Fab Five Movie Open Thread
Seems like an odd time to talk about the past when there's finally so much in the present to talk about, but we're under an hour away from the movie premiere on ESPN. If anyone has any thoughts on their Fab Five experience, to get us warmed up for the movie, let's hear them. And then we can pop the popcorn, and cozy up for the broadcast, which should be interesting, if nothing else. Like I said somewhere else here, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.... And it's time to relive them, or experience them for the first time.
Tim Hardaway Jr. doesn't know what you're talking about.
That was three minutes of my face being stuck in the "oooohhh sweeeeet" look.
It's unreal the amount of trash talk that was allowed... Imagine all the T's these guys would get now. It's laughable how quick T's come now.
"At NC freshmen carry bags, at Michigan they carry teams". Not realizing we didn't take it as an insult, but a compliment.
sister went to Michigan (as did his dad and grand father). I had her in Econ 101 the year after Michigan lost to them in the NC game. It was hard not to dislike her.... and it had nothing to do with her.
on Grecian Formula.
Actually, it must be shoe polish, because Grecian Formula leaves just a touch of gray, right?
I really wish I was alive to see this. Awesome stuff so far.
Before this movie Webber was my Fab 5 player
After seeing Jalen trash talk fools my opinion has changed
Jalen was a student of trash talking, haha I love it. Don't tell magnus though, trash talking is unacceptable to him.
Michigan's above trash talking
/havealittlefun
I love how cocky they were. They were good and they let everyone know it, i'm just saying magnus would probably hate it.
/canthavefun
March 13th, 2011 at 10:00 PM ^
Oh I love it too. Swagger, confidence, cockiness, whatever, the great ones had it, it just manifests itself in different ways.
All those shots of the fans at Crisler are amazing. They look more rowdy than any atmosphere you see today.
The MSU game from this year and the Duke game from a few years ago were pretty comparable imo.
Mitch Albom looks like a 74 year old with 24 year old, 1970's era hair.
It's probably a good thing Bo was no longer AD at this time.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:48 PM ^
I am not buying this story about legions of Michigan alumni hating on five black kids.
That's just the pre-internet manifestation of what we see now; lots of casual "fans" spouting off. If there were some letters from some alums complaining about trashtalk or haircuts or shorts, I might beleive it.
But I was there. I was there when our fans were cheering Glen Rice and Rumeal Robinson and Gary Grant before these guys ever got to town. We've loved and cheered those guys, and long before them, Cazzie Russell and Bill Buntin.
I want to see the letters. I want data. I don't believe it, outside of small numbers of outliers. Not from real alumni, not from more than a handful of them.
Edit. -- I see numerous comments expressing shock at what racism there was. And on that basis, I see this film as falling short, and giving a distorted impression. I never, ever, heard one negative comment about the team in all their games at Crisler. Never one negative, racist comment among groups of other alums. Not one. Ever.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:56 PM ^
Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.
ANNIE BESANT
March 14th, 2011 at 12:05 AM ^
Are you implying that ESPN just made up the letters and went through the time of drafting phony letters just for the hell of it?
March 14th, 2011 at 12:26 AM ^
What did they say?
Yeah, I am calling bullshit. Those shitheaded letters are no different from the crap we now see on the internet, on MLive and Freep.com. If some creeps from the far corners wrote some racist crap, I'm not terribly surprised. As I say, go prowl the internets and tell us what you find. If a dozen alumni wrote and said they didn't like the team's attitude, again I am not surprised.
But this whole conversation has morphed into "alumni racism." And I am calling bullshit on that. I was there at Crisler for all of this. We loved this show.
Do you not understand that just a few years earlier, we were cheering a team of Glen Rice, Terry Mills, Loy Vaught, Rumeal Robinson and Sean Higgns? Sean Higgins, from Hollywood, would have fit in perfectly as a member of the Fab Five. Did the Michigan Alumni Association suddenly become racist, after we won a National Cahmpionship?
This was pure manipulation by the documentary's producers and directors; to play up the "cultural" aspect of the Fab Five era. Much ado about nothing, if you ask me.
March 14th, 2011 at 12:26 AM ^
I see, I thought you were arguing that there was no way that there was any alumni racism.
March 14th, 2011 at 12:31 AM ^
Tell it to somebody who cares. I was there. I saw it live.
March 14th, 2011 at 12:38 AM ^
I just wanted to figure out what you were trying to say. You edit your comments so frequently it's hard to tell sometimes. I honestly thought you were trying to say Jalen Rose and ESPN made all the racism up completely. I agree it was probably exaggerated for the documentary, but we saw enough ignorance about Denard playing quarterback that it isn't far fetched to assume some whacktard alum fired off a letter to Rich Rod about starting a black quarterback in front of Tate.
March 14th, 2011 at 12:50 AM ^
A very small number of crazed comments from a few whackos does not make for a trend, or a movement or anything else. Hardly worth mention in a major documentary.
It should be noted, for anyone who does not know much about Chris Webber personally. He is an exceptionally bright guy, with a very wide range of interests outside of basketball. Art, music, reading, etc. And he is also an unusually sensitive person. I think that Webber always thinks that he's some kind of victim, has something to prove, overcome, etc. Except he was privileged to attend Detroit Country Day School, and the University of Michigan on a full scholarship, and he made a large fortune playing a game at which he was extraordinarily gifted. And the one time he got in trouble with the law was because he lied his ass off.
I was there too and while there weren't fans in the stands hurling the "N" word at them while they were on the court, it's not too hard to believe the older elements of the fanbase reacting this way to 5 brash African-American basketball players.
I remember how much flack Desmond Howard caught for doing the Heisman pose from the older faction of the fanbase. 20 years later it's a celebrated part of Michigan lore, but back then if was very controversial. As students we thought it was a great way to poke the Buckeyes in the eye.
The Fab Five were great too, but there has always been a conservative element at Michigan that believes there's the "Michigan Way" of doing things. I'm not saying that every older alum was a bigot, but there was a large portion of the fanbase that was uncomfortable with these 5 kids, wearing maize and blue, talking and taunting. Older people didn't like it.
I think how the whole Rich Rodriguez tenure was treated is testament that this mentality still exists at Michigan to some extent.
Wow. Those letters were awful.
I'm a little surprised. There are always jackasses, but UM was such a liberal place ever since the 60's.
Couldn't believe it either, but the vocal minority stands out. Plus, there's always been a portion of the Michigan fanbase with a stick up their rear ends, although this was obviously excessive. Disgusting.
March 14th, 2011 at 10:03 AM ^
Back in the mid-80s, there was an issue due to a couple racist letters snuck under the door of black students dorm rooms. It led to different protests. That's where the Black Action Movement got started up there.
UM has been a liberal place, but these things can still happen.
Yes they were. I could understand it coming from opponents though that would be bad enough. Yet coming from alumni? Just embarrassing.
I was in high school when the Fab 5 was around. I didn't realize the ignorance that they had to deal with. That shit really irritates me.
Because if you were in college, the Fab Five were the coolest thing, EVER. If you were much older, you still expected B-Ball to be coach dominated Bobby Knight style basketball. It doesn't seem strange today, because Fab Five style basketball won the test of time.
Sometimes that "Michigan arrogance" really gets under my skin. How those letters brought those guys together is truly remarkable. It would've easily messed me up mentally.
Fuck all of those so called U of M fans who couldn't tolerate 5 black players playing their hearts out and bringing the university into the spotlight. Hearing that from them makes me sick, but shows you how close they all were for rallying around each other when that happened.
The fab five was amazing. I wish we could put together another team like that...won't happen, and even if we did it wouldn't be the same since it had "already" been done.
Yeah. As a white guy, its hard to think that racism is all that prevalent these days, and all that hatred and bullshit was soooo long ago. But as I white guy, I don't know shit. This wasn't all that long ago. Makes me sick to even think about it.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:01 PM ^
They STILL talk and think like that over there.
I've already missed a bunch of this. Does anyone know if it will be online on demand?
I imagine it'll be for sale on ITunes like the 30 for 30's.
It's kinda crazy that Howard is still playing in the NBA. He's a reasonably old man by now.
I moved to Michigan right after the '89 championship game from New Jersey. Watching these guys was unbelievable. You couldn't get enough. This is an example of how you love these guys when they play.for your team and hate them when they play for another team.
"We hate Ohio State"
I love you.
"Ohio State Fuckeyes"
Jalen certainly has some priceless quotes.
LMAO
Jalen is letting it all out! I love it.
Loved the smirk after the Fuckeyes comment.
Yes, it wasn't just the words, it was the look!