Up next in 10
The photos from tipoff against Cal were brutal.
A few hundred fans scattered inside the Carrier Dome. Apathy everywhere. And the blame? Syracuse joining the ACC.
Critics say SU “chased the money” and abandoned its roots in the old Big East. But D.A. asks the question nobody seems able to answer:
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
And yeah, I'm wearing my Syracuse hoodie
0:02
And this week, there was photographs at the start of a game against Cal
0:10
in which the school, the attendance at the Dome was sparse at best
0:17
for tip-off between Syracuse and Cal. And there were so many people that took to social media to say
0:24
look at how this program has fallen and pointing the finger at the ACC
0:30
and see they chased the money and did the deal with the devil
0:34
and that's why nobody in central New York cares. That's why this program has eroded
0:39
There is nobody, nobody that is as loyal to the history and traditions of sports than yours truly
0:52
You all know that. and I loved the Big East and I used to go to the Big East tournament annually
0:59
and I sat in the Carrier Dome for games against Seton Hall and St. John's and Pitt
1:05
and UConn. I sat in that dome when the place was on fire
1:11
and there were 30,000 people there and it exploded in this regional intensity
1:17
and your big Mondays and your big players and your big personalities and your big coaches and your Georgetown and your bloodthirst for these schools
1:28
I know it, and I loved it. And yeah, I don't like the ACC
1:32
I never have and ever will. I don't like being in the ACC. But the narrative that Syracuse ruined itself
1:41
by chasing the ACC dollars is also not rooted in reality. Because what was the alternative
1:51
It is true. You go to the Carrier Dome, and aside from when Duke
1:56
and North Carolina come to town, the Dome never feels the same. A game against Florida State, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech
2:03
doesn't feel anywhere close to what it used to. And the Big East in basketball is still fun, it's still cool
2:10
and you'd still love to be in it. No doubt about it. You want Providence coming in
2:14
You want Georgetown coming in. You want UConn coming in. You want Seton Hall coming in
2:19
That would be beautiful. But what was the alternative? Because you still got a football program
2:31
That's the nut here. That's the nut. And it's the unfortunate nut, but it's the nut
2:38
What are you going to do with football? are you going to say okay football drops to FCS like Villanova So you be in the Big East in basketball and then in FCS school in football
2:51
Because, yeah, you'd love Nova coming to the Carrier Dome, but what happens to football
2:57
Is it you become an independent? Okay. Look at what happened to UConn football
3:03
Look at what happened to UConn football when they came back to the Big East
3:10
And look at what happened to UConn when they were left out of the ACC and went to the American
3:17
I mean, it nearly destroyed all programs. They had to come running back to the Big East because it was such a debacle
3:26
Because instead of selling Syracuse Georgetown or Syracuse Georgia Tech, rather, they were selling UConn UCF
3:35
Even more meaningless. what, is Syracuse football going to go to the MAAC
3:43
Are you going to play Bowling Green now? Are you going to play MAACtion Tuesdays? See, that's the problem, is that all those Big E schools
3:51
which you would love to be tethered to in every other sport but football
3:55
don't have football programs of note. They either don have them or they play them in FCS It doesn matter Most of them just don have them so i think it convenient excuse or it a convenient talking point to say see they ruined everything by going to the ACC
4:14
which don't get me wrong. I wish we were not in the ACC, but unless there was a power conference in football
4:22
that still wanted Syracuse football and didn't want their basketball program, okay
4:28
which hard to find that, the problem wasn't going to the ACC
4:36
The problem was there was no other choice. That is the problem of college athletics
4:43
That is the problem of the NCAA. That is the problem with how the whole thing is built
4:50
Conference realignment sucks. Who knows where anybody is? Maryland shouldn't be in the Big Ten
4:57
Syracuse shouldn't be in the ACC. West Virginia shouldn't be in the Big 12
5:01
Nebraska shouldn't be in the Big Ten. There should be Arizona shouldn't be in the Big 12
5:07
There should be a Pac-12. But because of the way it evolved
5:15
grabbing onto the lifeboat and saying, save me, has been the only way to survive
5:24
I don't like what it's become, but you give me the alternative
News
Sports News
College Sports