Take a breather from the whining about the offensive line, secondary and every other imperfection and look at where @CanesFootball sits in year five under @Coach_Cristobal. Then listen to what the haters are relying on to cope. Against #FloridaState, it was outrage over a Hail Mary flag; against #Pittsburgh, it was feigned outrage over attendance at a noon game. It’s become Whack-A-Mole: Moron Edition as we smack down their half-baked takes, only to see new stupidity popping up. Empty seats. Rented stadium. Haven’t won the ACC. Couldn’t win the natty at home. Blah, blah, fucking blah-blah. Win the conference this year and watch it'll become, “Only won the ACC once!”—see some bad calls against Miami and they’ll be “deserved” for past sins. For people who spent decades accusing #Miami fans of living in the past, this contingent is awfully-dependent on keeping the conversation there—and by design—as the reality is the present becoming a real problem. Duke lands #DarianMensah from Tulane? Great pickup. The kid leaves Durham for a better opportunity down south? The #Canes represent everything wrong with college football. #PatNarduzzi wants to grandstand about “tampering”—he comes off as half-baked as his defensive back who swore they had a plan to stop #MalachiToney—gaslighting as if this current era of college football is build on handshakes and honor codes everywhere but Coral Gables. Last year was supposed to ‘expose' Miami. Remember our favorite jaded former #Seminoles quarterback #DannyKanell predicting the Canes wouldn’t even make a bowl? They finished 13-3 and played for a national championship. This year, Miami supposedly couldn’t replace its personnel losses. Now it’s 7-0 and No. 1—so blame the schedule, while ignoring the fact Miami is doing its job and the likes of Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech others aren’t holding up their end of the bargain, because in what world should the Noles, Tigers or Hokies be unranked teams when facing the Canes? There’s always another bullshit explanation as the target moves; anything to avoid acknowledging what’s being built behind the scenes here. And that’s the part even some Miami fans need to appreciate: in more than four decades following this program, I’ve never seen the university this aligned and on the same page, financially-invested in building a football powerhouse. The old joke was that UM never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity—and who could argue? Cheap hires. Half-measures. An operating model built on local talent covering institutional shortcomings. It worked until it didn’t and before we knew it, 7-5 became a lifestyle with a very liberal president who loved her medical school and saw athletics as a necessary evil. Cristobal didn’t leave Oregon’s money and resources to come home on a handshake and a nostalgia pitch; Miami finally committed to funding the ambition— because without that, he wasn’t coming home. And now look at who’s driving it. A white-collar world President in  #JoeEchevarria, who ran Deloitte LLP, before leading U-Health and ultimately the university—which he’s also doing like a CEO, more than an administrator. Listen to him discuss conference economics, media rights and Miami’s future; the man understands investment, leverage and what happens when your business outgrows its arrangement. Miami stayed out of the courtroom while Clemson and Florida State became the public faces of the ACC fight … and UM still benefited from the settlement’s television-based revenue changes, earning and keeping $20 million from its CFP run under the conference’s success incentives. Let somebody else lead the legal fight; be positioned to capitalize and deliver while others took their eye off the ball. Board chairman #MannyKadre helped deliver the cash-heavy Nike agreement worth more than $200-million over the next decade. #RudyFernandez, a Vice President and basically Echevarria’s right-hand man—he started his legacy helping bring Cristobal home and remains deeply involved in aligning university resources with football. While outsiders were fixated on the flashier John Ruiz, lower-profile power players like José and Jorge Mas were part of the circle helping shape Miami’s direction—and now @CanesConnection is benchmark for a well-oiled NIL machine. These people know how to build businesses and several know how to run professional sports organizations, as well. And the next athletics hire appears designed to strengthen that approach; the last reported shortlist consisted entirely of candidates with pro sports experience. Think franchise president: someone who can turn Miami’s brand into corporate partnerships and recurring revenue. That’s how you sustain this; turn attention into revenue, turn revenue into resources and ultimately give your coaches all means possible to keep winning big and loading up each new roster. For years, “Miami is back” was a television segment waiting to become a punchline after the next loss; fueled by the media, and consumed by rival fans—the early season vitriol when the Canes were hyped and the jubilation as the media tore the team down after a few later-year losses. That was then, this is now and success is becoming a pattern. Ten wins in 2024. Thirteen and a national championship appearance in 2025. A 7-0 start in 2026. Thirty wins across that stretch; that’s a hell of a long fluke. Does it guarantee a national championship this year? Of course not. There are still flaws to fix, players that need to get healthy, games to win and a late-season gear like last season, were Miami seemed to get stronger as the stakes got raised. But a bad quarter—or a bad Saturday—it doesn’t erase the operation behind this team. Miami has a born-and-bred head coach who views restoring this program as his life’s work, a president who understands its value and a leadership group willing to back the ambition with resources. The people making the decisions finally expect what the fans always held as the standard; and that in itself is nothing short of a miracle for a small private university in South Florida that has zero business competing with powerhouse state schools or public universities across the nation. Cristobal said it: Miami isn’t “back”—Miami is HERE—and even scarier for the haters, it’s not going anywhere by up from this point forward. The jaded bozos can keep counting empty seats or whining about schedules; the people running this program are building something that lasts and this fan base is only getting more emboldened after two decades of irrelevance. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Understood. I get that sentiment. 11/25/89 was one of the greatest nights of my life—absolute revenge game was all time. Beating the Irish is always a Godsend. Always.

11-2 SMU losing the ACC Championship to No. 17 Clemson and still getting into the 2024 College Football Playoffs as an 11-seed ... but please, Heather, continue with that cold-ass take of yours. Anything for clicks and engagement... "rage bait" the new "integrity" for hack talking heads.

... that and the scenario she describes is literally what happened to SMU—who hardly played a murder's row of a schedule in 2024—and still made it into the CFP as a two-loss team that dropped the ACC title game to Clemson; a 11-seed that went on the road and lost to 6-seeded Penn State.

Exactly. She went all in last fall shitting on Miami's CFP chances and thought that she'd get the last laugh on Selection Sunday. Not only did Miami get it, but it was an unprecedented run as a 10-seed beating No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 6 Ole Miss and coming up a throw short of upsetting No. 1 Indiana. She could've played nice and rolled into this year with a, "touché Miami, you made me eat my words" kind of energy—or she could double down, turn heel for ESPN and just go the rage-bait rout for clicks and engagement—which as you mentioned the stupid, short-term move as Miami is in very good shape with Cristobal, a strong admin and solid cash-flow to build a winner for years to come.

ESPN would say she isn't being "biased" but sharing a doomsday scenario for Miami—and they know the only way she gets clicks or engagement is by turning heel and being anti-Canes ever since she looked like a fool doubling down on Notre Dame last fall and saying Miami wouldn't get into the CFP.

I've said that for a while now; this post back on October 10th was a full-blown troll-job. She praises a bunch of good receivers in the game and left Malachi Toney off the list. She also carefully did this on a weekend Miami had a bye, so when anybody came at her for not posting about Toney—she had her built-in excuse that she was only naming guys who played and balled-out that weekend. The elimination of Toney (with an excuse) gave her the engagement off a rage-bait post that she wanted—and then you had some taking the bait that started name-calling, trashing her for being a woman reporter (so she got the misogyny 'victim' angle she wanted, too)—and 92K views later, she "won" by going viral. Her whole schtick last fall was basically calling Miami fans morons for thinking the Canes were getting into the CFP over Notre Dame—as she watched Selection Sunday like a degenerate gambler who doubled down and needed the dealer to bust. Once the Canes were in she just went full heel with this whole persona and and is riding the anti-Miami stuff for all the clicks and engagement she can get out of it; the old "no press is bad press" energy and she's rather be hate-watched than ignored.

That’s a lot of mouth and a lot of loser energy for a trash-ass program that is 12-31-1 against Miami. Cope harder. NIL and “mercenaries”—you’d fucking kill for money, talent and relevancy. Keep wasting your energy barking about your bum-ass program and your slob coach writing checks with his mouth then his ass (and roster) can’t cash. “hAiL tO pITt!!!!” 🤪

... something like that!

A bridge troll if there ever was one; a bitter woman who made herself into a victim and who toes the company line to keep the bosses happy—willing to sell her soul and any ounce of integrity she might've had for the sake of clicks and engagement, as that's how she justifies her gig to her employers. She went all-in on the Canes-hate last year believing she would get the last laugh when Notre Dame got in to the CFP ... which is why you see this look of terror on her face on Selection Sunday. She pushed all her chips into the center of the table, like Mike McDermott the first time Teddy KGB played him and ate his lunch—and she knew there was no coming back from that—so she's turned heel and is leaning into it for the sake of pot-stirring for attention.