Game thread: Florida St. 27, Va.Tech 22 (Final!!)

[BB73]

The ACC championship game from Jacksonville, soon to be on ABC.

With USC and Texas locked into the Rose, and with LSU down to Georgia (currently 21-7), it seems that tOSU fans should cheer for Bowden's boys to break their 3-game losing streak.

If LSU and VaTech both lose, that would undoubtedly move us up to #4 in the BCS tomorrow, which would guarantee us an at-large BCS bid since the fine print in the next paragraph doesn't mess us up.

Number 4 is a guaranteed at-large spot if the top three teams are conference champions (they all would be), and since there are not 2 non-BCS-conference teams qualifying for an automatic bid. The second part is an obscure rule that has never come into play, but it's not a problem this year either.

 

[NFBuck]

What has the world come to when I'm rooting for FSU?

 

[sandgk]

What has the world come to when I'm rooting for FSU?

Yeah - and then I had to tell the wife where that whole Free Shoes story came from.

 

[808 Buck]

This is why I hate the BCS. During the course of this season, I have rooted for Michigan, Tennessee, and now you're telling me, Florida State? This is just not right.

 

[jwinslow]

soonerfans help us get this started...

 

[NFBuck]

Good grief is FSU's offense a joke. Did anyone else see the player on FSU's sideline named Fagg? Poor bastard!

 

[BB73]

It will be interesting to see how Marcus Vick does. Miami's defense just killed him, and FSU does have a good, fast defense. Hopefully the injuries at cornerback won't get them beat.

 

[NFBuck]

Getting a feeling this is gonna be a 10-6 game. Neither offense is doing squat. At least me may get one game today. Go 'Noles.

 

[UGABuck]

I can't even believe we are ranked behind these clowns. There should be no doubt we belong in BCS bowl and we would be a good bet in a playoff.

 

[BuckWrestler141]

Yeah - and then I had to tell the wife where that whole Free Shoes story came from.

Alright i'm going to show my ignorance, or maybe its my lack of age. What is the free shoes story?

Great field position! This will be great, announcers have me nervious with thier Oregon picks.. I want to jump to 4th so its not even a possibility.

 

[TheStoicPaisano]

The origin of Free Shoes University and the Warrick/Coles episode:

http://tampatrib.com/Sports/columns/MGBWRXPQFGE.html

. "You know what FSU stands for, don't you? Free Shoes University."</HEADLINE>
<B><BYLINE>By JOEY JOHNSTON</BYLINE></B> [FONT=arial, helvetica]<CREDITLINE>[email protected]</CREDITLINE>[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]Published: <STORYDATE>Nov 25, 2005</STORYDATE>[/FONT]


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These things happen in football rivalries, especially Florida-FSU. Coaches talk to boosters, cracking a few funny lines, trying to liven up the partisan crowd. There are Gator jokes. There are Seminole jokes.
This one ran deeper, drawing criticism from UF administrators and FSU fans alike.
Steve Spurrier, who was entering his fifth season coaching the Gators, never took back his words.
In fact, he elaborated on the point.
Rewind to the summer of 1994. FSU, coming off its first national championship, was the subject of a Sports Illustrated cover story, which detailed an after-hours shopping spree for Seminole players, arranged by agents, at a Tallahassee Foot Locker store. The fallout: Four players were suspended. The NCAA investigated.
And Spurrier poured gasoline on the flames.
One day after he referred to FSU as "Free Shoes University" before the Polk County Gator Club, Spurrier was interviewed by Florida Today, a newspaper in Melbourne.
"We've always heard rumors about them," Spurrier said. "We've always suspected. They've beaten us four out of five years in recruiting. Heck, maybe they're the greatest recruiters in the world. But maybe there are other reasons that those guys go there. Those guys always say they feel 'more comfortable' going to FSU. Well, maybe we're starting to realize what that 'more comfortable' means."
Meanwhile, Gators athletic director Jeremy Foley, aware that UF had well-publicized bouts with the NCAA during the 1980s (including the stripping of the 1984 SEC title), winced when he heard Spurrier's remarks.
"We should not be making those comments," Foley said. "We've been there before. We know what it's like from the other side."
Spurrier, undaunted, addressed the subject again as fall practice began.
"I don't really think I say all that much," Spurrier said. "It just gets interpreted stronger because no other coaches say anything."
And this: "It used to be I was the most hated Gator in Tallahassee. Now it's the investi-gator."
Miami coach Dennis Erickson, an innocent bystander, said Spurrier was a "great football coach at the University of Florida, but he can't shut up."
When the Gators and Seminoles prepared for the 1994 game in Tallahassee, Spurrier was asked about his comments, nearly six months earlier.
"Let's get this straight," he said. "We are playing Free Shoes U. this week and you can quote me on that. I'm not one who will say something, then back off it now."
Then FSU coach Bobby Bowden wearily weighed in.
"The shoes were free, but we've paid a heckuva price for it," Bowden said. "So Steve's halfway right."
<BQ>"We've always heard rumors about them. We've always suspected."

<CREDIT>
STEVE SPURRIER </PERSON></CREDIT></BQ></BOD>[/FONT]

http://apse.dallasnews.com/dec1999/15beard.html

<CENTER>[FONT=Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana]A welcome and a challenge [/FONT]</CENTER><!--end headline--><!--Begin byline-->
[FONT=geneva,arial,helvetica,verdana]By RANDY BEARD
Third Vice President [/FONT]
<!--end byline--><!--START CONTENT HERE -->[FONT=Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,Verdana]P[/FONT]eter Warrick had been expected to grab headlines as an All-American receiver for Florida State’s well-regarded football team, but in late September he began to grab headlines of a different kind.

Security cameras filmed Warrick and another Florida State receiver, Laveranues Coles, receiving more than $400 in clothing — for about $20 — from a department store clerk in a Tallahassee mall.
It wasn’t a smart move, and it seemed even less smart when Warrick admitted to having done something similar twice before with the same clerk at the same department store.
Warrick, Coles and the clerk were originally charged with felony grand theft. Warrick was suspended from the team until his case was resolved. He was later allowed to plead to a misdemeanor, pay a fine, make restitution and do community service, which meant that his suspension could be lifted, allowing him to play football — which he did, and Florida State finished the regular season 11-0.
Coles, who had tested the patience of Bobby Bowden, the FSU coach, one time too many, was dismissed.
Five years removed from Free Shoes University jokes involving a shopping spree by athletes at a sporting goods store, Tallahassee had again become a center of attention for the wrong reason.
So much for my easy transition into a new job as executive sports editor of the Democrat.
Every sports radio talk show in the country called to interview reporters and columnists at the Democrat, but we didn’t do much of that. We were busy checking into tips so that we wouldn’t be beaten on a story in our back yard.
When you work at a smaller paper, there aren’t many opportunities to compete with metros and magazines like Sports Illustrated. The Warrick story was one of those occasions, and then it created a tug-of-war in the newsroom.
By Democrat policy, police reporters dealt with the legal aspects because they are expected to have the expertise and the contacts within the criminal justice system. Sports handled the angle of the impact Warrick’s suspension would have on his Heisman Trophy campaign and Florida State’s quest for an unbeaten season and the No. 1 ranking.
The team approach worked well enough in the newsroom, but there were a couple of days when it appeared that reporters working on the story, even sharing bylines, had barely spoken to one another. Bruised egos are normal in our business, but Warrick’s actions bruised more than egos in his. Once the charges were reduced, he was back on the football field, but things will never be the same for him as they were in late August. And we’ll probably be taking a look at the way we do things, too.

 

[Buckeye_Nate]

I'm skeptical that FSU will be able to do anything on offense tonight, and I think VT will eventually pull away...but hey at least they are still in it. It'd be nice to not have to sweat the BCS selection show tomorrow evening.

 

[NFBuck]

I think Weatherford may be worse than Rix was. Wonder if they would have been much better if Sexton hadn't gone out.

 

[gost8]

wow if FSU finds a way to score some points and win this sleeper... OSU moves to 4 in the BCS......

 

[808 Buck]

Inaccurate report by Jack Arute regarding FSU being the only school with a circus. He obviously has not watched Michigan play defense for the last several years.