Little did I know while watching Walter Reyes rush for five touchdowns in a 38-12 victory over Notre Dame last Dec. 6 that I was witnessing the final football game ever played by the Syracuse Orangemen. No, my alma mater didn't shut down the program. We're just going by another name.
This week, the Syracuse athletic department announced that its teams will no longer be referred to as Orangemen and Orangewomen. Instead, they shall be called The Orange. SU also revealed a new logo, one that most college sports fans probably won't even recognize as new. Nike has been working on this redesign for two years, which is only one of the confounding aspects of the change. In two years you can build the biggest building in the world. In two years you can get married and have two kids. It doesn't take two years to change a logo.
Institutions modernize logos all the time, but the name change really took us alumni by surprise. Imagine the Duke Blue Devils being referred to a The Blue or the Tulane Green Wave changing its name to The Green. Reaction from Syracuse alumni has ranged from "I don't get it" to "huh?" to "what the fuck did they do that for?"
I expected to find clarity in these press-conference quotes regarding the changes:
Opening statement by director of athletics Jake Crouthamel:
We are going to refer to ourselves as "The Orange." That does not preclude us being represented in print as Orange men or Orange women. It is no longer Orangemen or Orangewomen. I also want to make sure that everyone knows that we are all orange together.
Crouthamel on the fans initial reaction to the change:
Change and transition are often times difficult. As I explained, we have not dropped Orange men and Orange women. We have dropped the connection between them. We will continue to make the distinction, but we are orange together.
Crouthamel on the financial impact of the decision:
I want to make it clear that the athletics department does not receive one cent from merchandising and licensing trademarks. For us, this is a very important initiative for the reasons I gave. Financial is not one of them.
So let me get this straight. "Orange men" is OK, but "Orangemen" isn't. And the athletic department won't see an additional cent. Now that's a two-year project if ever I heard of one.
Other Syracuse Links:
• Kurt Vonnegut's 1994 Commencement Address — May 8 marked the 10-year anniversary of my graduation, at which the famous author spoke for the only period of the event during which I wasn't bored out of my ass. Not bad for a guy who almost screwed Thornton Melon with a bad paper in Back to School.
• Third Powell Brother Breaks SU's Lax Scoring Record — First Casey, then Ryan and now Mike have left school as the leading all-time scorer in the country's premier lacrosse program. This week, the No. 4 seed "Orange" go for a astonishing 23rd consecutive appearance in the sports's Final Four.
Other Sports Links:
• Rating the MLB Infields — Bob Matthews of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle put the Cardinals (Pujols, Womack, Renteria, Rolen) at No. 1, with the Rangers (Teixeira, Soriano, Young, Blalock) also ahead of the No. 3 Yankees (Rodriguez, Jeter, Wilson, Giambi). I stopped reading after that, because there's no way on god's green earth I would ever trade New York's infield straight up for Texas'.
• Steinbrenner is Mr. Softie — A Sports Illustrated subscriber exclusive on the Yankees' owner, who is more sentimental than ever. I love when he gets blubbery after wins, talks about how so-and-so is a warrior and how the fans of New York are so tough. Know why he has the money to spend? Because we have the most fans. Why do we have the most fans? Because the Yankees win. That's how the Dallas Cowboys made money. It's how the Chicago Bulls made money. It's how all sports teams make money. Win.
• Kerry Says Good-Bye to the Kids — A sentimental article in the Daily News on former Giants quarterback Kerry Collins' visit to a the pediatric unit of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine after his release for the team. Collins raised $100,000 for a computer center and pledged $500,000 more for renovations during his time with the Giants, for whom he was always a stand-up guy. He is a model of what second chances can do for someone — and what someone can do with a second chance. (Speaking of Collins, SI.com's Don Banks predicts he'll end up in Oakland.)
• The SportsByBrooks Girls — It's been awhile since a gave Brooks a plug, so why not go with his galleries of gals who help him at bar events?
Um, well.....the Chicago Cubs have a lot of money, have lots of fans, always have- and with the exception of a few shining, sterling moments, the Cubs don't win.
Yankees have more fans because they are in a big market, and have a history, a tradition. It's not just because they win. I'll agree that losing teams usually have fewer fans and less money, but you can't sweepingly say that the Yankees have fans only because they win.
Hell, the Blackhawks make money, and they suck so badly no one wants to go to their games anymore, unless they're playing a decent team....a direct result of the owner's decision to 'go cheap' on players and salaries and jack up prices on tickets and concessions. Our (season ticket) mezzanine seats- 19 rows up, on the visitor's blue line- are $75 each. Who can afford that? Bill Wirtz has turned going to a hockey game into a corporate event-- when only companies can afford to get decent seats, the regular fans stop coming. But then, that's another subject altogether...
(Although I will say that the 'family' Cubs season tickets- 7 rows up from 1st base and do I ever miss watching Mark Grace's ass- are $35 each, and beer is cheaper at Wrigley than at the United Center, too.)
Where was I? Oh yeah, you're wrong. ;-)
Posted by lucy at May 13, 2004 1:07 PM