In yesterday’s Trash Talk sidebar, the N&R’s Rob Daniels writes:
So the Miami Hurricanes say they will play at Maryland because their late teammate, Bryan Pata, would want them to play. Let’s hope they really do want to play and aren’t flying up to Maryland simply to comply with the unspoken and patently absurd macho ethics of sport, which says we must always go on because sport heals us.
The way I read this, Daniels has a problem with machismo, further indication of the growing feminization of sportswriting. I’m just not sure whether budding journalists these days enter the profession a) bringing their personal politics with them b) with a profound misunderstanding of their subjects or c) both.
I really did want to watch the Maryland-Miami game yesterday. It was a key game, becuas ea Terrapin win would keep a showdown with surprising Wake Forest in play, pending the outcome of the Deacs’ matchup with Florida State.
But I still don’t want to believe Miami is part of the ACC. The Canes have worn out their welcome, doing everything they can to cast a shadow on what otherwise is a great ACC football season. I’m not trying to besmirch Pata’s memory before all the facts surrounding his untimely death are known. But the bottom is, for whatever reason, Miami players attract guys with guns.That’s not good for anybody. When you take into consideration the brawl with Florida International, maybe the best thing for everybody would be for the Hurricanes to get lost in the ACC’s sea of second division teams for a while.
