On the Mark: Student-Athletes Have Great Stories
10/17/2002 4:31:08 PM | Football
Syracuse is actually the third college DeAmato has attended. Dave told me he just didn't feel "comfortable" in his two previous stops. However, when his mother dropped him off at his dorm here at SU for his junior year, she told him that any future transfers would be coming out of his pocket and not hers.
Dave and I sat down for an interview a couple of weeks ago for the Orange Pulse program, which airs Monday through Friday at 6:05pm on ESPN Radio 1260 in Syracuse. Normally during these conversations I like to talk to the players about more than just football. I try to delve into the players as people rather than athletes. Dave is the first player that has ever reported that his favorite movie is a Civil War documentary! He plays guitar and writes his own music, has taken singing lessons, and has been a member of a couple of local bands in Central New York. He told me he's been influenced musically by "Tool"...I wasn't sure if he meant a band or a monkey wrench! That aside, Dave, like many of the players on the team, is a fascinating young man.
And, on the football field, the walk-on has been outstanding. Through six games this season Dave has snapped the ball 64 times on field goals, extra points, and punts with only one bad snap.
I realize as a fan your main hope for your team is to win. Syracuse has done a great deal of that during the last couple of decades and will again very soon, but in the meantime, there are dozens of great young men on this football team who are doing great things in the community, playing hard, and graduating. Losing isn't fun, but there's is no doubt the winning will return very soon. The evidence is too strong to suggest otherwise. Until then, keep supporting the Orangemen and the young men, like Dave DeAmato, who are finding success despite fighting great odds.
One other quick note...congratulations to former S.U. basketball player Lazarus Smith for making the cut and being selected to play for the world famous Harlem Globetrotters. Word is the 'Trotters will be making a stop in the 'Cuse in February and we'll get a chance to see the former Orangemen work his magic wearing the red, white, and blue. Â Â Â
