The Confidential

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Archive for the tag “Football”

Throwback Thursday: Satire Piece on Miami Hurricanes Facing Truly Unprecedented Penalties!

(Originally published on August 3, 2012)

(BORING METROPOLIS IN MIDWEST)   Emboldened by the support it received from all NCAA Presidents following the imposition of harsh penalties against Penn State Univeristy, the NCAA’s executive committee is apparently set to announce penalties for the Miami Hurricanes that are even more unprecedented.  The Confidential has learned that the executive committee is set to offer Miami the choice of (a) the death penalty to its football team for three years; (b) actual death to all people affiliated with the University; or (c) the following more overreaching and creative penalties than those imposed on Penn State:

FOOTBALL SANCTIONS:

  • The football team must hire Greg Robinson and place him in charge, completely and unequivocally, of the defense from 2013 to 2015, and then again in 2017 (just to offset the obvious gains that will be made in 2016).  Further, Greg Robinson will be prohibited from using stuffed animals to motivate his defense for one year.  He will, however, be allowed to read children’s books as desired
  • The football team is required to use morbidly obese female “hosts” for all official and unofficial recruiting trips.  Further, Janet Reno will be appointed as a special consultant to the program to ensure that no host with a BMI of less than 40 comes close to hosting a recruit
  • The football team must change its colors to pink and sky blue
  • The football team must stay in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the next 30 years, even if Florida State leaves.  Also, Miami cannot vote against South Florida or Central Florida taking Florida State’s place in the ACC
  • The football team must continue to lose to Boston College annually
  • Lane Kiffin is allowed to take the team’s best player every year, regardless of where he coaches
  • SCHOLARSHIP LIMITS: For all odd years from 2013 to 2017, the football team can only sign 100% Caucasian defensive backs and running backs, and must give 1 scholarship per year to a female kicker (provided she is not hot like Kathy Ireland).  During even years from 2014 to 2018, the team must give 1 scholarship per year to a quarterback from Samoa, 2 scholarships per year to offensive linemen of 100% Chinese descent (provided they are not able to do cool thinks like in the movie Big Trouble in Little China), and 1 scholarship per year to a non-human.
  • BOWLS: The above restrictions should take care of bowl eligibility.  If not, Miami is only allowed to go to bowl games if they have a tie-in with the Big East (if any) or take place in crappy places like Idaho or Detroit.

BASKETBALL SANCTIONS:

  • Upon further review, the basketball team must continue doing whatever it is currently doing to remain entirely irrelevant
  • Just in case, John Calipari is allowed to take the team’s best player every year, regardless of where he coaches

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT/UNIVERSITY-WIDE SANCTIONS

  • The football team must pay annual fines of $10,000,000 dollars and 10,000,000 Cuban pesos, which will be earmarked for a pretend charity that devotes itself to something along the lines of rehabilitating prostitutes and/or supporting retired NCAA Presidents, from 2013 to 2015.
  • Effective immediately and permanently, Miami must refer to itself as “Miami (FL)” and Miami of Ohio is allowed to refer to itself as simply “Miami”
  • Luther Campbell loses Professor Emeritus status until 2018

At present, it is unclear what option will be selected by Miami.  Needless to say, the athletic culture in Miami is about to change radically.

Poll: ACC Future Football Scheduling

What do YOU think about the future football scheduling for the ACC?  Give us your opinion.

 

Click through for explanations of the poll options.

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Highlights of the 2014 BCS Discover Orange Bowl

 

1.       Winning the 2014 BCS Orange Bowl—Awwwww yeah! It literally came down to the last minute when Ohio State was down 40-35 with the ball at the 50 yard line. Braxton Miller threw a beautiful interception, caught by Clemson’s own Stephone Anthony. This sealed the deal for the Tigers and bonus points: Urban Meyer didn’t react by punching Anthony in the throat.

2.       Tajh Boyd—In his final game as a Clemson Tiger, Tajh went out with a bang. As Dabo Swinney said, “He put an exclamation point on his legacy.” Tajh finished the game with five touchdowns and 505 all-purpose yards, 78 more yards than the Ohio State Buckeyes. We’re really going to miss his leadership and I can’t wait to see him play on Sunday’s.

3.       Dabo Swinney—You could probably make a highlight reel of just Dabo after the game, he was animated to say the least. Personally, his best moment was this magnificent sound bite, “we are the first team from the state of South Carolina to ever win a BCS game”. Ah yes, not only did we get the sweet victory but getting to rub it in Steve Spurrier’s face doesn’t hurt either. For whatever reason, if any Gamecocks are reading this, I say, suck it up. Spurrier is no angel in this fight. You’re mad because Dabo’s comment was the truth and it was said on a bigger national stage. You know, seeing as it was the stage of a BCS Bowl. BOOM, roasted.*

4. Sammy Watkins—Saving the best for last. Sammy set an Orange Bowl record with 16 receptions and a Clemson and Orange Bowl record with 227 receiving yards. He was unbelievable. With an average of 14.2 yards per catch, he was Tajh Boyd’s go to receiver and his talent is going to be greatly missed. As a true junior, Sammy has declared for the NFL Draft. While we’ll miss his lightning speed and magnetic hands, he’ll represent Clemson well in the NFL next season.

Honorable Mentions:

  • The Clemson Defense—While the score might reflect a shootout, it was truly entertaining watching the Tigers contain Ohio State QB, Braxton Miller, to a mere 35 yards rushing. They completely shut him down on the ground. With 18 carries, he rushed an average 1.9 yards per carry, his lowest of the season.
  • Santa Claus—if you read my last article, the only thing on my Christmas list was a Clemson win. Ole’ Saint Nick pulled through. Thanks big guy.
  • The Referee’s—One song comes to mind when trying to describe the officiating from Friday night, “these boys can’t hold us back, these boys can’t hold us back, we too deep (ay, ay)”. The anthem of a generation Clemson Football. Good try ref’s, you’ll need some more flags to stop this excessive celebration.

Check out the video here:

 

 

*Let the record show I have a much deeper opinion on this matter but for lack of reader attention span will not disclose it here.

The Confidential ACC Football Top 10 Poll: Week 15

Well, another football season is behind us.  The regular season, anyway.  There is a lot to decide yet regarding bowl games and such.  But, alas, it is time for the final regular season Confidential Correspondents ACC football poll.  For fun, let’s take a quick look at the Week 1 poll results:

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More on the ACC Bowl Picture

Great article by MCaffrey regarding the bowl situation.  Here is some more info.

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The Confidential’s ACC Football Top 10 Poll: Week 13

There are now a clear #1 and #2 in the ACC right now, then it gets crazy.  Anyway, here is the Confidential Correspondents Football top 10 Poll for Week 13.  Remember, we include Notre Dame and Louisville.  This year, we’ll start with team number 10 and work our way to #1.

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The Confidential’s ACC Football Top 10 Poll: Week 12

With just a few weeks, the ACC picture is starting to take shape.  A few teams are out of the bowl picture.  Several are locked-in.  But how do they rank?   Here is the Confidential Correspondents Football top 10 Poll for Week 12.  Remember, we include Notre Dame and Louisville.  This week, we’ll start with team number #1 and work our way down to #10–where it gets murkier.

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The Confidential’s ACC Football Top 10 Poll: Week 11

There are now a clear #1 and #2 in the ACC right now, as all five voting correspondents this week went with FSU and Clemson.  But what about the other slots?  Amazingly, Syracuse won on the road, but was dropped from its tie–as the Pitt win over ND propelled them up the voting charts.  Anyway, here is the Confidential Correspondents Football top 10 Poll for Week 11.  Remember, we include Notre Dame and Louisville.  This year, we’ll start with team number 10 and work our way to #1.

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The Confidential’s ACC Football Top 10 Poll: Week 10

Well, Florida State-Miami was interesting for a while.  But there is a clear #1 in the ACC right now: the Seminoles.  Here is the Confidential Correspondents Football top 10 Poll for Week 10.  Remember, we include Notre Dame and Louisville.  This year, we’ll start with team number 10 and work our way to #1.

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Syracuse-Maryland, Race, and Quarterbacks

The Confidential is not a source for book reviews or history lessons.  And we are not about to get preachy.  But there was an interesting story in Deadspin about the history of a Syracuse-Maryland game in 1937.  See article: Deadspin.

The 20-word summary: In 1937, Syracuse had to bench its quarterback, Wilmeth Sidat-Singh, on a road trip to Maryland because he was not from India (as claimed), but an African-American.  This did not sit well with segregationists. With Syracuse traveling to Maryland this Saturday, it is interesting to read how much times have changed. Now, before casting a stone at Maryland, just remember that the NFL was not desegregated yet at that point either.  Times have changed in more places than just Maryland.  Society has come a long way.

And while one does not ordinarily think of Syracuse University as a racial trailblazer, it does bear mention that there were few African-American quarterbacks even as late as the Donovan McNabb era.  For every Warren Moon or Tony Rice, there were numerous other kids forced into different positions based solely on race.  Guys like Don McPherson, Marvin Graves, and Donovan McNabb were given the chance to fulfill their dreams of playing quarterback by Syracuse.  Under their leadership, Syracuse football was a consistent bowl team from 1987 to 1998.  And it was part of a change for college football.

In fact, just look at the ACC Standings:

ACC Standings

ATLANTIC CONF OVERALL
Florida State 6-0 8-0
Clemson 6-1 8-1
Syracuse 2-2 4-4
Boston College 2-3 4-4
Wake Forest 2-4 4-5
Maryland 1-3 5-3
North Carolina State 0-5 3-5
COASTAL CONF OVERALL
Miami (FL) 3-1 7-1
Georgia Tech 5-2 6-3
Virginia Tech 3-2 6-3
Duke 2-2 6-2
Pittsburgh 2-3 4-4
North Carolina 2-3 3-5
Virginia 0-5 2-7

There are seven teams with conference records at .500 or better.  Want to know what they all have in common?  They all have African-American starting quarterbacks: Florida State (Jameis Winston), Clemson (Tajh Boyd), Virginia Tech (Logan Thomas), Miami (Stephen Morris), Georgia Tech (Vad Lee), Duke (Anthony Boone), and Terrel Hunt (Syracuse).  Needless to say, things have changed considerably between 1999 and 2013, much less 1937 and 2013.

The economy may have been better in the 1950s.  The world might have been more sociable and interactive, and less Facebooky and Twittery, in the 1980s.  But some things are better today.  While we often lament the days of yore–remember, we have made a lot of progress as a society just to get to a point where teams will finally play the QB that gives them the best chance of winning, without regard to the color of his skin.

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