Eye on the U

Hot time in MIami: Gators at Canes in football: noon on Sept. 7 on ESPN.

University of Miami tailgaters might want to get to sleep early on Friday, Sept. 6th. That's because the highly anticipated Florida Gators at Miami Hurricanes football game was announced for a noon kickoff at Sun Life Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7 on ESPN -- upsetting fans who would rather have a night game.

A night game would certainly be a great draw and the event to party around at Sun Life. UM would get heavy-duty exposure. And let's face it, night games are always more fun (unless you're on deadline or savor getting broiled outside).

Turns out that ABC has NASCAR from Richmond, Va., that night and ESPN is broadcasting the Notre Dame-Michigan football game in prime time. A game has not yet been announced for the prime-time ESPN2 slot.

"We requested and lobbied ESPN for an evening slot for the game vs #BeatUF.'' tweeted UM athletic director Blake James. "Unfortunately, they were unable to accomodate.'' 

 I just got off the phone with ESPN spokesman Mike Humes, whom I asked about the noon start.

"Essentially, we looked at all the options and this was the best available window for the game,'' Humes said. "We average probably around three million viewers for that time slot. So it wasn’t like, 'Let’s put the worst game on at noon.' The noon window does really well with fans.

"We view this as a great matchup. Scheduling games is like putting together differrent puzzles with different time zones and commitments, and this was the best window.''

 UM AD James also tweeted this: "espn/abc wanted to take game national 3:30 slot is regional coverage."

Humes said the 3:30 p.m. ABC game is Oregon at Virginia.

In other Canes football news, the Aug. 30 season opener at Sun Life Stadium against FAU will kick off at 8 p.m. Aug. 30 -- a Friday -- and will be aired by ESPNU.

SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN 

Sileo gone, Canes back at football, baseball tonight and Al Golden talks about QB/1B David Thompson.

My story from today is below-- what do you all think of Sileo's departure? I was playing his rant after Kansas State on YouTube yesterday and my husband was in the kitchen at the other end of the house and asking me who in the world (well, he didn't exactly ask it that way) was on the phone with me! Funny. 

    Dan Sileo finally wore out his welcome -- just a lot later than many had hoped.
   The WQAM-560 sports talk host, who began his stint in South Florida last April, was fired by the station and was not on the air in his usual daily time slot Monday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
   “We parted ways with him and we wish him well,’’ program director Jorge Sedano said of Sileo, adding that Kevin Rogers and Brandon Guzio will temporarily fill that slot until a permanent replacement is found. 
    John "The Freak" Renshaw, a Saturday host on WQAM and occasional weekday fill-in, is believed to be a front-runner to replace Sileo. 
   Sileo, a UM defensive lineman in 1986, infuriated UM fans with his tirades about the Canes’ football inadequacies — including a three-minute doozy in September after UM’s 52-13 loss at Kansas State. In that rant, which has topped 182,000 hits on YouTube, he urged players to “pull a knife” on the opposing quarterback, “and stick him! Gouge his eyes” and “kick him” in a certain body part. 
   “FIRED FOR SPEAKING MY MIND BABY!!!! Love it!!’’ Sileo posted on Twitter.
    Sileo was suspended for two days in January after posting on Twitter a series of sexist insults about Fox broadcaster Erin Andrews, including, “Love Erin Andrews either naked or in a porn. Not at a sports desk.”

 BACK AT FOOTBALL PRACTICE

   The Canes have resumed spring practice and are in the midst of third third of 15 sessions. Another gorgeous day at Greentree Field in Coral Gables. We get to watch the first 15 minutes of stretching and warmups and a few drills, and then we leave until interviews later. Be back later with update.

BASEBALL (AND DAVID THOMPSON) RESUMES TONIGHT

   Miami meets Maine tonight at The Light to begin a seven-game homestand against Maine.

   The Canes began the season 10-0 for the first time since 1981, but lost the last two against the Gators in Gainesville. On Wednesday night, Miami plays UCF, then goes into the weekend with its opening three-game ACC series against Duke.

   The UM homestand continues with two games against Illinois State March 12 and 13. 

  Freshman David Thompson, who doubles as a football scholarship quarterback during football season, leads the team and is fourth in the ACC with 16 RBI's.

    Thompson has at least one RBI in every game but two this season, and smacked his third game-winning hit of the season in Miami's 3-2 win over Florida last Friday. 

     I asked UM football coach Al Golden on Sunday about Thompson's accomplishments on the baseball field. Golden is well aware.

    "Tremendous,'' Golden said. "I got a text from him yesterday because I congratulated him. I happened to be in the car coming back [from a clinic] when he hit the game-winning RBI Friday night. His hand-eye is excellent, [he's] poised and again, a lot of confidence in that  young man. I'm really proud of him.     "I'm happy for him.''

    When asked by someone if he still expected Thompson to come back and play football, Golden said, "Oh, sure. I expect him to play good football. He's that kind of kid. He's a kid who just figures it out. He's a winner. He's going to help us...''

    SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN