Toilet Bowl Promises

As I sat in the stands of FIU Stadium this past Saturday watching the Golden Panthers rally past Arkansas State, my head screamed at me for not keeping myself properly hydrated while tailgating all afternoon. It reminded me of all the nights I’ve spent hugging the toilet, cursing myself and promising God and anyone else who might be tuning in that I would never drink again.
You see, I approach college football tailgating with a vigor unlike anything else. The Xterra gets packed on Friday night and Tina and I spend most of the evening in the kitchen preparing Saturday’s feast. Usually I make my own special variety of wings in three flavors--hot, hot w/minced garlic, and extra hot--and Tina makes something fancy and healthy. For Arkansas State she made some turkey bacon club wraps and festive bean dip while I took the week off from making wings and just brought hotdogs. Of course, what tailgate would be complete without a cooler full of beer?
At my age, I’ve learned to become a smarter drinker, not only for the sake of others around me, but for my own sake as well. As I down beer after beer, I mix in a bottle of water here and there. Usually, I try to keep the ratio at a 3 beers to 1 bottle of water minimum. This not only prevents me from getting embarrassingly drunk, but it also helps to quell any potential hangover. Unfortunately, this past Saturday I forgot to keep up with the water intake.
I was fine up until halftime. Tina, our friends and I were in the student section chanting, cheering, romping and stomping. We went crazy when Paul McCall connected with T.Y. for an 84 yard catch and run play and booed when ASU scored. After the half was an entirely different story. Seeing that we’re all a bit older than the average student, we decided the atmosphere in the student section was a bit too frenzied for our taste and relocated to the visitors seating. Apparently, someone forgot to tell the ASU faithful that there was a game.
That was when the exhaustion set in. I suddenly felt like I had gone a week without sleep. My head started hurting and my legs were nowhere to be found. It wasn’t an early onset hangover, this was different. I chased down a soda vendor like he owed me money and bought a Powerade. After gulping that down I felt better, briefly. A good game was being played between two teams fighting for third place in the conference and a potential bowl game and all I could do was stare at my feet: my eyes couldn’t take the lights. I didn’t miss the wide receiver end around-fumble-option-pass to end the game, though.
I felt so bad that I couldn’t help but think back to the night that some friends and I did eight shots of Jagermeister, each. That night cost me about two days worth of toilet bowl promises, including a promise to never do Jager shots again, a promise I have kept to this day. Tina dragged me to a friend of hers divorce party once, and I proceeded to drink margaritas like a fish drinks water. There were many promises made that night, too. For my 34th birthday, when it seemed like everyone inside Buffalo Wild Wings bought me a shot, I promised myself that I would never tell my boss that I would come in on my day off again, especially when that day off falls on the day after my birthday.
Saturday night wasn’t nearly as bad as any of those times. The way I felt was caused more by exhaustion and dehydration than it was excess alcohol intake. When we made it back to the parking lot following the game I was able to down a few bottles of water and I felt better almost instantly. Although the exhaustion was still there, the headache went away once I got some H2O in me. Unfortunately I found that someone had stolen our mini-grill. There were no toilet bowl promises to be made that night though, only celebration of another Golden Panther victory, the fourth of the season so far. Not bad for a team projected as the worst in the country at the start of the season.

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 Few Morning Notes

First of all, how in the HELL does Starbucks run out of those little sleeves for the coffee cups? I must look like a circus juggler bouncing my hot cup o’ joe back and forth in an effort not to scar my sensitive, girly little hands for life.
Second, I’m not a big fan of the Tuesday morning spin instructor at the gym. She’s a one trick pony. All she does is have us go from hand position two into hand position three and back into the saddle, repeat. Over and over again, repeat. Depending on the beat of the song she may increase or decrease the pace at which we do so, but it is still the same motions, over and over. No isolations, sprints, jumps, standing climbs, sitting climbs, nothing.
Thursday’s instructor, Maria, is tons of fun. I don’t mean that she’s heavy either. She is all go and she switches pace and activity often. Two weeks ago Maria had a substitute whose name was Tonia, I think. She was the demon spawn of Satan and Saddam Hussein (remember, they slept together in the South Park movie). I burned over 1000 calories in her one hour class. My average is about 800.
Lastly, there are rumors of a watch party at Kings Creek Tavern in Kendall for this weekend’s football game against North Texas. I don’t think it has been confirmed yet but it would be nice to show up en masse to support the Golden Panthers on the road. Here is the phone number if you would like to call and confirm; 305-273-6123.

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?

Sun Belt Shines

Traditionally, Sun Belt teams are the ones that the big conference schools schedule early on in the season when they are tired of beating up on themselves in intra-squad scrimmages and need someone else to practice with prior to the rigorous conference schedule beginning.  They may also schedule them for homecoming when they need a guaranteed win for the students, alumni and distinguished guests (recruits).  It’s a symbiotic relationship from which both schools benefit: the big school gets a pretty much guaranteed win, and the smaller programs get a big payday for their school.

Things have changed though.  Last year, Louisiana Monroe went to Tuscaloosa and came out of Bryant-Denny Stadium with a win over SEC powerhouse Alabama.  Yes, the same Alabama Crimson Tide that has 12, count ‘em, 12 national titles.  Troy beat the Cowboys of the Big Twelve’s Oklahoma State, too.

So far in this young season, Sun Belt teams have come close to playing spoiler in some big conference school’s seasons.  In week one Arkansas State beat Texas A&M and in week two Middle Tennessee beat Maryland, who then beat #23 California.  On top of the victories, Sun Belt teams, with the exception of our beloved Golden Panthers, have been able to play competitive football, too.  Last week Arkansas needed a last minute touchdown to beat ULM.  This past weekend MTSU played Kentucky very closely, as did Arkansas State with Southern Miss, Brett Favre’s alma mater.  Louisiana-Lafayette almost sipped the fun out of Champagne, Illinois, losing to Ron Zook’s 24th ranked Fighting Illini 20-17.  I also believe that, had it not rained as badly as it did, FAU might have been able to beat Michigan State in East Lansing.  Instead, Mother Nature did her part to shut down Rusty Smith and the high flying offense of the Owls.  I don’t know who to blame Cortez Gent’s sudden case of the dropsies on though.

Granted, the Goliaths that have fallen at the hands of Davids of the Sun Belt have been  middle of the pack teams, with the exception of Alabama.  The Sun Belt has yet to conquer the Floridas, Ohio States and Texas’ of the world, but that day may dawn sooner than later.  Maybe the Sun Belt teams aren’t too far from passing their counterparts in Conference USA or the MAC as the whipping boys of the NCAA.  

Is this the week that FIU’s football program gets the signature win it so desperately needs?  Perhaps.  After all, FIU did play well against Kansas, despite what the lopsided score would indicate.  Our opponent this week, the Bulls of the University of South Florida, who are led by stud quarterback Matt Grothe, needed a heroic effort from their star to rally past the Jayhawks in Tampa this past weekend.  

USF may be the most talented team we’ll face all season.  They play with speed and finesse on offense and hit hard on defense.  But we are opening our new stadium this week and I’m sure that Coach Cristobal is pounding that into the boys every day in practice.  The university has invested a ton of money not only in the construction of the stadium, but in the marketing of this as a program on the rise.  The last thing they want to see is the Panthers getting blown out in The Cage‘s inaugural game. 

Lack of Communication

Is the student section of the stadium going to be general admission?  If not, how can my friends and I sit together?  Should we all show up together to pick up our tickets?  What about block seating for academic and social clubs, or the Greek organizations?  Is there a plan in the works to accommodate group seating?  In the future, will one representative from an organization be able to show up at the ticket office with the student ids from all of the members and pick up the tickets for the whole group so that they may sit together?

These are only a few of the questions that remain unanswered going into the week of the first game in our new on-campus stadium.  Many students are still asking where they go to get their tickets for the game.  I only knew about it because I was lucky enough to have an employee of the athletic department in one of my summer classes.  Otherwise, I never would have seen the email about student vouchers, since it went straight into my spam catcher.  

One final question.  Why has the communication not been better regarding the football season?  It seems to me that the students should be a bit higher on the priority list when it comes to football.  Isn’t the school trying to build a winning program?  To do that, you need better recruits.  To get better recruits, you need a few things: a winning team, which we are supposedly working on; for offensive recruits, you need a sexy, productive offense and likewise for the defense; you need to have your former players playing on Sundays in the NFL; lastly, your program needs to be playing in nationally televised games.

To accomplish that last thing, you need a frenzied atmosphere.  Yes, a frenzied atmosphere could be  listed in the things you need to land top-notch recruits, but it’s a two-edged sword.  ESPN doesn’t want to broadcast a game with a silenced crowd, just like coaches and Athletic Directors don’t want to invite potential recruits to games with lame crowds.  Potential recruits want to see fans going nuts, like they do in The Swamp.  They want to hear the roar of the crowd, the thunder of thousands of feet stomping on the bleachers and the deafening chant of the fight song.  These are the same things networks want to see.

But networks and recruits won’t see those things from a crowd filled with local businessmen and women.  They won’t see them from local executives from Suntrust or Bank of America, who are only at the game as invited guests of an administration hoping to sell naming rights to the stadium or to gain enough monetary commitments to ensure that future stages of the stadiums construction are financed.  That’s who all the tickets for the first game are going to.  Not to the students, who would likely be the ones creating the frenzy within the crowd.    

The school is more concerned with it’s image within the community than with the student body.  The school is banking on the old Field of Dreams mentality of, “If you build it, they will come.”  

They seem to think that the stadium alone will turn this program in the same direction that other young programs like USF and FAU are heading.  Without the support of the students, it won’t happen.  Like I’ve said before, the lack of interest in the sports culture at FIU is amazing to me.  I know this entry is making me seem like an anti sports guy but I am far from that.  I’ll be wearing my blue and gold to every sporting event that I can make it too this year and next.  Hopefully well beyond that, too.  But there aren’t many like me on campus.   When I asked other students about going to the open house at the stadium last week, they looked at me as if I was nuts.  I get similar looks when  I ask about football game attendance.  It seems that, for the most part, the student body could care less about football at FIU and ignoring them and leaving them out of the loop isn’t going to change that.

It all goes back to the age old chicken versus the egg question.  Can you get the support of the student body without a winning program?  Probably.  But can you get a winning program without the support of the student body?  The administration seems to be banking on it. 

Based on the results of last weeks poll, like me, you are all most annoyed by the know it all in class.  Thanks to the nine of you who voted.

ELI3   

FIU @ Iowa Review

I don’t know where to start.  That game was abysmal.  Like I said, the key to the offense having any success at all was going to be the play of the offensive line, who got pushed around all day.  Paul McCall was scrambling for his life and often had to throw the ball prematurely.  Wayne Younger had  some success in the second half but that didn’t last long.  It seemed like the Iowa defense was able to adjust to his mobility and soon he was scrambling for his life, too.

As far as individual play goes, Marquis Rolle left me scratching my head on a couple of occasions.  One of those times he had a sure first down had he just kept running once he caught the ball.  Instead, he chose to try to run around the defense in hopes of gaining extra yardage.  What happened?  The same thing that happens almost every time someone tries t get more than what is there, he lost yards.  On a positive note, he was our leading receiver in the game.

Wayne Younger, as good as he looked on his first few series, took a sack on a fourth down late in the game, something that absolutely should never happen.  You have to at least chuck that ball up.  What’s the worst that could happen, an interception?  You were going to lose possession anyways.  That being said, until the offensive line can provide some protection, he may be the best quarterback for this offense.

Iowa’s mammoth offensive line was able to open holes big enough to drive a truck through all day.  Shonn Green was over 100 rushing yards by halftime and Iowa called off the dogs in the second half, otherwise he might have run for two bills.  Their O-line also prevented FIU’s defense from getting near their quarterbacks all day long.  Some of FIU’s key defensive players on the day were: Scott Bryant, with seven total tackles; Robert Mitchell, who had six total tackles to go along with a fumble recovery and an interception; and Anthony Gaitor, who had five total tackles and two pass breakups.

In all fairness to both the offensive and defensive lines, these Iowa lines were probably the biggest they will face all season, so this game may be an unfair measuring stick.  As far as coaching and intangibles go, I think Mario Cristobal is an excellent recruiter and a player’s coach, that being said, I question his ability to be tough on these players when he needs to be.  When Marquis Rolle decided to run backwards and cost his team a sure first down, he didn’t need a pat on the ass and a “We’ll get ‘em next time” talk.  He needed someone in his grill or to spend the next series or two on the bench.

As far as offensive play calling goes, why, other than because we fell behind so quickly, did Bill Legg abandon a running game that gained 13 and six yards on it’s first two attempts, respectively.  I’m just a spectator and have no better ideas or methods to make this team successful so I’m speaking purely out of a fan’s right to be an armchair quarterback but, as I said in my game preview, the threat of a run game, which we may have been able to establish, opens up the passing game.  So why, when you seem to be having early success, abandon it so quickly?

All in all, the game was dreadful to watch.  I was so looking forward to a competitive game.  Especially since it was the first FIU game I’ve ever watched.  Actually, it was the first collegiate game I’ve ever watched as a student of that particular institution, so you can imagine my desire for the game to be a competitive one.  We just seem light years away from being able to compete on the D-1 level.  Some of our conference rivals have been able to be competitive with big conference schools.  UL-Monroe, who beat Bama in Tuscaloosa last year, lost to Arkansas of the SEC on a last minute play and Middle Tennessee beat the ACC’s Maryland.

I’ll end this rant on a positive note.  The opening of our beautiful on-campus stadium is now less than two weeks away.  I hope to God that our boys defend “The Cage” with pride.  USF, who has come along way in a very short time with their program, were taken to the limit by UCF this past weekend, squeaking out an overtime win against the Knights.  Let’s hope they overlook the Golden Panthers and give this program the signature win it so desperately needs.

That’s all for now, see you on campus!

-ELI3

FIU @ Iowa

The Golden Panthers will face another tough test on Saturday, this one in the form of the Iowa Hawkeyes of the Big Ten.  FIU, as you know, is coming off of a 40-10 loss at the hands of then #14 Kansas while Iowa drubbed Maine last week, 46-3.

The key to this game for FIU, as cliche as it may sound, will be the play of the offensive line.  Paul McCall did not have a lot of time to throw last week, spending a lot of time on the run, which is not the strength of his game.  If the Iowa defense spends a lot of time in the FIU backfield tomorrow, look for the more agile Wayne Younger to see some significant play time.  The O-line will also need to open bigger holes for A'mod Ned as well: 42 yards won't cut it.  In order to run Bill Legg's spread option offense properly, FIU must establish at least a threat of a running game.  Just ask John Parker Wilson and Alabama what a successful ground attack can do for the passing game.  Based on last week's game, the Iowa Run D may be just what the doctor ordered for FIU.  The Hawkeyes surrendered 137 rushing yards to the Black Bears. 

On defense we need to see more of what we saw last week, which was Golden Panthers wreaking havoc.  The Golden Panthers D forced two fumbles and made one interception while combining for nine tackles behind the line of scrimmage for losses totaling 30 yards.  Those tackles will come in handy this week against an Iowa offense that relies heavily on the run.  In their rout of Maine last week, the Hawkeyes ran for four touchdowns and 245 yards on 44 carries.  They were led on the ground by Shonn Greene, who carried the ball 22 times for 109 yards.   

Iowa started the season using a two-quarterback system.  Jake Christensen and Ricky Stanzi had very similar stats last week.  JC finished 9/15 for 122 yards with a touchdown and an interception while RS was 9/14 for 90 yards and no TDs.  Neither quarterback, based on their rushing stats, seems incredibly mobile.  That means the Golden Panthers may have an opportunity to get to the passers and  disrupt the offense of Iowa.  If the Hawkeye receivers have seen that hit that "Buzzsaw" Scott Bryant laid on that unfortunate Jayhawk last week, they may be a bit reluctant to run patterns across the middle of the field.

Overall, I'm looking for FIU to have a much better showing against Iowa than they did against Kansas.  I think that Iowa's susceptibility to the run will allow Paul McCall to properly run the offense and I would be will ing to bet we may have a few trick plays involving the speedy T.Y. Hilton on offense.  There is no reason not to try to get a weapon like that on the field as much as possible.  Although I do not think that FIU pulls off the upset, I think they are more capable of beating Iowa than they were Kansas.

My prediction: Iowa 37, FIU 21

FIU vs. Kansas Highlights

I found a couple of clips on youtube from Saturday's game.  Enjoy!

and...

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

FIU Football Preview

My own personal Panther preview.  If the last 2 seasons are any indicator or if the trend continues, we should win 2 games this season (0 wins in ’06 and 1 in ’07).  Rivals.com has the Golden Panthers ranked 120^th out of 120 Division 1-A teams and says that merely doubling our win total from last year is a legit goal.  I’ve got loftier expectations.  We have four conference home games and I say we win three of those, with our lone conference home loss likely being to Middle Tennessee (Rivals #100).  On the road, I think we steal a win at either North Texas (#115) or Louisiana-Lafayette (#97). 

FAU (#74) is once again picked to win the conference and in the Shula Bowl they are likely to squeak out a win but you can never predict a rivalry game.  Now some of you may be asking, “What is this guy smoking?”  Yes, FAU has Rusty Smith who at 6-5/215 is a future NFL prospect.  Smith threw for 32 TDs last year and is likely to improve upon that number this season, especially throwing to his favorite target, junior WR Cortez Gent.  But the Golden Panthers’ strength this season will be its secondary and like I said, it’s tough to predict rivalry games.  Another positive for the Golden Panthers is that they face FAU and their 2 new starting safeties at the end of the season after the offense has had plenty of time to master Bill Legg’s spread offense.

The question is, who will be calling the plays in the huddle? Paul McCall got us our only win last season and his stats were pretty impressive (35/63, 55.6 comp. %, 413 yards, 5/1 TD/Int., 133.64 passer efficiency rating and 1-0 as starter) but I don’t like to make assumptions based on stats.  On one hand, his lone start was against the second worst team in the conference.  On the other, he did force FAU to put their 1^st string defense back in after replacing an injured Wayne Younger during the second half of the Shula Bowl.  I attended the Spring Game and one of the fall scrimmages before coach Cristobal closed them to the media and public and McCall seems to have a grasp on Legg’s offense.

Wayne Younger (121/265, 45.7, 1357, 9/17, 87.05, 0-11) is returning from an injury and not likely to give up his position without a fight.  He led the team in pass yards and touchdowns as well as being second in net rushing yards.  Unfortunately, for most of the season he was the leader of an offense that finished next to last in the nation in total offense.  Wayne, based on his mobility, is probably the better fit for this offense.  Spread offenses require a mobile quarterback and Younger is definitely that.  The biggest question mark with Wayne is whether or not his down time while recovering from the broken collarbone hampered his ability to master this intricate offense the way Paul McCall has.

From what I saw during the scrimmage that I attended, the wide receiver position should be a concern.  We have a lot of speed guys but none of them seem to be able to hold onto the ball.  I saw too many dropped passes for an offense that will be pass heavy.

We also have a lot of talent at the tailback position.  Julian Reams, A’mod Ned and Daunte Owens should get the lion’s share of the touches, meaning we have experience and speed in the offensive backfield.

The strength of this team though will be the defense, especially the secondary.  We are stacked with talented corner backs and safeties and the competition for playing time among them will only make them even better.  Jeremiah Weatherspoon, who should be the next FIU alum playing football on Sundays, is back from injury and leads a talented crop of defensive backs.  On the line, freshman Kambriel Willis spent so much time during the fall scrimmage in the offensive backfield that I thought he was just a really big fullback.

During the scrimmage, the defense was dominant.  That could mean one of four things: our defense is that good; our offense is that bad; both the offense and defense are bad but the offense is so bad that it makes the defense look good; or that the offense is really good and the defense is very good.  Let’s hope for the latter. 

            I’m predicting a 4-8 2008 campaign although I’m hoping for a 12-0 season and a BCS Bowl berth.  Hey, a guy can hope.  I’ll see you at The Cage!

            BTW, FIU is getting next to zero respect on the FIU vs. Kansas message boards.  One person predicted a 62-0 blowout.  Go over there and show the Panthers some love.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/conversation?gameId=282432305

 

                I’m leaving for Atlanta this afternoon and probably won’t be posting again until next week.  Have a good weekend everyone.

-ELI3

Got my voucher for the USF game!

Is there any excitement on campus for the upcoming football season?  I know I am excited.  Even more so now that I got my game ticket voucher for the home opener.  For those of you that don't know or if, like in my case, all your email from the school goes directly into the spam catcher, vouchers for student tickets are available at the ticket office until August 1.  Only one voucher per student id and for the USF game no student guest tickets will be given.  I inquired at the ticket office about guest tickets for subsequent games and was told that students will be allowed to purchase one guest ticket for $10.

Apparently, in previous years students were given 2 tickets--1 student and 1 guest--for each game.  Those days are over.  Someone has to pay for the new stadium and I don't mind a bit.  Our conference rivals to the North in Boca can't get funding for a new stadium and they went to a bowl game last year and have a national championship winning coach.

Here's the email about student tix:

July 23, 2008

Dear Student,

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I would like to remind you of our
exciting upcoming season and some important ticket information. Our
first home football game in our new on-campus stadium is scheduled to
kick-off on Saturday, September 20 at 7 pm, against the University of
South Florida. We are expecting a sold out crowd of 20,000 fans, and we
want to make sure you are included and not left outside the gate!

To reserve your ticket to this historic first game, the following steps
must be followed:

1. Stop by the FIU ticket office between July 28 and August 1, 2008,
with your valid student ID to receive a voucher for the game. (One
voucher per student, you may not pick up vouchers for other students)
The ticket office will be open from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday.

2. In the event you cannot make it to the FIU ticket office by August 1,
2008, please mail a letter to the address below stating that you would
like a voucher.  You may then pick up your voucher prior to September 1,
2008.   The letter must be postmarked by August 1, 2008.

FIU Ticket Office
11200 SW 8th Street GPA 111
Miami, FL 33199

3. Bring the voucher with your valid student ID to the stadium on
September 20.  All ID cards will be swiped at Gate 6 on the northeast
corner of the stadium.

Only the students who have a voucher and a valid student ID will be
guaranteed admission to the first game.  In the event there are seats
still remaining on game day, students will be admitted until the stadium
reaches maximum capacity.  We regret in advance that some students may
be turned away.

We certainly appreciate your support of our Golden Panthers and of our
new era of FIU Football. Be a part of our new traditions, spirit,
stadium and attitude!

We hope to see you at all the games this season!


Pete Garcia
Director of Athletics