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Zero

Daniel Kirsner — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:45:26 +0000

Opening statements. (this is required reading)

Fearless leader!

(Original from caneshooter.com)
Leadership inspires!

Not just the players and fans,

(former 'Cane Gaby Sanchez does the clotheslining)

And not just human beings,

So get ready.

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1 day

Daniel Kirsner — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:07:11 +0000

Our new Nike Pro-Combat uniforms were released. They're all orange except for a green helmet, and they make us look exactly like this.

Maybe not quite that bad, but they're pretty hideous. And it might act as a sort of camouflage. All of the players will meld together. I have to admin, the helmet is pretty cool.

Does anyone else think it's funny that the model Nike hired is bigger than J12?

There's a great article on Vince Wilfork on boston.com. The idea of him gardening is hilarious to me. And check this out:

That colt looks scared.

We're down to 32 hours and 23 minutes. There's nothing to do but wait in anticipation.

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Depth Chart!! Extremeties! Whimsy!

Daniel Kirsner — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:08:02 +0000

UM released a depth chart! No real surprises, but I'll type it up since nobody else in the media has yet.

WR: Hankerson, Byrd, Johnson, and Benjamin are all listed as co-starters
Shannon is making a huge mistake by not starting Lareonard Hanberbyrdson
LT: Orlando Franklin, Ben Jones, Corey White
LG: Harland Gunn,Jared Wheeler
C: Tyler Horn,Brandon Linder
RG: Brandon Washington, Malcolm Bunche.
RT: Joel Figueroa, Jermaine Johnson, Seantrel Henderson.
Take this with a grain of salt. The interview I linked to earlier today has Randy Shannon talking about offensive line depth, and he mentioned that the goal is to have the best 5 guys play. The depth chart won't be followed too closely. Expect the first guy off the bench to be Jermaine Johnson.
TE: Richard Gordon, Chase Ford, Asante Cleveland,Billy Sanders
True freshman Asante Cleveland passed up redshirt frosh Sanders. Wow! Expect Ford to do more receiving and Gordon to do more blocking and even line up at FB some now that Calhoun is out for the season.
QB: Jacory, AJ Highsmith, lil' Whip.
RB: Damien Berry, Mike (smilin') James
Lamar Miller and Graig Cooper aren't listed.
FB: Patrick Hill, Maurice Hagans
Hagans, a true freshman, might not get a redshirt due to Calhoun's injury.

DE: Bailey, Marcus Robinson
DT: Josh Holmes, Marcus Forston, Jeremy Lewis
DT: Micanor Regis, Luther Robinson, Curtis Porter
I'm surprised to see Robinson leap Porter.
DE: Vernon/Ojomo/Smith. All are listed equally.
That is one angry defensive line. I feel good about every player listed (and some of the ones left off of the list, like Dyron Dye).
SLB: Kylan Robinson and Ramon Buchanan are listed equally.
MLB: Colin McCarthy, Kelvin Cain. Cain as the second stringer is a pleasant surprise! He was one of the incoming freshmen that message boarders thought we shouldn't have brought in. He must have impressed.
WLB: Sean Spence, James Gaines/Jordan Futch listed equally.
As with the linemen, take it with a grain of salt. Robinson or Buchanan (whoever doesn't start) will be the first guy off the bench, followed by Futch once he's healthy.
CB:Brandon Harris, Brandon McGee
CB:DVD, Ryan Hill
I feel really good about this unit too. Both in nickel (3 CB's) and dime (4 CB's), I'm confident in every single player.
SS: RAY RAY, JOJO. Yes, both strong safeties have the same name twice.
FS: Vaughan Telemaque, Kacy Rodgers or Jared Campbell. Surprised Jamal Reid isn't anywhere on this list.

Bosher is doing all of the kicking.
PR: Graig Cooper, Benjamin, Lamar Miller
KR: Lamar Miller, Eduardo Clements
KR: Mike James, Brandon Harris
I'm surprised that Clements is in the 2 deep but Storm Johnson isn't. Both are beasts and look like they're ready to contribute immediately in the return game or at RB. Since we're stacked at RB, and Clements seems to have more weight room work to do, I expected him to get redshirted. He must have been lighting it up in camp.

The injury report is as follows:
Questionable: OL Jermaine Johnson (upper extremity), DL Micanor Regis (upper extremity), DB Jamal Reid (lower extremity).
Doubtful: LB Jordan Futch (lower extremity), DL Andrew Smith (upper extremity).
Out: OL Jermaine Barton (lower extremity), FB John Calhoun (lower extremity), LB Kevin Nelson (upper extremity), LB Travis Williams (lower extremity)
Love the specificity.

And in whimsy news, I am exactly this excited about the season:

Late edit: More Whimsy! And this time it's actually football related! (Not Safe For Work language)

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2 Days

Daniel Kirsner — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:33:55 +0000

Is it football season yet?
Youtube user canefreak2001 has some great highlight reels of the 2001 'Canes up on youtube. I think this is my favorite.

Watching these tapes makes you realize just how much better this team was than every team they faced. It's also a reminder of the best college football name ever: Ethenic Sands

Bryant McKinnie has pledged to work with Seantrel Henderson in the offseason. This can only be good.
Seantrel recently had a couple of good practices, even showing great quickness and footwork against speed rusher Marcus Robinson. He might contribute this year!

There's a great WQAM interview on their website between Joe Rose and Randy Shannon. There's some good stuff there, especially about the way we recruit.

John Calhoun is out for the season. This hurts bad if Pat Hill gets injured. Pray for the Panda. And wish good luck to Calhoun in recovery. He's gonna have to be great in 2011.

I'm gonna throw this prediction out there: James Gaines will start at MLB for the 'Canes from 2011 until he gets drafted in the first round of the NFL draft. During the open practice he was the most impressive of the freshmen linebackers. Physically, he's is 6'3 and 215, and he's only 17! Gaines could easily be 6'3 and 240 in 2 years. He is the reason that all of those recruiting websites don't matter.

And while slogging through work for the last 2 days in the desert, remember one thing

Football is coming.

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4 days

Daniel Kirsner — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:20:43 +0000

ESPN recently made headlines (of course, not their own ones) by ticking off the local media and coaches of the HS games they've been broadcasting. Now we have a consensus (well, besides Adam James) top 20 team playing a Thursday game on the first night of college football that cannot be seen on TV at all, even locally. If your internet service provider doesn't subscribe to ESPN3 (your humble blogger is in this boat) then you cannot see the game in your home, and many sports bars won't have.

BUT! Even if your ISP doesn't get ESPN3 and you can't make it to Sun Life Stadium, there are still ways to see the game. First off, if you live near a college campus and can get access to their internet (UM has a guest login option, as do many other colleges), you will be able to watch it there because ESPN3 is freely available on college campuses. Bring your laptop!

If you're an Xbox Live Gold member, you can see the game as well. ESPN and Microsoft have a deal that allows for this. The evil empires combine.....

You can also see the game through other sources of dubious legality. Check the free UM messageboards like the one at scout.com. 15 minutes or so from game-time, chances are pretty good that someone will post a streaming link to the game.

In the same vein, a twitter search right before gametime will probably accomplish the same thing. Someone out there on the tubes will post a link to the game. But never me. I would never condone illegal activity.

In other news, David Hyde is a really good writer. Not that making Allen Bailey's life seem interesting is tough. My favorite story here is Allen Bailey's habit of playing with iguanas "like other people would a dog," and that he often threatens to put them in teammates' rooms. Adorable.

Yesterday, UM commit Teddy Bridgewater found his nationally ranked Miami Northwestern team down seven with two minutes left in the game. He then led a 90 yard drive, ending in a touchdown pass to UM commit Eli Rodgers. The Bulls then completed a two point conversion to wind the game. All he does is win.

Latwan Anderson and David Perry both attended this morning's practice, but expect both to redshirt. It's still great to have both in uniform!

LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALA
Hopefully it's nothing.

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6 days!

Daniel Kirsner — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 19:09:44 +0000

For any on students reading the blog, there is still time to switch into classes that have football players in them. Unfortunately, the best one just filled up. Professor Lowell Williams's intro to acting (THA 105) class in section D has both Jeremy Lewis and Olivier Vernon. I will be keeping tabs on any funny skits they present through a special undercover correspondent. Stay tuned.

Some of our key players' names in anagram form provide a secret window into their true personalities.
For example: Allen Bailey goes to "Alien ally be". He really is a member of a superhuman race hell-bent on world football domination. (we'll ignore the alternative: Anally Belie)
Patrick Hill's name explains his life philosophy. "Crap, Hit, Kill."
Demarcus Van Dyke is "A Masked Curvy Den". Maybe that's the kind of woman he's seeking......
Reordering Lamar Miller's first name gives us "Alarm." Instant nickname.
But Ray Ray Armstrong disproves of these shenanigans. "Sorry anagram try." My bad.
(inspired by EDSBS and Kansas linebacker Toben Opurum, AKA emu p o r n o tub)

UF seems to be consistently recruiting high character guys. (NOT) Beyond the standard arrest rate, the Gators just had 2 freshmen defensive linemen skip a practice and threaten to transfer after being yelled at during a practice. I think if a UM player did that to Randy Shannon, he would be politely shown the door.

Late edit! 2 members of the same freshman class were arrested over the summer for underage alcohol possession! Nice!

UNC seems to have more problems than we even knew about. Besides the agent scandal, we have accusations of academic misconduct involving tutors. And head coach Butch Davis (ex-UM coach) cannot claim that he was completely free of blame. Davis hired the same tutors accused of misconduct in his own home to help out his kids! And there is a clause in his contract saying that if there are any NCAA sanctions, he can be fired without penalty! What a disaster for the UNC football program.

Lebron James, Chris Paul and Udonis Haslem just scrimmaged with UM's basketball team.

There's one kinda frightening thing in that picture: Lebron James is taller than Julian Gamble. And Gamble is at least 6'9. Bron's size is absolutely astonishing.

I'm no Heat fan, but Lebron to Miami is great for UM basketball. Hopefully Udonis Haslem is teaching Julian Gamble how to hit the clutch 16 footer every time and Chris Paul is mind-melding with Durand Scott.

But just when I start to like Lebron James, he starts spouting out about his love for OSU. That got Jack McClinton fired up. Gotta love Jack!

And here’s a quick message from our fearless leader. “Loving life and everyone in it. So if you're a part of my life, just know I love you!”

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10 days

Daniel Kirsner — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:32:14 +0000

The anticipation is killing me. Although I'm not quite this excited yet.

Some advice from Brandon McGee.
"Sept. 2nd it begins! If u ain't running wit us, Run from it!"

On the recruiting front, UM commit Teddy Bridgewater has been helping us out with recruiting! Bridgewater met Jadevon Clowney (#1 in the nation by ESPN) at a 7on7 tournament, and ever since that moment UM has been on Clowney's radar. Now Clowney has said that he has us penciled in for an official visit. Bravo to Mr. Bridgewater! We can't expect Clowney to end up here yet, but it's always great to have a shot at an elite player.

Randy Phillips continues to impress at the Lions camp, and has a great shot at making the roster! A great moment of the article came from Gunther Cunningham, the Lions defensive coordinator.

I asked him a couple of questions (about the defensive system) while he was stretching (before his first practice) and I almost fell over. He knew the answers to every question and they weren't easy questions. You knew right then that he was a smart kid and he'd been coached really well.

Bravo to Randy Phillips and the entire defensive coaching staff!

Every Day Should Be Saturday sums up the ludicrousness of having preseason rankings while simultaneously finding an AP voter who is worse than Craig James.

Does anybody have Lamar Thomas's phone?

Just in case you weren't sure that our football team puts academics first, here's a bit from Tommy Streeter.
"Just got my schedule and me and my cousin @jacoryharris12 are almost in every class. Were competing to see who gets the best grades"
Then a little bit later
"I'm going to win"

The final scrimmage of the fall starts in about a half an hour, so good luck to all the players!

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Canespace! Colleagues!

Daniel Kirsner — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 22:25:23 +0000

There are a lot of sports websites out there that focus on promoting fan-developed content, but it's rare to find one that does it well.. Canespace.com has been doing this from a UM perspective for a while, and they do a great job. They also organize tailgates, game watches, and have tons of photos taken by fans.
And themiamihurricane.com doesn't just have bloggers; we have real journalists too. Justin Antweil is the sports editor for this site, and he's the real sports expert around here. Here's a short interview between Canespace's proprietor and Justin.

1.What will happen at the TE position? Who will start, who will emerge as a player?

Miami has been known to produce some great tight ends over the last 15 years: Bubba Franks, Kellen Winslow, Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen. I’m not ready to anoint junior college transfer Chase Ford into that mix but he is definitely a play maker. Ford has long strides and has drawn strong reviews in training camp from a usually tight lipped Randy Shannon. Richard Gordon is a good blocker but very slow for a pass catcher. Asante Cleveland has impressed too. Even Jermaine Johnson has suited up at tight end but strictly for blocking purposes. My gut tells me Ford will be the red zone target when it’s all said and done.

2.Who are the leaders on this team? Does the team have enough leadership to make it to the next level?

Like coach Shannon says, you can’t anoint someone a leader. Being a leader is an innate trait. You either command respect or you don’t. The leader to me is Jacory Harris. He is so calm and cool under pressure, there is never any sense of panic when you are around him. The quarterback is the most important position on the field and Harris as all the great qualities. On defense I would say the leader is All-American Brandon Harris. Harris is always directing traffic on the defense and is the smartest player. He can read audibles well.

3.Off the field which players are the most approachable and social with UM students?

Best interview on the team is definitely linebacker Jordan Futch. He is a fan favorite. He is always playing video games with students outside the bookstore, he is saying hello and very friendly and social. Before every interview he shakes your hand and looks you in the eye. He knows it’s a privilege, not a right to be a Miami Hurricane. Running back Mike James is very eloquent as well and is smart and cerebral. He is always smiling ear to ear.

4.Behind closed doors what do UM students say about Randy Shannon and the UM coaching staff?

Behind closed doors fans just want to see this team win. Every student cares about the football team whether they are a statistics junkie or someone who prefers to spend time in the chemistry lab. Bottom line is on game days, everyone is wearing an orange shirt and is at Sun Life Stadium. They care immensely about the program and want to win. Academic Progress Reports and Graduation Rates go in and out of the ears of students. The want wins. That’s it. That’s the only way the swagger will get back.

5.Which UM player do UM students mention MOST often as a difference maker and potential game changer?

Students point to Jacory Harris and Damien Berry as being saviors. Everyone loves Jacory. Jacory rushed the BankUnited Center court two years ago when Miami beat Wake Forest by 27 points. He’s a regular student believe it or not, but people idolize him and look up to him. His success will depend upon how far UM goes. Every student loves Damien Berry too. His father was a Hurricane so it’s in his blood to perform well. Berry willed Miami to victory at home vs. Duke last year after Miami trailed 13-10 at the half. The crowd chanted Berr-y Berr-y Berr-y.

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