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.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:38 PM ^
tears, dawg.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
NOW is when it gets REALLY painful. At the time, didn't think it could get worse than the TO....
March 13th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
And Michigan was supposed to know?
I'l say this -- our hiring of Perry Watson gave me the creeps from Day One.
He was coaching the best high school team in the country. He knew everybody.
Why NOT hire him to be an assistant?
we hired Watson, just to get Jalen to come, which then influenced Webber and Howard to come to Michigan.
We already had Howard.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:39 PM ^
I like how CWeb didn't call out the teammates at the press conference and just said "I don't remember"...That's brotherhood
March 13th, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^
For Chris to come out now and say he thought he heard someone on the bench tell him to call time out would be odd. He obviously took the blame then and accepted that. Impressive.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:41 PM ^
White Howard, Blue Webber, Maize Jalen.
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<br>I was at the draft when Webber was taken...
March 13th, 2011 at 10:42 PM ^
Damn, Ed Martin time
March 13th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
The good part's over. Chris probably needs to apologize and come clean if he wants any shot of being able to come back.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
I wish CWebb was a part of this - this would make me feel the circle has been closed and the Fab Five brotherhood has returned to be loved... now, it's a reminded that the wound still exists.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
This documentary is unbelievable. I was 4 years old when they arrived on campus. My Dad actually took me to a few games.
These guys transcended sports. They were social icons. I just wish that I would have been older to understand.
Fuck you Ed Martin by the way.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
Oh shit. MSC up in the house.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:18 PM ^
It's cause Jalen is a producer of it. He is very much respected at the University.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
Wait, Michigan fired a coach for violating NCAA rules? Heh.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^
Zing!
March 13th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
Oh Shit
March 13th, 2011 at 10:46 PM ^
I can't even imagine the ratings this documentary is pulling in East Lansing as we speak.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
I like that this is the story of "The Ed Martin Scandal." As it was.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^
Jalen doesn't hide anything.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
Sadly, Chris is.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^
What is all this "we" business Mary Sue? You were at Iowa while this was going down.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
Didn't the investigation finally wrap up in '02-'03? She was president by then.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:49 PM ^
March 13th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^
He became a Regent in 1998.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
Will say this - Webber comes across as such an ass with the whole Ed Martin thing. He took money, lied about it, then tried to act like it was nothing. He never manned up and just take responsibility for it, and it kind of reaffirms the whole "immature front-runner" stigma people have attached to him throughout his career.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:53 PM ^
He had an opportunity to be a part of this, and he didn't. Speaks volumes imo.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:34 PM ^
Throwing Ed Martin under the bus after taking the money, that was the low point.
Ed Martin was the ass that was paying a poor teenager from the inter-city money. Martin knew the Webber family was not well off and how tempting gifts and money are to kids like Chris Webber. So many throw Webber under the bus and never think about the ramifications of being a poor teenager from the city. Sure he made a mistake when it comes to the letter of the law in the NCAA but to speak of Webber like he is a big asshole or the scum of the Earth is ridiculous when comparing him to the likes of the NCAA, the universities who profit off of these kids and the boosters who know how tempting money is to kids from poor backgrounds.
The NCAA is perhaps the most hypocritical organization in all of sports. They rake in millions of dollars from kids like Webber who play sports for their bottom line and give the players nothing in return. Then they condemn and wax on about how awful it was for poor, ghetto youth to accept large sums of money from adults. Meanwhile the NCAA and it's universities sit back and do everything in their power to maximize their profits thanks to these same kids whom they are willing to demonize.
Lets not pretend like Webber was the only kid that has ever taken money from boosters and then lied about it. What about some compassion for a kid who felt betrayed by an adult that he thought he could trust. People like Martin are parasites who feed on the temptations of poor kids from the ghetto. Unfortunately "friends of the program" like Martin aren't even the worst of those involved in college athletics. To me the worst of all are the NCAA and it's universities who continue to take in millions of dollars every year and demonize the Chris Webber's of the world who can barely afford dinner.
I hope Chris Webber never comes back or associates himself with the the University of Michigan for his own sake. He has become the fall guy for a situation in which he was preyed upon as a youth. The university and most of it's fans have criticized Webber to the highest degree and have no idea what it's like to walk in his shoes. Webber was a poor, inter-city kid that was preyed upon from an extremely young age yet no one mentions this. Great job U of M and other NCAA institutions for distancing yourself from poor young kids that have been paid while you continue to cash in on their talents. Continue to belittle athletes while you stuff all of that money in your pockets, seems not many are watching you.
Was not a poor inner city family that was not well off.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:50 PM ^
Dave Brandon wtf
March 13th, 2011 at 11:31 PM ^
Dave Brandon is exactly right by what he said in the documentary. All Chris Webber has to do is admit what he did and apologize for it. Hell, Pete Rose finally came clean a few years ago. I can't imagine how big of a weight this whole thing has been on his back over the years.
March 14th, 2011 at 10:17 AM ^
...and learn how to conduct a proper coaching search.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^
Bringing out the pimp-hand towards Webber.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^
Yo, come on Chirs! Though from what I know about him, I'm not sure it will happen....
March 13th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^
Were to make sure we hired as crappy coaches as we could find.
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<br>If Bill Martin doesn't drag his feet in firing Ellerbee and lands Pitino, we're not talking about what this did to the program today.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:54 PM ^
There was no process.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:23 PM ^
The NCAA penalties were actually not all that bad.
We're still digging out. Here we are dazzled beyond belief with an Eight seed.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^
I love Jalen now more than ever. He is straight up no BS.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:07 PM ^
Jalen's been my favorite since reading Albom's Fab Five book. He was a stand up kid in ways beyond his years.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
Well, I see why Webber didn't take part in this. I don't like the hate that alot of people put on him, but he should come clean.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:18 PM ^
Well... if CWebb has nothing to hide, he should come clean. But his silence speaks volumes. Untill CWebb comes clean, he is dead to me. That's not hate... just being pissed of the 15 years it's taken to recover... and many of those 15 years could have been largely prevented if CWebb would say something. That's not hate. Just fact.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:40 PM ^
Jalen, Juwan, Jimmy, & Ray are clean as far as the US District Attorney goes. So he may have violated a few minor NCAA regulations for spare change. He was smart enough to realize the difference between the NCAA (big whoop) and the US District Attorney.
CWebb has issues with the law. He may have reasons to lay low. Maybe the statue of limitations has run out, maybe it hasn't. I could see why he might not want to shake that hornets' nest.
C Webb isn't the only one to blame for the penalties that were imposed on the university. Quit placing all of the blame on Webber, that's bullshit.
Not like it matters anyways, I'm sure Webber doesn't care if anyone at our university thinks of him as dead anyways. He is a very successful person beyond Michigan athletics. He doesn't need a hypocritical university that made many more dollars off of him, than he ever was payed by Martin.
Michigan is part of the NCAA hypocrisy in this situation. Let's distance ourselves from a person who made mistakes when he was a young kid and was preyed upon by adults who should know better. That's very classy! Hey here's an idea, how about Webber comes clean when Michigan returns all of the money they made on the number 4 Michigan jerseys they sold in the Fab Five era. It's ridiculous how many people hate Chris Webber and fail to understand that they have no idea what it's like to be a dirt poor teenager who is offered this kind of money.
What's bullshit is the take that it's okay to cheat because the school makes merchandising money off the players. Isn't that meme played out yet?
BTW, I was a dirt poor teenager too.
There's a right way and a wrong way to do things. Weber chose the wrong way. The revisionist historians seem to overlook that little fact.
Fuck Chris Webber.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:52 PM ^
Albom brings up a extremely valid point. Very interesting.
March 13th, 2011 at 10:59 PM ^
Michigan didn't 'pay' anybody. Ed Martin did. And Ed Martin was doing it before they ever came to Michigan. The NCAA blamed Michigan for not knowing, and somehow allowing it. But Mitch Albom got as close to them as anyone could. And he didn't know.
The Michigan basketball scandal was spectacular because of who was involved and what they did. It was never a "Michigan cheating" scandal.
So, can Ed Martin please die a few more times?
March 13th, 2011 at 11:24 PM ^
Ed Martin was an Ed Martin Booster.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:53 PM ^
Martin was a "booster." I forget how he qualified. I think it had something to do with tickets. Fisher was putting Martin on the comp-ticket list. Maybe Perry Watson was too. And it was other hyper-technical shit like that.
But I hear you! Ed Martin was an "Ed Martin Booster."