I’ve written stories for this paper from a field house in Annapolis, Md., and a forum in Boston. A bowl in Miami and a ballpark in Phoenix. A civics center in Hartford and a coliseum in Morgantown, W.Va. A street in New Orleans and a garden in New York. Many more I’ve typed here, in this creaky white house at the intersection of Ostrom and Clarendon. More than 200 in all. This, though, this is it. I’ve been here long enough.

Long enough, in fact, to remember Tom Brady and Drew Henson winning in the Dome.

Long enough to remember — gasp! — storming the court one Big Monday night three years ago.

Long enough to remember Etan Thomas looking like Dikembe Mutombo and Tony Bland looking like, well, Tony Bland.

Long enough to remember what seemed like the longest scoreless drought this side of A.C. Green — the final 5 minutes, 54 seconds at the Palace of Auburn Hills on March 23, 2000.

Long enough to remember Dwight Freeney manhandling Michael Vick 4.5 times one night under the bubble.

Long enough to cover lacrosse (men’s and women’s), basketball (men’s and women’s) and football (that’ll be the day).

Long enough, basically, to have developed a handful of lasting impressions of Syracuse athletics.

(bullet) For everything it lacks — open air, real grass, real seats, comfort and a color other than gray — the Carrier Dome is genuinely unique. I’ve watched games in 14 professional hockey arenas, 10 major-league ballparks, five pro football stadiums and two NBA arenas, plus Neyland Stadium, Lane Stadium, the Big House and the Orange Bowl. I’ve been to the Final Four, the Fiesta Bowl, the MLB All-Star Game and conference finals in the NBA and NHL. Still, among the top five most electrifying environments I’ve experienced, I list regular-season games at the Dome twice. Those are: the men’s basketball team’s 88-74 blowout of No. 6 UConn on Jan. 24, 2000, and the football team’s 22-14 loss to No. 2 Virginia Tech on Oct. 21, 2000, in a game Syracuse led, 14-0.

How many other schools can host Billy Joel and Elton John, an NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite Eight and four teams’ home games under one roof — and a Teflon coated one at that?

(bullet) No way does the basketball team win the national championship this year if DeShaun Williams sticks around. I just typed and deleted this sentence: Imagine what went though Williams’ head while watching the Orangemen running it up against Kansas, a team that hammered them by 29 in the tournament two years ago. I don’t think he possesses the capacity to realize how badly he ruined his golden ticket.

It was bad enough to cover that squad — the word ‘team’ cannot be applied to the 2001-02 Orangemen — with Williams’ driving-while-ability-impaired conviction and Billy Edelin’s suspension. The only thing worse was the school’s denial of any wrongdoing on the part of its disgraced athletes.

No one will remember any of that now. Jim Boeheim won the lottery when Williams transferred, and the coach reinstated class to his program by bringing in freshmen with poise — both on and off the floor. I hope he continues to equally recruit character and talent.

Deep down, though, it’s difficult to fault him for taking the DeShaun Williamses of the world. If nothing else, covering sports at the Division I level taught me that a coach needs the best athletes to win, which sometimes means sacrificing character and academic capability. Personally, I would have tossed Williams about two years sooner and not invited Edelin back.

But I know what you’re thinking, and maybe you’re right: Look who’s wearing the ring.

(bullet) On that note, in the university’s 133-year history, we have one national championship in football and one in basketball. Each of us, therefore, is among one of only eight undergraduate classes — 1959-1962 and 2003-2006 — that can claim student status in a national-title year. Just making it a little easier to part with that tuition check.

(bullet) Covering the 10-3 football team in 2001-02 was a blast — an upset in blustery Blacksburg, Va., and a trip to balmy Phoenix, where P.J. Alexander and Sean O’Connor splashed around in the pool at Bank One Ballpark.

Then came this year, a 4-8 (fill in the blank). Paul Pasqualoni and Jake Crouthamel must go to bed each night thankful that Notre Dame visits the Dome next year. Imagine season-ticket sales with a home schedule of Louisville, Central Florida, Toledo, Boston College, Temple and West Virginia.

The primary concern for the athletic department should be dwindling fan interest, especially among the students who set the decibel bar inside the Dome. Cheering for Syracuse football is no longer cool the way it used to be. Basketball begins in late October. Students can wait two months to be entertained in the Dome, and many, I do believe, will.

(bullet) Reflections on four years of Syracuse sports would be incomplete without a mention of Troy Nunes. During his career here, the quarterback from Butler, Pa., came to be known not as Troy but Much-Maligned. Everywhere you looked: Much-Maligned Troy Nunes did so and so. But Nunes deserves credit for graduating last May and then sticking around to play another season and fulfill his eligibility.

Nunes was the classic case of an athlete vilified for something beyond his control, that being his ability. It wasn’t that Nunes slacked off or did not live up to our expectations. Quite the opposite. He arrived a 157-pound longshot and managed to start at quarterback in the Big East. No one ever questioned Nunes’ work ethic, yet time and again fans booed him mercilessly.

I, too, couldn’t stand Nunes the player. In the great debate, I was an R.J. guy. I watched Nunes hand away games to Virginia Tech and Boston College my sophomore year and wanted him gone. Those losses stung. But so too, I imagine, did all of the criticism Nunes endured, more than any other athlete during my time here. In hindsight, he deserved better.

(bullet) Finally, a few thanks …

… To Carrier Dome manager Pat Campbell, who every year opens the building up to the D.O. and WAER to wage an ego-laden, talent-lacking game of hoops.

… To the model athletes at Syracuse who practice as much as Carmelo Anthony and Mike Powell and Julie McBride but without the acclaim — the Ronneil Herrons and Nick Donatellis and Alex Mummolos.

… To the coaches and athletic administrators who — unlike some of their colleagues — afford D.O. reporters the same respect and rules they do writers from the Post-Standard.

… To every editor and writer at the D.O., for their class, humor and insight.

… To you the readers for your passionate responses — most especially to my column, ‘Winners Stay off the Court.’ Upon rereading those e-mails this week, I’ve come to think I failed as a columnist. It seems that some of you entertained me more than I did you.

Chris Snow was a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his columns appeared on Thursdays. E-mail him at [email protected].

Published on April 22, 2003 at 12:00 pm