Syracuse Football Starts The Season Winning Off The Field

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Malcolm Gladwell's article on how underdogs increase their chances of success by using unorthodox approaches is great in theory, but how many entities have actually utilized it? 

Well, I know of at least one.

Saying SU Football is in a rough stretch would be a tremendous understatement. Greg Robinson pioneered the worst tenure in program history and left new coach Doug Marrone with a squad recently called the worst BCS program. To the program's credit, they came up with a trendy campaign to renew interest in the team. 

You can become the Official SU Football Blogger.

SU Athletics sent an e-mail out about the competition and now there is a link on the site. All it takes to enter is a brief sample post on how you are an SU fan and why you would make a good blogger. You can check my sample out below but regardless of your interest in SU football or blogging, admit it: This is a nice approach to regaining relevance for an entity sitting firmly in the underdog role.

"Entry Post"

Syracuse Football fandom doesn't start in the women's section of a thrift store, but it can certainly reach new heights there.

Confused? Don't be. My name is Nathan Mattise and I'm a passionate fan of Syracuse University Athletics (all SU Athletics but for the task at hand, let's focus on football).

I'm an alumnus who as an undergraduate learned to play traditional grip snare drum to earn free tickets. When the televised poker craze swept the nation, the 3-9 of any suit became my favorite starting hand (affectionately named "the Walter Reyes"). I secretly own a McNabb jersey despite being birthed a Redskins fan and @syracusedotcom is my most read news source, I still watch every game I can on Time Warner Sports (including the gutwrenching win against Northeastern last season) ...

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