FIU Panthers Prowl

A little T.Y., lot of volleyball, XY soccer up, XX soccer down

Busy day here -- day before FIU-UCF, volleyball and the soccers in action and daughter underfoot because it's a half day at Cushman (what? Didn't the school year just start?). I'll be writing a bunch for print and the blog. I plan to update the blog often tonight with results and pregame stuff. Let's see how that goes.

AS OF MIDNIGHT, STILL WRITING THE PREGAME FOOTBALL BLOG. IT'LL INCLUDE RESULTS FROM BOTH SOCCERS, THE MEN WHO BEAT NORTH FLORIDA 2-1 AND THE WOMEN WHO TOOK A DRILLING FROM OREGON STATE.

As I Tweeted (http://twitter.com/DavidJNeal) a few hours ago, the folks at StiffArmTrophy.com now have T.Y. Hilton on their list. Stiff Arm's a site that polls a small, spread out number of Heisman voters each week. This is Hilton's first appearance on the list, sticking his nose in at No. 24.

VOLLEYBALL

While the football coaches try to temper and guide their team’s emotions as Central Florida comes to town, the volleyball coaches wanted their team to unleash some emotion as they headed to Orlando for the TownePlace Suites/UCF Challenge, which began Friday afternoon for FIU with a 3-0 win (25-16, 25-21, 25-15) over Jacksonville. Senior Sabrina Gonzalez had nine kills and Andrea Lakovic had eight. Renele Forde had 31 of FIU's 37 assists.

After Thursday’s practice, the team exchanged high fives in the end-of-match manner.

“We are working on bringing more energy to the team,” head coach Danijela Tomic said. “Becoming a more enthusiastic team, celebrating when we do things right, when we get a nice kill, get a nice block, get a dig. We need to be more enthusiastic and bring that energy. I challenged our players to start doing that.”

“It’s something for some of them that doesn’t come natural. They come from a background where they don’t talk a lot on the court and it’s a different style of play.”

Ironic that such a command comes from a European born-and-trained coach.

“There’s a lot of internationals, Europeans, who don’t talk too much because that’s the way we’re taught,” Belgrade-born outside hitter Jovana Bjelica explained.

Bjelica definitely heard another challenge from Tomic: be the hitter FIU could count on when they needed a kill to kill an opponent or opponent’s run. She also told Bjelica, a preseason all-conference pick, the unforced errors she was making were beneath her.

“I think that she was right,” Bjelica said of the mistakes. “She felt I was trying to do too much – like when the ball is out of bounds, I was still trying to get the kill. She felt that I need to concentrate on getting the ball into the court to keep the play going.”

Bjelica ranks 29^th in the nation with 4.28 kills per set and has eight double-digit kill matches this year, four of which she also turned in double digit digs. Renele Forde has FIU’s other double-double so far this season.

Tomic says with Bjelica, Andrea Lakovic (“She’s gotten very good in doing something with every set she gets. Even when the set isn’t perfect, she betters the ball”) and Sunset High graduate Sabrina Gonzalez (“she’s been playing consistently well for us”) the offense has been fine. To move up to very good, she wants to see more from outside hitters Marija Prsa and Una Trkulja.

As for the team defense, improvement of which was a preseason goal, FIU’s at 2.28 blocks per set, a 36.5 percent improvement on last season. Gonzalez’s 1.19 blocks per set is third in the Sun Belt.

“I thought our defense was really good in California the first weekend,” Tomic said. “We had a relentless pursuit of defense. It was fun watching the team play like that. Even though we lost to California, I thought we competed really well. The last couple of weekends, I thought our defense took a step back. Our blocking has been right there. I think we’ve been outblocking most of the teams we’ve played against, which is new for us.”

“After the first two weekends, I had to talk to the team about having a process-oriented mindset instead of a results-oriented mindset. We went back to focusing on fundamentals on the things we need to do every time in every rally to make us successful.”

Sunday against Florida A&M, freshman Carolyn Fouts made her first start. Tomic said Hialeah native and Miami Christian graduate Nicole Beckelheimer, a 6-0 outside hitter, might be “the hardest working freshman in the nation” but probably would be redshirted this year.

Football Game Day II, 2011; soccer(s), volleyball, cross country

To no one's surprise, the Sun Belt Conference will suspend free safety Chuck Grace for his hit to the head on North Texas' Andrew Power. A Sun Belt spokesman said Grace will miss "a quarter" of Friday night's game against Louisville. So, it's less "suspension" than "punishment." He got sent to his room, but not grounded.

Preseason projections: The Sporting News actually had FIU and Louisville meeting twice this season -- here and in the BBVA Compass Bowl. Nobody else is drinking the Cardinals' bourbon: Sports Illustrated's got Louisville at 4-8, Athlon's at 5-7, but both have them 3-2 in non-conference games.

The game: Your name is Charlie Strong. You like to move the ball by land. FIU knows you want to move the ball by land. FIU also knows your quarterback is gimpy but the most big plays in a big play game could come from your receivers. So, what do you do early, Charlie? Muscle up against a defense that stonewalled a North Texas line of similar size and identical experience or freeze the macho and come out flinging?

I say Louisville comes out with a series of plays that'll use FIU's defensive quickness and speed against them: screens to quick backs, misdirection runs, play action passes. If that works and FIU's defense starts moving a half-second late, then the Cardinals will switch to the straight ahead stuff. But Strong knows Louisville needs points, so even if the Cardinals jump FIU, don't look for them to totally refrigerate the ball.

Because while FIU doesn't get the run push as consistently as it wants, the pass plays are there for Wesley Carroll and he's feeling it early again. Young Cardinal cornerbacks get taken to school by FIU's wide receivers. It's not so much the speed, it's the diversity of the attack. Once safeties Shenard Holton and Hakeem Smith have to give more than drop-in help to the corners, FIU starts running counters.

As Dan Jenkins wrote in his Sports Illustrated game story on the 1971 Nebraska-Oklahoma classic -- still tops my list of best college game ever -- you can't take everything away in modern football. At least, not in the middle of the field. Neither team finishes drives as it likes. Ameliorating those failures is a Louisville kickoff return for a touchdown and FIU getting great field position from returners, T.Y. Hilton and Richard Leonard. Quarterback Will Stein, trying to do too much, throws a late interception. FIU scores on the ensuing drive and escapes with a 27-20 win.

But, that's just one black man's opinion.

Some video from a guy with connections to Louisville and Miami.

 

SOCCER

The pitch wasn't kind to FIU last weekend, the genders combining for to go 0-3 both at home (the women) and up at the Bert & Iris Wolstein Classic (the men). Tonight's double-header, the women against Florida Gulf Coast and the men against Stetson, could be an early turning point in the season for each team.

Florida Gulf Coast is only in its fifth year as a program but makes up for that in the coaching experience of Jimmy Blankenship, an FIU alumnus who was an ace college women's soccer coach back when the oldest of tonight's players were still trying to conquer crawling. Also, Gulf Coast is 2-1-1 against FIU. This will be the last home game for FIU's women's soccer until Sept. 30.

Stetson beat Penn State last week, which edged FIU 1-0 at the Wolstein Classic. Jacksonville follows for the men on Sunday. Gonzalo de Mujica from Weston leads Stetson in assists this season with three. In fact, eight Stetson players could consider this game a homecoming of sorts, as they're from Broward or Miami-Dade. FIU has 14 such players.

VOLLEYBALL

Starting to wonder if the volleyball team's next home matches would be the Sun Belt Conference Tournament. It would've gone a long way toward the team going undefeated at home, one of their season goals, although a 56-9 home record since 2005 says they don't need such shortcuts. They'll get Tulane Friday night and Florida A&M Sunday. A shame they have to open at home against a soccer doubleheader and a major football game, then play their second home match on the season's first NFL Sunday.

Another of FIU's season goals was improving defensively. They're averaging 2.21 blocks per set, up from 1.67 blocks per set last year. Andrea Lakovic is closing on the rally scoring era FIU career records of Jennifer Owens for solo blocks, block assists and total blocks.

CROSS COUNTRY

The cross country teams are at the USF Invitational today after each finshed third in the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational last week. Senior Daniela Espino won the individual title, coming home in 18:43.

 

Getting a Line on Things...

Watching Law & Order: SVU as a break from truTV and endless college-affiliated football (but, of course, NOT Louisville-Murray State, which Knucklehead Me forgot to DVR) when I began to wonder: what's the best TV theme song written for a dramatic or comedy series?

Not a song already written plucked from past hit charts (Bosom Buddies, The Golden Girls) or obscurity (The Wire, The Sopranos). But a theme song written for that TV show or the movie from which that show was derived. Law & Order? Mission: Impossible? M*A*S*H? Mary Tyler Moore? While you ponder your opinions on that (or not), how about your opinions on...

1. Rick Sanchez's performance Thursday night? I heard none of it. I presume some of you did. You don't have to be kind, just civil, but remember he's playing a road game compared to what he's used to doing.

2. Public Address announcer Mike Biamonte? Now, Mike, I heard -- he sits directly behind me in the press box. I never heard my longtime Herald compadre Roman Garcia on the PA, so I have no point of comparison and, besides, I want to hear your opinion. 

3. The Friday Sports Festival? A home women's soccer match against Florida Gulf Coast starts at 6:30, the same time as a home volleyball match against Tulane. Men's soccer completes the fubol doubleheader against Stetson at 8:30. All of that fights for attention with the football team at Louisville on ESPN at 7. Is that too many sports happening at once, causing the diverse sports fan to wish he had Triplicate Girl powers? Is that too many sports all getting overshadowed by running up against what everyone could tell would be a huge football game?

Speaking of that game, has anybody watched the line? Nobody's seen a line move that fast since Studio 54. According to http://www.vegasinsider.com, Louisville opened a nine-point favorite. Bettors must have jumped on FIU like Dirk Diggler, because across the board in sports books on and off shore, the line dropped to Louisville by four. Sportsbetting.com has Louisville by 4.5. Everybody apparently needs Louisville action.

Capperspicks.com won't help in that regard, picking FIU 28-17. Gambler's Palace Blog, connected to sportsbettingtweets.com, picks FIU but doesn't give a score.

So, let me know what you think. Back to Benson (not the butler on his way to state budget director) and Stabler (not Ken)...

 

 

Enclosed (Not Domed) Stadium in 2012, T.Y., Bjelica POWs, Grace Under Fire

Time for FIU to get its house in order. Texas A&M's waiting to join the SEC harem, the Pac 12's talking with other schools and holes will be created that conferences will want to fill.

FIU athletic director Pete Garcia said today after this football season, FIU Stadium's north side bleachers will be demolished and replaced by seating that fully encloses the stadium. The project will begin No. 13, the day after FIU's final regular season game, against FAU, and will be finished in time for the 2012 season. There will be north side suites and second Stadium Club.

The full expansion to 45,000 seats with a second deck is a few years down the road.

"This is needed right now," Garcia said. "We need to finish out our stadium."

"A huge step. The parallels of the program, the facilities, our university are remarkable," head football coach Mario Cristobal said. "Everything is continually going forward at 100 mph. It's a very strong statement by our administration, one that we're very thankful and privileged to have, that football and this university, building that camaraderie, that tradition are very very important to this university community. As a football coach, I'm as fired up as you can imagine. That was the final piece of the stadium for now."

Garcia said of making the stands ring the field completely, "This will be an important recruiting tool for Coach Cristobal," but what he didn't mention was the bigger picture recruiting tool -- making FIU a more attractive school to recruit to a conference as the puzzle squares shift with conference realignment. The actual number of seats won't change much, but the aesthetic and feel will. It'll look like a college stadium instead of a Texas-sized high school stadium.

Though rain ruined the season opener crowd, FIU's got over 11,000 season ticket holders now and the Central Florida game is nearly sold out. That game's expected to be FIU's largest home crowd in the program's 10-season history.

T.Y. Hilton won the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week award after rolling up a national best 283 yards of all-purpose yards against North Texas. Middle Tennessee State's Eric Russell got the Defensive Player of the Week nod after 13 tackles, 11 solo, a sack and an intercetion that he returned 34 yards in MTSU's choke againt (ugh) Purdue. Western Kentucky punter Hendrix Brakefield was the Special Teams Player of the Week. He averaged 44.6 yards per punt on eight punts against Kentucky and had two downed inside Kentucky's 10. FIU's nominees were Hilton, linebacker Winston Fraser (11 tackles) and kicker Jack Griffin. I voted for Hilton, Russell and Brakefield, although I almost went for Fraser over Russell. 

The situation with free safety Chuck Grace lingers, as of right now. Some resolution might come in the next two days. Expect Terrance Taylor, who had four tackles Thursday, to play for Grace when Grace's fourth quarter head shot against North Texas costs him game time against Louisville this Friday. Grace will get some punishment from the Sun Belt. They can't give him a pass, not with the pressure on the authorities at all levels of football to address hits to the head and the ever increasing knowlege of the damage those hits can do.

FIU came through Thursday healthy. Louisville quarterback Will Stein's left ankle had him in a walking boot, but he should play Friday. Center Mario Benavides and defensive end B.J. Butler are out. Defensive tackle Brandon Dunn didn't dress in Louisville's 21-9 win against Murray State and is questionable for Friday.

Up in that part of the country, they think of Florida International as one of those schools you see advertising on Judge Judy or Judge Joe Brown. So Eric Crawford of The Courier-Journal, Louisville's newspaper of record since the days when jockeys in The Kentucky Derby were black, is taking some guff for picking FIU by 7. He's being accused of being a Kentucky homer. Loyalties are so divided between Louisville, Kentucky and Indiana in the C-J's coverage area -- The Hoosier State is across the Ohio River from downtown -- and so emotional that the paper actually used to make sure each school received the same number of inches of coverage to insulate itself against favoritism charges.

VOLLEYBALL

The volleyball team went 2-2 over the weekend at The Blue Raider Bash at Middle Tennessee State, beating Austin Peay and East Tennessee State and losing to Auburn and Missouri. Individually, Jovana Bjelica racked up 76 kills in 15 sets, 35 digs and nine blocks, good enough to be named to the All-Tournament Team and the Sun Belt's Player of the Week.

 

Freaky Bizarro Hat Trick Friday; Grace (launch and) Land.

Apparently, the football team sucked up all the end of week good fortune. Three FIU sports teams closed Friday with losses, although at the least the volleyball team went .500 on the day. So, they earn the leadoff spot...

VOLLEYBALL

"September's Blue Raider Bash" sounds like a back-to-school party. The volleyballfest held at Middle Tennessee State packs four matches in three days for FIU. The Gilded Cats popped Austin Peay 3-0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-20), then took a 2-1 lead on Auburn before losing the last two games 25-18 and 17-15. In the fifth set, FIU actually led 15-14.

Jovana Bjelica racked up 45 kills between the two matches, setting a career-high of 21 against APeay and beating that with 24 against Auburn. Also, against Auburn Bjelica had 14 digs. Earlier Saturday, she had FIU's only service ace of the day. Redshirt freshman Jessica Egan dished out 24 assists.

The five-set loss leaves FIU 3-2 on the season and 22-7 in five-setters since coach Danijela Tomic took over. Saturday at 8:30, they face Missouri.

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Missouri-Kansas City came to West Dade with a seven-game road losing streak that goes back to last season, an 0-1-2 record this season, only one goal on the season and laboring under the school teams' nickname "Kangaroos." (Cool animal. Just a very busy name for your school teams...)

Yet the Marsupials from Missouri were able to pump in three goals on FIU, the last of which came with 1:22 left in overtime, and left FIU on the wrong end of a 3-2 score and 2-3 record. It's the second game of the season, along with the opening loss to Stetson, that FIU has lost late after dominating play statistically.

Victoria Miliucci scored for FIU as did Chelsea Leiva. FIU outshot UMKC 24-10, for what that's worth.

Two minutes after Miliucci tied the game 1-1 in the 38th minute, UMKC's Taylor Bare scored to send FIU into halftime down 2-1. After 35 years of watching/covering soccer and almost 40 watching/covering hockey, I can tell you that when you give up a goal on the next 2-3 minutes/shift AND it's near an intermission, you'll lose the game 80-90 percent of the time. Giving up those goals often show a lack of mental focus that'll prepare you for defeat. Also, they often produce huge redirections of emotion.

They'll have a week to lick wounds before leading off a soccer doubleheader at FIU by facing Florida Gulf Coast at 6:30 p.m. As for the team playing Stetson in the 8:30 p.m. nightcap...

MEN'S SOCCER

Up in Columbus, Ohio, the men's soccer team went into the second half against Ohio State down 2-1 on a 40th minute goal. They eventually lost 3-1 after ruling the tide of play in the second half.

FIU outshot Ohio State 11-5 in the second half and earned seven corner kicks to Ohio State's one. Still, the 24th minute goal by senior Jahbari Willis stood as the Golden Panthers' only goal. The men's soccer team faces Penn State in Columbus Sunday, then is off until Friday's game with Stetson.

 FOOTBALL

Big, honkin' gap in our coverage of Thursday's game -- while I was with media being led under the stands to the interview room to wait for postgame podium stuff, free safety Chuck Grace was being tossed from the game for launching himself at North Texas' wide receiver Andrew Power. Grace could miss next week's game against Louisville if FIU's appeal of the call gets rejected. Demarkus Perkins and Terrence Taylor are listed as the next two safeties on the "official" depth chart. Perkins didn't play at all Thursday, at least not according to my notes or the official game book.

Football, Futbol, Futball Femenino, SNL

Made Sunday morning football practice with colada and orange juice in hand, Froot Loops down the gullet.

For those wondering about numbers, neither James Louis nor Daquan Hargrett has been assigned digits yet.

Defensive tackle Jason Fitch, who sprained a knee in the first scrimmage, is back at full practice as are wide receiver Mike Jean-Louis and offensive lineman Ceedrick Davis. Wide receiver Rockey Vann still is limited, but there's still a chance he plays Thursday against North Texas. He'll run with the first and second team Monday. Defensive back Demarkus Perkins had a stinger last week, but did contact drills Sunday. Coach Mario Cristobal said Perkins has lost some weight and improved his conditioning from two weeks ago.

FUTBOL

The men's soccer team (1-0) hosts FAU tonight at 7. The Golden Panthers beat Earth-Prime's Owlmen 2-0 last year. 

FUTBOL FEMENINO

While I was knocking out a burger (no cheese), rice and a pitcher of sangria at Van Dyke, the women's soccer team was knocking out their first win of the season, 1-0 over Akron. Kim Lopez scored in the 44th minute and FIU so dominated possession and play, keeper Kaitlyn Savage had to make only one save on Akron's paltry three shots at goal.

After taking the sabbath to rest and watch video, 1-2 FIU will try to even its record Monday at 7:30 p.m. against Florida Tech, a Division II Final Four team last season.

SATURDAY NIGHT LOSS

At the Cal Molten Classic, FIU's volleyball team took the court against No. 3 and tournament host Cal around the time East Coasters would be watching their local news and prepping for Saturday Night Live. Or, Saturday, watching The Weather Channel and prepping for Irene. The volleyball team might've still been on East Coast time, but Cal was right on time, dumping FIU 25-23, 25-16, 25-15 i the second match of the day for each. Sabrina Gonzalez had nine kills and four blocks. Marija Prsa had eight kills and Andrea Lakovic had seven. Chanel Araujo had 12 digs.

Earlier Saturday, FIU got rid of UCal-Riverside 25-20, 25-15, 25-20 with Prsa and Jovana Bjelica blasting 14 kills each and Bjelica doing it defensively, too, with 10 digs. Araujo led the team with 15 digs and Lakovic totaled seven blocks.

Gonzalez and Renele Forde were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Transfering schools & conferences; volleyball, men's soccer start Friday

 James Louis went from wide receiver to FIU’s version of Elvis Thursday. Sightings of Louis around the Modesto Madique Campus dotted message boards and Twitter, leading to rejoicing that he was enrolled.

While Louis probably was around Camp Mitch, I wasn’t able to confirm his enrollment Thursday. Not that it won’t happen, not that it won’t happen soon, just that it hadn’t happened yet. 

The football team had Thursday off and will have a walk-through Friday afternoon.

 TRADING SPACES, CONFERENCE EDITION

Texas A&M sent the Big 12 a letter saying, basically, it wants to see other conferences. Houston, of Conference USA, is considered one of the favorites for replacement should A&M bolt. SMU tells The Dallas Morning News that it wants to leave Conference USA, preferably for the Big 12.

Watch these developments and anything that involves an opening in Conference USA.  That’s the next landing spot for FIU, their Queens house as they try to George Jefferson up to the Big East Side someday.

MEN’S SOCCER

FIU’s already in Conference USA for men’s soccer, which opens its season with 7 p.m. home games Friday against Nova Southeastern and Sunday against FAU. This year, completely out from under scholarship limitations for the first time since 2007, they pulled in a recruiting class of that had head coach Munga Eketebi smiling when I ran into him on campus earlier this week.

The nine freshmen include two players from Iceland, forward Andri Alexandersson and midfielder Arnthor Kristinsson; two goalkeepers, Belen Prep graduate Daniel Mion and Covington (Wa.) Kentwood High graduate Rodney Greiling; German forward Quintin Albrecht; forward Colby Burdette from Boca Raton High; midfielder Esteban Castro from Miami Ferguson High; forward Roberto De Sousa from Davie Nova High; and forward Arley Londono Jr. from Miami American High.

(If that last name sounds familiar, perhaps you’ve heard Arley Londono Sr. on Gol TV as a play-by-play announcer. If you go way back, he sealed a unique place in South Florida sports history by being part of the Florida Panthers Spanish-language radio team that called all the Panthers home games and a few road games.)

The attempted talent injection’s working thus far. Nicolas Rodriguez-Fraile (six goals, two assists) led the team in scoring last year as a freshman despite playing in only 10 of the 17 games and starting only one. Junior defender Anthony Hobbs is FIU’s lone preseason all-conference pick and by late in the season, he could be one of the few upperclassmen still holding down a starting spot.

VOLLEYBALL

(One of several team photos from their Facebook fan page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=238485542862699&set=a.140623319315589.26356.139604556084132&type=1&theater

The team leaders on the group that flew out to Berkeley to open their season at the Cal Moten Classic believe they already have more of an actual team than the bunch that went 20-11 last season and lost in the semi finals of the Sun Belt tournament.

“I feel like there was a lot of frustration because a lot of the girls didn’t know each other,” senior Sabrina Gonzalez said. “We were in different zones. There were six different players instead of playing as one team. I feel like this year, we were able to get to know each other a little more in the summer and we prepared a lot better than we did last year.”

Head coach Danijela Tomic said bluntly, “We were a dysfunctional team."

When it was pointed out that dysfunctional team still managed a pretty good record, Tomic said, “We had a decent season. But we set such a high standard for ourselves. In 2009, we were 32-4. It’s hard to top that.

 “That team never really clicked,” she continued. “We were just up and down. This year, it seems like everybody’s on the same page. I think we as coaches, I as a coach, did a better job of explaining the expectations and what FIU volleyball is all about during the recruiting process.”

Of the 2010 recruiting class, only redshirt freshman Jessica Egan and sophomore Una Trkulja remain. Gonzalez said she believes team leaders such as she, Andrea Lakovic and Renele Forde have already established a tone for the freshmen.

“From the beginning, we set some goals for what we need from the newcomers,” Lakovic said. “Last year, we were kind of easy on them. I don’t want to say, (they were) not working hard. But we kind of went easy on them: ‘they need to adjust to a new school, new environment…’ This year, we were a little bit tougher. They need to know why they’re here. We set some standards they need to know since the first day how we want them to work and adapt to our team.”

They’re definitely bigger. With All-American setter Natalia Valentin moving to student coach after her eligibility ran out, FIU’s setters now are Forde, 6-3, and Egan, 6-2. While that alters the setter-hitter timing, it’s also an lengthening that should improve FIU’s defense.

 “We needed to become a better blocking team, a better defensive team. When you have a big block in front, it’s easier to play defense behind that block,” Tomic said. “Our middle blockers, Sabrina and Andrea, they’re small for middles, but Sabrina’s in the best shape of her life, she’s jumping very high. Andrea’s also playing at a high level. Sylvia (Carli), our freshman, is 6-3. She’s going to be a big help. Right now, she’s a better blocker, which we need, than a hitter.

“Our defensive specialists, Carolyn Fouts, a walk-on freshman from Gainesville (Buchholz High), I think she pushed Chanel Araujo, a junior, to play at a higher level. Rachel Fernandez, another a walk-on from Miami (Westminster Christian), she’s playing extremely well defensively.”

One of this year’s team goals is going undefeated at home. That’s logical. For one thing, FIU lost only two at home in 2008, then one in 2009 and 2010 each. Secondly, FIU hosts this year’s Sun Belt Conference tournament, Nov. 17-19.

“There is one thing our seniors have not accomplished in their four years and I haven’t accomplished as a coach and that’s winning the Sun Belt championship,” Tomic said. “We need to get over that, I think, mental hurdle of winning the Sun Belt tournament.”

This year’s team theme, as set by Tomic, is Crossing The Line, the title of a Sam Parker book about making the choices in peers, work ethic and commitment to cross the line between good and great. By the time the Sun Belt tournament comes around, we’ll know whether FIU’s crossed the line going forward or backwards.

Wednesday football practice, volleyball poll, new baseball coach

Notes from Wednesday's football practice in the sun, then rain, erstwhile chewy heat that reminded coach Mario Cristobal of a practice while he played for Amsterdam in the World League of American Football:

"One day it was scorching out there," Cristobal said. "Then it started raining, then it started snowing."

Wide receiver Rockey Vann continued in non-contact work, and Cristobal said Vann, who he was worried about missing half or even the whole season, could be back in a week and a half. Offensive lineman Ceedrick Davis participated in practice Tuesday and Wednesday. They're easing him back in after he's missed time with a back problem.

During the hitch/wide receiver screen blocking drills, wide receiver Glenn Coleman had the most impressive block, taking his cornerback into the pursuit path of the other corner then dumping him. Sam Miller had the best rep among the defensive backs, eluding his block so quickly, he jumped the route.

Practice began with the "board drill" or "hamburger drill." I think the offense won overall because running back Robert Boswell got semi-carried out of the end zone by several celebratory offensive players like Leon Taylor at the end of the last Playmakers game.

I asked about defensive end Tourek Williams last few days of practice. I had the sense that , last week, Paul Crawford might've pulled ahead of Williams, of whom the coaching stafff expects a great deal. Cristobal complimented Williams last few days, then went on to talk about the entire defensive end rotation.

"Tourek, Paul (Crawford), Greg Hickman, James Jones and the two young cats we've brought in, Denzel Perine and Giovani Francois, we're really trying to find out what's the best combination when we're facing certain personnel groups," he said. "So, we're mixing and matching those guys, so they can play both defensive end positions without a hiccup."

Long snapper Brandon Taylor, the freshman transfer from LSU, has begun practicing with the team. Keep your money on Mitch McCluggage as the long snapper.

BASEBALL

As anticipated for the last couple of weeks, the baseball team hired Drew French, who has spendt the last four years at Alabama, as pitching coach. French had been at Bama four years.

VOLLEYBALL

FIU was picked to finish third in the Sun Belt's East Division behind conference powers Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky, in the preseason coaches' poll. Andrea Lakovic and Jovana Bjelica were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team. The volleyball season opens Friday against Fairfield in the Cal Molten Classic at Berkeley. I'll have a longer preseason post on the volleyball team tomorrow.

Sorry about a no-post day yesterday. Even though it was technically my day off, I was cranking up a late night blog when listening to my visiting mother yammer about people and relatives I don't know slowed me down. The fatigue I've been outrunning for three weeks like I'm in the Mod Squad opening credits caught me. Sack, loss of blog.

 

FIU athletes, I'm only going to write this once: when you're on Twitter, especially if you have FIU in your handle, you're representing yourself, your team, your university, your mother, father, sisters, brothers, your whole family and your friends. You might want to remember that.

Speaking of mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers....

   

Getting Big Ups from The Belt for Cracking Some Books

Sorry about the lateness of the post. Herding the kid through a shower -- why does our room's shower and bathtub look like a Toys R Us junkyard? -- while making her dinner kept me from getting this up before the wife came home from checking her computer into the nearest Geek Squad hospital. Once home, I offered up my Dell to be her T computer. Long-winded reason this all didn't get posted in time for you to digest it before The Wheel/Jeopardy Hour.

The Sun Belt Conference threw out a bunch of academic hoorays Monday that will land on both true student athletes and athletes who can fake it (sometimes with professorial help) better than Sally in the deli  .

 

Thirty-four FIU student-athletes made the Sun Belt Commissioner's List for having a 3.5 or higher GPA during the 2010-11 academic year. Women's soccer led the way with six. By sport:

Baseball: Mason McVay, Jose Velazquez

Men's Basketball: Steven Miro

Women's Basketball: Elisa Carey, Fanni Hutlassa, Liene Jekabsone, Carmen Miloglav

Football: Wesley Carroll, Michael Davies, Joshua Forney

Women's Golf: Katie Mundy

Women's Soccer: Carlan Jones, Victoria Milliucci, Julietta Morano, Melanie Raimo, Kelsey Rene, Paula Zuluaga

Softball: Kasey BArrett, Kayla Burri

Women's Tennis: Liset Brito, Christine Seredni, Marla Vallasciani

Swimming & Diving: Chelsie Kitt, Colleen Quinn, Danielle Snier, Jamie Stinson

Men's Track & Field/Cross Country: Miahcel Bejarano, Richie Bonilla

Women's Track & Field/Cross Country: Daniela Espino, Lashae White

Volleyball: Angelina Colon, Jessica Egan, Una Trkulja, Jessica Wilke

The Sun Belt Honor Roll goes to the athlete-students with a 3.0 or higher GPA for the year. Again, by sport:

Baseball: Jose Behar, John Caballero, Tyler James Shantz, Joel Capote, David Vazquez, Garrett Wittels

Women's basketball: Michelle Gonzalez, Timeyin Oritsesan

Football: Stephen Bailey, Robert Boswell, Michael Cal, Jonathan Cyprien, Chritopher Edwards, Antohny Gaitor, Mike Jean-Louis, Kevin Van Kirk, Andrew Matttox, Ashlyn Parker, Zachary Schaubaut, Jarius Williams, Mitchell Wozniak.

Women's golf: Shelby Coyle

Women's soccer: Chrystal McNamara, April Perry, Deanna Rossi, Katilyn Savage, Kassandra Sorzano, Linn Thunn

Softball: Alexandra Casals, Jennifer Gnaidek, Ashley McClain, Elizabeth Peller, Jenny Welch

Women's tennis: Mariana Muci, Maria Spenceley

Swimming & Diving: Sabrina Beaupre, Kelly Boyd, Sabrina Dow, Kelly Grace, Elly James, Jennifer Lee, Mariangele Macchiabello, Melissa Moreno, Joanna Pomerantz, Yesica Rojas, Namiko Shibata

Men's Track & Field/Cross Country: Alvaro Castillo, Victor Chin, Miguel Delgadillo, Chad Ganier, Jason Oliver, Daniel Stephenson, Kevin Vandernotte

Women's Track & Field/Cross Country: Kimberlee Dekrey, Jessica de Roquancourt, Estefania Fierro, Gabriella Herrera, Carla-Kay Mills, Bianca Morrison, Christian Raphael, Brittany Smith

Volleyball: Jovana Bjelica, Rachel Fernandez, Rene Forde, Sabrina Gonzalez, Ines Medved.

 

From 90210 To 33199

More beef arrived on the FIU offensive line on Wednesday morning when massive JUCO transfer Caylin Hauptmann became a Panther as Summer B began at FIU.

Hauptmann, left, (6-5, 318 pounds) is a highly regarded interior lineman out of Beverly Hills. CH played at the College of the Canyons last season and was being pursued by FIU, UCLA, Cal, Washington, Arizona State, Nebraska, Syracuse and Oregon.

CH is likely to play left tackle at FIU alongside Cedric Mack at left guard and Brad Serini at center give FIU plenty of brawn on the line. Add to that another year of development for last year's freshmen such as Dave Istanich and Rupert Bryan and sophomores, plus incoming Ceedrick Davis (305 pounds) and suddenly the O-Line prospects look much more solid.

CH begins his FIU career as a sophomore so he has 3 years of eligibility left and since he's coming from a JUCO he does not have to sit out a season.

PANTHER PAWSE

Popular questions posed by chiapanther in the latest GPP poll questions. The poll has been up for just 2 days and already more than 200 votes on which FIU men and women's teams will have the most successful seasons next year. As of this post, the baseball team has a slight edge on basketball and football in the men's question. While the volleyball team has more than half the votes to lead the women's question thus far. Poll is still open.

In those poll questions, the GPP readership increased by 1 state and we're now 4 states away from completing the GPP's tour of the USA. A reader in Kenai, Alaska voted for the baseball team......hmm wonder which of the 4 players from FIU baseball is in Kenai right now.

Let's update the scorecard....

GPP WORLDWIDE READERSHIP SCORECARD:

The GPP is now read in: 46 STATES: ALAB, ALASKA, ARI, ARK, CA, COL, CT, DEL, FLA, GA, HI, IDAHO, IL, IND, IOWA, KAN, KY, LA, MASS, MD, MICH, MIN, MISS, MISSOURI, MON, NEB, NEV, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, ORE, PA, RI, SC, TEN, TEX, UTAH, VA, VER, WASH, WEST VA., WISC.

41 COUNTRIES: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, France, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Panama, Peru, Scotland, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, U.S.A., Venezuela, Vietnam.

1 DISTRICT: Washington, D.C. and 1 TERRITORY: Puerto Rico.

Q&A

CJ: hey pete was wondering what would we have to do to get the FIU marketing dept. to hand out vovozela's at the FIU rutgers game?

PP: Thankfully, artificial noisemakers are banned by the NCAA.

alt7787: Pete, Not sure if this is relevant to what youre writing, but would it be possible to ask El Monstruo what it was going from FIU to a team full of Miami Hurricanes (Ravens)?

PP: Although, EM is very relevant to the history of FIU football, that question is not really relevant to the history of FIU football. However, EM has been asked that before and he's said that those Ravens have accepted him without any issues. When I wrote that story a few years ago on EM when he played vs. the Dolphins for the first time in Miami I asked several of those Ravens teammates about EM and FIU and each player I spoke to said they have taken to EM, because of his work ethic and that it didn't matter where he came from. The only animosity there's been was when EM won 25 cents from Willis McGahee after FIU kept the score in their last game vs. UM within 2 TDs at 23-9. EM said McGahee told him UM would blowout FIU and that did not happen. After that Dolphins/Ravens game in the locker room, EM interrupted an interview with me to ask McGahee for those 25 cents.

 

FIU At The Movies -- Episode IV

Four years ago in a blog not that far, far away from you....it began as a simple way of recapping the FIU sports year. After smashing box office records, a sequel was called for in 2008. Then, although the GPP did not sign for a three picture deal, there were no issues in making the trilogy last summer.

And now....FIU At The Movies, Episode IV.

A look at the FIU sports year by referring to motion pictures released during the Panthers athletic season (August 2009 to June 2010). Cell phones off please. And now your feature presentation.....

The Goods -- FIU softball has the goods as it gets its 1st NCAA Tournament win and features the Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year (Kasey Barrett), Sun Belt Player of the Year (Ashley McClain), Sun Belt Freshman of the Year (Brie Rojas) and Sun Belt Coach of the Year (Beth McClendon).

Final Destination 4 -- No. 4's final destination is the end zone. Just ask Kansas (2008) and Alabama (2009) as the first time Goodbye touches the ball in each of his first 2 seasons, he takes it back for 6.

The Open Road -- FIU hoops late November/December schedule where the Panthers spent 24 days on the road.

All About Steve -- Sun Belt voters got it wrong when they picked some dude from North Texas as the winner of the SBC Basketball Tournament halftime dance-off. How could you not vote for Vanessa (right)?

Play The Game -- Why won't the Coral Gables school play FIU? Nah, never mind, I won't bother anymore.

Gamer -- Scott "El Oso" Bryant (left) breaks the all-time FIU tackles record held by Keyonvis Bouie.

Whiteout -- What Scott Rembisz's pitching did to opposing Sun Belt bats at the conference tournament.

The Other Man -- The Hooters were looking at Carlos Munera to punt, but fullback John Ellis had the ball on the fake punt and rumbled 25 yards to set up the tying TD.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs -- The SBC Baseball tourney started cloudy, but once FIU broke that "pressure barrier" as TT calls it, the Panthers (right) were hitting meatballs the rest of the way en route to the Sun Belt title.

Bright Star -- Marlon Bright wins the Sun Belt's Behavior Award among his many accomplishments during his FIU career.

Free Style -- Actually, 3 Style for FIU women's hoopster Monika Bosilj, who broke the program's all-time record for 3 pointers with 188.

Adventures Of Power -- Jabari Henry (Freshman All-American, SBC Frosh of the Year) leads FIU with 12 HR. Jabari homers in 1st college at-bat (3-run bomba vs. Maryland) and to finish his first season at FIU, Jabari homers off MLB's No. 6 overall pick Barret Loux of Texas A&M.

One Good Man -- Long time FIU media relations guru Rich Kelch retires last December. Don't know much about Rich, then click HERE

Good Hair -- Garrett Wittels' "bird's nest" (left) does not get cut during his 56-game hitting streak. It must be good hair.

AstroBoy -- FIU QB Paul McCall graduates and heads off to Mars training in the desert.

Hubble 3D -- How Sun Belt Tournament MVP Jeremy Patton's eyes saw the baseball in Murfreesboro.

Saw VI -- Only the Dade County Youth Fair stopped Jeremiah Harden when he turned the corner and saw 6 in the spring game. He'll see more 6s this fall.

As Seen Through These Eyes -- GW and Robin Ventura talk about what only their 56+ hit streak eyes have experienced.

The Fourth Kind -- Yarimar Rosa (left), with another out-of-this-world season, is honored with a 4th All-American nod. The first 4-time All-American at FIU and probably the greatest volleyball player ever at FIU.

Storm -- On a scorching Halloween day, FIU storms back in the final minute and wins in OT against Louisiana. PMC hits Greg Ellingson for 6 in the back of the end zone with 10 seconds left in the 4th quarter. Dustin Rivest kicks the winning FG. Tyler Clawson dominates on D in OT and Tourek Williams blocks the tying field goal attempt to seal the victory.

The Other Side Of Paradise -- My day as Dazzlers audition judge (right). I'm ready for 2011.

Legion -- Alex Legion transfers to FIU and the legion of top recruits for the 2010-11 hoops season headed to FIU.

Mammoth -- Mike Martinez's moonshot HR at the SBC tourney. Ball landed inside the Middle Tennessee football stadium which has 2 decks so the ball had to clear the 2nd deck. Although, there is a rumor that the ball is still travelling somewhere along the interstate pass Murfreesboro and heading to Churchill's in downtown Nashville.

Green Zone -- They may be green by class designation -- freshmen -- but these Sun Belt Freshmen of the Year are not green on the field or court. FIU's Jabari Henry (baseball), Brie Rojas (softball) and Jovana Bjelica (volleyball) all won the conference's Freshman of the Year Award in their respective sports.

Kick Ass -- Once again the FIU volleyball team (right) is at the top of the Sun Belt and coach Danijela Tomic wins another Sun Belt Coach of the Year Award.

Hey Watch This -- GW decides to hit in 56 straight games and captures the nation's attention.

The Good Heart -- FIU DB and Rudy Finalist O'Darris D'Haiti (left)and what he does each day for his family.

Touching Home -- What the FIU baseball lineup did a lot of this season with their XBox .337 team batting average.

Oceans -- Actually, it's pools for FIU diver Namiko Shibata, who was named the Sun Belt's Most Outstanding Diver this past season.

Endgame -- The closing abilities of FIU receivers coach Frank Ponce, who was named the Sun Belt's Top Recruiter this past season.

Whiz Kids -- FIU's APR improvements by its teams. Especially, the baseball team that scored an FIU baseball-best 975 and who broke even in practice hours -- yeah, they lost 2 hours a week, but also gained 2 hours back due to their solid 975 score. No scholarship losses and no postseason ban.

Waking Sleeping Beauty -- Yes, the sleeping giant has been dozing for a while, but in the past year the sleeping giant garned a Sun Belt baseball title and NCAA Tournament appearances by the baseball, softball and volleyball teams. Women's soccer and tennis teams became 2009-10 regular season Sun Belt champions and top recruits arriving in all sports at FIU.

  

College All-Star Challenge at FIU; UNO Leaves Sun Belt

FIU Stadium will be the host of the College Football All-Star Challenge. The event will be taped at FIU on Monday, Feb. 1 from 1:00-3:30 p.m.

In previous years, the challenge has featured NFL stars such as Drew Brees, Donovan McNabb, Matt Ryan, Reggie Wayne, DeAngelo Williams and Edgerrin James. The event will be aired by ESPN on Friday, Feb. 5 at 9 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

Will have LIVE HOOPS BLOG of FIU/Arkansas State at 7:54 p.m. tommorrow (Thursday, Jan. 21). Tip-off is at 8 p.m.

UNO LESS TEAM IN SUN BELT

This is from a press release from the Sun Belt Conference this afternoon:

The University of New Orleans has voluntarily withdrawn its Sun Belt Conference membership effective July 1, 2010. UNO will drop to Division III.

Budget cuts, the continuing recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the failure of a student referendum to increase student fees for athletics previously forced the university administration to establish plans to maintain a Division I athletic program with far more stringent financial constraints.

UNO was a founding member of the Sun Belt Conference in 1976 and later rejoined the league in 1991.

UNO originally suspended nine of its 15 intercollegiate sports in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Sun Belt Conference headquarters, which has been located in New Orleans since 1991, will remain in its downtown office as it still remains an approximate geographic center for the league's member institutions.

With the withdrawal of UNO, the Sun Belt Conference will be comprised of 12 member institutions of which nine play in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

For the three Sun Belt sports with divisional play (men's basketball, women's basketball and volleyball) teams will remain in their current divisions with each division now comprised of six institutions (East: Florida Atlantic, FIU, Middle Tennessee, South Alabama, Troy and Western Kentucky - West: UALR, Arkansas State, Denver, Louisiana, ULM and North Texas). 

Sun Belt Conference men's and women's basketball teams will begin competing in 2010-2011 in a 16-game conference schedule with each team playing a home and away game against teams within their division.  Additionally each team will play all members of the opposite division with three of those games being played at home and three on the road.

Sun Belt volleyball schedules will also feature a 16-game format, The league's volleyball championship will continue to be conducted in an eight team format.

The Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship will continue under the same format with eight teams participating.  The league schedule will also continue to feature 30 games for the 10 teams that will compete in the league beginning in 2011. Each team will play a home and away three-game series against their natural rival with the series' scheduled for the first and last week of the season.  The natural rival designation for FIU is FAU.

Scheduling standards for football will remain unchanged with each team playing four home conference games and four road conference games.  With the anticipated arrival of South Alabama for football in 2012, the conference will expand to 10 football institutions with teams continuing an 8-game conference schedule and one natural rival remaining on the schedule each year. (In other words the Shula Bowl will always be an annual game as it should be.)

NCAA transfer rules are still applicable for current UNO student-athletes and all Sun Belt Conference member institutions have been notified.

"The Sun Belt Conference will move on as a 12-member league and there are not any current plans for expansion or contraction," said Commissioner Wright Waters.

 

4 for 4 for Yarimar

Yarimar Rosa earned her fourth consecutive All-American honor today for another stellar volleyball season.

Rosa, who is FIU's all-time kills leader, becomes the first FIU athlete to be named an All-American in all four of her college seasons.

Joining YR with All-American status are also Panthers setter Natalia Valentin and freshman Jovana Bjelica.

The FIU ladies are coming off the best season in the program's 23-year history where the ladies were 1 of only 3 teams (Penn State and Northern Iowa) to win 30 or more matches this season. FIU advanced to the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Don Shula Bowl Week

The season finale is just about here for your Panthers with the Don Shula Bowl on Saturday from FIU Stadium against Florida Atlantic or as they are affectionately known -- the Boca Raton Hooters.

Shula Bowl VIII week kicks off on Monday night with the Coaches Dinner from the Panther Club at FIU Stadium. Will be heading out there later to check up with MC and Howard and have a blog post about it on Tuesday.

As you know, the Hooters have held the Shula Bowl Trophy (right, FIU's helmet is on the back of the trophy, which Howard refers to as the "dunce side" because it faces the wall at FAU) for 6 of the 7 years the game has existed. However, the only FIU win in the series came at FIU Stadium -- the last time the game was played there in 2005 where FIU tied an NCAA record with 4 interceptions returned for TDs.

In 2007, FIU was the home team for the Shula Bowl in the Orange Bowl, but lost that one.

Before we get to all the Shula Bowl stuff, wanted to pass along to you some highlights of the Scout Bowl that your Panthers reserves played in last Thursday on Thanksgiving morning.

Your Panthers were off from practice the past 3 days and had a chance to heal up from injuries before returning to the practice field on Monday.

SCOUT BOWL

The last day of practice last week had the scout team offense playing against the scout team defense. The scout D won the bowl 17-0.

Now, since FIU is low on depth, there were some players that are expected to see significant playing time next season participate in the Scout Bowl. So don't be surprised when you read some of the following names.

To start the Scout Bowl, FIU's two No. 1 draft picks for next season: quarterback Wesley Carroll and running back Jeremiah Harden did not play, even though the regular offensive players were chanting to the coaching staff to put WC and JH in the game. But no, FIU needs those two healthy when it opens the season in 2010 against an undetermined Sun Belt team at home or on the road. (Won't know the 2010 conference sked until the SBC office releases it in the early 2010 summer).

MC gave the Scout Bowl -- a bowl-like feel by pumping in crowd noise and a band [yes, I know about the band] through the jumbotron speakers -- during the practice last Thursday.

Freshman Chris Schirripa started at QB for the scout team O. On the first series, Andre Pound and Josh Forney batted down passes.

Freshman receiver Jairus Williams (left, thanks Roy Viera photo), who had some dropsies in camp back in August, made a nice catch over the middle and paid the price on a hit by freshman safety Terrance Taylor. JW to his credit did hang on to the ball. At 6-5, JW can be a big contributor next season.

On the next series, to no surprise Pooh Bear (right) burst through the o-line and made a tackle for loss.

The first score of the game came when linebacker Chris Edwards forced a fumble on Schirripa and junior defensive back Jose Cheseborough, a transfer from Edward Waters, scooped it up and returned it 81 yards for a TD.

Freshman Carlos Gonzalez then took over at QB and was intercepted by freshman defensive back Antwoine Bell.

Freshman Junior Delpe was next up at QB and he connected with tight end Joey Harris for 21 yards. Or as him teammates were yelling out "Joey the Bear" Harris.

The O would not move any further than Harris's reception. Junior transfer linebacker Antoine Graham (South Dade High/Kansas JUCO) got a sack and defensive lineman Kasey Smith had a tackle for loss to end the drive.

Freshman safety Cain Elliott made a nice open field tackle of Schirripa on a scramble.

Jairus Williams after stopping on a deep pass that could have been for long yardage and resulted in an incompletion, came back strong with another catch over the middle.

The Cheeseman was at again. Cheseborough scored his 2nd and the Scout Bowl's 2nd TD when he recovered another fumble and ran it back 42 yards for a TD to make it 14-0.

The last highlight of the day came when Graham, Smith and Pooh Bear combined for a sack to end it.

PANTHER PAWSE

Congratulations to the FIU volleyball team (right, thanks Sam Lewis photo) for, as expected, reaching the NCAA Tournament. The FIU ladies take on UM in Thursday's 1st round from Gainesville and then would play the winner of Florida/College of Charleston on Friday. Won't be able to cover those matches, because of football duties, but when the lady Panthers take on defending national champion Penn State in the Sweet 16 on Dec. 11 then I should be there in Gainesville and hell, even have a LIVE BLOG for you.

Will have a LIVE BLOG of Shula Bowl VIII on Saturday from FIU Stadium at 6:45 p.m., but will have to leave you in the fourth quarter, because of a very unfriendly kickoff/deadline time of 7 p.m. -- plus it is a TV game (CSS/Sun Belt Network) so that will make the game even longer.

Q&A

Clawing Cancer: 1) Is FIU planning on/doing anything special for Rich's retirement? I don't know about you guys, but I've seen long-time SID's at other schools get things named after them (usually press boxes and such). Any chance we see something similar for Rich? I think he deserves it, frankly. I'm not talking about a stadium or court, folks, for the record... personally, I'd name the press box at the football stadium after him. God knows, he's spent enough time in them.

2) I've heard that Akron and FIU have scheduled a home-and-home series in football. From what I understand, FIU goes to Akron in 2011 and the return trip for the Zips is TBD. Do you know anything about this, good sir?

PP: Should be something doing at the Shula Bowl either before the game or at halftime. Nothing concrete on naming of press box, but like I wrote in the second to last post, once it is complete, FIU should name the press box on the north side of the stadium and every other press area at FIU after Rich. The Miami Herald will have a story on Rich later this week.

FIU and Akron had a series scheduled under former AD Rick Mello, but that is off the books now. FIU's future non-conference schedules look like this: 2010 - Rutgers, Texas A&M, Pitt, Maryland; 2011 - UCF, Louisville, Duke and OPEN DATE; 2012 - Duke, Louisville, UCF and OPEN DATE; 2013 - Texas A&M, UCF, Louisville and OPEN DATE; 2014 - UCF, Louisville, Pitt and OPEN DATE.

blkpanther: Pete any news on Milk or any other additions to the 2010 class?

PP: Nothing as of this post. I think FIU is keeping one spot open for later on. Maybe, C.J. Leslie?

Ultimate FIU Fan: Pete, Panther Pass has become very ordinary! Not covering MAJORITY of the men's hoops road games. What gives?!

PP: You can get the majority of men's hoops road games through the opponent's webcast. Like tonight's game at Bowling Green is available on video through BG's website for like $4.95.

Ladies First

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The FIU volleyball team captured their second consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular season championship on Saturday night in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The lady Panthers defeated Middle Tennessee to win their 19th straight match and remained perfect on the season in the Sun Belt.

FIU volleyball is now 26-2 and 16-0 in Sun Belt play. The last time FIU lost, there was snow in Miami.

More on that in a second -- FIU volleyball, not the cold, frozen stuff.

In less than 20 hours your FIU basketball season tips off about 15 minutes from here when the Panthers take on defending national champion North Carolina at the Dean Dome.

FIU coach Isiah Thomas's mother had a heart attack Saturday and IT was in Chicago over the weekend to be at her side. IT is flying this way and is expected to be on the sideline on Monday night for FIU and for his first game as a college coach.

We will have more on your Panthers hoopsters on Monday with a LIVE BLOG of the FIU season opener starting at around 6:45 p.m. from the Dean Dome. The game is on TV on ESPNU.

Back to the FIU volleyball ladies and what is right now the best FIU sports team. And what has been the best FIU sports team for the last 5 years running.

Had a chance to watch in person the ladies match against Middle Tennessee last night after the football game (yeah, we'll get to that too). Walked across the street from Johnny Red Floyd Stadium on the Middle Tennessee campus to the volleyball gym.

Although, the Blue Raiders v-ball fans packed the gym -- yes, you read that right, there were hardly any empty seats at the MT gym....So time for you to get to the Bank on Wednesday for the ladies vs. Florida Gulf Coast -- the lady Panthers never let the crowd or Middle Tennessee get to them.

Despite having basketball backboards hanging from the roof and in play in the MT gym and Billy Bob (right, double click on Billy Bob to see him dance) dancing on the sidelines, FIU quickly took the first two sets.

The playing rule in the MT gym is if the ball hits one of the backboards then it is still in play. Also in play on the sidelines was Billy Bob -- an old man in sweat pants, a long sleeve polo and wearing a cap backwards that would dance by himself after each Middle Tennessee point -- good for him.

FIU rallied three times late in the first set against the defending SBC champions with freshman Jovana Bjelica and three-time All-American Yarimar Rosa (left) killing MT with kills to take the first set.

FIU controlled the second set before MT took the third set.

In the final set, tied at 18-18 Bjelica nailed another kill and Olga Vergun (below, right) and Ines Medved combined for a block to set up FIU with the lead. MT would tie it at 23-23, but eventually FIU would win on two straight service errors by MT.

The FIU ladies would go on to celebrate on the court. Billy Bob dejectedly left the gym with his cap in his hands.

The FIU ladies -- which should be in the Top 25 -- have a couple of tune-ups before getting ready for the Sun Belt Tournament on Nov. 19 at Western Kentucky. FIU hosts Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday and then play at the Boca Raton Owls on Saturday.

Walking back across the street to Johnny Red Floyd Stadium. Yes, we were going to make the trip back to the football stadium although some of you might not want to.

Well, what can I tell you. Sometime between now and the 2010 season opener FIU has to get its run defense together.

Click on the X on the top right of your screen if you don't want to read the following number: FIU gave up 385 yards rushing to MT -- a season-high and the fifth highest in the program's 8-year history.

Those of you Paul McCall bashers -- you sure do miss him now, don't you? Yes, I know it would have been tough for any offense to win when their D has a game like Saturday. However, the FIU offense didn't help itself out with a 7-point first half. Still, PMC was missed on Saturday.

But, don't go blaming it all on Wayne Younger, because the rest of the offense -- outside of Kendall Berry -- did not help matters. Yes, WY did not have a good game, but the Panthers had more pre-snap penalties -- 7 of the 9 FIU penalties were pre-snap. There were dropped passes. There was poor pass protection and run blocking. All of that has to be cleaned up if FIU is to knock off North Texas and Florida Atlantic at home to end the season.

But how about those FIU ladies!

 

PANTHER PAWSE

FIU/North Carolina basketball LIVE BLOG begins at 6:45 p.m. on Monday night here on the GPP. Same guidelines for the hoops blog as for the football blog. First 25 readers with something worthwhile to contribute to the blog get unmoderated access.

As more readers drop out, the GPP pool is turning into one of those plastic backyard ones............Down to 15 readers in the race for the coveted GPP Blog and Sun Belt Football Yearbook.

WIN A GPP BLOG WEEK 9 STANDINGS (North Texas/FIU scores due by 6:59 p.m. Eastern GPP Time on Saturday)

9-0

Fomenter (137)

7-2

FIU0406 (146), NYCFIUFan (166), CrazyCane (186), MIA/NY Josh (219)

6-3

CJ (165), Joel (168), BaltimorePanther (183), theINTERNATIONAL (185)

5-4

FIU Fanatic (183), TheChampionUnderdog (184)

4-5

LonePanther (176)

3-6

Golden Panther 90 (159), Clawing Cancer (188), SouthPaw (191), FIUer (341)

GPP: 7-2, (151)

Gotta Love the Ladies

OCALA -- So you're asking yourself, what the hell kind of blog post title is that, Pete?

For starters, this is a G-rated blog so dismiss any other thoughts. It also has nothing to do with the golf tournament I'm up here in Ocala covering.

Or the adventure in getting to Ocala or the Seinfeld episode at Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Ocala. Will get to all that non-sense at the end of this post.

For now let's recognize the FIU ladies sports that have been ripping through the Sun Belt Conference this fall.

On Wednesday morning your FIU women's soccer team -- regular season Sun Belt Champions -- open the Sun Belt tournament against Arkansas-Little Rock in the mouth of the rat or Boca Raton as is more commonly known.

The lady Panthers soccer team went from sixth place last season to first place this season -- to become the first Sun Belt team to do so. On Tuesday, FIU received 6 honors from the Sun Belt Conference.

The following Panthers were named to the All-Sun Belt team: Katrina Rose, Thaisa Moreno, Amy Jackson, Kaitlyn Savage.

Savage was also named Freshman of the Year and FIU coach Thomas Chestnutt won his second Sun Belt Coach of the Year award.

At the SBC Tournament at Florida Atlantic, FIU will be seeking its first Sun Belt championship since 2000.

The FIU volleyball team (thanks Richard Lewis for both ladies team photos) keeps rolling right along. The Panthers have won a program-record 17 straight matches and are 24-2 on the season and 14-0 in the Sun Belt.

It seems the last time FIU lost a match they were inventing this thing called the internet.

FIU volleyball has just four more matches before the Sun Belt Tournament, which takes place in Western Kentucky on Nov. 19.

Will have an in-depth feature story on the FIU volleyball team in the MH in a couple of weeks before the ladies leave to Bowling Green, Kentucky.

PANTHER PAWSE

Up here in Ocala covering the state golf championship. Wednesday is the final round and if it finishes on time, I will haul bass down to Miami to LIVE BLOG and catch the FIU basketball exhibition game at 7 p.m. All the information you need on the Panthers first exhibition game under Isiah is on the previous post.

Check back on the GPP on Wednesday afternoon as I will post an update as to whether or not I will be able to make it back to Miami on time to run a LIVE BLOG of the FIU hoops exhibition game.

Hopefully, getting back to Miami will be a lot smoother than what it took me to get to Ocala.

The cliff notes version of Tuesday's adventure: flat tire on the rental (fairly new Nissan Altima) on the Florida Turnpike somewhere between Fort Pierce and Ocala. Wait about 1 hour+ for AAA, because the tire jack in the rental was from the year 1923.

Take tire to get plugged at Tires Plus. Mechanic says the hub cap is dented and fixed tire or new tire will not help this car. Mechanic says: "Even with a new tire, you will have a blowout on the way back to Miami".

Call Enterprise ask for a new car. No cars available in suburban Ocala Enterprise location. About 5:30 p.m. now and in about 2 hours there will be cars available but only in the Ocala airport location which is about 30-45 minutes away from where I'm at.

Arrive at Enterprise airport location and it is the "Bizarro Enterprise" location. If you watch Seinfeld, then you know what I mean ("Bizarro Jerry" episode [photo, above right] -- not Jerry, George and Kramer, but Kevin, Gene and Feldman).

At this Enterprise location, everyone is constantly asking if you have been helped or what can they do to make your Enterprise visit the best it can be. There are 4 to 5 employees working quickly to get everyone their cars. They ask "would you like some refreshments while you are waiting" and "We are working quickly to get you in your new car and on your way". Sure enough, got a car in less than 5 minutes and on my way. 

Before I left the Enterprise office, I told all 5 employees that you guys are the "Bizarro Enterprise" compared to the usual Miami office I deal with. Four of the 5 employeers were Seinfeld fans so they got my remark and started laughing. They had to explain what I meant to the 5th employee.

Was given a red mini-school bus or Chevy HHR as is the name of the auto. So if you see a red mini-school bus in the FIU parking lot on Wednesday night then you know I'm back in Miami.

Turtle released his 2010 schedule with some pretty good series for FIU baseball. The Panthers open with a 3-game home series against Maryland. Check out the rest of the sked at fiusports.com. BTW, interesting sked tidbit: South Florida cancelled their baseball series with FIU in 2010, because FIU dropped the Bulls in football for Rutgers. The biggest questions heading into the 2010 season right now is who will be the Panthers Nos. 2 & 3 starters after Scott Rembisz??

Football notes: The Sun Belt Conference signed an extension with the New Orleans Bowl today to guarantee a Sun Belt team vs. a Conference USA team in the bowl game through 2013. However, stay tuned, because the SBC champ may not automatically go to the New Orleans Bowl in the near future. Word out of the SBC office is that they are working on sending the Sun Belt champ to another bowl game with the New Orleans Bowl being the second choice for the Sun Belt. No specific bowl games have been discussed where the SBC champ would end up at.

Receiver T.Y. Hilton was running and not jogging on his pass routes in practice Tuesday so that is a good sign so far this week.

The answer to NYCFIUFan's question of: Pete, Any reason why FIU hardly plays noon or 3:30 games on Saturdays?

PP: I've been told, because FIU feels they would draw the most fans for a night game. Although, I personally like the day games, because of friendly deadlines and once all the writing is done then the rest of Saturday is free.

Not Half Bad

Ultimate FIU Fan, don't call Linda Blair just yet. FIU hoops got one very key player back on Thursday, but lost another very key player, but should have another very key player back on Saturday. So hold off on the injury exorcism.

Point guard Josue Soto (right, thanks to Alex J. Hernandez for photo) made his FIU debut and looked pretty smooth with the ball in his hands. To answer FIUPantherFan's question: center Freddy Asprilla (left) missed the game with back spasms and will miss Saturday's game at Louisiana-Monroe.

FA did not make the trip to Monroe, but could be back for next Thursday's game at New Orleans. Russell Hicks (below, left, AJH photo) has been cleared for Saturday's game and did make the trip to Monroe. Not sure how much RH will play, because he has not practiced all week, but his 7-foot presence should be in there on Saturday.

We saw 2 sides of the FIU hoops team in Thursday's loss to North Texas.

During a 14-0 FIU run in the first half that gave the Panthers a 23-13 lead, FIU was in sync with Tremayne Russell and Alex Galindo knocking down shots. FIU also played some pretty good D with Galindo getting a block, and Nick Taylor and Russell getting steals.

Although Soto did not get in on the run, we got a good look at what the sophomore can do such as put some pretty good ball fakes on the Mean Green and go aggressively to the hoop and draw fouls. And JS can make free throws too going 4 for 4.

However, if FIU could, it would hit the reset button on that 2nd half getting outscored 24-8 in the paint and 40-24 overall in the paint.

Yes, missing 6-10 FA and 7-0 RH did not help, but North Texas didn't have anyone taller than 6-7 in the game. It was just a case of the Mean Green outhustling the Panthers to the rebounds and getting second-chance points. North Texas forward Eric Tramiel, a JUCO All-American transfer, had career-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds. ET had only 5 points and 4 rebounds at halftime. 

Still, we're starting to see some signs with the Panthers hoopsters that once all are healthy (hand hit wood here) they might have a run in them come Sun Belt tourney time.

PANTHER PAWSE

Congratulations to FIU's 3-time All-American Yarimar Rosa, (right, AJH photo) who received a plaque from the NCAA commemorating her leading the nation in kills per set and total kills this season.

Don't normally bring up other teams on here, but how about the Mike Jarvis show last night in Boca Raton. The Florida Atlantic coach gets hit with 4 straight technical fouls and causes his team go down by 7 after ULM makes 7 of 8 technical foul shots. After the 4th technical, the refs ask for the police to escort Jarvis off the court. MJ, just kick a sign next time. FAU suspended Jarvis for 1 game today and the Owls are still winless in Sun Belt play at 0-8.

Finished the Turtle preseason interview yesterday, after I go through the nearly 30 minutes of tape of TT, I will post his thoughts on here.

Questions:

fiu4ever: Hey Pete(or anyone in general), Will there be any open practices to the public when they start the offseason? Do you see the FIU soccer teams playing in the stadium eventually?

PP: I'm sure there will be some spring practices open. Once I know which ones, I'll post them on here. Might be tough to see FIU soccer play in the stadium, because of the football regular season schedule and football practices.

JM: hey pete, do you know if the sun belt distributes all their bowl revenues evenly between teams? or if the teams that make the bowl games get to keep all the money?

PP: Teams that make bowl games keep all their cash.

Not much football recruiting news to pass along today, but here's a question to answer as we are 12 days from National Signing Day:

Online Surveys & Market Research

12 Days of FIU Christmas

Last December, we gave you 'Twas the Night Before Christmas at FIU. Well, here's another Christmas ballad that you can gather around the fireplace and sing at home to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas....

The 12 Days of FIU Christmas

On the 1st Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 2nd Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 2 FIU Olympians (Ronald Forbes & Sheri-Ann Brooks) and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 3rd Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 3 Yari Rosa All-American Honors, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 4th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 4 Missing Hoops Starters Back in January, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 5th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 6th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 6 Home Football Games in Future Skeds (sometimes 7), 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 7th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 7 All-Sun Belt Football Players, 6 Home Football Games, 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 8th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 8 Logos Into One, 7 All-Sun Belt Players, 6 Home Football Games, 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 9th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 9 Innings to Win & Close Out UM Series, 8 Logos Into One, 7 All-Sun Belt Players, 6 Home Football Games, 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 10th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 10 Miami MLS Players Plus a Goalie, 9 Innings to Win & Close Out UM Series, 8 Logos Into One, 7 All-Sun Belt Players, 6 Home Football Games, 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On- Campus Stadium.

On the 11th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 11 TY Goodbye Touchdowns, 10 Miami MLS Players, 9 Innings to Win & Close Out UM Series, 8 Logos Into One, 7 All-Sun Belt Players, 6 Home Football Games, 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

On the 12th Day of Christmas, FIU sent to you: 12 Months of Golden Dazzlers, 11 TY Goodbye Touchdowns, 10 Miami MLS Players, 9 Innings to Win & Close Out UM Series, 8 Logos Into One, 7 All-Sun Belt Players, 6 Home Football Games, 5---Foot---ball---Wins, 4 Missing Hoops Starters, 3 Yari All-Americans, 2 FIU Olympians and A Hilton Heave in a New On-Campus Stadium.

Merry Christmas to All the GPPers!

(Thanks to Sam Lewis & FIU for the pics)

Number 3 For Number 3

Three seasons at FIU, 3 All-American honors for Yarimar Rosa.

Rosa, who led FIU to a Sun Belt championship and a program record  28 wins this past season, was named an All-American for the third time in her career on Thursday.

The nation's kills leader and kills per set leader also won the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week award 5 times this season and has a conference-record 10 such awards in her career.

Earlier this season, YR broke the FIU kills match record (26) and career kills record (1,723).

Golden Panther Pawse 12/1

GOLDEN PANTHER PAWSE

Congrats to the FIU volleyball ladies for reaching the NCAA Tournament. FIU opens against Colorado State in Gainesville and then gets the Florida/FAMU winner.

Throw some salt over SR's left shoulder, get him some Lucky Charms or get him a rabbit's foot, because got word a little while ago that center Russell Hicks will miss 8-10 weeks with a slightly fractured foot that occurred in last Friday's practice in Los Angeles before the UCLA game.

Will have Shula Bowl thoughts right after this Pawse and your WIN A GPP BLOG leaderboard is updated below the Q&A. Scores for FIU/Western Kentucky have to be in by 6:59 p.m. GPP Time on Saturday.

LIVE GPP BLOG for the season finale vs. WK begins around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday from FIU Stadium where I've never had a problem with the wireless. Unlike last week's debacle at DS.

pantera rosada: Can we settle Greg Ellingson's nickname as "Velcro" (right)??

GPP: Will have to put that and other suggestions up for a vote, because GE is surely developing into one of FIU's top receivers. GE had his first 100-yard game on Saturday with 138 yards. I'm kind of partial to GE's nickname being "Spiderman" because of his web-like hands and the way he went over the ULM defender to make that TD catch. cobracommandr has volunteered the nickname "Stick-Um" (below, right being used by Lester Hayes). Let's get some more GE nickname candidates and we'll put a poll together.

SouthPaw: Hey Pete, just want to make sure you don't confuse me with the loser that posted the false rumor about T.Y. I posted "we're going to win this one" after FAU tied the game at 36. Obviously, I'm not a college football expert with that prediction!

GPP: I never once thought it was you, SouthPaw. Remember, I get everyone's e-mails when they post and this poster was new to the GPP. And considering the good contacts I have with the FIU football program, this poster never had a chance with his TALL TALE.

FIUJM: What's the deal with kickoff/punt returns? I know MC let Hilton do kickoff returns at end of the game but what about punt returns?

GPP: Goodbye (hammy) was not 100 percent going into the FAU game so the coaching staff was being cautious with him.

NYCFIUFan: Do you expect or have you heard of any voluntary turnover in the coaching staff this upcoming year?

GPP: No changes expected. Last year, OC James Coley was kind of expected to go to Florida State after they named his close friend, Jimbo Fisher the HC in-waiting when Bobby Bowden steps down.

Baltimorepanther: How many records were broken or established yesterday by FIU?

GPP: Goodbye became the single-season receiving yardage leader passing Cory McKinney's 890 yards of 2002. Paul McCall (left) became the 1st FIU QB to throw for 400 yards in a game. Darriet Perry became the first FIU freshman running back to run for 100 or more yards. T.Y.'s 3 TDs left him 2 TDs shy of the FIU season record of 12 set by former RB Rashod Smith in 2004.

Quijote: Can you comment on FIUDad's input?

GPP: FIU is no longer bowl eligible with Saturday's loss. You need at least 6 wins and the most FIU (4-7) can get is 5. Here you go Quijote................. 

WIN A GPP BLOG or (2nd place -- 2008 FIU football media guide) Leaderboard (through 11 games): Down to 5 people for the GPP Blog and up to 12 people could possibly win the media guide.

9-2: Baltimorepanther (237); Gold (245).

8-3: outofthecage88 (228); Ultimate FIU Fan (245); FIUChris (268); FIU Fanatic (268).

7-4: Puma (212); Fomenter (230); Clawing Cancer (231); FIU Voice (234); NYCFIUFan (252); fiufan751 (255); MIA/NY Josh (311).

6-5: FIU 0406 (249); FIUJM (254); TheChampionUnderdog (267); SouthPaw (290).

5-6: Max (262); gpantera (310).

GPP: 8-3, 225