Did anyone catch the ESPN piece on the 80's-90's Miami Hurricanes? Man, I used to HATE those teams. They had interviews with alot of former players, who discussed how it was built and became 'The U'; aka 'Thug U'. While I didn't expect them to have any regrets, I was a little surprised that there were still some of them that defended and were actually proud their antics and that persona. Now I may be in the minority, but I didn't actually mind some of the minor stuff they did, like the high stepping on pick 6 returns or some of their end zone dances. What I always hated about them was their taunting and the cheap shots, like body slamming a South Carolina QB who's just standing there waiting for the ball to be reset after a penalty or some of the brawls they started. How can they have no regrets about that stuff after seeing that on film after all these years, I'll never know. About the only thing they did seem to regret was when they came off the plane wearing fatigues when they played Penn St. for the '86 NC; which at the time I thought was arrogant and in poor taste, it really wasn't as bad as some of the other stuff they were doing. One part that I did think we're funny was when Melvin Bratton was telling the story about how he and Alonzo Highsmith called Brian Bozworth's hotel room the night before one of their big games talking sh!t to him. Then the next day, the camera's at midfield, complete with audio, catching a continuation of both teams doing it during the coin toss. Overall, it was a really interesting show that provided insight to the program never shown before.
Won't watch it. Nothing like a show glorifying punks. Those guys were a disgrace to college sports. They just wanted to prove how "tough" they were, and for many that idiocy was the highlight of their lives. 100% agreed. The humorous stuff wasn't bad, the unnecessary violence and chest thumping was egregious. Because they don't care about what folks think about them now any more than they did then. They were thugs then, many are still thugs today. They only regret it because they got beat by PSU. Had they won they would have STILL been jawin' about it. Funny how years later Kellen Winslow II pulled the "solja" crap after he injured a UT player and said he didn't care and the media ripped him to shreds, rightfully so.
It was horrible and terrible, celebrating those ghetto thugs. As bad as SC may be, Miami was far worse as the NCAA hid its head in the sand. There's something wrong with our culture when we tear down programs like ND football and Duke basketball that try to do it the right way, and apotheosize scumbags like Jim Valvano and Thug U.
I didn't get the feeling they were glorifying the program. The just put it out there and let the viewer decide. Besides, it also talked about the first NC team that defeated Nebraska. That team pre-dated the Thug U teams. I think you'd find it interesting. Maybe, I just thought some of them would've matured by now and seen it for what is was.. Exactly
I despise any analogy that compares sports to war and military combat. It trivializes what our brave men and women do and have done to keep us free and glorifies sports. I didn't like what Miami did with the whole fatigue thing then and I still don't like it one bit. And no Winslow you are not a "soldier", very far from it. You can't even ride a freakin motorcycle: Motorcycle crash gave Winslow torn ACL - NFL - ESPN
I thought the doc was great, the guy who did that doc, also did Cocaine Cowboys which is unbelievable. I never really hated the Canes, but it was funny to see Sebastian the Ibis get hemmed up by the police and cuffed and thrown into a fence. When your mascot is even getting arrested, what the hell. I bet that was the place to be in the 80's and 90's. Plus anyone who can make the Cotton Bowl clear out when Texas is playing in it, i have no beef with. Or embarrass Notre Dame and Florida State. Another part i liked was Alonzo Highsmith said they never hated Florida State because at least they were man enough to keep the U on their schedule unlike that other Florida team. Pussy ass Gators.
These shows keep getting better and better. No matter how you feel about the U, the doc was insightful. I forgot who said it on the show, but there were a few instances that would have made Miami even more of a dynasty. If they would have came in focused against Penn State, that's another NC. If they dont get robbed against ND with the no TD call that was clearly over the line, another NC. The game against UT summed up the program. They could beat any team anytime, but the price that the school's reputation paid to get those victories was high. The part with Luther Campbell...WOW! Bill Simmons has done extremely well with this series. He joked this past week about making it 31 for 31 by adding a Tiger Woods' doc.
Ivan Maisel of ESPN said "If you hate the Canes, you saw guys who looked like a casting call for a Viagra ad trying to sound tough and just looking ridiculous." I might watch it. Sounds funny.
I thought it was kind of pathetic that they were interviewing the mascot as well. But, in that instance, the mascot was going to snuff out the flaming spear the FSU mascot throws down on the field and the police did that to stop him. I don't know what Florida's situation was. But, I know that ND dropped Miami not because it feared losing to Miami. ND dropped Miami off its schedule after 1990, after those three infamous catholics vs. convict games in 1988-1990 that decided the national champion in those years. And, ND won two out of three, in 1988 and 1990. Instead, it was about concern about the safety of ND fans who traveled down to Miami to watch those games. During that era, the Miami fans took on the persona of their thuggish nature of the Miami players.
