Here at Tomahawkan Nation and other sites, there has been a lot of discussion lately on the Miami Hurricanes recruiting class. Going by Rivals, they are currently sitting at #6 in the team rankings, three spots ahead of the Seminoles. Miami, as of right now, has 30 commtis for the 2012 class. Of these 30 recruits, 21 of them are 3 stars or lower.

The argument from the Miami side of the discussion is that "stars do not matter" and "Golden can coach up anyone" etc. So what should Miami be expecting in the upcoming years? I think a good starting place could be the 2009 FSU season. A season which saw the Seminoles finish with a 7-6 record, barely sending Bobby Bowden off into the sunset as a winner, one last time.

Continue reading this post »

I'll say right off, that I am in no way a doctor or anything like that. In high school, I managed to burst the bursa sac in each of my elbows while playing football.

If you go to Wikipedia, it gives you a pretty good definition of the purpose of the Bursa Sac:

 It provides a cushion between bones and tendons and/or muscles around a joint. This helps to reduce friction between the bones and allows free movement. Bursae are filled with synovial fluid and are found around most major joints of the body. 

When you burst the sac, the swelling happens pretty fast and your elbow is pretty tender.  It isn't an unbearable pain but it can be painful if you hit the area or apply pressure to it.

Check out this image of an elbow that has a burst bursa sac.

via gallery.mtbr.com

As you can see the swelling is pretty significant. So how does this affect the throwing ability of a QB? Well, try this quick, easy experiment and you can see the restriction.

Extend your arm out so that it is straight. Pinch and hold the excess skin at your elbow. Now, while holding the excess skin, begin to slowly bend your elbow in like you are flexing your bicep. You will notice that while bending the elbow in, the excess skin draws tight until you are left with little or no skin to hold onto.

So, when the bursa sac bursts, the elbow is now filled with fluid. The excess skin is now holding the fluid and your elbow looks like it has an egg in there. That excess skin is now tender and painful if pressure is applied or it is hit.

So when the QB goes through his throwing motion, the most painful part will be right before he begins to actually extend his arm. When he has rared back or wound back his arm to throw the pass. So, if you think about this, the harder he is going to throw a ball, the more pain it is going to cause.

If I'm just tossing a ball around, I'm not going to have to rare back and throw. My elbow will not have to bend as much. Where as, if I am trying to throw the ball with some zip or throw the ball downfield and I want to put something on the throw, my elbow is going to bend in completely and the excess skin will be next to nothing. The tender skin, swelling and fluid will be smashed against my elbow and the pain will increase.

The play that really sticks out to me is when Bert got smashed on the short throw where Ponder's pass seemed to float out there forever. This was the play right before Bert's TD run.

If Ponder's elbow had swelled up then the zip he wanted to put on the ball would have meant he would have been in pain making that pass. It could have caused him to not rare back as much as needed and not put zip on the pass.

I hope this helps us all to realize that Ponder would have been affected by this injury. I still think there were some mental errors on his part. But if his mind was telling him he could make a pass, but his elbow wasn't cooperating, this could account for some of those mistakes.

 I am trying to write this as an observation not from a rival fan but that of a casual observer of UF football. I admit from the start that I am a long time Nole fan and that I watch many UF games in hopes of seeing them lose. I was raised in Jax, Fl, but have for the last 15 years or so been living in Louisville, Ky. Most football games that I watch are viewed with fans that have no allegiance towards FSU or UF football. In fact, most of these parties that I view with are more College Basketball fans than anything. My goal is to try and write this from their point of view which Ive been observing for a few years now.

The University of Florida sports program, namely the football program and to the lesser basketball also, has reached a point that they are no longer simply a sports team representing their schools; but instead are representatives of a fanbase, or a group  that seems to live or die based off their performance. This group no longer reacts as a normal fan base but instead reacts as if the fate of their whole world rests upon their sports team.

This group behaves with an air of superiority about them. They look down on all other teams and their connected fans and how those teams act is seen as juvenile and childish. I dont want to use the word cult to describe anything like this, but I would relate this to a religious group or gathering. I am a Christian and at times, Christians can look down on others while turning a blind eye to their own sins.

The previous paragraphs may be to the extreme, but just take a look back at the last 5-6 years of this program. The success of the basketball program helped bring some national attention to the school. The cohesiveness of this group was applauded and people raved about how they played with such emotion and heart. With the hiring of Urban Meyer, the football program quickly followed suit. The team garnered many praises and much attention. The fan base seemed to grow and grow and these fans seemed to be fanatical about their team beyond the usual fan.

I think the first time my friends and I really took notice of this, was in the viewing of the Florida/Auburn football game in 2007. Auburn hit a game-winning field goal with time expiring. To see the look of devastation on the fans faces was... odd. These werent fans just saddened by a loss, these were fans that looked like their lives were turned upside down. This was a regular season game and people were in tears, vividly shaken by the defeat. There was a even a youtube video of a Florida fan going insane after the loss, cursing his TV, etc. It was after this game that I really noticed that the Florida fan base had grown to something more than fans... it was almost like a large family, a like-minded group that's world was the University of Florida. In the following year, my friends have made several comments about the numerous tears and emotion displayed in their victories and defeats.

Flash-forward to this past weekend. Meyer's resignation and now leave of absence turns the sportsworld into a frenzy. The press conference seemed like a cover up of sorts. The program was trumpeted and all was right in the world. Leaving in the shadows the fact that Meyer obviously has some health concerns and that the weight of the program and it's followers was a main contributor. Yet, here we are and Meyer is on his way back to coaching in 2010 and neglecting the fact that his own personal health and the lives of his family could be greatly affected by this... it's an all too familiar story to a lot of those who have family in the Ministry.

My dad has been a pastor now for 30+ years. In that time, he has had several heart and chest issues and though he is a good father, he has not always been there for his family. He's now in his late 50s and his health is not great. The years of the burden that was the church and it's members has taken a huge toll on his life. His health and his family have been affected. But the need of the church was great and he couldnt stop giving his all to it.

The need of the Florida fan base is great and I think Urban feels as if he owes it to this program, to these fans to keep on going. He cant leave his "followers." The burden of the University of Florida football program will take a toll on his life and his families.

Coach Coley's latest tweet got me thinking about negative recruiting. If you havent seen his latest message, it states " I know ur out there... I know ur trying to go to every place I've been... I know what ur saying... I know U FEAR the SPEAR... "

Now, following Coley's twitter, this could just be legit or it could be him and another one of his sayings. But it got me thinking about how negative the recruiting against Florida State has been the last few years. I would think the obvious main form of negative recruiting probably surrounded Bowden. I was trying to piece together all the differenet aspects other teams could probably use against State.

(1) Bowden's non-existant appearances in a recruit's homes or at a recruit's games.

(B) His future. How long will he coach? Who's the real coach?

(Green) The overall incompetency of Bowden's program. The dysfunction, the poor hiring choices, etc.

I know there are more areas around Bowden that were probably said, but those were the ones I could think of off the top of my head. What all can a coach say to a recruit on a visit? Can they basically say anything they want about opposing coaches and teams? I wonder what the opposition is saying now?

It's a real shocker that FSU in these last few years got any decent or good recruits before Jimbo and crew started heading up the recruiting. I know the classes were bad, but Im starting to look back and realize, that they could have been a lot worse. You can see by the coaching hires by Jimbo and the results so far that recruiting is vital to JF. So three cheers for the new coaches and their ability to recruit.

The "lost years" really hurt this school, this team and some great players. I am really looking forward to seeing the end result of this year's class and the classes to follow.

  Lately, Ive been reading where a lot of readers and fans think that next year is only going to be a slight improvement on this year. And that at most, FSU is going to win only 1 or 2 more.

I guess my problem with this is that FSU was really close to having a good record this year and competing for the ACC Championship.

In the Miami game, they were one play away from winning that game. Obviously the Fortson catch but also a key third down where Patrick Robinson missed a tackle that would have stopped a scoring drive for Miami.

In the BC game, one defensive stop in the fourth quarter and FSU would have this game.

In the GTech game, same as BC, one defensive stop in the fourth quarter and FSU would have won this game.

In the Clemson game, I really didnt think FSU had any business being in this game as close as they were, but they were still a Mister Alexander offsides call away from going up big and possibly winning that game.

That makes FSU a 10-2 team with losses to Florida, which the Noles werent going to win and S.Florida, which they came out flat and didnt play well at all (and I still think the phantom hold call on Ponder's TD toss really changed this game).

Yes, I know we could go the other way and say they were a few plays away from being 3-9, but the fact of the matter is, this was an elite offense that with a decent defense would have competed for the ACC crown.

So I feel that a slight improvement next year, is going to be a huge improvement in the overall record. People fail to see just how close FSU was from being a great team. A play here, a better defense there and this is a whole different year.

I think with an improved defense, an experienced offense and a new coaching staff, that the Noles are going to have a great season next year.