Losing to Louisville or not, you just had to know that Rutgers/Syracuse week couldn't remain quiet. Not with Syracuse fans ready to throw Greg Paulus under the bus. Not with the Rutgers side debating the merits of poaching Syracuse verbals from the metro area. I just hope I have some time before Sat to finish the one last planned post I had for this week. Certainly, the #BeatRutgers guido joke tweets will be out in full force today. First up, Syracuse.com beatwriter Donnie Webb (last seen around these parts posting strategic recruiting leaks from the SU FB staff last February, and overreacting to anonymous comments on NJ.com) essentially posted an invitation for anonymous Syracuse.com posters to vent about the imaginary sins of Coach Schiano. K, whatever, as my boy Jerry points out, who the hell really cares.
Fear not, because Ledger beatwriter Tom Luicci fires back (I'm not quoting it, because you should read the whole thing) in deliciously chronicling how Rutgers DT Scott Vallone grew up a SU fan, on his way to a brilliant freshman starting campaign this season. For what it's worth, Vallone ended up picking Rutgers over Maryland. The whole thing is vintage Luicci (who's had his own quarrels with anonymous commentators as of late) - you can tell he really savors twisting the knife. Between that piece, and Schiano's veiled jab at Greg Robinson (amidst a flurry of coachspeak echoing Monday's comments - I don't know if even Marrone would be as positive and complimentary towards SU FB) after practice yesterday, you can bet that the SyracuseFan.com boards will be abuzz.
Gotta say, I don't get those angry comments towards Tom about his vote, or knocking the team's schedule. You have to take the net with a grain of salt - that response isn't representative, because anyone who agrees isn't as inclined to speak up. You can quibble with anyone's content here and there (ahem, I badly need to take some time to proofread my posts). Sure Luicci is often prone to hyperbole. Still, I always get the sense that he's not objective (being an alum and a local), and has more invested in the team's success than just hoping for a good story.
Anyway, more links after jump.
The Schiano show is back, jack.
Rivals isn't all bad, I liked this thread about why Mercer County produces so many busts. Also linked at Rivals - Chris Christie is a Delaware fan. While not a hangable offense, he shouldn't be missing home games next year when RU and UD play on the same day.
The matchup of the game Saturday? If it's not the trenches, then I'd bet on DMC vs. Syracuse punter Rob Long, who's been, well, tremendous.
Via Brendan Prunty - apparently some Rutgers students stayed up for ESPN's 24-hour basketball marathon a few days back, and they have a blog to chronicle it all.
One consequence of not posting a news update recently is that I didn't have a chance to link Keith Sargeant's piece about Ryan D'Imperio from last week. Yeah, he hasn't exactly struggled, but people are starting to question his lack of big plays, and why Beauharnais (as good as he's looked in limited action) is swiping reps. Ryan was just so good last year though that I'm buying the injuries argument hook, line, and sinker. My apologies in advance if I start to sound like a USF guy defending George Selvie's mediocre play.
On the flipside, Devin McCourty's rising like a bullet on the pro boards, and maybe Tim Brown is too, but what about George Johnson? In my book, he's an interesting guy on day 2. The physical tools are there.
Aditi has the ESPN HD updates you crave. Good, good, but we gotta do something about this 360 exclusivity clause.
An oldie, but it just popped up in my feeds: the Daily Record named Joe Martinek as one of their HS players of the decade. Also a brief mention of Angelo Mangiro for the recruitniks out there. You know, SU is supposed to be having a big weekend for that. I'm still trying to jot down all the other out of staters coming in to Piscataway on the 5th, that will be big. Don't think any seventh graders are coming though.
Jet fans: "let us act like drunken idiots, or we'll just go to Rutgers instead".
Deja vu? Spending on DI sports under fire at SUNY schools.