Tyler Ennis, meet Pearl Washington, fellow Syracuse buzzer-beater

Quickly after Tyler Ennis hit the bread-and-butter three-pointer to lift Syracuse over Pittsburgh to remain unbeaten and No.1 in men’s college basketball Wednesday night, Orange fans were recalling the exploits of another freshman point guard. Dwayne “Pearl” Washington was the big deal when he moved north from Brooklyn to attend Syracuse in 1983, culminating a…

For Valentine’s Day, spring for the large popcorn

The mere mention of the titles of this weekend’s roster of opening movies brings to mind hand-holding between the popcorn-munching. Coming to a theater near you are “Endless Love,” “About Last Night” and “Winter’s Tale.” Romantic drama, romantic comedy, romantic fantasy (no, not that kind of fantasy.) Oh, yeah, throw in the futuristic action of…

‘American Idol’ leaves Kaitlyn Jackson fans hanging again

Another episdode of “American Idol,” another two hours to avoid teen singer Kaitlyn Jackson with the camera. Wednesday night, the season 13 producers resorted to a favorite technique. They served up a cliffhanger. Yes, fans of the singer from Norwich, N.Y., still have not seen her perform since her successful audition with the original song…

See what’s behind my selfie

A couple of days ago, I caught a contest thrown out by Sandra, the author of the quite excellent blog Square One Notes. Sandra challenged the world to post a selfie. Something new for me. Creeping up on my year one anniversary of markbialczak.com, I figured it’s darn well time to take on such a…

A search for the true meaning of 57 for ’57

Update: I have found the ultimate tribute to a fallen firefighter who discovered the magic of the match between birth year and age. That once-in-a-lifetime happening is now called the Beddian Birthday. Click here to read my piece about it. A month ago, I wrote about the allure of the fact that everybody born in…

Smile when you say that

I know that white teeth are in. All it takes is a look at TV in those spaces between show or sport. There are little pieces of something or other that you can stick on your teeth to make them whiter, I take it from the commercials. There’s a rinse that will make your smile…

The No. 1 T-shirts are hanging out in Syracuse

The T-shirt factory cranks hard and fast in Syracuse, N.Y. A week ago today, the Syracuse men’s basketball team rose to the top of the Associated Press and USA Today polls, following a thrilling victory in the Carrier Dome over Duke. They held serve with a Monday win over Notre Dame. So a Sunday visit…

More signs of Syracuse’s significant snow

Some of you can’t seem to get enough of my snow pictures. And I live to make my WordPress friends in exotic climes happy. Mind you, compared to Syracuse, N.Y. that’s just about everywhere, but as of this cold February morning, I am talking about those experiencing summer in the Southern Hemisphere or somewhere else…