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A Deep In Look At This Year’s Heisman Race
Christian Ponder
A couple of recent discussions I’ve had regarding this year’s Heisman race compelled me to write this post. I gladly researched what this year’s race will look like, and this article should definitely clarify my stance on the race this year, and make a good case for who I think should win.
Being a Seminole fan, following the team last year and seeing how much potential and skills Christian Ponder has, I think he should win the Heisman, and has a good chance at it, too. There is definitely a good number of people out there that disagree with me, but running down the line of this year’s Heisman contenders, Ponder has to be one of the strongest candidates out there.
I found two very good lists out there of Heisman contenders for this upcoming 2010 season. One was over at CollegeFootballNews.com, and the other was over at LibrarianChat.com. I’ll take a look at the one at CFN, as well as use some quotes from the LibrarianChat one.
Pete Flutak, who wrote the article at CFN, listed his Top 21 candidates. Ponder dropped in at 14, so I’ll analyze the first 13 candidates he listed in order. Continue reading
Miles Plumlee Dunks Over Five Kids
How often do you get to see a guy jump over five kids and then dunk the ball? You can see Miles Plumlee do it here. Plumlee, a forward on Duke, has bulked up this offseason, as you will see in this video. But more importantly, you’ll get to see his amazing hops, and the kids swarming him, a memory they will never forget.
Posted in Duke
Who Is The Best Quaterback In The Nation? Cast Your Vote
ESPN recently posted a poll to take a survey throughout the country of who is the top collegiate quarterback in the land. The list of 15 included three ACC quarterbacks. The three were:
Christian Ponder
Jacory Harris
Russell Wilson
Want to cast your vote of who you think is the best quarterback in the land? Click here to vote for one of these 3 ACC quarterbacks or vote for one of the other 12 candidates from other conferences.
Nine ACC Players Drafted In The 2010 NBA Draft
The annual 2010 NBA Draft was held on Thursday in New York City, and nine players from the ACC were selected.
Derrick Favors, out of Georgia Tech, was the highest picked player from the ACC in this year’s draft, being picked 3rd overall to the New Jersey Nets. A fellow ACC player to Favors was also selected in the Top 10. Al-Faroq Aminu from Wake Forest was drafted 8th overall to the Clippers.
Three more players from the ACC were drafted in the 1st round. Ed Davis, out of North Carolina, was drafted 13th to the Toronto Raptors. Trevor Booker from Clemson was drafted 23rd overall to Minnesota, but the rights to him were traded. And Greivis Vasquez, from Maryland, was drafted 28th overall to Memphis.
In the 2nd round, 4 ACC players were selected. Gani Lawal, from Georgia Tech, was selected 46th overall to the Phoenix Suns. Solomon Alabi, from Florida State, was selected 50th overall to Dallas, but his rights were traded to Toronto. Ryan Reid, also from FSU, was selected 57th overall to the Indiana Pacers. And, in the last pick of the draft, Miami’s Dwayne Collins was picked by the Phoenix Suns.
Congratulations to all nine players and good luck to them in the NBA!
FSU Let’s Game Slip, Costs Them Their Season
Boy, it’s tough to be a Seminole sometimes these days.
Many Florida State fans assumed that the Noles had their game Wednesday night against TCU in the bag. 7-2 going into the bottom of the 8th. It looked like FSU would have to start worrying about UCLA and forget about the Horned Frogs. But, as put on display, you can never assume in sports.
TCU scored 9 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning off of a grand slam and two run homer to take an 11-7 lead going into the top of the 9th. FSU couldn’t respond, which led to a farmiliar site for Noles fans- an early exit from Omaha. And losing the way FSU did made this loss even more hurtful, and probably unforgettable for many Noles fans.
Another thing that was a huge letdown for Seminoles fans is the fact that Mike McGee was the relief pitcher who blew FSU’s lead in the bottom of the 8th. The guy who finished for FSU all season, through saves, walk offs, and everything in betweeen for Florida State, couldn’t finish in the biggest game of FSU’s season.
A game that will definitely leave a sour taste in FSU fans and player’s mouthes, many Seminole fans are also looking on the bright side of this loss. No, you can’t be excited about how good the team was doing at the beginning of the game and think they might be coming together, because, to keep it simple, the season is over. But the fact that FSU underachieved this season and was one of the last 6 teams playing college baseball is a good thing. Because face it, the Noles weren’t supposed to be in Omaha. But they fought and clawed to it, and that is an achievment in itself.
So that’s the season for the Seminoles. It’s over. As a Florida State fan, I would have hoped for more success in Omaha, but it was a great accomplishment for the Noles to even be there. For that, I congratulate them. And regardless of how sour the loss to TCU was, the win over Florida to knock the Gators out of contention was very sweet. So for the last time of this baseball season, Go Noles!
Posted in Florida State
TCU Beats FSU In First Game Of CWS, 8-1
—–VIA SEMINOLES.COM—–>
OMAHA, Neb. – Florida State was limited to four hits and left nine runners on base in an 8-1 loss to TCU in the first game of the 2010 College World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium. The Seminoles will now play Monday, June 21 at 4:30 p.m. EST against the loser of Saturday night’s game between Florida and UCLA in an elimination game. That game will be televised by ESPN2.
The Seminoles were led by four different players who had one hit each and their bullpen that allowed two runs and struck out six in five innings pitched. Sean Gilmartin, Florida State’s starting pitcher in game one, was tagged with the loss. He fell to 9-8 on the year.
If you had told me that we were going to get four hits in 27 outs, and one run, I think I would have discussed it with you,” said head coach Mike Martin. “You really gotta take your hat off to TCU. They did a great job. After we got the first couple of guys on, we had a runner on third and nobody out. That’s just a credit to TCU. They did a great job of playing defense and making quality pitches. And that’s a ball game that you can analyze. From our side, we didn’t make an error. You might just say we got our butts whipped, plain and simple.”
Florida State struck first as Tyler Holt, the Seminoles’ lead off hitter, lined the first pitch of the game into left for a single. He scored the first run of the 2010 College World Series on an infield hit by Sherman Johnson and a subsequent throwing error by TCU third baseman Jantzen Witte. Witte’s throw went up the line into right field allowing Holt to score and Johnson to advance to third.
TCU answered quickly in its half of the first of inning. The Horned Frogs banded together six hits, including two doubles, as five of their first six batters to come to the plate not only reached base but came around to score. A total of four different TCU players earned RBI hits in the inning: leftfielder Jason Coats smacked a two RBI double into left field; designated hitter Joe Weik dropped an RBI single into left field, shortstop Taylor Featherston drove a run home with a sacrifice fly and center fielder Aaron Shultz gave TCU a 5-1 lead with a run scoring single.
The Horned Frogs sent nine men to the plate and were four for five with runners in scoring position in their half of the first inning.
TCU starting pitcher Matt Purke (15-0) settled down quickly after allowing the first two batters he faced reach base. He retired seven straight Seminoles from the first through the third innings and faced one batter over the minimum in the second and third innings. After allowing the first two Seminole batters of the game to reach base via singles, he held Florida State hitless in the second through fifth innings.
Purke was removed after pitching seven innings. He allowed one run, unearned, on only four hits and struck out seven. It marked the 10th time this season he has pitched into or beyond the seventh inning.
The Horned Frogs upped their lead to 6-1 in the third inning when Witte scored on a sacrifice bunt by Shultz. Witte led off the inning with on one of three walks issued on the day by Gilmartin.
Gilmartin was replaced by sophomore Hunter Scantling to begin the fourth inning. It was Gilmartin’s shortest outing of the year in 17 appearances (15 as a starter and two in relief) as he allowed six runs (all earned) on eight hits while striking out one batter.
“They were just putting the bat on the ball,” said Gilmartin. “I don’t really know how many balls they hit hard in that first inning, but I also got behind the count. So that didn’t really help me out at all. It’s been what’s happening with me all year long pretty much,” said Gilmartin. “Get ahead in the count 0 2, 1 2, and then not finishing things off. Obviously I have to get better at that.”
Scantling was promptly greeted by a one out home run off the bat of TCU catcher Bryan Holaday to make the score 7-1. It was Holaday’s 14th home run of the season.
Purke and relief pitcher Eric Marshall effectively shut down the Seminoles after they scored in the first inning. After the first, the Seminoles had their leadoff runner reach base only four times, advanced only two runners as far as third base and left seven runners on base.
“He (Purke) used all three pitches well,” said Holt. “We didn’t help ourselves out a lot. I think it’s a totally different ball game if we’re more patient and better not swinging at that stuff that’s in the dirt. But that’s what happens when you have good stuff. It looks like it’s in the zone, then it comes out. That first inning killed us and then it kind of went on from there.”
Defensively, five Seminole relief pitchers held the Horned Frogs to two runs and only five hits after the first inning. The quartet of Robert Benincasa, John Gast, Scott Sitz and Tyler Everett allowed a total of two hits, one run and six base runners in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Gast was able to pitch out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning by striking out TCU first baseman Matt Curry.
TCU scored its final run of the game to make the score 8-1 on an RBI single by Coats that scored right fielder Brance Rivera. Rivera had reached base on a single to lead off the inning off Everett.
Monday’s elimination game will broadcast live on ESPN2, while fans can listen in locally on 1270 the Team, 94.3 FM and Seminoles.com.
Posted in Florida State
Florida State Is Going To Omaha!
Omaha, here they come.
The Florida State Seminoles beat Vanderbilt 7-6 in Game 3 of the Tallahassee Super Regional to advance to their 20th College World Series in program history. It wasn’t necessarily easy for the Noles though.
Heading into the bottom of the ninth, up 7-3 thanks to a Sherman Johnson three run double in the top of the ninth. Most Florida State players and fans thought a 4 run lead would be enough padding, but Vanderbilt, a team that had made comebacks all year, didn’t think so. They came back with three runs of their own to make the game 7-6. And with the winning run on base for the Commodores, it was all up to Mike McGee, Florida State’s best hitter and, recently their best relief pitcher, too.
McGee came through, and before he could do any celebration of his own, he was greeted by his whole team making a dogpile right on top of him. But frankly, the way McGee had performed that weekend all year, and the joy of knowing the Seminoles had punched their ticket to Omaha, he probably didn’t care there were 25 guys laying on top of him.
The Tallahassee Democrat opened up their article about FSU’s victory with, “What a perfect ending for FSU.” As perfect as everything has gone this postseason for the Noles, and the way that they have been playing, and ending to this season might not be as near as people think.
Florida State has been on fire ever since they lost to Miami in the first game of the ACC Tournament. In fact, starting with the win over Virginia in the ACC Tournament, FSU is 8-1, the lone loss coming to Vanderbilt the day before they punched their ticket for the College World Series. Their only weakness this whole season has been pitching. If Florida State’s pitching staff can show up in Omaha, much like they did in their College World Series clincher on Sunday, the Seminoles might just find themselves very close to a college baseball championship.
Good luck to the Noles as they endevour to play college baseball’s best in Omaha!
Posted in Florida State
NCAA Lightning Delay Rules
There has been a lightning delay in the Florida State-Vanderbilt game, Game 3 of the Tallahassee Super Regional.
Here are the official lightning delay rules from the NCAA:
1. National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) staff strongly recommend that all individuals should have left the game site and reached a safe structure or location by the time the person monitoring the weather obtains a flash-to-bang (lightning-to-thunder) count of 30 seconds (equivalent to lightning being six miles away). This recommendation was developed as a practical way to make a judgment in situations where other resources such as technology and instrumentation are not available.
In addition, a smaller, but still real, risk exists with the presence of lightning at greater distances. Unfortunately, current science cannot predict where within the radius the next strike will
occur.
2. The existence of blue sky and the absence of rain are not protection from lightning. Lightning can, and does, strike as far as 10 miles away from the rain shaft. It does not have to be raining for lightning to strike.
3. When considering resumption of a game, NSSL staff recommends that everyone ideally should wait at least 30 minutes after the last flash of lightning or sound of thunder before returning to the field of activity.
4. If available, electronic detection devices should be used as additional tools to determine the severity of the weather. However, such devices should not be used as the sole source when considering terminating play.
(Information taken from the NCAA Sports Medicine Handbook and NCAA Championships Severe Weather Policy.)
McGee Puts FSU One Win Away From Omaha
Nobody could believe that FSU would lose a game that they went up 6-0 in the first two innings, and let their first super regional win on Friday since 2000 slip out of their fingers.
Luckily, thanks to Mike McGee, they didn’t have to believe it.
After Vanderbilt scored 7 straight runs after FSU went up 6-0, the Seminoles and the Commodores went back and forth in the last 3 innings, and Mike McGee got the last word, hitting a walk off solo home run to put the Seminoles one win away from Omaha and the College World Series.
It was a farmiliar site for Florida State fans. The Seminoles have lived on rallies and game winning hits and home runs this season. Most of them have come from McGee. ESPN analysts have noticed this, one saying that if there was a Most Valuable Player award in college baseball, Mike McGee would have their vote.
Sherman Johnson and Jayce Boyd also hit homers in Game 1 of the Tallahassee Super Regional. Johnson hit a two-run homer in the 2nd inning and Boyd hit a solo homer in the 7th.
The Noles will try to advance to the College World Series in Omaha tomorrow. They have two chances to advance, on Saturday and on Sunday. Good luck to Florida State!
Posted in Florida State
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