Well the Florida-Florida State game and the Shula Bowl will have company as Thanksgiving weekend in-state rivalries beginning in 2009. Miami and USF has agreed to the request by ESPN to move each of its games from 2009 to 2013 to Thanksgiving weekend. In addition, I am told Miami is not planning on renewing the series with Florida after 2013 thanks to the five years Florida has built in to give Miami a return home game. For me that's fine: I never believed that Miami under Paul Dee should have allowed Florida to dictate such unfair terms for a two game series. If Ohio State and Oklahoma can give Miami quick return home games, why is Florida so elitist to be different? Could it be the need to continue UF's established tradition of scheduling direction non league opponents each and every year indefinetly? Ohio State for all their faults already accommodated Miami once to move the series because of Florida's demands to play in 2008 and then not again until 2013 and Miami also had to move the Oklahoma return matchup to 2009. (The OSU series was scheduled to begin this year and the return date was next season)
I am told by a good source that the new Athletic Director and his staff are not going to be playing games like this anymore with scheduling, as Paul Dee did. Also FIU will not be returning to Miami's schedule in the foreseeable future, and UCF will not appear after 2010. Many have scheduled Miami for playing FIU in the first place, but those same people forget that Mizzou left Miami high and dry in September 2005 backing out of the two games for 2006 and 2007, leaving Miami either with a IAA opponent or a local matchup, and Dee opted for the later.
The non-conference agenda is clear: Keep the series with USF going, try and schedule Notre Dame again even if it means getting NBC and ESPN involved at the initial stages and attempt to have one additional high profile national matchup each year. Florida will likely crush Miami this year and they can boast about it forever as Miami will not be returning to the Swamp anytime soon. And Miami will still have an all time winning record in Gainesville even after they lose this year!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Miami-USF Game moved to Thanksgiving Weekend Beginning in 2009: Other Scheduling Notes
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
"U" Logo will be absent from Midfield at Canes New "Home"
First off let me apologize for the infrequency of recent postings. I've had a lot on my plate recently between some family health issues, the continued professionalizing of my soccer blogging and podcasts (which previously was a hobby much like Canes Rising, but now has become a legitimate side business since I am now writing about soccer for newspapers, websites with 10,000 + daily hits, and doing multiple radio shows a week which of course requires me to keep up with soccer news from around the globe which isn't easy since so many different leagues and competitions take place at once.) , and my usual work time has been hard to come by. However, come August I am making plans to be around here more, just in time for Fall Practice. I want to thank those of you who have continued to come to the site as the recent poll numbers indicate (on the right hand side of the site), we still have quite a few unique readers even in this dead period.
Now back to the subject at hand. The Hurricanes move to stadium formerly known as Joe Robbie Stadium. According to numerous press reports the "U" will not be painted at midfield until the Marlins season is over. Now the Marlins are in the playoff race (I don't watch much Baseball but do know the Marlins have a good shot of winning the NL East) so conceivably if the Fish go on a 2003 like playoff run, the "U" logo will not appear at midfield until the November 13th game versus Virginia Tech. In addition, the baseball infield will dawn the playing surface at the new "home" of the Canes.
How many injuries will this cause to college kids? How many more pieces of evidence do we need to demonstrate the extra effort should have been made by UM officials, the City of Miami and other interested parties including those who value South Florida's history to save the Orange Bowl?
Playing in a major conference without a true home stadium and down several players thanks to recruiting mistakes of the previous coaching regime isn't fun and games. Every single road game the Hurricanes face this season will be in front of potential ruckus crowds, save the trip to Durham to face Duke. Is it really fair to the kids who dawn Hurricane orange and green on Saturday afternoons to judge them when they have been handed such a severe disadvantage by their own school?
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Andy Katz Picks Canes #8 in Nation
Well as we lament the defeat of the Canes in the CWS and look forward to Football season some promising news on the Basketball front. We all know the Canes should be good next year. Very good. But I did not anticipate Andy Katz would have the Canes ranked this high: #8 in his summer Top 25. The potential instant impacts of DeQuan Jones and Reginald Johnson along with the returning core of the team obviously have Katz convinced that this Canes team could be in store for big things.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Canes Drop Opener in Eleven
The Hurricanes dropped the opening match of the best of three Super Regionals at Mark Light Stadium to Arizona in eleven innings Friday night. This puts the Canes behind the 8-ball. UM must win today to force a deciding third game tomorrow with a ticket to the College World Series on the line.
Monday, May 26, 2008
2008 NCAA Regionals
The Regional sites were listed yesterday, and today the NCAA Baseball Selection Committee announced the field of 64 teams.
As reported yesterday, Miami (47-8) was granted the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. That means they get to host Regionals and – if they make it that far – Super Regionals. (I know I said it almost verbatim yesterday, but it is true.)
The last time Miami was the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament was in 1999 – the first year the NCAA went to a 64-team field – and we all remember that glorious year, right? If not, here’s a refresher: It was the first National Title under Jim Morris for the Hurricanes.
The other seven national seeds, in order, are: North Carolina (46-12), Arizona State (45-11), Florida State (48-10), Cal State Fullerton (37-19), Rice (42-13), LSU (43-16-1) and Georgia (35-21-1).
Some things to consider here: 1. Rice plays in a very awful conference, even with the presence of Tulane in it, Conference-USA. 2. How does Georgia get a top-eight seed despite going two-and-out in its conference tournament? 3. (A carry over from yesterday’s list of host sites) How in the blue hell is Michigan (45-12) hosting a Regional as a No. 2 at its own site? (Get it? Blue hell.)
The baseball committee is getting just as bad as the hockey committee. I know probably nobody follows NCAA Hockey here, but let me tell you a similar situation. This past season, when the Regionals were announced, the Midwest Regional was hosted by and held at the University of Wisconsin. The only caveat? The Badgers were two games under .500. Even if they did win a first-round game, they shouldn’t have been in that situation to begin with.
(I know, I know. Get back to baseball. Sorry, I tend to wander.)
Okay, let’s get back to the Regionals, and, more importantly, the Coral Gables Regional. No. 2 Missouri (38-19) will face off against third-seeded Ole Miss (37-24) at noon, and Miami will face No. 4 Bethune-Cookman (36-20) at 4 p.m. Both games are Friday and can be seen on ESPNU.
That’s right. Take a good, hard look at this regional – Mizzou, Ole Miss and Bethune-Cookman.
Some might mindlessly mention, “Hey, it’s just Bethune-Cookman.” Yeah, sure. That’s all fine and dandy until you mention the fact that the pitcher Miami will be facing Friday afternoon will be right-hander Hiram Burgos, which boasts a 1.20 ERA in 12 starts. You know, the best in the country and all that jazz.
Not to mention, that they will face either a very tough Mizzou team, or a very tough Ole Miss team – a similar Rebel team that the Hurricanes went to three games with in Oxford, Miss., during the 2006 Super Regionals.
The good news, if any out of this, is if Miami captures the Coral Gables Regional it will face-off against the Ann Arbor Regional champ – which could be Michigan, No. 1 Arizona (38-17), No. 4 Eastern Michigan (25-32), or No. 3 Kentucky (42-17).
I expect left-handed freshman phenom Chris Hernandez to go on Day 1 for the Hurricanes, with Eric Erickson, another left-hander, to go on Day 2 and, of course, right-hander Enrique Garcia going Day 3.
If it’s a clean sweep, Hernandez would have three days rest before coming back for Game 1 of the best-of-three Super Regional series against (insert Ann Arbor Regional champion here).
I expect Hernandez, as he’s done all year long, to deliver a solid performance and even go about 6-8 innings, with six being on the “bad” side of the equation.
The wild-card, I think, will be Erickson. Can he bounce back from his atrocious start in the ACC Tournament against Georgia Tech? Only time will tell, but Miami could sure use the 1-2-3 punch they’ve had most of the season with Hernandez-Erickson-Garcia.
The addition of David Gutierrez as a possible No. 4 starter or a long reliever is clutch for Miami. Although, as he’s shown in the ACC Tournament, he’s not terribly good at coming out of the bullpen for relief.
Should be an interesting Friday, and one where live updates will happen every three innings.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Miami Hurricanes -- 2008 ACC Baseball Champions
The top-seeded Hurricanes came out swinging early and often. Miami sent 10 hitters to the plate in the top of the first and got four runs on five hits to jump out to an early, 4-0 lead that it would never surrender en route to an 8-4 win over the sixth-seeded Cavaliers.
The win secures the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament which starts with Regionals.
“First of all it's great to win our first ACC Championship,” Hurricanes manager Jim Morris – who was named ACC coach of the year – said. “It's an honor to represent the Atlantic Coast Conference. For our program and our players, I don't think they realized how exciting it would be to win a Championship. I told them it would be a special day today whether we win or lose, and I wanted them to experience and see how special it is. I've been in these games (when I was at Georgia Tech) and I knew it would be a great day for them and it started off with everything from the National Anthem and the jets and everything. Our guys played well and Virginia has an outstanding club and it came down right to the end. Virginia fought hard, our guys played hard. I'm very proud of our players, our coaches, our program and I'm looking forward to the NCAA Tournament.”
Center fielder Blake Tekotte led off the game with an infield single. Second baseman Jemile Weeks walked and, with first baseman Yonder Alonso at the plate, manager Jim Morris ordered a double steal. Tekotte was thrown out at third, but Weeks – which was safe at second base – stole third on the very next pitch. Alonso walked and third baseman Mark Sobolewski followed with an RBI single to right center sending Alonso to third. Ryan Jackson and Dennis Raben also hit RBI singles with runners on first and third in each situation, and Dave DiNatale hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate another run.
Just like that, Miami right-hander David Gutierrez had a comfortable, 4-0 lead.
The lead was stretched to 7-0 after a three-run third inning in which an RBI double to left-center field with two outs by Tekotte was the hardest hit ball.
Gutierrez pitched a very good game, considering he came in relief a couple of days ago against Georgia Tech in the 15-12 slugfest that the Hurricanes won.
In fact, he cruised through five innings – the limit Morris said he was going to have because of his two innings in relief – and Morris sent him out for the sixth. Gutierrez, who was aided by two double plays, hadn’t thrown a lot of pitches through five (he threw 73 overall), but the wheels started to come off in the sixth inning.
Tyler Cannon – the No. 9 hitter – led off the sixth for Virginia with an earth scorcher to the hole at short. Jackson slid on one leg to make the play, and his throw across the diamond was a hair late and high. Shortstop Greg Miclat followed with a double to left, and David Coleman – which made an AMAZING play against Florida State crashing into the wall and falling into the crowd a couple of days ago – followed with an RBI single to left. David Adams followed that with an RBI single to left and that was it for Gutierrez.
Right-hander Anthony Nalepa followed and it looked promising after the first pitch – inducing a 6-4-3 double play against Jeremy Farrell. However, that was Nalepa’s best pitch of the inning as he allowed an RBI single and an RBI double before getting out of the inning.
“It’s a pitcher’s best friend,” Gutierrez said of the double plays his teammates turned. “You always want to get double plays to get you out of big jams. Keep finding the zone, get ground balls and let the defense work.”
Right-hander Kyle Bellamy pitched the final 2-1/3 innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out two and he got Coleman to line out to defensive replacement Adan Severino in left field to secure the win.
“It's a great opportunity for our team and definitely helps us prepare to go to the next step in Regionals,” said DiNatale, who was named tournament MVP. “Competition was just amazing. You had the top three teams in the country in this tournament. I think it's going to help us get us prepared and gave us a little momentum going into regionals. It was a great setting and good thing for our school.”
Miami will be hosting both Regionals and – if they make it that far – Super Regionals at Mark Light Stadium in Coral Gables.
Athens, Ga./University of Georgia
Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan
Baton Rouge, La./LSU
Cary, N.C./University of North Carolina
College Station, Texas/Texas A&M
Conway, S.C./Coastal Carolina
Fullerton, Calif./California State Fullerton
Houston/Rice University
Lincoln, Neb./University of Nebraska
Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach State
Raleigh, N.C./NC State
Stanford, Calif./Stanford
Stillwater, Okla./Oklahoma State
Tallahassee, Fla./Florida State
Tempe, Ariz./Arizona State
The field of 64 teams for Regionals will be announced tomorrow morning.
Quotes and photo courtesy of www.theacc.com.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
ACC Tournament Wrap-Up
I will have an ACC Tournament Wrap-Up, including analysis of the ACC title game between No. 1 Miami and No. 6 Virginia at some point on Sunday night.
Until then, sit back and relax and don't get too drunk =)
Cheers!!
