On Saturday, the Syracuse football team did something that has become extremely rare. They won their home opener, which they hadn't done since 2004. Furthermore they won the game convincingly, another extremely rare sight in recent years.
True, the opponent was FCS Maine and the Orange were expected to do exactly what they ended up doing. But still, that's cause for celebration, right? Surely Syracuse fans inside the Carrier Dome would be glued to their seats, waiting for the chance to celebrate with their Orange immediately following the game.
Eh, not so much. Most of the 37K on hand hit the exits before the final whistle of Syracuse's 38-14 victory over Maine. You'd have thought there was a free giveaway for the first 1,000 people out the door the way fans got out of the building. It didn't exactly scream "We're here to support you guys til the bitter end."
But you know what...it's not a big deal. Really.
Bud Poliquin took Syracuse fans to task in the Post-Standard for leaving early. He wonders why a fanbase that complains so much about wanting a winner doesn't want to stick around to see them actually win.
The truth is, Syracuse fans want to see their team win, but they also want to see them play games that matter. Ever since Syracuse football bottomed out in 2005, the fans have seen their team wins games. It just so happens that almost all of those wins have been against bottom-feeders and FCS schools. They're games that Syracuse is supposed to win. And when you're supposed to win, and you do, well that's not quite as exciting as beating Penn State.
There's no gravitas to watching Syracuse beat Maine. It's nice to see SU perform so well but the emotional input just can't match, say, watching Syracuse and Viriginia Tech in one of those classic battles from the 90s. That was a game you didn't even want to go to the bathroom in the middle of for fear of missing a play. With Syracuse-Maine, you could go run a couple laps around the campus in the middle of the game, come back, and still feel like you got what you needed out of it.
Syracuse fans appreciate the football team and their efforts but they want to go to the Dome to watch games that matter. Furthermore, they want to see Syracuse win games that matter. And at the end of the day, that's the impetus to keep their butts in the seats through the fourth quarter. They've seen Syracuse beat Buffalo and Maine and Louisville. They want to see Syracuse beat West Virginia, Pitt and Boston College.
The good news is, if they keep it up, Syracuse will give their fans exactly that. Meaningful games against top tier opponents that the Orange have a fighter's chance in winning. That's all the fans ask for.
Do that and not only will the fans come, but they'll stay the entire time.
Sean Keeley is the founder of Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and the author of "How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way To Brainwash Your Child Into Becoming A Syracuse Fan". Click here to read previous SU sports articles from Sean on CNYcentral.com.
