Streakin'

The University of Miami saw its 14th straight year of having at least one first round pick in the NFL Draft. This is the continuation of their record streak, one that seemed less sure until the selection of Kenny Phillips with the last pick in the 1st Round.

The Miami Herald's Manny Navarro has a retrospective on Miami and the draft. Miami has produced 47 1st rounders since 1984, more than any other school. In addition to that, many have been extremely productive, and often in their first seasons.

Go Canes!

Doing it Right

I may be the only one that cares, but I enjoyed this story about Calais Campbell. He has been a standout defensive end for several years for the Miami Hurricanes. He has declared for the draft after completing his degree in 3 1/2 years.

He was one of the highlights of the game I attended in October, and he was the most visibly fired up player the entire game. When he wasn't directly involved in a play he was playing his role perfectly, and could be seen trying to fire up the crowd whenever possible.

He's a great player and I wish him well.

When it rains

Football games mean little in comparison to human life. Today the Miami Hurricanes lost the second member of their family in a little over a year with the death of NFL safety Sean Taylor. Follow the link for more.

http://mobileapp.espn.go.com/wireless/espn/redesign/news?story=3129561&topNewsPhoto=1&cId=null

Farewell to the OB

A few weeks ago I wrote about my pilgrimage to the Orange Bowl, the home of Miami Hurricanes football for 70 years. Tomorrow the Canes play their final game there, against Virginia. Today I learned that city officials will recommend the demolition of the OB. It is not a shock, but I find it very disappointing. There is great history in that stadium, notably the Hurricanes streak of 58 straight home wins.

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald lists the best Hurricanes to have played in the Orange Bowl. The first one I remember is Vinny Testaverde, a childhood hero of mine. Chris Fowler of ESPN weighs in with his favorite Orange Bowl Memories (scroll down the page). Some fans share their favorite memories.


The picture above is from the 2001 National Championship. Hasta luego Orange Bowl. Te voy a extrañar.

Hurricane Photos

Here are some photos from yesterday's game. Even though the Canes lost a tough one I was glad to be there, and glad to have felt what it is like to watch a game in the Orange Bowl one last time.

Go Canes!

This is my first try at cellphone blogging, coming to you live from the historic Orange Bowl. I love this place. It is my first game here in over ten years, and thanks to Justin Palmer (& of course my sweet Lacy) I get to make this pilgrimage to the OB.
Miami set an NCAA record here with 58(!!) straight home wins. It is old, run-down, and beautiful. Here's hoping for a win. I'll post some pics later.

Delightful

I've been watching the Miami Hurricanes play the Texas A&M Aggies. Miami is 2-1, after being thrashed by Oklahoma two weeks ago. A&M is 3-0, ranked #20. For Miami fans there hasn't been much to cheer about this season.

Until tonight.

For three full quarters Miami's defense has absolutely dominated A&M. The offense has shown spark and swagger, the likes of which I haven't seen since 2005. I am smiling brightly because this team's future looks very good. The announcers just mentioned that this is only the third time that Miami has reached 30 points in the last 20 games!

For more on the new direction of this Miami team you have to learn about their coach Randy Shannon. He is as Miami as it gets, in all the right ways.

Go Canes!

CougarDolphin

Friends of mine may know that there is a song I cherish, borne of my days as a child in Miami during the early heyday of Dan Marino's tenure as a Miami Dolphin. We were taught this song in our elementary school music class:

Miami Dolphins,
Miami Dolphins,
Miami Dolphins Number One,
Hey! Hey! Hey!

Repeat

The years since Dan the Man retired have been tough on the team, but I see hope in the form of a Cougar- John Beck. His selection with the 9th pick in the second round was part of a Miami master plan calculated to get them the players they wanted most. From Dave Hyde in the Sun-Sentinel:

Only four people had an idea. That was part of the stealth plan. As it began to unveil with the pick of Ted Ginn Jr., coach Cam Cameron was famously booed, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., called the Dolphins, "in a word, ridiculous," and Mueller alternated between text-messaging the next target in quarterback John Beck, trying furiously to trade up to get Beck and receiving a text message from his teenage daughter."Dad, I love Ginn," it read. "But you're going to need a bulletproof vest to get home."
By Monday afternoon, as he sat at the Dolphins' facility in a team sweatshirt, chuckling about that message, Mueller still sat in the epicenter of a national football debate over this Dolphins draft."We expected that," he said. "Cam and I knew exactly what the reaction would be [to passing on Quinn]."The booing? The name-calling? The coast-to-coast furor?"All of it," he said. "But that's how it had to be. We wouldn't encourage, discourage, lead or mislead anyone leading up to the draft. We could just stay mum about our plans."I would cringe whenever I turned on a TV and saw Beck being mentioned. I didn't want anyone talking about him at all. I didn't want any team to know what we thought of him and another team maybe taking him."

The article provides more information about the logic behind their picks. As a BYU fan, my biases may outweigh my ability to analyze this more clearly, but I am nothing but optimistic. Beck can throw the long ball and Ginn can run. Seems like a good marrriage.