TallySaint

Brawl in Miami: You could've seen this coming

Bob Gabordi - Tallahassee Democrat - 10/16




We all could've (and should've) seen this type of ugly, downright disgusting, event coming. In case you missed it, 13 Miami Hurricanes and 18 Florida International Golden Panthers were suspended by their leagues after a big brawl in the middle of the field Saturday. It was worse than that. One player was seen on video stomping on another player who was on the ground. Helmets were taken off and slung as weapons. Afterwards, the players were less than contrite; talking as if a fight that anywhere else would have landed them in jail was a badge of honor.

For all that, they got one game suspensions. An online poll on ESPN.com as of 10 a.m. showed 80 percent of the nearly 30,000 respondents thought the punishment too lenient. You have to wonder about the 20 percent who think otherwise.

I was ill watching it, and ill to have to explain it to my 12-year-old athlete in the making. Disgusting, yes. Surprising, no. Ignore the fact that these are two lousy football teams. It could have been any team under the wrong circumstances.

Larry Coker clearly has lost control of this Hurricane team and is likely to be fired. It might even happen today. That's probably best at this point. Losing control is the kind of thing that happens to a coach when major boosters hire airplanes to carry banners calling for his ouster. And when the talk show airwaves are filled with venom. Why should players listen to a guy that is going to be fired anyway?

These kinds of things build up at universities where all that matters is winning. No, make that where even winning isn't good enough; where winning every game is what matters. Football is not life and death, the saying goes; it is much more important than that. That should ring true pretty close to home, too.



There is a bandwagon trying to gain momentum at Florida State to get rid of Bobby Bowden, who has won more games than any coach in NCAA history, because the Seminoles have not competed for the national title recently. Never mind that the team is the defending ACC champions. Privately, boosters are worried about the impact of the Seminoles' losing. They are now 4-2 for the season.

On my blog last week, one person wrote in that he (or she) half expected FSU to lose to Duke on Saturday. I offered the person a quarter for every point Duke scored more than Florida State. FSU won, of course, 51-24. My children's milk money is safe.

I've even heard media pundits and "fans" use words like "deplorable" and "embarrassing" to describe what's happening with the FSU football program. Nothing could be further from the truth.



What happened in Miami Saturday is "deplorable" and "embarrassing." What has been happening at Florida State is football, a game in which sometimes you gotta lose.


http://www.tallahassee.com/special/b...seen-this.html

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

TallySaint

Lamar Thomas, Ambassador of Reason
When the sh*it goes down, it's comforting to know that our nation's color commentators are ready.


In a television broadcasting display reminiscent of Jack Buck’s famed “That’s what you get for
f%#@ing with the S-T-L, *******!� screed during a Cubs/Cardinals telecast in 1983, former University of Miami wide receiver and current Comcast Sports Southeast booth analyst Lamar Thomas was comparably dignified during an outbreak of unprecedented on-field violence between the Hurricanes and visiting Florida International:

“Now that’s what I’m talking about. You come into our house, you should get your behind kicked. You don’t come into our O.B. playing that stuff. You’re across the ocean over there. You’re across the city. You can’t come over to our place talking that [WHOLLY UNINTELLIGIBLE]. You get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator and get in that thing.�



Other gems include…

“I say, why don’t they just meet outside in the tunnel after the ballgame and get it on some more.�


And…


“You don’t come into the OB, baby. We’ve had a down couple of years, but you don’t come in here talking smack! Not in our house.�

It should be noted that this kind of behavior be distinguished from, say, coming into the O.B. and outplaying Miami, which is still openly encouraged. Thomas' Boltonian jeremiad is all a part of the University's larger effort, a bold new campaign to take the school into early 1990s.


http://www.maximonline.com/sports/male_sac/

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

TallySaint

http://images.dennispub.com/male_sac/new_miami_logo.jpg


8)

LongTimeFan

I heard that some wanted Coker out before this incident, here's there chance to fire him, thing is it wasn't him that started the brawl but as we all know the head coach is responsible for his team, bad luck for Coker.
If some one was to tell be that this thing took place but gave me no names of the teams I would have guessed Miami was one of them, they love to fight at the U
As a huge football fan I found that to be disgusting an example must be made with the players involved.

Rest In Peace JoeSam, thanks for everything my friend.