Does This Guy Ever Stop?(Bianchi)

[Bull Dozer]

Still taking shots at us in today's article  >

Mike Bianchi

Leavitt should love series; USF owns UCF

Published September 17, 2006

What a total and complete waste of time.

What an absolutely awful atmosphere.

Why would anybody want to keep this unimportant nonrivalry alive?

Seriously, who needs a ranting, chanting crowd of nearly 50,000 to watch two state teams only 90 miles apart?

Who needs a nail-biting, heart-palpitating, up-and-down, back-and-forth game?

Who needs all the emotion and all the commotion coming down to the final, frenetic 30 seconds with UCF on USF's 10-yard line on fourth down with a chance to win the game?

Who needs the bands blaring, the coaches swearing, the fans caring?

Who needs USF players high-stepping over to their thousands of devoted, delirious fans and UCF players hang-dogging into a sad, somber locker room after the most devastating loss of Coach George O'Leary's tenure?

"This one hurts a lot more than getting beat 42-nothing by Florida," UCF quarterback Steven Moffett said after his team's 24-17 loss to USF. "This was a game we wanted to win badly. This one went down to the wire. This one was for bragging rights."

Hopefully, USF Coach Jim Leavitt took notice. Hopefully, he now understands why USF-UCF is better for his program than USF-Wofford.

Leavitt is the one who, for some unknown reason, wants to end this budding, brewing, young rivalry. That seems awfully strange, considering how badly he wanted to win it. Leavitt wanted to win so desperately, he actually resorted to reading a copy of an Orlando Sentinel column to fire up his team.

That's right, Leavitt, whose team is rife with academic casualties and drug suspensions, didn't take kindly to a column written Friday by yours truly in which USF was called a "renegade" program.

"We're not a bunch of renegades," Leavitt said. ". . . I'm disappointed in some of the things I read in the Orlando paper, and our guys took offense to it. I promise you that [column] helped us."

There you have it.

Don't hang this one on O'Leary, the million-dollar coach; hang it on the 50-cent mug shot in the paper. My shoulders are wide. I can handle the burden of blame.

I know the Knights got outcoached and outplayed. I know one of UCF's best players, running back Kevin Smith, was suspended from the game for missing curfew. I know UCF's defense got torched yet again -- this time for 433 yards. I know Moffett completed only 19 of 44 passes, threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.

But this one's on me, fellas. If you're handing out condemnation, give me two helpings.

And as long as we know Leavitt is a regular reader of the Sentinel, can we ask you one question, Jimbo: WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO END THIS SERIES? Why would you want to stop playing a team you own?

If UCF couldn't beat USF on Saturday, you wonder whether it ever will happen. UCF had an announced crowd of 46,708 on its side; and it would have been significantly larger if USF had brought all its academic nonqualifiers. UCF had a senior quarterback; USF had a freshman.

For UCF, there are no answers today -- only questions: Didn't O'Leary used to coach defense? Wasn't he once the defensive coordinator of an NFL team? Aren't there four coaches on UCF's coaching staff who used to be defensive coordinators at other schools?

Then how can USF freshman Matt Grothe pass for 302 yards and three touchdowns and run for 73 more? How can UCF allow USF to drive 90 yards late in the fourth quarter for the winning touchdown? How can UCF's defense be so consistently bad?

Where's the toughness?

Where's the nastiness?

It's one thing for UCF to be badly outplayed by the University of Florida, a program that has been around for 100 years. It's quite another for the Golden Knights to have to live with knowing they are clearly behind a USF program that is in a better conference, has better players -- and is only 10 years old.

The atmosphere was electric Saturday.

The fans were incredible.

But the reality was harsh.

Mike Bianchi can be reached at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/columnists/orl-bianchi1706sep17,0,4766010.column?coll=orl-sports-col

[___ Eats It]

Whatever.  UCF = owned.  End of story.  Bianchi can write what he wants now.  

[WoolyBully]

 What a total and complete waste of time.

What an absolutely awful atmosphere.

Why would anybody want to keep this unimportant nonrivalry alive?

Seriously, who needs a ranting, chanting crowd of nearly 50,000 to watch two state teams only 90 miles apart?

Who needs a nail-biting, heart-palpitating, up-and-down, back-and-forth game?

Who needs all the emotion and all the commotion coming down to the final, frenetic 30 seconds with UCF on USF's 10-yard line on fourth down with a chance to win the game?

Who needs the bands blaring, the coaches swearing, the fans caring?

Wait a minute...this is alarmingly similar to Fennelley's article in the Trib. Do these guys coordinate their articles...or...could it be...is it possible. Wait a minute...I don't think I've ever seen these two guys together at the same place and same time.  

[Grateful Dad]

Why don't we invite this bozo over to one of next year's kickoff parties?  I would love to see him in the middle of the crowd at Capogna's spewing his crap.  Beef studs could hold his a$$ down while we all paint him green and gold ;D

PJM, you might want to change your nick name.  That is pretty cruel and very yesterday.  We have a new qb.  He is the man.

[puc86]

Why is it that they feel the need to tell us what is in our own best interest? And if they are so good at determining the best way to run a program, why is it not working for their own?

[Economics_Nerd82]

Who needs the bands blaring...

Bands? As in more than one? I don't know about him, but from where I was standing I only HERD one band!

[usf97]

It's a typical response. I understand both sides of the argument. What I don't get is that short of Greg of the St. Pete Times.....nobody in the media seems to understand Leavitt and Woolards side. They all want to paint them like they are complete morons, when Leavitt and Wollard have a valid argument whether you agree with it or not. They have left off being journalists and have become activists.

[Triple B]

They have left off being journalists and have become activists.

Activist = fancy name for whiner.

[Mag Pie]

"Why would you want to stop playing a team you own? " - Bianchi

That's why.  Why continue to play if we get nothing from it?  And do we really get that much money from the game?  I thought we only received very SMALL portions of the concessions and parking.

[MikeG]

"What a total and complete waste of time."

Thanks for the warning-- I stopped reading immediately