My Terps won’t win the big prize, and neither will I

My beloved alma mater bowed out of March Madness in the first round. Bye-bye, Maryland Terrapins, to this campaign that began with so much promise. Now that 20-2 record carved by junior guard Melo Trimble and the trio of surprising freshmen – Anthony Cowan, Kevin Huerter and Justin Jackson – is nothing but a historical…

The shirts were still Orange

Hopes were high. Stores were selling shirts, fast. My dear wife Karen and I were up on the Syracuse University hill to catch the spring football game Saturday — more on that here tomorrow — so we ducked into a couple of stores on Marshall Street to see for ourselves what was hot. We walked…

Welcome to the hoops capital for men and women

The games will be played elsewhere. Houston on Saturday and Indianapolis on Sunday, to be precise. But make no mistake about it. The folks who call Syracuse, N.Y., and its surrounding miles home can undeniably make claim as the basketball capital of the entire world this weekend. The Syracuse men’s and women’s teams both won…

Maryland, Syracuse get to play for elite March Madness status

No way I predicted this. Maryland plays Kansas tonight in the Sweet Sixteen. Syracuse takes on Gonzaga tomorrow night with the same chance to advance to the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament’s Elite Eight. Hover over either gallery photo (Getty Images) for a description. Click on either for an enlarged slide show. My alma mater…

How do you prep for a Sweet Sixteen?

There are many ways, I suppose, for a bunch of college-aged men to spend a few hours in a strange city before a very important evening. Add in the fact that they’re joined by the collective purpose of their university’s sports team, and it’s surely no surprise to discover them in a pack, dressed rather…

The Bracket World knocks on Syracuse’s door

There was a little warmup for in Syracuse for our quarter slice of the Sweet Sixteen pie. I took a walk up to the Syracuse University hill because the NCAA opened the Carrier Dome for free to watch the practices for the four squads who’d reached the East Regional portion of the Sweet Sixteen. By…

Drowning in the Bracket Pool after Day One?

Did you hear all those moans and hollers echoing throughout the office, bar, store, living room, every 30 minutes or so yesterday? It was an upsetting opening day to March Madness 2015. The New York Times was led to publish: Low seeds beat high seeds all over the place. Meanwhile, back at the Little Bitty…