When Perry Patterson was signed and then quickly released by the Arena Football League’s Columbus Destroyers last week, the local television stations thought it was news, and the segment made its rounds on the evening newscasts.

Just to lay out the facts of the scenario clearly: a two-year removed, historically underachieving, former Syracuse quarterback had a less than 48-hour stint with a team that most people have never heard of, which plays in a second-tier professional league.

And watchers of the area’s evening news knew all about it.

The Patterson story is indicative of a trend in the sports landscape of the city of Syracuse, where the happenings of former SU athletes are closely followed and often reported on. The town’s dedication to athletes who no longer play here has grown from the lack of a local professional franchise and the broader alumni obsession of this university.

Kevin Maher, a sports anchor on the local CBS affiliate, WTVH, said his network does a story on a former Orange player at least three to four times a week.

‘Once an SU player, always an SU player. You can’t forget a guy who played through here,’ Maher said. ‘You don’t leave the memories of SU fans.’

Maher and his colleagues take a number of factors into consideration when deciding if they will run a story on former athletes. The newsroom decision is made depending on the player’s prominence and the rarity of his achievement.

‘I think (alumni coverage) is always newsworthy if they are doing the [ITALICS]right[/ITALICS] kind of thing,’ Maher said.

He admits that on a slow day the Syracuse audience might be treated to Nuggets highlights (even if ‘Melo didn’t score 30) or a recap of the Colts matchup (with a special focus on Marvin Harrison’s touchdown catch). Yet, if Dwight Freeney has a big day or Hakim Warrick has a triple-double, it will definitely make the news.

This is the story of a media market without a major sports franchise and a Division I college sports program serving as the premier ticket. And while it may be more common in the American heartland, the norm on the East coast is a professional team to offer the top billing.

Not only is Syracuse lacking a professional team, but the product in the Carrier Dome is quickly accumulating a thread of disheartening seasons. Sports aficionados turn to former stars as an escape to past.

So, around these parts, there is often an ESPN-like hodgepodge of Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Memphis Grizzlies, New York Giants and BK Ventspils – former guard and fan favorite Gerry McNamara’s current squad in Latvia – highlights. It’s not necessarily bad, but it’s the way the Syracuse sports fan gets by. It is just different.

In Hartford, Conn., the home of the Connecticut Huskies, NBC WVIT’s sports anchor, Kevin Nathan, said his network only features the accomplishments of former Huskies if they do something ‘above and beyond.’

‘It’s more on the rare side,’ Nathan said of ex-UConn coverage. ‘It’s not that we ignore it.’

Nathan cites two major differences between his network and those in Syracuse: Hartford’s station covers Boston’s professional sports teams regularly, and UConn has a great deal of more former players in the NBA.

‘For us, being a UConn alum isn’t enough. There has to be news involved,’ Nathan said. ‘With us, we have three or four Carmelos and seven or eight Hakim Warricks.’

What Nathan is missing is that the current Huskies continue to find success, both on the court and the gridiron.

In Syracuse, close tabs are kept on long-gone players from a winning past. Maher named Anthony, Donovan McNabb and McNamara as the three former athletes who receive the most attention from local newscasters.

Fans in the Salt City have a hard time letting go.

‘A teenage kid can come and completely capture the heart of this town,’ Maher said.

Even players who don’t smash records during their run here can make their way back into the local consciousness.

When the New York Giants’ David Tyree made one of the greatest catches in Super Bowl history last month, Maher’s station ran pieces on the former special teams star for four days straight. The anchor is anticipating the university will bring Tyree back to at least ‘run out of the tunnel before a game.’

There is more likely a deeper psychological issue at hand. Orange fans aren’t exclusively thrilled to see a former athlete; it’s an escape from the current state of SU sports.

Fans are tired of losing, and when they see the old heroes, it brings back the memories of SU’s glory days. Watching McNabb elude a linebacker on Sundays reminds fans of an era when fall Saturday’s had meaning and drew sellout crowds. A highlight of Warrick hustling up and down a Memphis court opens up memories of a magical block in New Orleans – a time when the campus buzz words were ‘national championship,’ not ‘bubble team.’

At the end of the day, Syracuse is a city with two teams that once competed at the top of Division I athletics. With those programs floating in mediocrity, it is no wonder former players garner interest. Watching winners brings back memories of when winning was synonymous with this school.

And that’s why the local media can’t let go either.

Matt Reilly is the sports and the media columnist for The Daily Orange where his columns appear biweekly. He can be reached at msreilly@syr.edu.

Published on March 3, 2008 at 12:00 pm