SB Nation User Blog: evenflow58

Should I root for FSU this weekend?

evenflow58 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:08:29 -0000

In my endless quest to cause pain to myself I've read all I can find about the FSU/USF game. In my reading I stumbled across AC's mailbag and this question in particular.

Trey (Orlando) writes: So how are school officials and decision makers viewing Bowden’s future? Is there any talk around Tallahassee about it? I love Bowden, but it may be time. Do you have an opinion on this matter?

Andrew Carter: I knew this question would be coming this week. Here’s the deal, Trey: I think we’re in a holding pattern at this point. Certainly, the 2-2 start has raised significant questions about the direction of this program. I think people thought that, worst case, FSU would be 2-2 right now. Well, the worst case has happened. If that continues, then there will be all sorts of questions about Bowden’s immediate future. And there are now, to an extent. But the thing is, FSU can still right the ship. It can still win the Atlantic Division, play for the ACC title, go to a BCS bowl, etc. But if the Seminoles lose this weekend, it could interesting – and ugly – in Tallahassee. As for my opinion, I do have one, but I’m waiting to see what happens this weekend.

After the jump I'll try and explain myself a bit better.

Obviously the big question following the USF game (and for years on here on TN) has been "how soon can Bobby leave?" The rumblings for Bobby's departure have increased with each loss. However, the USF loss seems to have accelerated the call for action. My question is "do we root against FSU?"

With a poor season Bobby is as likely as ever to realize this team isn't close to winning anything anytime soon and he's not likely to be a coach when they are. Would this signal to Bobby that now is as good as a time as ever to step down? Would the school and boosters just Bobby thanks but no thanks on that 1-year contract next year? Certainly they are all possibilities.

However, this would also reflect poorly on Fisher, who most people here seem to have confidence in, and would definitely hurt recruiting, which it already has. I highly doubt that a poor season would preclude Fisher from becoming the Head Coach at FSU because FSU can't afford that but it might put him immediately on the hot seat and not give him a chance to put his ideas into place. This could lengthen FSU's rebuilding effort drastically.

The alternative to all of this is that FSU is able to right the ship this year to the point where they finish with a respectable record and repeat a similar trek in 2010. Certainly Bobby will hang around if he thinks FSU is "one player away" (why do you goad him Peter Warrick, why?). What happens then? Is there a fight amongst Bobby and the boosters/school as to whether or not he stays? What if he wants some say in staff that he leaves? What about a spurned staff member throwing a hissy fit? This would all look pretty bad in the press and it wouldn't shock me if the boosters/school caved in on some of his demands.

So, how 'bout it? Who do you have this week?

Poll

Will you be rooting for or against FSU?

For FSU

98 votes

Against FSU

9 votes

I will be waaaaaayyyy to drunk to care

15 votes

122 votes | Poll has closed

Evenflow's Football Axiom #1

evenflow58 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:14:00 -0000

Unless you play a base 3-4 DO NOT only rush 3 players on 3rd and long.

I was watching the Clemson/GTech game tonight and was dumbfounded that GTech rushed only 3 on 3rd and long. I understand the thought behind it: more people in a zone means the zones are smaller. However, there are always holes in a zone and the more time WRs and QBs have to find that hole the more likely it is. Andrews called this garbage a bunch last year and it wasn't very successful (UM's conversion of 3rd and 16 came on a 3 man rush as did a long Clemson conversion tonight).

The problem is that you are basically allowing the offense to double team more than half of your rush. The person that is not double teamed is most likely your worst pass rusher. To be clear rushing three if you drop a lineman into coverage and rush a LB or DB isn't the worse thing in the world. It's even worse when the offense leaves a back or TE into block as now everybody is double teamed. The last Clemson play of tonight's game left the RB in to block. GTech rushed 4 meaning 1 lineman was single blocked. That lineman got far enough up field to spook a freshmen QB who then rolled to his right making the secondary's job easier. Of course Parker (the QB) threw across his body well short of his target and the game was over.

So, please DC's stick with what got you there. Oh, and I liked Mickey's nickel package of just completely swearing off lineman. Not only do you get a blitz but how is a QB to legitimately know where it is coming from.

What About Bob?

evenflow58 — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:42:35 -0000

In the wake of FSU picking up its 10^th commitment (Holmes Onwukaife) I began to think about the importance of the new efforts in FSU’s recruiting. Most of the praise goes to Fisher and Coley, and rightfully so, but Bob LaCivita should get an assist here. As you may or may not remember LaCivita was hired in ’07 to the position of Football Director of Player Personnel, a position he previously held at NCState and, more recently, UF. LaCivita’s job entails overseeing administrative duties relating to recruiting and assisting on day-to-day football activities.

More after the jump.

As soon as LaCivita showed up in Tallahassee so did Seminole Showtime. Former players were actively pursued and asked to come back to FSU to participate in events. Non-FSU NFL players were recruited to join others and put a stamp on FSU as the place to be. The best thing about Onwukaife’s recruitment is that each point listed above can be seen in his recruitment.

Seminole Showtime
Onwukaife is a recruit from Texas and while he never named a final five he did note he was looking at UCLA, UVA, UNC, Michigan, Texas Tech, and Colorado among others. I’ve also heard people comment that Texas and/or OU might offer him. Would he had ever looked at FSU? Would FSU had ever looked at him? It’s hard to say. However, Seminole Showtime got him on campus and created a great environment for him and his parents to explore the school, meet the coaches and players, and get a general feeling about what FSU and it’s football program is all about.

Former Players Come Home
One of the strongest reasons for a kid to come to FSU as a football player is the amount of Seminoles that show up on draft day each year. However, potential recruits never got a taste of that while exploring FSU as an option. It was always just a vague concept. Since LaCivita was hired former FSU players have been asked to come back to Tallahassee. They’ve been asked to participate in events, like games, practices, Seminole Showtime, and roasts.

Miami has always had a strong tie to its NFL players. How many times have NFLers skipped their team’s training camp to train at Miami? FSU is starting to build a similar relationship with its former players. This not only furthers the family atmosphere at FSU but always brings home what a recruit can accomplish with FSU’s help. Former NFL players are on hand at events like Seminole Showtime to give advice to current and potential Seminoles as Steve Ellis reports. Former players and coaches are encouraged to come back and roast their former coach. That might not seem like a lot but it keeps FSU and its successes in the news.

Hey, remember that time Jerry Rice caught that pass from Charlie Ward? No? Me neither.
Jerry Rice might seem like a weird participant at the inaugural Seminole Showtime but it put a stamp on a new event. It was a way of telling recruits that Seminole Showtime is worth the trip even if you aren’t interested in FSU. The toughest part in marketing is getting a potential customer in the door. Players like Jerry Rice do that. This year we had Derrick Brooks on campus amongst other former FSU players. How many times does a kid walk onto a college campus and meet a NFL Hall of Fame or Pro-Bowl player?

Certainly LaCivita has done more for FSU than just recruiting but his main reason for being hired was recruiting. Combining his work with the relentlessness of coaches like Fisher and Coley has proven to make FSU a dangerous recruiting center when many other factors (NCAA investigations, sub-standard play, and questionable coaches) should hurt FSU’s chances.

Friday Roundtable: Just desserts looming for fluffy schedulers?

evenflow58 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:38:45 -0000

Friday Roundtable: Just desserts looming for fluffy schedulers?

Nice article on Dr Saturday concerning the lack of high caliber hot steamy BCS on BCS action. I put in my two cents.

The Ultimate Guide to NFL Defense

evenflow58 — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:54:49 -0000

The Ultimate Guide to NFL Defense

Nice article focused on 3-4 and 4-3 front seven theories. Also includes discussion on the Tampa-2 which mentions Derrick Brooks and Ernie Simms.

Sac bunt question

evenflow58 — Sun, 31 May 2009 18:29:45 -0000

As we all know a sac bunt is not worth much unless you need just one run. I'm watching the OSU/UGA game and OSU has cashed in on a few sac bunts. One was actually an E-1 so they had runners on the corner. Just curious about the responses to the following question.

Say FSU is down or up by 1 in the 7th with a runner on 2nd and a hitter that tends to strike out a bunch up to bat. We'll call this hitter Ohmid Danish. Do you sac bunt with Danish? On one hand the sac bunt is at least a productive out, however you lessen your chances of a base hit but the batter doesn't really handle the bat all that well and is in the lineup for his superb defense.

Jon Kreft to FSU...probably

evenflow58 — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:27:01 -0000

It looks like Jon Kreft will sign with FSU again per Andrew over at the Sentinal.

I don't really have a problem with Hamilton signing Kreft. Hamilton's charges have rarely had any sniff of a problem and it sounds like the staff has been keeping tabs on Kreft making sure he can handle the atmosphere at FSU.

From my understanding Chipola doesn't play any of their players very much so his stats aren't very impressive, although I can't seem to find them now. Thoughts?

FSU working on a Ham extension

evenflow58 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:50:16 -0000

SI reports that FSU is working on a contract extension for coach Leonard Hamilton. No word if this is a real contract extension or a fake one like the last contract extension Hamilton received.

My favorite quote of the article is from Wetherall:

"I don't see Leonard going anywhere. I can see a number of people ters returning along with several key substitutes from the school's most successful team since 1992-93."

I'm assuming this is a misprint because I haven't a clue what Wetherall is talking about and I'm not familiar with the word "ters"....neither is the dictionary.

Noles lose to Cavs

evenflow58 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:20:06 -0000

I wish I could tell you that Andy fought the good fight, and the Sisters let him be. I wish I could tell you that - but prison is no fairy-tale world.

-Red, Shawshank Redemption

This was a bad, bad game for the Noles on the diamond. I was hoping this team would have done something well during this game so I could look towards the future with hope. That last all of 3 innings. Let's start with the bright news:

We had more hits than errors. Honestly we weren't sure it would happen.
Tyler Holt knows how to get on base. He went 1-2 and had 2 or our 3 walks and a stolen base.
We only gave up 4 walks.

Now the bad news:

We had 5 errors. Most of these were very very bad errors. Both D'Vo and Cardullo took their eyes off balls. Cardullo actually threw the ball over Hunter Scantling's head while Hunter was trying to cover first. Go outside and try to underhand throw a ball over a basketball rim. That's what Cardullo basically did. Hunter comes in at 6'8" and had his glove extended above his head. I didn't think that sort of thing was possible. I was wrong.
Speaking of Hunter, he telegraphs his pitches. His arm slows waaay down on his off speed stuff. He got tagged a few times because of this. I'm not sure if this is this is how Scantling throws as this is the first time I've seen him but it was ugly.
We struck out 14 times. We had struck out 12 times by the 6th inning. At that point we had sent about 21 men to the plate.
We left a lot of pitches up in the zone. Even though we didn't give up a lot of walks we forced ourselves into our share of bad situations with 2-1 counts and men on base. Errors, obviously didn't help.

I like to be optimistic about my teams, find something I can be happy about but really there was nothing there. This was a very disappointing team. I'm not saying they can't get it together and make a run but I'm not going to hold my breath for it.

Is anybody hoping we lose the first game we play in the ACC tournament?

evenflow58 — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:42:16 -0000

I promise I'm not crazy...mostly

After reading this article from SI is it hard to root for FSU this weekend?

While I believe it's possible and would be a great accomplishment for FSU to win the ACC tournament I don't realistically expect that to happen. In the same breath I'm not holding out for more than a win or two in the NCAA tournament.

Lemire makes a good point in that the preparation time allotted to a team that bows out early in its conference tournament is a sizeable advantage. Considering FSU is going to its first tournament appearance since Zach Morris was the only one with a cell phone the extra practice time could be very beneficial. After all we don't want to bow out as the victim of a first round upset.

While Lemire's article is really only focused on the top seeds he does note that mid-majors often have more time to prepare, which could lead to their early round upsets. So my question is, do we make a mockery of the ACC tournament and let loose the deadly duo of Hoff and Vanderwerff or do we go all out and let TD prove he's the real MVP on the league?