Chicago, Ill. -- The guy’s name was Zig Ziglar, he was a famous salesman who used to call the Mississippi town of Yazoo City home and he could inspire a Bedouin to buy snorkel gear. And he'd forever tell all who would listen that there were five obstacles to every deal:

No need. No desire. No hurry. No time. No money.

If that is to serve as a kind of checklist, the thought is that Daryl Gross, undoubtedly squeezing somebody right now, must be somewhere smiling even as he schmoozes.

The guy wants to erect a new football-centric training facility on his Syracuse University campus along the way to becoming the Stanford of the East, right? And to that end, according to this week’s giddy announcement, ground on the 87,000-square-foot compound will be broken sometime in the expandable next 10 months.

Which makes this a kind of a halleluiah moment for the Orange football machine and for all those faithful types who’ve waited across the many seasons for Jim Brown and Ernie Davis and Floyd Little to come walking through the SU door once more.

All Daryl needs now is the $17 million he believes it’ll take to build the thing that sounds so ritzy, so ’Bama-like, it may well feature blocking sleds with ruby slippers.

Which is where Ziglar’s template comes in because Gross, the Syracuse athletic director who has a bit of Monte Hall to him, can claim that, in SU’s case, Zig’s barriers have been eliminated.

Indeed, with the Orange moving up the college football food chain to the Atlantic Coast Conference where those Tigers and Seminoles and Hurricanes await, Daryl can tell all those potential donors with pockets of various depths that there is a need (No. 1) and a desire (No. 2) and a reason to hurry (No. 3). Importantly, though, with that vague 10-month window thrown wide open, there is time (No. 4) to re-arrange the financial portfolios.

And the big one, money (No. 5)? Daryl’s greatest of his many gifts seems to be a developed ability to convince people that it’s better in his coffee can than in theirs.

Now, there are those among us -- and my hand is raised -- who believe it’s more than a little unsettling to think that palatial digs are necessary to convince thick-necked, wide-bottomed teenagers to accept free admittance (plus all the food they can eat) to a $50,000-a-year school.

But this is the 21st century and college athletics have become a collective monster that grows bigger and sharper fangs every year. So if you want to play with the big boys (and girls), you must feed that beast because the program down the road is. And to beat it on the field or in the arena, you must join that program down the road in sequined excess.

Such has been Daryl Gross’ aim since his arrival from Los Angeles a little more than eight years ago. And by sprucing up the Carrier Dome, building new outdoor practice fields, watching the Melo Center sprout and re-making Manley Fieldhouse, he has been steadily hitting his mark.

And now . . . this. This $17-million playpen that might help the Orange, directed by its new head coach, Scott Shafer, to roll with the football royalty of the ACC.

There are, though, many arms to twist and thick rubber bands to pry off wallets. And to help in the process, Daryl will need a slogan. Something along the lines of, oh, “If you’ve got, give to Scott.”

Zig Ziglar might have liked that.

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Here is the weekly "schedule of events" in Bud Poliquin's corner of syracuse.com:

MONDAY

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By 8 a.m.:

The daily column/commentary.

By 11:30 a.m.:

“How’d I Do?”

By 6 p.m.:

“Ask Me Anything” by submitting questions (to which I’ll give answers) on any sports-related topic to bpoliquin@syracuse.com. (Please include name and hometown.)

TUESDAY

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By 8 a.m.:

The daily column/commentary.

By 11:30 a.m.:

“Coach’s Corner,” wherein readers can submit questions to any coach at any level in Central New York (and answers will be posted) to bpoliquin@syracuse.com. (Please include name and hometown.)

By 6 p.m.:

“The Video Store.”

WEDNESDAY

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By 8 a.m.:

The daily column/commentary.

By 11:30 a.m.:

“The List.”

By 6 p.m.:

“E-Mail Of The Week,” wherein readers can submit legitimate essays/open letters/observations for purposes of posting to bpoliquin@syracuse.com. (Please include name and hometown.)

THURSDAY

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By 8 a.m.:

The daily column/commentary.

By 11:30 a.m.:

“The Bud & Brent Show.”

By 6 p.m.:

“The Poli-Quip.”

FRIDAY

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By 8 a.m.:

The daily column/commentary.

By 11:30 a.m.:

“A Look Ahead.”

By 6 p.m.:

“Bud & The Manchild.”