A Farewell to Nunes: My Favorite Memories as an Absolute Magician

One last post of thanks before I head out the revolving doors

After two-and-a-half great years covering the Syracuse Orange on campus, then continuing to help out remotely for another, my time on the TNIAAM staff has come to an end.

It’s for a good reason, though. Before coming to SU, I wasn’t sure what job I’d be doing full-time after graduating. I’m happy to say that the writing I’ve compiled here has landed me a position with the Athlon Sports MLB team, primarily focusing on the Phillies.

Before I officially say goodbye, I went back through the over 900 articles I’ve had a byline in to recall my best Nunes moments:

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Dis-honorable Mention: WLAX Jinx

In 2023, the Syracuse women’s lacrosse squad was one win away from a perfect regular season. But after building a five-goal halftime lead over Boston College, the Orange surrendered a late rally and lost by just one goal in front of a packed SU Soccer Stadium crowd. You can blame me for that since I went specifically to cover the undefeated team…

#10 – Gotta Start Somewhere

My very first article for TNIAAM was on then women’s ice hockey head coach Paul Flanagan and the program reaching 200 wins. I would end up going back to WICE coverage several times throughout my time on the site – they were an interesting team to cover, being only one of two non-ACC teams on campus.

#9 – Learning A New Game

I had never watched a second of lacrosse before arriving in Syracuse. You can guess how quickly that changed. The first Dome event students were allowed in to see during COVID year was a men’s lacrosse game, and I’d go on to cover a handful of them once joining on here.

It’s also the sport where I had my most *unique* postgame presser experience:

#8 – JGIII’s Return

For all of Joe Girard’s defensive faults as an SU player, he still gave it his all during four years with the program. I was happy to see him succeed with the right personnel around him at Clemson – and also silence the boos sent his way with four threes during his return to ‘Cuse.

#7 – Boeheim’s Proper Sendoff

Jim Boeheim’s career ended ugly in more ways than one. From his 2-3 being totally outmatched by even mediocre ACC squads to an unceremonious announcement of his dismissal after a one-and-done in the conference tournament, it went about as bad as it could on all fronts.

Which is why giving him his day in the spotlight the next year – even if it didn’t draw 30k like John Wildhack said it would – helped set things right for one of the greatest CBB coaches of all time.

It was also my last official game assignment as a student reporter, not counting the subsequent football spring game.

#6 – Daily In-Season Football Coverage

During my two years on the Nunes football beat, I attended weekly pressers from Dino Babers and interviewed many of the players, putting together a series of updates and player profiles. A few examples had to do with an increase in turnovers, the o-line’s depth, and SU’s offensive identity under Babers. Overall, the experience of being around other, more experienced beat writers and reporters while trying to build my own unique stories was exactly the environment I expected to be in at Syracuse.

#5 – Fran’s Intro Press Conference

I’ll always be a little bummed that I graduated right before Fran Brown took over the football program, but at least I got to cover his entrance and first spring camp. Right from the first time media spoke with him, you could tell things were going to be different. Fran was something new, and whether it ultimately worked or not – spoiler, it did – it was so refreshing to see a completely new approach. More on that later…

#4 – Going Bowling After Shrader’s Return

My senior year saw me up in the press box for all six Dome football games, and boy was it a whirlwind. From a 4-0 start to losing five in a row, then ultimately ending with interim head coach Nunzio Campanile and a revitalized Garrett Shrader leading SU to a Senior Day victory. For all the turmoil of that season – one where SU didn’t even have a QB for two games – this was a well-deserved win, both literally and morally, for the crew that had stuck around.

#3 – Sean Tucker’s Pro Decision

The first major piece of news I broke in my journalism career:

#2 – Football Opponent Preview Series

My absolute favorite series during my TNIAAM career. I was lucky to inherit these from previous schedule fanatic John Cassillo and had a blast doing deep dives into each regular season opponent SU football faced the last three seasons. Just ignore a couple of my predictions…

#1 – “Entitlement Will Not Live Here!”

Fran had some excellent liners in 2024 spring camp, but this had to be one of the best (second video):

It didn’t end up on a shirt, but at least it’s immortalized on the Nunes social media bio.

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Finally, I’d like to give one last thanks to everyone who has read, shared, and commented on my content here. Whether you’ve been with me since all the way back in sophomore year, just caught a few of the recent MBB portal updates, or hopped on somewhere in between, it’s been a pleasure.

(Note from Kevin: Just wanted to thank Mike for all his contributions to TNIAAM. We’ve been lucky to have him here and are excited to follow his future in journalism and there’s always a spot for him on the Habs bandwagon when Sidney Crosby gets to fulfill his dream of playing in Montreal)