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?

A Few Pics from FIU vs. USF

My Thoughts on the Game

Let me start on a positive note.  We should all be proud of the effort that our Golden Panthers put forth on Saturday night.  To go into a game against a heavily favored and highly ranked opponent and come out with only an eight point loss is definitely something to build on and means that this program may in fact be heading in the right direction.  

On defense, the whole effort put forth was incredible.  USF made four trips inside our red zone and came out with only two touchdowns, a blocked field goal attempt and a turnover on downs.  Matt Grothe, the best college quarterback in the state of Florida that isn’t named Tim Tebow, was held to less than 200 yards of total offense and sacked twice.  Also, the Bulls’ top three receivers combined for only eight catches totaling 84 yards.

The FIU offense was 53 seconds away from going three straight games without finding the end zone until Julian Reams’ one yard touchdown run.  Setting up Reams’ run was a 61 yard throw and catch from Wayne Younger to T.Y. Hilton.  As I write this I am sure that Offensive Coordinator Bill Legg is drawing up plays specifically intended to get T.Y. more touches.  Although the offense continues to struggle, keep in mind that we are playing top notch competition.  Before anyone starts calling for Paul McCall’s head, let him take some snaps in conference games.  Once the Golden Panthers are playing against teams more on their level, we should see this offense running in the manner that it should.

The atmosphere before and during the game was incredible.  Being there for the pre-game tailgate in Tamiami Park, you would never know that this is a program that is only in it’s seventh season and is 1-25 in it’s previous 26 games.  I’ve tailgated in Tuscaloosa for Crimson Tide games, Gainesville for Gator games including Auburn, Tennessee and Florida State, and Jacksonville for Florida/Georgia, aka The World’s Largest Cocktail Party, and the atmosphere outside FIU Stadium on Saturday rivaled any of them.  Inside the stadium, the student section was rocking.  They were loud and energetic and that energy was matched by the team’s play on the field.

That being said, let me address some of the negative issues I had with the game.  Why were there so many empty seats?  What happened to the standing room only crowd that the school was marketing?  I understand the school not wanting the stands to be filled with USF fans and therefore limiting the number visitors tickets and not allowing single game tickets to be sold for this game.  

But that takes me back to a major sticking point I’ve had since student vouchers were given out.  Why were students not allowed a guest ticket as well?  Those empty seats could have been filled had students been allowed to bring a guest, even two.  On top of that, what was the point in the vouchers anyway?  Myself and the few people I was with walked right through the gates, only having to flash our student ids.  Had I known that, I would have brought my wife and had her flash my other student id.  I was very disappointed by that.  Like I said in my Lack of Communication entry last week, as a student, I don’t feel that I am very high on the administration’s priority list.

There are three weeks until our next home game against Middle Tennessee.  Hopefully changes will be made by then.

ELI3

College and the George Lucas Casting Call

I won’t bother putting up a poll question asking college students to take a side, pro or con, on the issue of human cloning.  Just by being on campus twice a week and looking around,  I know that the majority would be in favor of it.  Not since the last time I watched Star Wars Episode II have I seen so many robotic look-a-likes.  It makes me wonder if the government hasn’t already perfected genetic cloning beyond that of sheep and I didn’t get the memo.

The most common clones seen on campus, in my opinion, are the “vintage” clones.  These students, excuse me, clones are identifiable by their jeans that seem to have been borrowed from dear old dad, who wore them when he was in school.  They are fraying at the seams, have uneven signs of wear, possibly even holes, and dangling, loose threads.  In all likelihood though, these jeans were recently purchased at Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle or, for the Economics majors, in the Mossimo section of Target.  Holding these jeans on is a rather wide belt, which is also showing signs of vintage distress, complete with an obnoxiously large and shiny belt buckle.  

Covering their torsos are well worn t-shirts, each with some form of eagle or dragon graphic swooping in from the shoulder or wrapping itself around the neck.  The clones may also be seen wearing the tour shirts of artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix or AC/DC.  On their heads you will often find vintage trucker hats which are worn sideways in order to protect their ears from overexposure to sun, I’m not sure what that is all about.  Their eyewear consists of huge, and when I say huge I mean gigantic, sunglasses, which are sometimes white in color.  Don’t ask.  If I could, I would insert one of those smileys here; the one that is looking down and shaking it’s head at the embarrassment of another.  Just use your imagination. 

The vintage clones come in both male and female versions.  Though they appear identical in dress and demeanor, the female clones can be identified by the butterfly, fairy or tribal symbol tattooed on their lower back.  These tattoos, which can usually only be seen if the female is wearing the obligatory “low rider” jeans, are commonly referred to as tramp stamps.

I understand the want or need to fit in and I’m not completely innocent here.  This whole blog was started because of my insecurities about being my age and still in college.  That’s a whole other entry though.  My point is that, in order to ease my own insecurities and blend in, I too have engaged in pack behavior.  I’ve been known to wear the occasional pair of brand new vintage jeans (did you catch the oxymoron?). Hell, Lucky Brand Jeans are the only brand in my closet.  There may even be a few graphic tees tucked away in my drawers somewhere.

But I would’ve thought that the urge to look like everyone else was more of a grade school thing.  Notice that I said grade, not grad or even undergrad.  Isn’t college supposed to be where one comes to find out who they are and express their individuality?  Maybe I’ve already answered my own question.  Could it be that our own insecurities outweigh our need for individuality and instead of standing out, we choose to merely blend in?  There is safety in numbers, right?  

If I look just like the guy sitting next to me, maybe no one will notice that I’m 36.  If the girl in front of me looks just like the girl next to her, maybe nobody will see that her heart is broken or that her parents are divorced.  Yes, there is safety in numbers.

Looking back, what was supposed to be a rant on clichés has evolved into an argument against and a defense of clichés and pack behavior.  I guess I will need a poll.  That’s what you guys seem to respond to most anyways.  Those of you who read my blog can leave comments you know.  Don’t be shy.

ELI3

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