CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The infamous on-field brawl in 2006 between Miami and FIUs football teams was over in a couple of minutes. The fallout and often-frosty relationship between the schools has lingered for about a decade.Times are changing.For the first time since 2008, Miami and FIU have scheduled baseball games -- four games in the upcoming 2017 season, two at the Hurricanes stadium and two on the Panthers campus about nine miles away. Its just the latest example of an athletic reconnection between these neighboring universities that want to rekindle relationships in many sports, and are taking steps on that front.Its good for our students, Miami athletic director Blake James said. With so much of our travel, we have to get on a plane, were missing class, all those different types of things. When we can set up games that make sense for our teams that dont require our kids to miss class, you take advantage of them when you can.The baseball games set at Miami are March 7 and April 26; the ones at FIU are Feb. 22 and March 8. It wasnt just the brawl that led to a rift between those programs; Miami coach Jim Morris and now-former FIU coach Turtle Thomas havent gotten along for years, for reasons neither ever cared to explain publicly.Miami and FIU baseball played 115 times from 1973 through 2008. They played an NCAA regional game in 2015, but other than that, nothing until now.Our early schedule is designed to both challenge our team and get us ready for Conference USA play, new FIU coach Mervyl Melendez said. We are excited about our home schedule. Our fans will be able to watch us play very good opponents including the University of Miami for the first time at home since 2008.Theres financial and academic benefits to Miami-FIU games. Travel costs are minimal, plus the visiting team can play a road game and be back on its own campus in minutes instead of hours. And those with early morning classes may appreciate them not being preceded by a middle-of-the-night long bus ride home from another school.Miami averaged 376 miles, round-trip, to midweek baseball games at Florida Gulf Coast and Central Florida last season. What would have been a 110-mile round trip to Florida Atlantic was cancelled by bad weather.A round trip to FIU is only 18 miles.I think its great, James said. As long as it makes sense for our programs, Ill be supportive of those things. I didnt see any reason why we shouldnt be playing.Miamis womens basketball team -- ranked No. 14 in this weeks Top 25 -- put FIU back on the schedule last season after seven years of not playing, and will go to the Panthers arena for a game on Dec. 16. The schools played in volleyball this season for the first time since 2010, and the football teams are likely to play again in 2019. Theyve also met recently in womens soccer, swimming and track.Theres been no Miami-FIU football game since 2007, one year after that brawl led to the suspensions of 31 players.I think it should be a great game, said newly hired FIU football coach Butch Davis, the former Miami coach from 1996 through 2000. Cheap Patriots Jerseys . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Fake Patriots Jerseys . - Oakland Raiders running back Rashad Jennings was speaking to a group of local high school students earlier this week when the conversation turned to the importance of being prepared when opportunities in life arise. https://www.patriotsjerseysale.com/ . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. New England Patriots Shirts . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Wallabies coach Michael Cheika will touch base with Kurtley Beale on the teams European tour to see if he is ready to exercise a get-out clause in his rich contract with Wasps.Beale has been sidelined with a knee injury in May, which came shortly after his record $2.96 million two-year deal with the English Premiership club was announced.However, he has the option to exit after just one season if he desires.The 27-year-old utility back is in contact with Cheika, who has made no secret of his desire to repatriate as many overseas-based players as possible to boost the depth in Australian rugby.Weve had some discussions over the phone and he came to the match against Argentina in London, Cheika said.Hes back on deck around December for Wasps, so well see what form he gets back into and what decisions are regarding next year or the year after and his contract status, and go from there.Beale has the requisite 60 caps to satisfy the Giteau law and is eligible to represent the Wallabies no matter where he plays, but an early return to the Waratahs would be dessirable for Cheika as he continues to reshape the Australian backline.ddddddddddddWith Beale, Giteau and Rob Horne all out injured, inside centre has been an unsettled position and Cheika has rattled through through a number of different options at No.12 this year in Samu Kerevi, Matt Toomua, Bernard Foley and most recently Reece Hodge.Despite moving Foley back to five-eighth for Australias third Bledisloe Cup defeat last week, Cheika says he is not done yet with his dual playmaker experiment featuring Foley and Quade Cooper working in tandem and will use it when it suits the team tactically.Quades had a good season so far and hes changing his style of game a little bit to fit with the shape were playing, he said.Ive been really quite pleased with what hes done since hes come back.Im sure hes going to have plenty of offer on the tour in whatever role we give him and he will have a clear role in the lead-in to each weeks match. 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