Former Cane Kevin Everett Suffers Neck Injury

Kevin Everett

I want to send out my thoughts and prayers to former University of Miami tight end Kevin Everett who suffered a serious neck injury while playing for the Buffalo Bills. Everett, a native of Port Arthur, Texas, played two seasons for the Canes in 2003-2004 after transferring from Kilgore Junior College in Texas.

As of this morning, Everett was still in intensive care and in serious condition. Everitt had a solid career at UM. In 2004 he ranked second on the team with 23 catches for 310 yards. Everett was the bridge between Kellen Winslow Jr. and Greg Olsen at the tight end position. It's a further reminder how dangerous the game of football can be. Get well soon!

Sideline Soldier?

Joey Porter

It's the question every Dolphins fan wants to know. Why was linebacker Joey Porter standing on the sidelines during overtime while the Dolphins defense was getting trampled by Clinton Portis? As Ricky Ricardo would say, "Cam, you've got some splaining to do!"

So far, we've yet to hear an explanation from head coach Cam Cameron or defensive coordinator Dom Capers. But it's enough to make the most loyal Dolphin fan sick to his stomach. It was obvious to everybody in the stadium the Dolphin defense was fatigued and sucking wind. The Redskins rushed for 191 yards. Everyone knew the Redskins were going to run the ball and the Dolphins did nothing to stop them.

Look, I understand Porter missed the entire preseason while recovering from an injury. But he started the game and made a couple of nice plays. It's really discouraging to see the Dolphins wasting their top free agent acquisition on the bench, while the team desperately needed him. Why Cam? Why?

Same Old Dolphins

Ronnie Brown tries to break the tackle of Redskin linebacker Marcus Washington


The coaches may change, but the results stay the same. Once again the Dolphins have managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. In the NFL, there's a fine line between winning and losing. Any lost opportunity can come back and bite you in the end.

In today's Dolphins 16-13 overtime loss to Washington, Miami had a chance to win the game late in regulation. A couple of Trent Green passes to Chris Chambers brought the Dolphins inside the Redskin 10 yard line with less than a minute left. However a pair of penalties moved Dolphins so far back, they had to settle for a tying field goal to send the game to overtime. From that point, you just knew it wasn't going to end well for The Fish.

The Redskins ended up winning the coin toss and Clinton Portis ran all over a tired Dolphin defense in overtime, setting up the winning field goal. What bothers me about this game is the Dolphins were given every opportunity to win. Not only did the penalties near the end of regulation kill Miami. Dolphin receivers dropped 5 passes. One of the most crucial drops was by tight end David Martin, who was wide open on a third down during Miami's second to last possession of the 4th quarter. If Martin catches that pass, who know s how the game turns out. We will never know. But such is life in the NFL.

A few obersvations:

* Joey Porter was impressive in his first game in aqua and orange. For the first Porter actually hit somebody as a member of the Dolphins. The last time he hit anyone was Levi Jones at a Las Vegas casino.

* This game was vintage Chris Chambers. At times he makes great catches and big plays. But he continues to make you want to pull your hair out in agony when he drops easy passes when he's wide open.

* What's up with all the dropped balls? The Dolphin receivers dropped five passes, some of them crucial plays that ended up killing drives.

* Jason Taylor is still a beast. It never ceases to amaze me what he can do on the field. If he's not sacking quarterbacks and bringing down ball carriers in the backfield or even intercepting passes,Taylor showed a new dimension to his game. During the Redskins final play in reglation, Washington quarterback Jason Campbell fired a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. Taylor was back in the end zone on pass coverage and batted the pass away. Unfortunately, the pass ricocheted to Redskin receiver Antwaan Randel-El who nearly scored if not for a heads-up tackle by Taylor at the one-yard-line.

* Trent Green played okay. He didn't do anything to lose the game. Often he was betrayed by his teammates with drops and crucial holding penalties.

* Vernon Carey continues to be a work in progress at left tackle. He started out shakey, but played okay. But if the Dolphins are to become a contender again, this position needs to be upgraded and Carey should return to his natural position--right tackle.

* Ronnie Brown is never going to be the franchise player he was expected to be when he was selected as the 2nd overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft. He's a decent to good player. But the fact is Brown has never been able to carry the load at any level he's played at except maybe high school. In college, he shared carries with Cadillac Wiliams at Auburn. During his rookie year, he split carries with Ricky Williams. By the way, Williams proved to be the better back. And now he's sharing the load with Jesse Chatman, who just two years ago, was out of football after he practically ate himself out of the league.

* Armando Salguero's prediction of a 10-6 season is looking more ridiculous by the moment.

South Florida's Greatest High School Football Teams

Great high school teams from the past and present: Pictured top to bottom: 1970 Edison Red Raiders, 1929 Miami High Stingarees, 2006 Northwestern Bulls

Today the Miami Herald had an article on the greatest football teams in the history of South Florida (Dade and Broward Counties). The main theme centered around this year's Miami Northwestern High team and how they compare with the great teams of all time. There's no doubt this year's Northwestern Bulls are a great team--one of the best in Dade history. But I don't think they're as good as last year's Northwestern team. Why? The 2007 Bulls don't have a dominating running back.

Although he has a notorious off-field reputation, Antwain Easterling was one of the best running backs in Dade history. Right now Northwestern is using Daquan Hargrett and Tyresse Jones. Both are very fast. But neither is nearly as good or physical as Easterling. There's a reason why Roland Smith and Principal Bernard didn't suspend Easterling for last year's state championship game. I think Easterling will be missed when the Bulls travel to Texas and play Southlake Carroll. Also, this year's Bulls secondary is weaker than last year.

Ten Best South Florida Teams of All Time:


#1 2006 Miami Northwestern Bulls: Featured Dade County's most prolific quarterback (Jacory Harris), receiver (Aldarius Johnson) and a 2,000 yard rusher (Antwain Easterling). The defense had 7 consecutive shutouts.

#2 1967 Coral Gables Cavaliers: Legendary Gables coach Nick Kotys called this group the best team he ever coached. The '67 Cavaliers shut out an amazing 9 opponents and won the mythical national title. They were led by All State QB Craig Curry, who later became an All Big Ten quarterback at Minnesota and was drafted by the Dolphins in 1972. The defense was led by All South linebacker Paul Johnstone and former Dade County Athlete of the Year Roger Peace. Running back Gerald Tinker went on to win an Olympic gold medal on the USA 4 x 100 relay team in the 1972 Munich Games.

#3 1993 Miami Southridge Spartans: The backfield of Troy and Darren Davis along with fullback Sedrick Irvin was the finest in Dade history. Linebacker Lamont Green was the most heavily recruited defensive player to perhaps ever come out of Dade County. The Spartans destroyed Bradenton Manatee in the state championship game.

#4 1977 Carol City Chiefs: Before Walt Frazier became coach at Carol City, Jerry Anderson established Carol City as a powerhouse in the late 1970s. The 1977 Chiefs had the greatest defensive line in South Florida history (Lester Williams, Johnnie Lewis and James Gilbert). The entire defensive line went on to play major college football and two went on to the NFL. Running back Terry Daniels was a high school All American and played DB at Tennessee and in the USFL.

#5 1942 Miami High Stingarees: Yes, they wore leather helmets. But they were amazing. The Stingarees beat teams from 6 different states, including the state champs from Georgia and North Carolina. They were so dominant they had to leave the state to find decent competition. The backfield featured Arnold Tucker, who later became an All American at Army and won the prestigous Sullivan Award as the nation's best amateur athlete. Backfield mates Bruce Smith and Pete Williams went on to star for Navy.

#6 1992 St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders: Head coach George Smith's first state championship team and perhaps his best. The backfield featured Keith Wilkerson and Daryl Porter.

#7 1973 Hollywood Hills Spartans: The first Broward County team to win an official state title. Head coach Dick Saltrick's Spartans won 26 consecutive games from 1973-74.

#8 1998 Northwestern Bulls: This team went undefeated while playing a tremendous schedule--beating Jackson twice, Southridge, Carol City, Miami High, Plantation and Bradenton Southeast in the state championship game. The 98 Bulls featured three current NFL players Vernon Carey, Antonio Bryant and Torrie Cox.

#9 1996-97 Carol City Chiefs: Coach Walt Frazier's boys won back to back titles with all-purpose QB Ethenic Sands. Those teams featured greats like Santana Moss, Stanford Samuels, Robert Sanford, Octavis Jackson, Bradley Jennings and Moses Washington.

#10 1970 Edison Red Raiders: You can't mention great South Florida teams without mentioning the Edison Red Raiders. Edison was led by All-Dade QB Kary Baker, who later became the first African-American quarterback in UM history. Fullback Alan Reynaud and center Wilmore Ritchie were All-State and team captains. Edison won all 13 games including a huge win over Coral Gables in the Orange Bowl. Gables featured 4 future NFL players Neal Colzie, Ralph Ortega, Glenn Cameron and Gary Dunn.

Honorable Mention:

1956 Coral Gables Cavaliers
1959 Edison Red Raiders
1989 Dillard Panthers
1965 Miami High Stingarees
1964 Coral Gables Cavaliers
1975 Hialeah-Miami Lakes Trojans
2003 Carol City Chiefs
2002 Blanche Ely Tigers
2003 Chaminade-Madonna Lions
1956 Coral Gables Cavaliers
1929 Miami High Stingarees

Canes Have a Long Way To Go

Oklahoma receiver Malcolm Kelly burns Randy Phillips for one of his 3 touchdowns


There's a reason why Oklahoma is a top five team and the Canes are unranked. The talent gap between the two programs is much wider than I ever imagined. The 51-13 Sooner victory was no fluke. It actually could have been worse. Believe it or not, Miami actually had fewer turnovers.

Like I've stated before, Miami must restore excellence to the quarterback position if it is ever to return as an elite program. Right now, the Canes have the worst duo of quarterbacks I've ever seen at UM. So far in two games, Miami quarterbacks have failed to throw for at least 100 yards. That is absolutley pathetic--even for a high school team. Even worse are Miami's starting receivers Lance Leggett and Darnell Jenkins. Leggett can't get open. I've yet to see him separate himself from cornerbacks in the first two games. Despite this, Freeman has repeatedly tried to get him the ball on long bombs without any success.. Jenkins can't catch a cold. He dropped two more balls today on middle screens.

While it's easy to notice the Canes lack of talent in the passing game. The play calling and coaching didn't help matters. For example, why are Miami's quarterbacks lining up in the shotgun when neither are threats to make enough plays with their arms? Miami's strength is its running backs Javarris James and Graig Cooper. Pound the football!

For the first time I have to seriously question Randy Shannon and offensive coordinator Patrick Nix's performance. Shannon made the decision to bench Freeman late in the second quarter. He brings in Kyle Wright, who actually was playing well and moving the offense. Wright drove the team into the red zone late in the first half. But instead of pounding the ball with James and Cooper, Nix decides to call back-to-back option plays where Wright would pitch the ball to Cooper on the perimeter. Both option plays lost yardage. Luckily UM was able to draw two pass interference penalties in the end zone. Wright finished the drive with a touchdown pass to a wide open Ryan Hill in the middle of the end zone.

Although Oklahoma was dominating the game from the start, the Canes made it interesting when they cut the Sooner lead to just 21-13 early in the 3rd quarter. From that point on, the roof completely collapsed. Oklahoma scored 30 unanswered points. Inexplicably, Shannon decided to bring Kirby Freeman back into the game late in the 3rd quarter. As usual, Freeman was coompletely inept. He couldn't move the offense to a single first down. How Freeman even won the starting job is beyond me. But the truth is both quarterbacks are like hot garbage sitting on the side of a curb on a South Florida summer day collecting flies.

Defensively, the Canes weaknesses were exposed by a team with superior athletes. Miami's secondary simply could not match up with Oklahoma's receivers--particularly Malcolm Kelly. Kelly had 3 touchdown receptions and burned UM cornerback Randy Phillips repeatedly. The truth is every phase of Oklahoma's team was superior to Miami's and it really wasn't close. Even against Marshall, the Canes secondary gave up some big plays down the middle of the field. Oklahoma's big and athletic receivers could not be stopped.

Some observations:

* Randy Phillips is too slow to be a Miami caliber cornerback. How many times must we watch this guy get burned? Phillips was a safety coming out of Glades Central High School. He should be playing safety. He's not a corner.

* Randy Shannon has made a complete mess out of an already messy quarterback situation. He starts Freeman, then benches him for Wright. Wright plays decently and then he's benched again for Freeman. What? This is going to open a huge can of worms in terms of a quarterback controversy. Personally Wright's brief stint in the 2nd and 3rd quarters were better than anything Freeman has shown in his career.

* Javarris James and Graig Cooper were wasted by Patrick Nix. Granted, the Canes were behind most of the game. But don't abandon the running game--especially when they were down just 21-13 in the 3rd quarter. Don't put the ball in the hands of Freeman or Wright and expect them to win the game. They won't.

* Darnell Jenkins has more drops than catches. When was the last time Lance Leggett was able to get open?

* Miami has a huge problem at defensive tackle in terms of depth. Dwayne Hendricks had to leave the game with an ankle injury. Antonio Dixon and Teraz McCray was also banged up.

* The linebackers played well, despite the bonehead hit by Tavares Gooden on Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford out of bounds. Colin McCarthy is a stud and a future Canes great.

* Oklahoma is going to be tough to stop. From top to bottom, this team is loaded. Their only major question was quarterback. They've found a good one in young Sam Bradford--a redshirt freshman. The Sooners have now scored 130 points in their first two games.

* If there's a better receiver in the country than Malcolm Kelly, I'd like to see him.

* Hidden in the blowout loss, the offensive line did a fine job of pass protection. It wasn't a dominating performance. But it was a solid performance. It's probably the most improved portion of the football team.

* Much better performance by punter Matt Bosher. He averaged less than 30 yards against Marshall. But when you punt as often as the Canes did today, you're bound to a boom a few long ones sooner or later. Kicker Francesco Zampogna has been a pleasant surprise so far.

* For the love of God, why is Richard Gordon, a 260 pound tight end, returning kickoffs? We need more speed back there.

* Thank God I'm not a Michigan fan.

Oh No! Linda Robertson is Back!

Boo Creepy Sportwriter! Hurray Beer!

With all apologies to the guy from the Red Stripe beer commercials, the site of Linda Roberton's article in today's Miami Herald brought back horrible flashbacks of terrible sports journalism. For the past year, I've actually found the Herald's sports section actually readable and enjoyable just because of Robertson's absence. Supposedly she had spent the last year as a journalism fellow at the University of Michigan. Let's hope she took a couple of writing courses. Oh well, time to go back to reading the Sun Sentinel.

Robertson is by far the worst sports columnist I've ever had the misfortune of reading. According to her bio, she's been writing for the Miami Herald since 1983. Roberton is like a virus or a disease. She never seems to go away. Even when she does, she comes back with a vengeance.

So why do I dislike Robertson? Actually I've never met her in person. She may very well be a nice person and means well. The problem I have with Robertson is her blatant stupidity. Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, she once wrote an article how the University of Miami should drop its nickname as The Hurricanes out of respect for the storm victims. After all these years, I still remember her saying, "How can we ever give a heartfelt cheer for the Hurricanes again?" Are you kidding me?

First of all, my parents lost their home in Hurricane Andrew. I was there with them as the house was torn to shreads and still remember vividly what it felt like to live helplessly in the ruins while waiting for the National Guard to rescue us. But I haven't met anyone stupid enough to believe UM should change its nickname simply because of Hurricane Andrew. That is until Linda Robertson's crazy piece.

I've been reading the Miami Herald since I moved to South Florida in 1986. The only article that almost matches the idiocy of Robertson's 1992 piece was when Greg Cote felt compelled to suggest the Dolphins should have traded Dan Marino in 1993 in favor of starting Scott Mitchell. I've read hundreds and thousands of articles over the years. But those two just stick out as sore reminders of sportswriters on drugs.

In Cote's case, I've read enough of his work to realize he's a good writer. He even occasionally pokes fun at himself for that infamous Scott Mitchell / Dan Marino piece. But Robertson is just consistantly bad. Her only purpose is to basically get a rise out of the normal sportsfan.

A typical Robertson article will focus on how great Olympic sports like gymnastics, figure skating and the WNBA are compare to major profesional sports. Let's face it, Joe Sportsfan doesn't care about gymnastics or figure skating. Nobody cares about the Canadian women's curling team. When you pick up the sports section, what kind of ads do you see? You see ads for strip clubs and auto dealerships. That's what guys care about. That's the main demographic that reads the sports section.

Before anyone starts to think I'm a male chauvinist pig. This is not an indictment on female sportswriters. There are many good female sports writers around the country. I think Michelle Kaufman does a good job for The Herald. I've always had a lot of respect for Christine Brennan, who's written for the Washington Post and USA Today.

But how can somebody like Robertson last so long with a paper like the Herald? I haven't found anyone who actually admits to reading her articles and actualy agreeing or liking them. She goes out of her way to put down profesional and major college sports. But yet without them, she would have nothing to write about--except of course gymnastics and figure skating. Oh well. I guess the Miami Herald sports section can now return to its rightful place, the bottom of the bird cage.

Fredi's Dream Job Has Been Nightmarish

Marlins Manager Fredi Gonzalez

Fredi Gonzalez knew his first major league managing job wouldn't be easy. Nothing achieved in profesional baseball ever is. From all those long bus rides, staying in cheap motels and living off a diet of fast food, the 25 year journey from a minor league ballplayer to now the managing the Florida Marlins has been a long whirlwind ride.

From the time he signed his first pro contract upon graduation from Miami's Southridge High School in 1982, Gonzalez's life has been baseball. Back then Gonzalez was an overachieving catching prospect with hopes and dreams of becoming a major leaguer. The dream of reaching the major leagues as a player never came. But when the Marlins fired Joe Girardi, General Manager Larry Beinfest decided to hand over the managing job to an upbeat Atlanta Braves third base coach who had been waiting for this moment his whole life. Finally Fredi Gonzalez was a major league manager.

But so far Fredi's dream job has hardly been rosey. He inherited a team filled with promising young talent and higher expectations than his predecessor Girardi. Last year the Marlins were considered an overachieving team while riding the arms of four rookie pitchers (Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Ricky Nolasco and Scott Olsen) a brilliant young shortstop (Hanley Ramirez), an unlikely rule 5 hero second baseman (Dan Uggla) and one of the National League's best sluggers (Miguel Cabrera). All that young talent helped Girardi become the National League Manager of the Year. But his frosty relationship with Beinfest and the team's ownership ultimately earned him a pink slip.

Already Gonzalez had one strike against him. He had to replace a popular manager both with the players and the small Marlin fanbase. Strike two came when his young pitching staff started dropping like flies. Josh Johnson began the season on the disabled list and has yet to fully recover. Sanchez and Nolasco have also been shuttled back and forth from the mound to the doctor's office. Olsen continued to have his temper issues, one resulting in an arrest for drunk driving and resisting arrest. Dontrelle Willis, who's struggled all had went an etire month without winning a game. The Marlins patchwork merry-go-round bullpen continued to surrender away leads starting with Jorge Julio to Armando Benitez.

And despite the stellar offensive numbers of Hanley Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera, the Marlins have slid all the way down to the basement of the National League East. They currently sport a 60-79 record--the worst in the National League. Only the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have a worse record.

Watching the Marlins play this season will test the most loyal baseball fan. So the logical assumption is the manager is doing a poor job. Not necessarily in this case. Personally, I think baseball managers have the least amount of impact on a game than coaches in other sports. For example, Jack McKeon made some of the most bizarre and crazy moves during the 2003 season. But yet somehow, all his moves worked and the Marlins went all the way despite Grandpa Jack's medling.

But watching the Marlins lose game after game, you have to feel bad for Gonzalez. No matter what he does, everything goes against him--most of it out of his control. He can't control a crippled pitching staff or the tight budget the team is working under. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken crap. Through it all, Gonzalez has managed to keep a positive attitude. It's seasons like this that can really test the patience of a man. But if you've been waiting and endured as long as Fredi Gonzalez to become a major league manager, this a piece of cake.

Whatever Marlin fans are left, need to stick with Fredi. I'm willing to give him a scholarship on this season. For once, I'd like to see what he can do with a healthy ballclub and athletes playing to their potential. Let's hope he gets that chance.