Canespace

48 Hours

Forty eight hours is all you have to save what is left of the now disgraced and dishonored University of Miami football program.

The Board of Directors MUST fire Athletic Director Blake James and Head Coach Manny Diaz. All within 48 hours. We are not playing this time.

If this is not done you will have lost all of the faith, hope and love ever built into your UM fan base. And by ever I mean all five National Championships and the 58 straight wins at home in the Orange Bowl. I mean everything.

Trust me when I tell you that this is true and a fact beyond any doubt.

It is not open for negotiation. It is not open for debate.

Diaz lost to FIU and Duke to close out the 2019 season. Any coach (Butch Davis and David Cutcliff) with any experience whatsoever even with lesser talent dominated Miami this season. Can it really get any worse that that?

This nightmare must end and end now. It is officially over.

Blake James has been a failure since day one. He is lost and clueless.

Manny Diaz should never have been hired and yet James paid $3 million to get him "back" from Temple. You have to believe that right now Temple is breathing a $3 million sigh of relief. And they should. Diaz is clearly not qualified.

So let us be clear: 48 hours is all you have.

Please make each one count.

Because we are counting on you.

Situation FUBAR

This is a running movie. So pay attention to the plot and the story line. We enter the scene during the second quarter of Miami's home game against VT...

Against Virginia Tech at Light Jazz Stadium the Hurricanes trailed by a score of 28-0 in the second quarter. Things were ugly and getting uglier by the minute. It was like a horror movie was unfolding before our eyes.

Back in the day, even during the tailgate, we the fans were celebrating a win before the game even started. We were so confident of a home win the tailgate was relaxed and full of swag. We wore the colors proudly and cheered loudly.

Can anybody remember 58 straight home wins in a row at the Orange Bowl?

Anyway, back to the game, or the movie currently playing...

Down 28-0 as you can imagine the fans started booing, the cheerleaders stopped cheering and head coach Manny Diaz was soon seen looking for some serious smoke to cover his emergency exit from the stadium to avoid having to explain this embarrassing loss to the media once again.

But way before that in losses to Florida (denial) and North Carolina (anger) the alarm bells were already ringing. When the Hurricanes struggled to beat lowly Central Michigan (bargaining) the fire sprinklers went off and soaked us all.

The loss to Virginia Tech was simply another back breaker (acceptance) that needed to happen before we could move on. If she were still around the Jello Shot Queen would have been in tears and placed on suicide watch.

Then we were treated to the loss to Georgia Tech who had lost the previous week to Duke by the score of 41-23. A team 18 points worse than Duke beat Miami like taking candy from a baby. It was awful and that is being kind.

Then came the most recent debacle at Marlins Stadium against cross-town rival FIU. There was no way in a million years that Miami could lose to the lowly Golden Panthers. The Hurricanes were favored by 21 points. Surely, it was going be a blow out. Then Butch Davis took Manny Diaz out to the wood shed and showed him what good coaching looks like. Diaz was blinded by the light.

The dumpster fire was in full force and raging wildly by this time.

Simply put, this situation is FUBAR: F@#%ed Up Beyond All Recognition.

Now many Miami fans want to blame this entire terrible fiasco on first year head coach Manny Diaz. And to many UM fans, it may seem completely justifiable to do so. After all Miami paid a cool $3 million to get him "back" from Temple. At the time it seemed like money well spent, but now not so much.

However, in Diaz's defense, we are starting to think that this is not all his fault.

No, this dumpster fire certainly started sooner and runs much deeper than Manny's short tenure as head coach at Miami. And definitely way before his celebrity status was achieved as the defensive coordinator under former UM head coach Mark Richt.

It has become clear beyond all reasonable doubt that the University of Miami's football future is bleak at best and fading to black.

Other college teams have major fun playing on Saturdays. Miami makes the game of football look hard and miserable. It seems that nobody is having fun out there on the field or in the stands. Suffering is all the rage and appears to be very much in vogue for the team, and fans, wearing orange and green.

Some fans have leaned on drinking heavily, and often, before and after games.

Simply put, this situation is FUBAR.

The glory teams and national championship dreams Miami once embraced, no make that personified, are now in the distant past. They can only be seen in the rear view mirror of modern college football.

It has become abundantly clear that the game has passed UM by and apparently it isn't comng back anytime soon regardless of coaches, players, schemes, facilities or stadium names.

The defecation has hit the rotary oscillator.

As fans we tried, we really tried to keep the dream alive for another season.

But in the end, it appears that it was simply not meant to be.

After the loss to FIU, the faith, hope and love are clearly gone.

Simply put, this situation is FUBAR.

We will never root against Miami or hope for the 'Canes to lose.

We will always hope and believe that they will win again eventually.

But right now there is little or nothing left to cheer for.

So for now we say thanks for the memories Miami. 

It certainly was fun while it lasted.

Go Ahead, Open It

Today your Miami Hurricanes face cross town rival FIU at Marlins Stadium on the former site of the world famous Orange Bowl.

A game at a site with so much history and fond memories of the good old days that the glory days of yesterday are bound to seep back into the collective minds of all 'Canes fans.

Adding to the intrigue of this unique match-up and location for tonight's game is the fact that FIU is led by former UM head coach Butch Davis. It will seem a bit odd to see the two head coaches together, one who went through the tough times of NCAA sanctions only to resurrect Miami back to better days and build the best team ever assembled in college football: The 2001 Miami Hurricanes.

Now, first year UM head coach Manny Diaz hopes to repeat this feat and bring UM back to the pinnacle of college football in short order. Diaz has started to figure things out and has begun to right the ship after a very rough start to the 2019 season. This game should not be a challenge for Miami against a weaker foe with lesser talent.

So we suggest that you sit back, relax and open it.

Go ahead, open it.

Surely you know what I mean, don't you?

That big 'ol can of whoop ass you have been saving for a day just like today!

CANESPACE PREDICTION: UM 340 - FIU 13

*Note: Prediction is courtesy of Sarasota Cane

Honey, I Bet The House

When it comes to Miami winning out this season, I suggest you bet the house.

And Orange and Green in the Vein, yes, this specifically means you.

When you look back at this season, remember that you read it here first: 

The University of Miami under first year head coach Manny Diaz will win their remaining two games in convincing fashion to finish the 2019 season with a 8-4 record and momentum going into the recruiting period and next season.

First before you go all crazy on me, let me explain what happened.

At this point I have to admit that Go Canes made me look into the light.

It was brief glance and really not a long stare, but I have to say that the light was significantly brighter than I thought it would be. I also have to report that if you squinted just right you could definitely see Art Kehoe, rainbows and unicorns all at the same time. 

There is every reason to believe that your University of Miami Hurricanes should be victorious over lowly FIU next Saturday at Marlins Park and against the quickly fading Duke Blue Devils in the season finale on the road in Durham, NC.

If Manny Diaz can achieve this small task he will have accomplished exactly what we asked him to do to assure that our continued faith, hope and love (we promised) would be solidly behind him going into 2020.

Now we would like to think that you agree this is something to cheer about.

Slowly but surely, the light is starting to grow brighter.

It could get even brighter with two more wins to end the season.

I suggest that if you are a betting man, you bet the house.

I have already told my wife: "Honey, I bet the house."

Don't Look Into The Light

The last time this happened we all fell for it.

The last time we all assumed that it would work and that it would last.

The last time the coach's name was Randy Shannon, Al Golden or Mark Richt.

After Miami's huge win over Louisville (SolarCane was right) we had to listen to Faith and Hope loudly banging on the door once again.

The fear is that Miami Hurricane fans will want to stare directly into the light and grasp around for all of those pretty shiny objects that seem to be almost everywhere (turnover chain, turnover chain) in recent days.

We have to caution you at this critical time: Don't look into the light!

Manny Diaz and his band or orange and green clad warriors are doing their very best to make you, me and all of us into true believers. They are scoring points, winning games and even taking some names.

We like that, yeah, we like that a lot.

But we have seen this circus in town many times before over the past few regimes in Coral Gables. They test you, they tease you and then they leave you weak kneed at the altar as they abandon you in your finest hour.

We literraly begged Diaz to take us home as winners for the rest of the season.

Now he appears to be very well be on the road to making that happen.

The initial love affair with him that turned way too sour way too soon has now reinvigorated itself into a luke warm relationship. We are starting to once again like Manny, but full on love, and total trust, is still yet to be determined.

But I think that most of us have child-like, forgiving and hopeful hearts.

If Diaz can win out for the rest of the season (we made a promise), and not let us down (we are begging you), and win a bowl game (against anybody but Wisconsin), then we may be all in, and in love, once again (with known risk).

But let's not get ahead of ourselves too soon or just yet.

And whatever you do: DO NOT LOOK INTO THE LIGHT! 

Game Day Blog: Miami vs Louisville

So here we are again.

One more time with our eyes wide open.

It is now when we will once again be tested to our orange and green core.

After an extremely rough start to the 2019 college football season your Miami Hurricanes have found a way to win two games in a row and even beat their arch rival on the road in the Florida State Seminoles. That got our attention.

We think our friend LT#36 would be proud.

Earlier this season it was easy to hate on Miami and Manny Diaz who was in over his head. Our minds were made up. We were all AngryCane (seen below R) and done for the season. At one point faith and hope had clearly left the building and all that was left was love. And our love was wavering.

Many Hurricane fans (me included) were able to once and for all emotionally distance themselves far enough away from their team to the point that their self esteem much less their daily survival was no longer in question.

As SolarCane very accurately put it: "We had become comfortably numb."

But then we got sucked back in. We made compromises. We offered deals. 

If you recall, in our "Let's Make a Deal" blog we pleaded with Manny to just win out and all woud be forgiven. And we sincerely meant it.

Now, many of have started actually believeing that Diaz may actually do it.

And therein lies the emotional risk, the potential reward and the obvious danger. We open ourselves for joy and celebration but also disappointment and dejection once again. But apparently, we can't help it. It is what we do.

In the dark of the night, while most Canespacers (except Alpine) were quietly alseep, Hope and Faith found a way to sneak back into the building. And even though they were wearing hoodies, dark shades and sitting way in the back corner of the blog, they are there. And they are smiling.

We once again are at risk of another crushing loss or another glorious victory.

I choose to see the glass as half full. I choose to see the game as:

Miami 34 - Louisville 13

Roach Coach

For just a minute I ask you to forget about former University of Miami head coaches Butch Davis, Larry Coker, Randy Shannon, Al Golden and Mark Richt.

Sure, we know that you are all excited that new head coach Manny Diaz may be starting to turn things at Miami around but he is just getting started.

Instead, I want you to turn your focus on a great man, a great leader and a long time great coach named Darrell Roach (R).

He goes on the blog by the name RoachCane77.

Yet, he and his coaching legend is so much more than that.

You see Roach is a coach of the women's golf team at Lemon Bay High School.

They just went to State Championships again (not even sure how many times?).

Darrell Roach (L) is a great and talented man, leader, teacher and coach.

And a huge Miami Hurricanes fan and a Canespacer from the very beginning.

He has earned and deserves your appreciation and respect.

He already has mine.

Diaz Can Boast And Taggart Is Toast

The University of Miami's big win against Florida State in Tallahassee had much larger repurcussions than is usually tied to beating your main conference rival.

The Hurricanes roared into the State capital and laid waste to the Seminoles by putting an old school style beat down on FSU. Even the weather channel's veteran reporter Jim Cantore couldn't believe the devastation left behind.

Manny Diaz can boast about the win and even more so because he turned Willie Taggart into toast as FSU announced today that they had enough and sent Taggart packing with a mid-season firing (and a $20 million dollar price tag).

Canespace insiders are not claiming that Coach Diaz is the next Howard Schnelleberger, but hey we will take what we can get.

Wham-Bam thank you Manny!

For all the criticism we (me included) have heaped on Manny Diaz this season he has now managed to salvage at least one small token of sincere respect: He beat FSU. And he did so in what we like to call "convincing fashion".

Now if he can motivate his team to play up to their ability for the rest of the season he may earn a much larger serving of gratitude from Miami Hurricane fans desparate to maintain their faith, hope and love in their team.

All of us at Canespace offer our support (and coaching advice) and wish you much success in future games this year. As we agreed in our "Let's Make A Deal" blog last week, win out and all will be forgiven.

The first step has been successfully accomplished.

But let's be clear, anything less will be unacceptable.

Until next week: Go Manny Go!

Game Day: Miami vs Florida State

So here we go again.

Rivalry week: Miami vs Florida State.

Wide right, wide right, wide left...wide right.

Now I know what you are thinking.

Sure, we all know that in the long running series of games between these two teams, these terms have come into play many times and often had a direct impact on determining the game and the season for both squads.

But we are not talking about FSU's kicking game but Miami's. This year it is Miami's kickers that are seriously suspect going into this ACC rivalry game.

Still we don't think that the kicking game will even come into play this year in Tallahassee. Or as some people call it Trailernasty.

We think that the 'Canes will dominate the 'Noles. 

Canespace Prediction: UM 34 - FSU 13