- Joined
- Nov 11, 2019
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- 3,964
Well, we're 3 games in with another game tomorrow and things are pretty bleak. That doesn't stop the mail bag from rolling on though. Lots of Blake James and Manny Diaz questions but we got some fashion, NHL, and food to get through as well. Enjoy!
@JD08: How long before Blake James gets fired? Will Alonzo Highsmith be his replacement?
As much as it pains me to say, I don’t think Blake James gets fired. Does he deserve to? Yes, absolutely. The 3 major sports at Miami (football, basketball, baseball) are in disarray with no light at the end of the tunnel. He risked it all with a 4 hour coaching search that consisted of 1 "interview" on a candidate with 0 HC experience. Year 3 looks just as bad as year 1. Back to Blake, the situation I see as most likely to play out is once another bad loss or 2 pile up, Blake saves his own butt by getting rid of Manny. The BOT seems content with mediocre results but the fans and media are the driving force behind change at the U. Blake knows this and will do whatever it takes to keep his AD job.
@JD08: Why isn't seersucker more popular?
It’s had its runs throughout the years but is now associated with the “preppy” look which will always have detractors. I always viewed it as a niche compared to being a staple in the male wardrobe. I’m not a seersucker guy myself although I did own 1 pair of shorts a few summers ago that quickly ended up being 2 more sizes too small. I wasn’t mad I had to get rid of them.
Chris: I just want to add that there’s really a small handful of modern events where seersucker wouldn’t make you look like a tool. Maybe you can rock a suit to a summer wedding, but it’s really a one and done or else you’re the soft seersucker guy. You can get away with the shorts on occasion during the summer, too, but they’re usually a snug fitting look that just isn’t consistently palatable. Plus, you’ll probably end up getting fat like Bill just admitted to and throwing them out anyway.
@SinisterCane: Which players will be benched for next game?
I'm writing this on Wednesday/Thursday so we have already seen that Hall has been benched in favor of James Williams/Kam Kinchens. We are facing CCSU so it will be hard to judge playing time as we should dominate and allow all players to get reps. The game against UVA will tell us all we want to know if Diaz is going to make any significant changes to the depth chart/snap count in order to help save his job.
@djnellz: How loud will the grumblings get about Blake James and Manny Diaz before Miami finally makes a move about firing their asses?
Unfortunately, looking at how Miami has operated in the past, I wouldn’t expect any changes to happen until after the last game. So the grumblings and rumblings will be at a max of 10/10 as this team is going to lose more games in the near future based on what we’ve seen in the first 3 weeks. It makes the most sense to start the AD search now so that hire can be in place for the end of the season and make any changes they see fit. I wouldn’t get your hopes up though.
@ladycane: Why don’t the coaches hold players accountable when they continue to make mistakes, such as dropped passes, missed tackles, etc…?
Diaz has shown time and time again that he’s willing to roll with his guys regardless of performance, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve been through years of the same play from certain players and the coaches seem content with the below average play. I want to be clear, I don’t think players should be benched because of 1 missed tackle or 1 drop or 1 blown assignment, those things happen. When those mistakes are a pattern is when it becomes frustrating for the fans but imagine being a blue chip recruit sitting on the bench watching what we’ve seen? If competition, which is preached every offseason, isn’t actually competition, that makes no one work harder. I’d much rather see a James Williams out there making mistakes as a true freshman than a senior who’s making the same mistakes with no room for improvement at this point. Chris said it on our latest Canes Legacy Short Youtube Show (shameless plug), when coaches get uncomfortable they tend to lean on veterans because they don’t want the big mistake costing them a game. Well, when those guys are losing you games anyway, it’s a mute point.
@Eric The Midget: When will it end? All of it.
The entire athletic/football program needs a cleansing. The ship is rotten and no amount of patch work will stop it from sinking. We need a new boat. Is there a timeline for that? Probably late November if it’s going to happen at all.
@LoungeLord: Do the BOT even watch football?
Some probably do, some don’t. Jon Vilma is a BOT member so I can only imagine what’s going through his head watching this team 3 years into the Manny Diaz era. A good football program benefits the entire school and the BOT needs to look at who’s responsible for making poor decision after poor decision and make necessary changes. The right hire at AD and HC will bring the school millions in additional revenue as well as increase student applications thus potentially raising the profile of the academics.
@mdpcane: Are these mandy diaz toilet decals available on Amazon?
After thoroughly searching Amazon, I could not locate them. Maybe reach out to Walmart to see if they will run a pilot in their South Florida locations.
@Tad Footeball: Who do you guys like in the upcoming NHL season? I'm hearing good things out of Winnipeg.
If you’re a betting man and Winnipeg does some good things, you’ll be a very rich man. I’d put the Lightning as the favorite because they’re always either winning the whole thing or right there at the end. If they don’t roll through the East like usual, I’d like to see the Islanders get over the hump and make a Stanley Cup Final.
My super dark horse is New Jersey. They’ve been bad for a while, but they have a lot of young talent that’s right on the cusp of breaking through, a new top tier blue liner, stability at goalie, and a coach who’s literally seen it all in hockey. I expect them to be a dangerous low seed in the eastern conference playoffs and could make a run if it all clicks at the right time.
@SSCane: Is there a chance Blake James is fired soon, or at least before Manny is inevitably fired?
No. Miami is historically slow to make changes and there is 0 evidence of that changing with this regime.
@L A M P: If you were a hot dog, and you were starving… would you eat yourself? I know I would. I’d be good too.
I never say no to a good hot dog.
Chris: aaahahaha.
@miamicanephins: Oprah, Barbara Walters, your wife. You gotta (expletive deleted) one, marry one, kill one. What would you do?
The first one is easy, my current wife. She’s more than 30 years younger than Oprah and 60 years younger than Walters. Not even a question on that.
The marriage part is where things can get tricky. On one hand, Oprah’s net worth is $2.5 billion but she’s also likely to live another few decades being 67 years old. However, Oprah seems really busy so she probably wouldn’t be at home as much which leaves me free time to ride ATVs around the house or lounge around in the pool smoking $500 cigars eating A5 Wagyu steaks. Barbara Walters’ net worth is only $170 million but at 91 years old, I’m more likely to see a large payday quicker. Since she’s old, she’ll be home all the time nagging about fixing light bulbs and wanting to catch the early bird special down at the Country Kitchen Buffet.
In the end, I’m marrying Oprah as the generational wealth and free time is too good to pass up. Goodbye Barbara.
@RVACane: Will the 15-0 Boys apologize to @Dwinstitles and admit that he was right from day 1?
Has anyone ever apologized and admitted fault on the CanesInsight message board?
@TemplarCane: Manny....why you do this to me Manny...??
Manny came in with the best intentions but the job has proven to be too big for him (barring a miraculous comeback). Blake James bet on an unproven commodity and lost. Manny bet on himself and lost. The only question remains is when change happens and what those changes entail.
@Cane47: From what little I've seen and heard TVD is supposedly a very accurate passer / good at the tight window thing. Do you think we will see more of him soon?
We’ll see more of him and Jake Garcia this Saturday against Central Connecticut State. King is unofficially done for the year so this is round 1 of the 2022 QB1 competition. This will be our first extended action look at TVD and Garcia’s first appearance in a game. It’ll be fun to see how each performs with the added pressure of knowing 1 of them is starting in just 5 days to kick off the ACC schedule.
@Canesforfame: What happens if we lose to Central Connecticut?????
We become FSU.
@babyyaga: Why does God hate us? Bonus question: Should I be required to put a spoiler on this gif?: (explicit deleted).
I can’t speak for God but what I can speak for is poor decision making across 20 years within our athletic department. They have been arrogant with their hires and it has resulted in the mess we are in now.
As to your bonus question, I did not include the gif because this will appear on the main page and that’s supposed to be family friendly. Also, I don’t want Andrew/Stefan firing us even though I’m 99% sure they don’t read the mailbags. If you want to see the gif, which is a masterful piece of art by the way, it can be found in the “Post Your Mailbag ?s Here” thread from Sunday. The answer is no, the faces in the right spot block out any explicit material and it leaves the viewer to connect the dots. Fine work.
@TheOriginalCane: Can you get @Andrew to rescind my violation for quoting Robert DeNiro's line in The Untouchables in relation to Beta Blake? And then admit that I was right all along about the need to burn Beta Blake's house to the ground?
You think Andrew picks up our phone calls? That’s like the groundskeeper at Tesla trying to get Elon Musk on the phone to complain about his lawnmower not working.
@Canefan4lyfe: Why can’t our team run a simple screen play (RB/WR)? It seems like everything we try to do is difficult for our players.
Everything appears to be difficult for our players and that’s a sign of poor preparation, coaching, and execution. It’s not just 1 thing either that’s causing us to fail. We’ll use offense for example. The OL isn’t good so we are limited as to what we can run. When the OL does it’s job of blocking, we either misread the coverage or give when it should be kept or drop the football. When we block correctly, get the right read, and catch the football, there’s a penalty. It’s Manny-Ball as @k9cane so eloquently put it on twitter last weekend.
@Mnhurricane: Is there a secret NIL deal out there for players to miss 75+ % of their tackles?
I hope so because at least people would be making serious money off this disastrous start.
Chris: what company would want to use missed tackles as a promotion? Something anti-violence probably, so like the Peace Corps? Or maybe Snickers is going to use them as a “you’re not yourself when you’re hungry” part of the commercial and Bama for the rest of it once they eat the snickers.
@Mnhurricane: Favorite quote from each of our previous failed coaches in the weeks before they were fired?
Coker- *Random clapping*
Shannon- “Guys were flying around”
Golden- “Be a McDonald’s cheeseburger”
Richt- “These plays worked 20 years ago”
Manny- “The New Miami”
@Zombie-Cane: Is there something mentally wrong with me since I keep watching the hot garbage that we put on the field week after week?
No, there isn’t. We all subject ourselves to it even when we say we won’t. We all love this program and have invested time, money, and/or emotion into it and it’s not easy to give it up. I’m going to keep tuning in, with lowered expectations, and root like **** for the players who are out there competing. It’s not their fault the coaching they’ve received at this level is sub-par. Also, coaching searches provide hope and optimism for the future so we may get to experience that later on this year.
@Canedog: What wine should be served with possum fricassee?
Nothing like a good possum fricassee (creamy stew for you non-chefs out there) on a cool autumn day. Possum meat, like most wild animals, is gamey and similar to rabbit if you’ve ever tried it. I like to pair my possum with a nice Bordeaux as the hints of earthiness and fruit really compliment the meat and can elevate what else you put in your stew. Please try it and let us know your thoughts, include pictures of the wine glass next to the possum fricassee for the readers so they can get a visual experience.
@JD08: How long before Blake James gets fired? Will Alonzo Highsmith be his replacement?
As much as it pains me to say, I don’t think Blake James gets fired. Does he deserve to? Yes, absolutely. The 3 major sports at Miami (football, basketball, baseball) are in disarray with no light at the end of the tunnel. He risked it all with a 4 hour coaching search that consisted of 1 "interview" on a candidate with 0 HC experience. Year 3 looks just as bad as year 1. Back to Blake, the situation I see as most likely to play out is once another bad loss or 2 pile up, Blake saves his own butt by getting rid of Manny. The BOT seems content with mediocre results but the fans and media are the driving force behind change at the U. Blake knows this and will do whatever it takes to keep his AD job.
@JD08: Why isn't seersucker more popular?
It’s had its runs throughout the years but is now associated with the “preppy” look which will always have detractors. I always viewed it as a niche compared to being a staple in the male wardrobe. I’m not a seersucker guy myself although I did own 1 pair of shorts a few summers ago that quickly ended up being 2 more sizes too small. I wasn’t mad I had to get rid of them.
Chris: I just want to add that there’s really a small handful of modern events where seersucker wouldn’t make you look like a tool. Maybe you can rock a suit to a summer wedding, but it’s really a one and done or else you’re the soft seersucker guy. You can get away with the shorts on occasion during the summer, too, but they’re usually a snug fitting look that just isn’t consistently palatable. Plus, you’ll probably end up getting fat like Bill just admitted to and throwing them out anyway.
@SinisterCane: Which players will be benched for next game?
I'm writing this on Wednesday/Thursday so we have already seen that Hall has been benched in favor of James Williams/Kam Kinchens. We are facing CCSU so it will be hard to judge playing time as we should dominate and allow all players to get reps. The game against UVA will tell us all we want to know if Diaz is going to make any significant changes to the depth chart/snap count in order to help save his job.
@djnellz: How loud will the grumblings get about Blake James and Manny Diaz before Miami finally makes a move about firing their asses?
Unfortunately, looking at how Miami has operated in the past, I wouldn’t expect any changes to happen until after the last game. So the grumblings and rumblings will be at a max of 10/10 as this team is going to lose more games in the near future based on what we’ve seen in the first 3 weeks. It makes the most sense to start the AD search now so that hire can be in place for the end of the season and make any changes they see fit. I wouldn’t get your hopes up though.
@ladycane: Why don’t the coaches hold players accountable when they continue to make mistakes, such as dropped passes, missed tackles, etc…?
Diaz has shown time and time again that he’s willing to roll with his guys regardless of performance, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We’ve been through years of the same play from certain players and the coaches seem content with the below average play. I want to be clear, I don’t think players should be benched because of 1 missed tackle or 1 drop or 1 blown assignment, those things happen. When those mistakes are a pattern is when it becomes frustrating for the fans but imagine being a blue chip recruit sitting on the bench watching what we’ve seen? If competition, which is preached every offseason, isn’t actually competition, that makes no one work harder. I’d much rather see a James Williams out there making mistakes as a true freshman than a senior who’s making the same mistakes with no room for improvement at this point. Chris said it on our latest Canes Legacy Short Youtube Show (shameless plug), when coaches get uncomfortable they tend to lean on veterans because they don’t want the big mistake costing them a game. Well, when those guys are losing you games anyway, it’s a mute point.
@Eric The Midget: When will it end? All of it.
The entire athletic/football program needs a cleansing. The ship is rotten and no amount of patch work will stop it from sinking. We need a new boat. Is there a timeline for that? Probably late November if it’s going to happen at all.
@LoungeLord: Do the BOT even watch football?
Some probably do, some don’t. Jon Vilma is a BOT member so I can only imagine what’s going through his head watching this team 3 years into the Manny Diaz era. A good football program benefits the entire school and the BOT needs to look at who’s responsible for making poor decision after poor decision and make necessary changes. The right hire at AD and HC will bring the school millions in additional revenue as well as increase student applications thus potentially raising the profile of the academics.
@mdpcane: Are these mandy diaz toilet decals available on Amazon?
After thoroughly searching Amazon, I could not locate them. Maybe reach out to Walmart to see if they will run a pilot in their South Florida locations.
@Tad Footeball: Who do you guys like in the upcoming NHL season? I'm hearing good things out of Winnipeg.
If you’re a betting man and Winnipeg does some good things, you’ll be a very rich man. I’d put the Lightning as the favorite because they’re always either winning the whole thing or right there at the end. If they don’t roll through the East like usual, I’d like to see the Islanders get over the hump and make a Stanley Cup Final.
My super dark horse is New Jersey. They’ve been bad for a while, but they have a lot of young talent that’s right on the cusp of breaking through, a new top tier blue liner, stability at goalie, and a coach who’s literally seen it all in hockey. I expect them to be a dangerous low seed in the eastern conference playoffs and could make a run if it all clicks at the right time.
@SSCane: Is there a chance Blake James is fired soon, or at least before Manny is inevitably fired?
No. Miami is historically slow to make changes and there is 0 evidence of that changing with this regime.
@L A M P: If you were a hot dog, and you were starving… would you eat yourself? I know I would. I’d be good too.
I never say no to a good hot dog.
Chris: aaahahaha.
@miamicanephins: Oprah, Barbara Walters, your wife. You gotta (expletive deleted) one, marry one, kill one. What would you do?
The first one is easy, my current wife. She’s more than 30 years younger than Oprah and 60 years younger than Walters. Not even a question on that.
The marriage part is where things can get tricky. On one hand, Oprah’s net worth is $2.5 billion but she’s also likely to live another few decades being 67 years old. However, Oprah seems really busy so she probably wouldn’t be at home as much which leaves me free time to ride ATVs around the house or lounge around in the pool smoking $500 cigars eating A5 Wagyu steaks. Barbara Walters’ net worth is only $170 million but at 91 years old, I’m more likely to see a large payday quicker. Since she’s old, she’ll be home all the time nagging about fixing light bulbs and wanting to catch the early bird special down at the Country Kitchen Buffet.
In the end, I’m marrying Oprah as the generational wealth and free time is too good to pass up. Goodbye Barbara.
@RVACane: Will the 15-0 Boys apologize to @Dwinstitles and admit that he was right from day 1?
Has anyone ever apologized and admitted fault on the CanesInsight message board?
@TemplarCane: Manny....why you do this to me Manny...??
Manny came in with the best intentions but the job has proven to be too big for him (barring a miraculous comeback). Blake James bet on an unproven commodity and lost. Manny bet on himself and lost. The only question remains is when change happens and what those changes entail.
@Cane47: From what little I've seen and heard TVD is supposedly a very accurate passer / good at the tight window thing. Do you think we will see more of him soon?
We’ll see more of him and Jake Garcia this Saturday against Central Connecticut State. King is unofficially done for the year so this is round 1 of the 2022 QB1 competition. This will be our first extended action look at TVD and Garcia’s first appearance in a game. It’ll be fun to see how each performs with the added pressure of knowing 1 of them is starting in just 5 days to kick off the ACC schedule.
@Canesforfame: What happens if we lose to Central Connecticut?????
We become FSU.
@babyyaga: Why does God hate us? Bonus question: Should I be required to put a spoiler on this gif?: (explicit deleted).
I can’t speak for God but what I can speak for is poor decision making across 20 years within our athletic department. They have been arrogant with their hires and it has resulted in the mess we are in now.
As to your bonus question, I did not include the gif because this will appear on the main page and that’s supposed to be family friendly. Also, I don’t want Andrew/Stefan firing us even though I’m 99% sure they don’t read the mailbags. If you want to see the gif, which is a masterful piece of art by the way, it can be found in the “Post Your Mailbag ?s Here” thread from Sunday. The answer is no, the faces in the right spot block out any explicit material and it leaves the viewer to connect the dots. Fine work.
@TheOriginalCane: Can you get @Andrew to rescind my violation for quoting Robert DeNiro's line in The Untouchables in relation to Beta Blake? And then admit that I was right all along about the need to burn Beta Blake's house to the ground?
You think Andrew picks up our phone calls? That’s like the groundskeeper at Tesla trying to get Elon Musk on the phone to complain about his lawnmower not working.
@Canefan4lyfe: Why can’t our team run a simple screen play (RB/WR)? It seems like everything we try to do is difficult for our players.
Everything appears to be difficult for our players and that’s a sign of poor preparation, coaching, and execution. It’s not just 1 thing either that’s causing us to fail. We’ll use offense for example. The OL isn’t good so we are limited as to what we can run. When the OL does it’s job of blocking, we either misread the coverage or give when it should be kept or drop the football. When we block correctly, get the right read, and catch the football, there’s a penalty. It’s Manny-Ball as @k9cane so eloquently put it on twitter last weekend.
@Mnhurricane: Is there a secret NIL deal out there for players to miss 75+ % of their tackles?
I hope so because at least people would be making serious money off this disastrous start.
Chris: what company would want to use missed tackles as a promotion? Something anti-violence probably, so like the Peace Corps? Or maybe Snickers is going to use them as a “you’re not yourself when you’re hungry” part of the commercial and Bama for the rest of it once they eat the snickers.
@Mnhurricane: Favorite quote from each of our previous failed coaches in the weeks before they were fired?
Coker- *Random clapping*
Shannon- “Guys were flying around”
Golden- “Be a McDonald’s cheeseburger”
Richt- “These plays worked 20 years ago”
Manny- “The New Miami”
@Zombie-Cane: Is there something mentally wrong with me since I keep watching the hot garbage that we put on the field week after week?
No, there isn’t. We all subject ourselves to it even when we say we won’t. We all love this program and have invested time, money, and/or emotion into it and it’s not easy to give it up. I’m going to keep tuning in, with lowered expectations, and root like **** for the players who are out there competing. It’s not their fault the coaching they’ve received at this level is sub-par. Also, coaching searches provide hope and optimism for the future so we may get to experience that later on this year.
@Canedog: What wine should be served with possum fricassee?
Nothing like a good possum fricassee (creamy stew for you non-chefs out there) on a cool autumn day. Possum meat, like most wild animals, is gamey and similar to rabbit if you’ve ever tried it. I like to pair my possum with a nice Bordeaux as the hints of earthiness and fruit really compliment the meat and can elevate what else you put in your stew. Please try it and let us know your thoughts, include pictures of the wine glass next to the possum fricassee for the readers so they can get a visual experience.
