Otto Award #9: Best Non-Boeheim Syracuse Orange Quote of the Year

Well friends, we all know that our favorite Hall of Fame coach has had numerous quotable quotes throughout the years. In this section of our awards presentation, it's time to look beyond the shroud of Jimmy B's sarcastic wit, and deeper into the minds of our players.


The SOBA for Best Non-Boeheim Syracuse Orange Quote of the Year:

And the winner is.... No Consensus...

The finalists for this award covered a very narrow area of topics, and all occurred over a two week span, from the Georgetown win, to the San Diego State win. Lets do this chronologically.

"(This win) is going to shut Doug Gottlieb up and that's all I'm worried about.”
-Eric Devendorf, Feb. 26th, on the Georgetown win

Submitted by Sean at TNIAAM, supported by myself.
This one seems to show that we fans aren't the only ones who hate Doug Gottleib. He is despised by the players as well. It seems like Devo wants to join in on the ongoing feud between Mr. Credit Card and our fearless leader. Also leading into the stretch run, the fire from the team that was fanned by people like Gottleib helped contribute to a great win in SU Hoops this year.

"Syracuse is in."

-Various TV and Online College Hoops analysts, Doug Gottleib included, leading up to March 11th.

Submitted by Josh at Cuse Country
Well, I think this quick and to the point quote says it all. All the talking heads in the country declared Cuse in, 29/30 "expert" polls had us in, and somehow we were snubbed. The world works in mysterious ways my friends.

"I think Syracuse should have been in the tournament. They play well in the tournament. They’re like Louisville. They know what to do, and they’re very well coached. They’re just too good to leave out of this tournament. I was glad that Arkansas got in. But I didn’t understand why Syracuse and Florida State couldn’t get in."
-President Bill Clinton, March 15th, on "The Snub"

Submitted by Matt at Orange44.
When our own former President supports the Cuse to get into the tournament, we need to recall the selection committee. I mean, its Bill... come on, take some of what he has to say to heart...

"We can't guarantee that we're going to win the tournament, we CAN guarantee that we'll be ready for every game."
-Demetris Nichols, March 15th, South Alabama Post-game

Submitted by Ray from OrangeHoops.
After the snub, and the initial comeback win, Demetris came back with this quote. The Cuse truly rallied around the snub, when others could have laid down to it. In the S. Alabama game they showed a great deal of heart and were helped along by 16,000+ screaming fans in the Dome.

"During the Notre Dame game, we didn't play up to our ability. They ended up booing us. Today they came back cheering us. We know the reason why we got booed so we didn't want that to happen again. We've been playing up to our ability and playing hard every minute of every game."
-Darryl (Mookie) Watkins, March 20th, San Diego State Post-game

Submitted by Howie at SNWHM.
Mookie's reaction to the SDSU record setting attendance crowd, and how much the Orange faithful were behind them. I like to see that, as you can kind of take it to heart that we as fans DO have an impact on the players, whether with them or behind them (Though I don't condone the booing of our own team).

Well without a clear winner, I guess you readers can pick your own. I find that this run of quotes tends to sum up the SU season in a nutshell, from disappointment to determination and everything in between.

Don't forget to stop by Cuse Country around 3 to catch the next installment of the SOBA's, awarding the Otto for Favorite Game of the Year.