In a game that saw seven lead changes, Leonard Hamilton’s young squad showed that apparently this season is going to be filled with a lot of nailbiters.

Led by senior Toney Douglas’ 18 points, it was sophomore Jordan DeMercy and freshman Chris Singleton who were the heroes late in the game. DeMercy scored four points in the last twenty seven seconds and Singleton with a basket and a key rebound to give Florida State a hard fought 65-61 over LaSalle.

But it was a team effort that put the ‘Noles in a position to win the game as Hamilton noted in a post game radio interview.

“What I’m most proud of is how everybody who played contributed in some meaningful way” Hamilton said. “Whether it was someone getting a rebound, going after a loose ball, or scoring a basket for us we had players step up and make plays for us.”

Although the boxscore saw only one other player in double digits, Ryan Reid with 11, other players hit key baskets at crucial times to either keep FSU in the game or take the lead back.

FSU began the game as though they would control it somewhat easily leading 7-0 with just over two minutes gone in the game. The Explorers cooperated by being ice cold for more than six minutes before making their first points.

But then the ‘Noles experienced a number of sloppy turnovers and a scoring drought of nearly ten minutes and found themselves trailing 12-9 with 7:56 left in the half.

The Seminoles trailed by as much as eight points twice until Hamilton employed a 2-3 and even a little 1-3-1 zone defense and inched back to trail 19-22 at the break.

Hamilton explained afterwards that the zone was not so much to slow down LaSalle’s transition game and force low percentage perimeter shots as it was to offset the smaller lineup of the Explorers and keep the players he wanted on the floor offensively.

It was not a good shooting half for FSU as the ‘Noles were just 23% from the floor.

“We were out of sync offensively” said Hamilton. “We had difficulty in getting things going. We’d had turnovers or miss a point blank shot” he added.

Still FSU was very much in the game trailing by just three.

The second half started in a similar fashion with the Seminoles outscoring LaSalle 9-4 to tie the game at 28 all.

Again LaSalle stretched out to a nine point lead, 43-34, at the 11:00 mark. That’s when Douglas put the team on his back nailing three three pointers over the next three minutes to pull FSU to within three points, 49-46.

Shortly after that a series of plays occurred that probably pleased Hamilton the most. Reid’s running hook in the lane followed by two free throws tied the game at 52. Solomon Alabi blocked a shot at the other end and Devidas Dulkys who had been held scoreless to that point nailed a wide open three in transition from the right wing to give FSU a 55-52 lead.

The Explorers were not about to go away quietly though and it was a dogfight over the remaining 4:01.

The lead changed hands four times and saw one tie. Singleton off a nice spin move canned a short jump shot from just left of the lane to give FSU a 61-60 lead. Jerrell Williams was fouled by Reid (his fifth foul), but could only make one of two free throws and one minute remaining in the game.

Following a LaSalle turnover, FSU took the lead when DeMercy with a hand in his face connected on an 18 foot jumper from the left side.

LaSalle raced down the floor but missed. Singleton collected the rebound and was promptly fouled. However his missed both free throws that would have probably sealed the game.

But again the Seminole defense came threw when Douglas knocked the ball away and DeMercy was fouled as he raced towards the LaSalle basket. His two freebies with eleven seconds left cemented the win for FSU.

In the second half FSU shot 52% and finished 40% from the floor overall.

Unlike Saturday in Jacksonville, the Seminoles were more on target from the stripe shooting 21 of 28. That was most likely inspired by Douglas immediately heading to the practice gym and shot 200 free throws after arriving home from Jacksonville where he was 2 of 6 in the final minute.

The Seminoles will finally get to play a home game starting with Stetson on Thursday at 8:00 PM.

Said Hamilton, “I’m glad that we’re coming home and can work some things out.”

Of note Uche Echefu saw his first playing time of the season after the knee surgery logging 11 minutes and scoring 6 points.

Also Hamilton indicated that Saturday’s game against Coastal Carolina will be moved to avoid conflict with the football game later that night. There was no definitive time but the head coach felt that it would be most likely at 2:00 PM.

The only right answer at that point is Texas.  Yes Texas Tech beat them head-to-head at the last second, but the Red Raiders will be suffering from a late season loss (it sucks, just ask Notre Dame in 93), and Texas beat Oklahoma head-to-head in a well played neutral site game. Texas goes to the Big XII title game, end of story.

2. ESPN is aggressively bidding on the rights to the BCS when Fox’s contract expires after the 2009 season.  My half baked theory is if they do win the rights they will push for a +1 system. Lucrative television deals have landed ESPN in bed with each of the BCS conferences. The revenue a playoff would generate could be a huge motivator for the four letter to be the common denominator and unifier among the conferences that finally helps them all to see the light of why a playoff would be good for college football.  Help expand upon or debunk this theory.

I think someone should outbid them both and settle this with electric football.

3. Rivalry week is around the corner. How do you think your team will fare? Feel free to talk a little or a lot of trash.

FSU is going to have its collective ass handed to it on its home field on Senior Day, against the mighty Gators. Or not, that’s why the games are played and not determined by a Sim or on paper. Yes, the Noles will have pretty much everything against them on November 29. They’ll be full from eating too much turkey, Doak Campbell Stadium might have more Gators than normal since it’s been tough to sell out this season, and Tim Tebow is Chuck Norris and Superman all rolled into one right?

The Gators should be scared, because the Noles aren’t going to have anything to play for other than destroying UF’s national title game hopes. The pressure is all on UF in that game. Win and live to fight Alabama. Lose and be relegated to spoiler as USC probably takes their place without (possibly) winning the Pac-10. And if FSU loses, everyone will chalk it up to the Gators being a great team this season.

By the way, check out any of Scully’s posts on Saurian Sagacity. He’s the most FSU obsessed Gator I’ve ever seen.

4. And now for a little fun… Assemble your dream announcing team.  Pick a play-by-play announcer, color commentator, sideline reporter and for the hell of it celebrity guest that drops on by.

Play-by-Play: Gary Cohen, simply because he’s my favorite announcer.

Color: Denis Leary. Droppin’ F-bombs and bitching about everything, then talking about how hockey is more manly than this crap. He cracks me up, maybe he can go slap a Starbucks barista while he’s at it.

Sideline: Stacey Dales, because some days she looks HOT and some days she looks like she can step in and play defense better than half of the Seminole football team.

Celebrity Guest: Sarah Shahi. Former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, now a lead role in NBC’s Life (my favorite TV show). Because why the hell not?

Congratulations to Christian Ponder on a stellar effort out there. No one stares down his receivers like you do and the same can be said for waiting until the receiver is wide open to throw the ball. That interception in the red-zone hurt and the one later in the end-zone killed us. Please, for the love of God, stop staring at your receiver if you plan on actually throwing him the ball.

Not to heap this all on Ponder. Lets take a moment to thank the geniuses who did not play thanks to the fight they started down at the Union (yes, I know somebody who was there and saw the entire incident happen and it was a football player who threw the first punch). Good job guys. I know if I was on the BC coaching staff my game plan became stack the box and pressure the QB and stuff the run. Apparently they thought it was a good idea too.

We should all also keep in mind that the game could have been worse if not for back-to-back trick plays that made our kicker Gano the team’s leading rusher and the wide receiver Parker the only person credited with a passing touchdown. It was that sort of game.

But the good news is I think I know what REALLY went wrong. It was the ACC refs once again trying to bury FSU. The conspiracy goes on and I want to be the one person brave enough to call out the ACC. The ACC has been out to get FSU ever since we came into the ACC and started dominating. The Noles did not commit any penalties in that game, nor any other game in which they have ever played. The Noles do not have any hotheads who incur stupid penalties for late hits, hits out of bounds, or starting fights. As a matter of fact I’m pretty sure the Noles have never jumped off-sides, been guilty of pass interference, or any other penalty you could possible think of. The other teams are the ones that cheat, but the refs rarely ever seem to call those.

Lets face it, they had to find a way to achieve some level of parity in an attempt to keep the TV contracts and the such lucrative. Without parity all the other schools may have left the ACC for conferences where they had a chance to win a conference championship every once in a while. I would almost like to say I don’t blame them, but it’s just plain WRONG!!!

(Seriously the last 2 paragraphs are for the football geniuses in section 27, row 47 and all the other fans that are not watching the same game many the rest of us are. Here’s a couple quick hints to you people: 1) encroachment involves making contact with someone, not just jumping off-sides 2) if the defensive player makes contact with the receiver prior to the ball getting there it is in fact pass interference, no matter how good a job the defensive player did knock the ball away. I’m not going to say the refs don’t miss calls or mess them up, but there really is no conspiracy. The ACC and it refs are just out there calling the game. Yes, even Mr. Cherry. Now can we all move on and be better fans. I don’t like being ranked among the top 10 worse fans in the country.)

There is no question we are in tough economic times. Unemployment is up, the stock market is down, and people don’t know which way to turn. The credit catastrophe, the housing bust, and lack of consumer confidence have affected nearly every part of our lives. The operation of our beloved Seminoles is no exception.

We all know attendance is down at Doak Campbell Stadium this year. There are a lot of ideas behind why, but the most prominent is that people just don’t have the expendable money to travel to Tallahassee, even if hotels are removed their “minimum two-night stay” rule.  But that’s not the only way the economy is putting the squeeze on the Noles.

Last week the Associate Press put out an article, ran throughout the Internet as well as in USA Today, that explored the impact of the economy on booster donations. The AP article discusses the problems that schools such as Georgia, Washington, and Nebraska are facing to maintain their level of booster donations. The article also details the plight of Oklahoma State, where booster T. Boone Pickens’ record-breaking donation is slowing melting away due to a plummeting stock market.

So how will this affect Bobby Bowden? Well, I’ve often heard that one of the main reasons for keeping Bobby Bowden around, despite his advancing age, a continuous barrage of personnel infractions, and a diminished national stature was that Bowden could bring in the dollars. My opinions was that Bowden’s legacy and his persona as the face of Florida State Football have been invaluable in getting people to open up their wallets, even when the team’s record was less than stellar. Bowden has been a money making machine the athletic department could not afford to give up.

But what happens when the well dries up? What happens when the people can’t afford to give? From what I can tell, fans are growing more and more comfortable with Jimbo Fisher and the idea of Bowden’s succession. So might the administration start to give Bowden a push out the door? If the money isn’t coming in, why keep him around?

So what do you folks think? Is the booster pinch affecting Florida State? Are you giving less to athletics? And could the bad economy mean a swifter end to the legendary career of Bobby Bowden?

1. Black uniforms eh? Appropriate color after last night’s game.

2. BTW, did you hear? FSU football players were involved in a brawl earlier in the week. Just in case you missed it. Pretty sure the ESPN family of networks didn’t make much mention of this yesterday.

3. Here’s an alternative energy suggestion albeit a very short term one. Take eighty five all black uniforms and BUUUUUUUUUUUURN THEM!!!!! BURN THEM TO A CRISP!! BURN THEM TO ASHES!!! Just build a big pile of them, take a few matches, and just ignite them never to be worn or seen again. Sure the heat generated would last only a short while. But the serenity gained from never EVER seeing them again would more than offset that.

4. And on the topic of energy, here’s an energy saver. Let’s see, FSU won at Boston College three seasons ago. BC won in Tallahassee two years ago. The Seminoles come out on top again in Bean Town last year. The Eagles become annoying guests again winning in Tallahassee on Saturday night. So obviously the ‘Noles win in Chestnut Hill next season. No need to make the trip. It’s all settled.

5. After Graham Gano’s run off a fake punt and Preston Parker’s TD pass to Greg Carr, maybe we should have stuck with the trick gadget plays? Just a thought.

(Really, I mean a news story like that fight in the student union just went practically unnoticed by that four letter network and I know I’d like to utter a few four letters right about now to them. Don’t know how they could have missed that.)

6. Gene Deckerhoff on the weather Saturday night and the crowd in attendance: “Everyone is wearing black and shivering.” Today, no one is wearing black or even wants to see that color ever again and is depleting the supply on store shelves of Pepto Bismol.

7. Memo to Jeff Jagodzinski: Now really, did you think calling that timeout was going to make Graham Gano miss that field goal near the end of the half?

8. Bobby Bowden in a pre-game interview on FSU’s kicking game: “Our legacy is wide right. Wide left. Short. Never too high though.”

9. If anyone saw that TV commercial for that certain insurance company that sponsors college football knows where I can get me one of those nifty nacho cheese fountains with Bowden’s head on the top, email me.

10. Falling under the category of “And you do what for a living?” that aforementioned four letter network during the Ohio State/Illinois game flashed a list of upsets that happened one year ago to the day. That list included a win over #2 ranked Boston College by “Florida”. And again we ask, you do WHAT for a living?

Bonus Meaninglessly Random and Randomly Meaningless Thoughts

(Oh, I did hear one brief mention of the fight (shocking I know). Something about it happening at high noon. I wasn’t aware 12:37 constituted high noon.)

11. And speaking of the Buckeyes and Illini game, the winner was awarded the muchly coveted IlliBuc Trophy after the game. So let’s see, in the Big Ten there’s the IlliBuc Trophy, the Paul Bunyan Ax, the Old Oaken Bucket, the ever popular Floyd the Pig Trophy ….. Is there any game played in the Big Ten that DOESN’T have some bizarre trophy at stake?

12. Illinois stated that going into their game with Ohio State that their goal was to stop Buckeye RB Beanie Wells. Well, if their goal was to hold him to under 145 yards, job well done!!! If you haven’t guessed by now he had 144. But you all knew that already I’m sure.

13. And speaking of the best laid plans gone awry, Charlie Weiss stated before the game against Navy that his QB would not throw an interception. First play of the game …. Now really, do I even have to say?

14. In selecting who you wanted to win the game between Visor Boy’s South Carolina and the gatros (their …) aka crocs of XXVi you selected:

A. The lizards

B. Shiny pants’ team

C. The meteor

D. Actually a whole lot of meteors

E. A huge sink hole to develop underneath Benny Hill Stadium

F. Actually a huge sink hole under all of Gainesville

15. Sign seen at ESPN’s Gameday show at FAMU: “Free FSU’s Receivers” Why? Did something happen. Did I miss something? No really, I didn’t hear.

• I’ve been under the weather all week, sitting in the cold with my blackout sweatshirt on, instead of my heavy garnet coaches jacket was a bad idea.
• Christian Ponder has a long way to go when it comes to passing. He stares down his primary guy all day.
• Give credit to the Boston College Defensive Line, those big boys stuffed up the line so FSU couldn’t run unless Graham Gano was on the field. (Gano led FSU in rushing thanks to that fake punt).
• The black uniforms should be retired, since they have some bad karma or something. Besides, I can’t read the garnet numbers on black jersey very well from the stands.
• Why do so many people keep talking about the FSU defense? Yeah, some of the stats are still gaudy, but in reality they appear to be very, very average.
• So far in the last 5 games, the Noles are 1-2, with Maryland and Florida remaining. Throw stats at me all you want about 4-1 being more likely when it started, but right now 1-4 doesn’t seem so stupid on my part.
• Graham Gano should enjoy his NFL contract, he deserves. Even though he missed his first FG of the season last night, the kid is money. He’ll be tough to replace.
• Regardless of the how season goes, at least the Noles are bowl eligible, but they might end up visiting Boise at this rate.

Thoughts? Comments? Let me know how you feel.

FSU Holds On

It had been twenty one years and fourteen games since the Jacksonville Dolphins had beaten Florida State. That streak came darn close to ending Saturday night.

But despite scoring just two points in the last four minutes of the game the Seminoles held on for a 59-57 win.

Toney Douglas led all scorers with 16 points and added 4 steals as well.

It didn’t take long for McDonald’s All American Chris Singleton to make an impression showing what kind of an active player he will be. In his college debut Singleton scored 12 points and pulled down 17 rebounds as well.

Jordan DeMercy added 10.

The ‘Noles started off the game well enough with an 8-2 lead. But turnovers began to plague the Seminoles and eventually the Dolphins took an 11-8 lead on Ben Smith’s long three from above the key.

Leonard Hamilton adjusted his lineup going with a smaller and quicker unit that allowed his team to attack the basket better. The result was a 22-6 run to finish out the half.

DeMercy set a rock solid pick allowing Douglas to hit a stop and pop jumper right before the buzzer giving FSU a 30-17 halftime lead.

FSU connected on 50% of its shots while holding JU to just 24% in the first twenty minutes.

The ‘Noles and Dolphins pretty much played back and forth for four fifths of the second half until Solomon Alabi hit an eight foot jumper from the left side to give FSU a 57-40 lead with 4:10 remaining.

At that point the young Seminoles must have felt the game was in hand. Jacksonville had other plans though.

Fueled by a press that seemed to rattle FSU, Jacksonville chipped away at the lead with three uncontested 3 pointers and the traditional three point play. FSU assisted the comeback with turnovers or near turnovers, poor shot selection, and 2 of 6 free throws shooting in the last minute of the game.

A last second layup by the Dolphins’ Travis Cohn closed the score to 59-57 but only three seconds remained. Although Douglas missed both charity shots Jacksonville was unable to get off a quality shot and the ‘Noles start off the season 1-0.

But a win is a win and one that the Seminoles will gladly take as the newcomers go on a learning curve. That curve will need to improve quickly as FSU travels to Philadelphia to take on LaSalle, a team that nearly beat an experienced FSU team last season in Tallahassee. Tip off is at 7:00 PM. There is no TV for that game.

Of note, Uche Echefu dressed but did not play. Singleton appeared to aggravate the groin injury he suffered earlier in pre-season practice but returned with seemingly no ill affect. Derwin Kitchen traveled with the team but did not dress. His status remains unclear.