Stop the Insanity!

I stopped making sports posts for two reasons. One of them being because I don’t really want to limit this blog to stuff that is only relevant to people at FIU. I would prefer to have a broader reader base than that. Mainly I stopped posting about sports though because, like most sports fans, I am superstitious. About the same time I stopped posting sports related blog entries, the football team started winning. They got their same victory about the same time that the men’s soccer team got theirs and the volleyball team got their first conference win. Since that post the volleyball team continues to roll and both the soccer squads have notched a few victories. The football team went to Denton, Texas and put a whooping on UNT.
So I stopped posting about sports, not out of laziness or a lack of desire to post about sports, believe me. Besides the wins we’ve gotten, some of the stuff I’ve been reading on college football message boards has had me chomping at the bit to post. Let me get the basics out of the way first.
Is there anyone still questioning Paul McCall as the starting QB for this team? Paul has looked great now the he is getting more time to set up and check down to his second and third pass options. I would like to see fewer dropped passes from the receivers though.
Next, how fast is T.Y. Hilton? Damn! That guy can fly. I don’t know that “Goodbye” is an adequate nickname for him. Perhaps it should just be T.Y. “Damn that guy is fast” Hilton. He’s got good hands too. Normally it’s the sure handed receivers are the slow ones and the burners are the guys who couldn’t catch a cold.
Finally, the biggest difference I see between this team and the team that lost its first two games is confidence. This team knows that it has talent and can win games. Even when they went down 13-0 in the first quarter to Troy, they didn’t quit. Winning can do that to you. This team may only lose one more game the rest of this season.
Now that I’ve gotten that out, let me address you insane people. Once the Panthers won a couple of games I started reading message board posts with people talking about a conference championship and subsequent bowl game. Hold on a moment people. We beat three bad teams. Yes, I know that we beat Toledo and then Toledo beat Michigan but guess what? Michigan isn’t a good team either. Rich Rodriguez is installing an offensive system without the proper tools right now. UNT is in the same position FIU has been in for the past two seasons, only they aren’t in a talent hotbed like Miami and they don’t have a recruiter like MC there either. MTSU is the best of the three teams that we beat but they have personnel issues right now.
It is great to be winning and hopefully the stands will begin to fill a bit more with each win but don’t make those New Orleans reservations just yet. We still have two of the better teams in the conference remaining in Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette, not to mention FAU, who I still think is better than their 2-5 record indicates. Two losses in any of those three games leaves us at 6-6, providing we win the games we should win against Louisiana-Monroe and Western Kentucky. We don’t want to overlook those teams the way that Toledo obviously overlooked us.
If we win two of those three games and end up at 7-5, a bowl game is still a long shot. Yes, the Sun Belt conference does have more bowl tie-ins than just the New Orleans bowl but those aren’t guaranteed. The other bowls have other teams to choose from before falling back to the Sun Belt teams and FIU and its young tradition and poor attendance record isn’t likely to wow any bowl selection committees. Even if we win out, we need Troy to lose two conference games now that they have beaten us and that isn’t likely to happen. Winning out would put us at 8-4 though, making passing on FIU a difficult proposition for any lower tiered bowl game. I just don’t think that will happen. I think FIU wins three of its last five games, finishing 6-6 and staying home for the holidays. Considering that most in the sports media had FIU as the worst team in the country this year, a 6-6 season should be more than enough for its fans. Even I only had them 4-8.
Now before any of you FIU fans start bashing me or saying that I’m not a true fan, let me say that I will gladly print out these pages and eat my words if FIU ends up winning the conference or playing in a bowl game.

A Week of Firsts

Sorry for the lack of posting last week, but I had my first test of the semester and spent a lot of time studying for that. Now that I’ve entered the realm of upper division classes, I’m having to make some adjustments to my study habits. I’ll address that issue in Wednesday’s entry though. My wife was pretty sick last week, too. I spent one of my days off last week driving her to the doctor’s office and then to the pharmacy.
For now, I would like to talk about the week that was in FIU sports. The volleyball team continues to spike the competition. Sorry, I couldn’t resist the cheesy pun. They started conference play this past weekend and won both their matches, making them 2-0 in conference play, 12-3 overall. The men’s soccer team notched their first victory of the season on Sunday. In the 66th minute, defenseman Corey Kendall tallied his 2nd career goal for the Golden Panthers. I had to mention that since I had a Spanish II class with Corey over the summer. Despite playing some tightly contested matches, the lady’s soccer squad continues to search for their first win of the season. They also opened conference play this past weekend, falling 2-1 to Middle Tennessee and tying Western Kentucky 1-1.
Finally, the football team went up to Toledo and grounded the Rockets (I just can’t stop). The offense finally seemed to get it going, although it doesn’t hurt when you start four drives inside the opponents 30 yard line. T.Y. Hilton continues to spark the team. Besides Toledo turnovers, T.Y.’s returns on special teams were the reason the offense benefited from excellent field position most of the night. Not only was the offensive line able to open up holes for A’mod Ned (one touchdown) and Julian Reams (three TDs), but they gave Paul McCall the time in the pocket he has so desperately needed all season. He took advantage of it too, completing passes of 22 and 27 yards to Eric Kirchenberg and Greg Ellingson, respectively. He also threw a 37 yard touchdown pass to, who else, T.Y. Hilton. Hopefully this quiets the QB controversy rumblings.
The defense continues to shine. Not only did they force four turnovers, one interception and three fumble recoveries, but they held a team that put 54 points on 25th ranked Fresno State the week before to 16 points. The four forced turnovers gave the team a +2 turnover ration on the season. Of all the football stats that are kept, I consider that to be one of the important ones. You don’t find a lot of 1-3 teams that have a positive turnover ratio, which tells me that this team is better than its record indicates.
The Golden Panthers now begin conference play on a roll. When I did my football preview at the beginning of the season, I said that FIU might be able to steal a win at Toledo or North Texas. Now that they’ve won at Toledo, I don’t think that it is out of the realm of possibility that they win again this week. How nice would it be to have the Golden Panthers come home riding a two game winning streak?

Show the Ladies Some Love

In all my excitement over the start of college football season, I forgot to mention the other fall sports teams that have already started their seasons at FIU.  The women's and men's soccer teams are both off to winless starts, although they both have schedules loaded with top-notch opposition.  The men, in only their second match of the season, played the top ranked team in the country.  Meanwhile, the women have dropped some close match ups to Florida Gulf Coast and Miami, as well as a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to Buffalo, in which the Lady Panthers outshot the Bulls 25-8.

In the meantime, the football team had a respectable showing in Lawrence, Kansas against the 14th ranked and heavily favored Jayhawks.  Unfortunately, if you weren't in Kansas, you didn't get to see any of it.  From what I have read, highly touted speed demon punt returner T.Y. Hilton, whose number teammates have gotten to know very well while chasing him down the field  all summer long, looked fantastic in returning a Kansas punt 74 yards for the Golden Panthers' only touchdown of the game.  

As suspected, Paul McCall was the starting signal caller for FIU and is rumored to have looked very good when the offensive line gave him time.  He finished the game 10 of 28 for 73 yards and two picks.  He also rushed for 26 yards, showing that those mobility drills that he has been enduring over the past spring and summer have paid off.

The defense supposedly had the Kansas O confused early on, forcing a fumble and a three-and-out punt on the first and second Jayhawk possessions, respectively.   Also, the defense held Kansas to 384 total offensive yards.  That same Kansas offense torched the FIU defense for 615 total yards en route to putting up 55 points last season.  Overall, I remain optimistic for this season.  The defense seems to be living up to its hype and the offense can only get better.

In case any of you missed it, the Golden Panthers will hold an open scrimmage in their brand new stadium, which is appropriately being dubbed The Cage, on September 11 at 7 o'clock.  The scrimmage is open to the public and admission and parking are free.  Also, stay tuned to FIUsports.com to learn when and where there will be a viewing party for this weekend's football game against the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten.  Or, if you are lucky enough to get the Big Ten Network, you can watch it at home (but where is the fun in that).

Now, on to the pride of the Panthers, the women's volleyball team.  Right now they have more wins (4) than the other fall sports teams combined.  This past weekend, they won the Big Orange Bash in Clemson, S.C., beating the host and 19th ranked Tigers in the process.  They were led by preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Yarimar Rosa, who had a double-double in all three tournament games.  On their way back to Miami, the ladies stopped in Greenville, S.C., where they continued to dominate the schools from the Palmetto State by beating Furman.  The unbeaten Lady Panthers' first action on their home court will be Friday, September 12, when they host the two-day FIU Tournament.  Other teams participating in the tournament include Penn, Oral Roberts and Central Florida.

A quick blurb on my Atlanta trip, I had a lot of fun.  We didn't get into the game, there were many more people looking to buy tickets than there were selling and we all know what happens when demand is greater than supply, the price goes upward.  We ended up at a small microbrewery/sports bar with a bunch of other Bama fans who were also left ticketless.  The group of us had a lot of fun together even though there were a few of them who were beyond the "I drank so much that I have to high five anyone and everyone around me anytime that Bama does something even remotely positive.  While I'm at it, I think I'll spray them with saliva, too," stage of inebriation.     

I stayed with my cousin Laurae and her husband Jim while there.  I enjoy seeing them and their kids and I think Laurae and Jim enjoy having me around since the kids seem to gravitate towards me, giving L and J a moment of peace, if only ever so brief a moment.

That's about all for now.  I'll be back tomorrow and Friday with a wonderful method of preparing the perfect chicken wings for tailgating and a look at this weekend's football foe, the Iowa Hawkeyes.  I may even try to make a score prediction.

-ELI3