Jalen interview with Bill Simmons; pleads for Chris Webber to join the fab five tomorrow night.
Stick with what works, dance with the one you came with, don't mess with the juju. There's a reason I post "Fuck *current opponent*" in every game thread, it's 5-0 so far and i'm not changing now
Fuck Louisville.
I'm wearing my exact same clothing I've been wearing for every game of this tournament - in fact I will be representing Japan in a debate tomorrow in my Michigan hockey jersey. Not even changing my boxers from Saturday.
for a championship game to be the same as the banner issue. I'm betting the players would love to see them there - all of them, supporting the current team.
If all else fails, the Muppets have already shown us a way forward...
So we're all for bringing in a potential distraction to the team while also drawing attention away from what the current players have accomplished? Sounds perfect.
They're in the national championship game. There really isn't much danger any more of being "overshadowed" or "distracted" by anything about the Fab Five.
At this point we are all just celebrating Michigan basketball and it would be great for them to join in supporting the team.
I doubt the team is paying attention (or being allowed to pay attention) to outside info.
Feelings on Webber aside, I think that if they were all there together, before the game -- and wished the team well -- it would serve as a huge spark for the players.
They should go, support the team, decline any interviews and celebrate with the team afterwards.
Free the Fab 5
Adidas will soon be selling the Detroit vs everybody, Wolverine hat, baseball bat combo-package Jalen outfit
Jalen could get a cut and it would be legit. . . .
To everyone who is opposed to Weber coming back, why hold grudge for this long? It's been 20 years, are you not over it? It's done, it happened, we paid our dues, he paid his, let bygones be bygones and lets move on.
Hell, look at the story of Brian Banks. He's already forgived the lady that falsely accused him of rape. That's something significantly worse than what Webber ever did, and what the woman did to Banks directly effected him, what Webber did, no matter how much we love Michigan, really didn't effect the fan's lives at all. If he can forgive why the hell can't you guys?
I can't tell you how badly I want a sweatshirt or t-shirt with "Detroit vs Everybody" on it.
i maybe alone on this but i dont care if Webber ever comes back or has anything to do with Michigan. he did a stupid thing and i'm over that but i just dont think he is that important. evenif he had not been banned from the school for so many years,i dont thinkhe would have had much to do with the program anyways. i look at the Fab Five for how they changed bball and they changed the culture of pretty much the whole country.
would love to see LaVell Blanchard, Dion Harris, Daniel Horton, Graham Brown, Courtney Sims, DeShawn Sims, Josh Asselin, Lester Abrams and dudes like that det some love.
Note: It is exactly one month until Webber's ban is over.
Also, I watched the Fab Five documentary today on ESPN Classic because I was killing some time and the end before it goes to the credits it says "The sanctions have been lifted but the banners remained locked away".
Interesting. Sanctions aren't lifted until May 7th though. I think they should put the banners in the PDC.
Tweet by Chris-
it would be for the players. Tim Hardaway idolized the fab five. What sort of impact would there presence (or dare I say the opportunity to meet them all together) have on them? I would imagine the impression would be just as strong as when Muhammad Ali met with them 20 years ago. . .
I voiced my approval of their all being there tomorrow in another thread, but front-page appeals on ESPN.com? If they all just showed and cheered the current squad on, great. But as much as I love Jalen, he's also an egomaniac. I almost appreciate Webber's reticence more, at this stage. It's possible that he doesn't want to show tomorrow for the RIGHT reasons.
For the many thoughtful MGoBloggers out there concerned about the impact of the Fab5 coming to the game, I would like to offer this...
I think it is important to remember that sports are not just an isolated event, stuck in a crystallized prism through which we view from a distance, separated from the rest of our lives. Sports are a very real part of our lives and the lives of billions of people all over the world. These cherished moments and celebrations of contest have the ability to accomplish so much more than just a championship for a team. In perspective, winning a trophy is the least that sports can accomplish.
In 1980, a group of kids breathed a mighty gust of pride and patriotism into the bowels of a nation that was suffering a crisis of confidence. When a hockey team won a shiny medal in Lake Placid, New York, that was enough to restore a national pride that had been severely wounded by a crippled economy, gas shortages, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian hostage crisis. Our nation transcended it all.
As a nation, we mourned together and stood united as the President of the United States threw out the first pitch in the 2001 World Series. A showcase of athletes became a showcase of resolve. The same was true when U2 gave the greatest halftime performance in Super Bowl history three months later, in part due to the context of what had transpired on September 11th. The peoples of the world celebrated global freedom of ideas and mourned the loss of the innocent. It was not ever meant to just be about "the greatest show on turf" and the first year starter from Michigan. It was always so much more than Tom Brady. In fact, that is what made it so special, and so memorable.
Sports have been used as a weapon, such as when Hitler attempted to promote his aryan ideologies at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Despite the Germans winning a plethora of medals, the "Buckeye Bullet" Jesse Owens slapped aryanism in its face by becoming the runaway star of the games. Where sports had been pushed to justify racial prejudices, men like Jackie Robinson, Joe Louis and even Doug Williams in the 1980's stood as symbols of so much more than just winners of championships. Sports helps the world achieve progress through breaking down ideological barriers.
Sports have also been used to heal, and to promote dialogue between warring factions. In Israel and Palestine, football is being used as a tool to demonstrate the similarities that peoples share, rather than a competition that tears people apart. The modern Olympics and the World Cup were created to create an international dialogue and to promote understanding. At the Olympic Games this past summer in London, a Rwandan cyclist competed for the first time, proudly waving his country's flag to let the world know that Rwanda, still scarred from genocide, was a nation that stood together, Tutsi and Hutu. That young man's national team, riders of both tribes, trained by an American who was convicted of sexual crimes against a minor, is an organization built upon redemption and the restoration of personal, community, and national pride found through sport.
This national title game is so much bigger than just the boys taking the court. If it was just them, they would play locked in a gym and nobody would care. Extraordinary achievements have the ability to transcend life and to heal wounds and create dialogue, whether some folks want it or not. There is no greater time to begin the process of healing than on the very stage our University last connected and felt that bond of love with Chris Webber. He is a man. A man who sinned. Who hasn't among us? But, if Rwandans can come together to support a national cycling program in the wake of a genocide that is more recent than some silly infamous timeout call, and if Israelis and Palestinians can work together to use football to create dialogue between their peoples in an effort to curb the violence that has already claimed so many, then surely as a community we can take the step to reach out to Chris, should he appear Monday night, to say that we are glad that he came to the game and that we hope that the past will be behind us all soon. Let's take the next step forward.
/s
Sorry I couldn't resist. Been waiting awhile to use that one.
+1. Awesome read.
I can understand Webber not wanting to be a distraction. I'd feel the same way. No reason they can't reunite in private. Cameras don't have to be rolling.
I always thought Webber's issues were more about being a pawn in the huge revenue generating machine. Issues with both the university and the NCAA. Walking around town and not having the money to buy the merchandise with his name on it while being so responsible for the huge cash cow.
I never thought it had much to do with the Billy Buckner like timeout moment although that's what Jalen references and he would know better than me.
Webber always came off as not being comfortable in his own skin as a celebrity. It almost seemed like if he could have be would quit basketball long before injuries derailed his career. He seems more comfortable talking about the game.
Sorry but that argument makes no sense. If he was getting paid thousands of dollars, how did he have no money? It's also not like his family was dirt poor. He went to Detroit Country Day. Someone's story about him having no money and him getting paid all through school doesn't add up.
I love Jalen but as I watched this I couldnt help but think that they say they love Chris publicly but I wonder if they feel Chris cost them a championship and essentially their place in michigan history officially. For him to say that Chris wanted to disassociate himself from his college career because of the timeout and to live as if his basketball career started his rookie year in the league is kinda odd. Chris has taken the most heat for what happened at michigan. And the only time u heard Jalen or the rest of them back him for what happened really was in the documentary when Jalen admitted to taking money as well. I get the feeling Chris feels betrayed on some level and whether its real or preceived betrayel their needs to be a clear the air session between all of them.
Ummm no. If you asked any member or coach of that team they would NEVER tell you or think that Webber cost them that game. They wouldn't have even been in that position without Webber in the first place. Secondly, there are hundreds of other plays throughought the game that impact the score and any player would say that if they were asked.
I have a question for those of you that were in Ann Arbor during the Fab Five years? Did the University actually make shirts that had the Fab Five on it with the name? Or promote the Fab Five name?
Now, the interesting thing is that Jalen Rose holds the Trademark on Fab Five.
Now what blows my mind is that the "THE FAB 5" itself was trademarked by no other than Chris Webber Filing Date August 9, 1993
When the Red Sox finally won a World Series they brought back Bill Buckner, and it was an emotional moment of closure for all involved. Maybe this game isn't the game to do that. Maybe if Michigan wins it all and they raise the banner next year at Crisler, that would be the game to bring back the Fab Five. Or maybe Webber never feels the time is right and we get no closure, or moment of reconciliation.If that is the case, that is fine by me too.
I will remember the Fab Five for what they wear, a team of freshmen that turned into basketball rock stars and electrified Michigan and captured the imagination of the whole country. But if Webber doesn't come back this season or next, I think the window closes and Michigan has to move on. I am tired of the ESPN documentary, the questions on every sports site, the mentioning of it during every tournament game.
This moment is for the kids who are playing now, they earned it. Let us appreciate them for what they have done.
Amen to everything you just said.
Can you imagine the locker room if pre-game Bacari says we have a guest pre-game speech and the fucking fab five walk in?
Boo your reality! Webber comes in wearing a ski mask. They can't prove anything!
I also like the one with the kid who says his name is Nikki flash because "Nikki rhymes with flash.......close....."
Brandon correctly said that once Chris apologizes for his off court actions he will be welcomed back. Time does cure the wounds but not if Chris is still in denial. This has nothing to do with the other members of the Fab 5 (who by the way were great kids and were guilty of nothing besides associating with Chris). I think Chris loves UM but his ego is so damned big he doesn't want to be associated with the time out or anything bad that happened off the court. I LOVED Chris as a UM player and trend setter, and hated what he did to FIsher and the program which suffered for what seemed like forever (and we deserved it!). That said if he mans up and apologizes sincerely, I'll be the first to cheer him back. If Chris doesn't apologize, screw him and lets cheer the other four hoops heroes when the ban is lifted.
and the Fab 5 is there next to each other cheering their hearts out...that would exorcise pretty much all the demons from the past 20 years of Michigan Basketball.