Daylight hours are winding down again up here in the northern hemisphere. Sigh

I arrived early for a meeting in the waning moments of the afternoon yesterday, sat myself down on a bench outside the building and watched the world of Syracuse University scurry about the quad. It was a little after 5 p.m. The students were walking about in the sun. Out from classes. Out to dinner.…

Jason Smorol starts his big task of making the Syracuse Chiefs cool

A couple days into his new position as general manager of the Syracuse Chiefs, Jason Smorol obviously is knee-deep. I caught Smorol with CNY Central sports anchor Niko Tamurian on last night’s news. They stood in the parking lot outside NBT Bank Stadium, the big ballpark serving as the backdrop as Smorol explained that it…

Hello ‘Big Sexy.’ Utica’s Shawn Smith sings his way onto ‘The Voice’

Central New York now has skin in this season of “The Voice.” A guy you can find pouring a drink behind a bar around these parts hit a last-inning vocal home run to earn a spot on CeeLo Green’s team. Shawn Smith was the very last singer to make it past the blind auditions. When…

Can a 49-14 loss to Clemson help Syracuse carry any big-time atmosphere into this ACC journey?

Syracuse football fans really wanted to be in the big-time Saturday afternoon in the Carrier Dome. For the Orange’s first ACC game ever, some 49,000 folks — the biggest Carrier Dome crowd in a dozen years — roared to make it the loud house, better to make it hard for Clemson’s offense to hear or…

Mets have many good young pitchers. May the math be with them in 2014

With the last spot in the 2013 baseball playoffs decided last night — congratulations, Tampa Bay Rays, your prize is a series with your AL East rival Boston Red Sox — it’s time to ruminate one more time on my New York Mets. The Mets kept my interest this season, down to the end, despite…

How long will you keep your golf clubs ready for another round?

Sunny and in the 70s, with a burst of color taking over from green in some of the trees. The first day of October was lovely indeed for golf on the grounds of the Links at Erie Village in East Syracuse. I’d written on this blog how Kingpin and I had started this golf season…

Darn. I brought this hose all the way from the U.S. for nothing

Before too much time goes by since our return from the Baltimore-to-Bermuda-and-back trip, I have to slip in this photo I snapped at the old dock in Bermuda’s biggest city, Hamilton. It makes me wonder about the local customs. In the middle of the afternoon, the parking spots surrounding that building on the spot that…

Saturday’s big game for Syracuse vs. Clemson brings back memories of Terps-Tigers, 1978

The ACC fun starts Saturday. Big-dog Clemson visits the Carrier Dome. Orange-wearing Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins will use their burner speed against the (blue-wearing?) Orange. I will be there to witness my hometown team, Syracuse, play its first game in the league I have been following since my college days at the University of…

I never get tired of watching somebody bowl a 300, even against us in our league

Why I like bowling, reason No. 100: You can drive over to the neighborhood lanes for your weekly league and witness perfection. Take last night at the Thursday Night Men’s League in North Syracuse. I’m ready to pretty much tend to my own business — that is, throw my three games in the mid-100s or…

‘Nashville’ returns with plenty of drama but not enough music

They dove right into the drama in the “Nashville” season two premiere last night on ABC. When last the fictional folk Rayna and Deacon were cavorting their way onto our flat screen they’d crashed the car in the midst of their biggest fight ever. Deacon had been drinking. Rayna knew that meant big trouble. Heap…