Raising Canes

This is a picture of infamous Canespacer OcalaCane holding his new (and always beautiful) wife Jeryl. 

You know OcalaCane as the official Canespace photographer.  I know him as Steve Durand. 

You see Steve and I go way back, in fact all the way back to junior high school in Miami.  I met OcalaCane in the middle of my first fist fight, on my fifth day of school in the seventh grade at Richmond Heights Junior High. 

These times were not easy for anyone at the school, much less some skinny, long haired, blond kid who had just moved from another school located across town in the "Little Havana" section of Miami. 

It was obvious to me early on that my limited and broken Spanish wasn't gonna get me through this confrontation. 

At the time that OcalaCane intervened in my little altercation I was using my face to hit the fist of some black dude I met during PE class. 

When Steve decided I had had enough he and a few of his friends who I had never met stepped in to save what was left of me and my pride.  The fight ended soon enough and we walked away with me holding my lip and him holding me up.  Those are the moments of which friendships are made.

Steve and I attended Miami Killian Senior High School together and we share the Cougar Pride with former Cane Randall Hill and new UM recruit Lamar Miller.  After high school we went our own separate ways, me going to UM and him going off to find his way through life.  

We later grew further apart as he moved off to Ocala and I moved to Fort Lauderdale.  Then after many years, somehow he managed to find me again through the Canespace blog. 

Since reconnecting we have attended several UM games together, spent endless hours recounting our "glory days" back in the 305 and shared our common love for the Hurricanes.

Recently, I had the honor of being the best man at his wedding in Ocala.  Talk about full circle?  Yeah, this is a clear example of it really  happening.

At Steve's wedding I had the opportunity to meet not only his lovely bride for the third time but his three incredible step children. 

Now you have to understand that these children, along with Steve's lovely bride, grew up in the 352 and by default became Gator fans.  So Steve has had his work cut out for him in trying to convert them from the orange and blue to the orange and green; to becoming fans of "The U". 

His first assignment was to dress them all in Canespace gear and then take them to a classic Hurricane event: Canes vs Gators baseball in Gainesville.  The Canes managed to sweep the Gators and new Canes fans were born on the spot!

More importantly, these children are simply put nothing short of angels on earth.  Their ages and names are completely irrelvant.  It is their beauty, character and personalities that makes them who they are.

And now, when I see my good friend and old buddy Steve Durand "Raising Canes", it makes my heart full and my memories of our long time friendship all the more important. 

In truth, God knows that as we were growing up in Miami, with all of the risks and rewards that we found along the way, that it was highly possible that neither one of us might have made it this far. 

Much less could we have hoped to have accomplished so much in life. 

But take look a good look at him now. 

Steve Durand is all that and will have a family full of memories to share for a lifetime as he stays busy taking care of his lovely new wife.

And spending his time Raising Canes...

Comments

[bg1906]

an example

bg1906 per Rivals:

Above average attention span, can decipher Scouts overstating and exaggerations with the best of them.
Shows commitment and focus on any day of the year that the initials LOI appear online.

A recent CROH inductee, proving his status as top 100 popular blogger.

Bg could very well explode on the next level as an XBOX website icon.

Downside: spends most of his waking hours playing XBox, thinking about playing Xbox, or talking other people into losing their own lives by playing XBox with him.

peace

Posted by: solarcane | June 10, 2009 at 07:40 PM

My brother Solar. Ain't NO ONE like him!
Hilarious my friend!

[KSF68]

Solar, I see you pulled up some info on Walt Kichesky, a Hurricane legend and assistant coach who took over temporarly when Charlie Tate resigned in mid season, 1970, with a loosing record. The last game of the season the Canes pulled of a stunning upset [ 14- 13 ] over the Gators at Florida Field. Go Canes. Canes are dynamite!

[Canez1]

It was only a matter of time with Hall.

I love the kid and love his Cane heart.

He couldn't help himself, he had to commit.

Not afraid of the comp at all.

Give me a class full of these type kids and I am a happy dude.

GO CANEZ!!!!!

[roachcane77]

Congrats OcalaCane and family.

My family is about to expand this Saturday too. I'm out here in Pasadena, as my daughter (UMiami Class'05) is getting married.

Welcome back Anonymous (CoC)! (Nice call CanesgirlNC)

Darion Hall will be a good one... BTW Lely is East Naples... WAY below Clearwater. He does get to play against some tough competition over here.

[bg1906]

Just listened to the interview of Darion Hall on ITU. Sounds like a really good, sound kid. Very nice pick-up.

[roachcane77]

Solar... how did that VHS-DVD device work out for you?

[Canez1]

Also these kids realize that club cancer is loooong gone.

There will be comp at every position and kids clawing an fighting to get all the reps they can.

Smoke is finally coming out of the football factory again. It's been a while. The local kids that aren't scared will be callin. The ones who can't handle it will be crawlin somewhere else.

This is how a small private school deveops into a national powerhouse. Not the money or the facilities or the 100k seat stadiums. The U develops their program with heart.

Give me a team full of three star kids with the drive and desire to win and be the best and you cannot lose.

So don't worry about these little bytches like Clement and Trail. Those kids are scared and will never make it as Canez.

Just because you have Sofla talent does not mean you have Sofla heart!! Big difference!!

GO CANEZ!!!!!

[Canez1]

O ya and Coke good to have you back around! It's been a while LOL.

Now we just have to find Darc and we are good. He tends to take time off during the slow season tho.

GO CANEZ!!!!!

[321canes]

Posted by: Canez1 | June 10, 2009 at 08:49 PM
Go canez1! nail on the noggin? U must of read my article on here! lol

[Canez1]

I was smiling through this whole clip!!

I can't wait for this season to begin!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywfSuVx8_2w&feature=related

GO CANEZ!!!!!

[Canez1]

321 great minds think alike!!!

;)

GO CANEZ!!!!!

[86Cane]

In case U missed it, this GEM from 321:

http://canespace.typepad.com/canespace/2009/04/are-south-florida-recruits-spoiled.html

[Canez1]

Collier on those screens is nasty!!

Real quick and great vision after the catch.

GO CANEZ!!!!!

[solarcane]

Solar... how did that VHS-DVD device work out for you?

Posted by: roachcane77 | June 10, 2009 at 08:43 PM

roach I just got it in my hand at 9 pm tonight
I'm gonna mess with it in a bit.
I'll keep you posted

peace

[MDCane]

321 should be recruiting coordinator. He was right on with that article. I see we offer that kid from Norfolk, VA (Travis Williams). Alot of good players come out of Norfolk, and Hampton, VA area. Understand that not everyone from SFla wants to stay home...more reason to focus out of state.

[Calvin]

So much for people saying you can't find players under the radar anymore, darion hall, a 3 star, lol, like mike james, but he'll soon be a 4 star now, we all know why. The funny thing is, but the best part is, this staff is not going by star's hell i doubt if they even know what they're ratings are for real by these sites. They're just doing it the old fashion way, go and look for themselves, by getting word thru the grapvine on others, and doing it that way.

We'll let the star chasers continue to chase the stars while we go ahead and build this dy-NASTY again, 1 recruit at a time. jeff luc, come on down, we got a spot for you right now, that middle linebacker spot, got your name on it, or even defensive end, but we'll figure it all out once you get here and live on campus for 3 to 4 years.

I like that article today about should we be worried about jacory harris and they tried to bring up his stats, but what they failed to mention was, the throws he made were effective the majority of the time and just like he did at the so called elite 11 camp and came away with the most improed award or something like that, that's exactly how he plays the game, he gets better as the game goes on. Ask virginia if we should be worried about jacory, or ask duke, hell, ask the gators or Fsu, most of the time when he was in the game he became effective.

Now that he knows he has a whole game to compete in, and knows he earned the job irregardless of circumstances, he was going to win the job, plus guys know that jacory will get the ball to the open man or at least give the receivers a chance/opportunity to make a play on the ball.

If ray has already gained 10 pounds, all i want him to do is keep his speed up, as long as he's in the 4.6 on down, we'll be alright, and plus for his size, he has great acceleration.

Also, it'll be good to have c-mac in the starting line-up, all he does is play physical, and if he ever gets his coverage skills up, look out, but with him on the field, we're a more physical team everytime. If cmac, javariss and sharpton can stay healthy, they'll never be confused as being the most talented Hurricanes, but you can't argue against none of them as being the most physical at their positions on the team as of right now.

All we got now are a team of hardworkers, with more hardworkers coming in, and if you don't work hard, the only way you'll see the field is if you're just that good without having to work-out that hard, other than that, forget about it.

[Calvin]

Canez1, collier knows what to do with those screen passes for sure, but if i never see another screen pass run by us again, i'll be happy as hell. collier can get downfield, he did against virginia, texas a&m and others, whipple will allow guys to use all of their talent, not bottle it up!

[KillerBeez41]

Man, when you look at those highlights and how we competed with an ok offensive scheme, we may be well on our way with the experienced coordinators on staff now. Now its a matter of guys executing especially on the offensive line. If we can sustain blocks its gonna be UGLY!

[shwarma]

Hall's video is great and I am psyched he is a Cane (I mean what's not to like given the size, video and supposed work ethic), but lets just be clear, he's not the hidden gem everyone is saying he is. Look at his list of offers. Apparently other teams see his potential also.

Now he's not the highest rated prospect (36RB on Rivals) but he has the tools to be great. A hidden gem means garbage offers or none at all.

Just trying to dilute the kool-aid a little here.

[Esteban]

Definitely like Hall's highlight tape. Hope he signs in Feb.

And does that make him n Gore the two RBs in this class? Or is Gore a future CB/WR?

[86Cane]

Aldarius Johnson

[Six]

86 - this Sunday? I'll be up at the station, but I'll see what I can do to get down to The Pit by gametime.

Why are you going Sunday? You don't want to go Saturday and see Ludacris perform? .. ahh, but the kids get to run the bases after games on Sundays.

[solarcane]

roach

It works flawless

take out of box,
plug power in
place software in PC/laptop

attach included usb cable
drivers and program load instantly

insert tape, push play

tape plays on right corner of PC
get the scene you want, stop tape

move cursor over record
push play/click cursor

movie is stored as mpg on computer
for editing later

or

click burn now and its a done deal.

how long the machine itself lasts I don't know yet.

for 99 bucks to get all our old tapes plus all our relatives tapes onto DVD with two clicks of the cursor was worth it so far.

peace

[solarcane]

Bg,

glad you enjoyed it!

i'm out
peace

[Six]

Like roach said, Lely is in Naples. That little tidbit article that was posted by j.w., they were playing Clearwater Countryside High ... they've put out some good ball players.

The kid Hall doesn't shy away from hitting the hole on the majority of those runs. Man I can't tell you how much home video makes my skin crawl, it's like hearing nails on a chalkboard to me. I just want to go kick the person in the head that's doing it, take the camera from them and shoot it myself or throw their camera away and use the DVC Betacams we use at work.

I'll like the kid Hall even more, when the ink dries on his LOI to The "U" on NSD.

[j.w.]

Thanks, six. You had me rolling with the home video comments!

[Six]

For the record, I wouldn't have taken Bellamy any higher than the 5th Round either if I was the GM of any MLB organization.

Yep, he was a good closer in college. Could he have been a middle reliever that had to work longer innings or was his stuff only really that good to be used for 2 innings tops? That reliever Austin Wood, from Texas, that Auggie Garrido had throwing 13 innings (169 pitchers) in the 25 inning game, that's simply a rarity and a once in a historically long time event - and he was taken in the 5th round as well, even after that amazing showing to go along with 15 saves on the year.

The closer in college doesn't really translate as well in The Show. I can't think right off the top of my head about any closer in college that has gone to the majors as a closer.

Think about the best closers in the game and if they were closers in college/high school or if they were starting pitchers that were converted to closers ... or even position players that were converted to pitchers, then closers.

Dennis Eckersley - starting pitcher with the Red Sox/Cubs, finally used as a guy in the bully for the A's ... then he got the closer role

Trevor Hoffman - good shortstop for Arizona State, then converted to pitcher in the Reds farm system, then was on the Marlins/Padres ... Padres is where he got the closer role

Lee Smith - starting pitcher in the beginning of his career, moved to the bully b/c of his struggles as a starter, was a middle reliever, then started a few more games, then went back to the bully again ... then he got the closer role

Mariano Rivera - bounced back and forth between starting pitcher and then being moved to relief pitcher in the Yankees organization, had Tommy John surgery, came back to be a starter in the minors for them, then when called up to the majors he was moved to the bully b/c of his non-success as a starter .... then he got the closer role after being the set up guy for John Wetteland, and then Wetteland not being resigned by the Yankees the next year .. then got the closer role

Billy Wagner - was a starting pitcher in college, broke his right arm so he learned to throw with his left, was drafted and used as a starting pitcher in the minors but then was moved to the bully when he was called up to the majors .. then got the closer role

Joe Nathan - shortstop in college, then was moved to starting pitcher in the minors, then starting pitcher for the Giants and then a relief pitcher for them before being traded to the Twins where they wanted him as their closer from the get

Kerry Wood - starting pitcher, now closer

NCAA Saves Leaders (#) in 2009

#1 A.Reed (20) SDSU - not drafted
#2 J.Hale (18) Ohio St. - not drafted
#3 J.Miller (17) Valpo - not drafted
- T.Girdwood (17) Elon - not drafted
- E.Pettis (17) UC Irvine - not drafted
#4 R.Duke (16) Oklahoma - not drafted
- K.Bellamy (16) The U - drafted 163rd
- M.Ott (16) LSU - not drafted
#5 S.Matyas (15) Minnesota - drafted 885th
- C.Woods (15) MTSU - not drafted
- A.Wood (15) Texas - drafted 150th

[Six]

I apologize, I made a mistake in my last post ..

#2 Jake Hale (18) Ohio St. - was drafted 816th, the 27th Round.

He's #2 in the nation in saves and is a finalist for "Stopper of The Year", along with:

Addison Reed - SDSU (#1 in saves)
Kyle Bellamy - The "U" (#4 in saves)
Matty Ott - LSU (#4 in saves)
Eric Pettis - UC Irvine (#3 in saves)

I think that hammers my point even further, that the #2 ranked guy in saves and who also is a finalist for "Stopper of The Year", isn't even drafted until the 27th Round and 815 other players were selected ahead of him.

[Six]

j.w. - no problem brah, it had already been addressed by roach, just backing up the play

[Aqua]

Six,

Chris Perez?

[Six]

Aqua - I can think now of Huston Street from Texas when he was a closer in college and was drafted as a closer for the A's.

Isn't Ryan Franklin really the closer for the Cards, with 13 saves on the year? and when he was drafted by the Mariners, he was a starter for around 5 years

Same with Francisco Rodriguez, was a starter for the Angels in their system and then converted to the bully after 4 years - he wasn't even drafted

What I'm saying is, you look at the the guys I mentioned earlier who are known as some of the dominant closers in the history of baseball - and they were basically converted into closers from being starters

Eck, Hoffman, Smith, Rivera, Wagner, Nathan, Smoltz (amazing starter, amazing closer), Wood, Brian Fuentes, Johnathan Papelbon, Rollie Fingers, Robb Nen, Roberto Hernandez ...

Remember All American closer Robbie Morrison? Drafted in the 2nd Round by the Royals in 1998 - never made it past Double-A ball for the Royals in 7 seasons

I don't ever remember Morrison being in the starting rotation at The "U", but I do remember Chris Perez being in the rotation and then moved to the bully

It can happen, being a closer in college and then being drafted as the closer of the MLB team that took you - but there is an enormous amount of closers in MLB history who weren't closers in college, and if they were, a lot of them weren't drafted in the first couple of rounds. For every one that can be named, I'm thinking around 3 more can be named that weren't drafted that high.

I can think of Huston Street being pretty lonely in my head, when thinking of closers in college that were drafted to be the closer of the future of that MLB team.

[Six]

I thought maybe Bobby Jenks, but not even him ... in the minors, in 7 seasons he had 79 Games Started with a 19 and 31 record. The White Sox put him in the bully and converted him into the closer after he was brought to The Show.

Bobby Thigpen, 4 seasons in the minors with 35 games started and a 13 and 18 record .. he also played OF in college for Miss State, as well as pitched. White Sox brought him up and moved him into the bully, making him be the closer

What the hell ever happened to Eric Gagne? He sucked as a starter, then was a beast as a closer for 3 years - absolute lights out - then he sucked again.

[86Cane]

Mike James #22

[86Cane]

Why are you going Sunday? ... ahh, but the kids get to run the bases after games on Sundays.

Posted by: Six | June 11, 2009 at 12:24 AM

Six...Got some FREE tix for Sunday, and yeah the kids run the bases.

GREAT posts above and tremendous info BTW! Did you get my email?

[86Cane]

TimCanes...your article about UM-USF will run here on the blog at 7 PM.

[canechic]

:)

[CaneSniper]

The only part of Jacory's stats that worries me is the average yards per completion, which was consistently 10 or under. That generally means lots of dump passes. But I think that is a reflection on Nix, not Jacory. If we get that number up this year, then everything else will fall into place...TDs, open up the running game etc..

[DATcane]

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_college_hurricanes/2009/06/coach-raves-about-latest-verbal-.html

ss

[DATcane]

http://news-press.com/article/20090611/SPORTS/906110333

more

[Gin & Tonic]

Congrats Ocala,

You gotta raise them right. Kids pick up quick on the little things. I'll never forget hearing my then 4 year old son answering his mother when she asked who are the Dolphins playing? His response, oh those g*d dam jets! After telling him it's not appropriate to use such language, and ducking a pillow from Mrs. gin, I laughed for hours.

[OCALACANE]

Lamar Miller

[DATcane]

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/acc/0-6-169/Fantasy-football-scheduling-in-the-ACC.html
nice

[roachcane77]

Sounds good Solar... good luck with your transfers. The quality of those VHS tapes is fading more everyday. (As you know, the resolution of VHS was not that high to begin with... ) Hopefully yours were stored in low temp./low humidity environment. Remember each "pass" of the tape degrades it a little more. You'll want to get them dubbed over ASAP.

The sad thing is, I just saw a report that even "supposedly" indestructible formats like DVD have a much shorter lifespan than any of us were ever led to believe. (There's a "delayering" breakdown with DVDs over time.)

Anyway, glad to hear the device is working so nicely for you, good luck and have fun!

[conch salad]

I know everyone is looking at this kid with the RB glasses on, but really he could end up anywhere. Sean Taylor was a RB in HS also... bottom line this kid has the speed and athleticism to play safety or RB

[conch salad]

I know everyone is looking at this kid with the RB glasses on, but really he could end up anywhere. Sean Taylor was a RB in HS also... bottom line this kid has the speed and athleticism to play safety or RB

[CanesgirlNC]

LOL at Aqua and Six posting at mach 2 and 3 bells A.M.

[CanesgirlNC]

RC77- congratulations on your daughter's wedding and have fun out in California

[Aqua]

Solar, backing up to DVD sux. I stopped doing that awhile ago for bands that I recorded. I buy more external hard drive space since it's gotten cheaper. Copy it to your CPU and burn discs as you wanna watch them. If the disc gets ruined just burn another...

[CVS]

For all naysayers to our program...I remember the following:

1) Lee Corso saying on ESPN that UCF's football team would be better than UM's in 5 years (this was when Culpepper was there). Yeah right.

2) "From National Champs to National Chumps: Thanks Butch!" read a banner trailing a plane over the OB. Canes went 5-6. They got blown out by FSU 47-0, and I think either Covington or Clement got pushed into the goalpoast in our own end zone. We got whupped by them. We lost to Pitt 21-17 with Jeff Popovich being our best player. 3 years later the Canes were 11-1 under Butch, and the following year they were 12-0 and National Champs.

History has a habit of repeating itself to those who don't respect it. Coker didn't put in the effort (much like how Erickson didn't put in the effort).

But those that doubted the Canes in the 80s, early 2000s; and doubt them now... beware of the storm on the horizon.

- CVS

[lou of M]

Bama in some trouble....