The Confidential

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09 Aug 2012
2 Comments

ACC Revises Florida State’s 2012 Football Schedule to Accommodate TV

(SOMEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA)  In an attempt to placate its overlord television partners, the Atlantic Coast Conference is finalizing its 2012 football schedule.  Unfortunately, this will lead to some changes, with the Florida State Seminoles being conspired against receiving their fair share of exciting new changes.

First, because nobody cares about the Maryland Terrapins football team now that Randy Edsall has brought his bumbling. yawn-inducing style of football to College Park, ESPN has requested that the September 22 FSU-Clemson game be swapped with the November 17 game between FSU-Maryland.  Nobody wants to watch a beatdown like that in November.  Unfortunately, it just so happens that the circus is in Tallahassee on November 17, so the FSU-Clemson game must now become a road game for the Seminoles.  In exchange, the FSU-Maryland game becomes a home game for Florida State, which should appeal to fan bases of both schools as FSU fans get to watch a victory live, while Terps fans get to avoid having to watch a loss live.  Win-win-win.

Second, in a brand new marketing scheme, the October 6 FSU-North Carolina State game is also going to be moved to later in the season.  In fact, it will not even be in 2012.  Instead, the game will be played as part of a groundbreaking football/basketball doubleheader on January 29, 2013.  FSU-NC State will kickoff on ESPN at 7:00 p.m.   At 9:00 p.m., ESPN will switch its coverage to a North Carolina-Duke hoops game.  The FSU-NC State game will shift over to ESPNU or something at that point.  Dick Vitale is already excited!

Third, Duke and Florida State will play in the first “M.A.D.D. Bowl.”  In an effort to show that college football, tailgating, and alcohol do not have to go together, these two teams will kickoff at 7:00 a.m.  Also, nobody will be allowed to enter the stadium with a detectable Blood Alcohol Level.

Fourth,in response to Florida State’s protests regarding the scheduling of Thursday road games, the Atlantic Coast Conference has agreed to change the November 8 Thursday game between Virginia Tech and Florida State to November 10.  That way, Florida State does not have to play on the road on a Thursday.

Finally, to ensure adequate Thursday exposure and provide Florida State a home game on that day of the week, the October 13 home game against Boston College will be shifted to Thursday, October 18.  This is nice for Florida State fans, who get to watch the team play on that date, and then make the short trip down to Miami on Saturday, October 20, for a rivalry game against the Hurricanes.  It is going to be an exciting week for Seminole fans.

To recap, here is the final schedule for FSU (changes in bold):

  • Sept 1, Murray State: 6:00 pm
  • Sept 8, Savannah State: 6:00 pm
  • Sept 15, Wake Forest, 12:00 pm
  • Sept 22, Maryland, Time TBA
  • Sept 29, @ South Florida, Time TBA
  • Thursday, Oct 18, Boston College, 7:00 pm
  • Saturday, Oct 20, Miami, Time TBA
  • Saturday, Oct 27, Duke, 7:00 a.m. (M.A.D.D. Bowl)
  • Nov 10, @ Virginia Tech, 7:30 pm
  • Nov 17, @ Clemson, 7:30 pm
  • Nov 24, Florida, Time TBA
  • Wednesday, Jan 29, 2013, @ North Carolina State, 7:00 pm

The ACC made this official announcement regarding the scheduling changes: “In conjunction with someone from the State of Florida, presumably a Florida State fan, the Atlantic Coast Conference and ESPN are pleased to announce the finalization of the ACC football schedule.  We are also pleased that this finalization process did not impact the majority of Florida State games or in any way benefit the State of North Carolina or its member institutions.  No, we are not being defensive.  You are the ones who are being defensive.”

Florida State has yet to issue an official comment.  The Florida State blogosphere is, as usual, apathetic about things involving the football team.  Not when basketball season is just three months away…

 

 

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Posted by acaffrey in Football, Sarcasm, Uncategorized and tagged , ,
08 Aug 2012

The Confidential Promises More Satire

So far, a few thousand people have read the Confidential’s satirical Miami penalty post.  While the Confidential aims to be a source of important information regarding the ACC and its teams, it also does not shy away from farther reaching sports issues and controversial opinions.  But the popularity of the Miami post suggests that, perhaps, the Confidential should also take care to ramp up its sarcastic/satirical posts.  So the Confidential promises to do so more often… maybe even a weekly feature on Thursdays or Fridays.  Check back often.

And thanks for the positive feedback.

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized
25 Jul 2012
3 Comments

Due Process, Penn State, Blah Blah Blah

The Confidential has seen an argument in various places that Penn State was somehow deprived of due process.  For example, Tony Barnhart of CBS Sports has this nice article about how he is comfortable with the penalties imposed on Penn State, but not the due process.  Please note that the Confidential writes from the perspective of a licensed, practicing attorney, but is not the product of substantial research.  Nevertheless, a quick bit of research confirmed that it seems highly unlikely that there was a due process violation here.

First, what is due process anyway?  The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides as follows in Section 1: “No State shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”  The concept of “due process” has emerged over the decades to involve two components: substantive due process and procedural due process.  Procedural due process generally requires that, “when the state or federal government acts in such a way that denies a citizen of a life, liberty, or property interest, the person must first be given notice and the opportunity to be heard.”  See e.g. http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/procedural_due_process.  Substantive due process generally “prohibits the government from infringing on fundamental constitutional liberties.”  http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Substantive+Due+Process.

Setting aside these meanings, the question is whether the NCAA is somehow equivalent to a government.  Some courts have answered that question with a “no.”  See NCAA Due Process, Its Past and Its Future, Christopher V. Carlyle, Entertainment and Sports Lawyer, Vol. 12, No. 1 (Spring 1994).  In fact, no less than the United States Supreme Court ruled that the NCAA was not a state actor subject to the 14th amendment in National Collegiate Athletics Association v. Tarkanian, 488 U.S. 179; 109 S. Ct. 454; 102 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1988).  Later, when Nevada tried to legislate a due process requirement into Nevada state law, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the legislation violated two separate provisions of the United States constitution: the Commerce Clause and the Contract Clause.   National Collegiate Athletics Association v. Miller, 10 F.3d 633 (9th Cir. 1993).  In other words, it is unclear how Penn State could argue that the NCAA is required to afford them due process as a matter of law.  The NCAA is a private entity, not a state actor.

Second, even if the NCAA were somehow a state actor, the protests at issue surround the procedural tactics chosen by the NCAA, such as not taking sufficient time after reviewing the Freeh report to decide the sanctions and not conducting its own investigation.  There is no suggestion that Penn State has been deprived of substantive due process.  This is a procedural due process issue.

The problem for Penn State is that, as noted above, procedural due process only requires notice and the opportunity to be heard.  It is beyond dispute that the NCAA provided notice to Penn State in the form of a letter on November 17, 2011.  NCAA letter to PSU.  In this letter, the NCAA:

  • Provides notice to Penn State that it deems the Sandusky matter and its sequellae to be a lack of institutional control
  • Sets forth that the matter violated several NCAA provisions in its Bylaws and Constitution
  • Lists several questions
  • Gives Penn State until December 16, 2011, to respond.

Under the circumstances, it certainly appears that Penn State was given “notice” and an “opportunity to be heard.”  It does not appear, however, that Penn State ever took advantage of that notice/opportunity.  That does not equate to a deprivation of procedural due process.  It is up to the party claiming such a deprivation to exercise its rights once it is given notice and the opportunity to be heard.  Due process does not guarantee that you must be heard, after all.  As such, the Confidential is perplexed by the suggestion that Penn State was somehow deprived of due process.

Do you disagree?  Feel free to share some law supporting your argument.  The Confidential is opinionated, but on an issue like this, there may be a colorable argument that someone with more time to research this issue can come up with.  If so, the Confidential is free to change its opinion!

Posted by acaffrey in Football, Uncategorized and tagged , , ,
11 Apr 2012

Spring Break for The Confidential

With the revenue sports firmly in the offseason, the time has come for The Confidential to take a spring break.

Look for new entries on or about April 17, 2012.

 

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized
10 Apr 2012

The Confidential Misses One

Earlier this week, the Confidential took Dennis Dodd to task for suggesting that Bobby Petrino should be fired at Arkansas.  D’oh!  The reports are that Arkansas has gone ahead and relieved Petrino of his duties.  So it looks like Dodd was right to call for Petrino’s firing.  Or it just shows that the media can influence what happens at institutions.

Actually, the reports are that Petrinio could have avoided his firing if he accepted certain penalties.  Apparently, he declined that–resulting in his termination.  So, in a sense, Petrino controlled his own destiny.  In fact, Petrino was dumb three times.  The first time was getting on the motorcycle with the young lady.  The second time was lying about it.  The third time was refusing to cooperate with his generous employer.

In a new trend, there was a protest supporting Petrino today.  There is even a Facebook page.  Regardless of whether one thinks Petrino should be fired, it is a little pathetic that anyone felt the need to protest.  As set forth above, Petrino controlled his own destiny–even to the end.

And, after two years at Arkansas, it was probably time for him to move on anyway.  Maybe a school like Memphis would want to take a chance on Petrino down the road.

 

Posted by acaffrey in Football, Uncategorized
09 Apr 2012

Spring Game Primer

The ACC has a nice listing of the various spring games, several of which are being held this Saturday.  Here are this week’s games:

Miami Spring Game
Coral Gables, Fla.
2:00 PM

Watch Live TV: ESPN3

Virginia Spring Game
Charlottesville, Va.
2:00 PM

Florida State Spring Game
Tallahassee, Fla.
4:00 PM

Watch Live| TV: ESPN3

Clemson Spring Game
Clemson, SC
4:00 PM

Watch Live| TV: ESPN3

North Carolina Spring Game
Chapel Hill, NC
4:00 PM

TV: ESPN3

Wake Forest Spring Game
Winston-Salem, NC
TBA

As you can see, several of the games are being televised on ESPN3.   For more information, see http://www.theacc.com.

 

Posted by acaffrey in Uncategorized
07 Apr 2012

Mel Kiper’s Latest Mock Draft

ESPN’s NFL Draft guru, Mel Kiper, has issued a mock draft that goes two rounds deep–63 projected selections.  The draft is very heavy on ACC players.

Kiper has the first ACC player off the board in pick #11, with Luke Kuechly, LB, Boston College to Kansas City:

Kuechly is a rare talent at linebacker — instinctive, explosive, able to make plays from sideline to sideline, but very sound in reading plays into the backfield and making stops. Kansas City has a need here, and Kuechly is a safe pick, a guy who can get on the field early and pick up the nuances of the NFL game right away. A tackling machine at linebacker, he’ll make any defense better.

At #12, Kiper goes right back to the ACC with Quinton Coples, DE, North Carolina, to Seattle:

Even if Kuechly is still on the board, it would be tough for Seattle to pass on perhaps the safest 4-3 DE option available. Coples has prototypical size, can play every down as a pass-rusher and has a solid arsenal of moves to get to opposing quarterbacks, but with the size and discipline to be a force against the run. Seattle can’t go wrong here with either the top LB or DE available. This defense is close to being considered among the NFL’s finest.

At #18, rapidly rising Chander Jones, DE, Syracuse, is projected to go to San Diego:

Listed as a defensive end at Syracuse, Jones has the talent, upside and a great frame to make the move to OLB in a pass-rushing role. He’s still a little raw, but the instincts are there and offensive linemen have a really tough time getting their hands on him. Could blossom into a star for the Chargers.

At #30, San Francisco goes for offense with Stephen Hill, WR, Georgia Tech:

Hill is the biggest home run threat in the draft when you combine his speed and size, and it’s no secret the 49ers need some help at wide receiver, even with the additions of Randy Moss and Mario Manningham. He’ll need an adjustment period as he gets used to doing more in terms of scheme than he was asked at Georgia Tech, but he’s the kind of weapon this offense needs to expand.

Pretty interesting first round–not a single player from Miami, Florida State, Clemson, or Virginia Tech.

Here are Kiper’s second round projections:

Round 2
Pick Team Player Position School

42 Miami Andre Branch DE Clemson
A great fit in Miami’s adjusted scheme, Branch offers late-first-round value at this spot.

46 Philadelphia Zach Brown LB North Carolina
A great athlete who can fill a big need at linebacker for the Eagles. Even with DeMeco Ryans, they need help.

51 Philadelphia (from Ariz) Dwayne Allen TE Clemson
My top tight end for much of the year, Allen didn’t test well, but he’s there on tape.

60 Baltimore Terrell Manning LB N.C. State
They lost another good OLB this offseason, and Manning makes sense as a reinforcement.

63 New York Giants David Wilson RB Virginia Tech
They lose Brandon Jacobs, but Wilson will bring some power of his own, with a lot more explosiveness.

So Kiper sees nine ACC players going in the first two rounds.  Still nobody from Miami or Florida State though.  That is pretty shocking really.

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Football, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , ,
06 Apr 2012
1 Comment

Dennis Dodd–Pandering for Attention

It just gets old.  EVERY time there is any error by a public figure, the sensationalist new media rushes into to see who can be the first to mandate the worst punishment possible.  It really crystallized with the Joe Paterno matter.  And then Jim Boeheim.  And now Bobby Petrino is the whipping boy.  For CBS’s Dennis Dodd, he quickly joined the Petrino must be fired camp. Only it is obvious that his position is simply to seek attention.

Dodd opines that the “only choice” is to fire Petrino.  Really?  For what?  For crashing his motorcycle?  For having an extra-marital affair?  For not being forthright about it?  Dodd opines as follows:

If you can’t bring yourself to be indignant over those episodes, what occurred Thursday was enough to push Petrino out the door. He can’t recruit from here forward. He can’t recruit because every rival from Gainesville to Knoxville will open their living-room pitch with news accounts of what occurred Thursday night. And what is sure to be fallout in subsequent days.

Petrino can’t recruit because every mama who does let him in the door will be shooting him the stink eye. They are wives and mothers too, just like his wife and his children’s mother, Becky.

In a fit of hubris and arrogance Petrino just lost his ability to recruit. At least recruit well. His misdeeds occurred in the Bible Belt where such things matter. Maybe matter more.

Petrino isn’t the first coach to have an “inappropriate relationship”. He is one of the few to get caught.

So, apparently,  Petrino will not be able to recruit because of a publicized affair.  It does not matter what he did, all that matters is how it will impact his ability to recruit.

That is internally inconsistent.  Dodd stops well short of stating that Petrino should be fired for his moral failings.  Instead, it is only about wins and losses.  Given how well Petrino can coach, that should be the reason that Arkansas looks behind these transgressions, places Petrino on double-secret probation, and lets wins/losses continue to define Petrino’s future.  If Petrino keeps winning, Dodd can just admit he is wrong.  If Petrino starts losing, Dodd will be vindicated.  Either way, what Petrino did is irrelevant.  All that matters is the results.  Dodd would prefer to have Arkansas speculate.

Even worse, Dodd just got done opining about how Rick Pitino proved that he belonged in the Hall of Fame.  An article written on March 24, 2012.  This is the same Rick Pitino who apparently had a sexual rendezvous with a woman and allegedly paid for her to get an abortion.  Three years later, Dodd considers him a Hall of Famer.  Granted, Pitino was in the Final Four.  But it would certainly seem that the “wives and mothers” of Louisville recruits looked past the transgressions.  If Dodd can look past them and focus on recruiting, the recruits can certainly do the same.  As will their families.  All the more reason not to guess about how any scandal will impact job performance.

It’s bad enough when the sensationalist media piles on to a beleaguered individual, but at least TRY to be consistent.  Otherwise, it is apparent that you are just looking for attention.  Mission accomplished.

Posted by acaffrey in Football, Uncategorized and tagged , , ,
01 Mar 2012

200th Post for the Atlantic Coast Confidential

In its short history, the Atlantic Coast Confidential has an opportunity to cover many notable events, such as conference realignment and the Joe Paterno/Bernie Fine sexual abuse scandals.  But the main reason for its existence is to provide an Internet/blog voice for all things ACC.  So far, the focus has been on the primary sports–basketball, football, and lacrosse.  And the Confidential is now 200 posts into its existence. 

Thank you to the readers, followers, and subscribers.  As always, if you have any comments or constructive criticism, please feel free to let us know. 

 


 

Posted by acaffrey in ACC only, Uncategorized
23 Feb 2012

ACC Daily News: February 23, 2012

Here are your news and notes regarding the Atlantic Coast Conference for February 23, 2012.

In basketball, the big news is tonight’s game between #5 Duke and #15 Florida State.  As you may recall, Florida State went on the road and defeated Duke on a shot by Michael Snaer at the buzzer.  This helped propel Florida State into the top 15 (along with the dominating win over North Carolina).  Needless to say, Duke is looking for revenge.  And, as of right now, both teams are tied for 2nd place in the conference standings with identical 10-2 records.  The winner will share #1 with North Carolina, who is 11-2.  The game is at 7:00 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.

Syracuse improved to 28-1 overall and 15-1 in Big East play with a win over surprising South Florida.  Although it may be another year before Syracuse’s wins count for the conference, the Orange’s season does provide promise for the future.

In football, Randy Edsall was gracious enough to allow 2010 ACC Rookie of the Year Danny O’ Brien to transfer.  But he would not allow the sophomore quarterback to transfer to Vanderbilt.  Well, after receiving ample criticism from the media, Edsall finally did the honorable thing and will allow O’ Brien to consider Vanderbilt.  Its kind of like when the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes in one day.

 

Posted by acaffrey in Basketball, Football, Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , , ,

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