SYRACUSE -- As his all-star team full of future NBA stars pulled up to its temporary home in Syracuse, Kentucky head coach John Calipari knows he's in for a rowdy crowd when his Wildcats take on Cornell at the Carrier Dome Thursday night. "Every place we play on the road has been so hostile it's incredible. So it's a big advantage for them but at the end of the day either they beat us or we beat them," says Calipari.
The Wildcats are staying at the Genesee Grande. With 159 full rooms, the hotel is booked, along with many others nearby. But the real impact will be on businesses in the area. Restaurants say they are in the middle of a hotel triangle, with the Genesee Grande one one end, The Renaissance on another and the Syracuse University Sheraton on the third. There are basketball teams staying at each one, and local restaurants hope to see the overflow.
Phoebe's Café has extra food and beer stocked up and will open its entire restaurant for both days of the NCAA games, hoping for a repeat of the recent Villanova game at the Dome. Manager Lee Tomkes says, "We're expecting that kind of weekend. Both Thursday and Saturday. It'll be fun, a lotta fun."
All the businesses say that without SU playing on the hill this weekend, they'll be rooting for the next best local team as Cornell takes on Kentucky Thursday night. Even Calipari admits he tried to sway fans his way by calling coach Jim Boeheim and asking for help. He got a laugh and a firm no.
