The Beast : Shpilkes

I know many of you don’t speak Yiddish, but often times it’s what I resort to when I need to express how I’m feeling.

This term from the old country – shpilkes – it means nervous, uneasy, sitting on pins and needles, etc. and it sums up how I’ve been feeling regarding Saturday’s showdown against Virginia Tech.

But as I sat in allCanes on Wednesday for another edition of allCanes Radio, I shared with general manager Harry Rothwell that I was actually starting to get a good feeling about this game. (Side note, if you missed this week’s edition the interview with Clinton Portis is a must-listen.)

It’s something I haven’t felt in a good four or five years, back in the day when I was full of bravado, talking trash and shaving the “U” Into my chest hair.

These days even the games Miami is “supposed” to win give me agita (I just went Italian on you), so when coming to the realization that I was starting to feel confident about this game, I stopped myself.

The old school Cane in me wants to believe that with everything on the line, Stephen Morris coming into his own, the offensive line blasting defenders off the ball, a fleet of running backs busting through the hole like bullets through wax paper and the defense finally making plays and getting it done, that it’s time to finally get a little pumped up.

Of course Mr. Cynical Beast came out to play and backed The Good Beast down from all those positive vibes.

The reality is, much like last week, I have no clue how this will play out. However I do know that if Miami can’t run the football, they’re not going to beat Virginia Tech. Without a solid ground game, the game goes on the shoulders of Morris and time of possession leads towards the Hokies, meaning a hefty dose of Tyrod Taylor and that’s not what I want to see. The Canes don’t necessarily have the most stellar records against quarterbacks who make plays with their feet.

Looking at the bigger picture, I’m still trying to sort through my thoughts regarding this team. The last few week have been refreshing with things heading in the right direction. Game plans coming together (especially offensively). Defense wrapping up and making tackles. Also, cutting down on penalties last week after that horrendous showing against Maryland.

The Virginia loss is still unacceptable, but a few weeks removed I don’t feel as blatantly riled up about this team as I was then. Winning can forgive mistakes, though if expectations were to get to the ACC Championship and that doesn’t play out, fans have every right to be irked.

The line we’ve heard every year during the Randy Shannon era is one of constant improvement. From five wins to seven to nine. This year the magic number was double digits, with either a loss to Ohio State or Florida State (not both) and another game that Miami “wasn’t supposed to lose”.

Falling to Virginia Tech means the Canes won’t finish with a better record than last season and while many programs might be satisfied with a nine-win season, Miami isn’t.

The reality of college football dictates that everyone will have the occasional eight or nine-win season. You can’t hover in the top ten annually – just look at recent powers Texas, Florida and Southern Cal regarding their recent slides.

That said, this Miami team was built to win and when you look back on the past few years of recruiting, you can’t tell me the expectations on the inside were anything other than making a legitimate run in 2010.

Nine wins and a berth in the ACC Championship game is a different story, but to not get to Charlotte (again) going on seven years in conference? It’s hard to fathom.

Everything starts with a win this weekend. Focus on beating the Hokies and we’ll see how next weekend plays out when Virginia visits Blacksburg.

IN OTHER NEWS: I’m sure by now you’ve all read the news regarding the expansion and reconstruction of the Hecht Athletic Center, soon to be renamed the Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence.

My sincerest thanks to the Schwartz family and all the other donors who have stepped up to help UM spruce up their athletic facilities. Even with a few small upgrades over the years, having traveled the world of college football for more than decade I can tell you that ‘The U’ had the absolute worst athletic department build I’d ever seen.

Some are quick to say that five football championships were won without good facilities and dismissing its importance. To that I ask, why wouldn’t you want the best for your school and team? Why would you be alright settling for second best?

You want the best players and best coaches but can live with not having the best facilities in your effort to lure both in?

Miami will never match a Texas, Florida, Ohio State or Oregon (Nike money!) when it comes to funds and facilities, but UM is finally taking a huge step towards the twenty-first century and a lot of that credit has to go to Kirby Hocutt.

I remember the first Hurricane Hotline when Kirby took over for Paul Dee and he talked about meeting with an architect regarding remodeling some academic areas in Hecht. While meeting about that minor project he asked the company to envision something bigger, as in refurbishing the entire building.

It’s the type of broad vision that this program needs and as an alum I’m especially grateful that higher ups are thinking that way.

There are so many folks inside the athletic department that do so much to ensure there is funding for projects like this. They work tirelessly barking up trees, trying to pull down a few leaves and my hats off to all of them. I long for the day when I’m back on the road and let some rivals know that our building is better than theirs. Say what you will, but it’s always a pissing contest.

Lastly, I want to wish Hurricane nation a very happy and safe Turkey Day. Try to limit the egg nog intake and don’t hurt yourself getting up at 3am on Black Friday trying to be first in line at allCanes and don’t forget, I’ll be Tweeting and Facebooking during Saturday’s game, so make it interactive and hit me up with all your questions and comments.

Go Canes!!

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