Look up the word ‘scapegoat’ in the dictionary today and you’ll see a picture of Lamar Thomas. Comcast Sports canned Thomas like tuna Monday morning in light of comments made during the Miami/FIU brawl on Saturday at the Orange Bowl.
Thomas is said to have ‘endorsed’ the fight while commentating from the booth.
Had I only seen then ESPN footage and not watched the game live on PPV, I might’ve felt differently than I do today. For real time action for how the fight went down, check out the video on YouTube. It’s blatantly obvious that Thomas’ comments were given after the fight was being broken up and players were ushered back to their respective sidelines.
There are going to be conflicting opinions on Thomas’ statements made during the game. I agree it was irresponsible and biased, which ultimately cost him his job. Still, I don’t feel he was endorsing the actual brawl itself. He reverted back to his attitude as a player and the kid in him still wanted to get down there and mix it up – just like every player on the field did in the heat of battle.
The problem is that when you’re paid to commentate, you lose the right to pop off at the mouth and make those types of remarks. Sit in the stands if you’re going to have that type of reaction.
A subdued Michael Irvin was interviewed today during pregame for Monday Night Football. Irvin expressed disappointment about the incident, lambasted head coach Larry Coker and went on to state that although LT is his boy, Thomas deserved to be fired for acting that way in the booth.
Take Irvin’s politically correct reaction, combine it with Thomas’ rant and you’ll find something closer to the truth regarding how most Miami fans and former players feel.
I received a good amount of positive and negative feedback today regarding my “Random Thoughts on Miami/FIU” article yesterday. There is no real gray area on this subject. You’re on one side of the fence or the other.
I had one reader go as far as to compare the brawl to the war in Iraq and chastised both teams for not being as strong or disciplined as our United States Military. As if college football players have had the same training to endure combat and handle themselves in a real heat of battle.
Still, college football fans abroad are processing this event in their own unique ways and it’s no mystery that the true bias comes from the anti-Miami contingent.
If you hate the Canes, you’re not letting anyone off the hook for this one. No punishment is good enough. Members of the national media have called for Coker’s head, the fifteen suspensions to become expulsions and for Miami to forfeit the rest of the 2006 football season.
Give it a rest. Miami and the ACC handed down suspensions today. Twelve kids will miss one game and another is suspended indefinitely. A zero tolerance policy has been put into effect and anything happening from here on out falls squarely on the coaching staff’s shoulders.
What more does anyone really want? Outside of a few roughnecks who took things too far (on both teams), the rest of this was nothing more than a pushing and shoving match which lasted no longer than the average commercial. This fight was so short that ESPN has actually resorted to looping the clip so it appears longer. They even took Thomas’ post-brawl comments and edited them in over the fight footage, making it appear that Thomas made those statement as the fight was occurring. In reality, he said what he said after both teams headed back to the sidelines.
Much of the public outcry against Thomas is a direct result of ESPN’s hack job in the editing room. It’s pretty safe to say that 5% of the ESPN audience who’s seen their footage actually saw the game live on PPV. The other 95% didn’t see the brawl unfold and didn’t hear the comments in context.
If they had, there would be more talk about FIU instigating things throughout the evening – as shown at left. This late hit and personal foul call came after Miami safety Kenny Phillips picked off a pass in the end zone.
Start with the pregame chatter and watch right up through the early part of the third quarter. Trash talking and late hits were absorbed by the Canes as the coaching staff continued to preach that the kids keep their composure.
They did, up until that 9:00 mark in the third after going ahead, 14-0. That’s when FIU’s Marshall McDuffie threw a punch at Miami offensive lineman Cyrim Wimbs. Within seconds, FIU’s Chris Smith grabbed Miami holder Matt Pirrelli and bodyslammed him. While down, an unidentified FIU player runs in and delivers a boot to Perrelli’s helmet.
Here is your turning point. The moment FIU pushed one time too many and Miami responded.
Of the 33 players singled out for their actions Saturday night, only two have been expelled. FIU’s McDuffie and Smith – the two instigators. Neither Wimbs or Perrelli were suspended as they weren’t the aggressors. They were attacked and the moment Perrelli hit the turf, both benches cleared and :57 of mayhem ensued.
That still doesn’t excuse some of the thuggish behavior out there, but realize that we’re talking about kids from South Florida… a state which endorses the Shoot First Law, allowing residents to use deadly forced when they feel personally threatened.
We’re also dealing with 18-21 years who saw some of their own getting beaten up. The early part of this brawl show FIU players outnumbering Canes 5-to-1 in certain parts of the field. Of course the ESPN footage conveniently focuses on the mob of Canes rushing the field instead of showing the outnumbered Miami players in other parts of the field. How conveniently edited.
(Anyone who questions what good editors can do, check out this trailer of the comedy “Office Space” portrayed as a thriller – using nothing but footage from this hilarious Mike Judge classic.)
Miami breeds some tough kids. It’s a blessing and a curse. Part of the program’s toughness, its grit, its expectations and its legacy were all born out of Miami being a rough city where lessons are learned on the street as often as in the classroom. (Not that some pencilneck reporter in Bristol, CT would ever understand that.)
In the 80s, that generation channeled that energy into three National Champioships and it helped put Miami on the map.
Lest not forget it was the 1987 Miami Hurricanes who united and scrapped it out in a late season game with South Carolina. With the clock winding down, the #2 Canes and #8 Gamecocks got into a squabble, en route to a 20-16 victory. The win propelled The U into the National Championship game against #1 Oklahoma and eventually their second National Championship.
Almost twenty years later, the Canes find themselves in another skirmish. Nowhere near the top of the polls, but united late in the season as a BCS game is still within reach. We all know it’s going to take more than Coker’s leadership and the assistants’ playcalling to get these Canes through the next six regular season games. It’ll take an intangible. Something extra. This brawl was one of those ‘turning point’ moments that either make or break teams.
In a few days the ESPN crap storm will stop raining down as there will be new news to break. T.O.’s hangnail. The ghost of Cory Lidel haunting A-Rod. LeBron’s new favorite after practice snack. Something important like that.
Down in Coral Gables, these Canes will be back to business as usual. Practicing hard during the week and looking to win ballgames on Saturday. Hopefully any camaraderie which stemmed from this brawl will carry over and these kids remain united, with chips on their shoulders and that “us against the world” mentality.
Oh yeah and for all the haters who still disagree, check out my main man Omar Kelly’s blog entry today… you friggin hypocrites. Tell ’em, O.
.:Canes305:.
Great blog. You are right about the editing. Last night, ESPN did elect to put more of the brawl on tv and instead of just the mob, we saw *surprise* FIU players beating the crap out of Canes standing alone on the field. You hit the nail on the head. Editing does wonders. It also doesn’t help that the eye is trained to focus on brighter colors so it was easier to make out a Miami player in the brawl than an FIU player dressed in dark blue gear. Keep the writing up, man! Go Canes!
All Canes fans should respond to the bashing our program is taking by media members who are peddling their anti-Miami agenda.
I sent this e-mail to some dope on ESPN.com who bashed the program:
Gene,
You are a complete moron. Your take on the Miami-FIU fight was yet another example of the perfunctory unenlightened pablum you dispense under the guise of “journalism.” Of course, you’re not alone. It took me all of 45 seconds to read the hackneyed nonsense you force-feed upon anyone who has the misfortune of opening your morally corrupt story. It is so unoriginal and devoid of forethought. It is, sadly, so typical.
Let’s recap the essence of your sorry excuse for a column:
Action: Miami players misbehave.
Your reaction:
1. Let’s hang everyone. Let’s fire the athletic director and criticize the school president. Yeah, like these people actually have the ability to control emotionally hyper 20-year-old kids during a football game.
2. Let’s fire the coach, too. Sure, like it’s his fault that he wasn’t able to contain 50 kids who were intent on defending their teammates. Did you really expect the following exchange:
Coker: “Guys, I realize our holder is getting punched, kicked and beaten up. But, please, don’t go out there.”
Team members: “You’re right, Coach. We have no right to defend a teammate in such a violent manner. It’s not right and we’ll have no part of it.”
3. Let’s expel all the brawling players from the team. OK, they deserve to be punished. But, let me ask you, if your brother was body-slammed, punched in the face and kicked in the head —- without provocation —- (This is what started the melee, in case you don’t know), would you just stand there and him let endure a beating? In sports, as in life, there is such a thing as standing up for one another.
4. Let’s disband the program because of a perceived notion that it’s “out of control.” Gene, you choose to only look at the facts that you want to. Miami is no worse than any other program, but it’s convenient to bash them because they’re always in the public eye and they’re not well-liked. Two years ago, Marcus Vick is caught with narcotics and partying with 14-year-olds, forcing them to drink alcohol, strip and kiss. This person degraded minors and might have even caused a detrimental, long-term effect on a few young kids’
lives. Plus, Virginia Tech’s program endured a rash of arrests and misbehavior throughout the mid- to late 1990s (Jim Druckenmiller). Yet, there is no public outcry about how things are “out of control” in Blacksburg. There are no calls to disband the program. The only thing we hear from you and others of your ilk about Virginia Tech is what a great job Frank Beamer has done to take a nothing program and lift it to national prominence. How typical.
Why is it that other programs get carte blanche to commit any number of on and off-field transgressions without hardly any mention of it by the national media?
5. While we’re bashing Miami’s football program, let’s not even mention the other team. You know, the one that started this whole mess. Why? Because Florida International University doesn’t generate any interest. It isn’t “sexy.” No one cares about them. I’d be willing to bet that most people didn’t even realize FIU had a football team until this weekend. You failed to mention that FIU’s football program is in its fourth year of existence. Then again, since you devoted all of two sentences to FIU, I suppose there’s only so much you can say. Where is the outcry to disband their program? Looking at the facts, it seems as though FIU made a name for itself at the expense of Miami.
Your kind of one-sided “reporting” is a disgrace to journalists everywhere. If you think this is an insightful, balanced column, I really feel sorry for you.