Canespace

The Orange Bowl

History will remember that the only real difference between the two sides in the Orange Bowl/Dolphin Stadium debate was that one group had history, tradition and emotion on their side while the other group had progress, modernization and money on their side.

From the beginning, it was really a no-brainer as to who would win that argument. In today's world, money trumps emotion hand down. Money talked and tradition walked. 

But if you look closely, there in the distance, from atop the upper deck of the Orange Bowl, you can see them now, a small throng of orange and green clad fans slowly moving west down NW 7^th Street, looking lost, disoriented and confused.  "Where will we go now?" they ask. 

Somewhere in the background the last two remaining fans can be heard shouting from one of the ramps: "We got some Canes over here, whoosh, whoosh!"  The lady selling arepas and pinchos on the side of the road asks: "Donde vas los fanaticos?" "No se, no se" says the man in the guayabera next to her.

As the fans turn north along 27th Avenue, their beloved Orange Bowl and 58 game win streak no longer in sight, they shuffle along, heads down, on their way to Dolphin Stadium behind the slowly fading drum beat of the UM Band of the Hour.

As they cross under the 826 expressway, Sebastian the Ibis, now in tears, is followed closely by the few remaining west end zone crazies, dragging behind, still crying "Why? Why? Why? all the way to their new, fancy but just not quite the same home away from home.

It's now September 2008 and suddenly, shockingly, they begin to realize what has really happened.  The UM football games will soon start again in another stadium named for another team somewhere across town. And then, only then, the coaches, players and fans will collectively understand that things will never be the same again.

The University of Miami may move it's football games to Dolphin Stadium, but the fans, the true fans, will testify that the soul of the Miami Hurricanes, and even the U itself, was left behind to always reside in the wonderful memories of that familiar place we called The Orange Bowl.

Fan Photo Essay II: OcalaCane

Fan Photo Essay: OcalaCane

The Short List To The Superdome: Week 11

The Shortlist to the Superdome remains unchanged for the first week this year, but the order has been shuffled and the results are astonishing to me.  Losses at this stage of the game are difficult to recover from on the Shortlist, but the way this year has gone from the outset, we are most likely far from finished with the turmoil on the field and in the rankings.  The Shorlist for week 11 reads as follows:

Ohio St., Kansas, Hawaii, LSU, Oregon, Oklahoma, Missouri, WVA, UConn, BC and Arizona State.

The venue I watched Doug Flutie establish himself as Americana in an instant turns out the lights for the last time, Kansas one of the two best teams in America, one of fourteen for a touchdown with three picks, Hawaii the only team in the nation I think will really go undefeated, Nebrasaka and Notre Dame combined have lost more games than they have won, these are truly the signs of the Apocalypse is nigh these days.  The writing most certainly is on the wall, perhaps the rapture enthusiast are right after all?

Only one team survived an elimination that I called for last week:

1) UConn puts the game away early in Storrs and doubles up Greg Schiano's Rutgers Scarlet Knights 38- 19.  The Huskies have had more than their fair share of good fortune this season, losing only on the road to Virginia this year by a single point. They show Greg Schiano that winning 10 games or more a year is always great, but doing it two years in a row is something else entirely. 

The Huskies go on the road for another tough showdown with a Cincinnati team that hasn't missed a beat under first year coach Brian Kelly this week.  The Bearcats have the Huskies' number recently and used a miracle comeback last year to win their season finale.  It should be another hotly contested Big East showdown between two "undercard" programs two days after the "main-eventer" Thursday tilt between Louisville and West Virginia.  UConn refuses to bow out of contention and a win Saturday coupled with a upset on Thursday would allow them to apply a strangle hold on a potential BCS bid.

With that being said, I only expect one team to fall from the Shortlist this week, my cousin from Connecticut is laughing at me right now even as you read this:

UConn

The Huskies have now become something of a running joke within my family, but their play on the field has been anything but laughable so far this year.  We'll see if they can become the first team to baffle me for third week in a row, but one way or the other, mark my words, they will be off this list before the end of the year.

Arizona State comes to visit Los Angeles this week, I'm half tempted to go bar hopping in an attempt to bring in a Canespace exclusive with the most successful on field coach in University of Miami history to ask him his pick for the last game the Orange Bowl, but I'm afraid he might drink me under the table and expose me as the cheap drunk that I really am.  I'll let Coach Erickson have free reign of Skybar without my interference and instead just cheer him on for, at least this week.  The Sun Devils are ripe for the picking but I just have no faith in Carl Dorrell out-coaching the Hurricane legend.  The Bruins have owned the team from Tempe recently, so an upset would be the norm in the Rose Bowl this weekend.

The tension will only ratchet up from here on out, Ohio State has played the best defense to this point and thus, must remain the favorite, though I still remain unsold on their schedule as always.  Kansas has impressed, but two tough games remain as well as a potential conference title match-up down the line. It remains to be seen if there will even be any BCS conference at all to choose from when the regular season is all said and done. 

Hawaii faces a resurgent Fresno State team, back from their post Southern Cal induced swoon of late 2005 and all of 2006, at home.  The Warriors are ALWAYS tough at home, but the next four weeks will be their toughest of the season.  Will enough upsets happen in a year already overflowing with them to give a WAC team a shot for it all just one year after the Boise State "miracle?"  We could be in for one of the wildest finishes to a season in recent memory.  There is nothing guaranteed, but it'll be fun watching what developes. 

Enjoy the games this week and try not to get arrested during any spontaneous "remodeling" you might happen to find yourself involved in so that you can be back here next week as sift through the debris on the Shortlist to the Superdome.

Canespace Exclusive: LIVE Chat With Manny Navarro

Tonight from 8-9 PM will will be chatting LIVE with Manny Navarro from the Miami Herald.

Manny covers the Canes like no other reporter out there and answers your questions here in real time.

Manny is a hard core 305er, so don't hold back.  Bring the tough questions and get the tough answers!

Start posting your questions NOW...

Love The One Your With

This feature article was written for Canespace by Guest Blogger Teddy Mercury.

-

I went to school at the University of Michigan for four years. It was a fine academic institution with smart and friendly people throughout the city of Ann Arbor. It also is home to one of the most storied and heralded football teams in the nation, the Michigan Wolverines. I am not going to lie, I became a Michigan fan. You can say what you will, but if you go to school somewhere for four years of your life it is hard not to become a fan and so it should be easy to understand my position.

-

My first football game at the “Big House” was my most memorable experience during my time at the school.  It was two hours before the first game on a cool September afternoon as my new friends and I, lost in a sea of maize and blue, marched down the street with the band and chanted our school song “Hail to the Victors” at the top of our lungs. It was one of those moments where you stop, look at your surroundings, and say, “Wow, I will never forget this moment.”

-

The funny thing is, I had a strange feeling deep down in my stomach as this went on. Something was not completely right; there was something off about this situation. Here I was, my first week at my new university, and I was already smitten with another woman.

-

I walked through the gates of the stadium and was amazed at the sheer size and beauty of this new woman.  There was green grass surrounding her, freshly cleaned bricks lining the walkway as I approached her; all the while wondering what she would be like inside. I passed through the walkway and saw she had beautiful new grass, fresh paint, and a sparkling smell signaling she was ready to go. This was a proud woman, a refined woman, a woman who had seen it all, but was no worse for the wear.

-

This was going to be my new woman, a better woman than the old one whom I had left behind. The old woman was my first love, but she had withered and it was time to move on.

-

The game started and 110,000 people roared in unison.  This was it, the first day of my life with the new woman.  As the quarters passed and Michigan went on to trounce the sacrificial lamb brought it to please the new woman, I left the game with my friends feeling empty. 

-

As much as I didn’t want to, I missed my old woman.  I missed the personality of the town surrounding her, I missed the trampled-on grass outside her, and I missed her unmistakable odor once you get close enough to smell her. 

-

I missed her faults.  I missed the wrinkles and rust on her body, her rickety structure, and the way she creaked on the night of a big game. I missed her friends.  I missed the same people I had to share my affection with for over 20 years. I miss sharing her with my father, sister, cousins, and uncle who no doubt loved her like I did. 

-

I missed the joy of seeing her in the best of times, with her loyal servants hanging on every play and shaking her to the core. The student section always on their feet.  The West end zone crazies menacing the opposing team into turnovers.  The upper deck alive with the sound of fans fury. I missed looking up to the sky and thanking the stars that I could be in their presence.

-

Most of all, I missed her children. I missed the men in orange, white, and green who gave her life. She watched her children become mighty and strong and she allowed us to witness them grow. They came out of the tunnel as one through the smoke, ran onto the field and right into our hearts.  Some became legends and heroes.  Many became stars.  Most just became Miami Hurricanes.  But they all wore the "U" just as proudly on their helmets and the same orange and green ran through their veins. 

-

We were there to watch the children win 58 straight times and bring home 5 national champions.  We were there in her greatest times of sorrow, when the winning streak was broken and when her children were disciplined and brought to their knees. We were there as they rose back up and breathed new life into her bringing her back the joy and happiness of her more youthful years. We were there for the wins and we were there for the losses, but a part of us was always there for her. Just to be in her presence was something special and to feel her shake gave us life.

-

What I realized after that first fall day at Michigan is that although she was not the prettiest woman, she was OUR woman. While the new wave of women may be younger, sexier, sleeker, and more savvy then our old woman, they don’t carry the richness and beauty that one only can acquire with age.

-

While a young student like me was initially drawn to once of these new women, once I dug a little deeper, I found out what really matters.  There is nothing like your first love.  The tradition, honor, history; the Orange and Green; the Team of the 80's; the 58 straight; the 5 national champioships; the "U"; and most of all, the Orange Bowl.

-

May we not forget what she gave to us, and remember to pass on her story once she is long gone.  May the Orange Bowl live on in our hearts and minds for eternity.

The Long And Winding Road

The University of Miami began the 2007 college football season with renewed energy and high expectations.  Long time Hurricane and new Head Coach Randy Shannon brought in a new assistant coaches, a new attitude and a new theme of accountability to the team.  He took the names off of the players jerseys and promoted team unity by forcing players from the offense and defense to interact and share dormitory rooms and space in the locker room. 

Coach Shannon promised that the Canes would compete hard in practice, be accountable on and off the field and made it clear on several occasions that he expected to win every game this year.  Little did he know that the 2007 season would be a long and winding road.

At the beginning of the 2007 football season it seemed at least possible, even likely, to many back then during Spring and Fall practice.  There was a chance at least that the U would field a team capable of winning most if not all of their games, and maybe, just maybe even the ACC for the first time.  There were even a few secret whispers in dark corners by some about a potential  National Championship if the Canes got lucky and the ball with the pointy ends bounced their way. 

After all, the 2007 Canes were returning 17 starters and players in key positions.  Shannon had managed to hold together the latest recruiting class that on paper looked great and included several late surprises like Allen Bailey and Demarcus Van Dyke.  Patrick Nix, the newest of the new offensive coordinators had studied under offensive minded Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech and was sure to help the Canes score more points than in the previous few years. 

Many fans believed that just a few more points was going to be all it would take to turn the corner of respectability again and win more games, even big games in 2007, right?  Especially with Walton and Hurtt and Barrow coaching the strength of the team, its defense.

Yes, it seemed back in August and into early September that everywhere you turned at the Hecht Athletic Center in Coral Gables there was hope in the air.  Heck, on a good day the hope was so thick that you could see it, smell it, even taste it. 

The fans felt it too.  Hope was good thing and we had it in bunches.  The fans bought into the culture of change brought about by having a "real Miami Hurricane" at the helm of their beloved team.  The fans jumped on board the Shannon Express bandwagon just as surely as they thought victories would jump into his lap.

Old school was in again.  Some fans even claimed that there was an Orange Revolution afoot. Yes indeed, hope was everywhere!

There was the obligatory season opening win against Marshall at home followed by that fateful Saturday in September against the Oklahoma Sooners when the fans dreams were dampened and their team exposed as not quite on the elite status again.  But still hope was alive and well, especially after wins against crosstown rival FIU and an impressive victory over Texas A&M on a magical Thursday night in the OB.  Duke was up next and was handled according to fashion before the wheels started to come off the Shannon Express.

Shannon's former boss, former UM and current UNC Head Coach Butch Davis, out-coached Randy and the Tar Heel players outplayed Randy's troops in Chapel Hill by taking a big early lead and holding on for the victory.   Then the Canes were called for a "technical foul" for losing to Nix's former boss Chan Gailey and his Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at home in the OB. 

Hope was lost for some but TECHnically still on life support for most Canes fans with arch rival FSU and coach Bobby Bowden next on the horizon.  All the Canes had to do was "win one for the Randy" and break the streak of consecutive losses to the Noles to get back on the ACC map and salvage their season.

The Canes rolled into Tallahassee and out of Doak Campbell Stadium with a huge win on late fourth quarter heroics that included a Kirby Freeman TD pass and a Colin McCarthy scope and score to seal the game.  Hope and her best friend Luck, who clearly had left South Bend by this time, were now both smiling over the Canes once again. 

Then after a week off and several key losses by ACC teams, the Canes and their once again full bucket- o-hope actually had a chance to win the ACC!  That's right, even after the early season losses, all they had to do was beat NC State and Virginia at home in their final game ever at the Orange Bowl and then take their show (and now overflowing bucket-o-hope) on the road to Blacksburg and Chestnut Hill and it was all theirs.  Their first ACC title was ripe for the taking and right there in their hands. 

Hope was happy.  She was everywhere you looked and she was really happy.

Then on Saturday November 3, 2007, Hope died.  The North Carolina State University football team killed her with their bare hands in broad daylight, right there in front of over 36,000 witnesses on the Orange Bowl field during the Canes homecoming game with the ACC championship on the line. 

The newspapers all said that Hope (1983-2007) died a slow, agonizing and painful death to the humiliating boos of many in attendance to watch the inevitable and final execution.  The autopsy revealed that Hope never really had a chance in 2007.  An unproductive offense, a porous defense, just plain poor special teams play and new coaches that appear to be learning their way led to her demise and never really gave Hope a chance for the Canes this year. 

Hope was finally gone.  Her best friend Luck was not present when she died, but later when asked she sadly said, "It certainly will not be the same around here with out her." 

The only good news from this whole depressing saga is that Hope will return again, maybe even bigger, better and stronger than ever, in 2008.  She will be ushered in by a whole new group of highly rated and "can't miss" recruits, more experienced coaches and a bright, shiny state-of-the-art stadium named for another team and not actually located in Miami, but in Northern Dade County.   

The University of Miami is confident that Canes fans will find it, and some much needed hope, in 2008.  After all, it's all we have to hope for now, isn't it?

Short List To The Superdome: Week 10

The final month of the season in college football finds only 11 teams with a body of work worthy of consideration for the opportunity to play in the most important game of the year when it's all said and done.  The 11 teams rank as follows in my view:

Ohio St., BC, Kansas, Arizona St., Hawaii, LSU, Oklahoma, Oregon, Missouri, WVA, and UConn.

The ACC now joins the SEC and Big 10 on the verge of national championship irrelevancy on the Shortlist as BC removes Virginia Tech from the picture in dramatic fashion.  I thought BC was in for a tough season due to the coaching change in Chestnut Hill, instead the Eagles are the surprise of college football this year.  The schedule does not let up over the last month and the ACC championship game could always prove a fatal final hurdle even if the Eagles run the table, but as of now, BC is sitting pretty with a chance to play for it all.

Two teams avoided eliminations that I called for last week, both from the Big East:

1) West Virginia soundly pummels Rutgers on the road 31-3 and now heads into a bye week lurking on the fringes of the championship game picture.  A less than impressive schedule hampers their chances as the season closes, but the Mountaineers have the talent to finish strong and would only need a handful of favorable results around the country to thrust them back into title contention.

2) UConn dodges another bullet yet again and downs USF at home 22-15.  Last week I said this game was the lesser half of a Shortlist Elimination Game double-bill but the final margin of victory was the same as the Oregon-Southern Cal main event.  This goes to show that at this late of stage in the process, there are no easy outs when it comes to the Shortlist.  The Huskies have been living on borrowed time however and I expect Rutgers to rebound and trim the Huskies from the tail of end of the Shortlist this week.

One team dropped a game that I didn't see coming last week and as a result, falls from the Shortlist:

1) USF, as mentioned above, can't complete the comeback on the road in Connecticut and goes from the story of the college season to an afterthought in the span of two weeks.  The Bulls have now lost back-to-back road games by a total of 10 points, but to be the man, you have to beat the man and for the Bulls to be part of the State of Speed's "Big Three and Young One" they'll have to start all over again next year.  Best of luck with that, guys.

I expect only one team to fall from the Shortlist this week: UConn.

From a strictly personal view, I can't wait for the Huskies to end this little charade and go back to being Big East cannon fodder so that my cousin will stop gloating over Randy Edsall's "coaching acumen" to me at every opportunity.  When the Huskies are still in the race and Hurricanes aren't, there is something strange afoot in college football.

The Shortlist eliminations grow few and far between as the season winds down and the pressure ratchets up.  The undefeated teams are now at a disadvantage as a loss this late in the season will virtually assure them a drop down the rankings that would be far enough to render them eliminated from the running this late in the game.  It should be a finish to remember in this season of surprises.  Enjoy the games this week and I'll see you back here next time as we review the reshuffling on the Shortlist to the Superdome.

On Campus with RT6

Nothing makes me happier than being able to throw that big W in the face of some of my 'Nole friends from back in high school. Unfortunately, because of my lack of faith in the Canes (who could blame me after back to back losses to UNC and GT), I sold my tix the day before the game.  Lesson learned the hard way; I will not make that mistake again, trust me.

Needless to say, the Canes win over FSU was HUGE, and although I wasn't on campus right after the victory (I wish I had been) I still saw the after effects when I got back and it was pretty insane. One interesting thing, I have seen more players on campus this week than I ever have. I guess after the victory they weren't afraid of showing their faces anymore for such pitiful performances against UNC and GT.

On another note, Coach Shannon is on 560 WQAM every Thursday from 7-9 at the Rat on campus (Rat=Rathskellar or on campus pub) taking live questions from callers and from the students. This is accessible as he gets to fans and students alike.

He actually had the show moved back to the campus this year from previous years, where they held it at Gameworks across US1, in an effort to get the students more involved with the team. Needless to say, hit me up with some questions and I'll ask him or you can just call in.

Saturday is the day we begin our run towards Jacksonville. This is by far the most people we've had at the pep rally this year even with the gale force winds outside. Calais Campbell took on the role of a cheerleader for a while and got the crowd pumped.  Just look at this guy. I wouldn't want that monster chasing me on a football field!  Calais is HUGE and has the look in his eye as though he is ready to do some major damage against NCST.

I have to mention this. If you think they are pumping up security a little for the UVA game think again. Students, for the UVA game, have to have a ticket AND our cane card in order to get in. We don't have to pay for the ticket we just need the ticket in addition to our c-card. I guess this is to prevent someone from stealing a students c-card and using it to get in. Hmmmmm...

MY PREDICTION:  Canes 27 'Pack 10

SPECIAL NOTE: Let me be the first to give a shout out to my boy AvaCane96. I got him hooked on Canespace a long time ago but he just started postin' now. He knows his Canes alright just don't ask him what team in the NFL they currently play for right now because he has no idea LOL!