If you follow football then you probaly have heard of several dynamic running back combinations that go by the name of "Thunder and Lightning".
One of the first combinations involved former college football star Ron Dayne and NFL player Tiki Barber when both where with the New York Giants in 2000. Dayne won the Heisman Trophy in 1999 and his career rushing total remains an NCAA record.
College running backs Reggie Bush and Lendale White reintroduced the "Thunder and Lightning" moniker once again while at USC in 2006. Of course that was before the NCAA eventually stole the lightning from its thunder and the Trojans got severely spanked.
Another even more recent example of the feared combination of power and speed was Clemson's James Davis and CJ Spiller (the known Hurricane killer). Those two were declared dangerous in 2008.
Sure Thunder and Lightining had its day but now all of the talk is about Smash and Dash. What, you haven't heard about that tandem yet? Well you should have and believe me if you haven't then you most certainly will this football season.
Many experts agree that the Miami Hurricanes will have one of the most talented duos in all of college football this season. The terrific twosome at UM will consist of Mike "Smash" James and Lamar "Dash" Miller.
Because of the universally recognized NFL talent at running back this year at Miami and with UM expected to dedicate its offense to the running game this season we thought we would profile these two outstanding athletes that will hold down the backfield for the Hurricanes in 2011.
In this two-part series we will feature each of the featured backs for the Miami Hurricanes this season. Today we look at "Smash" otherwise known as UM running back Mike James.
We first met Mike James back in 2009 when he was a serious looking, bright eyed freshman on National Signing Day who had arrived at UM as a relatively lightly recruited running back from Ridge High School in Davenport, FL near Orlando.
This is James' high school summary found at www.hurricanesports.com:
HIGH SCHOOL:Enrolled at UM in January ... No. 18 best running back prospect by Scout.com, No. 21 best running back prospect by Rivals.com and No. 33 running back by ESPN.com ... Named The Ledger's All-County First Team running back ... Press Register's Super Southeast 120 ... FSWA Third Team All-State Honorable Mention ... Ran for 1,300 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior while also returning a punt return and two kickoffs for touchdowns ... Rushed 198 times for 1,108 yards with 15 touchdowns as a junior and had four receiving touchdowns ... Coached by Richard Tate.
The three things that stand out when you meet Mike is his solid physical build, his polite, respectful manner and his never ending smile that would earn him the nickname of "Smiley" at UM.
Since arriving in Coral Gables in 2009 James has been a busy football player.
He played as a true freshman in his first season at UM and managed to break into the Hurricanes backfield that was then loaded with co-starters Javaris James and Graig Cooper.
Then in 2010 he shared duties once again with Cooper and new starter Damien Berry. James' record, even as a backup player, is still quite impressive since arriving at UM:
2009 (FRESHMAN): Played in all 13 games for the Hurricanes, spending the majority of the season playing fullback ... Carried 15 times for 46 yards and one touchdown ... Averaged 3.1 yards per carry ... Also had 15 receptions for 105 yards ...Also returned kicks and had 17 returns for 363 yards including a 40-yard return against Georgia Tech and 41 yard return against Florida A&M ... Had three returns for 75 yards at Wake Forest and four returns for 82 yards at North Carolina.
2010 (SOPHOMORE): Played in all 13 games, starting three...Carried the ball 70 times for 398 yards, third most on the team... Scored three rushing and one receiving touchdown on the year...Had the most catches of any Hurricane running back with 13... Averaged 4.3 yards per catch and 5.7 yards per carry.
In spite of losing his mother in a tragic car accident over a year ago Mike has managed to maintain his positive attitude, his incredible work ethic and his ever present smile.
Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Mike simply stepped up his game and re-dedicated himself to his sport stating that this is exactly what his mother would have wanted.
This Spring, as he sat under the bleachers at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale and answered questions, he looked like a man on a mission. He is a clearly man with vision, a certain purpose and a clear destiny for his future.
Mike James is the type of son every mother would want.
He is the type of person that every fan cheers for.
And he is the type of football player that every coach loves.
But then who wouldn't love a guy like Mike James?
By any standards, the University of Miami football team's record over the last four seasons has been anything less than stellar. Some fans would even go as far as to say that the Hurricanes' record was completely unacceptable given the level of talent on the team.
In looking back, apparently one of the early warning signs was when Miami lost to Wisconsin in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando back in December 2009. By that time it was clear that even the Badger mascot (seen below looking quizzical) appeared to know that something was up and that the end may be near for head coach Randy Shannon.
By the end of another disappointing season in 2010 the on the field results spoke for themselves and directly led to a head coaching change at the end of last season. Randy Shannon was out and Al Golden was brought in to replace the once loved and respected former Hurricane player and coach.
As a result many Miami football fans have felt a wide range of strong emotions about their team. Many still feel hurt, confused and disappointed. Some fans even feel jaded by the recent results of their beloved football team.
One of those so-called "jaded" fans is my good friend, kayaking expert, fishing guru and original Canespacer Solarcane.
Solar uses the Canespace blog for exactly what it was designed for: To promote the free and open flow of opinions,positive and negative, about UM sports. He often shares his insights about Hurricane players and coaches and occasionally speculates about past, present and future of the Hurricane Nation.
SolarCane (seen at L below with OcalaCane at C and Old Skool at R) loves nature, and mountains and waterfalls. Well, let's make that most waterfalls. He is a kind, patient, thoughtful and gentle man. There was a even time when he used to write "Peace" after every comment he made on the blog.
He is not the kind of guy who uses the word "hate" very often. But Solarcane pretty much hates the word: POTENTIAL.
He, like all Hurricane fans, wants to see results. He wants to see them on the field, and he wants to see them now. And he definitely wants to see them before he puts himself at further risk of drowning by jumping into the deep end of the pool of "potential" (seen below).
Solarcane is indeed a patient man but he, like all of us, has suffered through all of the hyperbole and hoopla from all of the hooligan's on Canespace over the last six seasons and to put it bluntly it now appears as though he has had enough of that nonsense to last a lifetime.
While most UM fans are currently interested in knowing IF the current players on the team (inculding some of the new recruits) are in any way different in attitude or have changed their previous poor work ethic or negative patterns of behavior, Solar has no time for that.
He could care less about any ridiculous predictions about which players will be stars or any completely unfounded prognostications related to the Miami Hurricanes' 2011 football season record.
SolarCane is jaded. He just doesn't have the time or energy to care about things that are beyond his control. Simply put,what Solarcane wants is this:
1. A respectable team that plays hard on every play of every game.
2. The Hurricanes to beat teams convincingly (but especially the Tar Heels).
3. Miami to finally win their first ACC title.
4. For UM to play in and win a meaningful bowl game in January.
5. A BCS title in the not so distant future would be nice too.
When you come to think of it, some may consider Solarcane to be a bit jaded, but then aren't we all?
When you come to think of it, what the kind, friendly, kayak fisherman who now lives in the rural mountains of Northern Georgia really wants is what we ALL want, isn't it? So, I guess that in the end, it turns out none of us like feeling jaded after all, now do we?