IT'S A 'U' THING

Three decades covering the #MiamiHurricanes—@BleacherReport, #CanesTime, #allCanesBlog. Rise up #UFAMILY —Mario Cristobal is back in the 305! 🙌🏼 🇺🇸🙌🏼

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Not all programs had an SEC brand for years and were able to game-up the system with street agents, paying under the table and luring the top talent to their small, football-first college towns—where boosters or big time car dealerships were giving kids bags of money and free rides to play ball.

Clemson found a way to get in on that for years, as well—look at the early part of Dabo Swinney's run and then what happened when the Tigers started dropping bags and bringing in next-level talent ... and then NIL happened, Clemson didn't have the same deep pockets as some other programs and Swinney tried his whole virtue-signaling, bullshit route about how the Tigers are "above" the portal and paying for players and he was gonna stay old school (translation: Clemson was cash-poor.)

True NIL would be nice, but you're leaving out that universities don't want to control it—as they don't want players to become "employees" as they'd then be in line for the same benefits that other teachers or administrators receive—health, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings plans (with employer matches), paid time off, tuition assistance or reimbursement for themselves and dependents, and wellness programs.

That is the biggest reason this thing remains the wild west; the universities don't want the expenses that would come with athletes becoming employees.

... and again, couldn't care less about interest on student loans for "normal" students—football generates hundreds of millions of dollars for these major universities with massive athletic departments; they deserve to play by a different set of rules.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Agree.

I just think Saban's motivation and timing is shit.

He had zero issue with things when he had the system gamed up for the better part of 15 years.

The minute the landscape started to change, he retired (to protect his legacy) and is now calling out a system where Alabama is no longer thriving.

I have a hard time believing Nick Saban is screaming for change and reform if the Crimson Tide were somehow the top of the NIL food chain and Kalen DeBoer was dominating, keeping the winning tradition alive, bringing home titles.

Alabama has taken a step back since Saban left ... and now it's his mission to call out a "broken system"—convenient timing.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

@grog18b @ForgiatoBlow47 I mean that's sort of the point here; when you see the masses in the comments here all being pro-Pratt and then you see another California election, where a communist, failed, incumbent mayor is leading ... it shows you how jacked up the whole thing is.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

@MoBurro @ForgiatoBlow47 All due respect, I have a hard time believing that people sitting around living off the system and on welfare are turning out in "droves" to vote in a mayoral election.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

The more-important question; ask people to articulate WHY they would choose either.

I haven't heard one logical person tell me WHY they voted for Karen Bass (a video going around last week of a twenty-something black woman saying "black pride" as he only reason for voting Bass.)

I've heard a lot of lefties tell us why to NOT vote for Spencer Pratt—which basically boils down to, "Look what happened last time we voted for a reality TV star; we're not doing that again!"—all because he's a Republican and they want to paint him with the same brush as Trump.

Please, lefties, tell me WHY you would vote or a failed mayor like Bass—with communist ties—or a self-appointed socialist like Nithya Raman?

Stop telling us why you won't vote for Pratt and what either of those women has done to earn your vote to run Los Angeles?

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Run of the mill students don't generate hundreds of millions of dollars for their universities—football players do—so let's stop talking about what 'regular students' have to pay for.

If we were corporate, you're literally trying to compare the sales team and guys bringing in big revenue, the HR or some other expenditure that costs money and does zero to impact the bottom line.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

The "free education" angle is such bullshit.

Go back a decade and pre-NIL and paying players; the sport of college football generated $12,000,000,000 for the 2016 seasons ... and players got NONE of that.

The University of Texas generated $182,000,000 from athletics in 2016; roughly $128,000,000 was generated by football—in a year the Longhorns went 5-7 and head coach Charlie Strong was earning $5,000,000 annually.

Strong was let go after that season, received a $10,000,000 buyout from Texas, was hired by South Florida with a $1,000,000 base salary (that went to $5,000,000 annually by 2019, due to the activation of the aforementioned retention/buyout money from UT ... Strong a mediocre 37-37 in his six years as a head coach in Austin and Tampa and leaving a multi-millionaire.

So again, the universities, the coaches, the assistants, the administrators, the bowl officials, the networks—they were all getting their cut of that payday ... but players should've been satisfied with a "free education".

Please; people who pay for their own education—they aren't "set for life" because they earned a degree; why is athletics different?

NIL is out of control, but this is the direct result of decades of telling collegiate athletes (namely football and basketball) that an education was fair compensation while everyone else tied to the sport was getting their beak wet.

Should've solved this year ago, but didn't—and now it's the wild west.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Call it what you want, but Miami went in 2015 after taking on a four-seed in VCU in the Super Regionals and then a year later faced off against three-seed Boston College ... and when we see how Miami responded in Omaha those two years, I have no qualms calling it as I saw it; especially considering it was seven-year drought before that and a decade (and counting) since they've been back to the College World Series.

Florida 15, Miami 5
Miami 4, Arkansas 3
Florida 10, Miami 2

Arizona 5, Miami 1
Santa Barbara 5, Miami 3

Countless pundits, critics and haters said Hurricanes football "backed into" last year's College Football Playoffs—a 10-seed at-large that didn't reach the conference title game; Miami dispelling the notion after upsetting No. 7 Texas A&M in College Station, upsetting No. 2 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl (by double digits), upsetting No. 6 Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl ... and taking No. 1 Indiana to the wire, despite being short-handed (no Lucas first half, Lofton out, etc.)

Miami football proved it belonged when it got its 2025 playoff shot; Canes baseball in 2015 and 2016 had a very easy Regional and Super Regional path—and then got completely exposed in Omaha in back-to-back years.

Closest they got to a return was last year and again, it was due to Columbia upsetting Southern Miss in the opener, Miami surviving a walk-off shot falling short (against Alabama)—and then getting Columbia on Saturday night in Hattiesburg ... only to get smashed 17-6 by the Golden Eagles on Sunday night, surviving 5-4 in the Monday do-or-die showdown ... and then getting to take on Louisville, opposed to No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt, as they were upset in the Nashville Regional.

There's nothing wrong with backing in, or critics saying you backed in—the issue is face-planting and eating shit when you're given a golden ticket and an opportunity to do something special.

Miami's last go-around as a contender was in 2008 as a No. 1 overall seed and they shit the bed in the ninth inning against Georgia, beat Florida State in the losers bracket and then got rocked by Stanford.

Almost two decades of some lean baseball since.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

I'm not giving @CanesBaseball a pass; this program has been a shell of itself since Jim Morris was extended in 2012 (after getting run out of the Coral Gables Regional by Stony Brook and Missouri State)—two internal hires since and 14 years later, Miami has never been more in need of new blood.

All that to say, we have to acknowledge that college baseball as a whole has changed and yesterday's powerhouses are as ripe for upsets more than ever before in history.

Our fans made a big to-do that Miami lost to Troy ... only to see the Trojans craws out of the losers bracket to beat Florida—in Gainesville—in back-to-back games, outscoring the Gators, 26-13 in those two games.

Florida State also got wiped out of their Tallahassee Regional as St. John's is advancing to the Super Regionals.

No. 1 UCLA got knocked out by St. Marys; No. 2 Georgia Tech was sent packing by Oklahoma. Southern Cal took out host Texas A&M; Ole Miss took out host Nebraska.

Little Rock won the Hattiesburg Regional; Southern Miss losing a home regional again (Miami advanced last year)—and they're taking on Troy, in what most expected to be a Florida / Southern Miss match-up.

Does it suck that Miami baseball is a shell of itself; absolutely—but for all the shit the Canes ate on Saturday night from Gators and Seminoles fans, their seasons ended within 24 hours of Miami's as both got run out of their home regionals by much lesser programs ... a reminder that baseball is a fickle sport where getting hot at the right time is everything, and a slew of underdogs advancing was a much bigger story this weekend the the Canes not being the power they once were.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

@1thcerag @KirkMcalpin3 @S_Pedian …and Rich Robinson ruined that before it even really got started as he blew off Pagey’s ask to write and record some music with him—so the Led Zeppelin guitarist tapped out and blamed it on back issues.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

He also got weirdly way too deep into the Grateful Dead in the late ‘90s, tried to turn The Black Crowes into a shitty jam band (opening saying “fuck what the fans want” and doing 17-minute renditions of “Thorn In My Pride” and blowing off playing the hits).

Now he and his brother reunited for a payday, with a bunch of hired guns, yet call it The Black Crowes when it’s a fucking cash grab … and then goes on unhinged political rants against half his fan base.

Ooh, where can I sign up and overpay for a night of that kind of fun; GTFOH this entitled diva ever did anything for anyone other than himself. Please.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

You're taking out of context and you don't follow me—so you haven't seen a hundred other comments for well over a decade about the across the board issues with this baseball program—starting with sticking in there with Jim Morris a half decade too long and now coming up on a lost decade with Gino DiMare and J.D. Arteaga as internal, seniority-fueled hires, instead of bringing in new blood.

After a weekend of a slew of us disgruntled Canes fans all saying the same shit about losses to Florida and Troy, it seemed apropos to bring up the parity in today's game and how it's a different era when we're seeing so many little shit schools running off national seeds tournament hosts in a slew of upsets.

I was making a larger point to the state of college baseball right now; Troy taking out Miami and Florida ... St. John's taking out Florida State ... No. 1 overall seed UCLA taken out by St. Mary's (and CalPoly winning that regional) ... Oklahoma rolling into No. 2 Georgia Tech and ending their season ... Little Rock beating Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg Regional.

We grew up in an era where it seemed to be Miami, Florida State, Texas, LSU, Oklahoma State, Southern Cal, Arizona State, Stanford (and random programs like Cal State Fullerton) seemingly there every season—chose to add to my "our program's in the shitter" posts with some comments on the state of the sport overall, as in four decades of religiously following this program (and college baseball as a whole), I've never seen these kids of upset or this kind of parity (and the fact that Florida State and Florida were on the losing end as regional hosts, made it even more fun to point out.)

Miami wasn't beating Florida in back-to-back games on Sunday evening and Monday night—yet Troy waxed the Gators by a combined score of 26-13 and advanced.

What a world.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Yup. The only shot Miami had at anything would've been the return of Butch Davis in 2007, but UM dragged ass on firing Larry Coker and North Carolina snatched Davis up in November 2006 ... and even with that, the powers that be were never bringing Butch home—the top brass blaming him for going to Cleveland when it was Paul Dee and others who fucked up and didn't extend him late 2000 / early 2001.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

@SebastiansPub @CanesBaseball **handing out more passes here**

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Yup, just out there giving Canes baseball a non-stop pass—been calling out this shit-show since the end of the Morris era and ripped two in-house hires of guys who were promoted because of seniority.

Point of the post wasn't to keep piling on to Miami baseball, as I'd chimed in on a ton of posts ripping this season—the errors, the shitty bullpen and the overall state of this program for the past 14 years.

I was responding to the contingent of the fan base that was so aghast Miami lost to Troy—who went on to beat Florida twice out of the losers bracket—as Gators fans (and shit-talking Seminoles) were in everybody's comments trashing UM and sucking their own dicks.

To see Florida lose (twice) to Troy and Florida State getting run out of their own regional by St. John's—it was something to point out to snarky rivals and Miami fans (who live in the past and who think it's a crime to lose to a Troy, as if this program, didn't get smoked by Stony Brook and Missouri State, outscored 22-4 in a home regional 14 years ago.)

I've called out this baseball program, so much over the past decade-plus that UM's official account stopped following me ... so yeah, do your homework before you throw baseless accusations. I soured on this program and its poor leadership since before Gino DiMare was hired.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

1. Contract was amended after 2012 to run through 2015.

2. Yes, went to Omaha—caught a nice break when four-seed VCU won the Dallas Regional (over Dallas Baptist, Texas and Oregon State)—and then boat-raced out of the College World Series by Florida, 15-3 and 10-2 (and beat Arkansas, 4-3 in losers bracket game.)

A year later Miami catches three-seed Boston College in the Super Regional (over Ole Miss, Tulane and Utah; the Utes upsetting the Rebels in the opener)—an opening 5-1 loss to Arizona in Omaha, followed by a limp showing against Santa Barbara in the losers bracket, 5-3—Miami going 1-4 at the College World Series those back-to-back years.

So yeah, the Canes somewhat "backed" into Omaha those two years ... which isn't really a stretch to say after an easy Super Regional both years, only to get outplayed and outclassed those last two CWS runs (outscored 38-13 in those five games.)

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Absolutely.

That's not promoting from within; that's a great former player who was a bench coach for Houston and part of a World Series win for the Astros ... and then he got the Boston managerial gig, where he won a World Series as a rookie—where e also won a ring as a player in 2007.

Cora has street cred and loves Miami; great player for the Canes in his day ... would love to see him in the conversation, but also want to see UM vet out a lot of options when the time comes to make a change and not promote from within.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Yeah, it's not even a misery-loves-company thing as much as Florida and Florida State fans lighting Miami fans up Saturday night and Sunday morning—gloating as both thought they were shoo-ins to get to the Super Regional—and then Troy beats Florida's ass twice and Florida State gives up a grand slam and eats shit thanks to St. John's outlasting them (twice) in Trailerhassee.

Has both Gators and Noles fans not gone wild on X after Florida whipped Miami; the focus is on how bad the Canes looked in Gainesville ... but the minute they both talked shit, all energy shifted to mocking rivals for getting punked in home regional by smaller schools.

Nobody expected Miami to win the Gainesville Regional; the Gators had run the Canes out of three Regionals and a Super Regional in their house dating back to 2009; five now after this year while Florida is 7-0 against Miami over that span.

Troy whipping Florida out of the losers bracket—by a combined score of 26-13 ... advancing to the Supers?

That's next-level embarrassing based on the expectation as host and a national seed.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

Miami hasn't been a solid baseball program since 2008—when it choked away a No. 1 seed losing to No. 8 Georgia in the opening game.

Made it to Omaha in 2015 and 2016 (years there were easier paths with upsets in the regionals); got boat-raced out of there with a 1-4 record those two seasons—Florida smashing Miami by a combined score of 25-5 in two games and going 0-2 a year later, losing to Arizona and Santa Barbara.

Florida has reached Omaha eight times since 2010; Miami is twice over that same span—and the Gators won it all in 2017; Canes haven't won since 2001—a quarter century ago.

The Gators have won 11 of the past 12 series against the Canes and six straight series in Coral Gables—as well a 26 of the last 35 overall meetings; Kevin O'Sullivan now 45-19 against Miami overall and 20-9 on the road.

Florida and Miami have met in the Gainesville Regional four times since 2009; once in a Gainesville Super Regional—the Gators ended the Canes season and advanced all five times, going 7-0 in head to head match-ups.

As for Florida State, they have six trips to Omaha to Miami's three (since 2008)—a 20-13 record against the Canes over this past decade, won seven of the past ten games and took five of the past nine series.

In short, time to get past that "4-1" and "4-0" stuff is ancient history—Florida has owned Miami in baseball for the better part of the past two decades (and it's fucking nauseating) while Florida State has been slightly better this past decade, as well.

[IT'S A 'U' THING @ItsAUThingBlog]

The latter points were aimed more towards our Florida State—and especially Florida brethren—as all were having a Sunday field day after Troy took Miami out ... only to see both those storied program ending their seasons 24 hours later to lesser teams; the Gators beaten twice by the Trojans, while the Noles got embarrassed at home by St. John's.

Really wasn't an attempt at what-about-ism, misery loving company or giving the Canes a pass—it was holding up a mirror to rivals who reveled in Miami's season ending, while both thought they were hot shit and coasting to the Super Regionals.

Mortified with how the Canes looked down the stretch with the errors and brutal bullpen, but can you imagine being a Gators fan—at home, up 2-0 in the winners' bracket and assuming you'll cruise against a Trojans team playing their fourth game of the regional (and a Sunday doubleheader)—and they rolled Florida, 16-11?

Regroup, roll out Monday to close it out—and the Gators get dog-walked, 10-2? Meanwhile, Florida State loses twice to fourth-seeded St. John's in Tallahassee? And is doing so in year three of the Link Jarrett era, where they feel they have their guy and have turned a corner as a program?

Miami fans are hardly shocked that things didn't work out under Gino DiMare or J.D. Arteaga and have been clamoring for change; Florida has Kevin O'Sullivan (who has won a natty and often gets to Ohama) and Florida State felt they recalibrated after the Martin ... and both saw their seasons end in the regionals, just like maligned Miami.