Hello All,
Last night I was driving home from softball on the 110 Northbound “freeway”.
As people familiar with the city of Los Angeles know, as you reach downtown on the 110-N you reach a crossroads that looks just like the heart of any highway interchange in any major city. The 10 shoots off to the east and west. The 101 shoots off at a diagonal to connect you to Hollywood.
Last night I looked at this interchange and wanted to stop my car, grab my nine iron out of the trunk (I guess at this point it is a mythical nine iron) and go straight Johnny Drama on the first car I saw. To me, last night this interchange represented nothing but another example of the malaise that living in a big city can be.
As I stewed silently, I began to think back to a simpler time, when I was a little guy who lived in the sticks of Wisconsin, or Texas, or Tennessee, or wherever we lived at the time.
When we used to go on our summer roadtrips as a family, nothing got me more excited than the first time we saw another highway go over the top of our car.
Signs that said things like “Chicago City Limits” or “Downtown Miami 12 Miles” would get me more excited than I can say. Every city was a new adventure. They were foreign and full of all the things I wanted but couldn’t find in DePere or Laredo. The trips were rather infrequent, and therefore every time was more exciting than the last. The final ten miles or so of any trip into the city saw the sudden progression of countryside to city décor, from my real life to the life I always read about and envisioned as an escape from the boredom.
Obviously living in the city strips away the excitement. The Walk of Fame is a really cool place to visit for an afternoon, but to live a half block away from there turns it in to the personification of all things bad about this town.
Things like traffic go from minor inconvenience to life-altering force. It is just the way it works. It takes a trip out of town to relax and recharge before you are re-awakened to the things that make a city cool.
(LA is an immensely diverse place, filled with talented people bordered on two sides by mountains and on one by an ocean. It is an outdoorsy city that has a culutral event seemingly every night. It is still the hub of the music scene, although Austin does at this point churn out better musicians in my opinion. And 78 and sunny with a breeze is damn tough to beat.)
The reason I am writing all this is because we have now passed the halfway point in the college football season.
I was talking to a certain someone from Chicago that shall remain nameless the other day on the phone and I asked her what she thought about the crazy Michigan State-Wisconsin game from the night before.
This is a girl who I have attended MULTIPLE live sporting events with. I know for a fact she knows what she is talking about. She is a good fan and a better ‘Cane. I would not hesitate to invite her over to Casa de Bro for any football game, and once there she would not receive any restrictions on her participation.
(Watching at Casa de Bro is an intense experience, so yes, there are restrictions on who is allowed to attend.)
She said “Dan, I haven’t watched really any football all weekend”.
This is not a girl who needs to have her fanhood called in to question. She’s a busy person who is doing wonderful things to better herself and the world which she occupies. But it did get me thinking about what I miss out on every Saturday when there is no college football to watch. This is not a piece directed at her, therefore, but a post that she inspired.
During the summer months, when the season is getting ready to start, we always feel like we are about to enter the city for the first time in months. Everything feels new and exciting. Training camp reports start to come in. The countdown to gameday goes below one month. Position battles get determined. Like CITY LIMITS signs and highway overpasses used to get me excited on the drive in to the city, every little nugget of information about the upcoming team gets me increasingly excited during the build up to the season.
Then the season gets going and we fall in to a routine.
Not only does it become routine, but all the things you don’t like about it get brought back up. The media suckfest with the SEC. The BCS. The NCAA and its blatant corruption. Nick Saban. The Gators.
It makes it easy to forget the goose bumps you get every time the ‘Canes run through the smoke.
The stadium coming to life on 4th & 1 in the 4th.
The Grove at Ole Miss.
Callin’ the Hogs at Arkansas.
The USC Song Girls.
The feeling of pure elation after a victory over a rival, a feeling only outmatched by the feeling of despair after any loss.
The rise of a true freshman (Sammy Watkins) or the resurgence of a fallen star (Jacory Harris) or the long awaited breakout of super talented recruit (Tommy Streeter, Arthur Brown).
“Enter Sandman” at Virginia Tech.
LSU vs. Alabama.
The Big Ten sucking.
Army vs. Navy.
Oregon’s terrible uniforms.
A southern team whuppin’ a northern team in the title game.
The taste of the first beer around the grill on gameday.
(sub in Mimosa if so inclined)
The Cocktail Party.
Red River.
Kirk Cousins going in to the stands to celebrate with his fellow students after taking down Wisconsin.
Les Miles, the Mad Hatter.
Yell Practice at Texas A&M.
The colors…oh the colors. Oranges and greens and yellows and blues and reds clashing in beautiful contrast.
The sound of a stadium falling silent when the road team goes ahead.
Sitting in my apartment alone on Saturday night because I can’t peel myself away from a game between two teams I dislike, and then screaming for five straight minutes “IT’S A TOUCHDOWN!” when the Hail Mary is completed and under review.
Swagger.
These are the things we miss during the summer. Then we move in to the season and can lose sight. I am guilty of it myself, and I don’t think anyone would ever say I am not a fan.
But every now and then, all you need to do is take a step back and think about how awesome this stuff really is.
I hope my friend in Chicago gets to watch some ball this Saturday, because it really is pure, unbridled emotion. It is all the things listed above and so much more. It is one of the few things left in this world that gets me as excited as the drive in to the city used to.
And there are only a couple more months of it left before another LONG break.
Last week I went 7-2 to extend the season record to 47-19. And yes, the Big Ten still sucks. But what a hell of a game that was in Lansing, huh?
Michigan State over Nebraska (-4)
aTm (-11) over Mizzou
UGA over UiF (+3)
My dream of a UiF 0-October comes to roost. I am happier than a pig in shit.
Wake over UNC (-7)
UPSET SPECIAL.
Oklahoma over K State (+14)
K State will cover.
Auburn (-11) over Ole Miss
Ole Miss wins the party again.
USC over Tennessee (+4)
Stanford over USCW (+8)
Clempson over GTech (+4.5)
Rutgers (+7) over WVU
Former Knight Eric LeGrand is leading them on to the field for this one for the first time since being paralyzed. Yeah, I think there will be a little emotion there.
To my friend in Chicago, watch this weekend (and of course this Thursday night) for your sake, because if you don't, our Sunday phone chat will once again be filled with half-comprehensible ramblings and exclamations from me that I am sure make either your head or your ears hurt, and probably both.
God I love college football.
Always guard the inbound passer.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
One City, Two Very Different Teams
Hello All,
Today I find myself wanting to throw a keyboard. I had to walk off a frustrating loss this weekend yet again, a loss that came at the hands of a hated opponent after a late lead was blown.
And for once, I am not talking about the 'Canes.
I have reached a crossroads with the Dolphins. I am close to my wit’s end.
On the same weekend that the ‘Canes delivered a consistent, dominant victory over a Top 25 opponent, I watched the Dolphins blow a 15 point lead with 3 minutes left in their game against the Tim Tebow-lead Broncos.
This loss was frustrating for a number of reasons and was thrown into stark contrast after a terrific Saturday.
The ‘Canes, despite all the uncertainty surrounding the program and the flux the program seems to constantly exist within this year, are in a better position than the Dolphins, both for the remainder of this season and the future moving forward.
For the ‘Canes, I have nothing but hope. As the season evolves and players improve on a weekly basis, the ‘Canes have me legitimately excited. They will probably lose another game or two along the line, because they just aren’t where they need to be yet. However, they are getting there. Next season will be better. Barring catastrophic NCAA or self- inflicted carnage, year 3 will see the return of the ‘Canes to the national conversation.
On the other hand, I have NO hope for the Dolphins.
Let me take you though my thought process a little bit.
Leadership: Canes in a blowout
Listen, I like Tony Sparano. I think he is a great o-line coach and very capable of coaching a winning NFL team when he has good assistants on his staff. He has failed to produce results, however, and will be fired at some point during this miserable season or shortly thereafter.
When that happens, he will be falling on the sword of two absolute morons, Jeff Ireland (GM)…who will also likely be gone…and Stephen Ross (owner).
Yes, Stephen Ross is the same man who publicly declared that this year’s team would be more exciting despite retaining Ireland, a man from the Bill Parcells tree that still clings to the “size over speed” model that became outdated with the rise of the Jimmy Johnson-lead Cowboys.
(This makes sense, because Parcells was essentially running a one man show for three seaons as president of the team…or whatever the title was. Let’s just say his roster moves have been so good that we are currently on the brink of a second 1 win season in five years. This is a franchise that once went undefeated and has won multiple Super Bowls. This is Don Shula and Dan Marino’s franchise.)
The same man who flew very publicly across the country to woo Jim Harbaugh, only to be rejected and then come back and renew the contract of the coach who was STILL UNDER CONTRACT at the time. Implied meaning: not happy with you...just kidding we LOVE you!!!!
The same man who held Florida Gator Appreciation day to honor Tim Tebow and his national title teams this weekend. In Miami. While Tim Tebow started his first game of the season….FOR THE OPPOSING TEAM!!!!!!!!!!
(I was going to focus more on this but the thought of it makes me sick. I honestly am a bit at a loss. I WANTED the Dolphins to lose this game when I looked up in the stands and saw the number of blue and orange number 15 jerseys. It served them right. You don’t think Timmy was buoyed by the fact that he was on the “road” and yet had more fans in the stands than the home team? I just threw up a little bit in my mouth writing about this. Hey Stevie, know what will put people in the stands? Putting a winning fucking team on the field. Not putting a nightclub in the stadium. Not selling minority ownership stakes to B-List local celebrities. Not holding a Tim Tebow Suckfest. WIN SOME EFFING FOOTBALL GAMES.)
Sparano and Ireland will be fired. Will Ross do something smart like hire Rod Chuzinski, former 'Cane and current guru who has developed Phillip Rivers and Cameron Newton in to beasts and his offenses in to potent scoring machines?
No.
He will go for something splashy like Urban Meyer, probably fail very publicly, and then miss out on the good, under the radar candidates (guys like Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy would have never interested Ross) and settle for someone who is probably not as good. Why do I know this? Because he is Stephen Effing Ross. Oh, and ps, while we are here, "flashy" does not mean good. Go take a look at the track record for college coaches going to the NFL. I will wait.
On the other hand, the ‘Canes have a new AD in place who seems to have his ducks in a row (he will also, in all likelihood, never ask a prospective player if his mother is a hooker).
They have a head ball coach who oozes charisma and confidence and is building a program in his image; the results are already already being seen, and most college programs truly respond to coaching change in years 2 and 3.
(Witness: Alabama. 7-6 in Nick Saban’s first year. 11-1 the next season. Perennial Top 5 team. Barely even has to recruit, as the program now recruits itself.)
Golden has hired coordinators (Jedd Fisch and Mark D’Onofrio) who are rising stars in the coaching world and seem destined to run programs of their own one day.
He has hired assistants who have their position groups playing the right way. We may be shorthanded in certain spots this year, but every man on this roster is fighting to carve out a role. It is fun to watch.
Player A & D: Canes in a blowout
Miami recruits, the Dolphins draft and sign free agents. Where to begin, where to begin?
I suppose, to be fair, we will only go so far back as the beginning of the Parcells Era.
(Parcells directly ran two drafts and then turned it over to his protégé Ireland.)
Here are guys drafted in the top 3 rounds of the draft over the past four seasons:
Jake Long, LT
We picked Jake with the first overall pick in the draft. He is a great player. An All- Pro. A ten year starter on the blind side at a minimum. So what’s the problem? Well, since Dan Marino retired in 1999 the Dolphins have started 17 quarterbacks. The best? Chad Pennington and his rubber band gun of a right arm in the 2008 season. Second? The Immortal Jay Fiedler. It has been ugly. Also available in that draft: Matt Ryan.
The question, now as then, is this: what good is protecting the quarterback is you don’t have one? We have seen time and time again… you cannot sign a franchise quarterback off the scrap heap. You develop them. Tom Brady. Peyton Manning. Aaron Rodgers. Phillip Rivers. Ben Roethlisberger. Matt Ryan. It is still early, but Cam Newton and Sam Bradford look like they will be examples in the not too far future as well.
(Drew Brees doesn’t count…he was a good player who got hurt and therefore replaced with a young gun in San Diego. The Dolphins should have signed him then and are still suffering as a result of not pulling the trigger years later.)
This is a good player, but probably was the wrong pick.
Phillip Merling, DE
Merling has done pretty much nothing in his career and was a HIGH second round pick. Other guys available: Curtis Lofton, Desean Jackson (think he’d have helped with the speed problem on offense?), Matt Forte, and hometown guy Calais Campbell, a borderline Pro Bowler who plays defensive end in a 3-4 scheme. Excuse me while I go commit hari-kari.
Chad Henne, QB
Henne was a quarterback available in the second round that Parcells wanted to build around. The only problem is that franchise quarterbacks USUALLY aren’t around at pick 57. Go ahead, throw Kurt Warner or Tom Brady out there. The odds of finding that guy are astronomically small. There is a reason they make documentaries and movies about stories like that. They are almost always guys drafted by teams with a reputation for developing quarterbacks and can sit behind better players until an injury or some other fluky occurrence delivers an ooportunity to step up. Tom Brady had Drew Bledsoe. Kurt Warner had Trent Green (who was pretty damned good). Tony Romo had Drew Bledsoe (weird, right?). Matt Cassell had Tom Brady. Know who Henne had? Pennington. A mid-level guy with a big injury history. The point? YOU DON’T TAKE A GUY WITH THE 57TH PICK IN THE DRAFT AND TRY TO MAKE HIM YOUR SAVIOR. The best second round quarterback I can think of? Drew Brees. He went with the first pick in the second round, number 33 overall. The next best? Jake Plummer. Is that really what we wanted?
Kendall Langford, DE
Solid pick, good value in the third round.
Vontae Davis, CB
Solid pick in the first round of the 2009 draft.
Pat White, QB
Words cannot express my anger. This is a guy that every other team in the league thought was a WR. We took him IN THE SECOND ROUND as a quarterback. AFTER WE TRADED UP. A year after taking Henne in the second round. Two years after taking John Beck, another quarterback, in the second round. On the surface, this seemed like a nice wrinkle to add to the Wildcat which had been successful the year before, as he was a threat to actually throw the ball. Two problems: he couldn’t throw the ball and the Wildcat is a gimmick offense that is supposed to be merely a wrinkle, not a system. YOU DON'T DRAFT GIMMICK PLAYERS IN THE SECOND ROUND!!!!!! Oh, and also, Pat White really sucked. Guys we could have had: Lesean McCoy, Mike Wallace.
Sean Smith, CB
Jury still out…good cover guy and a physical freak but doesn’t make plays.
Patrick Turner, WR
On the practice squad for the Jets, last I heard. Dynamite stuff in the third round. Other receivers available: Johnny Knox, Julian Edelman.
Jared Odrick, DE
Injured his rookie year, jury still out. 3-4 Defensive ends are a tough sell in the first round.
Koa Misi, LB
Essentially, the Dolphins structured their entire draft around getting Misi. They traded down in the first round twice (passing up on, among others: Dez Bryant and Earl Thomas) to position themselves in the second round to get their man (who in reality probably would have been around ten picks later. Also, they had to trade down to acquire this pick because the original second round pick was traded for Brandon Marshall, who just so happens to lead the NFL in drops right now). The jury is still out. Could have had: Terrence Cody, Rob Gronkowski.
John Jerry, OL
Terrible pick who is headed to a practice squad near you. Could have had: Jimmy Graham. Arguably the best tight end in the NFL and a hometown guy.
This year’s draft is too young to get a good feel for yet but let's not forget they drfated an effing guard with their first pick when they KNEW they were going to lose their top two running backs and needed some speed at receiver. During a lockout. After a winless home season.
Take a look at what I just wrote. Three years, 10 picks, and AT BEST half will be considered successes. Seriously? Listen, I might be short, but at least I’m ugly too, right?
You build a team with the first three rounds of the draft. Any wonder why the Dolphins suck?
And as for free agency...let me list some names for you. Marc Colombo. Richi Incognito. Kevin Burnett, Karlos Dansby, Jason Taylor. Those are the big contributors the Dolphins have acquired through free agency on this year's team. Dansby is a borderline Pro Bowler. Taylor is a Hall of Famer who is now in his third stint with the team, meaning we were dumb enough to get rid fo him twice. The other three suck.
Reggie Bush was going to get cut so the Dolphins struck a trade for him. Marshall was traded for.
Not exactly an All Star Lineup, is it? No, it looks like the nucleus of a 2-14 football team when you combine it with poor drafting. Which we did.
Meanwhile, the Canes continue to bring in athletes to their system that can compete with anyone in the country. The players are starting to get better on a weekly basis. The team is thin in some areas but has a big recruiting class and a staff known for its eye for talent. Al Golden took a kid named Muhammad Wilkerson, who had never played football, and made him a first round pick in three years.
Currently, he has JoJo Nicolas being named ACC Defensive Player of the Week. For anyone who has ever read anything in this blog, then you know that is a big deal.
Embracing the Fans: Canes in a blowout
Listen, Stephen Ross just created a home game for Tim Tebow in Miami. Can not emphasize that enough.
Meanwhile, Al Golden has increased access to his program through the Raising Canes video series. He has created the Canes Walk. He engages the media on a regular basis. The fans love him. They aren’t showing up yet the way they should (they are, after all, mostly assholes) but signs of improvement are there.
On Field Performance: Canes in a blowout
My father seems to believe that the ‘Canes would beat the Dolphins. The sad thing is, if they played 10 times, he might be right 3 of them.
I don’t know whether that makes me more excited about the Canes or nervous about the Phins.
Always guard the inbound passer.
Today I find myself wanting to throw a keyboard. I had to walk off a frustrating loss this weekend yet again, a loss that came at the hands of a hated opponent after a late lead was blown.
And for once, I am not talking about the 'Canes.
I have reached a crossroads with the Dolphins. I am close to my wit’s end.
On the same weekend that the ‘Canes delivered a consistent, dominant victory over a Top 25 opponent, I watched the Dolphins blow a 15 point lead with 3 minutes left in their game against the Tim Tebow-lead Broncos.
This loss was frustrating for a number of reasons and was thrown into stark contrast after a terrific Saturday.
The ‘Canes, despite all the uncertainty surrounding the program and the flux the program seems to constantly exist within this year, are in a better position than the Dolphins, both for the remainder of this season and the future moving forward.
For the ‘Canes, I have nothing but hope. As the season evolves and players improve on a weekly basis, the ‘Canes have me legitimately excited. They will probably lose another game or two along the line, because they just aren’t where they need to be yet. However, they are getting there. Next season will be better. Barring catastrophic NCAA or self- inflicted carnage, year 3 will see the return of the ‘Canes to the national conversation.
On the other hand, I have NO hope for the Dolphins.
Let me take you though my thought process a little bit.
Leadership: Canes in a blowout
Listen, I like Tony Sparano. I think he is a great o-line coach and very capable of coaching a winning NFL team when he has good assistants on his staff. He has failed to produce results, however, and will be fired at some point during this miserable season or shortly thereafter.
When that happens, he will be falling on the sword of two absolute morons, Jeff Ireland (GM)…who will also likely be gone…and Stephen Ross (owner).
Yes, Stephen Ross is the same man who publicly declared that this year’s team would be more exciting despite retaining Ireland, a man from the Bill Parcells tree that still clings to the “size over speed” model that became outdated with the rise of the Jimmy Johnson-lead Cowboys.
(This makes sense, because Parcells was essentially running a one man show for three seaons as president of the team…or whatever the title was. Let’s just say his roster moves have been so good that we are currently on the brink of a second 1 win season in five years. This is a franchise that once went undefeated and has won multiple Super Bowls. This is Don Shula and Dan Marino’s franchise.)
The same man who flew very publicly across the country to woo Jim Harbaugh, only to be rejected and then come back and renew the contract of the coach who was STILL UNDER CONTRACT at the time. Implied meaning: not happy with you...just kidding we LOVE you!!!!
The same man who held Florida Gator Appreciation day to honor Tim Tebow and his national title teams this weekend. In Miami. While Tim Tebow started his first game of the season….FOR THE OPPOSING TEAM!!!!!!!!!!
(I was going to focus more on this but the thought of it makes me sick. I honestly am a bit at a loss. I WANTED the Dolphins to lose this game when I looked up in the stands and saw the number of blue and orange number 15 jerseys. It served them right. You don’t think Timmy was buoyed by the fact that he was on the “road” and yet had more fans in the stands than the home team? I just threw up a little bit in my mouth writing about this. Hey Stevie, know what will put people in the stands? Putting a winning fucking team on the field. Not putting a nightclub in the stadium. Not selling minority ownership stakes to B-List local celebrities. Not holding a Tim Tebow Suckfest. WIN SOME EFFING FOOTBALL GAMES.)
Sparano and Ireland will be fired. Will Ross do something smart like hire Rod Chuzinski, former 'Cane and current guru who has developed Phillip Rivers and Cameron Newton in to beasts and his offenses in to potent scoring machines?
No.
He will go for something splashy like Urban Meyer, probably fail very publicly, and then miss out on the good, under the radar candidates (guys like Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy would have never interested Ross) and settle for someone who is probably not as good. Why do I know this? Because he is Stephen Effing Ross. Oh, and ps, while we are here, "flashy" does not mean good. Go take a look at the track record for college coaches going to the NFL. I will wait.
On the other hand, the ‘Canes have a new AD in place who seems to have his ducks in a row (he will also, in all likelihood, never ask a prospective player if his mother is a hooker).
They have a head ball coach who oozes charisma and confidence and is building a program in his image; the results are already already being seen, and most college programs truly respond to coaching change in years 2 and 3.
(Witness: Alabama. 7-6 in Nick Saban’s first year. 11-1 the next season. Perennial Top 5 team. Barely even has to recruit, as the program now recruits itself.)
Golden has hired coordinators (Jedd Fisch and Mark D’Onofrio) who are rising stars in the coaching world and seem destined to run programs of their own one day.
He has hired assistants who have their position groups playing the right way. We may be shorthanded in certain spots this year, but every man on this roster is fighting to carve out a role. It is fun to watch.
Player A & D: Canes in a blowout
Miami recruits, the Dolphins draft and sign free agents. Where to begin, where to begin?
I suppose, to be fair, we will only go so far back as the beginning of the Parcells Era.
(Parcells directly ran two drafts and then turned it over to his protégé Ireland.)
Here are guys drafted in the top 3 rounds of the draft over the past four seasons:
Jake Long, LT
We picked Jake with the first overall pick in the draft. He is a great player. An All- Pro. A ten year starter on the blind side at a minimum. So what’s the problem? Well, since Dan Marino retired in 1999 the Dolphins have started 17 quarterbacks. The best? Chad Pennington and his rubber band gun of a right arm in the 2008 season. Second? The Immortal Jay Fiedler. It has been ugly. Also available in that draft: Matt Ryan.
The question, now as then, is this: what good is protecting the quarterback is you don’t have one? We have seen time and time again… you cannot sign a franchise quarterback off the scrap heap. You develop them. Tom Brady. Peyton Manning. Aaron Rodgers. Phillip Rivers. Ben Roethlisberger. Matt Ryan. It is still early, but Cam Newton and Sam Bradford look like they will be examples in the not too far future as well.
(Drew Brees doesn’t count…he was a good player who got hurt and therefore replaced with a young gun in San Diego. The Dolphins should have signed him then and are still suffering as a result of not pulling the trigger years later.)
This is a good player, but probably was the wrong pick.
Phillip Merling, DE
Merling has done pretty much nothing in his career and was a HIGH second round pick. Other guys available: Curtis Lofton, Desean Jackson (think he’d have helped with the speed problem on offense?), Matt Forte, and hometown guy Calais Campbell, a borderline Pro Bowler who plays defensive end in a 3-4 scheme. Excuse me while I go commit hari-kari.
Chad Henne, QB
Henne was a quarterback available in the second round that Parcells wanted to build around. The only problem is that franchise quarterbacks USUALLY aren’t around at pick 57. Go ahead, throw Kurt Warner or Tom Brady out there. The odds of finding that guy are astronomically small. There is a reason they make documentaries and movies about stories like that. They are almost always guys drafted by teams with a reputation for developing quarterbacks and can sit behind better players until an injury or some other fluky occurrence delivers an ooportunity to step up. Tom Brady had Drew Bledsoe. Kurt Warner had Trent Green (who was pretty damned good). Tony Romo had Drew Bledsoe (weird, right?). Matt Cassell had Tom Brady. Know who Henne had? Pennington. A mid-level guy with a big injury history. The point? YOU DON’T TAKE A GUY WITH THE 57TH PICK IN THE DRAFT AND TRY TO MAKE HIM YOUR SAVIOR. The best second round quarterback I can think of? Drew Brees. He went with the first pick in the second round, number 33 overall. The next best? Jake Plummer. Is that really what we wanted?
Kendall Langford, DE
Solid pick, good value in the third round.
Vontae Davis, CB
Solid pick in the first round of the 2009 draft.
Pat White, QB
Words cannot express my anger. This is a guy that every other team in the league thought was a WR. We took him IN THE SECOND ROUND as a quarterback. AFTER WE TRADED UP. A year after taking Henne in the second round. Two years after taking John Beck, another quarterback, in the second round. On the surface, this seemed like a nice wrinkle to add to the Wildcat which had been successful the year before, as he was a threat to actually throw the ball. Two problems: he couldn’t throw the ball and the Wildcat is a gimmick offense that is supposed to be merely a wrinkle, not a system. YOU DON'T DRAFT GIMMICK PLAYERS IN THE SECOND ROUND!!!!!! Oh, and also, Pat White really sucked. Guys we could have had: Lesean McCoy, Mike Wallace.
Sean Smith, CB
Jury still out…good cover guy and a physical freak but doesn’t make plays.
Patrick Turner, WR
On the practice squad for the Jets, last I heard. Dynamite stuff in the third round. Other receivers available: Johnny Knox, Julian Edelman.
Jared Odrick, DE
Injured his rookie year, jury still out. 3-4 Defensive ends are a tough sell in the first round.
Koa Misi, LB
Essentially, the Dolphins structured their entire draft around getting Misi. They traded down in the first round twice (passing up on, among others: Dez Bryant and Earl Thomas) to position themselves in the second round to get their man (who in reality probably would have been around ten picks later. Also, they had to trade down to acquire this pick because the original second round pick was traded for Brandon Marshall, who just so happens to lead the NFL in drops right now). The jury is still out. Could have had: Terrence Cody, Rob Gronkowski.
John Jerry, OL
Terrible pick who is headed to a practice squad near you. Could have had: Jimmy Graham. Arguably the best tight end in the NFL and a hometown guy.
This year’s draft is too young to get a good feel for yet but let's not forget they drfated an effing guard with their first pick when they KNEW they were going to lose their top two running backs and needed some speed at receiver. During a lockout. After a winless home season.
Take a look at what I just wrote. Three years, 10 picks, and AT BEST half will be considered successes. Seriously? Listen, I might be short, but at least I’m ugly too, right?
You build a team with the first three rounds of the draft. Any wonder why the Dolphins suck?
And as for free agency...let me list some names for you. Marc Colombo. Richi Incognito. Kevin Burnett, Karlos Dansby, Jason Taylor. Those are the big contributors the Dolphins have acquired through free agency on this year's team. Dansby is a borderline Pro Bowler. Taylor is a Hall of Famer who is now in his third stint with the team, meaning we were dumb enough to get rid fo him twice. The other three suck.
Reggie Bush was going to get cut so the Dolphins struck a trade for him. Marshall was traded for.
Not exactly an All Star Lineup, is it? No, it looks like the nucleus of a 2-14 football team when you combine it with poor drafting. Which we did.
Meanwhile, the Canes continue to bring in athletes to their system that can compete with anyone in the country. The players are starting to get better on a weekly basis. The team is thin in some areas but has a big recruiting class and a staff known for its eye for talent. Al Golden took a kid named Muhammad Wilkerson, who had never played football, and made him a first round pick in three years.
Currently, he has JoJo Nicolas being named ACC Defensive Player of the Week. For anyone who has ever read anything in this blog, then you know that is a big deal.
Embracing the Fans: Canes in a blowout
Listen, Stephen Ross just created a home game for Tim Tebow in Miami. Can not emphasize that enough.
Meanwhile, Al Golden has increased access to his program through the Raising Canes video series. He has created the Canes Walk. He engages the media on a regular basis. The fans love him. They aren’t showing up yet the way they should (they are, after all, mostly assholes) but signs of improvement are there.
On Field Performance: Canes in a blowout
My father seems to believe that the ‘Canes would beat the Dolphins. The sad thing is, if they played 10 times, he might be right 3 of them.
I don’t know whether that makes me more excited about the Canes or nervous about the Phins.
Always guard the inbound passer.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Doom Around Every Corner
Hello All,
The Cardiac Canes continue to live up to their name, and I continue to struggle to find new ways to write about the anguish they put me through every Saturday.
Against UNC they put the shoe on a different foot, stomping the Heels in the first half and then allowing them right back in to the game in the second half, to the point that I legitimately was thinking exactly what statement it was that I made that cursed the team in the second half (after a big defensive stand on 4th and short early in the 4th Quarter, I stood up and declared “Ballgame!”…that was the leading candidate).
That is what the ‘Canes have done to me…as soon as the other team gets a glimmer of hope, I automatically assume we are going to lose.
It is like being a Cubs fan (or an Orioles fan…or the fan of a team comprised of the 12 best players from each of the two teams that would still lose 90 games a season and have serious disputes about where they would play their home games…if such a team existed…).
Doom is always hovering around the corner.
This time Doom was kept at bay by a blitzing Sean Spence, and the ‘Canes left my heart to die another day.
This week the opponent is Georgia Tech, a buzzsaw of an offense reliant upon opposing defenses
being greedy and leaving their lanes / missing tackles to hit the big plays vital to its success.
This would be fine except for our defense’s biggest problem areas are freelancing and missed tackles.
Translation: another shootout. Another rough day on the stomach.
The silver lining is that Miami’s offense is playing with a…dare I say, swagger…that we have not seen in a long time. I honestly feel that every time we get the ball we are going to score, and if we do not it is our own fault, not the opponents’. This offense seems to be capable of putting up 50 on any given day, and Tech’s defense is not stellar. We have a multitude of weapons in our arsenal with more seemingly capable of breaking out any week now (Eduardo Clements, Phillip Dorsett, Asante Cleveland, Seantrel Henderson, etc.).
The team is getting demonstrably better each week, even though there are overall themes that continue to bother, mostly the previously mentioned problems with the defense.
A great offense is fun to watch, but we all know defense is what sets apart the great teams from the fun ones.
And until the defense rights itself (I have essentially given up on this season), I will continue to have a gloomy feeling in the bit of my stomach until we are ahead on the scoreboard when the clock goes to triple zeroes.
Last week I went 8-3 to bring the season record up to 40-17. And yet, it is the near misses that will stand out (damn you Maryland).
This week’s picks that are sure to be laughed at:
Clemson (-11) over UNC
There’s no chance that a vastly superior Clemson team would ever trip up on their own feet when they control their own destiny, right?
Arkansas over Ole Miss (+16.5)
Ole Miss (Off the board) over The Party
Still undefeated.
FSU (-17) over Maryland
But wouldn’t it be nice?
LSU (-23.5) over Auburn
Northwestern (+4) over Penn State
Kind of an upset. But who cares about that? The real lesson? The Big Ten still sucks and Northwestern is kind of cool. Like Duke of the Midwest, except for bad at basketball too.
Bama (+30) over Tennessee
The Third Saturday in October has lost a little steam, granted, but it is still a great nickname for a rivalry. There are a few games I am interested in every year, regardless of records or intrigue, because the name is so cool. The Holy War (BYU-Utah). The Border War (Mizzou- Kansas). The Cocktail Party (Florida-Georgia). Clean, Old Fashioned Hate (Georgia-Georgia Tech). The Backyard Brawl (West Virginia-Pitt). Those are games I can get behind. Ya dig?
Notre Lame (-8.5) over USC
Who cares?
Stanford (-21) over U-Dub
SMU over SMU (-3)
Too good to pass up.
Always guard the inbound passer.
The Cardiac Canes continue to live up to their name, and I continue to struggle to find new ways to write about the anguish they put me through every Saturday.
Against UNC they put the shoe on a different foot, stomping the Heels in the first half and then allowing them right back in to the game in the second half, to the point that I legitimately was thinking exactly what statement it was that I made that cursed the team in the second half (after a big defensive stand on 4th and short early in the 4th Quarter, I stood up and declared “Ballgame!”…that was the leading candidate).
That is what the ‘Canes have done to me…as soon as the other team gets a glimmer of hope, I automatically assume we are going to lose.
It is like being a Cubs fan (or an Orioles fan…or the fan of a team comprised of the 12 best players from each of the two teams that would still lose 90 games a season and have serious disputes about where they would play their home games…if such a team existed…).
Doom is always hovering around the corner.
This time Doom was kept at bay by a blitzing Sean Spence, and the ‘Canes left my heart to die another day.
This week the opponent is Georgia Tech, a buzzsaw of an offense reliant upon opposing defenses
being greedy and leaving their lanes / missing tackles to hit the big plays vital to its success.This would be fine except for our defense’s biggest problem areas are freelancing and missed tackles.
Translation: another shootout. Another rough day on the stomach.
The silver lining is that Miami’s offense is playing with a…dare I say, swagger…that we have not seen in a long time. I honestly feel that every time we get the ball we are going to score, and if we do not it is our own fault, not the opponents’. This offense seems to be capable of putting up 50 on any given day, and Tech’s defense is not stellar. We have a multitude of weapons in our arsenal with more seemingly capable of breaking out any week now (Eduardo Clements, Phillip Dorsett, Asante Cleveland, Seantrel Henderson, etc.).
The team is getting demonstrably better each week, even though there are overall themes that continue to bother, mostly the previously mentioned problems with the defense.
A great offense is fun to watch, but we all know defense is what sets apart the great teams from the fun ones.
And until the defense rights itself (I have essentially given up on this season), I will continue to have a gloomy feeling in the bit of my stomach until we are ahead on the scoreboard when the clock goes to triple zeroes.
Last week I went 8-3 to bring the season record up to 40-17. And yet, it is the near misses that will stand out (damn you Maryland).
This week’s picks that are sure to be laughed at:
Clemson (-11) over UNC
There’s no chance that a vastly superior Clemson team would ever trip up on their own feet when they control their own destiny, right?
Arkansas over Ole Miss (+16.5)
Ole Miss (Off the board) over The Party
Still undefeated.
FSU (-17) over Maryland
But wouldn’t it be nice?
LSU (-23.5) over Auburn
Northwestern (+4) over Penn State
Kind of an upset. But who cares about that? The real lesson? The Big Ten still sucks and Northwestern is kind of cool. Like Duke of the Midwest, except for bad at basketball too.
Bama (+30) over Tennessee
The Third Saturday in October has lost a little steam, granted, but it is still a great nickname for a rivalry. There are a few games I am interested in every year, regardless of records or intrigue, because the name is so cool. The Holy War (BYU-Utah). The Border War (Mizzou- Kansas). The Cocktail Party (Florida-Georgia). Clean, Old Fashioned Hate (Georgia-Georgia Tech). The Backyard Brawl (West Virginia-Pitt). Those are games I can get behind. Ya dig?
Notre Lame (-8.5) over USC
Who cares?
Stanford (-21) over U-Dub
SMU over SMU (-3)
Too good to pass up.
Always guard the inbound passer.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Yada Yada Yada
Hello All,
I started to write a preview of the Carolina game when I stopped and realized I have written the same preview for every game this season:
We have more talent...yada yada yada...we have to play intense football for four quarters...yada yada yada...play for each other...yada yada yada...toughen up when it matters...yada yada yada.
Every week it is the same thing.
So, in the interest of brevity, I am going to just move right along to this week's picks and start praying to whatever football Gods will listen to me that we don't lay an egg against these light blue wearing sissy boys of that second rate institution that is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Last week I went 6-1 (damn you Auburn!) to bump the season mark up to 32-14. I also went 1-1 on call-ins to The Solid Verbal podcast making it on air in their Reverb segment. Perhaps one could say alcohol fueled my mini-rant. Perhaps.
Michigan State (-3) over Michigan
Eventually, that Big House of cards we are seeing at Michigan will come crumbling down. Denard Robinsonn is a special player but at some point this team will have to throw to win against a good defense and just won't get it done. The mirage ends this weekend.
Baylor over Texas A&M (-9)
aTm plays the first half of each game like an SEC team and the second half like a Sun Belt team. Robert Griffin is special. Mini-UPSET SPECIAL.
Cackalacky over Miss State (+3)
If you don't love the Ol' Ball Coach, watch him kick a reporter out of his press conference and seem like the happiest man on Earth while doing so.
Oklahoma State over Texas (+8)
Texas just isn't elite. The 'Pokes are.
LSU over Tennessee (+18)
Wake (+7) over VT
Signed,
Florida State
Upset special!
Ole Miss (+26.5) over 'Bama
Juuuuussssttttt Kidding
K State over Texas Tech (-3.5)
Oregon (-14.5) over Arizona State
Afterwards, the players will get together and pick out some ultra chic new kicks, bro.
Auburn (+2) over UiF
Because my dream of the Gators going 0-October needs to live on.
Marlyand (+9) over Clemson
Because the Terps are the weirdest team in college football and Clemson is still Clemson. ULTRA UPSET SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!
Always guard the inbound passer.
I started to write a preview of the Carolina game when I stopped and realized I have written the same preview for every game this season:
We have more talent...yada yada yada...we have to play intense football for four quarters...yada yada yada...play for each other...yada yada yada...toughen up when it matters...yada yada yada.
Every week it is the same thing.
So, in the interest of brevity, I am going to just move right along to this week's picks and start praying to whatever football Gods will listen to me that we don't lay an egg against these light blue wearing sissy boys of that second rate institution that is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Last week I went 6-1 (damn you Auburn!) to bump the season mark up to 32-14. I also went 1-1 on call-ins to The Solid Verbal podcast making it on air in their Reverb segment. Perhaps one could say alcohol fueled my mini-rant. Perhaps.
Michigan State (-3) over Michigan
Eventually, that Big House of cards we are seeing at Michigan will come crumbling down. Denard Robinsonn is a special player but at some point this team will have to throw to win against a good defense and just won't get it done. The mirage ends this weekend.
Baylor over Texas A&M (-9)
aTm plays the first half of each game like an SEC team and the second half like a Sun Belt team. Robert Griffin is special. Mini-UPSET SPECIAL.
Cackalacky over Miss State (+3)
If you don't love the Ol' Ball Coach, watch him kick a reporter out of his press conference and seem like the happiest man on Earth while doing so.
Oklahoma State over Texas (+8)
Texas just isn't elite. The 'Pokes are.
LSU over Tennessee (+18)
Wake (+7) over VT
Signed,
Florida State
Upset special!
Ole Miss (+26.5) over 'Bama
Juuuuussssttttt Kidding
K State over Texas Tech (-3.5)
Oregon (-14.5) over Arizona State
Afterwards, the players will get together and pick out some ultra chic new kicks, bro.
Auburn (+2) over UiF
Because my dream of the Gators going 0-October needs to live on.
Marlyand (+9) over Clemson
Because the Terps are the weirdest team in college football and Clemson is still Clemson. ULTRA UPSET SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!
Always guard the inbound passer.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Another Bad Afternoon
Hello All,
After a weekend spent mostly trying (and failing) to forget the events that aired between 12:30 and 4:30 pm Pacific Time on Monday afternoon, I am at a loss.
I spent 6 hours playing beer pong. Didn’t work.
Went over to a friend’s apartment to try and be sociable. Didn’t work.
Went kayaking. Didn’t work.
I was not alone in my futility. My dad texted me about an hour after the game and said “I just went to the range and pounded sixty golf balls…still pissed off. This team will be the death of me.”
Different week, same result.
At the end of the Maryland game, I wrote the loss off to suspensions and weather and stupid uniforms and God knows what else…but I wrote it off.
After Kansas State, I didn’t even register we had lost. I was numb to it and didn’t really feel like we should have won in the first place.
This time, I have no excuses. I have nothing to write it off to. This game was lost because we were too fucking soft when it counted.
The way to win this game, in a hostile stadium against a pissed off team, was to hit them in the mouth early and force them to play catch up. I didn’t realize before the game what a shootout it would become; no one did. However, I did know that Tech was just too good a team to only play one half against.
To their credit, the Miami offense came out and immediately worked the body. After getting the
ball deep into Tech territory, Miami was unable to get a yard on 2nd Down. And then again on 3rd down. Disappointing, but not devastating that early in the game. Take the 3, the lead and the early momentum. Hit them in the mouth and make them react.
Instead, Miami tried a fake field goal (love the sentiment and the balls, hate the timing) that was snuffed from the word “go”. No momentum. No points. A beehive kicked over. All because we had two shots to get one effing yard and couldn’t.
Virginia Tech scored a touchdown. And then another. All of a sudden the ‘Canes were chasing two touchdowns, and for the umpteenth time in the last 5 years the hole was just too deep to crawl out of.
Late in the game, against all odds, Miami had retaken the lead and had only to prevent the Hokies from scoring a touchdown in the final few minutes. That was it. Not force a 3 and out, not keep them from scoring, just not let in a touchdown.
Sometimes the simplest things are the most complicated.
With under a minute left, the ‘Canes were once again a yard from victory. 4th down. 3 feet. Protect your territory and gain a huge win. Falter and watch the other guys celebrate.
Touchdown Tech.
The comeback was valiant, but once again this team proved soft when it really counted. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the core of this team has seen this type of loss play out over and over again for 3 years. Enough is enough.
This season has already been on of the most frustrating of my life. And it is not yet half over. I am glad I waited to write this for a couple of days, because otherwise it would have been more vitriolic.
This team is about 6 yards from being 5-0 as opposed to 2-3.
Think about what that feels like as a fan. Week in and week out I get up at 7:30 am because I can’t sleep. I pace around all god damned day to try and distract myself from the wait. I try and get invested in the earlier games to take my mind off the time.
I yell and scream for 4 hours during the game. I break a sweat and lose my voice (while sitting on the couch mostly).
And then it ends with a punch straight to the groin. Most of the time it is all I can do to keep from crying.
I empathize with Al Golden, who had tears in his eyes at the end of that game. This team has a habit of sucking you in and then causing you great pain.
Everyone can empathize with this, because we’ve all been there:
The promotion you want but keeps getting postponed.
The pretty girl you want that is just out of your grasp.
The ‘Canes fit right in: the football team that should win but finds a way to lose.
After the game I was left with an apartment full of people. Friends. People I hold near and dear. I had to excuse myself from the group to go in to my room for a few minutes to cool off. I didn’t want to say something I didn’t mean (sometimes it is the nice people that suffer the wrath of Stein on the Sidelines…not my finest trait).
After I emerged I sat down next to my roommate on the couch. He said something that anyone who has been passed over for the promotion or stymied by the girl that they know they belong with can understand:
“We deserve better.”
You’re God damned right we do.
We deserve a team that fights for the yard and wins.
If this were a girl or a job, we would advise a friend to move on. Find a new girl. Find a new job. Someone or something that values you as much as you value them.
Just like in real life, we don’t move on. We believe it will come eventually. We have the right guy in charge. We will figure out how to not roll over like cheap Hollywood hookers on defense, whether under this coordinator or another. We will learn to not take stupid penalties and we will win the inches that separate a 5-0 team from a 2-3 team.
But until then there are going to be a lot of pissed off afternoons spent drinking more than I should and pounding driving range balls.
I feel your pain Coach Golden. I need you to fix the problem just as much as I want you to, because whether you do or not we will be here waiting. My expectations of winning every week won’t come down, so hopefully the performance of the team comes up, because I know I can’t take many more afternoons like that one. Neither can my dad.
Always guard the inbound passer.
After a weekend spent mostly trying (and failing) to forget the events that aired between 12:30 and 4:30 pm Pacific Time on Monday afternoon, I am at a loss.
I spent 6 hours playing beer pong. Didn’t work.
Went over to a friend’s apartment to try and be sociable. Didn’t work.
Went kayaking. Didn’t work.
I was not alone in my futility. My dad texted me about an hour after the game and said “I just went to the range and pounded sixty golf balls…still pissed off. This team will be the death of me.”
Different week, same result.
At the end of the Maryland game, I wrote the loss off to suspensions and weather and stupid uniforms and God knows what else…but I wrote it off.
After Kansas State, I didn’t even register we had lost. I was numb to it and didn’t really feel like we should have won in the first place.
This time, I have no excuses. I have nothing to write it off to. This game was lost because we were too fucking soft when it counted.
The way to win this game, in a hostile stadium against a pissed off team, was to hit them in the mouth early and force them to play catch up. I didn’t realize before the game what a shootout it would become; no one did. However, I did know that Tech was just too good a team to only play one half against.
To their credit, the Miami offense came out and immediately worked the body. After getting the
ball deep into Tech territory, Miami was unable to get a yard on 2nd Down. And then again on 3rd down. Disappointing, but not devastating that early in the game. Take the 3, the lead and the early momentum. Hit them in the mouth and make them react.Instead, Miami tried a fake field goal (love the sentiment and the balls, hate the timing) that was snuffed from the word “go”. No momentum. No points. A beehive kicked over. All because we had two shots to get one effing yard and couldn’t.
Virginia Tech scored a touchdown. And then another. All of a sudden the ‘Canes were chasing two touchdowns, and for the umpteenth time in the last 5 years the hole was just too deep to crawl out of.
Late in the game, against all odds, Miami had retaken the lead and had only to prevent the Hokies from scoring a touchdown in the final few minutes. That was it. Not force a 3 and out, not keep them from scoring, just not let in a touchdown.
Sometimes the simplest things are the most complicated.
With under a minute left, the ‘Canes were once again a yard from victory. 4th down. 3 feet. Protect your territory and gain a huge win. Falter and watch the other guys celebrate.
Touchdown Tech.
The comeback was valiant, but once again this team proved soft when it really counted. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but the core of this team has seen this type of loss play out over and over again for 3 years. Enough is enough.
This season has already been on of the most frustrating of my life. And it is not yet half over. I am glad I waited to write this for a couple of days, because otherwise it would have been more vitriolic.
This team is about 6 yards from being 5-0 as opposed to 2-3.
Think about what that feels like as a fan. Week in and week out I get up at 7:30 am because I can’t sleep. I pace around all god damned day to try and distract myself from the wait. I try and get invested in the earlier games to take my mind off the time.
I yell and scream for 4 hours during the game. I break a sweat and lose my voice (while sitting on the couch mostly).
And then it ends with a punch straight to the groin. Most of the time it is all I can do to keep from crying.
I empathize with Al Golden, who had tears in his eyes at the end of that game. This team has a habit of sucking you in and then causing you great pain.
Everyone can empathize with this, because we’ve all been there:
The promotion you want but keeps getting postponed.
The pretty girl you want that is just out of your grasp.
The ‘Canes fit right in: the football team that should win but finds a way to lose.
After the game I was left with an apartment full of people. Friends. People I hold near and dear. I had to excuse myself from the group to go in to my room for a few minutes to cool off. I didn’t want to say something I didn’t mean (sometimes it is the nice people that suffer the wrath of Stein on the Sidelines…not my finest trait).
After I emerged I sat down next to my roommate on the couch. He said something that anyone who has been passed over for the promotion or stymied by the girl that they know they belong with can understand:
“We deserve better.”
You’re God damned right we do.
We deserve a team that fights for the yard and wins.
If this were a girl or a job, we would advise a friend to move on. Find a new girl. Find a new job. Someone or something that values you as much as you value them.
Just like in real life, we don’t move on. We believe it will come eventually. We have the right guy in charge. We will figure out how to not roll over like cheap Hollywood hookers on defense, whether under this coordinator or another. We will learn to not take stupid penalties and we will win the inches that separate a 5-0 team from a 2-3 team.
But until then there are going to be a lot of pissed off afternoons spent drinking more than I should and pounding driving range balls.
I feel your pain Coach Golden. I need you to fix the problem just as much as I want you to, because whether you do or not we will be here waiting. My expectations of winning every week won’t come down, so hopefully the performance of the team comes up, because I know I can’t take many more afternoons like that one. Neither can my dad.
Always guard the inbound passer.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
4 Full Quarters
Hello All,
So at this point it is a little late to really talk about that Bethune Cookman game. It is Virginia Tech week now, and let’s be honest, Virginia Tech week means about 119813218946595165198 times more than a middling win over a less than middling opponent.
And when I say middling, I mean middling. So far in the middle that ABC’s “The Middle” is pissed off at Miami and thinking about suing them for intellectual property theft.
Being down 7-0 at home to a D 1-AA opponent halfway through the second quarter…not acceptable.
Being down 7-0 at home to a D 1-AA opponent who received no Top FIFTY votes in the D 1-AA poll following the game…well, now that is downright alarming.
Now, to the ‘Cane credit, they woke up halfway through the second quarter and then administered the kind of ass kicking they were expected to.
Therein lays the problem. Once again, no matter what Coach Golden says, this team came out flat. The defense looked listless, and if not for yet another All American type of play by Sean Spence would have been staring down the barrel of a 14-0 deficit.
When you are the University of Miami, you can not give the opponent hope. The other guy is always going to have a chip on his shoulder and emboldening them is what leads to dumb losses of the Kansas State variety.
This shit has got to stop.
My roommate and I spent five minutes trying to name guys on our roster who we thought, based on our fairly thorough following of the team, actually cared if we lost.
Spence. Jacory. Mike James. Perryman. Jo Jo. Eduardo Clements. Chickillo. Stephen Morris. Henderson. Gunn. Mike Williams.
After that, the list got hard to come up with. And that is a problem
This week the opponent is Virginia Tech, a team who will summarily curb stomp us American History X style if we go to their place and take an hour and a half to wake up.
They have a running back who is maybe the nation’s toughest to tackle, and we have a defense that seems hell bent on disproving the “defense wins games” mantra.
This is the sort of game that either results in Golden’s second big win as a ‘Cane and the driver’s seat to the ACC Title Game OR a devastating blowout at the hands of a rival. This is the sort of game that will require 4 full quarters of football.
As has been discussed in this space before, the difference between the two will be whether Miami can dictate the pace. This time, they can’t start doing so in the 2nd quarter, or they will enjoy yet another long plane ride home from a conference road loss. Thank God this year it will not be played in a green helmet.
Last week I went 4-3 in my picks but nailed Auburn taking down Cackalacky and Arkansas over aTm. For the season I am 26-13. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
This week’s picks:
Cackalacky (-21) over Kentucky
Kentucky with the back door cover (not a joke about you Ty, but then again, I guess it works…).
K State (+3) over Mizzou
When you’re hot you’re hot.
Georgia over Tennessee (+1)
Little known Stein on the Sidelines fact: the first college football game I ever attended was a Georgia-Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium. Peyton Manning vs. Champ Bailey and Hines Ward…not exactly Tyler Bray vs. Aaron Murray, I know, but they were quainter times.
Nebraska (-11) over Ohio State
So at this point it is a little late to really talk about that Bethune Cookman game. It is Virginia Tech week now, and let’s be honest, Virginia Tech week means about 119813218946595165198 times more than a middling win over a less than middling opponent.
And when I say middling, I mean middling. So far in the middle that ABC’s “The Middle” is pissed off at Miami and thinking about suing them for intellectual property theft.
Being down 7-0 at home to a D 1-AA opponent halfway through the second quarter…not acceptable.
Being down 7-0 at home to a D 1-AA opponent who received no Top FIFTY votes in the D 1-AA poll following the game…well, now that is downright alarming.
Now, to the ‘Cane credit, they woke up halfway through the second quarter and then administered the kind of ass kicking they were expected to.
Therein lays the problem. Once again, no matter what Coach Golden says, this team came out flat. The defense looked listless, and if not for yet another All American type of play by Sean Spence would have been staring down the barrel of a 14-0 deficit.
When you are the University of Miami, you can not give the opponent hope. The other guy is always going to have a chip on his shoulder and emboldening them is what leads to dumb losses of the Kansas State variety.
This shit has got to stop.
My roommate and I spent five minutes trying to name guys on our roster who we thought, based on our fairly thorough following of the team, actually cared if we lost.
Spence. Jacory. Mike James. Perryman. Jo Jo. Eduardo Clements. Chickillo. Stephen Morris. Henderson. Gunn. Mike Williams.
After that, the list got hard to come up with. And that is a problem
This week the opponent is Virginia Tech, a team who will summarily curb stomp us American History X style if we go to their place and take an hour and a half to wake up.
They have a running back who is maybe the nation’s toughest to tackle, and we have a defense that seems hell bent on disproving the “defense wins games” mantra.
This is the sort of game that either results in Golden’s second big win as a ‘Cane and the driver’s seat to the ACC Title Game OR a devastating blowout at the hands of a rival. This is the sort of game that will require 4 full quarters of football.
As has been discussed in this space before, the difference between the two will be whether Miami can dictate the pace. This time, they can’t start doing so in the 2nd quarter, or they will enjoy yet another long plane ride home from a conference road loss. Thank God this year it will not be played in a green helmet.
Last week I went 4-3 in my picks but nailed Auburn taking down Cackalacky and Arkansas over aTm. For the season I am 26-13. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.
This week’s picks:
Cackalacky (-21) over Kentucky
Kentucky with the back door cover (not a joke about you Ty, but then again, I guess it works…).
K State (+3) over Mizzou
When you’re hot you’re hot.
Georgia over Tennessee (+1)
Little known Stein on the Sidelines fact: the first college football game I ever attended was a Georgia-Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium. Peyton Manning vs. Champ Bailey and Hines Ward…not exactly Tyler Bray vs. Aaron Murray, I know, but they were quainter times.
Nebraska (-11) over Ohio State
Auburn over Arkansas (-10)
Oklahoma over Texas (+10)
Red River Shootout. Bedlam. Does anyone have cooler rivalry game nicknames then Oklahoma?
LSU (-14) over UiF
Always guard the inbound passer.
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