Jimbo goes off

Apparently it's not enough for Jimbo Fisher that Florida State is talking about building an indoor practice facility.

He wants it done, and he wants it done now.

Fisher was not a happy camper Tuesday, when the threat of lightning forced the Seminoles to stop practice and retreat to the locker room.

The team hung out and twiddled its thumbs for about two hours before returning to the field and resuming practice.

Here's the account of Fisher's rant, according to the Orlando Sentinel:

“You don’t build an indoor, we’ll be here until midnight. We ain’t not practicing. I’m not joking. We ain’t not practicing. I’m tired of losing.”

First off, gotta love the "ain't not" thing coming from a, ahem, teacher at a state institution of higher learning.

But if I'm a Florida State fan, I'm really liking the fact that Fisher doesn't seem inclined to take any crap from anyone. Not even his bosses.

You just can't picture Bobby Bowden going to the mat for an indoor facility, unless said facility included a private lounge for him to go take his naps.

Here at Clemson, the indoor-facility thing became a hot topic after the embarrassment that was 2010 Pro Day in March. The NFL personnel on hand were so repulsed by the artificial turf inside the Tigers' track facility -- think Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium in the 1980s -- that they chose the lesser of two evils. That entailed going outside in cold, rainy conditions for the agility drills. If everyone walked away from there without getting pneumonia, I'd be surprised.

Dabo Swinney was diplomatic when I asked him about it afterward. But you could tell he was almost glad that such an event drew attention to the Tigers' glaring lack of an indoor facility that is football-friendly.

The football team is able to go into the facility when the weather is bad, but the confinements of Clemson's building are extremely limiting. Swinney said he doesn't want his players going full-speed in the facility because of the fear of injury.

Swinney also pointed out that indoor facilities are the latest frontier in the so-called "arms race" in college athletics. A growing number of Clemson's competitors are building them, so he'd like for them to be able to keep up.

Athletics director Terry Don Phillips has been opposed to a football-only indoor facility because of the small number of occasions such a facility would need to be used per year. But the Pro Day debacle seemed to change his thinking on it at least a little bit, to the point he's now open to assuring steps are taken to assure that the current facility offers a legitimate "football option."

More on Fisher:

Our friends at Warchant.com have more on his spiel, and he makes a point I had yet to consider:

For most of the delay there was no lightning on campus, but an NCAA rule states that if lightning is detected within a 8-mile radius of an athletic facility all play or practice must be suspended and can't be resumed until 30 minutes after the lightning is 15 miles away.

"People say you didn't have (the indoor facility) in the 1990s but they didn't have the lightning delay (rule) then," Fisher said. "In the 90s, we wouldn't have gone in today."

Time to start taking a harder look at North Texas, given that the opener is nine days away and all...

The Mean Green are playing Name that Tune at quarterback.

Tune has been UNT's backup quarterback for a long time and played in meaningful situations. He started against Alabama and against Troy and came in off the bench against Ohio and Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State, too.

If a couple of catches had been made -- heck, one catch -- Tune would have been the hero against Ohio.

For all the scrimmages and practices we have seen, it still comes down to the fact that Thompson is an unproven commodity when the lights come on in a real game.

UNT knows what it is getting with Tune. And it is getting someone who can put UNT in position to win. Mike Canales has changed UNT's offense. He isn't going to ask Tune to win games by himself, just get the ball to playmakers, and UNT has plenty.

Even if you are a huge Thompson fan, one has to feel good for Tune. The guy came to UNT as a walk-on, dealt with some medical issues and a coaching change and stuck with it. Now he gets his reward in the form of the starting job.

Speaking of QB, still a lot of uncertainty at Boston College.

“We’re going to be able to run the ball,’’ said offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill. “There’s no doubt about that. We’ve just got to do a better job throwing the ball.’’

Just who does the throwing against Weber State remains in question.

“There’s still competition,’’ said Spaziani.

Shinskie was spotty yesterday, completing 11 of 24 passes for 104 yards. Backup Mike Marscovetra was 8 of 10 for 71 yards and is a sizzling 20 of 22 in BC’s last two scrimmages.

The apparent lack of a passing game is one reason I'm staying away from the B.C. powder.

Another reason: The Eagles are hurting on the defensive line.

Talk about the Boston College defensive line, and you get a look of concern from coach Frank Spaziani, who has a depth chart filled with question marks.

If it were a simple matter of filling in bodies, Spaziani might feel more confident about a group that includes senior ends Alex Albright and Brad Newman, as well as returning contributors in tackles Damik Scafe and Kaleb Ramsey. But Scafe (back) and Ramsey (personal issues) are still not up to speed. And sophomore tackle Brian Murray and sophomore end Max Holloway are still in the developmental stage of their careers.

Spaziani calls the Eagles “fragile’’ in terms of depth, especially on the defensive line as it complements the linebackers and secondary.

And consider this: The Eagles already lost two starters (Jim Ramella and Austin Giles) up front from a defense that totaled 13 sacks last year.

The developments in this story must have Rick Stockstill pulling out what little hair he has left.

Donnell told The DNJ on Monday that his relationship with Dasher was one of two gamblers, though of different experience.

"I've been gambling since I was 8 years old. That's about 72 years," Donnell said. " ... Well, (Dasher) said to me, 'Will you put me in a (poker) game? I play real good.'"

From the hell-hath-frozen-over department: Duke has sold out of season tickets.

In football.

L.A. Times columnist T.J. Simers, who wastes no opportunity to slice Rick Neuheisel to ribbons, strangely takes a friendly approach to Lame Kiffin.

After talking to Daddy Kiffin, Simers concludes Lame really hasn't done anything egregious.

He might want to give Lame's brother-in-law a call.

This Georgia Tech beat writer says don't worry about the Jackets' B-back position behind Anthony Allen.

So ESPN is not allowing Jenn Brown to shill for Icehouse Beer.

I'm all for journalistic virtue and integrity, but hasn't that ship already sailed at ESPN?



LW