Just as I filed the below football portion of this blog and cut off my computer to plunge into REM sleep, FIU's leading scorer and rebounder last season, DeJuan Wright, tweeted this on his Twitter account, @JustWright14, just after midnight:
"Partial tear in my MCL..." followed by a three-letter acronym usually written in disbelief or anger that translates, loosely, as "what the heck?"
Wright, a 6-3 senior guard from Detroit, averaged a team-high 30.3 minutes per game; 14.5 points; 6.7 rebounds; and 1.7 steals per game last season for the 11-19 Golden Panthers. He also shot a team-high .534 from the field and his .469 shooting percentage from three-point range was the best on the team among those who attempted more than one three-pointer a game.
Now back to the less newsy, more football portion of this blog (not often you'll read that sentence in mid-August)...
This blog should've been done hours ago, while I was awaiting my Bacon Burger at the campus Chili's after somehow failing to find the Subway (which I passed as I left -- I felt like such a freshman). Instead, I surfed the 'net and combed my notes for inspiration and energy. I also wondered how a Media Day with Spanish language media, a Cuban-American head coach who works for a Cuban-American athletic director who just got Captain Cuban-American to be his radio color analyst didn't have cafe cubano.
My failure to caffeine up -- real world sucked up the time I would've used to stop at my favorite place on South Beach -- can be blamed for my lousy questions that didn't often get the players to break from their well-coached repetition of the gospel. But a few nuggets did emerge, aside from the couple I used in the choppy story on leadership already up on http://www.miamiherald.com/sports.
(If you want to read the story, that's your business. But, remember, I just told you it was there. I did not recommend it.)
Women's soccer season starts Friday in DeLand against Stetson.
Cristobal claims as far as camp injuries, "nothing really significant" that should make anyone "miss a game or two." That means either safety Jack Halley's testing came back OK and he doesn't have a concussion or Halley's testing came back saying concussion and Cristobal forgot. Because, on concussions, nobody knows anything about timetables.
T.Y. Hilton said he texted former teammate Anthony Gaitor before the latter's first preseason game, Friday night for Tampa Bay against Kansas City. "Just do you. just like college, but now it's the next level," Hilton said his text read. "You are on a different team with a different jersey. Be the Anthony Gaitor I know you can be."
Gaitor had a sack, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry and a pass knocked down. Hilton also was in the text tube with wide receiver Greg Ellingson. Playing for Jacksonville, Ellingson had two passes thrown his way. Neither were completed.
Before talking to us, Hilton spent a fair amount of time with Rick Sanchez, who was present with his two sons.
Asking a few pass catchers what they noticed different about Wesley Carroll this year, tight end Colt Anderson said, "Definitely see more confidence in him than last year. More leadership." Wide receiver Willis Wright added quietly, "A lot more pride." Interesting addendum...
Cristobal on Tourek Williams: "When he's on, when he's in shape, he's as good as any defensive player in the conference."
Cristobal said he wanted the offense to be a 50 percent split between run and pass. Coaches love to say that, but it always comes down to "what don't you defend well?" and "How well do we do what we do?" If you run and pass well, then it's up to the defense what you do. If the last run a school stopped was a moonshine run, pound the rock. If the defensive backs look like Urkel and Woody Allen, spend the day in the air.
Fading to black. I'm out. We'll try to be better tomorrow.






@Flight14, get well soon. your energy will be missed.
wow, we are officially the youngest team since Fab Five.
Next man up... Pack, ferg, Woz...looking at you.
coach Thomas make it happen!
Posted by: chiapanther | August 16, 2011 at 08:20 AM
HOLY SHIZZZ I'M SO EXCITED!!!
Thanks for the golden nuggets David.
Posted by: Quijote | August 16, 2011 at 09:43 AM
David, there is a Cafe Bustelo in the GC. The coladas there are passable.
Also, I don't think Rick Sanchez could look more like Ron Burgundy in that picture.
Posted by: The Point | August 16, 2011 at 09:43 AM
Cafe Bustelo is a brand of coffee, not a restaurant or window...
Posted by: Buc Nasty | August 16, 2011 at 11:42 AM
Beautiful!!! You truly have an eye for colour.
Posted by: Jimmy Choo Chaussures | November 20, 2011 at 06:21 PM