Regrettably, it has been a little bit since I have been able to post in here.
First of all, I called the UCLA - USC thing. I maybe didn't get a chance to write it down, but KNOW that I called that shit.
Second..sigh.
After attending last weekend's beatdown of USF, I think this team has come a long way this season.
These are guys who wandered the desert for 4 years before becoming productive role players in a year and a half. Imagine what they could have been with a full career of a staff that knew how to develop guys and nurture role players.
For all intents and purposes, the future of this team looks BCS Title worthy.
With one HUGE "if" attached to it.
IF the NCAA does not bring down the hammer.
And ladies and gentlemen, after last night's piece in the Herald, I am not so sure of that.
Let's cover a lot of stuff at once here.
The other night, I was ok with the University administration forfeiting another bowl game. And the ACC Championship.
I didn't like it, but I understood it.
The negatives to doing this were easy to point out. In a nutshell: another bowl ban is unfair to this team, but more importantly, the fans.
Usually, I am quick to disparage our shitty fan base. And I still am. By and large our fans suck.
(Come at me, bro)
But this is a purely selfish thing...I am thinking of the people like myself and my father when I say it has been a long time since this program has had unmitigated good news, and for once it would be nice for the fans to be able to thump their chest a little.
A rematch with FSU would have been a chance to do just that. So it was a tough pill to swallow, made easier only by the knowledge that this is going to be our worst team for the next 4 years and this will be the foundation, not the summit. Better to get the crap over with now, when we are 6-5 and headed to a marginal bowl game (in all likelihood), then later. Right?
However, I still had a sinking feeling.
The problem with the above logic is that you assume the NCAA is a rational institution. Which, as Miami fans, we all know is not that case.
The NCAA is the biggest (excuse my language) fuck show on Earth. These guys make the PLO look like the model of consistency and integrity when it comes to governing.
Somewhere, deep down, I had a feeling that the NCAA might try to pull the rug out from under us anyway, and this bowl withdrawal might be for naught.
And then, last night, I read Barry Jackson' piece in the Herald.
In it, Jackson published a letter of which he obtained a copy that issued an ultimatum from the NCAA to former 'Canes players.
Cooperate by Date X or we will assume you are guilty.
Somewhere, Arafat is smiling. Or worse, trying to figure out how he never came up with something that good to force the Jews to the table on his terms.
I know that imagery is heavy handed, but that's exactly what the NCAA is doing. They are terrorizing a school.
The NCAA has become the group that clings to its beliefs so hard that it is no longer about what is right and what is wrong.
It is about the cause. Sound familiar?
Like any great terrorist group, the NCAA, by issuing this letter, has declared that it would rather protect its investment of time in to this case then to actually conduct a legitimate investigation.
Miami has been nothing but the model of cooperation during this investigation, which has already dragged on for nearly a year longer than it should have. And yet, the NCAA keeps digging.
It reeks of desperation. It means the NCAA will keep going until they find something that sticks, because gosh darn it an example has to be made.
The NCAA just doesn't give a shit if they are making an example of the right person.
For lack of a better term, the Miami football program is the public bazaar, and the NCAA had a dynamite vest strapped on.
So no, I no longer support our decision to self impose a bowl ban. I no longer support our cooperation.
If we were always going to be guilty unless proven innocent, we should have acted like it.
"Screw you Emmert. We are going to the ACC Title game. We will beat FSU. And then we will win the Orange Bowl. And keep the money. And if you don't like it, fuck you."
The NCAA proved earlier this summer that they do not care about any sort of process during the Penn State episode this summer.
Now, they have not only furthered that, but also also stated that they hold the word of Louis Freeh, a former head of the fucking FBI, on the same level as that of Nevin Shapiro. The guy who, people forget, is guilty of $930 MILLION WORTH OF FUCKING FRAUD.
So now it is time for Miami to do something about it. I hope Miami releases a press release saying exactly this: "FUCK YOU".
You do not beat terrorists by negotiating with them.
The only thing they respond to is force. It is the way it is and the way it has always been.
Miami has chance to do something here.
What, I do not know.
Bleed the NCAA in court until they are forced to stand down and become transparent; expose their bullshit house of cards? Organize a secession from the NCAA of all the top programs?
All sound great to me.
The only thing that doesn't sound good it to keep going out of our way to appease this group of assholes. Because really, it doesn't matter anyway. They will do whatever they want, and they are counting on us to just roll over like we always do.
I say we don't give them the satisfaction.
We are The U. We changed the landscape by being renegades.
Let's not forget that.
-- --
The picks:
Texas (-8.5) over
LSU (+12.5) over Arkie
WASHINGTON over Wazzu (+13.5)
APPLE CUP!
'ZONA (-3) over Arizona State
GEORGIA (-13) over GT
CLEAN, OLD FASHIONED HATE!
OHIO STATE (-3.5) over Michigan
The Game.
VT (-10) over Virginia
OREGON over Oregon State (+9.5)
CIVIL WAR!
OKLAHOMA (-7) over Okie State
BEDLAM!
OLE MISS (-1) over State
EGG BOWL!
STANFORD over UCLA (+2.5)
ND over USC (+6.5)
'BAMA (-31) over Auburn
IRON BOWL!
Always guard the inbound passer.
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