One Word: Focus

Hello All,

It is upon us.

College football is back.

This is the best time of the year.

Baseball is getting down to brass tax and games are played with an unrelenting intensity. That is, unless you’re the Baltimore Orioles, who are mathematically eliminated from having a winning season in late August. And yet, I digress.

The days are the prettiest in late summer and early fall, as cold weather has not arrived yet but temperatures become more bearable. If you live somewhere with trees, the leaves turn color. If not, well, you get to be homesick thinking about how awesome it is when the leaves change color. Score another for Los Angeles.

The NFL is getting ready to start up, which is great for several reasons. Fantasy football brings the ultimate medium through which to talk smack to your friends. Going in to a bar on a Sunday and sitting in the middle of the groups of die-hard fans for various teams is always fun, especially since none of them harbor any ill-will toward the Dolphins…they don’t have any reason to. And, best of all, we get to hear Gator fans make up bad excuses for why their latest crop of rookies is busting. Again.

SIDENOTE: I can’t wait until Tebow has his first five interception game and the Gator bandwagoners say something like “It is the offense’s fault, he shouldn’t be throwing this much.” To defend a quarterback. But hey, at least he has a bright future as a moyel.

SIDENOTE TO A SIDENOTE: I drafted Tebow with my 15^th pick in one of my fantasy drafts. Just to have the satisfaction of cutting him.

Best of all, college football is back. College football engenders more passion and pageantry than all of the other sports in this fine nation of ours combined.

I have made and lost friends based on college football. Is that even remotely possible when it comes to the Dolphins or Orioles? Not at all.

College football for me means playing Kanye West’s “Amazing” on repeat as I struggle to sleep the night before gameday.

It means getting up at 9am and starting to tailgate by drinking a Budwesier. It means grilled food and Corn Hole. It means going into the stadium 90 minutes before kickoff because I want to watch the ‘Canes warm up.

It means eating the same food and listening to the same music and watching the same pump up videos before every game and only changing things up after a loss. It means my buddy getting up to take a pee after every bad play to “get rid of the bad urine”.

It means losing my voice before kickoff, even when I am watching alone on my computer. It means getting chills watching “I was born of a Great Storm” and watching the players come through the smoke.

It means calling my dad after every series of plays to discuss the overwhelming importance of each play. It means calling him after a tough loss just to make sure this wasn’t the game that killed him. It means talking to my mom to make sure this wasn’t the game that made her want to file for divorce from my father as well.

College football means all of these things and more. It is literally an indescribable feeling, that which I get when just thinking about the season.

It also means I get to write a season preview.

Now, these things generally go one of several crappy directions. The main problem is that they are written by people not close enough to the situation to write well about it, are over-generalized (Miami is only about speed, OSU is only about strength, etc.) and come out months before fall practice even starts.

I am not going to do the same cliché preview that everyone else has done. Instead, I will stick to my one point that I made at the end of last season.

There is a reason that young teams don’t win national titles. It is hard for young players to treat every play as if it is the last. They have to be punched in the mouth a few times, bloodied up and left in a crumpled heap by a loss to a team they should have beaten.

It is why repeat national championships typically do not happen in this sport. The upperclassmen dominate on dominant teams, and after a championship season they all leave. Which is why expecting a championship of Miami the last two seasons was ludicrous. Freshmen and sophomores can certainly contribute to title teams, but they usually are not relied upon to win or lose the game.

Alabama, for instance, had Mark Ingram (a sophomore), Julio Jones (a sophomore) and Trent Richardson (a freshman) play big roles last season. However, the guys they relied on to win were on their offensive line-yes, I am fairly certain Javarris James could have won a Heisman behind that line—and upperclassmen Rolando McClain and Terrance Cody on defense. Everyone else was a complimentary piece.

Miami’s big problem last season was that they played to the level of their competition too often. That meant getting amped up and playing big time football early on, but it also meant trouble when it came time to play the Dukes, Wake Forests and Clemsons of the world. That, plus a fluky string of injuries, doomed the ‘Canes chances of winning a division title.

Injuries are a part of the game, but I certainly think this year has to be better to the ‘Canes in that regard. It certainly cannot be worse.

Miami has holes and questions to answer, but so does every team, including Alabama.

There are the obvious ones: Can Jacory stay healthy and limit interceptions? Can the linebackers (whoever they are) cover a tight end? Can the defensive line set the rest of the defense up for success by pressuring the quarterback?

And then there is the one that people seem to be missing: Have the ‘Canes developed a killer instinct?

You seem the good thing about a young team is that they keep getting better. I thought this team looked great for much of last season, and I do not think that it peaked. However, listening to a lot of Miami fans, you would get the sense that because Jacory threw a lot of picks last season he will do it again this year. They don’t take in to account the fact that he might possible be even better in his second year as a starter and his second year in Mark Whipple’s system. They want to live in the present (“every year we expect a title”) and yet base all of their assumptions off of the past (“Jacory throws too many picks to ever win here”).

I am not worried about the team being physically better. I think that if the offensive line keeps opening holes for the run game as well as they did last season then opposing defenses will have nightmares trying to stop the ‘Canes of offense. I also think the offensive line will be better (they got more talented after having a solid year last season). So let me ask you this: how do you stop Mike James, Damien Berry, Lamar Miller, Graig Cooper AND Storm Johnson in the running game while also stopping Laron Byrd, Aldarious Johnson, Travis Benjamin, Leonard Hankerson, Kendall Thompkins AND Chase Ford in the passing game if the offensive line, which was solid last season, got even better?

I am worried, however, about the team playing with the kind of fire that past Hurricane champions had against teams like Duke and Wake Forest and Virginia.

In the old days, the ‘Canes got insulted that they had to share the field with those teams. They were the ‘Canes, these other teams were nobodies and they were going to prove it. Last year’s team had that mentality in the big games but lost it in the lower profile yet equally important conference games. The key to this season will be whether or not they can maintain their focus week to week. The schedule is packed with big time opponents and payback games, but there are potential traps against Maryland, Duke and Virginia. If the ‘Canes stay focused, they will avoid the traps and could be in the BCS Title conversation. If they lose focus, they likely will also lose the divisional race, and that would be a disappointment for this team.

NOTE: There will be no game preview for the FAMU game. I tried to do one two years ago for the season opener against Charleston Southern and it was terrible. There is not a lot of info out there about these teams and I haven’t found a forum to discuss these teams with their fans. In order to not make myself look like an idiot, the first game preview will be for Ohio State.

Always guard the inbound passer.

The Lost Class

Hello All,

The other day I was talking with my friend Tim about the upcoming football season. Tim said he had read my post about our toughest losses and said something along the lines of “we must have had the worst 4 year stretch of any class when it came to being football fans”.

This intrigued me. While I think that it was probably a class pre-1980 that had the worst 4 year stretch, back when the school almost folded the program and they gave away free game tickets at Burger King, since 1980 it is probably true. Here were our 4 seasons:

2005: 10-3, including a blowout loss in the Peach Bowl to LSU

2006: 7-6

2007: 5-7

2008: 7-6

We, as a class, watched Miami lose 23 times. That is a crazy number to wrap your head around

for a ‘Canes fan. My friend Francis started in 2006 and graduated a year early, meaning his three seasons saw the ‘Canes win half of their games.

I think that is a big reason why so many fans are having a hard time getting excited for this stretch of OSU-Pitt-Clemson-FSU this season.

The past 5 years has conditioned a large percentage of the alumni base to expect the worst. They do not expect improvement from year to year because their formative years as ‘Canes fans saw stagnation and regression. Miami fans are not the best to begin with, and a lot of them have short memories, which I think has a lot to do with the school’s heavily Northeastern accent. Anyway, fans are a little gun shy and cannot fully bring themselves to embrace this team as talented and ready to break out until they see it. It’s like the United States during the Cold War. We saw too many situations blow up in our face and finally embraced the “trust but verify” approach to foreign relations. Which, I might add, might not necessarily be a bad thing.

But, back to Tim’s point, we certainly did suffer through a terrible stretch.

Look at our Era:

· The Orange Bowl Finale Blowout

· Bryan Pata and Sean Taylor’s deaths

· A 1-3 record against FSU

· A 0-4 record against GTech

· The FIU Brawl

· A loss in Gainesville to Tim Tebow and the Referees

· Larry Coker staying employed two years too long and one year after everyone realized he should have been fired

· First round picks Greg Olsen and Kenny Phillips not reaching their full potential as ‘Canes because of schematic problems

· The following busts: Kyle Wright, Kirby Freeman, James Bryant, Andrew Johnson, Lance Leggett, Aikeem Jolla, Reggie Youngblood, Rhyan Anderson, Charlie Jones

· Three years of the Wright/Freeman Poo Poo Platter and no other options

· The Kernobyl Freeman game

· Losses to heavyweights Louisville, Maryland, Virginia, Boston College

· Near escapes against powerhouses Nevada, Duke, FIU

· Not signing a quarterback in three straight recruiting classes

· Brian Monroe, our punter, being listed on the depth chart as a receiver

· Randy Shannon’s first, “trim the fat” year (necessary but still hard to watch)

A lot of people call America’s Vietnam Generation the “Lost Generation”. I think that the above list of events would probably qualify the University of Miami Class of 2009 as the “Lost Class”.

As soon as we left, the team started to turn the corner with a very promising 9-4 season. This year they are poised to get back in to the national conversation for a full season. Fitting. The further we get from Miami the better the team gets.

Patience is a virtue and faith is rewarded, but DAMN it was tough to be a fan during those years.

I think that those of us who managed to stay true from that class will be rewarded when (not if) the ‘Canes win another title. We will be the ones that can turn to all the T-Shirt Fans and say “You should have been there when we were losing to Louisville and Georgia Tech every year”.

Most likely as we sit at the end of the bar, staring through the bottom of our third martini of the night, decrying how kids these days have no respect and don’t know anything about being a real fan.

At the tender age of 25.

Class of '09, I salute those of you who have stayed loyal. It was tough, but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Always guard the inbound passer.

Tears on My Pillow

Hello All,

Over the past week, ESPN has ran a series of recollections, slideshows, videos, etc. entitled “House of Pain” counting down the 50 most painful losses in history.

First of all, I applaud the effort. The only thing that sticks with college football fans more than big wins is hard losses, mostly because one loss in the college season means more than it does in any other sport and because it is the sport that people get the most emotionally invested in.

While any list like this is guaranteed to engender great debate, because it is so subjective, I

think ESPN did a great job of trying to encapsulate all elements that make for a shocking, horrific, painful loss.

Miami was conspicuously present on this list. However, I did not find the list to be exhaustive, and since I am bored and homesick, I present to you the worst losses in Miami history from my perspective. Also, keep in mind that this is only losses on the field, which should be a given but with this program most assuredly is not.

1.) 2002 National Championship Game- Terry Porter and a stolen national championship. This hurt on a number of levels. Let me recount for you this game from my personal experience. I was living in Wisconsin at the time. Everyone of my friends decided to root for OSU just to piss me off; later in life I learned to use moments like this to weed friends out. Didn’t matter to me, because Miami was going to win this game by 50. Miami played terribly all game. My favorite players, Ken Dorsey, Willis McGahee and Sean Taylor, all struggled. The first moment of utter disgust was McGahee shredding his knee in the 3rd quarter (just as he was coming untracked) on what was probably an aimed tackle by the Buckeyes. I had to excuse myself from the room, which throughout the game somehow filled with people wearing scarlet and silver, and take a few deep breaths to avoid crying (note: I was a sophomore in high school at the time). Then, somehow, Todd Sievers knocked through a field goal to send us to overtime. We all know what happens next: Miami wins the game, only to have it taken away from them and play restarted by a terrible call. OSU scores with an ineligible player (Maurice Clarett) and then keeps a deflated Miami squad out of the end zone at the other end. Miami’s backup running backs fail to punch it in, which McGahee would never have done. Dorsey, injured, couldn’t muster the strength to complete a pass to a wide open Eric Winston and could only kneel on the field as the Buckeyes rushed on the field to claim their stolen trophy. At that point, I started crying in full view of 20 friends. Couldn’t help it; I had never felt this kind of hurt before. I cannot emphasize enough the stomach punch that this game was. It was literally over. Miami had been declared the winner. THE F*CKING CONFETTI HAD BEEN RELEASED! The field had to be cleared to restart the game! That is how late the phantom DPI flag came in, which since has been ruled a bad call by every major officiating body that has reviewed it. Also, you will notice that this is a disturbing trend: Miami loses and Dan cries.

2.) 2007 Regular Season Home Finale- The final game in the Orange Bowl. Miami gets massacred 48-0 by the Virginia F*cking Cavaliers. It was so bad my father turned it off at halftime. I was there for this one and could not stand the horror of what I was watching. I found myself standing slumped against the section restraint in front of me, watching in silent disgust as the seconds slowly ticked away. As the game ended, I was lost in thought as I took one last scan around the stadium and looked to all the different places on the field where legendary things had happened. Namath’s Tunnel. The Wide Right Goal Post. Jackie Smith’s End Zone. Lynn Swann’s sideline. Jimmy Johnson’s coaching box. Then I was nudged by my friend Steve and realized that he and I (and the chick I had had a crush on for years) were the only ones left in the student section. I hadn’t talked to the girl all game. The band was packing up in front of us as we lingered. For some reason I yelled out “North Dade”. The band took their instruments back out and started playing. Then Steve yelled out “Miami U, How Dee Doo”. The band continued to play every song in their repertoire for half an hour as we sat there and soaked it in.

It was like in Titanic: “The band played on”. Except this was easily the greater tragedy.

3.) Hail Flutie- I wasn’t at this one or even alive for it, but I know it is bad. How? Not only because it was losing to a midget on a last second play in the rain and cold (my dad was there) that was quarterbacking a clearly inferior team…but because it is replayed ad nauseum EVERY week of every college football season. Seriously. They always find a reason to replay it. ALWAYS. Now I know how the Sox fans felt for all those years about Buckner.

4.) 1986 National Championship Game- The “Fatigues Game”. Another one I was not around for, but come on, how does it get more painful than a game that the greatest ‘Canes of them all (Jimmy, Irvin, Highsmith, Bratton, etc.) refer to as their most painful loss? What is more frustrating is that the ‘Canes outgained Penn State almost 5 to 1 and lost because Vinny Testaverde had the worst game of his career and threw 5 picks, including the final one at the end when Miami was driving to win. If Jimmy has just decided that 4 was enough and the final drive would be the Highsmith show...no one was tackling him that late in the game the way he was running... Miami has another title and would possibly have won 4 in a row (more on that in a second).

5.) Catholics vs. Convicts- If replay were around at the time (1988), Miami wins this game going away. Cleveland Gary was ruled as having fumbled in the end zone, giving Notre Dame the ball late at their own 20 with a lead instead of Miami the potential tying score. The problem? First of all, Gary didn’t fumble; photo evidence clearly reveals that the ground caused him to lose control of the ball AFTER it crossed the goal line in his possession. Second of all, even if it was not a touchdown, it would have been Miami ball anyway, as they had converted 4^th and 7 from the 11 on the play. And yet, somehow, Notre Dame ended up with the ball. Sound confusing? That is because IT MAKES NO SENSE TO A RATIONAL HUMAN BEING. Yet, somehow, it made sense to this ref. Miami had a chance to win anyway, electing to man up and go for the win on a 2 point conversion trailing by 1 at the end of regulation as opposed to the extra point and the tie. Notre Dame deflected the pass and “won” the game. Later, this “loss” cost Miami a shot at a national title. That would have been 4 in a row: 1986 (as described above), 1987, 1988 (robbed by a referee…hmmm) and 1989.

6.) 2000 Washington Huskies- Miami would have won this game if it had lasted another 2 minutes.

Ken Dorsey struggled early in the howling wind of Husky Stadium and began to round in to shape late, but ran out of time in his comeback attempt. The impact of this loss was not known until the end of the season. Miami rolled through the rest of their schedule and found itself in contention with two others for the second slot in the national title game: Florida State and Washington. Miami beat FSU, but finished just behind them (and ahead of Washington) in the BCS standings. FSU, not on Miami’s level that season, lost a snoozer to Oklahoma 13-2. The way Miami was playing at that point, no one would have stopped them. Add this title and the 2002 robbery in the desert to Miami’s “should have been” national titles and that brings it to 9 since 1980.

7.) Desert Swarmed- One of the first Miami games I remember vividly was this debacle, again in

the Fiesta Bowl. Chuck Levy and the Wildcats ran wild on the ‘Canes and Tedy Bruschi’s Desert Swarm defense made sure Miami didn’t come back. Not only that, but my dad had ordered a party sub for the game because people had said they were coming over to watch. None actually showed (typical Laredo, TX). So not only did we have to watch this game, but we were stuck with two weeks worth of soggy party sub afterward. Let's just say that this game taught me early on how unfair life can be. Two years later the Warren F*cking Morris Baseball game hammered that point home.

8.) 2006 Louisville- This one sucked for me a lot more than it probably did for others. The night before I had broken up with my girlfriend of more than 3 years. After being long distance for a year, she decided to follow me to Miami for college, where she promptly cheated on me and then dumped me to boot. While we were out on a date. On South Beach. Sharing a cab ride home. That I paid for. Let’s just say I was not in a great place. The one thing that I always relied on in bad times was the ‘Canes football team...which promptly came out and laid an egg against Lousiville, a team that didn’t have any right to even be on the same field. After the score went final (31-7 as I recall, but that might not be correct) I received a call from home.

My mom: “You ok?”

Me: “You know, that sucked but there is always next week”.

My mom: “No, Billy just said he saw you broke up with Voldemort on Facebook”.

Me: ... I hung up and cried myself to sleep. Good times.

9.) 2005 Georgia Tech- This was supposed to be a formality. Miami had just beaten Virginia Tech in Blacksburg the week before on National Title in grand fashion. We were up to #3 in the polls after a season opening loss to FSU. All we needed was for USC or Texas to lose and we were in. All we had left was Georgia Tech, Virginia and then the ACC Title Game. As a freshman who had come of age during the 2000-2002 years, I expected this as my birthright. One problem: the ‘Canes forgot about Georgia Tech. The offense never clicked, and as well as the D played, Reggie Ball and the Jackets still put up enough to win and deny Miami a shot at both the ACC and National Titles. I remember Miami splitting Greg Olsen out wide for the last play of the game. Olsen was 6'5", white, and had not been split out wide all game. Think this stood out? I turned to my buddy and said “guarantee deep ball to Olsen”. Sure enough, the call was a deep ball to Olsen, which was promptly picked. If I could see it from the shitty seats of the Orange Bowl’s student section, don’t you think Georgia Tech’s safety could see it from on the field?

Alright, that is enough. I would do a tenth (2003 Tennessee, 1999 Penn State, and 2009 Clemson all come to mind), but that would be cliché. And 11? How dare you? Bottom line is that these words hold a lot of hurt and a lot of tears and I am now even more depressed than when I started. But you know what? It is a new season, and as of now we are undefeated. And that is why we love College Football…there is always another game to be played.

In the words of coach Eric Taylor: Clear eyes, full hearts.

Go ‘Canes.

Real Los Angelenos?

Hello All,

You know what I get asked a lot?

"How the hell did you develop such stunning, magnificent pectoral muscles?"

Not really. What I do get asked a lot is why I hate the Lakers if I live in LA. Well, aside from the fact that rooting on a team just because you moved somewhere when you are 23 breaks just about every law of fandom (with the possible exception of the LMU Lions Women's Swim Team...bones), I hate them for several reasons. One is that Kobe Bryant is a bad person and yet people seem to have completely forgotten Colorado. Another is that I know that the LA fan base is the second most fair weather in the country (the first?... if you have to ask that you haven't read this blog enough). Another is that Pau Gasol averages .14 showers for every game played. Another is that purple and yellow are dumb uniform colors that have rubbed me the wrong way since I was 5. Honestly, the list goes on and on.

And the follow up question is usually something like this: "Well you can't be a true Los Angeleno if you don't like the Lakers."

My usual response, aside from laughter at the notion that I would want to be a Los Angeleno, is to state that NO ONE IN THIS TOWN IS FROM HERE. Everyone here is a transplant, either from the East Coast, the Valley, the Bay Area or Mexico (be it legally or illegally....which brings up my next question: If the word illegal is inherent to the term "illegal alien", then why all the fuss about their right to be here?). I have been here about 2 months and met literally 3 people who are actually from the Los Angeles Metro Area. 3.

What is the point of this rant?

I guess it is just to tell a story about people that have a ridiculous outlook on reality and to try and connect it to the fans of the University of Miami. For some reason, there is a disconnect between what is happening and what people perceive. People see a young team failing at times last year and assume that now, a year later with almost every key player returning, the team is doomed to the same growing pains. Are they? Maybe, but is that a logical assumption to make.

The lack of logic and constructive thought on the part of 'Canes fans right now is crazy to me. Any other fan base in the nation would be PUMPED for this coming season. A team full of young guys that all of a sudden have become upperclassmen lead by a star quarterback and brimming with young talent getting ready to face the toughest schedule in the country. THAT is exciting stuff when you take in to account the fact that this team has progressed every season and logically will do so again this season.

Maybe no group is more indicative of this than the secondary, which I will break down here. People assume they will fail again to make game saving plays. Well, logically speaking, I have to disagree with that. Just like I have to be excited for the season, even if other "fans" are already writing the epitaph for this team 4 days in to practice.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

The Season That Was: The secondary takes a lot of guff, but it is this blogger’s opinion that they actually were underrated. They did not make as many game changing plays as you would like to see, but they also were forced to cover for LONG periods of time due to the lack of pass rush generated. If you look at the four losses, the secondary was responsible for none. Virginia Tech was a full team collapse, UNC was lost (and then almost won) by Jacory Harris, Clemson was won by C.J. Spiller and Alex Uribe, and Wisconsin was won by the UW tight ends. Brandon Harris is very good opposite DeMarcus Van Dyke, who was better in coverage than he gets credit for. Sam Shields performed admirably for a guy learning a position on the fly, which is not to say that he played very well. All in all, there was promise shown by all members, and the combination of experience and a better pass rush will lead to more turnovers from this group.

What Was Lost: Sam Shields is fighting for a roster spot with the Green Bay Packers and Randy Phillips is doing the same with the Detroit Lions. Chavez Grant is gone, pursuing other career options.

Roll Call

DeMarcus Van Dyke (Sr.) – DVD is very good in coverage. Period. If you want proof, look at how many balls Brandon Harris had thrown his way, even as he kept batting them down. DVD is pretty bad in run support and lacks the playmaking bug, but he is the type of guy that you want on your side rather than the other guys’.

JoJo Nicolas (Jr.) – Injury plagued and not very productive when on the field. It is my hope that he is a special teams-only player this year, as he has taken one bad route and missed one tackle too many for me at this point.

Jared Campbell (Jr.) – Campbell made some plays last year and will be in the safety rotation if he can stay healthy. Not great in pass coverage but can support the run and blitz off the edge. Useful player that finds a way to help out.

Brandon Harris (Jr.) – All American Candidate and the leader of the secondary. Truly well spoken kid that gets “it”. Expect teams to avoid him a little more this year, which will open up some possibilities for other guys to make plays. Harris plays bigger than his size and is very well rounded, but needs to convert more deflections in to interceptions.

Corey Nelms (Jr.) – Former walk-on who has earned the chance to be more than a special teams guy. Will compete for the nickel and dime roles in addition to last year’s role as resident gunner. Track athlete who is amongst the fastest guys on the field.

Vaughn Telemaque (So.) – Has locked down one safety spot. Proved to be good in run support and now must prove to be a playmaker in the other half of the game, which everyone around the program seems to observe as a given.

Ray Ray Armstrong (So.) – Excited everyone when he lit up DeMarco Murray in the Oklahoma game. Like Telemaque, has to prove that he can be as good in the pass game as he is in the run game if he wants to hold off Jamal Reid.

Brandon McGee (So.) – Still learning the corner position but is very fast (track competitor) and will be given the first crack at the third corner/nickel back role. Also could return kicks. Some have said he was this summer’s most improved player after a rough spring game. Going up against Miami’s receivers everyday will make him better in a hurry.

Jamal Reid (R-Fr.) – Reid has emerged as a potential starter and will battle Ray Ray for his starting spot at safety. Reid is very athletic and has gone from someone that needed work on tackling to one of the secondary’s most physical players. Potential return man.

Latwan Anderson (Fr.) – Technically not on scholarship yet, but Anderson is almost a shoe-in to see the field at some point this year. The only question is when. He could play corner, safety or receiver, but will definitely be a returner.

Devonta’a Davis (Fr.) – Getting rave reviews so far in the summer, and could play either corner or safety. Tall and physical, best bet of the four true freshmen on football scholarship to get playing time as a freshman.

Kacy Rogers (Fr.) – Rogers is a good athlete from Texas that will be tried first at corner but most likely shifted to safety, according to coaches. Father is a professional coach for the Dolphins which means Rogers should have a leg up when it comes to football intelligence.

Keion Payne (Fr.) – Tall and skinny but a true cover guy, like DVD. Will have the benefit of a redshirt to put on weight, which DVD never did.

Always guard the inbound passer.

Changes, They are A-Comin'

Hello All,

Sorry for the delay in between posts...that is aimed at my 7 loyal readers.

I have been a little busy lately. Last week I started my first paying job in the entertainment industry, as a Research Intern at CBS.

It is nothing glamorous, more like Ratings Boot Camp in their Domestic Distribution Department, specifically pulling numbers for syndicated programming starting every morning at 5 AM. TRANSLATION: I tell women I work at CBS, directly with

Oprah's production company.

The reason I am writing today, however, is to talk about the best day of every summer: the day that Miami starts Fall Camp.

As we have seen in the position previews I have written (and I will be posting the last group soon...they are already written), this team has a huge number of question marks.

For some reason, Miami fans have turned in to a group of people I don't like to be included in.

They are bloodthirsty for a coach who has done nothing but improve the team every year (both observationally AND statistically speaking) since taking over a BARE roster. If you need further proof of how bare it was, let's take a look back to my sophomore and junior years:

Lance Leggett was our top receiver. Brian Monroe, our punter, was our emergency 5th receiver. Charlie Jones was our starting running back. Khalil Jones was getting serious playing time. So was Romeo Davis. So was Lovon Ponder. and let's not even start with Kirby Freeman and Kyle Wright.

To say that we have improved the talent and the production is an understatement. Anyone who says otherwise clearly does not know what they are talking about, or is just arguing because they like to argue.

Randy Shannon is not great with the media, nor should he be. He is a man that has been around the program long enough to know exactly how the media should be treated: like mushrooms.

At Miami, the media turns on the team faster than anywhere else in the nation. Any step out of line and "Thug U" gets plastered everywhere.

"Same old Miami", they will say.

If he is a nice guy, like Dennis Erickson, he will get turned on just as quickly as if he is stoic and short with the media. Miami's press corps is fickle and usually temperamental to a fault. They are like the Miami culture at large: fairweather (with few exceptions). They will love Randy when he wins and hate him when he loses. Period.

For a man that does not like speaking in public in the first place (probably because media members are always quick to nitpick his speech patterns) and is under great pressure to win not from others but from himself, it comes down to utilitarian calculus; the answer, unfortunately for the beat writers, usually comes out that the media cannot help Randy in accordance with the time and information that the media thinks it deserves. So he doesn't give it to them. Call it going with his gut. He would rather take the fall and let the media snipe at him than his players. That is a good coach. He will never get the benefit of the doubt from those media members, but the people that matter understand what is at play.

Call me crazy, but unlike the Miami "fans" that I keep talking to I am very excited for this season. I see a team that is growing up and is full of talent. It has its thin spots, but guess what, so does everyone else...including Alabama.

I am pumped to see the team run through the smoke again.

I am excited to start smiling every time I see Miami during an ESPN promo spot.

I am excited to see Damien Berry and Sean Spence and Jacory and Kylan Robinson and every damn player on the team.

I am excited to write about the team from a new angle: die hard 'Canes fan trapped in LA and desperate to find a way to watch my team, which I have followed at an ulcer-inducing rate since I was 5.

So instead of focusing on every little detail and it's "HUGE" implications, as people in the media love to do in the age of the 24 hr. News Cycle, I am taking a big picture approach.

I don't think the depth chart on the first day of practice matters. I think what happens during the next month of practice does.

I think that it is impossible to say that Miami doing well in the APR is a bad thing.

I think that what happened to Thearon Collier is a shame and I wish him all the best, either at UM or somewhere else. I also think he was a very good player and that he will be a lot tougher to replace than others want to believe, but I also believe that we can do it without missing a beat.

I think that Randy Shannon is a definition of what it means to be a Hurricane.

I consider myself one, and I think that it is one of the things I am most proud of.

It is why I am excited for football to start again.

Today is the day that the march to Title #6 began.

Changes are comin', whether it is in Coral Gables or Los Angeles, and that is a damn good thing.