Opining on SU in the Bronx, Boeheim's deserved crankiness and the passing of two sports figures

As hoped for in this cyberspace recently, the Syracuse University football team will be going bowling in the Bronx. The Orange men officially accepted the invitation to the New Era Pinstripe Bowl at the new Yankee Stadium on Dec. 30 at 3:30 p.m. This will be a homecoming for coach Doug Marrone, who went to Herbert H. Lehman High School about 10 minutes from the old Yankee Stadium. And it’s even more meaningful because Marrone grew up a rabid Yankees fan – a family tradition begun by his grandfather who worked as an usher at The House That Ruth Built.

This is a good next step for the program that overachieved in going 7-5 this season. It will help SU reestablish its recruiting foothold in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey. And it will afford the thousands of Syracuse alumni in the metropolitan area an opportunity to see their alma mater play in the Big Apple. The Orange men clearly aren’t ready for a BCS bowl, which they were in the running for up until two weeks ago. They’ll have a much better shot against their likely opponent, Kansas State.

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Everybody in the Big East sounds giddy about landing current college football powerhouse, TCU, but don’t look for any cartwheels from me. Yes, I understand that it’s all about money and protecting yourself against the carnivorous, money-grubbing conferences that are raiding one another. But it makes no sense geographically, just like it made no sense for Boston College to join the ACC. The Big Ten, which really was the Big Eleven, is now the Big Twelve, with the addition of Nebraska. And the Big East is now the Really Big East, adding a 17th school for basketball. Where does the lunacy end in the avaricious world of big-time college sports?

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I’m sure God is happy to know that Stevie Johnson wasn’t really mad at him.

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My Bills pick this week (I’m 8-3 for the season): Vikings 23, Bills 20. And Stevie will catch a touchdown pass.

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I don’t recall ever seeing Jim Boeheim this cranky about one of his teams this early in the season. As Mike Waters, the superb basketball beat reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard, wrote in his lead after SU’s victory against Cornell the other night: “Unbeaten and Unhappy.” But given the inconsistency of every Orange man but Rick Jackson, who’s been averaging a double-double so far, I can’t say as I blame Boeheim. They better play two halves of good basketball in upcoming games against North Carolina State and Michigan State or they won’t be unbeaten any more.

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Speaking of SU hoops, please check out my column about my picks for an all-time Orange team at Channel 8’s web site, www.rochesterhomepage.net.

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I’m saddened by the recent passing of my friend Dave Martens, the long-time Fairport High School athletic director. He was a true giant in his field, initiating several national programs, including his efforts to combat teenage alcohol and drug abuse. Dave liked to come across as gruff, but he was more Teddy Bear than grizzly, and he had a great, dry sense of humor.

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I also was saddened by the death of Jim Kelley, a legendary hockey writer who spent most of his distinguished career with The Buffalo News. I’ll never forget Jim’s booming voice and laugh, his silver Kenny Rogers beard and hair, and, most of all, his kindness to fellow journalists, yours truly included. I got to know Jim back in 1991, when he spent a season covering the Bills. Great guy and great reporter.