Syracuse Anonymous

I’ve heard people get the shakes. Others who have done it warned me not to go cold turkey; they said the body can’t handle withdrawal from something it knew for years. They warned me I wouldn’t make it a week without falling off the wagon.

One of my friends recommended me to a meeting he knew. They are every Wednesday night at the local Knights of Columbus.

Hello, my name is Jesse Caputo, and I am an Orange addict…

I guess I’ve been an addicted now for about three years. My freshman year at Syracuse I was happy to be there, but I didn’t “love” it. I didn’t need to be there or miss it whenever I went without it for a couple days. When people asked me if I loved it, I danced around the question with BS answers like “I don’t know if I love it, but can you love it? It’s just a school and none of my friends are here blah blah blah…” I was in a long-distance relationship and hadn’t had a complete freshman experience.

Sophomore year everything changed. Second semester I changed majors, was single again, and found a great group of friends to paint my face with every week at basketball games and party with afterwards. We would get to games a minimum of three hours early, and we practically had a reserved spot in one of the front rows which we claimed for most of the big games. We celebrated after wins and commiserated after loses together. I didn’t have a care in the world and for the first time was truly relaxed and comfortable at school. I think the moment that really got me on board was Valentines Day. We had two feet of snow and classes were cancelled for the first time in 13 years. My friends and I played in the snow all afternoon and then ate chocolate and watched movies all evening. It didn’t get much better. I became an addict.

Junior year things got hot and heavy. I couldn’t stand to go a couple days without a hit of ‘Cuse, or else I’d get uneven, a chance of the shakes, and irritable. I was close to my friends, had my own room in my on campus apartment, and was rooming with my best friend. Things were great. I was skiing on nights during the weekend, at basketball games at The Dome (which had become a given at this point), enjoying life, and making lasting connections with friends. My roommate and I sophomore year had our ups and downs, sometimes getting along and sometimes hating each other. But now, junior year, we were becoming the best of friends. Second semester we were going out together every weekend, having a blast, and dare I say it, becoming best friends? I was addicted to Syracuse, and everything that went along with it.

Senior year was just amazing. My best friends and I all lived in the same building and things couldn’t have been better. Halo, Rock Band, Gears Of War 2, and beer pong were mainstays. Friday and Saturday nights usually went something like this…. Basketball, beer pong, and then Chucks for a night of mayhem and stupidity. It was crazy and the greatest of things at all times. Walking in to Chucks and seeing your friends, hanging out together, sharing stories, and laughing are things I got so used to, I guess you can say I became addicted to them. I had to have my fix of crazy nights at least once a week. Basketball games were classic. Face paint was still a mainstay. We showed up for the Georgetown game 5 hours early and had a regular crew of friends who were down for being up at 8 am for 12 pm games. I met an amazing girl who I’m still dating, and became really close friends with her roommates. I experienced my first true road trip in a whirlwind weekend trip to Memphis and back for the Sweet 16 to watch Syracuse get stomped by Blake Griffin and Oklahoma. The game was terrible, but the trip was something I’ll never forget. I gave weekly tours of campus to prospective students, giving them a taste of my four amazing years on campus and what the future could hold for them. I was an addict, refusing to give up my friends, my life style, and everything I had come to know the last four years.

This past summer was still college-like, with lots of fooling around and serious working was only for a short time. But now I’m working full time, and can only watch Syracuse basketball when it’s being carried by SNY or on ESPN. I was at a bar last week watched ‘Cuse beat Florida in a thriller in a bar filled with orange-clad alum filling the bar with “Lets Go Orange!” cheers. It was great…for what it was. An alumni event. Sitting at the bar, listening to the cheers, I was happy and sad at the same time.

I missed Syracuse so much at that moment. I missed being there, jumping up and down in the stands, losing my voice yelling like a maniac, celebrating after games, and spending days after class in front of the TV playing video games and laughing with my friends. Now we are dispersed around the country all trying to begin the next phase of our lives. Luckily I still get to see the Orange run the court live every once in a while when they come to their second home, Madison Square Garden, and treat thousands of Syracuse alum and fans to a treat. I watched them romp Cal and UNC a few weeks ago, and there was nothing better. Thankfully I made my dad a Syracuse fan so he has no problem going to games. We even have tickets for the Villanova game back in Syracuse.

My sister warned me about withdrawal from college. She said she knew people from Syracuse and heard it took months for them to get over graduation. I brushed off what she said, thinking that wouldn’t be me. I was stronger than that. I loved ‘Cuse, but I was going to be fine. When this summer came and went and I was still fine, I thought,”pft, that was a breeze.” But no! It wasn’t over. Now that I’m back in the real world, and not the Wild West it has hit me like a ton of bricks. I miss everything at once and have moments when I’m so lost in memory I almost become depressed, but then I bring myself out of it when I think of the fun times, and I’m glad I got to experience them.

There are people who go to school and want nothing more than to be done with it and go on with their lives. They count down the days from freshman orientation to graduation and just try to make it there. They don’t keep in touch with friends, and they certainly don’t show school pride. While I miss school like anything, I feel fortunate I got to experience it at all and am part of such a passionate, knowledgeable and school-loving alumni group.

I still wear Syracuse gear at least once a week, but now I don’t wear it with the knowledge that I’m going back tomorrow, the next day, or next week to Paradise. I’ve traded in the daily school garb for business casual and 9 to 5. Instead, I now pull on my eye-blinding, spot-you-anywhere-in-a-crowd orange to remind myself of all the fun I had with all my friends and memories of time past.