Who's been tellin you stupid ****er's for a couple years this was a 5 year rebuild after the Shannon/NCAA disaster?
Me.
Now quit bellyaching and watch Al continue to dig us out of this mess for the next two years.
This hits the nail on the head for me. I get that Canes Fans have high expectations and a lofty history but you guys have to take a breath. From my vantage point;
-Canes needed to dig out of whatever damage Shannon's tenure left behind
-Two and half years ago i was packing up my kid in California to drop him off at the U and the scroll on ESPN said something about strippers and parties. "No worries I said...that's no big deal" (boy, was i wrong)
-We get to campus that week and DEATH PENALTY is the headline on every network
-Meanwhile Al Golden, who took the job, had to be saying WTF but it sure looks like he hasnt wavered instead he was, apparently, pounding the recruiting trail and doing prety good against long odds. Not to mention he snags Cristobal (then Golden got screwed) and Coley who are known as skilled South Florida recruiters.
-All the while it seems Donna Shalala played it cool and worked with the NCAA when it was our advanatge to do so (just ask any USC alumni) then she pounced and made Emmert blink. Just ask Joe Nocera (google his articles)
-They passed on the ACC Championship game because it was the right play
-In the meantime studs like Tracy Howard, Duke Johnson and Stacey Coley stood firm and showed what courage looked like by committing when they had to be hearing all sorts of crap
-The team shows up and takes on Florida when Florida had a ranking and before the entire UF team all got hurt; they won the big game when it was called a big game (I flew out for that one)
-They run the table and are 7-0, albeit with some cupcake games and playing down to their competition, but they were undefeated and had the highest ranking since when....
-Oh yeah, they lose their primary wide receiver. Their QB is clearly hurt and limping despite what the pr machine says (and who can blame them you want opposing coaches planning for it?)
-They go on the road vs a clearly peaking team vs what seems like a real deal QB phenom 20+ point underdogs and lose (loose if you went to FSU) our star RB. Oh yeah, just the week prior they get word on the NCAA which was clearly a distraction.
-They are still 7-1 and have a strong shot at the Coastal and another shot at FSU ("thats why they play the game") and anything can happen...Thank you Clinton Portis
All that crap and you want to lay it out that the U is getting "out coached". FSU was bigger, better, faster on THAT night. but, we will see it again on another night. And the U is young, free of the the threat of NCAA sanctions and they are coming strong in the next few years
Oh yeah, that kid i dropped off at the U 2 1/2 years ago. he drove up in an RV and was at Gameday in Tallahassee (he got into FSU but chose the U). That is his sign behind Desmond Howard that says "Duke 4 Heisman". That's also him in the 5 second shot after the piece ESPN did on Duke. He is surrounded by FSU fans but he is screaming in the camera for Duke and his school.
So am I
