Nole of the Week

Well I know Nole of the week is supposed to be for past Seminoles, but this week I have decided to go with a future Seminole. Since I make the rules and you can't really argue with me I figured you wouldn't mind (also I couldn't figure out another reason to post these links). This week's winner is basketball recruit Michael Snaer. Snaer is participating in this week's McDonald's All-American game(his second biggest honor this week right behind being named Nole of the Week). He is blogging about his experience this week and you can read about it here. The Game takes place this Wednesday  at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

Can We Givens The Kid A Scholarship Already!

Louis Givens bursted onto the  scene last fall against Miami with two game saving tackles against Miami's Travis Benjamin on special teams. He had total of 13 tackles and was consistently the first one down the field on kickoffs.

Against Clemson, Givens finally got to show off his offensive talents, taking a reverse 27 yards to the one yard line. Givens was inserted into the lineup because FSU suspended five other wide receivers for an on campus brawl.

He played for Division II Mars Hill in 2006, but decided he wasn't satisfied there so he left school for the chance to walk-on at FSU last spring. Givens impressed in the spring and earned a spot on the team.

Yesterday, Givens had a breakout performance in the scrimmage working with the 2nd team offense. Givens had 3 catches for 84 yards, including a 65 yard touchdown. The pass was thrown behind Givens, but he was able to haul in it anyway and then left the second team defense in his dust.

With the loss of Preston Parker from the team, and Taiwan Easterling for the spring to an achilles injury, Givens has been stepping up big time. Receivers Coach Lawrence Dawsey told Andrew Carter if it were up to him Givens would be on scholarship. 

I think Givens has more than proved that he deserves Preston Parker's scholarship. I think Lil'Boosie (Given's Cousin) sums up Givens perfectly with his song Zoom. Zoom is what Givens does past defenders and on on kickoffs, now FSU you needs to pick up there pace and just give him a scholarship.

Nole of the Week

Matt Diaz is this week's winner. First Diaz beat the Tigers all by himself going 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs. Then he continued his dominance over Johan Santana. Diaz is batting .395 this spring with a team high 12 RBIs. Despite the Braves signing Garret Anderson, Diaz has assured himself some quality at-bats this season.

Diaz is not the only former Nole enjoying spring training success. 

Baseball Team Battles Back

After starting the season by dropping three of their first four ACC games,  No. 24 Florida State bounced back to take two of three from the 19th ranked Clemson Tigers.

FSU fell late last night in the 11th inning behind a little bit of controversy. In the bottom of the 9th it looked like Stuart Tapley had won the game for the Seminoles with a walk off homer, only to have it ruled a foul ball.

After battling back last night to no avail FSU was forced to battle again today trailing 4-3 in the 9th. Jason Stihdam knocked in the tying run with a sacrifice fly on a foul ball. Mike McGee then stepped to the plate with two outs and two runners on. McGee was the starting pitcher for FSU and went 6 innings giving up only 3 runs, he also had already homered earlier in the day. When Mike Martin was asked if he wanted to keep McGee in the game as a DH he just smiled and said yes we do. It proved to be the right call in the ninth as McGee sent one over the right field fence bouncing towards the circus tent.

In Saturday's first scrimmage of the spring the focus seemed to be mainly on the running game with Ty Jones getting the bulk of the carries after Jermaine Thomas had to leave early with a hip pointer. Jones had around 50 yards and one touchdown (stats unofficial just what I could keep myself). Marcus Simms also ran the ball hard and dominated the goal line and red zone drills.

Avis Comack had a nice end around for a 10 yard TD and Jarmon Fortson had the big play of the day with a 41 yard reception.

Women's basketball will look to advance to the sweet 16 for the second time in school history tomorrow night against Arizona State at 7:00 pm.

Dance Off

Just like that it's over. 61-59 Wisconsin sends FSU home from the dance unsatisfied and disappointed.

It was right there for them to take but Wisconsin held FSU to just 21 second half points. Toney Douglas scored 26 points in his final game as a Seminole.

There are plenty of positives to this season though, while the departure of Douglas and Uche Echefu will hurt, the rest of the team should remain intact. FSU's young team gelled extremely well this season and made huge strides. Xavier Gibson is a prime example of that, at the beginning of the season Gibson looked lost and easily pushed around but tonight Gibson showed his improvement contributing six points including a big time put back dunk. This team has a lot of potential and will only get better with the addition of Michael Snaer.

FSU baseball finally broke out of it's ACC play slump with a 5-2 win over Clemson. Freshmen Pitcher Sean Gilmartin(4-1) bounced back nicely from his first loss of the season against UVA to take the win on six ad third with eight strikeouts and just one run.

Stuart Tapley made a couple of nice defensive plays. Rafael Lopez hit his third homerun of the season. Tommy Oravetz continued to climb up the record books for Florida State by getting hit by a pitch for the 33rd time in his career moving him into 5th place.

The football team practice for 24 periods today in Doak. Christian Ponder looked pretty good until things went to 11 on 11. The defense broke up a couple of passes including one by Korey Mangum in the corner to save a TD. Patrick Robinson also had a big hit on a swing pass. The team will be scrimmaging a 12:30 tomorrow in Doak, and they're more than anxious. "

"We have been in shells the last couple days. The offense has been giving us a little lip saying we need to get ready for tomorrow. We will crank it up a little bit tomorrow when we get in full pads. We are just trying to get better every day. Coach Andrews said we need to get 2% better everyday but we need to crank it up to five." Said Linebacker Kendall Smith.

You're Lucky I'm Even Writing This Blog

The Orlando Sentinel wants FSU fans to realize how lucky they are that their paper even still covers that Mickey Mouse operation Bobby Bowden is running in Tallahassee. Dave Whitley admits that the OS does favor its coverage of the Orange and Blue, but not because of a hidden bias he carries for the UF, but because UF generates more revenue for the paper. 

I do agree with the points Whitley made about Florida's football team being more in demand right now because of their recent accomplishments, but to suggest that FSU really deserves no coverage from the OS is a bit far fetched as were a few of his other points about other media outlets.

He claimed that when Bowden leaves practice he is met by only around four media members, well I have never once seen Dave Whitley at an FSU practice, but I have seen at least five or six writers from Warchant and The Osceola combined, two from Noleinsider, two or more from the Tallahassee Democrat, one or two from his own paper, plus TV media and usually about two FSView writers. That's a few more than four.

He also claimed that only two papers are covering tomorrows first round game for the basketball team. Not only is this not true, but it goes against his argument that UF gets more coverage because it's a more exciting program, UF is playing Miami tomorrow in a second round NIT match-up.

Here are the links from the "Two" papers covering tomorrow's game. Tallahassee Democrat, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, St. Pete Times, and the Times-Union. I also know that The Osceola has a writer in the Potato capitol. That is more than two right?

I don't think you guys understand how lucky you are that I write a blog about a team that is in the NCAA tournament and still has top 25 football team, I should be blogging about ridiculous plaques around the country.

Any way back to our normal blog. FSU is finally back in the tourney tomorrow and Toney Douglas is ready to show the rest of the country he's ready. More than his scoring and lock down defense this year, Douglas is most proud of his legacy of a being a leader on a team that made the tournament. In the past few years FSU's teams have been just as talented, but not a close nit a group. It was seemed there were too many Chiefs and not enough Indians, well this season Toney is the Chief and he has some talented Indians playing great basketball. It won't be long until 23 is hanging from the rafters in the Tucker Center.

Despite the number of errors the 'Noles made against Florida Tuesday, Mike Martin will keep the defensive changes he made in place this weekend against Clemson.

Bowden Responds to NCAA

You couldn't blame Bobby for not wanting to say anything until after TK commented on the issue of NCAA sanctions. He was probably fuming at the NCAA for its unprecedented ruling to vacate wins despite coaches not knowing the players were ineligible. 

Well, when Bowden did respond after practice he was annoyed, at the ruling yes, but more so at the fact that the appeal was made out to be all about his pursuit of the all time wins record.

Bowden's statement on the NCAA sanctions:

“My reaction to the NCAA sanctions is that it was too stiff and I think that (FSU President) Dr. Wetherell is right in making that appeal. The thing about it to me, this thing ain’t about me. That is really all I hear from commentators is ‘Bobby Bowden this’ and ‘Bobby Bowden’. It is about all of our coaches and our teams, you know. I think everybody is putting everything on my wins, which is just part of it. The big thing, the whole crux of it to me men, does the punishment fit the crime? Does the punishment fit the crime? I think that’s the thing, that’s the thing we gotta find the answer to right there.”

As usual Bowden takes the classy route. Here is a copy of the letter TK sent to the NCAA. 

TK may be keeping the post office in business all by himself this week. He had to write another letter apologizing to Samford University after referring to them as a Dip Shit school or uhhh.....I mean other institution. Mike Bianchi's bad mouthing of Bowden is what got TK all fired up and ready to throw down in the first place.

Back to the field... Wide Receiver Correy Surrency participated in his first full practice of the spring today. He is eligible to practice while his appeal is being heard. While he said that he wants to come back more than any other option, he did say that a few NFL teams have inquired with Jimbo Fisher about a possible workout if things don't work out.

Ochuko Jenije has been having a great spring so far. In three days of practice he has 3 picks, he is hoping to fill Tony Carter's shoes opposite of Patrick Robinson. 

FSU baseball has had a rough start to this season, losing again in the 9th against Florida. But don't fret help is on the way next year. Things will not get much better as Clemson comes to town this weekend.

Well what do you think of the new layout? Suggestions always welcome!

One is the Loneliest Number

So remember yesterday when I said there was nothing really to report from practice except Ej Manuel hit his hand on a helmet? Well it turns out EJ had a compound dislocation of his index finger on his right hand which he had to have surgery on this morning. Due to the four stitches from the surgery EJ will miss the rest of spring practice.

With D'Vo playing baseball and mulling a possible position change, and now with EJ out that leaves Christian Ponder as the Seminoles lone scholarship QB for the rest of the spring. Walk on QB Corey Eddinger from Wakulla will move up to No. 2 on the depth chart. Eddinger doesn't even have picture listed next to his name on Seminoles.com, but he's listed as 6 ft and 179 pounds (I'm pretty sure the defense is foaming at the mouth after realizing they are going after this guy all spring).

Hopefully Ponder can steer clear of trouble the rest of the way this spring.

FSU officially announced it plans to appeal the NCAA's decision to vacate wins today.

Spring Practice Day 1

Spring football practice began today not a whole lot too report. Ej Manuel left early after banging his hand on a helmet more on that when I find out more. 

Here are the number changes for this season:

Taiwan Easterling changes from 8

2 to 8
Nick Moody changes from 46 to 10
Kendall Smith changes from 41 to 29

Vince Williams changes

 from 46 to 11

Terrance Parks changes from 27 to 4

If still around D'Vo will go from 10 to 6

The highlight of practice came when Coach Bowden was asked if he filled out a March Madness bracket to which he responded with something along the lines of 'I would have to ask Rick Neuheisel how to do that.' Classic Bobby. He said he doesn't plan to comment on vacating wins until after TK Wetherell's press conference tomorrow.

Before Spring practice today was FSU's pro day. Most of the focus was on projected top five pick Everette Brown who was very impressive. 

A few former players returned to work out including DeCody Fagg and Xavier Lee. Lee was working out as a wide receiver which was unique to see because he was catching passes from Drew Weatherford. Lee wasn't overly impressive physically but he showed above average hands. He said that as of now he has a mini camp invite with Tampa Bay.

Weatherford looked very sharp, as did Tony Carter who looks to have beefed up, and Antone Smith who ran an unofficial 4.26 (second fastest of the day behind Michael Ray Garvin's 4.22).

Todderick Verdell was dressed like a traffic cop. Which probably made Preston Parker slightly nervous as he was on hand to take in the action and watch his former teammates. He said he didn't know where he would transfer to next season yet.

One of the more interesting things I noticed was something that I had never really thought about. It wasn't just NFL scouts there watching there were at least three Canadian Football League scouts there. While many of the players working out have no shot at making an NFL roster the CFL is a very real possibility. Xavier Lee said that some CFL teams have even talked to him about possibly playing QB.

Couch Potato

Are you ready to do nothing but sit on your couch and watch basketball?, well I am. (like that's what I haven't been doing since Thursday, somewhere my girlfriend just punched a stranger after reading the beginning of this post). And for the first time in ten years Florida State is involved in the Big Dance.

Despite losing to Duke in the ACC championship game, FSU (25-9) is a five seed and will take on 12 seed Wisconsin (19-12) at around 10 in Boise, Idaho Friday night. Good news is that FSU has not lost consecutive games this season, you can blame me if I jinx them and mess up your bracket. Last time FSU played in Boise it defeated Montana and Georgetown to reach the sweet 16 in 1992.

While Toney Douglas and FSU are happy to be in the tournament I can't help but think how much it would suck to go to Boise. So i did some research on what to expect from the potato state's capitol.

The weather isn't too bad it's supposed to be 62 with a low 43. It is the home to Jake 'The Snake' Plummer former NFL QB. Unfortunately though, the basketball court is not Blue like the the school's football field. I think that it should be mandated that court is completely blue or maybe they could use a blue basketball or something to resemble the Smurf Turf.

Don't get too caught up in the hoop mania, Seminole fan's first true love is back in action tomorrow for the first day of spring practice. Hopefully the coaches put out plenty of trash cans so the boys can run the spring break out of themselves.

Knockout Punch

Finally! FSU snapped a ten game losing streak to UNC today in the Georgia Dome with a 73-70 win over the top ranked Tar Heels. For the first time in school history FSU will advance to the ACC Championship game, they will take on Duke tomorrow at 1 p.m.

Last time these two teams met UNC was bailed out by a late Derwin Kitchen turnover and a Ty Lawson miracle shot. This time though Lawson was out with an injury and Kitchen was clutch down the stretch making two free throws to put FSU up three with 15.7 seconds left. 

One day after hitting the game winner against Georgia Tech Kitchen put on quite the encore performance scoring 11 points with nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals.

In the same building that his brother plays for the Dirty Birds, Toney Douglas continued to scorch the ACC this time scoring 27 points. 

Despite the loss UNC will still more than likely be a number one seed, but with a win tomorrow FSU could improve to a four seed and be playing in Miami instead of Boise in the first round of the NCAA tournament (who would have thought that FSU fans would be arguing for a higher seed, not just to get in when the season began?).

By knocking off North Carolina on the conference's biggest stage Leonard Hamilton and the 'Noles made a statement about the program, one that they would like Duke to hear as well tomorrow afternoon.

Vacation

No updates until Friday probably, I will be cruising to the Bahamas this week. I'll leave you with this video of what I'll be doing to enjoy while I'm gone.

Judgement Day

The NCAA finally came out with their results from the investigation on FSU. Essentially through all the legal jargon the document stated that, FSU is placed on four years probation and must vacate any wins in any sport that those players participated in, no matter what their role was, in the outcome of the game, if they played the game no longer counts.

Which could result in a total of 14 wins being taken away from Bobby Bowden which would make it almost impossible for him to catch Paterno.

It also will more than likely result in the loss of the 2007 National Track and Field Championship.

FSU will also see reduced scholarships in ten different sports as follows.

Football: Limit to 83 scholarships in 08-09, 82 in 09-10, and 84 in 2010-11. For the 08-09 self-imposed two grant reductions from the maximum allowed and will self-impose three reductions fro 09-10. The committee imposed and additional reduction of one grant in 2010-11.

Mens Basketball: Limit to 12 total grants in 08-09 and 12 in either 09-10 or 2010-11 (FSU's choice which year to impose). The maximum allowed under NCAA is 13.

Women's Basketball: Limit to 13 grants in 08-09 and 12 in either 09-10 or 2010-11. The maximum allowed is 13.

Baseball: Limit to 11.33 grants in 08-09. Maximum is 11.7.

Men's Swimming: Limit to 9.1 grants in 08-09. Maximum is 9.9

Women's Swimming: Limit to 12.8 grants in 08-09. The committee imposed an additional limitation to 12 grants to be imposed in either the 09-10 or 2010-11. Max is 14.

Men's Track and Field: Limit to 12.1 scholarships in 08-09 maximum is 12.6

Women's Track and Field: Limit to 17.32 grants in 08-09, Max is 18.

Softball: Limit to 11 in 08-09 and 11.95 in 09-10. Max is 12

Men's Golf: Limit to 4.36 grant in 08-09. Max is 4.5

Reductions from 08-09 were part of self imposed penalties after FSU put themselves on two years probation. Grant =scholarships.

FSU has responded and said they will seek clarification on vacating wins and could appeal due to the fact that they didn't knowingly use ineligible players so thing long saga may not be over after all.

FSU baseball Struggling

For the first time since 2005 FSU has lost three straight non-conference games. Last night for the first time ever the Seminoles lost to UNF. That coming the night after dropping two straight on the road to JU and Auburn.

Other than freshman Sean Gilmartin, FSU starting pitching has been very unimpressive. Austin Wood lasted only two innings last night. Brian Busch continued to impress only giving up two hits and one run in five plus innings while throwing 93 pitches.

FSU will have to figure it out quickly as conference play begins this weekend against Boston College.

FSU Women's basketball begins their quest for an ACC title tomorrow night against the winner of tonight's Boston College-Miami game.

Instead of whining about officiating after the Duke loss the Men have decided to take the positives from that game and turn them into confidence boosters. FSU is currently ranked 17th in the RPI. Right now ESPN has them projected as a 6 seed in the Midwest region playing their first game in Miami agasint Steph Curry and Davidson. Playing their first tournament game in ten years in Miami would be a huge boost to the fan base that is still getting used to the idea that FSU can compete in the ACC.

Mientkiewicz 'Nole of This Week

It's not usually a good thing when a major league veteran like Mientkiewicz is only tendered a minor league deal this late in their career but I thought with so much negativity surrounding the sport I thought it appropriate to highlight a guy never linked to the steroid scandal most have been. Mientkiewicz has agreed to a minor league deal with the Dodgers. It may be tough for him to make the roster that has a lot of infielders already, but Torre said he loves Mientkiwicz's versatility.

Snow and Bo O'Dell Ruin the Rest of the Auburn Series

After winning the first two games of the series played in Tallahassee the Seminoles dropped their first game of the season last night 10-9 in Auburn.

Bo O'Dell was forced into action after starting pitcher John Gast suffered a sprained ankle. O'Dell pitched two and a third innings and gave up seven runs (Five earned) on six hits to earn the loss.

Today's game was cancelled due to three to four inches of snow on the ground.

Congrats to the Lady Noles on their first ever regular season ACC title.

Here are some more links about yesterday's win over Clemson that weren't posted when I did my blog.  You can tell that the SEC sucks at basketball because Gene Frentte and Mike Bianchi were both in attendance yesterday and they both usually stick to covering UF, as does the Times-Union in general though.

Bianchi

Frenette