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The Daily OrangeFB | Diamond: With writing on the wall, Orange still playing hard for Robinson
By Jared Diamond
Posted: 11/3/08, 4:23 AM EST Section: Sports
Woodward may have had good reason to worry about the team. In early October, three weeks before the firing, Arizona tailback Nic Grigsby openly and bluntly offered his opinion on the Huskies.
"(Tight end) A.J. Simmons and me were saying these guys are looking sick," Grigsby told The Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen after a game against Washington. "I looked over there and they were not talking to each other, not doing nothing. We sensed they were quitting already."
And it would not have been totally unreasonable to expect Syracuse's players to do the same. Even though all season long, they have maintained they are above the rumors, that they don't concern themselves with gossip and hearsay and things they can't control, these guys are not stupid.
They know Robinson is still on the hottest seat imaginable, regardless of one victory. They know about The New York Times story reporting Syracuse has hired a consulting firm to start looking for Robinson's replacement. They know if the Orange had not beaten the Cardinals Saturday and became ineligible for a bowl game for the fourth-straight season, the axe may very well have come down today.
This team could have rolled over and died this week, knowing the end was near. We all would have understood, or at least would not have been surprised. Instead, the Orange went out and played as well - and as hard - as it has all season.
Players that stopped caring don't play their first game against a Division I opponent of the season without allowing any sacks. They don't full-out dive for passes, like Williams did to make his clinching interception in the contest's final minute. And they certainly don't risk their bodies by leaping from four yards out over a scrum into the end zone. Like Brinkley did in his second quarter touchdown in an otherwise meaningless November game.
Of course, it ultimately will not matter. Barring a miracle, Robinson will be replaced at the end of the season, as he should be. By all accounts, the process has already started. But this team made a strong statement about its character this weekend.
Syracuse will play for its coach until the bitter end, whenever it comes, and that's one thing that can make Syracuse fans proud.
Jared Diamond is a staff writer for The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at jediamon@syr.edu.
"(Tight end) A.J. Simmons and me were saying these guys are looking sick," Grigsby told The Tucson (Ariz.) Citizen after a game against Washington. "I looked over there and they were not talking to each other, not doing nothing. We sensed they were quitting already."
And it would not have been totally unreasonable to expect Syracuse's players to do the same. Even though all season long, they have maintained they are above the rumors, that they don't concern themselves with gossip and hearsay and things they can't control, these guys are not stupid.
They know Robinson is still on the hottest seat imaginable, regardless of one victory. They know about The New York Times story reporting Syracuse has hired a consulting firm to start looking for Robinson's replacement. They know if the Orange had not beaten the Cardinals Saturday and became ineligible for a bowl game for the fourth-straight season, the axe may very well have come down today.
This team could have rolled over and died this week, knowing the end was near. We all would have understood, or at least would not have been surprised. Instead, the Orange went out and played as well - and as hard - as it has all season.
Players that stopped caring don't play their first game against a Division I opponent of the season without allowing any sacks. They don't full-out dive for passes, like Williams did to make his clinching interception in the contest's final minute. And they certainly don't risk their bodies by leaping from four yards out over a scrum into the end zone. Like Brinkley did in his second quarter touchdown in an otherwise meaningless November game.
Of course, it ultimately will not matter. Barring a miracle, Robinson will be replaced at the end of the season, as he should be. By all accounts, the process has already started. But this team made a strong statement about its character this weekend.
Syracuse will play for its coach until the bitter end, whenever it comes, and that's one thing that can make Syracuse fans proud.
Jared Diamond is a staff writer for The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. He can be reached at jediamon@syr.edu.
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