How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way To Brainwash Your Child Into Becoming A Syracuse Fan [Paperback]

Sean Keeley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2010

Being a parent is hard. Make the wrong decisions and your child can grow up to do something terrible, like root for Georgetown. How To Grow An Orange shows every parent how to make sure that never happens...by providing them with everything they could ever possibly want to know about Syracuse University sports. No Orange fan should be without this guide to the people, places and history of SU. How To Grow An Orange is perfect for any Syracuse fan, alumni, parent or incoming student. It is not, however, perfect for a Georgetown or UConn fan. It's unfortunately too late for them.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

When I started my blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician in 2006, I had absolutely no idea that I'd one day write a book about Syracuse sports. I didn't even think I'd ever write a book. However every year I wrote the blog it was another year of Syracuse knowledge, history and passion under my belt. The more I learned, the deeper the traditions went and the bigger the fan I became.

I wrote the book first and foremost for myself. I wanted to learn the entire history of the school, the sports programs and the players that made it famous. As a Syracuse grad ('00), I wanted to find out what came before me and why its important to keep those traditions going.

I also wrote the book for every Syracuse fan out there interested in digging a little deeper into their love for SU. Whether its basketball, football, lacrosse or another sport altogether, if you love Syracuse, I hope you'll enjoy this book. At the end of the day, I want it to be fun. It should be informative and interesting, but it should be entertaining as well.

G'Orange!

About the Author

Born and raised in Central NJ just 20 minutes from Rutgers, it's a miracle that Sean Keeley never became a Scarlet Knight fan. Then again, no one in New Jersey even began rooting for Rutgers until 2004 so it's a moot point.

Sean graduated Syracuse in 2000 with a double major in Marketing & Entrepreneurship and if there's any advice he can give, it is...don't do that. Major in something creative. Write. Paint. Dance. Emote. Unless you're going to be a doctor or an accountant, your major is irrelevant.

His favorite Syracuse-related sports moments while at SU are storming the field after the '98 Virginia Tech win, storming the court after beating Georgetown and awkwardly making eye contact with Donovan McNabb one time on the South Campus shuttle.

After college, Sean moved out to LA and started up a Syracuse blog called Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician. Four years later, it's the No. 1 independent Syracuse blog, attracting over 200K unique visitors a month. Sean's writing has appeared on ESPN.com, FoxSports.com, CBSSports.com, Deadspin.com and Syracuse.com. He is also a frequent guest on various Syracuse radio sports-talk shows.

Sean currently lives in Seattle with his wife, Lucy, who doesn't care about Syracuse sports.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Wordclay (August 12, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1604817739
• ISBN-13: 978-1604817737
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 0.7 x 6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and raised in Central NJ just 20 minutes from Rutgers, it's a miracle Sean Keeley never became a Scarlet Knight fan. Then again, no one in New Jersey even began rooting for Rutgers until 2004 so it's a moot point.

Sean graduated Syracuse in 2000 with a double major in Marketing & Entrepreneurship and if there's any advice he can give, it is...don't do that. Major in something creative.

The best Syracuse-related sports moments of his time at SU are storming the field after the '98 Virginia Tech win, storming the court after beating Georgetown and awkwardly making eye contact with Donovan McNabb one time on the South Campus shuttle.

After college he worked in NYC for a couple years then moved out to LA, where he started the blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician. It has since become the No. 1 independent Syracuse blog, reaching over 200K unique visitors a month.

Sean currently lives in Seattle with his wife, Lucy, who does not care about Syracuse sports.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars If you don't like this book, you hate America... well at least the part of America that is Syracuse September 14, 2010

By Paul Lindars

Format:Paperback

I did not attend Syracuse University. The closest I got was attending college in Rochester, some 90 minutes away. As such, while I was aware of the fact that there was a university there and that that university fielded teams in a number of sports, their success, failure, or tradition was never much concern to me. In fact, since I had grown up in an area that was dominated by professional sports teams, and my school of choice did not have any Division 1 programs, the entire college sports landscape was something that might have existed on another planet. Then I got married. My wife, who grew up in a suburb of Syracuse and whose father, uncle, and aunt were all alumni had been attending games with her family for two decades by the time she and I met. Cheering for SU came as naturally to her as breathing. Since I suddenly found myself with a college team to cheer for, I needed to come up to speed quickly on the history and tradition of the school so that I could talk smack intelligently at the local pub. If only I had this book handy during that time.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am a daily visitor and commenter to Mr. Keeley's blog, so his sense of humor and reporting style are familiar to me. That having been said, even someone with no knowledge of his writing before finding this book would find it as entertaining as it is informative. It is both a personal narrative into Keeley's own time as a student at Syracuse-documenting events and encounters not necessarily unique to that institution-and also a guide to the history of the school's three major sports teams (football, basketball and lacrosse).
The book is accessible to the neophyte Orangeman not only because of the amount of detail and context provided, but also because it is clearly written by a fellow fan (even one who admittedly was raised rooting for the school's hated rivals). The book is not a comprehensive history of any person or event associated with the university, nor is it meant to be. The academic historian would undoubtedly take note with its lack of references and bibliography to support what is clearly extensive research. However they would be missing the point of the book entirely. While the title and format suggest a tongue-in-cheek manual for brainwashing your offspring to cheer for Syracuse athletics, it might well also be titled "An Idiot's Guide to Syracuse Fandom." Armed with the information herein, any barroom trivia contest or tailgating discussion should easily be mastered. This book ought to be assigned to incoming freshmen at SU as mandatory reading before they are able to purchase their student tickets to sporting events. They will find it invaluable in understanding the traditions they are supporting, and give hope that the football team will turn it around some season, and if not, there's always basketball and lacrosse around the corner.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Buy the print version!!! December 20, 2012

By Scott Midgley

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is based upon the Kindle version of the book. The writing is great, but the formatting is horrible. The formatting needs to be addressed in order for the rating to improve. Having said that, as an Orange fan, the book is great. I'm a Syracuse native (and now a DC resident surrounded by the evil that is Georgetown), and it's always fascinating to see how students from all over the country come to Syracuse and become a part of the Orange culture, and carry it with them for life.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this. Why? Because I said so. November 15, 2010

By Newsdork

Format:Paperback

This book is must-have for any fan of the Syracuse Orange, anyone who knows one, or anyone who plans to make one. Sean is a gifted writer. Check out his work daily at nunesmagician.com. This would make a great Christmas or Hanukkah gift for the Syracuse fan in your life.