Welcome to the parity

Rest of conference catching up with Florida State
Posted: Wednesday December 11, 2002 7:06 PM

"I saw them play against [Notre Dame] in that Rudy movie."

--Florida State wide receiver Adam Jennings to the Fresno Bee, when asked if he knew anything about Georgia, referring to the 1993 movie about former Notre Dame walk-on Rudy Ruettiger.

By Tim Peeler, Special to CNNSI.com

It's fairly easy to put pen to paper -- or fingertip to keyboard -- and rip the ACC for having another down year, for becoming the BCS' newest Big East. But it's not true.

Yes, Florida State had its second four-loss season and backed its way into the BCS berth at the Sugar Bowl, becoming the first four-loss team to play in the New Orleans game since Alabama in 1945. No, there are no ACC teams ranked in the top 15 of either of the major polls. No, there is not a single team that is dominating the league right now.

But wasn't that always the criticism of the ACC, that it was Florida State and the Eight Dwarfs? Didn't everyone say that the league couldn't be taken seriously when one program stuck out so far above the rest?

Well, several teams in the league are close to catching up to Bobby Bowden's Seminoles. The problem is, no one has yet passed them. In the bigger picture, that means parity has come to the league, something that didn't seem possible as FSU was rolling to nine straight conference titles after joining the league. There are at least three programs that are in place to make a long-range challenge to the Seminoles' dominance: N.C. State, Virginia and Maryland.

Georgia Tech might be added to that group if Chan Gailey can find away to overcome the injury bug that plagued his inaugural team this year, and Clemson would at least like to be listed among that group, though the Tigers have yet to prove anything under Tommy Bowden.

This might be a surprise to those who aren't paying close attention, but as a group, the ACC has better football coaches than it does basketball coaches right now, and they are intent on taking their programs to the highest level of college football.

It's true that no one else in the league has sustained the success of Florida State. But name a program in the country that can match the dominance the Seminoles had during their 14-year stay in the Top 5 of the final polls? This is, after all, the Seminoles' 21st consecutive trip to a bowl game.

Sure, someone needs to step over the Seminoles -- and stay there for a while, at least -- before the national people will take it seriously. But based on FSU's performance the last two years, that day may be coming soon.

How will the world feel if next year's preseason predictions for the conference race look something like this?
1. N.C. State
2. Virginia
3. Maryland
4. Florida State

That's not a lock. But the Wolfpack has a huge opportunity to prove itself against Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl, and may well have the best crop of newcomers of any team in the league. Virginia had that distinction this year, as ACC Coach of the Year Al Groh opted to play his best players, most of whom happened to be freshmen. And Maryland was again exceptionally good under second-year coach Ralph Friedgen, even though the Terps played without tailback Bruce Perry most of the year and were unsettled at quarterback until about midway through the season.

The times are changing in the ACC. From the outside, it may look like Florida State's elevator is going down. In truth, several other elevators are going up -- and are on the verge of catching up to the Seminoles.



 

Charlotte hit the college bowl jackpot
Jack Bogaczyk <jackb@dailymail.com>
Daily Mail columnist

Maybe Ken Haines and George Johnson should do a parlay on a Powerball ticket.
How much luckier can the Continental Tire Bowl executives get? Who figured downtown Charlotte would have a BCS bowl on Dec. 28?

That would be Big Continental Sellout.

Atlantic City used to have a bowl -- the Liberty. Las Vegas still has a bowl. Neither of those high-roller destinations ever hit the jackpot, however, like this first-year Tire Bowl that seemed destined to match retreads at Ericsson Stadium.

A lower-tier bowl with a Saturday morning kickoff already was peddling only upper-deck seats two days into sales at West Virginia and Virginia. At the close of box offices Friday, the Continental Tire Bowl had fewer than 1,000 tickets available.

"We'll probably sell it out (today)," said Haines, the bowl's executive director, late Friday afternoon. "I just came from the Panthers' offices. People were still in line for our tickets."

Ericsson's capacity of 73,367 includes about 2,000 club seats that Panthers' seat owners may use for the bowl. So, Tire sales are approaching 70,000.

Haines and Johnson are executives with Raycom Sports, a Charlotte-based TV production and sports event marketing firm. Raycom previously ran a bowl at Pro Player Stadium, a game that in its 11-year history went from the Blockbuster to Carquest to MicronPC Bowl.

It was mostly a "So what?" at the turnstiles. Fans couldn't or wouldn't go to South Florida because hotel rooms and flights were limited on late notice during the height of the holiday tourist season.

The Tire Bowl location, despite potential cold weather, offers much warmer geography to its competing conferences.

The matchup was advertised as Big East No. 4 against ACC No. 5. Instead, thanks to some conference maneuvering, divine (read Notre Dame) intervention and a cavalier attitude toward Virginia by some ACC bowl partners, the Tire Bowl had second-place teams.

"I find it unbelievable that we could get second-place teams in our game in the first year," Haines said. "I doubt any first-year bowl has ever had teams finish this high in their leagues, teams ranked this high."

Before the Tire got WVU and U.Va., Johnson, the Tire Bowl assistant director, said the first-year goal was to sell 40,000 seats. Then, with the Mountaineers' reputation for selling bowl tickets and Virginia's proximity, Raycom upped its goal to 50,000.

"And we thought that was only if everything lined up for us properly," Johnson said.

West Virginia is approaching 25,000 in on-campus sales. Virginia is closing in on 16,000. The old Raycom bowl -- peddled to the Orlando-based Florida Sports Commission as the new Tangerine Bowl -- was like this only once.

The first Blockbuster had a sellout of 74,021 for Florida State's win over Penn State in 1990. The next 10 games averaged 40,049 in the seats despite having teams from the SEC, ACC, Big East and Big Ten.

Raycom execs pushed the Tire -- the only new bowl among 28 this season -- to NCAA officials on Charlotte's accessibility to the ACC and Big East.

Raycom was thinking potential. What it has, indeed, is a new blockbuster bowl.

 

Sharper may end up deep in heart of Texans
Mike Preston

FORMER Ravens linebacker Jamie Sharper is finally getting his due respect in Houston. He could some day own this franchise, much like the Ravens are Ray Lewis' team and the Green Bay Packers are Brett Favre's team.

Hmmm. Jamie Sharper's team. Texans coach Dom Capers likes the way it rolls off the lips.

"The way you really lead in this business is by going out and doing it between the lines," said Capers. "That's how you gain respect. That's what leadership is all about, and that's what you see in Jamie. I don't think it's his personality to be vocal and do a lot of talking about what he is going to do. He is more businesslike about doing his job.

"He brought credibility with him, knowing how to prepare and win at the highest level," added Capers. "He's been very productive for us. He's a very popular guy on our team."

He'll be even more popular today when the Ravens play the Texans at Reliant Stadium. It will be Get Reacquainted Day for Sharper, and Get Sharper Day for his old teammates. Houston has the No. 14-ranked defense in the league - No. 11 vs. the pass. The Ravens have the 31st-ranked passing offense in the league, but they are No. 15 in rushing offense.

So, that means the Ravens will try to run, which means Sharper will have a lot of head-on collisions with running back Jamal Lewis.

Is that any way to treat an old friend?

"I still talk to some of the guys, even getting them and some of their families tickets," said Sharper, 28, the Texans' second-leading tackler. "We're still friends, but you know you're going to have to have your best game against them. They know who I am, and I know them. We'll be talking the whole game, me and Jamal, and the Ravens' offensive line. It'll be like practice a couple of years ago."

That's when Sharper was still on Ray Lewis' team. From 1997, when he was one of the Ravens' two second-round draft picks (34th overall), he was always "the other linebacker." Not just behind Lewis, but behind strong-side linebacker Peter Boulware, too.

Lewis was simply better. No question. But on a weekly basis, Sharper outplayed and was more consistent than Boulware. Sharper was always one of the top two or three on the team in tackles every year, along with Lewis and end Michael McCrary. Sharper worked hard to improve as a pass rusher, and became more of an every-down player last season, his last in Baltimore.

And if you look back on the team's Super Bowl run in 2000, there were four players on that defense that turned it up another notch in the postseason. There was Ray Lewis, of course, cornerbacks Duane Starks and Chris McAlister, and Sharper.

"If he were anywhere else, he'd be the star linebacker," former Ravens tight end Shannon Sharpe said repeatedly during his last two seasons in Baltimore.

That's why Sharper is one of my all-time favorite Ravens. The guy never, ever complained, not about being tormented by former Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis during his first two seasons in the league, or about being overshadowed by any of his teammates.

Once, Sharper became so irritated at Marvin Lewis during a game that he threw a cup of water in Lewis' face (that's when he started becoming one of my favorites).

You hear about players not complaining, but they sometimes become so disgruntled privately that they start eating away at the team's fiber. But Sharper only cared about winning a championship.

That's it.

"That's Ray's team. Getting attention or notoriety never bothered me," said Sharper, one of the Ravens' numerous salary-cap casualties during the offseason. "All I ever wanted was a ring. That's what was important to me in Baltimore. That's what is important to me in Houston. I'm proving here what type of player I am, which I had to do coming to a brand new team and a brand new defense. I'm kind of on my own here."

He is not the lone star in this Texas town. There is rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall draft pick David Carr, and then there is Sharper. The next big thing is the retractable roof on the new stadium. Other than that, the Texans are largely a collection of misfits, wannabees, has-beens and salary-cap casualties, some of whom aren't worth the minimum wage, much less the minimum league salary.

But that's what expansion is about, and that's why Sharper is here. He knows the drill. The Ravens were still rebuilding their defense when they drafted him.

His role, though, isn't just confined to defense.

"I've had to make more of a change in the locker room," Sharper said. "We've got a lot of guys on both offense and defense stepping into starting roles every week, and I have to make sure they come ready to play. I have to make sure these guys take a veteran attitude to practice and to games every week.

"We had that same problem in Baltimore, but we brought in some guys with flair, attitude, and it rubbed off on guys like Ray, Pete and myself."

Another adjustment for Sharper has been moving inside. With the Ravens, he played the weak side, and was usually uncovered. In the Texans' scheme, he is one of two inside linebackers in a 3-4 alignment, and he gets to blitz more.

In Houston, he gets a chance for more tackles. In Houston, there is a chance he could take over this team much like Ray Lewis did in Baltimore.

Ahh, Jamie Sharper's team.

Sharper just smiles.