Otto Award #13: Biggest Villain/Rival of the Year (The True S.O.B. Award)

Alright kids, back to work. It's now time to kick off the third glorious day of the First Annual Syracuse Orange Blogger Awards, aka the SOB's, or the Otto's, take your pick...

The first award presented today will be for Biggest Villain, Nemesis, or Rival of the Year. There were many teams, reporters, committees that gave us all pains due to our hatred of them this year. UConn gave us fits through all three games, showing that no matter how young they are they can still show up for a rivalry. Georgetown re-emerged as a legitimate team in the Big East, and vaulted back to premier rivalry status. We got absolutely hosed by the group of no-talent ass-clowns known as the NCAA selection committee. Reporters the likes of Doug Gottleib have been on our butts all year regarding everything from a soft OOC Schedule, to a lack of quality win to pin on our resume. Those are the three main competitors. You know its an odd year when UConn barely makes this list.

I digress, on to the award:

The SOB for Most Hated Villain/Nemesis/Rival of the Year:
This award is presented to a deserving dissenter, rival, or just plain idiot who has demonstrated an innate ability to piss of as many Syracuse Orange fans as possible at any given moment during the season.

The Nominees:
Nominations came down to a very tight race. In the end there were two... Doug Gottleib and Gary Walters. Gottleib, as noted in a phenomenal rant by Sean at TNIAAM, has had a long and storied history of disdain for our team and league. Also now this has escalated to include directly Jimmy B, and Devo after his comment earlier this year.

Gary Walters, as you all probably know is the NCAA Selection Committee Chairman. He helped spearhead the "World's Worst Snub" of the Cuse from the NCAA tournament, yet somehow anticipated that he would still be personal friends with Boeheim...

The Ballots:
Voting as follows:
TNIAAM: Tie - Gottleib and Selection Committee
Cuse Country: Tim - Gottleib, Josh - Selection Committee
SNWHM: UConn/Calhoun
OrangeHoops: Gary Walters
Getting Back to '03: Walters, (Rival: Georgetown)
Orange44: Walters

In the end Walters wins the vote (Selection Committee counts towards him) in a rout: 4-2-1-1
The inclusion of UConn in the vote was rational, as an under performing and young team could have cost us a lot, showing they are still on our radar.

It doesn't matter how bad they are, they still found a way to beat Syracuse once and could have cost the Orange a better seed in the Big East Tournament.
-Howie, SNWHM

Gottleib took second due to his history with us, being on us all season and his lack of desire to include us in the field even after beating the #10 team in the nation for our "token win."

Some would say the selection committee, but I've only held a grudge against them for a few weeks. Gottlieb's been on my bad side since November.
-Tim, Cuse Country

And of course our good friend Gary Walters. Somehow he found rationale to deny this team its right to play in March with the big guns, and was able to skirt the question through the rest of the time it was in the media. He had no basis for what he and his cronies did, yet was somehow able to get away with it.

This man somehow left Syracuse out of the NCAA's. He should be lynched and may his children marry unwashed heathens...
-Matt, Orange44

In a rarity, Gary Walters is able to trump all on-court action this year, and become the season’s biggest Villain (and also its most notable idiot).
-Ray, OrangeHoops

Overall it was a season of villainy rivalry and downright pillaging of the Syracuse way of life. UConn remained at the front of our rivalries, while Georgetown decided to jump out to the front of the pack by coming back into prominence. While there were many on-court issues occurring, the off-court idiocy of the talking heads and the powers that be were able to take the thunder away from a fantastic season. In hindsight, the NIT run may have unified our fan-base and given us a touch of hope (look back to the '02 NIT to '03 NCAA turnaround), but I think we have been royally jerked around by the committee, and I fully agree that Gary Walters and the Selection Committee fully deserve this aptly named SOB award.

Next tune in to Howie, over at Sports Night with Howie Mansfield, for the presentation of Best Junior at 1pm. It should be an interesting award...

Guess Who's Dancing!!

March Madness here we come. The Orangemen have upset #10 Georgetown at the Carrier Dome last night, and are seemingly gelling at the right time to make some noise next month. As of right now, the Cuse is 21-8 (10-5) and got that quality win that they needed to push them over the bubble and into the dance. Following a gutsy performance from TRob, and some sharp shooting from Nichols, Devo and Rautins, not to mention the presence of Mookie to shut down the interior and get Hibbert in foul trouble early. I will have more as the day progresses, but as of now, I need to actually work...

Well, You can't discount the numbers....

It seems to be official boys and girls, Andy Rautins and "Do It All Paul" Harris (I think we need a nickname for Rautins besides "Leo's Kid" as he may be coming out of that shadow) have shown up with a vengeance. Both Rautins and PH played well in extended minutes against Providence on Saturday, Rautins being the official star of the game with a career game (19pts, 7-12 (5-9 from 3), 4ast, 4steals). Harris only had 6pts, but 9 boards, and 6 assists, along with looking solid with the ball and making good decisions throughout the game.

On top of all of this, DNic seems to still be running at his PoY nomination with an 18pt, 6rbd effort, along with one of the nicest looking clutch shots we've seen this side of the McNamara era with his fadeaway three (seen in the video) in the final minute to help seal the deal. It seems his competition is mostly from Pitt's Aaron Gray and G-Town's Jeff Green.

On another solid note, this win should look good on the tourney resume, though a win on Big Monday against a Georgetown team that has been on a roll lately (read 11 straight and 1st place in the BE) would likely push us over the bubble from the NIT to the Big Dance. Pitt on Saturday showed us that GTown can be out-quicked with their big men in the game, and the way our lineup of Devo, Rautins, Nichols, Harris and Mookie could be able to do that. Add to that the fact that Josh Wright has been sick as of late, and Roberts is having major problems with his knee, which will require surgery in the offseason, and this quick lineup may be our best bet. It puts three shooters on the floor, along with two slashers who can dish to an open man. My concern is that with Roberts not at 100% Mookie will need a spell more often, especially against the large obstacle that is Roy Hibbert.

Supporting evidence from the Pitt/Georgetown game to help our case:
Georgetown shot .200 from behind the arc
Pitt played them tight with limited action from Gray (ankle)

Big Weekend

Of course the one weekend of the year I'm not around the area is the Cuse vs. UConn extravaganza Rd. 2. While I was up freezing away and having a blast on Lake McRorie, the trusty Orange have again outdone themselves. With the dismantling of UConn, we are in a position to make a first round bye in the BET. Now I know as much as the next person that there is a good deal of if's and but's that need to occur in order for this to happen, but lets look at the possibilities:

Tied for 4th: #23 Notre Dame and #16 Marquette (9-5 in conference)

The irony being that come Saturday one of these teams will be knocked out as the two squads play each other. My personal feelings are that Marquette takes this one, though they have been slipping as of late, losing 3 of their last 4. If McNiel and James play a solid game, they can take this one. McNiel's defense is absolutely lock-down, and can handle Carter or Falls easily. At the same time, if Harangody has a game, I don't see any counter on the Golden Eagles to handle him.
Both teams have 2 remaining, with ND finishing at Rutgers and Marquette home vs. #8 Pitt. Therefore, ND will finish at 11-5, or 10-6 (assuming a W at Rutgers), and Marquette is looking at the same. For standings sake, we'll use my earlier prediction of Marquette winning and beating Pitt at home, putting MU at 11-5 and ND at 10-6.

3rd : Louisville (9-4)

I'm not gonna harp on the Cuse-LU debacle, due to the fact that I don't need an aneurysm, but the Cardinals are sitting quietly in 3rd with solid wins @ MU and @ Pitt. To top it off, they finish the season vs. St. Johns, @ UConn, and vs. Seton Hall. All three games should be winnable for the team, as that is the bottom of the Big East in a nutshell, without Rutgers and USF. The Cards have been hot as of late, and will win at least 2 out of their remaining. SJU or @UConn, which is always dangerous, being their one loss, with a final record of 11-4 in conference.

2nd : #12 Georgetown (10-2)

4 remaining games, @ Cincy, vs. Pitt, @ the Dome, and vs. UConn. I say the Hoyas split it. They've been hot as of late, and maybe I'm a Homer, but the Cuse has a chance if Mookie can neutralize Hibbert. So losses at Pitt and Cuse put them at 12-4.


1st : #8 Pittsburgh (11-2)

WIth 3 games left, 2 on the road, and all against ranked teams, @Gtown, vs. WVU, and @Marquette, I think the Panthers will still be able to take 2 and finish at 13-3, with the loss coming @ MU. In Gray they have a dominant big man, and play true team ball. Also if Fields gets hot from outside like he did against us, they could win out.


Potential Standings:
1. Pittsburgh (13-3)
2. Georgetown (12-4)
3. Louisville (11-4)
4. Marquette (11-5)
5. Notre Dame (10-6)


Where does that leave the Orange?
Syracuse (8-5)
Games Remaining: @ Providence (7-6), vs. GTown, @ Nova (6-7)

Winning all three would put us at 11-5, tied for 4th with Marquette, who we own the tiebreaker over. This is best case scenario, as we have a tough road ahead. Providence isn't a bad team by any stretch, GTown is a damn good team, and playing at Nova is never an easy thing to do. All in all I'm not at liberty to make a prediction, as there seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how the team plays on a given night, but I'd like to think that being on the bubble, we are starting to get a little fire under us and hopefully making a run... In order for a bye, we need to win out, or have alot of bricks fall into place.