A gray sky stretched over the city of Syracuse as fans were pouring into bars and restaurants on Marshall Street Saturday night. By 7 p.m. powdery snow, blown by piercing wind reminiscent of Syracuse’s winter, was falling on the street and the temperature dropped to the low 40s.

Even though some fans put their hands in their pockets and walked faster to get to their destination, the weather itself did not prevent them from coming out and watching the Orange challenge No.1 seed North Carolina in the Final Four. The Orange ultimately ended up losing that challenge, though, at 83-66.

On Marshall Street, foot traffic increased as time went by. Hundreds of people — most of them wearing orange apparel — went back and forth along the street where paper plates and beer cans were left sporadically. A line to get inside Chuck’s Cafe spilled out onto a pedestrian sidewalk on South Crouse Avenue at one point.

“If you are a Syracuse fan, there’s only one place that you wanna be outside of the Carrier Dome to watch Syracuse play in the tournament and that’s Marshall Street,” said David Menkin, who was standing outside Fagean’s Cafe and Pub.

He added that people don’t get to see a scene like this anywhere else but Marshall Street.

The Syracuse Police Department shut down Marshall Street and parts of South Crouse Avenue to avoid potential mayhem. Cars — except patrol cars and delivery vehicles — were not allowed to go through, and parked cars on the street were towed.

Once the game started, foot traffic waned on the street and the calmness returned there.

In return, Syracuse fans inside Varsity Pizza erupted with cheers and stood up with both fists up in the air as SU scored.

Libby Weber, a sophomore music industry major, showed up at the restaurant around 7:30 p.m. with her friends. Weber said she decided to come out because she liked the atmosphere of being around a crowd of fans.

“The atmosphere of the campus today in general was just really intense, and it’s cool to be in a crowd of people that are just so hyped for the game,” Weber said.

Kevin Bufford jokingly said SU better win because he bet money. Bufford said he drove to Syracuse all the way from Alabama.

“It’s ‘Cuse, man! ‘Cuse made the Final Four! Why the hell do you think I am here!? Come on,” Bufford said with smile on his face when he was asked why he is in Syracuse.

Then he said he’s actually here to attend a conference for law school.

He added that he’s rooting for Syracuse over North Carolina because he likes the underdog.

Inside Varsity, Syracuse fans filled nearly all available seating. Fans constantly came in and out of the restaurant as they grabbed a bite to eat or sat down to watch the game. A main projector attracted a majority of eyeballs even though it screened the game with a five-second delay relative to four televisions set up in the corners.

By 10 p.m., Varsity exhausted the amount of pizza dough they had prepared for the day. Lights were turned off at the cashier station and incoming customers were told pizza is sold out. Varsity sold more than $4,000 worth of pizza on Saturday, said Justin Patricolo, an employee at Varsity.

As the game went by, the frequency of cheering dwindled. Syracuse was struggling to close the gap during the second half when North Carolina’s offense slowly began to crumble SU.

Fans moaned in frustration whenever Syracuse missed a basket.

Toward the end of the game, one fan murmured, “Please baby Orange Jesus give me a 3 (point shot).”

One fan stared at a TV screen with glistening eyes. A few others rested their elbows on the table and crossed their hands under their chins, their eyes glued nervously to the projector.

“We are not giving up. Nobody is giving up,” Matt Cady, a Class of 2008 SU alumnus, shouted at the crowd as he stood on a chair.

Despite his chanting, some began to head out with about 39.5 seconds left in the game. When the game ended, fans got up from chairs and scuttled away heading out onto the snowy streets of Syracuse.

Cady said after the game that he and his friends rented a house in Syracuse for the weekend. When they were in Syracuse four weeks ago, they jokingly said they would come back to Syracuse in a month if SU made the Final Four.

“And it happened,” he said.

Reflecting on SU’s loss, Cady said it was “a tough pill to swallow.”

“But we didn’t expect to make it this far. Honestly, everything after the Tournament is gravy,” Cady said.

Alicia Rivera, a sophomore public relations major, said despite the loss being upsetting, she thinks the team — and particularly Trevor Cooney — did an amazing job. She added that she’s hopeful for Sunday’s women’s Final Four game against the University of Washington.

Rivera’s father, Tony, drove from Boston with his son, Cameron, to see the game with Alicia. When asked about any particularly memorable moment from the weekend, Tony said it was “an entire experience.”

Cameron said Syracuse played with confidence the entire time, unlike the University of Oklahoma, he said, which “just stopped” and “let Villanova destroy them” in the Final Four game before Syracuse’s.

“But Syracuse, even though they were losing, they kept coming back,” Cameron said. “They kept trying to hit the shot. They kept putting it all out there.”

Published on April 3, 2016 at 9:24 am

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