2008 Woodie Awards
The Daily OrangeSchonbrun: Syracuse lacrosse wins for itself, athletic program
By Zach Schonbrun
Posted: 5/26/08, 7:47 PM EST Section: Sports
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Written in large white letters against the red sideboards behind the Syracuse bench was a numerical sign: 118: 24
It was a biblical reference, pointing those who saw it (before the numbers were erased prior to the start of the game) to Psalm 118, verse 24:
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
On a postcard afternoon in southeastern Massachusetts, on a national holiday on national television, the day could not have been more perfect, more God-willingly surreal for Syracuse fans here at Gillette Stadium. For the first time since 2004, the sun shone on an SU program, clearing the cobwebs from a four-year drought of athletic triumph.
How quickly can the bad memories from a lost season be washed away? Almost as quickly as a two-year absence from glory can erase 25 years of sport dominance.
Syracuse came to Gillette Stadium this weekend as the unfamiliar party crasher, the has-been wannabe that had watched Johns Hopkins and Duke fight for the national championship on TV last season.
It was only after SU lacrosse's 5-8 collapse that fans and media branded 2007 as perhaps the worst collective season in Syracuse sports history. It was only after the mighty Orange missed the NCAA tournament altogether that everybody officially decried the athletic program had hit its lowest low.
Just how low can we go? they asked.
Now it's the Orange back on top of lacrosse's frugal totem pole. Now it's Syracuse that can say we've hit rock bottom and lived to laugh about it over champagne and a trophy.
"It was an up and down road for the seniors," attackman Mike Leveille said. "There were a lot of low points. But we hung in there and never quit on each other."
This is a different tale of redemption than Duke lacrosse, aided by the NCAA on its journey out of PR purgatory. It's not the same as Hopkins, which lost five straight games midway through the season and was fighting for respect all the way up to its beating of the Blue Devils on Saturday.
It was a biblical reference, pointing those who saw it (before the numbers were erased prior to the start of the game) to Psalm 118, verse 24:
"This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
On a postcard afternoon in southeastern Massachusetts, on a national holiday on national television, the day could not have been more perfect, more God-willingly surreal for Syracuse fans here at Gillette Stadium. For the first time since 2004, the sun shone on an SU program, clearing the cobwebs from a four-year drought of athletic triumph.
How quickly can the bad memories from a lost season be washed away? Almost as quickly as a two-year absence from glory can erase 25 years of sport dominance.
Syracuse came to Gillette Stadium this weekend as the unfamiliar party crasher, the has-been wannabe that had watched Johns Hopkins and Duke fight for the national championship on TV last season.
It was only after SU lacrosse's 5-8 collapse that fans and media branded 2007 as perhaps the worst collective season in Syracuse sports history. It was only after the mighty Orange missed the NCAA tournament altogether that everybody officially decried the athletic program had hit its lowest low.
Just how low can we go? they asked.
Now it's the Orange back on top of lacrosse's frugal totem pole. Now it's Syracuse that can say we've hit rock bottom and lived to laugh about it over champagne and a trophy.
"It was an up and down road for the seniors," attackman Mike Leveille said. "There were a lot of low points. But we hung in there and never quit on each other."
This is a different tale of redemption than Duke lacrosse, aided by the NCAA on its journey out of PR purgatory. It's not the same as Hopkins, which lost five straight games midway through the season and was fighting for respect all the way up to its beating of the Blue Devils on Saturday.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
jamesknickerbocker
posted 5/27/08 @ 12:16 AM EST
Where's the rest of the storyline
Coward
posted 5/27/08 @ 3:42 PM EST
This column puts the "Of Mice, Men and Newhouse" hed to literary shame Schonbrun. Nice work.
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