Do you remember Pearl Washington? Do you remember 1987 or 2003? Do you remember the 2016 run to the Final Four? I do too. Those were great moments in life as a fan of the Orange.
But this is 2025 and the environment has changed. Those days are dead and gone. Not just for Syracuse basketball but for many others as well. Welcome to the era of the Yankees and the Red Sox bidding for the best players over player development.
No longer is Syracuse guaranteed to bring in a Rick Jackson, Rakeem Christmas Arinze Onuaku or Rony Seikaly, who can come in as a freshman and develop over four years. Now if they do get a player who improves like a Jesse Edwards or Maliq Brown over time, they not only have to keep them happy but also outbid the competition, something Syracuse University and AD John Wildhack say they're working on.
Syracuse Athletics Launches Sweeping $50M Campaign to Create Champions and Win Championshipshttps://t.co/gFTgG446P2
— Syracuse Athletics (@Cuse) February 20, 2025
The past is fun to remember but we also have to remember if comparing them that the times have changed. Back then, maybe an occasional player left due to another team offering them more playing time or whatever but it was maybe a player or two.
Now in 2025, you are more likely to see very few players on the roster this season returning next year to develop and build team chemistry. You might keep a couple if you are lucky or rich but the reality is that if a player has a good season, that just makes it more appealing to the other teams as well to consider adding them to their roster for more money.
The landscape for Syracuse basketball and its peers is so different these days.
It's much like when fans say they miss the old Big East days. I do too but the reality of the situation as it was told at the time was that the concentration was more on the basketball schools than those with division one football programs as well, which is also where more of the sources of income were showing they'd be in the future.
Therefore Syracuse had to look at other opportunities like other teams before them and a few teams after them and left. I miss the Big East tournament in MSG and the rivalry against Georgetown and playing Villanova and Seton Hall too, but it would have been at the hands of the football program likely suffering and the athletics department losing out on a lot more revenue that they have generated since joining the ACC.
Now having said all of that, I want to add this: be patient. I do think things will get better. I believe this team and the basketball staff is trying. I do believe in head coach Adrian Autry and his staff. I do think this team has talent that for whatever reason simply hasn't found that next level whether it's injuries to JJ first and now Donnie Freeman or maybe the chemistry isn't there but might could be still.
And as long as Coach Autry is the head coach of Syracuse, he is my guy I will ride with and root for every game. As long as Syracuse walks onto that court, I will root for them from start until finish until the season is officially over.
When I was a kid growing up, we didn't go to the games. I can count the amount of Syracuse games I attended live the first 30 years of my life and have a finger or two left over on one hand. It was and is still a blessing when I am able to go and I am excited no matter the record or the opponent because I want to support my team. Yes I feel those losess or missed shots or bad calls too but I take a deep breath and remember it's a game and to have fun and that I am not perfect at my job or anything in my life either.
Simply put, my point is this, I get it. We all want the Syracuse program to be winners. We want the era of buying the shirts saying we are ranked #1 in the polls or talk smack to our buddies who are fans of other teams or leave the JMA Wireless Dome on that emotional high.
And right now things aren't going as we want but I truly believe it will happen again eventually, especially with the 10th ranked recruiting class for next season on board and if they can keep a few key guys like JJ and Donnie and add one or two other pieces that complement them well or help with issues this team might be showing this season.
And I am not saying to accept mediocrity or that you suck if you disagree with me either. It's a free country and you are entitled to feel however you wish to feel and I will mostly respect those opinions as well. But I am also saying maybe we can find a way to still support this team too, not unleash hateful comments on social media at players and coaches and not let every loss this season be the end of the world as we know it.
I hate losing too ... honestly I do. I hate when I see or hear plays I wish had gone a different way too. I take bad calls by refs personal initially myself, and if anything else, I think the momentum of a bad call or bad shot can change the trajectory of a game as much as anything else. I am human, you know. But I also take a deep breath, remember that they are legitimately trying and that nobody wants to win more than the players and coaches themselves, so why hate on them?
Inside me is that little kid who wore Syracuse shirts to school even after a loss and got laughed at for standing with my team. Or looked forward to seeing the box score after a Syracuse game to see who had what points and even doing it when Syracuse guys played in the pros hoping they had a great game.
I love Syracuse! I will always love Syracuse! If I am dying and have the opportunity, I truly hope my last view on this earth is of that Dome or the university itself. I still find joy in my heart every time I can be near it or when watching the teams play and supporting them win or lose.
And when I pass one day, I pray those mourning me partake in some delicious pizza, share some laughs and see me buried in something that shows my passionate love for the Orange no matter how silly or ridiculous some might think it to be. And if on that day, Syracuse happens to lose a game, don't be sad for me...just take a deep breath and remember like I do that excitement you once felt as a fan when you first started following them not because they won but because of the joy you found in that team like I did and will until I am gone.
So until then, I will focus on the positives so long as there are some, root for the next game to be a win and just relax enjoying the team I love playing. In a society where so much is a fight about views and so little is about finding joy, sports are meant to be a break from reality and a source of joy and in Syracuse I do and will always believe.
And I will choose to try to focus on finding my joy along with other joys in my life like time with my family, a cold Mountain Dew in the morning, a delicious CNY pizza, a freshly made Halfmoon cookie, Tully's Tenders (and the free popcorn too) or the view of the JMA Wireless Dome either from a distance or walking inside of it and getting a Dome Dog before sitting down to watch my beloved Orange play.
Go Orange!