The Crump & Finger Files -- Thursday Edition

August 23, 2000 | Football

By: UNC Athletic Communications

Throughout the season Alge Crumpler and Dauntae' Finger will provide TarHeelBlue.com with a football diary. Crumpler, a preseason All-America, is a 6-3, 260-pound senior from Wilmington, N.C. Finger is a 6-3, 265-pound senior from Newton, N.C. Together, they make up one of the nation's top tight end tandems. Check back periodically for more updates.

August 23, 2000

Dauntae' Finger
Okay everybody, I know it has been a while since my last installment of the "Smoov" files, but I've been dog tired. So let me apologize to you. I'm sorry.

Now, let's get down to business. Two-a-day practices are over now and the countdown to Tulsa on Sept. 2 is on. Everyone is ready for the first game. Even the students are finally on campus. After two weeks of nothing but football practice, silly jokes and 6 a.m. wakeups, it is great to see my fellow students and classmates.

A lot of freshman players are really impressed with the girls and have been asking me for some pointers. I told them that right now is not the time for girls because we have a season to get ready for.

Now that Alge and I have had rave reviews about our "Files," I want to say thank you. And since I've had so many requests, I'm going to start giving the "Smoove Shout Out" to my peeps out there. (Note that these people get cool points for this). First, to my man J-Bone. He tried to go one-on-one with me on the field this summer and I burned him every time. To my man Stewart Melvine for his GQ style at his sister's wedding. And to my man Chris -- he is the trainer that takes care of the tight ends at practice everyday.

So there you have it. If you're lucky, you'll get a "Smoov Shout Out" sometime. Until next time (which will be soon), hold it down everybody and take it easy.

August 21, 2000

Alge Crumpler
It's about Noon on Monday. We just finished with a light two hour practice and we're going to go at it full speed this afternoon. We have been very fortunate thus far to have no serious injuries this year.

That said, I'd like to say thanks to all the fans that showed up on Sunday afternoon for Fan Appreciation Day. I asked some of the freshmen how many autographs they signed and they said, about a thousand, and that their hands hurt. I told them that Julius signed about 10,000. Some of the guys said that's why his hands are so strong (bad joke). Anyway, the team ate dinner at the Farm House Sunday night. It was great to have a good ole steak for dinner. We go every year at this time.

I'm glad we're able to start focusing on Tulsa. It's hard to believe just last spring we were running around lost trying to understand our new offense under Coach O'Cain. Now, we are just polishing things up a little to bring the excitement back to Kenan.

I don't have any awards this edition, but I would like to thank all the politicians who showed up at Fan Day. They did a great job of convincing Ronald why he should throw the ball more to the tight ends. He joked with me a lot about that before practice this morning. See you next time.

August 17, 2000

Dauntae' Finger
We've now had a week of two-a-day practice. There were a couple of days where the heat was blistering with high humidity. Then there were a few days when the man upstairs was giving us a break, and the days were cool.

In the locker room, Bryant Malloy brought his boom box so we could have some tunes before and after practice. Since then, there have been at least three more boom boxes in the locker room in different sections. There's a wide selection of music -- we have everything from rap, to hip-hop, to R&B, to go-go. Isaac Morford hit us off with some country this afternoon.

Practice is going well. The offense is becoming more accustomed to Coach O'Cain's scheme and the defense continues to get better as well. After completely tearing the offensive practice field up, we have started practicing more on the turf, and believe me my knees let me know all the time. Recently, I've been convinced that there is a turf monster. (The turf monster is a ghost that reaches up and grabs you when you are running with the ball.) Victims of the monster have been Bosley Allen, Willie Parker and myself. The monster seems to enjoy picking on me.

After getting up at 6:15 a.m. and having a walk-through practice, we had a scrimmage last evening. After a rough start, I finished pretty strong. Alge (Crumpler) caught a TD, Donte' Thorogood had a TD run, Jamal Jones ran a nice reverse in for a touchdown, and I caught a TD pass as well.

Things are looking good in Tar Heel country. Two weeks from Saturday we open with Tulsa. We are all ready to bang some heads!

August 13, 2000

Alge Crumpler
It's about 10 minutes to 5 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. I tried to sleep in today, but I still woke up at 6:45 a.m. Instead of going back to sleep, I decided to drive over to Kenan for some breakfast. I sat with fellow Wilmington native K.J. (Kitwana Jones). I asked him how the early mornings were treating him. He said it was about the same as the Fork Union practices last year. He's going to be a good one, folks.

We have a week of two-a-days left. Seems like it's going to be an eternity. Although the first six practices were very physical and we had lots of conditioning, this week is going to be make it or break it for the troops. I feel like I'd be a shoe in to win Survivor the way I've learned to handle situations since I've been here. There's no leaving the island, and I'm not kicking anybody off unless they're not with the program.

Now to last week's Awards:
Elmer's Glue Award goes to Kory Bailey for his sweet one-handed catch over the defensive back.
Weight Watcher's Award goes to James Wagstaff for his new found conditioning level after losing enough weight to feed a family of five for about six weeks.
Vice Grips Award goes to Brandon Spoon and Quincy Monk.

August 11, 2000

Alge Crumpler
The first day is over. We've got some areas we need to work on, but things look real promising ahead. It's about 9:50 p.m. and I just arrived at my home. I caught about the last five minutes of the Panthers-Steelers game trying to check up on the Carolina alumni playing.

Looking back, today was mentally and physically challenging. Dauntae' and I talked of staying focused and leading by example during camp. That said, I guess I'll study my playbook a little until SportsCenter comes on. 6 a.m. is just around the corner."

Dauntae' Finger, aka `Smoov'
After the first two days, which included organizational meetings and good-ole picture day, we finally got down to business.

Thursday morning at 6 a.m. my roommate Donte' Thorogood woke me up by smacking me in the face. I finally came to my senses at 6:38 a.m. and I realize that it's raining outside. Pulling up to Kenan Stadium, I'm thinking it's going to be a cool summer day. But that was just another smack in the face. After breakfast and a 7:15 a.m. position meeting, we all get ready and put on our football gear to get the 2000 UNC football season underway.

As I walk out at 8:45 a.m., it's already 88 degrees outside. Already hot and sweaty during the team stretch, I have a few laughs with Spoon, Wags and Cam. After that, it was on! Wasting no time, we got right into being physical and doing all drills with a high tempo.

The defense is looking real good and offensively we look pretty good. However, we still have a lot more things to learn about Coach O'Cain's "O."

After the first practice, which seemed long and painful, I took a two-and-a-half hour well-needed power nap. I woke up feeling like a new man.

The second practice started at 5:15 p.m. This practice was a lot smoother than the morning practice. After battling with Julius Peppers, and running to death at the end of practice, the day has finally come to an end. I rode home with Alge and discussed the first day. I'm listened to some jazz music and I think I'm going to cramp up.

Strangely, nothing funny happened in the locker room today, but don't worry, something will soon.

We'll see you next time on the Alge and Dauntae' Diary.