Hello All,
Alright, I know what you're thinking...actually I don't. But I know what I am thinking, and it lacks any real theme. Bear with me, because this is pretty much just a series of rants.
Pete Carroll
Ok, so everyone is talking about Pete Carroll being unsportsmanlike for his actions against UCLA. For those who are unfamiliar, Carroll and USC were up 14 points with 52 seconds left against their rival. Carroll had his team take a knee. UCLA responded by calling a timeout. As in, USC was trying to run the clock out and save UCLA some more embarassment in their rivalry game when UCLA suddenly and indescribably called timeout. To try and get the ball back. Obviously, Carroll was pissed off. His reaction? He called a deep route to his star receiver...and hit a 47 yard touchdown pass. This sparked a near brawl between the two squads and turned every sports writer in the country against Carroll. My question is why? Why be pissed at Carroll. First, he was labeled unsportsmanlike. My answer to this is "yeah right". All Petey did was oblige Neuheisel, who had decided he still wanted to play. "Oh yeah, you want to keep playin'? Well here it comes, see if you can stop it." Honestly, I wish Randy Shannon would do this every now and then to teams like Virginia. Actually, we should do it to everyone. After all, every team that plays Miami will run it up if they get the chance. Second of all, Carroll was labeled a hypocrite. He got pissed at Stanford for running the score up and going for two late. He may have had a point, although USC has run up the score on plenty of people. However, Carroll against UCLA is completely different from Harbaugh against USC. Carroll tried to kill the clock and UCLA stopped it. End of story.
The ACC
Honestly, I have always though the ACC was a joke and that Miami should have stayed independent instead of joinging the Big East in 1993 (private TV contract, awesome schedule, etc.). This week has just cemented it. First, Randy Shannon gets no votes for ACC Coach of the Year. Randy wasn't the coach of the year, but David Cutcliffe got votes and Randy didn't? Duke lost to William and Mary. MARY is in the school's name for God's sake! This is ridiculous. Then, the ACC begins to reward the mediocrity (the same conference that is trying to get rid of the "Mediocre" label) of a 6-6 team because their coach is retiring. Bobby Bowden is a great coach. He has done a lot for the sport and is a good person in general. However, I didn't get the memo that teams get to name their terms for bowl games all of a sudden. The best way to honor Bobby is to send his team to the bowl they have earned and treat him like a big boy. As a Miami fan, it pisses me off. But I don't see how anyone can see this in a good light. FSU passing up any 7, 8 or 9 win team for a bowl just because that's what Bobby wants is not how college football is supposed to work...and this is why bowl games are meaningless Scarpa.
Recruiting
Miami has received "decommitments" from Greg Dent and Louis Nix, highly regarded recruits, in the past week. This has resulted in me getting a series of panicked texts from my buddy J-Kill. My question, as usual, is "Why?". First of all, none of these kids has played a down yet, so who the hell knows what their loss means. It is a crapshoot. Secondly, the one thing Randy Shannon has proven without a doubt is that he can recruit. He probably knows better than us. And if he loses a guy he wants, he probably will find a replacement somewhere. It just isn't worth getting worked up about at this point. It is fun to follow, and I am just as addicted to following the saga that is recruiting as the next guy (just ask my dad...he finds it highly annoying). However, I feel like I end up writing the same thing every year. It is not how many stars the kid is rated coming in, it matters how he is thought of when he leaves The U behind. And that is the takeaway...don't get too worried about what some 17 or 18 year old kid is saying, becuase until he does it for US, then it doesn't matter. As we enter the space between the regular season and the bowl season, recruiting will move to the forefront. Please, no more panicky e-mails or text messages!
Weekly Picks
I went 7-6 last week...not great, but very workmanlike. Brings me to 54-43...Movin' up like the Goddam Jeffersons.
Oregon over Oregon State: "Civil War" is such a great nickname for a rivalry game, although I can't figure out how ALabama-Auburn or Virginia-Virginia Tech didn't procure the rights. Roses for the Ducks! Hopefully no one gets punched over this one.
Central Michigan over Ohio: No idea why...so why the hell not? Go Directional Michigan!
Cincinatti over Pitt: The Brian Kelly farewell tour begins.
Cal over Washington
West Virginia over Rutgers
UConn over USF
Houston over East Carolina
FAU over FIU: Schnells. 'Nuff said.
Georgia Tech over Clemson: Because Miami needs this to happen in order to possibly get the Champs Sports Bowl and allow Stein on the Sidelines to afford a trip to the game. Which means it won't happen. But I am trying to put good vibes out in to the universe.
Texas over Nebraska: Well, maybe Nebraska will keep it close for a half. Or a quarter. Like I said, just trying to put a good vibe out there.
UF over 'Bama: In the latest "Game of the Century", Florida will keep it close and let Tebow win it late (c'mon reverse jinx, c'mon baby!) and hopefully not get anyone arrested in between. Hey did I mention that Florida had another player arrested this week? That brings the total to something like 21 different Urban Meyer recruits to be arrested. He's great.
And that is it for my ranting and raving for the week. Good hunting, and Go Anyone but the Gators!
Guard the inbound passer.
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