Hurricane Pride

The University of Miami Hurricane football team was dead in the water. After losing 2 straight ACC conference games to North Carolina and Georgia Tech some writers, such as myself, shut the door on the Canes ACC championship potential and some fans, including myself, began to question with what direction Coach Shannon was taking this team. Then the Canes walked into Doak Campbell stadium and showed the nation why The U is far from packing it in and calling it quits. In one of the most important wins in recentg history Miami went into Tallahasse and beat the Seminoles in a rather high scoring affair.

Wins against hated rival Florida st are never easy to come by but the fact that we beat them teh way we did, in tallahasse, in front of their large fanbase, is what is turning me into a shannon believer. The canes found an offense to build upon, they found trust in their head man, but most importantly the Canes found heart in Tallahasse. Quarterback Kirby Freeman opitmized this bravery late in the fourth quarter on the go ahead touchdown drive. With the clock ticking Freeman dropped back and got absolutely crushed in between 2 seminole defenders but miliseconds before the hit he let off a strike to tight end Dedrick Epps in the corner of the endzone. Freeman knew he was about to get hit but instead of tucking the ball and running, which he has been criticized for doing, he stayed flush in the pocket took the hit and won the game. This game, this play, must be a turning point for Miami. This team has been scrutinized for coming out in games flat and this may just be the spark that lights the fire.

sox rock the rockies

Josh Beckett and Curt Schilling are two of the most dominant playoff pitchers of all time. So it isnt really fair that the Colorado Rockies have had to face both of these men in consecutive games to open up this years fall classic. The favored redsox have yet to allow 2 runs in a game while thier vaunted lineup has been lighting up the scoreboard. Big bats like those of Big Papi and Manny have been swinging for the fences and it looks as though the Rockies world series title hopes are dwindling.

Red sox nation loves their free-spirtited group of players. Their quotes have become media fodder and it seems as though they cant help but stir the pot with everything they say. Manny Ramirez was recently quoted as saying something to the effect of him not caring win or lose because this isnt the end of the world for him. This kind of apathy disgusts some and is refreshing to others but the most widely known fact is that everybody is listening. With such an outspoken team it is surprising that game three falls on the shoulders of the quitest man on the field. Rookie pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound for the Red Sox in game 3 in Colorado. Only time will tell if Daisuke and his teammates can silence the Colorado crowd, a little less noise will be welcomed by followers of the series because we all know that the red sox dont seem to ever shut up.

Rutgers puts an end to the Bull-oney

The university of South Florida Bulls, were number 2 in the country coming into their contest against Rutgers in Piscataway. 5 of the 6 BCS computers had USF number 1 in the nation. Rutgers then procedded to expose South Florida's weaknesses on their way to a 30-27 victory. Watching the game it was painfully apparent that this was not a top team in the nation. Penalties and turnovers were the story of the game for the bulls who played unninspired football all night long. How can you not come to play and prove that you are worth your over exaggerated rating.

I am 100% for a college football playoff. BCS computers are about as easy to figuere out quantum physics, and they judge teams on numbers without taking into account th very human element of "how do they actually look during a game". The system is flawed. I know a computer can calculate my calculus problems but i refuse to trust a computer that tells me that South Florida has a better team this year than LSU and USC. Thank you Rutgers for showing the country, ON THE FIELD, that the bcs is not the answer.

Time to go Joe

The Joe Torre reign is over in the bronx. Joe Torre has turned down a yankees offer to remain the manager for another year. Where the yankees will go from here is a ll heresay but names such as, cardinals manager, tony larussa, don mattingly and even bobby valentino have been thrown around. Although at first glance the yankees seem to have been turned down looking deeper into the situation you will find that the idea that the yankees ownership truly wanted Joe back needs to be questioned.

The process was drug out over a several week span probably due to the fact that, owner, George Steinbrenner is in the process of handing over the keys of the team to his son. All the while Joe Torre sat patiently waiting, staying out of the media. When it came time to sit down for negotiations the yankees laid down a 1 year incentive laden deal worth 5 million in guarenteed money. It was well known that Joe was interested in a longer term deal as job protection in a city where nothing is guarenteed. Accompanied by the fact that this deal would be asking Torre to take a 30% paycut just didnt sit well with Torre and his representatives. Torre turned down the lame offer and the yankees basically said "well, good luck". Usually in this case the team would then have a counter offer but it was obvious that ownership didnt really want Joe Torre to take the job. Who will manage the bronx bombers next year? No one really knows, but 12 playoff appearences over 12 years with 4 titles under Torre's tutilidge is a tough job to follow.

Phillies swept by Rockies

So i waited 14 years of playoff-less baseball so i could watch by beloved phillies get swept in the first round. Awesome. The phillies came into the national league divisional series with swagger. Why shouldnt they? they had just made the playoffs on the last day of the season and had practically dominated the last couple weeks of their season. But the rockies were even hotter. They too had made the playoffs on the last day of regular season play and hadnt lost in several weeks. Led by exceptional defense and an even better offense the Rockies man handled the Phils in 3 games winning the first two in Philadelphia. Surprisingly even the rockies young pitching was exceptional as they kept the phillies highly touted lineup in check all series long.

Everybody wanted to see an NL Championship series featuring two of the most historically deprived teams in baseball history, the phillies and the cubs was the dream matchup. However today people woke up and realized they were preparing to watch what has been dubbed the "no name" series between the Diamond backs versus the Rockies. With an MVP candidate in Matt Holliday and rising stars in Troy Tulowitzky and practically the whole starting pitching staff I cant believe that the Rockies potent lineup will be considered nameless for very much longer. Just ask the Phillies and their fans, because i cant get their names out of my head.

Is 2 better than 1?

I was watching the Florida State versus Wake forest game today when i found myself faced with a very troubling football paradox. Ill start by explaining the situation. Florida state came out of halftime with a 14-7 lead and a ton of confidence becaus ethe Wake Forest offense hadnt produced much of anything in the first half. The Florida state offense, and quarterback Xavier Lee, sputtered to start the second half. On the other hand the Wake forest offense drove the ball right down the seminole's throat and scored a touchdown to tie the game. Xavier and the seminole offense answered by driving the ball down the field, however their drive ended with Lee throwing his first interecption. With Wake Forest still moving the ball efficiently and being in need of some points the seminole coaches made a desperation call and pulled Xavier Lee mid game in favor of Drew Weatherford. Drew came in and missed some easy passes and was swapped for Lee again on the subsequent drive. Lee, now showing signs of becoming stiff on the bench, was unable to lead a late game comeback. The question i pose to all of you is does the two quarterback system work in anay level of football?

It didnt work for Florida State tonight but there has been some teams who have been successful with a carousel at quarterback. Look at last years National Champion Florida Gators who won the national title by spelling veteran quarterback Chris Rix with Highly talented freshman Tim Tebow. Then look at the team that handed the gators their most recent loss, Lsu beat Florida with a mix of Veteran Matt Flynn and speedy youngster Ryan Periloux. Of course there has been disasters when mixing quarterbacks, stay in state and look at the University of Miami Hurricanes who have been swapping quarterbacks all year, just like their tallahasse counterparts the Canes have been unable to get into a rhythem due to their lack of stability at the quarterback position.

The answer lies in finding the right blend for your quarterback tandem. It seems to me as though there has to be the perfect mixture of veteran knowledge and youthful exuberance when finding a two headed monster to run a football offense. It also helps when the team is using 2 QB's because they are equally as good rather than being equally as bad.

The U falls

The university of Miami has been known for its historical greatness. 5 National championships since 1980 have given fans much to brag about. But the past is about all Hurricane fans have to cheer about today as they lose to a less than mediocre North Carolina team. It was a revenge game of sorts for North Carolina head coach Butch Davis as he was the coach at Miami from 1995 to 2001. Although he downplayed the significance of coaching against his former team it was apparent that he had his team ready to play against the hurricanes. Miami on the other hand looked to have slept through the first half. After two quarters of play the tar heels accumulated a 27-0 lead.

First year head coach Randy Shannon made some excellent half time adjustments and the Hurricanes came out firing on all cylinders in the second half and stormed back to score 20 points unanswered in the 3rd quarter. The Hurricanes Comeback was halted when quarterback Kyle Wright threw an interception, his 4th of the day, in the red zone, in the 4th quarter. As the clock read 0:00 the Hurricanes effort fell short 27-33.

The new regime under Randy Shannon has just begun and all fans will continue to hold out hope that he will be the man that turns this program around and returns them to glory. However one thing that coach Shannon must do is win the games that the team is expected to win, and at this juncture the team has failed to do that. So as the hurricanes begin their ACC schedule they have fallen to 1-1 against in conference foes and all fans can do is hope that history will at some point repeat itself, because at "The U" rebuilding is not an option and loosing a game like this against a weak North Carolina team is unacceptable

Phillies turn to Moyer........again

Who would think that a 44 year old pitcher would be called on to salvage the young talent laden phillies. Well thats exactly what is happening as the phillies have falllen down 0-2 in the NLDS to the Colorado Rockies. The phillies lost the first two games at home and now must comeback on the road and win to live another day. And this isnt the first time that the philly native Moyer. After 161 games the NL East division had settled absolutely nothing as the mets and phillies were tied going into the very last game of the regular season and Moyer took the mound for the red and white. On that faithful day the mets lost and Moyer threw 6 plus innings of quality work and phillies rolled past the nationals, making it to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

It has been a rather tumultious season for the elder statesman of the phillies pitching staff. He had an up and down season that led some to believe that Moyer was going to retire after the season. Some began to wonder if Moyer was acquired by the phillies during the offseason just to come in and teach talented rookies such as Kyle Kendrick and Cole Hamels. His knowledge has paid dividends but his experience has begun to payoff on the field in the most pressure packed situations. Philly faithful can only pray that Moyer's cool demeanor can continue to save their season as he begins to make preperations for possibly the biggest game of his long career