Whether Report: Syracuse

Say Josh, tell me whether...

...you're ready for the season to kickoff?
Let's see. Flag hung in my window? Check. Wore purple for the last several days? Check. Alarm clock set for tomorrow morning? Check. Depth chart and rosters printed? Check. I think I'm just about ready.

...you think the Cats are ready?
Yes and no. No, because I think only the very best teams are ever fully ready for the first snap. A lot of guys haven't taken real full-speed hits, and the coaches haven't called full-speed plays for this team. Yes, because of the many reports indicating full buy-in by the team into the philosophies of the new coaches on offense and defense. They've got to be rearing to go.

...anyone really rears anymore?
Yes. The Cats rear. Then they go.

...you said "rear?"
Grow up.

...NU-Syracuse is the best game on the Big Ten slate this week?
Well, it looked a lot better when it was scheduled in 2003. Illinois-Mizzou is one of the nation's highlight games this week. MSU goes to Cal, which could be good, and Utah comes to Michigan which could be...almost anything.

...you're picking NU to get off to a winning start this year?
I'm going to say...yes. The line I'm seeing is NU -11.5, O/U 55.5. I think we'll win the turnover battle, giving our offense a couple short fields. So my pick is Northwestern 30, Syracuse 13.

Let's go Cats!

A little bit more about: Syracuse

Whenever a new season begins, it's hard to know where our beloved ApostroCats will have improved and where they will have declined. Which players will have blossomed in the spring and which graduates we will unexpectedly miss. Which condiments will have been left out of the Ryan Field refrigerators for 10 months and which will have been left out but topped off with fresh supplies.

So, I'll keep things brief today and just give three players who have to show up Saturday to give the Cats a win.

• Adam Hahn - A lot has been made in the off-season of NU's revitalized attacking defense, and with John Gill out to suspension, you can expect Corey Wooton to earn a lot of blocking attention from the Orange offense. Hahn (as well as the rest of the D-Line) needs to make the solid stops as well as the more glamourous sacks and hurries to give the LBs a chance to execute the way Coach Hankwitz has designed.

• Stefan Demos - The sophomore kicker/punter has a year's experience and an off-season of conditioning under his belt now. He needs to do his part to improve what was a poor kick coverage unit in 2007. If Demos and his coverage team can keep SU to poor starting field positions, it will give the defense great momentum from the start of every opposing drive.

• Ben Burkett - Who touches the ball on every play? The center and the QB. While Bachér will be the man who operates our no-huddle offense, the red-shirt freshman Burkett must lead a patchwork offensive-line though any early quavers so they can quickly become a strength of our attack rather than a weak link. The more that C.J. gets a chance to run the offense normally, the better our chance to win this weekend and in the future.

Whether Report tomorrow, along with my pick!
Let's go Cats!

A couple early thoughts on: Syracuse

Do you remember when we scheduled this series with Syracuse? It was five and 1/2 years ago, and the final game won't be for another 5 years. Back then, we kind of feared this series, but now it's just one of four hopefully-probably-crossyourfingers winnable non-conference games to start the year.

I'll have a pick, and hopefully some other content in advance of Saturday's season opener, but there's two guys on the Orange that I worry about:

Ryan Howard (Senior, CB) - Will we have to contend with the home run champ and league MVP? Or will we get to take a few shots at the strike out leader with a Mendoza-approaching batting average? Or possibly the once-pleasant, now-jackassish temp-turned-manager.

Maximilian Leo (Junior, Long Snapper) - Leo was his father's favorite pope, and Maximilian was his mother's favorite pope. Except, I don't think there was a Pope Maximilian, but it's too good a joke. Plus, we all know that the LS is the smartest guy on the team, so watch out!

2008 Fan Preview

With 10 days to go until the 2008 incarnation of the Wildcats kicks off against Syracuse, it's time to look at things from a broad perspective. As the games approach each weekend, I'll try to consider them individually, but for now I want to bask in my general optimism.

If you want an in depth season outlook, you should definitely check out this place, and also this place. And I'll do some of that stuff too, as the games come and go. But not today! Today, I just want to talk about how fans should approach this fall.

Patience
Most Northwestern fans are well-schooled (groan) in patience. We're used to wait-til-next year platitudes -- after all, some of you are also Cubs fans -- and we tend to expect long-term program development rather than flash-in-the-pan success. However, the big story coming into the 2008 season is the slew of veterans, particularly at offensive skill positions. My advice is to be patient if we don't put up 35 points/game right away. Remember that the offensive line is inexperienced, and will take time to gel.

Expectations
BUT! Just because we're patient doesn't mean we shouldn't expect to win. We should be able to win a majority of the non-conference games that start the season. They might not be blowout victories (Miami in 2006 or Northwesteastern last year) but we should prevail more often than not. We have better coaches across the board than we have in recent years, and it should show in the form of results as they compliment and improve the Wildcat athletes.

The Future
There are two things for which it is never too early: clock management & thinking about the future. The former is mostly in the hands of Fitz, so I will just worry about the latter. It's important for every moment of every NU home game to be spirited moment. Why? Because there are recruits at every game, and whether we're thrashing someone in September or ruing the end of a rough loss, those high school juniors and seniors need to see a great place to play. So combine those top two things, patience and expectations, to give every play of 2008 energy and vitality. We expect no less from the team, after all.

But enough of this profundity. Check back in next week for picks, weather, and hopefully some funny!

Hey! Look over there!

I have a new blog up and running. It's called Seldom Welcome, and the conceit is that it is an unsolicited advice column. Well, "column" might be a little generous. Whatever it is, it encompasses advice to The World At Large. So take heed, The World, because apparently I know what's best for you.


Also, it is green.

So, go over there and enjoy it! And then come back here. And go back again. Whoa, I'm letting this advice thing go to my head. Sorry.

Things you should be reading

Another list of things you should be reading, because they are (or promise to be) entertaining. Eventually this space ought to be back to being interesting in and of itself, as we're about 2 weeks from the Wildcats' 2008 kickoff!

• @SlateOlympics - The Twitter feed on the Olympics from Slate. It's great for when you're watching NBC and don't have anyone around to snark with.

• @CobraCommander - Another Twitterer, and it's exactly what you think it is. Sample from this past Monday: "Excited for new week. Destro delivering first blueprints of potential "weather manipulator device" today. Oh and how bout that Phelps?"

• Ephener of Mind - A new blog from friend-of-Josh, Michael. Yay! He finally succumbed to the alure of blogging!

• @joshwss - Enough with the Twitter already! But this one is me, so feel free to follow me. Just try and be a real person and not a robot, kay?
  

The end of an era

This morning I had to change my email alias at work. Why would I do that? Wouldn't it cause people who I work with to not be able to reach me?

Well, that might actually be a benefit (just kidding Jim!), but I had to escape the spam-sending nogoodnik who decided my address would look nice in his reply-to field. So my 10-year reign as "j-held" is over. I will now begin a new reign as "josh" -- although hopefully this one will be slightly shorter.

Unless you work with me, this should not impact you at all. Carry on. If you do work with me, take note. And why are you reading my blog?