Florida Atlantic 50, Akron 3 (Boca Raton Bowl)
College football bowl action last night saw the Florida Atlantic Owls annihilate the Akron Zips last night in the Boca Raton Bowl by a final of 50-3. The Owls were led by running back Devin Singletary, who scored three times and ran for more than 125 yards on the night.
That's the journalist in me writing a brief recap of last night's college football bowl game.
Now comes the rest of the story.
With the Owls leading 34-3 midway through the third quarter, Kiffin opted to go for a 2-point conversion after receiver Willie Wright snagged a touchdown pass from quarterback from Jason Driskel. Wright scored on the 2-point conversion attempt, making the score 36-3.
That wasn't all. During the game, which FAU led 21-3 at the half before scoring 29 more unanswered points in the second half, the Owls scored three touchdowns on fourth-down tries, unsuccessfully tried an onside kick in the first quarter and even tried a halfback pass in the fourth quarter with a 47-point lead. The Owls didn't punt on their first nine possessions, getting seven touchdowns and two missed field goals out of those.
After the game, Kiffin was asked by reporters what prompted him to go for the 2-point conversion, even though the game was totally out of reach at that point.
After initially dodging the question, Kiffin simply couldn’t help himself anymore and told reporters he wanted to run up the score in response to some comments the previous day from Akron Associate Athletics Director George Van Horne.
“He talked yesterday at lunch and talked trash, so his bad,” Kiffin said.
Hard to believe that Kiffin is essentially despised by many in his coaching inner circles.
I'm the first one to say to people in response to negative comments regarding teams trying to run up scores, if you don't want a team to do that to you, stop them. I have no real issue with the act itself.
But when that act comes back to bite Kiffin -- and I sure hope it does -- I hope he'll smile and nod approvingly much as he did last night.
Oh, and by the way, Kiffin also reminded reporters of the tumultuous exits with which he was removed from his head coaching job at USC several years ago, when he was unceremoniously fired after an embarrassing loss to Arizona State in 2011.
Kiffin, who is on the verge of signing a long-term contract to stay on at FAU, told reporters about his new deal, "I guess I won't be getting fired on tarmacs anytime soon."
Oh, but we can certainly hope.
Marlins Man is not a smart shopper apparently
As a fan, I understand the frustration one goes through of losing games, losing seasons, stretches of underachieved expectations.
I also understand that the expectations you have as a fan aren't always necessarily those of the team or business in which you support.
Thus, the idea of a question and answer session with fans meeting with Derek Jeter, former Major League champion and currently one of the new owners of the Miami Marlins. was probably not a good one, especially in light of the trade the Marlins made last week, sending Giancarlo Stanton, easily their most recognizable player -- ironically enough -- to Jeter's former team, the New York Yankees.
Longtime Marlins fan Lawrence Leavy (shown above) is a popular fixture, not just at Marlins games but across MLB, as his flashy colored outfits can often be seen attending some very big games in recent years. Leavy was on hand for the meeting between Jeter and Marlins fans this week, and not surprisingly at all, Leavy was unhappy with some of the things Jeter had to say.
"(Jeter) needs to convince me that come August or September like last year, I won't be sitting with 10 season tickets that I want to give away for free because nobody wants to go," Leavy told Fox Sports Radio's Jason Smith. "No Marlins fan has paid more money per seat per game than I do. And I promote your product nationwide for free over the last five years and I easily spend over $500-600 thousand a year bringing strangers to games and promoting MLB and the Marlins all year round, even in the offseason."
And all of these things may be factual. I don't have access to Leavy's bank statements to verify funds withdrawn to check on how much money he spends on season tickets or attending games and events around the country.
But as a fan, you have only so much influence, and if you're routinely buying into a product which leaves you unsatisfied or beleaguered about the lousy return on your investment, I have to wonder a bit about your acumen in being a smart shopper.
"Let the buyer beware..." This is not only a really cool catchphrase (in latin, it's "caveat emptor"... you're welcome) but it also should suggest that if you don't like the product, stop supporting the product.
But turning your bad spending habits into your own national outcry is no different than a petulant child stomping his foot because he doesn't get his way even when he knows he's behaving poorly.
Brady trainer banned from Patriots sideline
ESPN -- The New England Patriots have stripped Tom Brady's trainer of various team privileges, widening speculation of a rift between the trainer and coach Bill Belichick, according to a report in The Boston Globe.
The trainer, Alex Guerrero, is a close friend of Brady's as well as a business partner who helped launch the TB12 Center, where Brady and several other Patriots players have trained and received treatment since its start in 2013.
According to the Globe, Guerrero, who has an office near the Patriots' locker room in Gillette Stadium, is no longer permitted to treat players other than Brady in the office. He also is reportedly banned from boarding Patriots jets and had his sideline access revoked.
Because of the new restrictions placed on Guerrero, several Patriots players are continuing to receive treatment from him at the TB12 Center, located just outside the stadium, according to the Globe.
Asked Monday about a possible rift between Guerrero and Belichick, Brady told WEEI, "I don't have any comment on that other than to say Alex, it's been well-documented, has been a huge part of what I do, and I'm so fortunate to have him not only as a friend, but with everything that we've been able to do together."
Yeah, I'm sure this isn't the last we hear of this one....
Cleveland never lets go of a good thing
New general manager John Dorsey confirmed yesterday that he expects Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson to have that same position next season.
"Hue and I have a really good relationship," Dorsey said on local radio yesterday. "First off, I think ownership has said that Hue would be back. With that, I'm excited to work with with him here. I've been really impressed with how Hue messages to the player. I've always thought that head coaches should be leaders of men, and when I watch [Jackson] talk to the team and how hard guys play for him, that's exciting."
Jackson is finishing his second season with the Browns and is currently 1-and-29 as the Browns coach.
Maybe Marlins man wants to chime in for those season ticket purchases as well.