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After ringing the trading bell on Wall Street, cruising around New York City and touring Yankee Stadium, it's time for the Orange team to get down to the business of the first New Era Pinstripe Bowl Thursday against Kansas State.

“We've had a great week,” Orange coach and Bronx native Doug Marrone said in thanking New Era, Yankees president Randy Levine and the Steinbrenner family.

“It's been a great experience for our players, but really in the last 48, 72 hours we been trying to make sure we got the players focused on what we came here to do, and that's win a football game.”

Among the football-specific items on the Orange work list lately have been replacing captain Rob Long.  Sidelined by recent surgery to remove a tumor from his brain, Long will be replaced by three different players in the game: Ryan Lichtenstein (likely punting for the first time in college career; has seen no action in 2010),  Ross Krautman (who had split the kickoff duties evenly with Long) and Charlie Loeb (backup quarterback holding in games for the first time).

Long told our Brian Higgins that he plans to be on the field for the coin toss.

Yankee Clips: In recording some brief pieces that will air on our broadcast of the game, I spoke last week with former Yankee Sparky Lyle and current reliever Joba Chamberlain.  I told Lyle, the 1977 American League Cy Young Award winner that Coach Marrone grew up around Yankee Stadium and closely followed the Bronx Bombers of the 1970s with a special affinity for third baseman Graig Nettles.  “He was my guy too,” Lyle said of the slick fielder.

Chamberlain, a product of a Kansas State Big 12 nemesis Nebraska, said to the Orange “Purple isn't my favorite color either and don't mess up the locker room.”  Marrone is using Yankee manager Joe Girardi's office this week.  The plan was to put captains Ryan Bartholomew and Derrell Smith into the clubhouse stalls of Yankee legends Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera.

Matt's Musings:

·         The men's basketball team just finished a 2010 in which it went 31-5.  That's a record for number of wins in a calendar year.  The Orange won 30 games in 2009, 2003 and 1988.

This Week's Broadcasts:
Tonight/8:00 p.m.   TK99/ESPN97.7   Bowl special from BowlMor Lanes in Times Square
Tom./2:00 p.m.       TK99/ESPN97.7   New Era Pinstripe Bowl vs. Kansas St.
Sat./2:00 p.m          TK99/ESPN97.7   MBB vs. Notre Dame
* ESPN Radio 97.7 FM and Time Warner Cable Sports have nearly around-the-clock coverage of the bowl game.  Festivities start at 10:00 a.m. Thursday.