Bester the Semester

Punt of the Litter

Let’s pretend last year’s team didn’t play a single game after the decisive Oct. 21, 2011 upset of then-11th-ranked West Virginia, so we can picture the Syracuse Orangemen as the confident 5-2 football team they started out like. It doesn’t take much imagination, because they didn’t seem to be planning on playing those last five games anyway. But fourth-year head coach Doug Marrone’s boys are back at .500 now, 0-0, same as everyone else for the start of the 2012 season. You’ll be able to catch the Swiss Army Knife-esque Ashton Broyld, the most talked-about new recruit, lined up at just about any position on the field. Might take snaps as quarterback, might rush the passer as a defensive end. Maybe he’ll sack himself. Who knows? The Orange kicks off the season at the Carrier Dome, 900 Irving Ave., at noon Sept. 1 against Northwestern. The rest of the home games are as follows: Stony Brook, Sept. 15, 4 p.m.; Pittsburgh, Oct. 15, 7 p.m.; Connecticut, Oct. 19, 8 p.m.; and Louisville, Nov. 17, at a time to be determined. Tickets cost $29 and up, and can be purchased at the Carrier Dome box office or online at carrierdome.com.

Destiny’s Child

This summer, Carousel Center, that gleaming retail expanse on the southern end of Onondaga Lake, took a page out of “Snoop Lion’s” book and changed its name to something no one’s ever going to call it with a straight face: Destiny USA. A massive new wing that includes outlets of more expensive stores—Michael Kors, Saks Off 5th and Brooks Brothers—and restaurants—Cantina Laredo and The Melting Pot—does lead to legitimate questions about whether the developers know their audience, and the airport-concourse cool purples-and-grays of the new section and its “Canyon” contrast mightily with the electric green of the older part, but there’s no denying it’s the biggest, most eye-catching mall you’ll find for several hours in any direction. Destiny USA has all the shops, restaurants and entertainment you need to while away a lazy Saturday afternoon. The Regal Cinemas movie theaters on the upper floors, especially, have always been a college student favorite, and that’s not going to change any time soon, no matter what the mall is called. And if you don’t have a car, don’t fret. Several Centro buses run to and from the mall every day, even weekends. For more information, visit destinyusa.com.

Jazz-ma-tazz

Onondaga Community College’s Legends of Jazz Series will bring two Grammy Award-winning acts to the Onondaga Hill campus this fall. On Wednesday, Oct. 10, 18-time Grammy award-winning Pat Metheny rolls into Storer Auditorium in Ferrante Hall with the Pat Metheny Unity Band. Metheny’s topped several “best jazz guitarist” lists over the years, and has performed hundreds of shows per year since 1974. A ticket to his show costs $35. Later, Philly jazzman Joey DeFrancesco rounds out the semester by bringing his Joey DeFrancesco Trio to play on Friday, Dec. 14. Those tickets cost $15 a piece. Tickets for both shows and future Legends of Jazz Series performers James Carter Organ Trio (above) at 7 p.m. Friday, March 8, and Jose Feliciano at 7 p.m. Friday, April 5, will become available at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, at Sound Garden, 310 W. Jefferson St. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit sunyocc.edu or call 498–2622.

Big Zac Attack

Both students and locals alike will have the rare chance to catch a show in the Carrier Dome, 900 Irving Ave., when the Zac Brown Band (above) brings its popular country act to town Friday, Nov. 16. The band, which played before the 2012 Major League Baseball Home Run Derby, has produced eight No. 1 singles on the country charts, starting with 2008’s “Chicken Fried” and including 2011’s “Knee Deep,” featuring Jimmy Buffett. In recent years student organizations have put together the one or two concerts held at the Dome each year, so people who don’t attend SU don’t have as many chances to purchase tickets. This is a break from that trend, so people from all over the area can feel free to use the next three months to grow the bushiest beards possible, if they so desire. Seats are already on sale for $29.50 and up at the Dome’s box office, on LiveNation.com, and at (800) 745-3000. There were about 30,000 seats available when tickets went on sale July 28.

Bang for your Puck

The Syracuse Crunch, Central New York’s minor league hockey team, begins its 2012-2013 campaign with a new NHL affiliation with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa must have wanted their players to come from a place with a similar climate to their own—hardee har-har. The American Hockey League action picks back up on Saturday, Oct. 13, in the Onondaga County War Memorial, 515 Montgomery St. The Crunch enter the new season with recycled ice and mascot—the ice from captured rainwater, and Crunchman, the mascot from the 1990s. Al, the world-famous, one-of-a-kind ice gorilla, has been relegated to stand-in status. Tickets range from $14 to $18 if booked in advance. Kids 12 and under cost $14. Tickets cost $2 more if purchased on the day of the game, and $3 more if the Crunch is playing Rochester. As of press time, the schedule had not been released, so visit syracusecrunch.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

Electric Avenue

While Tisto’s Club Life College Invasion Tour (above) might make you think the world-famous deejay christened his latest tour by randomly selecting five unrelated words that could appeal to 18- to 22-year-olds, you can be sure the War Memorial, 515 Montgomery St., will be packed when he comes to Syracuse at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2. The Swedish electro-house act Dada Life will open up for the Grammy-nominated Dutch house deejay. Tickets are on sale for $45 at Sound Garden, 310 W. Jefferon St.; the Oncenter box office, 760 S. State St.; and at upstateshows.com. Students can get discounted tickets at the Oncenter box office in a limited quantity for $40. Once those are gone, students have to pay the full $45.