Sports: A $500,000 beating: priceless

A $500,000 beating: priceless

By BRUCE LOWITT and JAMAL THALJI

ORLANDO -- Florida A&M coach Billy Joe already is anticipating FAMU's 2002 season, when his team has a showdown with Miami. "And I don't mean Miami of Ohio," Joe said.

Why are the Rattlers, one of Division I-AA's top teams, risking a beating at the hands of a I-A power like the Hurricanes? Simple: A $500,000 payday.

"There are a lot of minuses, and there's just one plus," Joe said. "The one plus is that we're going to get half a million dollars. That's the one plus, and that's a good plus. I talked to my athletic director (Ken Riley) about that, because you take a beating, you take a licking, but our football program subsidizes everything. All the athletic programs, all the coaches' salaries, even the (Marching 100) band, and we have a great band.

"If you're father says, 'Look, get in the ring with Mike Tyson. He may knock you out, but we're going to get $5-million to keep our family alive,' you'll get in there with Mike Tyson. You may not like it. But you'll get in there and fight Mike Tyson for the family. And that's what we're doing with Miami."

TAKE IT EASY: Comparing today's training regimen with his days playing for Boston College in the 1970s, Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek said all that has changed is it's safer to train.

"It think it's more structured, it's better supervised, although it's voluntary, I will make that point," he said. "Which probably makes it a better situation for an athlete to train in the off-season. We didn't have that kind of supervision, when you had strength and conditioning (coaches) out there with you all the time, and the trainers."

Said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden: "It is my biggest concern, just like (Florida coach) Steve (Spurrier) losing that young man up there (freshman running back Eraste Autin last week from heat stroke after a voluntary workout). Their kids are working out, just like our kids, and Georgia, and Georgia Tech's, working out, having a pretty good time, because there's no coach telling them what to do. We used to love to do that.

"So let's cancel all that, because someone might get hurt? Then you start football practice, two-a-days? Then they can't do it. This is preventative, what they're doing now. How hard do you work out? You've got to push yourself and you've got to be the judge."

ASKED AND ANSWERED: It was an obvious and oft-asked question of Florida's 11 college football coaches Sunday: Can the state supply all those collegiate teams with enough talent to be competitive?

It is a query of which Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger has grown weary.

"There are more football players who can play Division I football in the state of Florida than any other state of the nation," he said. "Y'all don't understand because you keep asking the same stupid question every year."

IN HIS MEMORY: South Florida's helmets will bear a No. 29 sticker in memory of Patrick Lawrence Payton. The defensive back from Miami would have been a redshirt freshman this season. He died June 22, the day after a motorcycle accident in Miami.

WE'RE NOT NO. 1: The Gators are ranked No. 1 in several preseason polls and magazines. Spurrier said he'd prefer they not be the favorite to win the national championship -- but if they must be, he'd prefer they not think about it.

"Alabama was No. 3 a year ago at this time and the coach (Mike DuBose) was talking about a national championship," Spurrier said. "Midway (in the season) he was gone."