Earlier in the week, the French Quarter was host to an ugly incident between Miami and Alabama players. Basically, the Miami players taunted, the Alabama guys listened. “They called us names I can’t use in the paper,” said Derrick Lassic, the Crimson Tide’s leading rusher. “They were right up in our faces, saying us blankety-blanks don’t deserve to be on the same field with them. We just shook our heads. They were out of control.”
The verbal trashing, naturally, has spilled into the interview rooms, where hundreds of national media folk hang on every nasty word. Not a day passes when a Miami player doesn’t ridicule and undermine the opponent, no abuser louder than one Rohan Marley. You may have heard of his late father, Bob. It seems Rohan has given new meaning to the Marleyesque reggae term, Jammin’.
“Alabama has no passing game,” said Marley, a feisty 5-8 linebacker. “And one-dimensional teams are not complete teams. I know it’s going to be a good night for us.”
Real men don’t play zone. At least that’s how Miami wide receiver Lamar Thomas has it figured.Thomas looks at Alabama cornerbacks Antonio Langham and George Teague and sees nothing that scares him.
“I don’t really consider their corners two of the best in the nation, because it’s their defensive line that makes them so good,” Thomas said Wednesday. “Their corners never come out of zone coverage, so they’re not good cover men. I don’t think they’re great corners; they’re OK corners. I think they should get out of their zone and be real men.”
…Thomas couldn’t resist one parting shot.
“They’ve been doing some talking about how their defense is going to score against us,” he said. “I don’t think their offense can score against our defense, so they’re probably going to need it.”
I can't find the quote that Rohan Marley had about Roosevelt Patterson. I seem to remember Rosie having a particularly good game that night...
