The Best in Florida: Gators, Hurricanes or Seminoles?

By: Candy Man

            Who can lay claim as the best football program in the state of Florida? College football in the Sunshine State took off in the 80’s when Miami won their first national championship in ’83. The U went on to win 3 more titles before UF or FSU won their first. FSU got on board in 1993 with Heisman Trophy winner, Charlie Ward. Soon after, the Gators joined the club in 1996 when they beat the Seminoles in the title game. Since the 1980’s, the rivalries between the U, FSU & UF have grown into the national spotlight and these 3 programs combined to win 11 national championships, about 1/3^rd of all the championships in that time period. That is a great accomplishment and a testament to the quality of football being played in this state at the college and high school level. But who can say they have the best football program out of the three?

The team that invented swagger makes a good case as they have the most national championships with 5. The U was the most dominant and most hated team in the 80’s when head coaches Schnellenberger, Johnson & Erickson led them to 3 championships. They spoiled many teams’ shots at winning a title including Florida State, Nebraska, Oklahoma & Notre Dame. That success carried over into the 90’s until a Pell grant scandal knocked them off for a few years. They came back strong with Larry Coker and won another title in 2001 with the “greatest team in college football history.” Their cocky & flashy style created a brand & a legacy that is recognized throughout the college football landscape. You can say they produced the most talent in the state also. 2 Heisman Trophy winners have played for the Canes, quarterbacks Vinny Testaverde & Gino Torretta. They have set multiple NFL draft records & they could field a complete NFL team, 2^nd string and all, with just their own players. Ray Lewis, Michael Irvin, Warren Sapp, Ed Reed, Sean Taylor, Edgerrin James, Willis McGahee, Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, Clinton Portis, Devin Hester, Reggie Wayne, Santana Moss, the Blades brothers, Jonathan Vilma, Jim Kelly, Jerome Brown, Bernie Kosar and many other stars at every position.

The Florida Gators are the oldest team in the state but didn’t reach consistent success until the 60’s when they had Steve Spurrier, 1966 Heisman winner, at quarterback and Ray Graves as head coach. This is also the time when Gatorade was first invented. The 70’s were so-so with head coach, Doug Dickey, and the 80’s were more successful but tarnished with major infractions that resulted in severe penalties from the NCAA. The Gators rebounded in the 90’s & reached national prominence with multiple SEC titles and a national championship in 1996 under head coach, Steve Spurrier. They won 2 more championships with Urban Meyer & arguably the best college football player ever, Tim Tebow. Some of the Gator greats include Heisman Trophy winners, Danny Wuerffel & Steve Spurrier, Emmitt Smith, Fred Taylor, Ike Hilliard, Jevon Kearse, Brandon Spikes, Percy Harvin, Joe Haden, the Pouncey Twins, Kevin Carter, Rex Grossman, Jack Youngblood & Wilbur Marshall.

           

The Florida State Seminoles, the former all-girls school & the youngest team out of the 3, started playing D1 football in the 1950’s. It’s impressive what they’ve done in a short amount of time when there are schools that have been playing D1 since the 1800’s. One of the greatest coaches in college football history, Bobby Bowden, took over in the 70’s and led the program to great heights. FSU ran the 90’s, fell off in the late 2000’s at the end of the Bobby Bowden era and have rose back to the top under Jimbo Fisher. Now you can say they are on the same level as UF with both having 3 national titles and 3 Heisman winners. No question, the best team right now are the Seminoles. Jameis Winston led them to a championship last year & he is on his way to becoming the 1^st overall pick in this year’s draft. They’ve racked up on a lot of talent with top 5 recruiting classes and are sending them to the league more than any other school besides Alabama. Their most impressive accomplishment, in my opinion, are the 14 straight years they finished in the top 5 beginning in the late 80’s to the end of the 90’s. That’s consistency and they could’ve added a few more championships if it wasn’t for Miami & Florida. Some of the greatest athletes to come through Tallahassee are “Primetime” Deion Sanders, Heisman Trophy winners, Charlie Ward, Chris Weinke & Jameis Winston, Warrick Dunn, Peter Warrick, Terrell Buckley, state of Florida legend Derrick Brooks, Marvin Jones, Ron Simmons, Peter Boulware, Anquan Boldin, & Fred Biletnikoff..

            

One thing for sure, each one of them had successful runs. It’s like a power cycle where one program is on top for a few years then comes back down to Earth while the others catch up & take over that top spot. Miami ran the 80’s, all three programs dominated the 90’s, UM was scary in the early 2000’s & the Gators were on top a few years later while FSU struggled. Now FSU is one of the best teams in the nation while the U & UF are struggling. Miami hasn’t done much in more than 10 years after losing their last title game to Ohio State & moving to the ACC. The Gators were in a great position just a few years ago but all that got derailed when Urban Meyer left & Will Muschamp was hired. It’s been years since Miami & Florida beat Florida State and both are trying to place themselves in the best position to knock off FSU & return to their glory days. Factoring in the history & present day of all three programs, who would you say is the best in the state of Florida?

The Great Urban Meyer

By:Candy Man 

​Ohio State just won the first College Football Playoff National Championship. Before the season, many people counted the Buckeyes out when their star quarterback for the prior two seasons, Braxton Miller, suffered a season-ending shoulder injury. Then they lost their first game of the season to Virginia Tech. But since then, backup quarterback & Heisman candidate J.T. Barrett led his team to 10 straight victories before he went down with an ankle injury during the Michigan game. In came the 3rd string quarterback, 6’5 250 pound Cardale Jones. Never before getting a chance to step ontothe field for Ohio State, he finished the season with a win in the B1G TEN championship game over Wisconsin, the playoff semifinals over Alabama & the national championship this past Monday over Oregon. It was an improbable season for Ohio State full of adversity and many people thought they were still a year or 2 away from reaching the championship game. When the playoffs committee picked them as the #4 seed in the playoffs over TCU & Baylor, it was a controversial decision and the general thought was that they didn’t deserve a spot. But with a coach like Urban Meyer, anything is possible.

​Meyer, who already won 2 championships with the Gators, will become a legend in the state of Ohio after winning another one at his alma mater. Urban Meyer got his Master’s in sports administration from Ohio State and also started his coaching career there in the 80’s. His first head coaching job was Bowling Green where he took a 2-9 team to an 8-3 season in 2001. He left after his second year to coach at the University of Utah. He won the MWC Coach of the Year award in his first year after winning 10 games, and followed that up with the first undefeated season at Utah in his second year. He then jumped at the chance to coach the Florida Gators where he won 2 championships in 2006 & 2008. He left the University of Florida in 2010, took a year off, then was hired in 2012 to become the next Ohio State football coach after a disappointing 6-7 season the previous year. In his first year, he went undefeated but couldn’t contend for the national championship because of NCAA violations that resulted in a bowl ban and a loss of scholarships. His second year started strong but ended in 2 straight losses in the conference championship game and the Orange Bowl. He then went on to win the conference and national championship in 2014. So in summary, he went undefeated at 3 schools and won national titles at 2 of them. It only took him 2 years to win one a title at Florida and 3 years to win another title at Ohio State. So you can see why many people and the media are already calling him the greatest of all time and even better than Nick Saban.

While Ohio State fans were celebrating Monday night, Gator fans were reminiscing to the good ol’ days when Meyer was theircoach. Many of them are grateful for the 2 titles that he brought to Gainesville while there are others that would never forgive him for how he left UF high & dry to suffer in the years after he stepped down for “health and family” reasons. Despite that, nobody can doubt his coaching success. He’s on his way to starting a dynasty at Ohio State and could be even better than Woody Hayes, a legend in Ohio who won 5 titles as the Buckeyes coach in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. With a young team that is returning most of its starters including the national championship MVP and possibly all three quarterbacks, Ohio State will have the best odds of winning the 2016 CFP National Championship.

Miramar Patriots Football: Is it the End?

By: Candy Man 

The 2014 Miramar football team was the #1 team in the preseason Class 8A polls & one of the most talented teams in Florida. They were projected to win the Class 8A state championship but soon got off to a disappointing 2-2 start to the season, losing leads late in the game to Plantation-American Heritage & St. Thomas, and another lead later in the year to Flanagan. They finished the year with 8 wins & 3 losses. They also lost their head coach, Matthew Strout, who resigned midway through the season for personal reasons. However, after his resignation, he claimed that several players were academically ineligible to play and others were paid to transfer to Miramar & for their play on the field. 

To provide a little background on the situation, the 2013 Patriots finished the regular season undefeated before losing in a surprising upset to Palm Beach Gardens in the regional finals. Damon Cogdell, the head coach that built Miramar into a powerhouse and won the 2009 Class 6A state championship, left the school to become the linebackers coach for the West Virginia Mountaineers. Strout who was an offensive line coach, got promoted to head coach. This past summer, Miramar received several transfers including highly-recruited prospect, Jovon Durante from Norland. The Patriots got off to a 5-3 start before Strout was forced to resign. Soon after, allegations of ineligible players and impermissible benefits surfaced. Along with his other claims, Strout also claimed that he gave “sports gear, airfare to summer camps, presents for players’ girlfriends, cash incentives for grades, and tickets to USF football games to two teachers,” according to the Sun-Sentinel. Strout also lied about his educational background and job history. 

I don’t know if Miramar football has a history of academic misconduct & giving illegal benefits to athletes under Coach Cogdell or if this all started when Matthew Strout was named the head coach but it’s unfortunate that the football team had to lose their whole season and a shot at the state championship because of a few bad people in the program. It is said that more than 20 student-athletes were implicated and some ineligible athletes even had their grades fixed so that they can continue playing. Others were paid for making big plays on the field. After the team learned that it would lose its spot in the playoffs, athletes, parents, & coaches protested in front of the Broward County School Board building but the school board was firm & steady in their decision. Hopefully, Miramar will find a coach that can clean up the program, be a leader to the young men and help the team bounce back from this controversy in 2015.

Teddy “2Gloves” Bridgewater: GUMP (Great Under Major Pressure)

By: Jimbo Brown

“Teddy, Teddy, Teddy” chants the the Minnesota Vikings fan base after rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater came to the sideline after a touchdown drive. “It’s great when you have fans on your back supporting you,” Bridgewater said. Its not new for Teddy to hear his name chanted or lead his team to a comeback victory, he has done both throughout his career.Teddy’s career didn’t start off on the bright side. He didn’t become the #1 pick after preseason mock draft had him and Jadeveon Clowney as #1 and #2.

Two other quarterbacks were taken ahead of Bridgewater after respected experts had him ranked as  #4 QB due to a subpar performance at his pro day. Teddy stayed humble throughout the draft process and worked hard to show the Vikings their first-round pick wasn’t a waste.  His first career start didn’t disappoint the Viking organization neither. 

Teddy Bridgewater was the first quarterback ever to record a fourth-quarter comeback in his debut bringing the Vikings back from a one-point deficit after they blew a 27-14 lead in the third quarter. With the best debut of any vikings quarterback back, Teddy set team records for the most passing yards, most completions and highest passer rating by a rookie in his first start. After only one start, Teddy is proving on the field that he was the best quarterback in the 2014 NFL Draft. 

Trying to make a play to put his team in the lead, Teddy sprained his ankle and didn’t return to the game after converting the 2-point conversion. Although he is likely to start this Thursday against the Packers, Teddy has played with this injury before while at Louisville, against an in-conference rival, University of Rutgers.Teddy states “I think in this situation, I’m just going to have to put extra time in the training room.” As the co-founder of GUMP (Great Under Major Pressure), Teddy will be well prepared if coaches decide to start him. 

Teddy “2Gloves” Bridgewater gives the children that are running around Bunche Park, someone they can look up took and say “I can do it too.”  He’s done everything the right way and still has a lot more to accomplish. 

Adrian Peterson Child Abuse Scandal: Was he right or wrong?

By: Jimbo Brown

It has been a long couple of weeks for the NFL due to legal issues: Domestic Violence and Child Abuse, neither being acceptable to me or to many others across the nation. When it comes to the Adrian Peterson situation I believe he has every right to discipline his children. He may have went overboard, but he only implemented the tactics learned by his parents.

For those who may not know the story let me get you up to speed. Earlier this year in May, Peterson took a switch (thin branch with no leaves) and spanked his son for pushing his sibling. He was questioned by two different police departments with a lawyer, summoned and testified before the Grand Jury. A warrant for his arrest was issued in Montgomery, Texas, where he turned himself in and posted the $25,000 bail. The Minnesota Vikings will not take any action until due process has taken place. 

Even though the child sustained bodily injures and Peterson may have went over board, I believe you can't tell someone how to discipline their child. In the black community, getting whipped or spanked is common in most households. Parents go-to line will always be “I brought you into this world and I can take you out.” We all have done things in our life that has lead to our parents disciplining us.

It was times during my life where my parents have disciplined me in multiple ways: whippings (belts,switches etc) and Physical (punch in chest, slap in face etc). have gotten bruises and sometimes bleed during a whipping. I now understand the purpose for the punishment. It made me think about the actions and the consequences behind it. My parents also explained to me after on why this happen and how I can prevent it by following their rules. I believe the white culture will not understand because they were raised differently. 

A large part of the country is quick to judge this situation but no one is in the position to tell someone how to discipline their child. We all have our beliefs and ways we might have gone about this. Adrian Peterson admits to overly whipping his child but didn’t intentionally mean to abuse and harm HIS child. I hope the NFL doesn't overly react to the situation before all the details are out. We don’t need another Ray Rice situation.