IT'S A 'U' THING

Take a breather from the whining about the offensive line, secondary and every other imperfection and look at where @CanesFootball sits in year five under @Coach_Cristobal. Then listen to what the haters are relying on to cope. Against #FloridaState, it was outrage over a Hail Mary flag; against #Pittsburgh, it was feigned outrage over attendance at a noon game. It’s become Whack-A-Mole: Moron Edition as we smack down their half-baked takes, only to see new stupidity popping up. Empty seats. Rented stadium. Haven’t won the ACC. Couldn’t win the natty at home. Blah, blah, fucking blah-blah. Win the conference this year and watch it'll become, “Only won the ACC once!”—see some bad calls against Miami and they’ll be “deserved” for past sins. For people who spent decades accusing #Miami fans of living in the past, this contingent is awfully-dependent on keeping the conversation there—and by design—as the reality is the present becoming a real problem. Duke lands #DarianMensah from Tulane? Great pickup. The kid leaves Durham for a better opportunity down south? The #Canes represent everything wrong with college football. #PatNarduzzi wants to grandstand about “tampering”—he comes off as half-baked as his defensive back who swore they had a plan to stop #MalachiToney—gaslighting as if this current era of college football is build on handshakes and honor codes everywhere but Coral Gables. Last year was supposed to ‘expose' Miami. Remember our favorite jaded former #Seminoles quarterback #DannyKanell predicting the Canes wouldn’t even make a bowl? They finished 13-3 and played for a national championship. This year, Miami supposedly couldn’t replace its personnel losses. Now it’s 7-0 and No. 1—so blame the schedule, while ignoring the fact Miami is doing its job and the likes of Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech others aren’t holding up their end of the bargain, because in what world should the Noles, Tigers or Hokies be unranked teams when facing the Canes? There’s always another bullshit explanation as the target moves; anything to avoid acknowledging what’s being built behind the scenes here. And that’s the part even some Miami fans need to appreciate: in more than four decades following this program, I’ve never seen the university this aligned and on the same page, financially-invested in building a football powerhouse. The old joke was that UM never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity—and who could argue? Cheap hires. Half-measures. An operating model built on local talent covering institutional shortcomings. It worked until it didn’t and before we knew it, 7-5 became a lifestyle with a very liberal president who loved her medical school and saw athletics as a necessary evil. Cristobal didn’t leave Oregon’s money and resources to come home on a handshake and a nostalgia pitch; Miami finally committed to funding the ambition— because without that, he wasn’t coming home. And now look at who’s driving it. A white-collar world President in  #JoeEchevarria, who ran Deloitte LLP, before leading U-Health and ultimately the university—which he’s also doing like a CEO, more than an administrator. Listen to him discuss conference economics, media rights and Miami’s future; the man understands investment, leverage and what happens when your business outgrows its arrangement. Miami stayed out of the courtroom while Clemson and Florida State became the public faces of the ACC fight … and UM still benefited from the settlement’s television-based revenue changes, earning and keeping $20 million from its CFP run under the conference’s success incentives. Let somebody else lead the legal fight; be positioned to capitalize and deliver while others took their eye off the ball. Board chairman #MannyKadre helped deliver the cash-heavy Nike agreement worth more than $200-million over the next decade. #RudyFernandez, a Vice President and basically Echevarria’s right-hand man—he started his legacy helping bring Cristobal home and remains deeply involved in aligning university resources with football. While outsiders were fixated on the flashier John Ruiz, lower-profile power players like José and Jorge Mas were part of the circle helping shape Miami’s direction—and now @CanesConnection is benchmark for a well-oiled NIL machine. These people know how to build businesses and several know how to run professional sports organizations, as well. And the next athletics hire appears designed to strengthen that approach; the last reported shortlist consisted entirely of candidates with pro sports experience. Think franchise president: someone who can turn Miami’s brand into corporate partnerships and recurring revenue. That’s how you sustain this; turn attention into revenue, turn revenue into resources and ultimately give your coaches all means possible to keep winning big and loading up each new roster. For years, “Miami is back” was a television segment waiting to become a punchline after the next loss; fueled by the media, and consumed by rival fans—the early season vitriol when the Canes were hyped and the jubilation as the media tore the team down after a few later-year losses. That was then, this is now and success is becoming a pattern. Ten wins in 2024. Thirteen and a national championship appearance in 2025. A 7-0 start in 2026. Thirty wins across that stretch; that’s a hell of a long fluke. Does it guarantee a national championship this year? Of course not. There are still flaws to fix, players that need to get healthy, games to win and a late-season gear like last season, were Miami seemed to get stronger as the stakes got raised. But a bad quarter—or a bad Saturday—it doesn’t erase the operation behind this team. Miami has a born-and-bred head coach who views restoring this program as his life’s work, a president who understands its value and a leadership group willing to back the ambition with resources. The people making the decisions finally expect what the fans always held as the standard; and that in itself is nothing short of a miracle for a small private university in South Florida that has zero business competing with powerhouse state schools or public universities across the nation. Cristobal said it: Miami isn’t “back”—Miami is HERE—and even scarier for the haters, it’s not going anywhere by up from this point forward. The jaded bozos can keep counting empty seats or whining about schedules; the people running this program are building something that lasts and this fan base is only getting more emboldened after two decades of irrelevance. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Get that Hellmann’s swill outta there….

You get the situation they’re laying out; this is being asked in a week people are proposing Arch Manning and Kamario Taylor to the portal next year with Miami rumors swirling; the Canes now three for three with this successful model, so JD wants engagement with half the people saying “Miami” and the other half being Canes-haters who are gonna shit in how UM operates. The assumption is that the kid can and doesn’t need to go “develop” because if they the case odds are he won’t be a big time portal transfer; there are only so many Drew Mestemaker follows coach from North Texas to Oklahoma State success stories.

12/4/92 in Atlanta on VDOP tour with White Zombie opening….

I wasn’t dying in a hill for any of those songs; literally sat there for a minute trying to remember popular anthems from the early 2000s to make the point, that’s all.

Had some blurry nights with them boys back in that day, too….

Iron Maiden. Year matters, tho—as they’re still on tour right now and my first show was their “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” tour in 1988.

I was making a list based on popular music at the turn of the century. Of all the bands listed the only ones I truly dig are Kings Of Leon and Foo Fighters—was making a bigger point about Rolling Stone editors being snobs with not just some out-there choices, but putting non-rock acts like Phoebe Bridgers, Olivia Rodrigo and Jay-Z in over some very popular rock acts that people devoured at the tune. I love Dream Theatre, Porcupine Tree, The Winery Dogs, Mastodon, and as far as newer 21st century rock; The Gaslight Anthem, The War On Drugs, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, etc. I’m not dying on a hill for the bands or songs I listed; thought of some bit anthems post-January 2001.

Oh this is hilarious; could you be more cliché with these choices:

I added Creed and Nickelback to highlight a point; how the fuck do Phoebe Bridgers, Jay-Z and Olivia Rodrigo make a top ten over early 2000s bands with massively popular rock songs of their era? Bands you want to mock now that were literally the biggest bands of their eras—two bands that sold over 100,000,000 albums combined in an era people still bought physical media.

The point was mocking Rolling Stone columnist snark versus songs that were popular amongst music fans and sold millions of records in the 21st century, moron. I put Creed and Nickelback in there knowing bozos would fixate on those two bands. Either way, please explain how the fuck Olivia Rodrigo. Phoebe Bridgers or Jay-Z belong in the top ten here over bands like Foo Fighters, Kings Of Leon or Green Day with some massive anthems? By what metric are half of these songs on this list more culturally relevant “rock songs” in the 2000s than “Times Like These”, “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” or “Use Somebody”. You’re coming at me when the list tells us the fucking Yeah Yeah Yeahs are responsible for the best rock song of the 21st century. Gotcha.

He was a player on a team that won a title. Toney was in a team that was the runner up. One fucking throw short of beating Indiana last season versus Ohio State beating Notre Dame two years ago has literally nothing to do with the question being asked here or who these two players are as Heisman candidates in 2026.

You read what I wrote—don’t be the lame low-hanging fruit guy with played-out jokes if you have nothing else to add to the conversation.

Funny how a writer case-building and sharing thoughts is deemed a “rant” these days. Wild times. Point being, there are a lot of non-rock songs on this list in lieu of what would be considered traditional, commercial, popular rock music. I don’t necessarily love all the bands I rattled off here, but how does Olivia Rodrigo make this list over Green Day and “American Idiot”? 22 years of this album in pop culture, 25-million copies sold worldwide (in an era people still bought physical media), AMAs and Grammy Awards when that sort of still still mattered. Hell, there was even a Broadway production for the album and it won two Tony awards—but they don’t have “American Idiot”, “Wake Me Up When September Ends” or “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams”—while including the likes of pop stars and Jay-Z? By what metric is “99 Problems” a “rock song”?

So much moronic “trap game” talk this week as @CanesFootball heads to #ChapelHill to take on a Bill Belichick-led #NorthCarolina team—in primetime, on Halloween in a college town that will be going off—as an upset of No. 1 Miami would not only salvage their season; it’d legit be Belichick’s biggest win since Super Bowl LIII back in February 2019. Aside from @Coach_Cristobal’s “1-0 every week” and laser focus on whatever opponent is at hand—zero #NotreDame energy until the clock hits 0:00 late Saturday night—it’s not lost on anyone following the #Canes just what a thorn in the program’s side the #TarHeels have been since #Miami joined the #ACC in 2004. Some quick backstory for the “trap game” crowd implying there’d be any looking head to November 7th and South Bend. Miami is now 3-7 in Chapel Hill since joining the ACC and those three wins were all dogfights: 2017: 𝘕𝘰. 8 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢 1-7 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘊𝘊; 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵—𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘬 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 356 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴—𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 428 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 (𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴’ 415); 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 176 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 59—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 24-19 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 2:54 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 37-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦. 2013: 𝘈𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 13-7 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘌𝘚𝘗𝘕 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩-𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 23-13 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢 90-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 :16 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 27-23 𝘸𝘪𝘯—𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 2011: 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 27-3 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘭 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 21-3, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘔 24-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 30-24. Aside from never getting a comfortable or easy win at Kenan Stadium, the road losses have been even more gut-wrenching: 2004: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘕𝘰. 4 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩-𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘊𝘊 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦—𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 3-4 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘭 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩. 𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 545 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 77 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 279 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥; 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 175 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴. 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 28-28 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨; 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 3𝘳𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-8, 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 42-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 31-28. 2007: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘯; 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 27-0 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 27-20 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩—𝘒𝘺𝘭𝘦 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 33-20; 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘊 𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭, 33-27 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦. 2009: 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 23-7 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 23-17 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘬𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢 30-17 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘹, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘊 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢 33-24 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦. 2015: 𝘈 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 58-0 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯; 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘱 31-0 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧, 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘜-𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 45-0 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 59-21 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 294 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴. 2019: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘻 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯; 𝘢 17-3 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧, 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 25-20 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 (𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘙𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴)—𝘛𝘢𝘳 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 4𝘵𝘩-𝘢𝘯𝘥-17 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦—28-25 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥; 𝘉𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘢 𝘉𝘢𝘹𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 49-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦-𝘵𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 :05 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬. 2021: 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘮𝘢, 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢; 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵-𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘴 421 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 382, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘩 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 11 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 28-10 𝘮𝘪𝘥-𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 31-17 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧—𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 45-42 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦-𝘢𝘯𝘥-𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢 3𝘳𝘥-𝘢𝘯𝘥-4 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘕𝘊 16-𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 :06 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘝𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘺𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦; 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 2023: 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮; 𝘔𝘪𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘭𝘦𝘥 17-14 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 21-0 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥—𝘛𝘦𝘻 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘊𝘈𝘈 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦; 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 132 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘴; 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 38-17 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 41-31—𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘝𝘢𝘯 𝘋𝘺𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬. This long-ass history lesson is for rival fans or talking heads who love to chop it up about Miami, but are clueless as to how lopsided this rivalry is when the Canes head to the house of horrors that is Kenan Stadium. Yes, streaks are made to be broken—and now would be a good time, as North Carolina has won not just the last three road games, but five in a row in this series. On paper, Miami should have this one in the bag—and the ghosts of Hurricanes’ past truly have no real bearing on how the 2026 edition of this rivalry will play out … but it’s been a wild ten games in Chapel Hill since Miami and North Carolina started going at it as members of the ACC.

Yeah, and it doesn't help that the opponent is Milwaukee. Save bet that if it was Los Angeles or even an Atlanta, those stronger brands would help raise the emotional stakes. But yeah, Tampa definitely isn't a baseball town. Never will be, even with a winner.

Come on Donno, you know how the SEC rolls with their “quality losses” over unranked wins. 🙄

This list by @RollingStone is absolutely moronic and proves it's nothing but fucking Millennial music snobs over there trying to out-snark each other with these edgy picks. On what planet is "Maps" the greatest rock song of the 21st-century? And how do any pop or rap songs by Olivia Rodrigo, Phoebe Bridgers or Jay-Z make a rock songs list over some clear and obvious anthems. I mean without even breaking a sweat, I could fall out of bed hammered and rattle off at least a dozen rock songs of the 21st century that belong on this list—if you're asking rock fans and not music snobs: "Best Of You", "Times Like These" or "The Pretender" by Foo Fighters "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams", "Wake Me Up When September Ends" or "American Idiot" by Green Day "How You Remind Me" or "Photograph" by Nickelback "Numb" or "What I've Done" by Linkin Park "Sex On Fire" or "Use Somebody" by Kings Of Leon "My Sacrifice" or "One Last Breath" by Creed That's 14 without even really putting any thought into it.

Yeah, that was another way they've moved the goalposts this season—but I also didn't want to over-harp on it, in case Miami lost to a North Carolina, Duke, Virginia Tech or Boston College in one of those ACC games the Canes should've won (a la Louisville and SMU last year)—but to date Miami has won games it was supposed to win. In years passed, we've seen this movie before—Miami loses that Wake Forest and that Florida State game—instead finding a gritty way to win.

Been waiting to get this out of my head and onto a blank screen for a while... wrote it this week instead of a Pitt recap.

Perception is reality; tell AP voters for years that the SEC is head and shoulders above these other conferences and you'll get your Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC voters voting with their biases, while also blindly believing that when a Missouri was 7-3 on November 22nd, 2024—they were still No. 22 for their showdown with No. 8 Oklahoma—so it was a "ranked win" for the Sooners, who were also on the bubble trying to get into the CFP like the Crimson Tide. Look at Tennessee that same season; preseason No. 15 and after wins over Chattanooga, No. 24 North Carolina State and Kent State they're No. 6 to take on No. 15 Oklahoma? No. 4 a week later and they lose to an unranked Arkansas team (that finished 7-6) and the only drop to No. 5? I've covered college football professional for over three decades. I know countless other writers. There's a bias that you're going to refuse to acknowledge as a Florida fan, so we'll call it here as it's waste of both our time.