics of the malts that are aged in, for example, sherry casks. Instead, it has a clean but robust malt flavor. Jackson thinks there’s a hint of peat in there, but I can’t find it. It reminds me of the fine oak Macallans, where one tastes whisky, and only whisky. And although I think I’d prefer to try a Glenfarclas that had spent a few more years in the barrel, and rounded out somewhat, I think that this is a very drinkable malt, and a particularly good value at this crazy price New Hampshire is currently asking. Nice long finish for a twelve year old too.

There are a number of very nice highland malts that are making their presence known these days. (For example, we have yet to post much about one of John’s recent favorites, Benromach.) And that’s good news for whisky lovers, because even as the eighteen year old prices are climbing into the stratosphere, probably because of the Asian market, the tens and twelves have stayed very moderately priced. And, just as Joe says, it would be very hard to find more whisky for the money that this old school Glenfarclas.