Sunday, October 26, 2008
Should "Win Ugly" Be Our New Motto?
Okay, so it wasn't Ken Dorsey throwing all over the field to Jeremy Shockey and Andre Johnson for 60 points or Michael Irvin catching 5 TD passes, in route to a 50 point beat down; hell it wasn't even all that impressive of a win, but it was the new Miami way of winning. Perhaps we should adopt a new motto: "Win Ugly"!! I think the issue that alot of old school Cane faithful have is that this isn't the "Cane" way of winning that we are accustomed to. The Canes blow teams off the field. the Canes embarrass teams and the Canes ruin teams seasons!! Well I hate to tell you there stuborn Cane fan, but this isn't that kind of team (YET!!). In a couple years that will be Miami again; however this team, this season is not likely to blow anyone off of the field. This team wins ugly; The past 3 weeks, we have won very ugly at times. The UCF game was ridiculous, but we won; last week we fell behind to 17-7 and 24-14 and ended up winning 49-31 and this week played Wake Forrest at their own game and we beat them at it.....We won UGLY, but hey bitter Hurricane fan.....We won!!!! 3 in a row, none of them was impressive, but all of them were wins!!! Looking ahead to the rest of the season; we haven't been given much to be optimistic about, but that is the point... no one sees us coming, until it's over and we are ahead on the scoreboard. We are not pretty, exciting, explosive or all that organized, but we win!! We are ugly, disorganized, inconsistent and at times down right boring, but we just chip away!! All I'm saying is who cares how we win, as long as we win!! So I'm campaigning for Miami's motto for the rest of the year to be "Win UGLY"!! Next up we have a red hot UVA that will most likely be overconfident, but we can't bank on that!! I think we can win this game, but we are going to have to win it our way, no shootout!! We have to "Win UGLY"!! As much as I can't stand the UVA fans, I'm going to make the 2 hour trip and watch this game in person... I hope we can win it our way and not fall into the traps we fell into against UNC and FSU....GO Canes!!!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Finally a Feel Good Victory!
I know it's corny and a bit tacky, but the expression "Feel Good Victory" definately applies here! After trailing 17-7 in the 2nd qtr the Canes ripped off 35 points in the second half and ran away with a 49-31 victory. I gotta tell you, early in this game I was redy to bury this season. It truly looked like another crushing ACC loss was in the making. Duke was blasting through our defense and Robert Marve was making Kyle Wright and Kirbie Freeman type mistakes!! These weren't rookie mistakes, they were flat out STUPID throws into triple coverage! No excuse for it!! Suddenly, Randy Shannon looks like a genius when Jacory Harris (who everyone has dogged, including myself) and single handedly shreds Dukes defense, to the tune of 18/28 for 185 yds, 53 rushing yds and 5 total TDs!! Incredible doesn't even do his performance justice. I think it is safe to say that we have a QB controversy!! Honestly, I don't know what Coach Shannon will do next week as far as Harris and Marve are concerned!! I don't want to take too much away from one performance. Marve still does have the better arm; although he routinely tries to break recievers fingers with his rocket launcher of an arm. Right now, I don't care, I'm just feeling good about a quality win and over 400 yards of offense!! On a different note, it seems that the stars are aligning for us a little bit with UNC losing to UVA, VT in trouble at BC and our victory over Duke. We are still a long shot, but at least we have a punchers chance to steal the conference!! Having said that, we have alot of work to do, starting with Wake next Saturday at noon (Unfortunately we have been banished to ESPNU for a third straight week). Fortunately for us Maryland laid out a blue print on how to shut down the Deacons, unfortunately we get to play an angry team coming off an embarrasing loss!! Anyways, enjoy it while it lasts because it gets much tougher from here!! C-A-N-E-S Canes!!!
Thursday, October 09, 2008
* You Are Here
Okay so I admit that I'm being a little dramatic, but after traveling to Dolphin Stadium on Saturday for the UM vs FSU game, this is what it feels like to a lot of Cane fans (myself included). I was there, I saw the look in the fans eyes as the realization that the comeback of a lifetime was not going to be completed and the Canes were going to 2-3 on the year. This fan base is starving for a big win over a RELEVANT team, because let's be honest, we really haven't had a huge win since beating VT in Blacksburg 3 years ago!! This fan base is beyond impatient, they are completely devastated right now!! The hope is almost non existent and the general consensus is that the sky is falling and the Canes are falling into oblivion!! Not so fast my friend!! Lets pull it together here Cane Nation!! Lets put it in perspective:Game 1- We beat up on Charleston Southern!! No surprises here!!
Game 2- We played a hell of a game vs UF and don't forget it was 9-3 at the start of the 4th quarter. Ultimately we ran out of gas and DEPTH!
Game 3- We beat up on Texas A&M until the fourth qtr, where we decided to let off the gas a little!! Great win; however lets face facts the Aggies aren't exactly a good team this season!
Game 4- We led the entire game, but the secondary fell apart in the closing minutes, causting us the lead. We drove the entire length of the field in less than a minute, but came up a fingertip short of the win.
Game 5- We came out and looked horrible in the 1st half. In the second half we made a ferocious come back that was ruined by a TD run on 3rd and a mile for FSU late.
Bottom line, we could have won every game and we can still win every game remaining!! Will we?? I doubt it, but it is not that bad in Miami!! Be patient and let this team go through it's growing pains!! Most of our starters are 18 and 19 year old kids, fresh out of high school!! We are going to get where we want to go, but it's going to be an ugly and at times frustrating road back to the top. I hate seeing Hurricanes fans so down, we are going to whether the storm and get back on top, it just won't be this week!! For now we need to take one game at a time and work towards becoming bowl eligible. Forget the ACC Championship, forget the National Championship and focus on a Champs Sports Bowl, Car Care Bowl or God forbid an Emerald Nuts or "Smurf" Bowl invitation. Cane fans, stop being delusional, this is a rebuliding year!! GO CANES!!! KEEP LAYING THAT FOUNDATION!!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Don't Put The Nail In The Coffin Yet!!
So I've had a day to review the game and absorb the loss and I'm thinking a little more clearly this morning. Since it is Sunday, let me deliver a sermon to the Hurricanes fans out there. Ladies and gentlemen of the congregation, let me bring you a message of hope and restoration!! Let me tell you about a man named Lazarus; Lazarus died without warning and the situation was so hopeless that his closest friends buried him and gave up all hope!! But in the end Lazarus was resurrected and proved all of his family and friends wrong. The catch is that he was gone for 3 days before he came back!! What is my point?? Hurricane fans across the country need to hang on a little bit longer!! The situation looks bad right now, we looked bad yesterday, and all of thought it would be a different story!! Just please don't put the nail in our coffin 4 games into the season!! We are not dead yet, the ACC is not out of the question yet and neither is a BCS bowl. Wins over FSU, UCF and Duke would put us at 5-2, heading into homecoming weekend against Wake, who suddenly looks average!! After that we play a horrible UVA team that crushed us last year, before 2 Thursday night games against VT and GT. NOTHING IS OVER YET!! If we come out Saturday and get smoked by FSU, then panic, but at least allow this team to prove that they have the heart to respond to adversity!! This team will rise from the ashes, but give it time!! Even Lazarus was buried for 3 days before he came back!! GO CANES!!Saturday, September 27, 2008
Same Old Canes, Different Day
Another Saturday where I'm left with a sickening feeling in my gut from yet another blown opportunity!! By the way, does anyone know a good heart medication?? It's not so much that we lose, it's the way we lose!! We have lost 9 conference games by a touchdown or less since 05.It is just devastating to lose that way all the time!! So what went wrong?
1- Too many big plays allowed: Sexton and Tate absolutely thrashed the Miami secondary, including a 79 yard TD strike on 3rd and 10 and a 39 yard completion on 3rd and a couple that set up another TD. We allowed UNC to effortlessly drive the ball down the field for the game winning TD. The defense that played so valiantly against Florida was nowhere to be found. Our secret is out, we can't stop the pass!!
2- Youth and inexperience: We just looked like we've never been there!! Robert Marve finally showed his first sign of weakness, by throwing a costly interception late in the game. When the rubber met the road, the Canes defense folded like origami.
3- Overly conservative play calling late in the game: Bottom line, we were playing not to lose instead of playing to win. We had the ball with about 5 minutes left and tried to run out the clock instead of running the offense.
4- God hates me: Just kidding!!
5- UNC has our number: Maybe you don't believe in hexes, luck and voodoo, but you can't tell me UNC doesn't have our number. In 04 we were still fairly respectable at #3 in the country, until a nobody UNC team beat us in Chapel Hill, last season the Heels jumped out to a huge lead after Miami fell apart in the first half and this season we blew a 14-0 lead, a 17-7 lead, a 17-14 lead, a 24-14 lead and a 24-21 lead. Bottom line this team is in our head and it is frustrating!!
6- Jacory Harris playing in the 2nd quarter- Will someone please tell Randy Shannon to let Robert Marve get the game under control before he puts Jacory Harris in the game!! That messes up our entire offensive rythym!
We did have some positives:
Craig Cooper- Ran like a machine
Robert Marve- 3 TD 1 Int
O-line was decent
In any event, I guess this was to be expected at some point this year. We are young and inexperienced and hopefully this heartbreaking loss will teach us some valuable lessons!! The ACC is still realistic, but we have to get to work, starting next week!! I'll be traveling to Miami Gardens for the game, so hopefully my flight home will be a good one after a Canes victory over the Seminoles!! Go Canes!!
A Few Things To Keep In Mind
Here we are again, the smell of mystery meats cooking on the grill, adult beverages being consumed without regard, kids throwing the pigskin in the tailgate parking lots, music being blasted at it's max volume, opposing fans talking often unfounded smack to another and the anticipation of another Miami Hurricane football game! That's right, it's the greatest day of the week: Saturday (Gameday)!! Unfortunately for me, I am sitting in a cubicle, with no access to ESPN 2. Fortunately for me, I was able to find an online radio station that carries the game, unfortunately for me I have to listen to UNC broadcasters call it (The computer network at my job blocks WQAM for some reason)!! Oh well, I guess you have to do what you have to do, anyways listening to the opposing teams radio anouncers suffer through a loss is a welcome consulation prize. Anyways, I am blogging this morning, because I want to give the baby Canes a few things to keep in mind:1- UNC is not intimidated: Keep in mind that this team has beaten us 2 out of 4 times in recent years, so if you are expecting them to cringe at the sight of the U on our helmet, you would be wrong. There is something that Cane fans need to get through their thick skulls, no one is scared of us right now, we have done nothing in the past 4 season to invoke any fear!! It is this young Cane teams responsibility to instill that fear again!!
2- This young UNC team is alot like our young Miami team: Whether you want to admit it or not this team in a lot of ways is a mirror image of us; they are young, talented, athletic, fast and hungry. Like us they are heading in the right direction fast!! I think the difference is that we are trying to undo a few years of a losing mentality, they are trying to undo decades of it!! Make no mistake about it, Butch Davis will get this team where they want to be, but Randy Shannon will get us there faster!!
3- Butch Davis knows Miami: Say what you want about his departure from Miami in 2000, but Butch Davis is responsible for the resurrection of this program in the "90s!! And even though he plays the part at UNC, you have to believe that it burns him up that the Canes passed up on an opportunity to rehire him as head coach. This man knows the Canes, he knows Randy Shannon and he knows how to win, that makes him and this team dangerous to us at any given time.
4- This is the kind of trap game that has killed the Canes recently: I'm not going to beat this dead horse anymore. This is now and that was then, but recent history has not given Cane fans alot of faith in this team!!
Bottom line, if the Canes are prepared, motivated and play with a chip on their shoulder they WILL win!! I truly believe that the only team left that can beat Miami this season is Miami!! Now all that's left to do is play the game and let the chips fall where they may!! GO CANES!!
Miami- 35
UNC- 7
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
This Performance Made Me Wanna Blog
Okay I'll admit that I have slacked on the blogging for a while, but I have always been told that "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all" so I have been heading that wise advice. After a 5-7 disaster of a season, I found myself temporarily disgusted with the whole situation. Even when Miami crushed Charleston Southern in the season opener, I was skeptical. The next week the Canes showed alot of heart against the "Hators", I was sure it was fools gold, however after watching the game this weekend, I am so excited about this team. Even though they beat up on A&M last season and still fell apart, this is not that team. This is a glimpse of a bright future and a throwback to a proud and storied past. I saw the big plays that have been missing for 2 plus years, the special teams play that has been horrible since Devin Hester left and QB play that has me believing in Robert Marve. Speaking of Robert Marve, what a beast, this guy is going to bring back QB U!! Looking towards this week against the Tar Heels, I have to say that I'm approaching it with a cautious optimism. I have been burnt too many time over the past 3 seasons to get too excited. This is the type of game that Miami has blown in the past 3 seasons. The important game after a big win!! Case in point, I was in Blacksburg for the game in "05 when we were #5 in the country and no one gave us a prayer of winning, we punched VT in the mouth and blew them out!! The next week we played horrible against GT and ended up handing the ACC back to VT and ended up getting destroyed in the Peach Bowl by LSU (another game that I suffered first hand)! In "06 we ralied to a huge win over BC to become bowl eligable then barely showed up in the "Smurf Bowl" against Nevada. Last season we won an emotional game against FSU and followed it up by losing to NC State in a game where Kirby Freeman attempted to break the NCAA record for interceptions thrown in a single game, a 2 state of Virginia BEATDOWNS and a heartless loss to BC. I can't help but wander if this is another trap!! Honestly, I'm inclined to believe that there isn't a game left that we can't win, but I also wander if the youth will burn us at some point this season. In any event I am excited about this young Hurricanes team and I hope to God that we don't see another sickening performance following a big game!! Go Canes!!!Monday, January 07, 2008
After over a month of post 5-7 silence, the only thing that could persuade me to post again is the Ohio State Suckeyes getting spanked in the BCS title game. The same OSU team that robbed the Canes of a national title in 2002!! As a Hurricane fan FSU,UF, Notre Dame and VT are obviously among my list of mortal enemies, but the Buckeyes along with WVU have a special place in my heart. The very thought of Ohio State and that ridiculous pass interferance flag, thrown an hour after the play ended make me sick to my stomach. Hey I'm not delusional, I'm fully aware that the Canes were 5-7 with no bowl appearance and recruits are pulling the Judas act on us, but seeing OSU get waxed again gives some light to the darkest season that I can remember. So, to all of the rude and obnoxious Buckeye fans out there, karma is a bitch isn't it??? Anyways, I guess I am entitled to my end of season rant. A 5-7 record, death of a U legend, 3 blow out losses, a miserable OB send off, terrible QB play, no bowl game and a host of nay sayers prononcing the end of the U. Such a frustrating season that I refused to blog for over a month; however slowly, but surely my devotion and loyalty to this team have risen from the ashes and I find myself looking towards the future!! Even though I know that next year may be pretty rough, I feel that this coaching staff is at least working the issues. Recruiting is going very well, even with the occasional turncoat, and the few remaing hard core fans are keeping the buzz going. I feel it, just like the song says at the OB just before gametime, "I can feel it coming in the air tonight"!! Okay maybe a little bit dramatic, but the point is, even after 5-7 and no bowl, I feel that the winds of change are blowing. Anyways, The Caneiac is back and ready to see this thing through to the end!! GO CANES!!!!
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