Legends of the Pen: A Bowl?

Legends of the Pen: Bob Snyder

Oct. 28: Legends of the Pen
Oct. 7: Legends of the Pen
Sept. 16: Legends of the Pen

Even the most ardent Syracuse football fans were beginning to question the lexicon.

When one mentioned a bowl why did that necessarily mean “a deep, rounded dish?”

And why did going bowling simply refer to “a game in which a heavy ball is bowled along a wooden lane at 10 wooden pins?”

With all due respect to Noah Webster and aficionados of preferred dictionary definition, why couldn't a bowl refer to a postseason football game?

And to go bowling, couldn't you be among a plethora of very mediocre teams and still qualify, sought by some .com to fill a berth in one of a bloated array of games, many of which are little more than an excuse to escape the cold for a few days?

For folks in these parts the past five years – and seven of the previous eight – bowling took place on the lanes.

And the annual postseason invite sounded like this: F-L-U-S-H!

Not so fast my friends! After less than two seasons (22 games, to be precise), SU's own Doug Marrone has the 'Cuse going bowling.

Unlikely as it may sound, it would have been absurd to suggest two months ago that the Orange COULD wind up in a BCS game. And had SU done in the Dome what was in its grasp at halftime of the Louisville game, 'Cuse would really be knocking hard on that BCS door.

But c'mon; any ol' bowl should do when for so long you were a pigskin punching bag for teams that could walk and chew at the same time.

No more; SU is back. Not all the way back, but enough to be relevant. And if Syracuse wins out – at home vs. Connecticut and Boston ('So how's life in the ACC?') College, doesn't Marrone become not only a lock for conference coach of the year but included in the national discussion?

If SU – having been picked to finish seventh in the eight-team Big East -- takes a 9-3 record (5-2 conference) into a bowl game, Marrone's second year on the job will have produced as many victories as the last three seasons combined and one more league win than in 35 games played over the previous five years.

Admittedly, Big East football 2010 is, to say the least, as unimpressive as any season in its 20-year history. Still, going 4-0 in conference road games is a first for the Orange.

Saturday night, Marrone gets a second chance in 14 days to edge his head coaching career mark over .500 for the first time. Meanwhile, November finds football bumping into basketball … or at least it seems that way to those who must overnight convert the Carrier Dome floor from football field (Saturday night vs. UConn) to basketball court (Sunday afternoon vs. William & Mary).

And if Marrone deserves kudos, James Arthur Boeheim has already received every honor imaginable. The fifth-winningest Division I coach ever, Boeheim's lively halftime chit-chats lit the necessary fire under his Orangemen as they dispensed with Northern Iowa and Canisius.

I suspect the verbiage was every bit as expletive-deleted during the break on Tuesday evening, when the Philadelphia duo of team leader Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson disposed of Detroit.

Bring on William; Mary, too. And watch those 3's fly!

Syracuse University Athletics

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