CUT.....IT......OUT!

So little to say, so much time! Wait, strike that. Reverse it.

-- Today's history lesson- 128 years ago yesterday the first bowling match in Syracuse history took place at Lenehan's Bowling Alley. It was the back end of a home and home match with a team from Utica. Of course the rollers from the Salt City were triumphant winning in Utica and at home. In 1905 the New York State Bowling League was formed with teams from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton, Albany and Schenectady. And then in the late 1950s the Professional Bowlers Association was formed in Syracuse. One of the greatest Syracuse bowler's of all time was Bernie Maurer who was ranked as high as #2...in the nation, back in 1912.

-- Syracuse comedian Moody McCarthy has just released his first comedy album. But his biggest accomplishment is that Dave Coulier has signed him to tour with him and other "clean" comics.

-- It's Crunch time for Britney Spears.
The invitation's out there. So it's only an amount of time before Britney is in the Salt City. Where she could be looking for the next K-Fed. And where is the best place to find a K-Fed type in the Salt City? Um, why, Change of Pace, of course! It's got a heavy dose of beer, quality bar food and enough dudes to form a "So You Think You Can Be the Next K-Fed?" reality show. So Brit, we look forward to your arrival. We'll crank the Jay-Z and keep the PBR flowing like wine!

BIG MONDAY

Tonight the Orange will play their final home game against longtime rival, Georgetown, on ESPN's Big Monday. An SU win could be just what the Orange need to give them some "cred" for the Big Dance. But also it will mark the last regular season home game for the seniors (if they go to the NIT they could have another home game). Which of course means it is the last time we will see Matty Gorman grace Boeheim Court at the Carrier Dome. Matty-G has been a fav of the Saultan for, well as long as he's been here. Now Matty doesn't fill up the traditional stat sheet. But he has hustle, spunk, and he just plain, bleeds orange! And that don'tshow in the box score,my friends! Look for big things from Matty tonight in front of the home crowd. Matt Gorman, more like Phat Gorman! We can only hope that Matty sticks around and joins the Dome Ranger as his Dome Tonto or something? While it's a long shot, we here at SCS dare to dream. For we are the dreamers and we are the musicmakers. Thanks for the memories MG!

WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?

Well it's black history month and today we thought we'd honor some great black people. Today's theme: Astrological signs!

Of course we'll be starting wiith the first ever black, male American Gladiator, Gemini. His best event was the Joust, where he lost only 8 times in his career. But the most interesting thing about him is that he appeared on the game show, Press Your Luck. He was then just known by his birth name, Michael Horton. You may be wondering if there is any tie to the Salt City? Well, in Season 2 of American Gladiators, former Syracuse University football player, Larry Csonka joined Mike Adamle up in the announcing booth. We can only speculate, but we think it's safe to say that Csonk and Gemini were probably off galavanting together quite a bit!



Next on this list is a fine, fine comedian. He's probably best known for his role on Mad TV, where he does a great impression of Shaquille O'Neal and many other famous black persons. That's right, it's mister Aries Spears! The closests connection we could find was that he does an impersonation of weather maven Al Roker, who has a sub named for him in Oswego, which is but a mere stone's throw from the Salt City.






And then of course, there is Dr. J himself, Julius Erving. Now his name is not an astrological sign, but the good doctor played the star player of the Pittsburgh Pisces in "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh." Now, we could have just as easily of used Meadowlark Lemon, who played one of Erving's teammates in the movie, but since Dr. J is actually a Pisces, we decided to use him. Oh and belated Happy Birhday to the doctor from SCS (it was on the 22nd)! If you haven't seen "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" than you don't know what you're missing! Sure the plot, acting, basketball are all, well, not good, it's still a good watch we feel. The SCS connection? SCS is also a Pisces, and Dr. J spent some time in the ABA, which will, soon enough, be in the Salt City.


And our final honoree today is of course is Terrell Owens. Huh? Well we consider him to be a Cancer. A locker room cancer that is. Owens is a pompous media hungry primadona, who puts himself above the team. The Salt City connection? Well Terrell is on the Dallas Cowboys, and on the Cowboys coaching staff is none other than former Syracuse University head coach, Paul Pasqualoni.




And there you have an astrological look at Black History Month from the Salt City.

STAR GAZING TOO?

It seems celebrities are not just hitting the Electric City. We were able to spot ESPN's Mike Tirico in the Carousel Center on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Tirico was in town for the Syracuse-UCONN skirmish at the dome. Now, although he declined an exclusive interview with SCS, overall he seemed like a nice fella. So we didn't get to ask our hard-hitting questions, like "How dumb is Joe Theismann?" Now I know what you're thinking, "Wow, you've tied in a local celebrity, who went to Syracuse University and is black. During black history month no less!" Well you're 2/3 of the way right my friends. You see, it is well known that Tirico is not black, but Italian. So close to a big trifecta there. But he was sitting next to Syracuse University Athletic Director Daryl Gross, who, while having no relation to 80s baseballers Kevin or Greg Gross, is black. So there you have it. It seems that the Capitol Region as well as Central New York are becoming the new hotbeds of America!

SYRA-NEWS

Time for the Saul-tan to keep everyone up to date with the latest news you can use from the Salt City.

Density, USA- No, this is not a typo. You see, for the better part of a decade there have been plans to expand the shopping mecca, that is Carousel Center, into one of the biggest homes to consumerism in the world. Most wonder if this will ever happen. Many thought they saw "progress" when they began airing commercials about the steel gerters they brought in and with several people that had been hired to work at Destiny, USA. Of course one of those ads featured a convicted felon. The Destiny PR department quickly stated they wouldn't have intentionally done this if they had known he was a convicted felon. Which of course, begs the question, did they not do background checks on these people? Another commercial had some lady saying how she was gonna make $70,000 a year. Really? Doing what? Anyways, needless to say, Destiny USA, still seems to be nothing but a pipedream. As the money-grubbing, power-hungry "powers that be" continue to try and make Destiny USA happen, the stores in the Carousel Center continue to head out. Here are just some of the stores/restaurants that have closed in only the last few months: Rave, Eddie Bauer, American Cafe, Nancy's, and soon Kohr Bros. and People's Pottery. Maybe this is just SCS talking, but maybe they should be able to keep the stores they have before the try and add more? I dunno?

WHAT'S BREWIN'?: Sometimes Saul is not on top of all the important news, but luckily we have good contacts.

GREEN WITH ENVY- Word on the street is that Elliot Spitzer is trying to turn former Syracuse University and Atlanta Falcon football player, turned attorney and author, Tim Green Democrat. Not only is this a good move politically, but it could bolster the democrats defense for the annual skirmish with the GOP. Watch out Jack Kemp! Of course the Fightin' Donkeys recently added Heath Shuler at Quarterback, which could be good or bad, but if they remove Green, the GOP will have a lessened pass rush. If they get Tim Green, SCS is going to have to pick the Fightin' Donkeys over the Unchanging Pachyderms 23-14 in Capitol Hill Bowl 87.

CENTRO-PHY- It seems that the Salt City bus system has recieved some national acclaim. The American Public Transportation Association named Centro the Best Mid-Sized
Transit System in America. Now here is interesting story to go along with this award. So last week SCS was riding a Centro bus. SCS does this because that's where the real salt of the earth people are and SCS is a man of the people. So we're riding the bus, and whilst on it, these three African-American gentleman began exchanging words. Sure enough this escalated into fisticuffs in the middle of James Street, a pretty well-trafficked road. Now the bus driver did make them get off the bus to fight. It was two heavyset man taking on one skinnier dude who was kind of a taller Urkell. Now Urkell did start the fight, but still, the two-on-one effort was cheap and unnecessary. Now as they fought in the middle of James St., the bus didn't move, and the riders were pressed against the window for a better view. SCS called 911 to report the incident as no one else seemed to care that this guy was getting beaten up. Now the most unsavory part of the whole incident, is not only did the driver not move the bus, he let the two guys back on the bus! After they had beaten someone up in the street! What?! The whole incident, has soured us on the state of our society. But congrats on the award Centro. Bravo.

HOOP-LA- Apparently the Salt City will soon be home to pro basketball. You read correctly folks. The ABA is coming to the 'Cuse. Of course the Salt City is enriched in basketball culture. You can thank the Salt City for more scoring, as the shot clock was invented here, thusly ending the days of 7-3 games. The team will be the Syracuse Bullies. What the heck kind of name is that? Personally, we are insulted by the fact the no one came here first to name this team. The Bullies? Really? Quickly, parents of little nerdy kids who get beat up on the playground will be offended and the team will need a name change. I feel we could be of some service here. In preparation for this inevitable happening, we have come up with some new names. The Weather Cats- in honor of WSTM-3's Doppler the weather cat. Or how 'bout The A-Salt? Yeah, get it, cause it's the Salt City. Or just spell it regular, Syracuse Assault. Sounds great, right? Or the Syracuse Blizzard. Salt Licks? In fact why even bother with Syracuse, why not go with the Salt City moniker. Salt City Sultans? Or maybe the Squalls? We have lots of snow squalls hit us every winter. Miami has the Heat, how about the Syracuse Freeze, or the Chill. Don't worry we'll keep working on it. But besides the name, our head is spinning with the possible players that could end up playing ball in our fair city. Former SU stars Lazarus Sims and Kueth Duany are already in the ABA. Can it be long before we see G-Mac back? Ryan Blackwell, Preston Shumpert, Otis Hill? How about Lou Roe, Bill Curley, Harold Arcineaux, Bryce Drew, Blake Stepp, Shaheen Holloway, John Tomsich, Serge Zwikker, Charlton Clarke, Victor Page, Andrew DeClerq, Felipe Lopez, Pepe Sanchez...oh my, the possibilities! We're busting readers, we're busting! Look out Rochester Razorsharks and Buffalo Silverbacks, here come the Bullies!

PRESIDENT'S DAY!

Well of course, come this time of year, we always here about Honest Abe and George "The Father of our Country" Washington. Now unfortunately a certain car company beat us to the punch with their "unknown presidents sale"! Damn them straight to Hades! Not only is a great idea, stolen from Salt City Saul, but they even got the guy who played Mr.Dewey on Saved By The Bell, to be the spokesman for the camppaign. ERRONEOUS! But anyways we tought we'd honor a President we really admire, our good friend Sy Sperling. Now not only is Sy the Hair Club for Men President, he's also a client. Now that's how you move product folks! He's like a player-coach. He not only talks the talk, he walks the walk. And we're pretty sure he spells Sy like that, because it's short for Syracuse. So Sy Sperling, wherever you are, we here in the Salt City salute you!

HEEEEEEYYYYYY!

We almost forgot to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day, with who else? Why Scott Valentine of course. You may remember Scott's work as Nick on Family Ties. Of course while he wasn't charming the pants off Mallory, he could be heard offering up his catch phrase, "Heeeeeeyyyy!" You may also have seen him in many a hit television show, like with Lorenzo Llamas in Renegade or alongside Chuck Norris in Walker: Texas Ranger. So Happy Valentine's Day to all and to all a good night!

HEAVY HITTERS ARE NOT ALL I NEED!

With newly elected New York Governor, Eliot Spitzer, cracking down on lawyers using catchy jingles in their ads. a lot of ambulance chasers and miscellaneous schuysters are in a tizzy. But wait! You can still grab the attention of tv viewers without catchy jingles. Just look at the ad put together for our lawyer Don Law:





Ya see! It's that easy! Don Law handles all our legal affairs, as well as the potato salad for our luncheons and picnics. And I gotta tell ya, it tastes great! That's DON LAW: 1-800-555-DON LAW

I'LL TAKE JIM J. BULLOCK FOR THE BLOCK!

That's right, it's time for Syracuse's favorite gameshow....SALT....CITY....SQUARES! Let's meet this week's celebrity participants. Being as it is Black History Month this week's show will feature all African-Americans, almost, anyways.


Let's start at the top left and work ourselves around:

Although she wasn't the one credited with breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball, she has knocked down plenty of walls on her way to being a lead anchor on one ofthe top four newcasts in Syracuse.....Miss (we think) Jackie RobinsonTo her left, we have a man who has recently returned to help his alma mater. He is the All-Time leading scorer in Syracuse University history. Here he is, high socks and all, Lawrence "Poetry in" Moten.And next to him in the top right corner, is a man all true Syracusians know. You've heard his musicalstylings everywhere in Syracuse, From Alliance Bank Stadium to the Carrier Dome. Yes! It's the one and only Eli!

Directly below him, a name you all know and love. Former SU football player and stud, the inncomparable Kirby Dar Dar.

And below him, an Oswego graduate, who is most noted for having sub named after him! Oh yeah and he's a national weatherperson, blah, blah, blah! The man, the myth, the legend...Mr. Al Roker!To his right, an actress who first came to our attention as regular on cast of ER, but now this Ithaca alumnist appears as Claudette Wyms on The Shield. Ladies and gentleman say hello to CCH Pounder.And to her right, we've got a hot one! He's the biggest name in the Salt City underground crap, er, rap, scene. He could have sold you an autographed copy of his debut album at any number of locations, from on a Centro bus to outside a bar in Armory Square. The next big name in the rap industry, Espo$ito!

Above him is a women who is a successful actress and model, most noted for her role in Mad Max. Originally born in Jamaica, her family relocated to the Salt City when she was just a child. We give you the Amazon woman herself, Grace Jones!And to her left in the center square... a man who really needs no introduction. Except for this one. He has inspired crowds of all sizes to root on the Orange. He is none other than the Dome Ranger!

There you have it, the board's all yours, wher would YOU like to go?!

SALT OF THE EARTH!

Well we kicked things off with an homage to our blogging idol, the one and only ECP. Now we don't want anyone to think that this will just be the Electric City Blog slightly modified. We of course owe a great deal of thanks to the Electric City Blog, as well as "Bitterness is a Fish You Can Catch" for the inspirado to create this blog, but we are looking to get the Salt City, and perhaps the band Cowboy Mouth, back into the mainstream. We certainly do not want to offend the Hoff or the Electric City. If a blog war does break out, I assure it will be civil, and be brought forth out of love and respect for one another. We love the Electric City! And we are not here to compare and contrast the two cities. We will not look to play Sparta to their Athens, but rather a Balki to their Cousin Larry. Now will their be trash talking or barbs going back and forth? I can only answer that with one word: Perhaps! If anything, I feel this will bring the two cities closer together. Not literally, that would be a lot of work, what with having to shove Utica underneath the earth, and, well, relocating a city is no picnic. Now their will be some unmistakable similarities between the ECB and the SCB, but what can we say? It happens. Is this confusing? Probably. But with that out of the way, we're moving on:


In today's blog we're gonna meet Syracuse's sister cities. I'd also like to point out that we are campaigning pretty heavily to have Schenectady be our Dawg City. As in what Randy Jackson calls his peeps. We feel this is ten times better than even a brother city. Okay. Syracuse's sister cities, here we go:

Our first sister city is Chiayi City, Taiwan. Nicknamed the Peach City, it is home to many Tiawanese people. Over two-hundred thousand of them actually. It's official tree is none other than the bauhinia blakeana or Hong Kong orchid. Of course Taiwan is part of the Republic of China, which is probably why there are so many fine Chinese eateries in the Salt City. SCS does love the Chinese food. And in the words of Chandler Bing, "of course over there they just call it food." Indeed. In fact General Tso may or may not have made his way through Chiayi at some point in his life. I'm not gonna lie, but I gotta little Sweet and Sour chicken heading on through me as we speak! If ya know what I mean. We're pretty sure that the Taiwanese symphonic metal band, Seraphim makes Chiayi a regular stop on it's tours and of course invites Tiawanese baseball player Chien-Ming Wang along as a guest of the band. Why wouldn't they? I'm ready for their US tour already. C'mon over Seraphim! We'll do it up Salt City style! Cause let me tell you the local symphonic metal scene is just horrendous!

Syracuse's other sister city is Tampere, Finland. But wait. let me Finnish! Hahahahaha! Sometimes we tickle our own funny bone here at SCS! Located in the Pirkanmaa region of Western Finland, Tampere is known for it's active cultural life. It hosts a film festival and an urban rock festival. Both of which, we can only assume are wildly popular. Now most of it's power is generated from the water power of the Tammerkoski rapids. The city has given us hockey great, and former Winnipeg Jet, Teppo Numminen, as well as many other folks who's last names end in "-nen". And it is the third largest city in Finland. Good work sis! Sadly, Little Finland is not that hopping here in the Salt City. But I for one am honored to have Tampere as our sister city, even though it sounds like it could be Finnish for a feminine product.

Well there's a look at the Salt City's sister cities. I say we have a family party. We get Seraphim, the best urban rock band from Tammerfest and Candid Daydream and rock out all night long, covering Journey 'til our hearts are content!