Dazed and Confused
Posted October 15, 2006, 8:34 AM ET

There must be something about the "U" that brings out the worst in people.

After returning from a fun Southern Fried Football™ Tour stop in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, I was planning on kicking back at home and enjoying a great night of sports on the tube. After all, I had a buffet of great events going on at the same time: Florida and Auburn in a classic SEC showdown on the Plains....the Nextel Cup race (or was it a demolition derby?) from LMS, and I even had the Mets and Redbirds going after each other in the NLCS.

While all of these great sporting events were taking place Saturday evening, I had to watch the garbage that was being highlighted by ESPN about the Miami-Florida International game...and it had nothing to do with a great play, but rather a bench-clearing brawl.

Thug-U is back. Now, I want to see if the ACC is going to practice what they preach. The conference has been patting itself on the back with their ubiquitous "sportsmanship PSAs". Now let's see if John Swofford and company do the right thing when it comes to Miami and their ridiculous tactics.

A few years ago, Clemson and South Carolina were involved in a bench-clearing brawl that was a total embarrassment for not only the schools and their fans, but for both the ACC and the SEC. Because of the fracas, both schools decided that the right punishment was to eliminate themselves from mid-tier bowls. It was the right thing to do. The national exposure created by the fight was ugly to say the least.

Back to Thug U: what is the ACC going to do with these punks? I think the answer is very simple....forget the suspensions of the players involved. For the record, a grand total of 31 players from both teams were suspended, even though that number could increase when more information is obtained. The ACC needs to alert the Canes that their season will end on November 23rd when they host Boston College.

You heard me, the ACC has to lay the same law down as they did to Clemson....no bowl game for the Canes. The Canes are currently out of the Top 25, a national disappointment, and they have followed up their punk tactics at the Peach Bowl (another fight against LSU) with their lack of class displayed against mighty Florida International. It should also be pointed out that Miami players stomped on the Louisville logo at midfield before their showdown with the Cardinals on September 16th. Right after the punk-move, the Canes were thrashed 31-7.

Larry Coker, the Canes' coach, has come under fire despite the record and accomplishments under his watch. But he has not suffered a loss that was more demeaning than the actions his players took against Florida International on Saturday night.

The only thing more outrageous than the Canes' actions on Saturday, will be if the ACC doesn't show the consistency that it demonstrated with the Clemson-USC brawl. And if it turns out the conference doesn't ban the mediocre Canes from a mediocre bowl, then there needs to be an investigation....not to mention an immediate recall on those lame ACC "sportsmanship" spots.

The conference should treat the Canes' program like the Panthers' Dan Morgan treats the rest of the 2006 season....they need to take some time off. By the way, it needs to be pointed out that Dan Morgan is a Miami alum.

Thug U is back, and nobody seems impressed with the latest edition.