trevor cooney virginia tech.JPG

This man's name is not "Terry"

(Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard 2014)

Only two games into the Syracuse University men's basketball Atlantic Coast Conference schedule, it's pretty clear that we are still in the "getting to know you" phase with our new friends in the ACC.

One only had to glance at Twitter during last night's Syracuse-Virginia Tech game on the

ACC Network to realize that.

The latest round of hijinks with announcers (and who could forget the Big Ten Network's creation of SU football star "Ritchy Rene") botching Syracuse player names happened Tuesday night when ACC Network announcer Tim Brant referred to Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney as "Terry Cooney" at the top of the broadcast, and things went downhill from there.

Look, we get it. You are still getting used to Syracuse being in your new league and we are still getting used to our basketball broadcasts being sponsored by Bojangles, Food Lion and other places we couldn't shop at unless we drove about 400 miles.

No worries!

We want to help.

Free of charge, here is a little guide for new ACC announcers when it comes to Syracuse basketball.

1. Pronunciation Guide

Let's start with the basics.

Technically, "Syracuse" is not pronounced "Sarah-Cuse"

This one is a little tricky since some of our new friends in the ACC have a bit of a southern drawl, but here is some free advice from a former Syracuse broadcaster who would know.

Look, we know it's going to vary a bit.

But as Andrew Siciliano says above, just don't say "Sara-Q's"

How about the current roster?

Baye Moussa Keita. Yep, this one is a toughie.

We've heard "Key-ta" and "K-ta." Sometimes he wants the Moussa pronounced, sometimes he doesn't.

Our own Mike Waters has some good advice on this one.



"Baye Moussa Keita is actually very easily pronounced. It’s Baye like good-bye. Moussa as in moose with an a on the end. And Keita as in rhymes with cheetah."

Trevor Cooney. Not "Terry" or "Timmy" or "Thomas" or even "Gerry." By the way, you only get one pass to mistake him for Gerry McNamara per game.

Michael Gbinije. Just pretend that "G" isn't there and you're good.

DaJuan Coleman. It's "DAY-Juan" Coleman. But don't worry about it. You will only have to know it for the starting lineup and the first five minutes of the game before Boeheim puts him on the bench.

Tyler Roberson. Note there is no "t" on that last name. Ro-ber-son, not Robert-son.

Chinonso Obokoh. Don't even worry about it. He's redshirting. If you are referencing him, you're really out of material.

2. Things we already know that you can skip right over

Syracuse doesn't play man-to-man defense.

Mike Hopkins is going to take over for Jim Boeheim someday. Like, in the year 2037. But someday I tell ya.

Andy and Leo Rautins are related.

So are Brandon and Howard Triche.

Former Orangeman Derrick Coleman and DaJuan Coleman are not.

It snows a little in Syracuse during the winter

There is no air conditioning in the Carrier Dome

No matter where Syracuse plays, it's a home game.

There is a pretty good broadcasting school at Syracuse. Bob Costas went there!

Rakeem Christmas. Just don't. We've heard them all already.

Gerry McNamara is from a certain town in Pennsylvania where they filmed a popular NBC sitcom.

Yep. That Dinosaur Bar-B-Que place is pretty good. Good BBQ north of the Mason-Dixon line. Imagine that.

3. Jim Boeheim

He picks his nose from time-to-time. Camera operators beware.

Don't mind him. He's always this cranky during basketball season.

Speaking of Boeheim, we have heard pretty much every story about our Hall of Fame head coach, but we get that a new audience of ACC viewers may want to hear them again.

Fair warning, by the way: Unless your name is Jay Bilas, Bill Raftery, Mike Tirico or someone Boeheim coached against in the old Big East, he may be pretty cranky with you. Don't take it personally. It's basketball season.

4. Syracuse fans stand and clap until the first field goal of each half.

Why? I have no idea. It could end tomorrow (along with the wave for that matter) and I wouldn't blink an eye. But it's our version of "crabcakes and football." It's just what Syracuse does.

There are just a few suggestions from me. I'm sure our readers would be happy to jump in the comments section or email me with some more to help you out.

We'll end on this note as I have been enjoying the new sponsors we get to see on ACC Network broadcasts.

I've been informed that Bojangles is pretty good, so you get a pass on that, but Wegmans is totally better than Food Lion.

This is not a debate.

Brent Axe

baxe@syracuse.com

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