Canespace

Faith, Hope And Love: These Three Remain

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

Many of you will not be familiar with this bible verse from the New Testament,1 Corinthians 13:13. But today is your lucky day, and lucky for you, I am very familiar with this verse. And, it holds serious meaning for us Canes fans.

Miami Hurricane fans should maintain FAITH in new head coach Manny Diaz.

It would appear to most fans that Diaz inherited a group of players who apparently are either not talented enough, not motivated enough or are not properly dedicated to the sport they play. It now seems as if only effective coaching, external motivation or roster turnover will solve this problem.

Miami Hurricane Fans should sustain HOPE in Manny Diaz.

He will find ways to cure what concerns all of us: Offensive line play, special teams, third down conversion rates on offense and defense and a general malaise that seems to let weaker teams stay in games with UM. Miami's reruiting has not been stellar but it is better than most teams they face. Yet, they simply don't play like it and many fans wonder why.

Miami Hurricane fans should LOVE their University and their team.

I attended UM from 1980-1986 and had some of the best years of my life there. I eventually graduated with honors. Both my Mother and Father both worked on campus for many years. All told, I spent over 10 years on that campus learning to love the University of Miami. I have not lost that loving feeling. 

Now, as to the football team and the current head coach, and their performance on most Saturdays...well that has to improve significantly and soon. After 20 years of greatness we have suffered through 15 years of mediocrity. Through four head coaches and countless recruiting classes the same results have been demonstrated over and over again.

We are in the most fertile recruiting ground in the Country we have to keep the best players home. We have to find other players that can make us great again wherever they may play. Recruit, coach, play and win.

And, we have to coach and motivate these players to be the best they can be.

Then, and only then, can "The U" ever be great again.

And now these three remain, faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.

Carry On My Wayward Son

Your University of Miami football program has been wandering in the wilderness for about 15 years now. There have been five head coaches, countless assistant coaches and too many players to count. And still, here we are. 

Head coach Butch Davis led us out of the terrible probation period of the mid-1990s before leaving for the NFL. He recruited and stacked the roster with talented players before caretaker head coach Larry Coker was blessed with the greatest collection of talent ever assembled on a college football field.

The results speak for themselves.

Yes, from 2001-2004 Miami was far and above the best team on any field anywhere. Coker won a National Championship and should have won two and maybe could have won three. Miami players stocked NFL rosters for the following decade. But we will let that little detail go for now.

Then the bottom dropped out.

Career 'Cane Randy Shannon was hired to replace "Likable Larry" and was a sure thing to be the next great UM coach. The true Miami fans were convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that Shannon would save us. He had all the credentials but unfortunately none of the skills needed to rebuild the beast. The beast starved to death and was strangled by his abrasive personality, poor media skills and narrow minded recruiting strategy.

Al Golden, a Joe Paterno disciple from Penn State, came in to replace "Rough Randy" with his own master plan that consisted of pillars, principles and plans for greatness. Until he coached his team to be slow and fat and fell on hard times eventually choking on his own neck tie. Golden was tarnished by year two but survived four years. Who the hell wears a necktie in Miami in August much less in college football in 2012? Al Golden did and he is, as we say, history.

Enter Mark Richt, the former Hurricane QB and an experienced head coach would certainly lead Miami back to the glory days of yesterday. I mean the guy was on the team with some of the early greats under Howard Schnellenberger, right? How could he go wrong? Well he replaced the "Golden One" but soon appeared tired and flamed out in record time as if in a hurry to go fishing with Jimmy Johnson in the Florida Keys. Can't blame him, can you?

Enter Manny "The Miami Guy" Diaz. Heck, the guy was a defensive guru (like Shannon) who basically invented the "Turnover Chain". Is there anything MORE Miami than that? Hell to the nah! Manny was THE MAN. He would simply waltz, no make Samba, into the locker room, speak truth to power, and suddenly all would be well with the team once and for all. He created "The New Miami" which meant that Manny simply could not fail.

The truth is that his head coaching performance is already very questionable. And his future is already in doubt among fans. From some people's perspective it is sad. Many say that we need to be more patient with our head coaches.

On the other hand, fans want results and they want them NOW.

And we all know that will not change today or tomorrow.

What we do not want is to carry on like a wayward son.

With no hope or end in sight. All we ask really is that: 

There will be peace when you are done,

lay your weary head to rest,

don't you cry no more.

Game Day: Miami vs Central Michigan

So we have been told that this is a game where UM could be lulled to sleep.

That Miami will be cold, content and stale and stumble across the finish line.

But I disagree. And disagree strongly.

Miami will be hot and bothered and somewhat nasty.

CANESPACE PREDICTION: Miami 51 - CMU 13

Enos Has Williams On Point

University of Miami redshirt freshman quarterback Jarren Williams was named ACC Rookie of the Week after a standout performance against Bethune-Cookman, the conference office announced Monday.

Williams completed 79.2 percent of his passes in Saturday's 63-0 win and set a career mark with three touchdown passes. Williams, who has started all three games for the Hurricanes, finished with 254 yards on 19-for-24 passing against the Wildcats.

On the season, Williams has thrown six touchdowns with no interceptions and he ranks fifth in the ACC with 777 passing yards. Williams' pass efficiency rating of 164.6 is the third-highest mark in the conference.

Miami continues a season-long five-game homestand Saturday against Central Michigan. Kickoff for the matchup, slated for broadcast on ACC Network, is set for 4 p.m.

To Pay Or Not To Pay?

This is the question before us: Should college football and basketball players be paid to play? Some fans say yes and many others say no.

And if so, how much, how often and how should they be paid? Should they all be paid the same amount or paid based on how much money they can earn?

Should any other other non-revenue sports be paid? If not why not?

Should any women's sports be paid the same as men? If not, why not?

Vote here by commenting and make your position known!

Game Day: Miami vs Bethune Cookman

You better believe that your University of Miami Hurricanes, coming off two consecutive losses on the road, are just dying for some home cooking when they host Bethune Cookman College at Hard Rock Stadium today at 4 PM.

So cook up some puerco, pollo, carne or even some tasty paella if you are feeling especially adventurous as the home team should devour their opponent by halftime allowing for extra relaxation and eating time after the game.

CANESPACE PREDICTION: UM 48 - BCC 13.

Canes Ready For Some Home Cooking

It's been far too long, but the wait is almost over.
 
Get your favorite orange and green gear ready, pack your cars with all the tailgate essentials and be sure to be in your seats early because you don't want to miss the first chance to see the Miami Hurricanes run through the smoke. 
 
After playing two challenging games on the road, the Canes open their 12^thseason at world-class Hard Rock Stadium at 4 p.m. Saturday vs. Bethune-Cookman and the hometown Hurricanes are excited about the opportunity to play in front of their home crowd.

"We've got the best fans in the world," tight end Brevin Jordan said. "I'm ready to finally go play at home and finally be at Hard Rock. The two atmospheres we were in, those are two tough atmospheres, so to finally go home and have the fans on our side is going to be great."

After opening the season with two hard-fought losses, the Hurricanes will look to get back on track against Bethune-Cookman. Miami has a perfect 4-0 mark against the Wildcats all-time, with all four games coming at home and entire series history being played since 2011.

"Those games are over with," Jordan said. "We are looking toward going out and beating Bethune-Cookman and just trying to perfect ourselves and perfect The New Miami."

Miami holds an 11-0 all-time mark in home openers at Hard Rock Stadium, having outscored opponents 500-69 for an average margin of victory of 39.2 points in those 11 games. The Hurricanes have not lost a home opener since 2006, when they fell to Florida State 13-10 at the Orange Bowl on Sept. 4, 2006. Miami has won 12 straight home openers since - each one since 2007 - including a 77-0 victory vs. Savannah State in 2018.

"Home is our turf and we shouldn't lose on our turf," running back DeeJay Dallas said.

9/11: Never Forget

September 11, 2001.

Another day in U.S. history, much like Decmber 7, 1941, that will live in infamy.

We thought we were safe. We thought we were protected. We thought wrong.

This was a false sense of safety and security. An illusion of invincibility.

We were not safe and may never be again. We are always vulnerable.

September 11 is another tragic and sad day that Americans should never forget.

Say a prayer for the fallen. And never ever forget their suffering or sacrifice.

We Are Not Even Average

I could have gone with another blog quote headline like: "It's Official - We Suck!" But I tried to temper the distress of another horrible loss with some reasonable restraint. I do not know why, but I tried.

Clearly, it was all for no purpose. We do indeed, suck.

So now it seems that The New Miami (TNM) is the strikingly similar to the The Old Miami (TOM). Your Miami Hurricanes became losers once again, this time to ACC weakling North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Mack Brown made Manny Diaz look like a caveman once again as the Tar Heels dominated the Hurricanes the entire game. It was shameful and embarassing to see a coordinated TEAM beat a more talented squad.

Over the last decade Miami has had more speed, skills and talent than their opponents yet they get beat time and time again by TEAMS that have a game plan and a system that allows them to be successful.

When will we learn? Never it seems, which is why I did not spend money on season tickets, hotels, and tailgating. Instead I went on a very relaxing river cruise in Europe. It was nice, and pretty and enjoyable.

Miami football is the opposite: Ugly, negative and  stressful.

I think I am about done with that.

Game Day Blog: UM vs UNC

So here we go, from deep in ACC territory, Hurricanes versus Tarheels.

New head coach Manny Diaz and TNM are on the clock.

Canespace Prediction: UM 34 - UNC 17.

Enjoy the game!

That is all.