Every Game Is A Bowl Game

Every game is a bowl game.

When the University of Miami football team crushed the University of South Florida at Sun Life Stadium last Saturday they won their sixth game of the 2012 season and became "bowl eligible".

If Miami beats Duke this coming Saturday in Durham the Hurricanes will finish their second season under Al Golden on a positive note and with a 7-5 record.

Every game is a bowl game.

Assuming that Miami wins this week against Duke they will be the winners of the Coastal Division of the ACC, and had the UM administration not imposed a post-season ban, they would have gone on to face FSU in the ACC title game.

Although some fans may feel that the Hurricanes chances against the Seminoles in that scenario are slim and none, but I tend to like Miami's chances in that game and believe that UM would be a formidable challenger to FSU's attempted power grab atop the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Every Game is a bowl game.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog. Until UM head coach Al Golden has these Hurricanes playing like every game is a bowl game and like every play may be their last, it is my opinion that this team simply does not "Deserve Victory" much less the privilege of playing in a bowl game.

Sure for this year's young, inexperienced team to lose to top 10 teams like #1 Notre Dame, #6 Kansas State and #10 FSU might be understandable if not completely acceptable to the majority of the small but rabid UM fan base. But even these highly-ranked teams have shown some clear signs of weakness with ND almost losing to un-ranked Pitt (4-6), KSU losing last weekend to un-ranked Baylor (5-5) and FSU dropping a home game to NCST (6-5).

Every game is a bowl game.

Each of these big games (as well as every ACC contest), with practically everyone (coaches, players, fans) knowing that UM was facing a likely post-season ban once eligible, were in essence "bowl games" for this Hurricane team.  

Yet, Miami lost all three (and two ACC match-ups to UNC and UVA) even though all three teams were clearly very beatable if things had gone perfectly for the Hurricanes on game day. Unfortunately they did not and the Hurricanes did not "Deserve Victory".

Every game is a bowl game.

And until Miami plays like it every week, they don't deserve to play in real one.

Comments

[j.w.]

1

[Sinistercane]

2nd

[hassan]

***Rumor***

in indy (home of nc2a) a lawsuit will be filed againt the ncaa for extortion

[j.w.]

by whom, Hassan? And I would do it in Fl if it were a UM former player, the tort/crime occurred in Florida and would be home to much more sympathetic jurors.

[Raizecane]

Amen.....

[CaneRock]

***Rumor***

in indy (home of nc2a) a lawsuit will be filed againt the ncaa for extortion

Posted by: hassan | November 21, 2012 at 09:10 PM

Hopefully that rumor is true.
Somebody needs to take these ding-a-lings to task.

[Tonycane]

I'm not sure which organization has more transparency....1980s politburo or the NCAA. Somehow I picture the NCAA HQ as looking like something that Albert Speer would have dreamed up in his most fervid architectural days.

[wartown canes]

Check out CBS sports .com. Article about NCAA being sued by coach in the USC investigation. They were deemed "malicious" by a judge and they lost. I can see a lot more colleges and individual's taking this route in fighting back.

[Blockie]

Hassan - where do you come up with these crazy rumors. There's no lawsuit being filed. You have zero credibility.

[CaneRock]

Posted by: wartown canes | November 21, 2012 at 09:58 PM

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The NCAA was "malicious" in its investigation of a former Southern California assistant football coach who was linked in a report to a scandal surrounding Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Reggie Bush, a judge said Wednesday.

The NCAA's report on ethical breaches by Todd McNair was flawed, and the former coach has shown a probability he can win his defamation claims, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Frederick Shaller said.

The NCAA had sought to have the case dismissed, but Shaller disagreed. He said after reviewing sealed documents in the McNair inquiry, which was tied to a gift scandal involving Heisman Trophy-winner Reggie Bush, he was convinced that the actions of NCAA investigators were "over the top."

His ruling states emails between an investigative committee member, an NCAA worker and a person who works in the agency's appeals division "tend to show ill will or hatred" toward McNair.

Laura Wytsma, an attorney for the NCAA, declined comment but said during the hearing that the ruling would be appealed. A message to the agency was not immediately returned.

McNair sued the NCAA in June 2011, claiming the association's investigation was one-sided and his future earnings were hurt by its report on the scandal, which led to sanctions against USC. The NCAA determined McNair lied about knowing about some of the gifts lavished on Bush's family by two aspiring sports marketers who hoped to land the future NFL player as a client.

The NCAA imposed a two-year bowl ban and scholarship restrictions on USC last year as a result of the Bush case. McNair was prohibited from contacting recruits and his USC contract was not renewed.

Shaller said he would unseal the entire inquiry into McNair, but would hold off on release of the records for a month to allow an appeal. "I think the public has a right to know," he said.

McNair's attorney Bruce Broillet declined comment, citing the sealing order in the case. He said during the hearing that the records showed the agency knew it was relying on false statements about McNair's conduct and wanted to "nail" the coach, who also played in the NFL.

"They wrote evidence the way they wanted it to be - that's malice," Broillet said.

Wytsma rejected that contention in court, saying the evidence in the case show the committee that investigated McNair was trying to get its report right.

"They were struggling to get the right result," she said, adding that several members of the investigative committee were prominent lawyers and legal scholars.

She also argued that records in the case should not be unsealed, saying it would hurt future investigations. The NCAA does not have subpoena power, she said.

[j.w.]

I wonder if hthe unnamed investigator was Dee? Hope not.

[pbcfrcane13]

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/sports-buzz/2012/11/um-player-attorney-responds-to-ncaa-ultimatum-prominent-attorney-calls-this-unconscionable.html

[Hassan]

Hassan - where do you come up with these crazy rumors. There's no lawsuit being filed. You have zero credibility.

Posted by: Blockie | November 21, 2012 at 10:30 PM

-------------------------------------------

who are you? I have a lot of cred, anyone in the Hurricane Community could tell you that. A compliant has also been filed with Pam Bondi's office, State attorney general, this is not being done directly by the school.

[Ohio_Cane]

Can someone fill me in on what the NCAA did wrong? Been to 3 funerals for local children this week. All non-related. Crazy crazy week in a town of 4,000. 6 year old, 8 year old and 22 year old

[86Cane]

BTW...did ANYONE read the article and comment? NO? Yeah I didn't think so.

[Hassan]

lol yeah soup in college though every game is a bowl game for everyone. u lose a game u could be out of the title hunt

[WWIN]

Ohio,

Sorry about your losses.

Letters from NCAA were sent to former players trying to extort testimonies, long story short, they're trying to bend us over backwards wit no ky but we might be the ones bending them over wit lawsuits

[HawaiiCane]

If only you could 'like' a post kind of like Facebook. I would definately like Willie's last one!

[HawaiiCane]

Sorry for your losses too, Ohio. My grandfather past away this weekend and I was out of the loop until today.

[CaneRock]

Happy Turkey Day CaneSpace!
Hope ya'll have a great time with family and friends.
One.

[CGNC]

Its the same old same old. Small private school that was kickin the institutional behind...going into Texas and dropping 50 on them along with the celebration.... you know they are trying to keep us down... the only way they can do it is off the field BS...

Posted by: mi@mic@ne | November 21, 2012 at 05:28 PM

No offense, you are living in the past. We are being investigated by the NCAA because crap happened.

[CGNC]

Yes, this last game against Duke they should definitely treat as their Bowl Game. Should be in the 50's - good football weather

[Hassan]

A typical N.F.L. receiver in training might run 1,500 yards of sprints a day; Texas Tech receivers run 2,500 yards. To prepare his receivers' ankles and knees for the unusual punishment of his nonstop-running offense, Leach has installed a 40-yard-long sand pit on his practice field; slogging through the sand, he says, strengthens the receivers' joints. And when they finish sprinting, they move to Leach's tennis-ball bazookas. A year of catching tiny fuzzy balls fired at their chests at 60 m.p.h. has turned many young men who got to Texas Tech with hands of stone into glue-fingered receivers.

[Hassan]

Happy Turkey day to all.

[You might want to attempt to grasp this educated person's comments on the powers of the NCAA]

The NCAA is a voluntary membership. Any member is welcome to leave at any time if they choose to do so. At that time, they would be relegated to NAIA status. This situation is no different than a civil court matter. If the respondent fails to appear, the court will rule in favor of the plaintiff, in this case, the NCAA. The NCAA is giving these former players the opportunity to refute allegations compiled against them in evidentiary findings, testimony from federal proceedings and interviews with former administrators, coaches and players who were granted immunity and willfully explained transgressions which transpired in Coral Gables over the past 14+ years. There are some who feel the NCAA will make an example in this case. “Lack of Institutional Control” is Miami’s biggest concern if testimony gathered from disgruntled former employees now employed by NCAA member institutions and former coaches who were granted immunity is proven. Crippling sanctions are in play here up to and including the death penality. In any case, this situation could not occur at a worse time for UM. Conference realingment is about set a furious pace and the ACC could lose as many as 12 of its 14 members leaving Miami and Wake Forest in a bind with no options other than CUSA and Miami doing so with an extremely devalued brand.

[canesteeler]

I want to see the U going out and playing their asses off on Saturday. Send the seniors off with a victory! This game will serve as a statement game for me in regards to AG's ability to get through to the players. Our past 8 years say we don't show up and players just go throught the motions. Show pride and go out and stick your middle fingers up at the NCAA!

[Terrance Sullivan]

Happy Thanksgiving Canespacers.

[j.w.]

Ohio, hoping you find some peace, good friend.
Happy Thanksgiving to all! THankful today for alll friends and family, we may not agree on everything all the time but I'm better because of the different viewpoints. Not let's enjoy the feasts, football, and some rest.

[Hassan]

Posted by: You might want to attempt to grasp this educated person's comments on the powers of the NCAA | November 22, 2012 at 10:27 AM
---------------------------------------------

You are not educated, say your real name do not hide. Miami is a national brand, they get some of the highest TV ratings of any school. National brands are commodities they do not get relegated to C-USA, you lost all credibility with that statement. Do not try to state you are educated when you clearly are an idiot.

As for your "lack of institutional control"
Miami's AD at the time was well regarded and as all here knows was a member of the COI. The compliance team was said to be a model for other schools. The man who is the catalyst of the issues is a huge fraud and fooled many many people for millions. He has admitted to having a personal vendetta against the school. The head coach tried to keep the man away from the team, the compliance director nearly got into a fight there was a back ground check done by the school. Despite all they saw in his character (sneaky, wimpy rat with Napoleon Complex) he checked out clean, the guy was freaking friends with the Miami beach police chief.... These infractions are not academic, We did not sell something, they took free diners and some lap dances and free bowling at most, this literally happens at every campus with 90% of every player. The only reason why this case sounded so bad is because of the sheer number of players it involved, The amount of free dinners and lapdances at other schools is just as much if not more. We have local reporters who have 100% of money for recruits, Patrick peterson example. There are numerous others who get paid big time, Our own snake admitted Miami does not pay players (which other schools do routinely) and that we can not compete with the SEC because how much they pay players. This exact same investigation would turn up an equal amount of free dinners and lap dances at nearly any school in the country but it would also include houses and jobs for mom's and h.s coaches, it would include trucks for best friends, bling watches and new clothes, cash payments and much more. The Sky is not falling, UM has talented kids on their roster learning to play the right way. They have about 10 months to work their asses off and show the world when we beat UF that UM is back. We will lose schollies but it will not be as bad as you think.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Hassan, that entire post is on point but I love how you saved the summation's refutation for 'grasp this educated person's' troll attempt right there at the next to last sentence.

Happy Thanksgiving to everybody.

[Terrance Sullivan]

Ohio sorry 4 your loss. great posts by Hassan, OGV, and Willie Will.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Oh and I agree with your blog here CEO, this team, coaching staff especially, wasn't good enough to deserve victory and where reduced to hoping to play in a game they would have finished in a three way tie and needed NCAA intervention to qualify for in the first place with blowout losses to rivals and upsets to really poor teams. Just not a good edition of UM football this year by any measurement but the offense has been light years better than anyone thought they would be going into the year while the defense has no excuse to be schemed so poorly and play called so ineptly week after week.

[86Cane]

Hassan...well done son!

[86Cane]

1. Just not a good edition of UM football this year by any measurement.

2. The offense has been light years better than anyone thought they would be going into the year.

3. The defense has no excuse to be schemed so poorly and play called so ineptly week after week.

Posted by: orange 'n green in the vein | November 22, 2012 at 11:11 AM

1. Totally agree.

2. Totally DISAGREE. The offense was inconsistent at best especially against better competition. Fisch is still working on his play calling and has NOT mastered the art just yet as numerous examples show. Morris still has MUCH work to do to grow into a finished product which he is not. If not for Duke Johnson carrying this offense they would be below average.

3. AGREE and DISAGREE. Scheme is still an issue but performance definitely improved as the season went on. Injuries and lack of depth and talent on the D-Line hurt this team this season. Without a doubt this defense is not good or aggressive enough to win games when the offense stumbles. But that will change next year and DENO will be named the ACC defensive coach of the year.

That's right, I said it AGAIN!

[86Cane]

Ohio and Hawaii...sorry for your losses.

Lesson learned: Be thankful for EVERY day. U never know which one will be your last.

Live every moment,
Love every day,
Before U know it,
Your precious time slips away...

[Tonycane]

"Educated Person" the only scenario that you left out is having NCAA Black Ops descend upon the campus to personally deliver the "death penalty". Ludicrous. Utterly ludicrous.

[Tonycane]

One more thing, educated. Don't discount the political strings that can and will be pulled to avoid your scenario if it has to come to that.

[Tonycane]

Sorry for commenting at all on the NCAA, but that trolls comments just ticked me off.

Everyone, have a wonderful thanksgiving with your families.

[Terrance Sullivan]

Hawaii sorry for your loss.

[TonyCane]

Ohio, I'm sorry for your loss as well.

[86Cane]

OGV...I will tell U this. As U know I am a Golden fan and supporter. However there is one issue that I have with him that I will address in a future blog article.

I think he tries to detach from emotion too much and remove it from the equation. Not that he isn't passionate about football but he appears to have some of the sort of detached, Northern, cold, "just execute" mentality (Penn State?).

He keeps stating that he wants his players to be "the same guy everyday" as though that is the highest level of human development or achievement. I undersand that he wants his players to moderate or regulate their emotional states and try to be more stable and consistent; that I get.

But that completely ignores and denies the reality of human nature. Nobody is the "same person everyday". We all have ups and downs and good days and bad days. To deny that is to fail to take advantage of the low periods (opportunities for learning growth and developemnt) and to fail to celebrate the high periods (recognize, utilize and celebrate achievements).

Does he really expect himself or any player to feel the same way after losing to a 2-6 UVA as he does winning a National Championship over an undefeated Notre Dame?

[86Cane]

Below is Miami’s updated injury report for Saturday’s game at Duke:

OUT

Robert Lockhart
Lower Extremity

Malcolm Lewis
Lower Extremity

Davon Johnson
Lower Extremity

Ramon Buchanan
Lower Extremity

Sean McNally
Lower Extremity

Ben Jones
Lower Extremity

Eduardo Clements
Upper Extremity

[CaneRock]

I think he tries to detach from emotion too much and remove it from the equation. Not that he isn't passionate about football but he appears to have some of the sort of detached, Northern, cold, "just execute" mentality (Penn State?).

Posted by: 86Cane | November 22, 2012 at 12:13 PM

SOUP, you can say the same thing about Randy, although some called Him a corpse.

[86Cane]

Rock...that is true about Shannon too but IMHO they have very different personalities and different motivations for their behaviors.

[CaneRock]

These infractions are not academic, We did not sell something, they took free diners and some lap dances and free bowling at most, this literally happens at every campus with 90% of every player.

Posted by: Hassan | November 22, 2012 at 10:50 AM

Good point, although most, if not ALL of our infractions happened OFF campus. Which was my answer to the question I posed in the last blog, as it relates to Baylor's list of violations:

Looking at Baylor's list of violations, what can ya'll tell me is the major difference between their list of violations, and ours...

Bliss paying for tuition for two players, Dennehy and Herring, and attempting to conceal it.
Coaching staff providing meals, transportation, lodging and clothing to athletes.
Coaching staff paying for tuition and fees for a recruit at another school.
Bliss's encouragement of school boosters to donate to a foundation tied to a basketball team that included prospective Baylor recruits.
Failure to report positive drug test results by athletes.
Failure by the entire coaching staff to "exercise institutional control over the basketball program."

PS: Before PSU, Baylor's punishment was the worse non-death penalty punishment since SMU. And again, it can be assumed that ALL of Baylor's violations occured IN the institution. While most of, if not, all of ours, took place OFF campus. BIIIIG BIIIIG difference.

[hassan]

Ohio n hawaii sorry for your losses.

Welcome to the NFL Harland Gunn. Signed off the atl practice squad

[orange 'n green in the vein]

I can see that point, but what you're describing 86 sounds more like an Al Groh learned trait. Groh is often described as, 'cerebral,' by his defenders and that was a major complaint by the GT fans leading up to his dismissal, that he can't connect with young athletes with that style because it goes against what they naturally are inclined to tap into to perform at their highest level. Besides, are you sure you want to continue to promote that point of view about Al in the coach's film room on a Sunday after a loss?

I also grant you that yes, the offense was bogged down in their games against the best 1/3 of the schedule, but I'd tell you that's somewhat to be expected and that even with that fact, looking at the production Jedd had to replace this year between graduation and early entries, he's done a remarkable job not only replacing that production but even surpassing it as well (looking at you Steven Morris and your 3000 yard season replacing the guy in the record books between a Heisman winner and the best QB or all time at UM). That in itself is why I'd say he's done a better job than a lot of people thought he would coming into the year, better defensive opposition hick-ups or not.

Defenders of the DC though are basically reduced to arguing that there's not enough veteran talent to fairly judge, which to me is saying that Ray Armstrong being dismissed is a huge loss (which I concur with but a lot of people, some even arguing this veteran talent deficiency line ironically, thought he was an overrated bust) and Ray Buchannon blowing out his knee again would have made all the difference in the world, which is laughable to me, except for one CB spot, there was plenty of returning talent and I think it was talent you can fashion at least a serviceable defense out of rather than a historically bad one like the mutant from Philly has done. Yes, the DL overall talent was not at historical UM levels but when you've recruited about half the team, that's on the staff that isn't getting the LOI's signed or coaching up a decent technique/scheme to compensate for those failings. At least next year the only person D'No or his defenders can blame for not being in Broyles contention is going to be himself, assuming he's not out on the street where he belongs looking for a new job.

[j.w.]

Hawaii- very sorr y to hear of your loss as well, I missed it earlier.
Wishing and hoping that everything we think minimizes the punishment really does . . .

[Triangle cane]

Happy Thanksgiving Spacers! Who else will be at the game tomorrow? My son an I will be there.

[raizecane]

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, your famalies, and your friends.....

I mysef am ready for a nap......