Canespace

It's Just Spring

I must have missed it in the pre-scrimmage notes and news in all the buildup to the event but apparently the designated theme for Friday night's scrimmage in Fort Myers was: "It's just Spring."

I heard that phrase several times and thought it to myself often enough during the evening to actually begin to believe it: It's just Spring.

On a perfectly balmy and breezy Spring day on Florida's Southwest coast your Miami Hurricanes played their second scrimmage of Spring practice at the Bishop Verot High School field. And what a field it is!

From the appearance of the entire campus and the state of the art stadium and field I guess it is pays to be Catholic and is good to go to one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the Country.

On a day when the Boston Red Sox were playing in front of another sold out Spring training crowd of around 9,000 only a few miles away, a gathering of over 6,500 orange and green clad Hurricane fans came from near and far to get a glimpse of the 2012 product that head coach Al Golden intends to put on the field.

What those fans, like my Fort Myers crew, myself and Brian "The Beast" London who drove several hours to get there saw was, in a word: BORING.

I should have known what kind of an evening it was going to be when I peppered "The Beast" with several pre-scrimmage questions like: "What do you think about Denzel Perryman moving to middle linebacker?" and "What do you think about the way Rashawn Scott has stood out at WR so far?" and all he could say (repeatedly) was: "It's just Spring."

Now before you go and get your knickers all in a bunch please understand this: I am a verified and certified, long time, hard core UM fan who loves and supports what Al Golden is doing at Miami.

What I do not understand is why Golden would drive his team over 2 hours across the always dangerous Alligator Alley simply to waste an opportunity to show fans and recruits in the Southwest Florida area how exciting this team is going to be and what a great honor and thrill it is to be a Miami Hurricane.

Sure it was an even better than expected turnout at a great facility in an area that UM is trying to claim as it's own, much like the Hurricanes lay claim to the Southeast coast of the State that includes Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties.

However the product that Golden put on display Friday night had some of the most ardent and fanatical of 'Canes fans scratching their collective heads. Some were even seen walking out early.

Sure I get the fact that "It's only Spring" and the fact that Miami has about three healthy WRs on the roster at the current time (after WR Phillip Dorsett went down with a pulled hamstring), and that Golden like all of us wants the 2012 Hurricane football team to be bigger, stronger, tougher...yeah we get that.

However, the scrimmage was not entertaining in the least, in fact it was downright BORING. Yes, the cheerleaders were there and coach Kehoe even took the time to throw up "The U" for us but other than that the Hurricanes ran only a handful of plays in a scrimmage completely dominated by the defense.

The defensive line in particular looked solid with Porter and The Plug in the middle and Chickillo and Hoilett on the outside accounting for several tackles and sacks.

Perryman, Paul, Johnson and Kirby all looked solid at linebacker for the Canes and the defensive backs as a whole also played better than expected.

If you want to spin it in a positive way then yes it certainly was a positive to see the defense play so well. But it was hard to tell if that was really the case as the 'Canes ran the same running plays over and over again and almost none of the pass plays were designed to be completed over 10 yards from the line of scrimmage.

The only real bright spot for the UM offense on this night was WR Rashawn Scott who continues to tear up practices and scrimmages so far the Spring.

Well that and the UM cheerleaders, they were great as usual.

But before you get too excited please remember: "It's just Spring."

Head West Young Man

Coming off a short trip North on the 826 Expressway to Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah for the first scrimmage of the spring season, Coach Golden and the Canes football program will travel a little farther from home and head West on I-75 to play under the lights in Lee County on Friday night.

The Canes will kickoff at 6:45 p.m. at Bishop Verot High School (BVHS) in Fort Myers (seen above and below) and will practice for about two hours.  In case you were wondering, BVHS is one of the top 50 ranked Catholic High Schools in the Nation and is the heralded home of the Vikings.

The Vikings appear to not only have a strong sense of self awareness and spirituality but also have a very healthy athletic department and an even more active and talented student body.

The Vikings will welcome the Hurricanes for a first ever West coast Spring scrimmage, an event that will certainly expand Miami's recruiting footprint in the fertile Southwest Florida area.

The scrimmage is open and free to the first 5,000 fans.

The spring season will culminate with the annual BankUnited CanesFest and Spring Football Game on Saturday, April 14 at Sun Life Stadium.

Friday, March 30 | Bishop Verot High School | Fort Myers
Time: 6:45-8:45 p.m.
Directions: 5598 Sunrise Drive, Fort Myers
Parking: Fans can park in the grass lot located on the south side of the stadium.
Entry: Gates open at 5 p.m. Fans should enter the stadium through the main entrance located at the east end of the facility.
Admission: FREE
Concessions: Food and beverage will be available for purchase.
Fan Zone: There will be an interactive Fan Zone set up in the SW corner of the stadium, including inflatables, Sebastian the Ibis and spirit squads. The interactive area will be open from 6 p.m. through halftime.
Raising Canes: UM will debut the second episode of the 2012 Raising Canes season at the Fort Myers scrimmage. The second episode will be air on a loop in the auditorium adjacent to the field throughout the evening.

In case you missed the first episode of Raising Canes that was released at the first Spring scrimmage in Hialeah here it is.

The series continues with Episode Three at the Spring Game on April 14 at Sun Life Stadium.

The season finale, which will be a long form 45-60 minute documentary, will air in May at a surprise location to be announced in the near future.

The Raising Canes series is a production of 3Penny Films, an independent film group that has won Emmys for their documentary work within college athletics. 3Penny Films was also behind the scenes on Signing Day for a feature that ran on ESPN Networks on Feb. 1 & 2.

Step Right Up And Get U Some

Season Ticket packages for the highly-anticipated 2012 University of Miami football season are now available through HurricaneSports.com and 305-284-6699. The five-time National Championship program is heading into the second season of the Al Golden era with a roster full of young talent.

UM will kick off this fall with home games against: Florida State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, South Florida, NC State and Bethune-Cookman.

The Hurricanes Ticket Sales Office is currently working with renewal accounts and will open up all available seats for the Spring Game on April 14. If you need to renew your Hurricanes season tickets, please call 305-284-2263 or login to your Ticketmaster account through HurricaneSports.com.

If you are ready to invest in Miami Hurricane football and take in all the action of 2012, you can call the UM Ticket Office now (305-284-2263) and place a deposit on tickets. Deposits are $100 for 100 and 400 level seating and $200 per seat in the Club level.

2012 Season Ticket packages start as low as $25 per game. Alcohol Free sections will be available in designated Family Plan areas on the 400 level as well as the Club level. Family Plan packages start at $97 per seat and offer a 35% savings off regular Season Ticket pricing.

Before the annual Spring Game, UM will host a Select-A-Seat event at Sun Life Stadium at 11:30 a.m. Those fans that have placed a deposit for Season Tickets will be given the opportunity to choose their preferred seating the week prior to the Spring Game.

As an additional bonus to Season Ticket Holders, UM will be offering discounted parking in the lot of your choice.

And for those fans interested in following UM for road games, Hurricane Club members with a donation of $250 or more will be eligible for away game tickets to see the ‘Canes play Notre Dame at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

To join the Hurricane Club for as little as $40 or to make an additional donation to the Hurricane Club, call 305-284-6699 or visit uhurricaneclub.com.

Chris Freet
Associate AD for Communications & Marketing

University of Miami Athletics

Hurricanes Hold First Scrimmage

On Saturday morning your Miami Hurricanes held their first scrimmage of Spring practice by taking their show on the road to Ted Hendricks Stadium in La Ciudad Que Progresa (which is also known as Hialeah).

UM head coach Al Golden had his team run through various situational football drills (goal line, red zone, etc.) before opening up the scrimmage to the standard game format.

The offense was productive early on as the projected starting RB Mike James found his way to the endzone from a couple yards out and the highly tattooed TE Clive Walford made two touchdown grabs, one on a spectacular leaping catch, within the first few plays of the scrimmage.

James ended the scrimmage with 78 yards on 13 attempts and three touchdowns, including possibly the most impressive play of the day when he busted loose for a 55 yard scamper and outran the entire defense.

While James may never be confused with the speedy Lamar Miller, he has clearly worked on his speed during the off season and showed a much improved burst on the play.

Later in the scrimmage WR Rashawn Scott looked impressive and as he found his mojo and wound up with five catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns including a 62-yard score on a simple slant pattern. Scott started at WR along with Phillip Dorsett at the Canes' thinnest position this Spring.

With projected starter Stephen Morris sitting out the most impressive player at QB was Memphis transfer Ryan Williams who had an efficient and productive day.

Williams, who definitely looked like he is ready to give Morris a run for his money for the position, completed 14-of-21 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns.

Gray Crow was by far the most impressive Freshman QB and looks as though he could challenge for the starting role much to the dismay of Canespace blogger Six.  Crow was 7-14 for 43 yards and a TD during the scrimmage as he demonstrated that he has a good command of the UM offense.

There were several injuries that all appear to be minor at this time. OL Seantrel Henderson and Jon Feliciano suffered knee sprains while Dyron Dye hurt his hand/wrist on another play.

DL Anthony Chickillo (back muscle strain) and LB Josh Witt (concussion) did not play due to injuries suffered in practice earlier this week.

Here is a timeline of the scrimmage from www.hurricanesports.com:

9:58 a.m. -- Officially getting started at Ted Hendricks Stadium.

10:03 a.m. -- Mike James scores the first touchdown of the day, a 2 yard rush.

10:16 a.m. -- Clive Walford leads the Canes with 2 touchdowns so far.

10:30 a.m. -- The defense isn't laying down, collecting a sack, a fumble recovery for a touchdown and numerous passes defended.

10:45 a.m. -- James showed some speed taking a rush 55 yards for a score.

11:00 a.m. -- The defense have been ballhawks today, forcing 2 fumbles and deflecting a handful of passes.

11:15 a.m. -- Ryan Williams led a long drive down the field, capped off by a 7 yard touchdown to Rashawn Scott.

11:30 a.m. -- The defense forced a timely fumble at the goalline, stopping a big push by the offense.

11:35 a.m. -- Ryan Williams connects with Rashawn Scott for another touchdown, this time for 62 yards.

11:40 a.m. -- That's it from Ted Hendricks Stadium. Next scrimmage is at Bishop Verot High School on Friday at 6:45 PM.

The Mouth Of The Rat

On Wednesday night your Miami Hurricanes went to Boca Raton to face the Florida Atlantic Owls in a mid-week college baseball game between the two relatively friendly South Florida neighbors.

Literally translated, Boca Raton means "mouth of the rat". But for anyone that has ever been to this very affluent Palm Beach County luxury locale they know that Boca Raton is anything but ratty. 

On this perfectly beautiful night in a town full of beautiful people we went to see the Hurricanes and Owls match-up on the baseball diamond on the FAU campus.  The Owls baseball stadium is relatively small and comfortably cozy. 

There are two grass berms down the left and right field lines that are cheap $10 tickets and lots of fun.  FAU fans and families bring in coolers, food and folding chairs in what is a tailgate-like atmosphere (except minus the beer).

The game started off with a first inning BANG for the Hurricanes. Who other than Miami's Peter O'Brien would launch a home run over the right-center field fence for a 385 foot dinger? 

O'Brien, who has been on an incredible tear this season for the Hurricanes lit up a first-pitch over the fence that was a no doubter as soon as it left his bat.

In the end the storyline would read that the Miami Hurricanes beat the Florida Atlantic Owls by the score of 8-5 on a cool, breezy and beautiful night in Boca Raton. 

We even found Howard Schnellenberger, the former pipe smoking, gravely voiced, national championship winning head coach of the Miami Hurricanes football team (1983) who wound up at FAU later in his career and devoted himself to developing the Owls athletic department at the game.

Howard may have left his trademark pipe behind but he still proudly wears his 1972 Super Bowl Ring (when he served as the offensive coordinator of the Miami  Dolphins) and the 1983 National Championship ring he won with the Miami Hurricanes.

So once again on this fun night in Boca Raton the Canespace Rules were in full effect:

1. U gotta show up.
2. U gotta stay until the end.
3. Good things are bound to happen.

So far this year I have been to UM baseball games in Fort Myers (FGCU), Orlando (UCF) and Boca that all were victories for "The U".  In April I will be in Tallahassee to see the Hurricanes take on the Seminoles. Road games are a lot of fun especially when the Canes are playing well as a team and winning. 

Plus, how many times have I told you that you never know what might happen at a baseball game?

Then last night Howie shows up wearing two championship rings and takes a classic photo with our friend Ricky from the Titanic Brewery Crew?

What more can I tell you!

That Is Why

The bottom line and real difference between love and hate is so obvious.

When U win everbody loves you.  When U lose nobody loves you.

Everybody complains about why we don't post more articles about UM men's and women's basketball.

Everybody says we should give them more attention and is upset about why and when we don't.

The reason is they have not won anything yet and nobody is sure that they ever will.

On Monday Night the UM men's team lost in embarrassing fashion at home to Minnesota and the #3 ranked UM women's team lost to #11 ranked Gonzaga on the road.

In case you were confused or just wondering, losing sucks.

Do you really need more of an explanation than that?

Next subject?

Lady Canes Do It Better

The young women that proudly wear the orange and green and represent the University of Miami would like to have your attention please. And that means ALL of you Hurricane fans out there in CaneNation.

Hey, you there in the back, yeah you with your head buried in your football season ticket renewal package that was mailed out last week, put down the packet and try pay attention for the next few minutes.

While you were busy following the UM baseball team or just waiting around for Hurricane football practice to resume or possibly anticipating the two football scrimmages scheduled for late March to be played the Lady Canes were out there working hard to earn your R E S P E C T.

In case you have been living under a rock, the 8th ranked UM women's basketball team is currently participating in the NCAA women's tournament. The Hurricanes looked really good yesterday in their opening game of the tourney as they simply overwhelmed Idaho State 70-41.

The Lady Canes fried, boiled and baked the potato heads, uh, I mean the Bengals, in spite of being without one of their leading scorers in Senior guard Riquna Williams. Williams did not make the trip to Spokane for an unspecified team violation, but it didn't slow the Hurricanes at all.

UM's Shenise Johnson took advantage of the opportunity created by William's absence and scored 20 points. She also made a bit of history as she joined Nancy Leiberman as the only Division I players in history to record 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, 500 assists and 400 steals in a career.

Johnson, also an all-ACC selection, said it was part of UM head coach Katie Meier's game plan to jump on the Bengals early. "We wanted to dictate everything that would happen out there," Johnson said. "We wanted to show who Miami is, and we were on our toes tonight."

Third-seeded Miami (26-5) will play 11th-seeded Gonzaga (27-5) on Monday night, with the winner advancing to the round of 16.

While the UM women's basketball team was getting some much deserved attention and time under the spotlight the UM women's tennis team was seen flying under the radar.  Last year the Hurricanes were led by Senior Bianca Eichkorn who was the 2011 ACC Player of the Year.

This year the Lady Canes tennis team opened the season ranked at #11 and are currently ranked #12 and expected to move up after beating #10 Baylor this past week at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on UM's Coral Gables campus.

The Hurricanes are one of four ACC tennis teams in the top 15 in the Country along with conference companions Duke (#6), Virginia (#7) and North Carolina (#15).

Along the way UM has beaten Baylor, #21 Yale, #22 FSU, #23 Ole Miss, #34 Clemson, and #48 Boston College in compiling an impressive 10-1 record so far this season. Their only blemish came against #7 ranked California earlier in the season.

So CaneNation please pay attention to these fine young women as they represent "The U".

They have earned it and definitely deserve a little of your R E S P E C T!

Hurricanes Bruise, Batter Golden Knights

On Wednesday afternoon your 10th ranked University of Miami Hurricanes traveled to Orlando to face the 19th ranked University of Central Florida Golden Knights in a intra-State college baseball game.

The series between the Hurricanes and the Golden Knights has become more competitive and more interesting over the last few years as UCF has gradually and steadily improved from year to year and have now reached the point where they can compete at the highest levels of college baseball.

On a clear, breezy and absolutely perfect evening for baseball several Canespacers also ventured deep into enemy territory to witness the game in person at beautiful Jay Bergman Field that is adjacent to the UCF Brighthouse Stadium football field.

And what a game it was! The Canes and Knights battled all night in a close and hard fought game that was eventually won by Miami 3-2. When we we say "hard fought" we really mean it as the game almost wound up in a huge brawl after a rather eventful fourth inning when UM was at the plate.

The game turned out to be a pitcher's duel and tensions between the teams were high until the very last out. The Canes entered the bottom of the ninth up 3-2 and UM Head Coach Jim Morris handed the ball to closer E.J. Ecinosa who had struggled against the Gators two weeks ago but promptly earned his third save in the past week by shutting the door on UCF.

The Hurricanes got the scoring started in the first inning when lead-off batter Tyler Palmer was hit by a pitch from UCF starter Ray Hanson to start the game. Sophomore outfielder Dale Carey then struck out, but on the attempted double-play throw to catch Palmer stealing, the ball sailed past second base and into the outfield.

Palmer, who advanced to third on the play, would later score on an RBI groundout from senior catcher Peter O'Brien to give Miami an early 1-0 lead. But trust me, it would not be the last time UCF players or fans would see or hear of O'Brien during the game.

Miami entered the fourth inning on the heels of a key inning-ending play in the bottom of the third. The Knights had landed runners on the corners with only one out, but Ewing induced a nifty double play from the infield to get out of the jam.

O'Brien then led off the fourth with his sixth double of the season on a pitch hit well to the opposite field gap. Senior Rony Rodriguez, who missed Tuesday's game against Illinois State due to illness, connected on a single to the outfield that set the scene for a play at the plate.

O'Brien, who is a pretty big boy and looks more like a middle linebacker than a catcher, was caught between third base and home plate on the play. in apparent frustration he intentionally collided with (he actually ran over) Knights' catcher Ryan Breen and was ejected from the game after tempers flared.

The nice boys from the 407 cleared their entire bench and ran out of their dugout and onto the field looking ready to rumble with the big bad bullies from the 305. Fortunately cooler heads prevailed and Miami coaches kept their players in the dugout to allow both teams to avoid any further "unnecessary roughness" and play resumed with no further incidents.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said of certain UM and UCF fans in the stands. The crowd was electrically charged after the incident and the good natured yelling, cheering, jousting and booing between the rival fans became more and more intense as the game went on.

The booing seemed loudest however when UCF catcher Breen came to the plate. A few certain UM fans who shall go unnamed (Raize, OGV and especially Anastasia), simply could not give it a rest and booed LOUDLY whenever the Golden Knights catcher showed his face. Needless to say that did not endear us to the UCF fans seated around us in the stands above first base but it was certainly entertaining.

After a stellar performance in the Hurricanes' win over visiting Illinois State on Tuesday night, the bullpen once again did the job on Wednesday. With two runners on and only one out, freshman Alex Fernandez entered the game in relief of adam Sargent to record another inning-ending double play started by Perez.

The Hurricanes would be the team to strike next. With runners on the corners and one out, Dale Carey connected on a ball that looked like it would drop in right field. After a briliant diving grab, right fielder Alex Friedrich doubled off Jarred Mederos at first base.

However, UM's Michael Broad crossed the plate before the second out of the play was recorded giving the Canes the final decisive run and a 3-2 lead.

UCF visits Miami on Wednesday April 4th at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. We strongly suggest that you show up for that event because you never know what might happen at a baseball game.

Miami Heads To Orlando To Face UCF

The tenth-ranked Miami Hurricanes returned to the diamond this week with a pair of midweek games at home against Illinois State Tuesday night and on the road at Central Florida on Wednesday.

A familiar face returned to Coral Gables for Tuesday night's match-up. Head Coach Mark Kingston, who was an assistant coach under Morris during the Hurricanes run to the 2001 national championship, brought his team to Miami in hopes of stealing a big midweek match-up.

Freshman left-hander Andrew Suarez, who pitched well in his starting debut at Marlins Park in the team's exhibition against the Miami Marlins last week, was scheduled to make his first official start as a Hurricane.

However, Suarez could not pitch and was replaced by Freshman Chris Diaz before the start of the game. Diaz had a rough start as he allowed four early runs in his 2.2 innings of work but was fortunate enough to be supported by an offensive explosion by the Hurricanes.

Miami would go on to pummel Illinois State by a final score of 11-6 as the two teams combined for 19 hits in the Tuesday night affair.

UM catcher Peter O'Brien and teamed up with Stephen Perez as both hit multi-run homeruns for the Hurricanes, while Esteban Tresgallo extended his hit streak to a conference-high 15 games.

With Tuesday night's game in the books, the Hurricanes will travel to Orlando on Wednesday for their first of two match-ups this season against the Knights of Central Florida.

UCF, who has risen to the Top-25 in many baseball polls, will provide a tough challenge for Coach Morris' club. The Knights boast series wins against Boston College, Siena and UMass, and barely fell in two one-run contests to Florida State earlier in the season.

The game can be heard on WVUM 90.5 and will also be televised on Bright House Sports Networks with simulcast on CSS Sports for Comcast users in the area. Canespace will be at this game so watch for long-time blogger RaizeCane and myself to get carted off by the UCF campus police around the seventh inning stretch (just kidding!).

The Hurricanes will return to conference play with a three-game series at Durham Bulls Athletic Park iN Durham, N.C. against the Duke Blue Devils this coming weekend from March 16 - 18.

IN OTHER UM BASEBALL NEWS:

Freshman Fever in the Gables...Third baseman Esteban Tresgallo and shortstop Jarred Mederos have taken the ACC by storm in the early part of their first seasons in Coral Gables. Tresgallo currently boasts the longest hitting streak in the ACC (14 games), while Mederos has started 10 games at shortstop, including all three games in the team's series against Boston College.

Movin' On Up...After a perfect 4-0 week and an opening Atlantic Coast Conference sweep of visiting Boston College, the Hurricanes continued their ascent in many of college baseball's most prominent polls. Head Coach Jim Morris' ballclub jumped from No. 13 to No. 10 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll, moved up to No. 15 in Perfect Game's weekly rankings (up from No. 18) and rose to No. 11 in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's poll.

Time For The FHSAA To Step In

After reading a recent article from another one of those pay web sites that supposedly covers the Miami Hurricanes I just had to ask myself:

"Excuse me, but did I miss something? Was I absent from school on a certain day or have I just managed to be absent minded?"

I always thought that it was the job of a high school coach in any sport to do three things:

1. Ensure that the student-athletes at their school do well enough academically to qualify to attend college;
2. Provide an opportunity for those student-athletes to be successful in their sport of endeavor;
3. Promote their student-athletes opportunities to select and attend the university of their choice.

Last week Chris Stock from www.insidetheu.com ( or as some other Miami Hurricane fans refer to it www.idonthaveaclue.com ) reported that several local high school coaches were upset about how UM was recruiting their student-athletes.

Stock reported that a group of high school coaches "confronted" UM coach Michael Barrow to voice "displeasure about UM's recruiting tactics." Golden who was also present joined in to try to quell the issues.

Still the seemingly often controversial Stock claims that the issues remain and that one high school even went so far as to warn their players "not to step foot on the UM campus."

Aside from the fact that Stock and his site seem prone to journalistic sensationalism to draw hits to their web site and have never appeared to be even the least bit favorable towards UM in their reporting, one has to ask about the credibility of this so called "report".

First of all Stock used the standard or is it (forgive the pun) stock "according to multiple sources" cliche to open the article and closed it by refusing to name the names or schools from which the alleged coaches were from.

If Barrow was confronted and he and Golden were both present then they know exactly who the coaches are and would not be releasing any new information by naming the coaches now would they?

Secondly, just where does this all fit in within the current hierarchy of the administration of a local high school between the coach, the athletic director and the principal?

And finally where the heck does this fall within the guidelines of the FHSAA administration of high school sports?

And maybe more importantly UM fans: What do you think about the local high school coaches statements and/or the actions or the seemingly irresponsible reporting of www.insidetheU.com ?