Boldin, Sims To Play For FSU In Bowl Game

After a week of turmoil, prospects seem to have brightened for the Florida State football program. First, offensive coordinator and head coach-in-waiting Jimbo Fisher decided to stay in Tallahassee instead of taking the top job at West Virginia. Now comes word that a pair of former Seminoles will lend head coach Bobby Bowden a hand. Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin and Lions linebacker Ernie Sims will suit up for FSU in next Monday’s Music City Bowl versus Kentucky.


The short-handed Seminoles will welcome the assistance, as 36 players will not be making the trip to Nashville. Some absentees will be due to injuries, but most of them were involved in an online academic cheating scandal. The issue has caused significant embarrassment for the 7-5 Seminoles. As one disgusted FSU fan put it, “The standards here have really taken a nose dive. At Florida State, we demand renegades who play for the national championship, not renegades who lose to Wake Forest!”


The issue does come with a bit of karma. Cheat at a music history course, and you miss the Music City Bowl. The same standard apparently applies to all Bowden-coached teams. Therefore, Clemson will have to take on Auburn without three players who were caught cheating in their Chick-Fil-A class.


As young NFL stars, Boldin and Sims will certainly provide a lift to the Noles. Both players left Tallahassee with one year of eligibility remaining, so in an unusual decision, the NCAA allowed them to play in one more bowl game. Reportedly, because Boldin and Sims play for Arizona and Detroit, the NCAA felt that they would otherwise never again have the opportunity to play post-season football.


Boldin actually has experience stepping in for suspended Seminoles in a bowl game. Five years ago, with FSU’s top two quarterbacks barred from action, Boldin shifted from wideout to quarterback in a Sugar Bowl loss to Georgia. He won’t have to change positions this time, but he will have to travel from Phoenix to Nashville and take the field just one day after his regular season NFL finale. Fortunately, Sunday’s game is against the Rams defense, so it’s not like he’ll have to exert himself.


Meanwhile, Sims will provide valuable assistance for the FSU defense. The Noles also had hoped to add San Diego cornerback Antonio Cromartie – another early NFL entrant – but he’ll be busy preparing for the first round of the playoffs. One day after facing Brett Favre, at least for part of the game, Sims will line up versus Andre Woodson and the high-powered Wildcats offense. Sims will surely find it strange for his Seminoles to be an underdog against Kentucky. Even more bizarre will be the scene after the game, when UK fans will dread the end of football season and reluctantly turn their attention to hoops.


Speaking of strange developments, the mere participation of Boldin and Sims on Monday comes as a shock to many football fans. But when it comes to these two players, one thing is even more surprising. Between the wide receiver and the linebacker, it’s the LINEBACKER who was a first round pick by the Lions.

Why NC State Beat Florida State Again

North Carolina State football fans have made no secret of their displeasure with the program’s recent mediocrity under coach Chuck Amato. However, Thursday night brought Amato the surest source of relief: the Florida State Seminoles. The Wolfpack topped FSU 24-20 for their fourth victory in six seasons over the visitors from Tallahassee. NC State’s consistent success against Bobby Bowden’s teams is surprising to many. Thursday’s victory is due to numerous reasons, noted as follows.


Top 25 Polls: NCSU’s victory over the #17 Seminoles was preceded by one over Boston College, #20 at the time. The Wolfpack’s other triumph came over Appalachian State, #2 in Division 1-AA. Losses to Akron and Southern Mississippi prove that NCSU can only beat opponents who are ranked.

Duke: The Blue Devils are the opposition for FSU next week. Clearly the Seminoles were caught looking ahead to that one.

National League Playoffs: A boneheaded base-running play by FSU’s J.D. Drew cost the Dodgers in game one versus the Mets, showing that bad things were in store this week for Seminoles named Drew. NCSU’s DaJuan Morgan salted the game away by picking off Drew Weatherford, amazingly after intercepting Jeff Kent on the same play.

The Karate Kid: The inspirational 1984 film showed that a young underdog named Daniel could triumph. Thursday, Wolfpack quarterback Daniel Evans won his second career start, silencing critics of his unorthodox “wax on, wax off” throwing motion.

Hurricanes: The Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes were honored at the game. Title-winning Hurricanes always bring pain to the Seminoles.

ACC Championship Game: The loss makes FSU unlikely to play for the conference title. The players are relieved, as the extra game would have distracted them from their academics.

Miller Lite: Former FSU player Burt Reynolds presides over the Men of the Square Table. The Wolfpack took revenge against his school, because he did not invite anyone from NC State to help determine the Man Laws.

Halloween: Every NCSU player was confident Thursday, because you would expect a Wolf to thrive on an October night. There just aren’t many good horror movies about Seminoles.

Out-Of-State Travel: Thursday was FSU’s first game this year outside Florida. The Noles try to limit such trips, as the courts have forbidden many of the players from crossing state borders.

UNC-Miami: Amato’s victory keeps his critics quiet for now. Therefore, the ACC hot seat can focus all its attention on the Orange Bowl this Saturday, ready for Miami’s Larry Coker and UNC’s John Bunting.

Sam Cassell: The guard from FSU provided a huge boost to the Los Angeles Clippers last season. However, they lost each road game in which a Carter (Vince, Anthony) or Finley (Michael) played for the opponent. So the Seminoles were doomed as visitors to Carter-Finley Stadium.

State Capitals: Both universities are located in capital cities. When you got tested on state capitals in school, there’s a good chance you came up with Raleigh. But admit it, you missed on Tallahassee, didn’t you?

Whitney Houston: Her divorce filing has made life rough on Bobby Bowden. Oh wait, that’s Bobby Brown – never mind.

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Last December in Charlotte, the Pack shut out South Florida. Thursday continued their success in North Carolina against the Sunshine State, although they didn’t get free oil changes this time.

NFL Starting Quarterbacks: NCSU’s Philip Rivers has a 96.9 quarterback rating, compared to 75.8 for FSU’s Brad Johnson. Coincidentally, they achieved those same scores on Dancing With the Stars.


NC State looks to continue the momentum next Saturday against Wake Forest. If the criticism of Amato wanes, one person will be even more relieved than Chuck the Chest: athletic director Lee Fowler. After this past spring, the last thing he wants is another coaching search.