From Buffalo to Syracuse to Berwyn

Ex-Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone sure complicated the lives of my daughter and her boyfriend (and maybe two sets of parents), all by quitting as Syracuse head coach at the end of 2012 for a shot at the NFL.  When Marrone shuffled off to Buffalo, that left a vacancy at Syracuse, filled in part by the former head coach of Elmhurst College, only now he’s the offensive coordinator for the Orange.  And he liked Chris enough from their days together at Elmhurst (Chris was the starting center) to make him a graduate assistant for football.  And that’s why Clare spent 72 hours of her short fall-term break in Syracuse last week.  Thanks, Doug.  

From what I can tell, an assistant assistant coach works crappy hours, eats crappy food and comes home Saturday night sounding all hoarse over the phone.  Such is life in sports beyond high school.  But there was still time enough for the two of them to go to a Darius Rucker concert, walk around downtown and take in the fall colors.  You can’t ask for more when you’re in your twenties.

We picked Clare up from the airport yesterday, and she spent the night.  The highlight of the evening was our couch conference with the TV turned to the MLB Network.  How would we pitch the unbelievably hot Daniel Murphy, he of the seven postseason homeruns this fall?  We said it together, sliders down and away.