The Backyard Brawl

Imagine that. They had a brawl Saturday night at the Orange Bowl and a football game broke out. Florida International and Miami — teams separated by less than 10 miles — played for the first time, and to nobody's surprise, the Hurricanes smacked the Golden Panthers, 35-0. It was a forgettable game except for the chaos that erupted in the third quarter, when the benches emptied and the players went at it for nearly five minutes. Under World Wrestling Entertainment rules, this would have been a hardcore match, with players from both teams swinging helmets and one injured Florida International player limping onto the field swinging crutches at a Miami player. Some fighting was reported between fans, and when the dust cleared, 13 players were ejected. Predictably, everybody is saying what a blemish this was to the game. Then again, so is a team like Miami playing an outclassed opponent like Florida International. As for the rematch, it is scheduled for next year. ... Thanks to Kevin (some registration).