*Freep Warning* Jalen wants Fab Five reunion to watch MBB in March.
I like a lot of posters on mgoboard don't often check out the freep. But I heard mention of Jalen talking about a reunion during a tournament game on WTKA this morning and decided to find the article. http://www.freep.com/article/20130128/SPORTS06/130128096/michigan-basketball-jalen-rose-fab-five?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Michigan%20Wolverines
I love the way Jalen talks about this team, how high he is on the players. He talks about hoping to watch them compete for a national title. Just the thought brings a smile to my face. But he also talks about sitting live with all the members of the fab five court side to watch that game.
That is the part I am torn about. It would be a awsome moment in the history of Michigan basketball. The former heroes watching the current generation. But wouldn't it also take some of the shine of off this current team. The announcers talking about this being the first time Michigan has made a run since the fab five era clips of their final four appearances. All this would be fine. But we all know you can't have the great from that era without talking about the bad the rehashing of the Ed Martin scandal and everything that went with it.
Would it be fair to this current team to have some of their spotlight diverted, to face the distractions that would possibly come from this reunion?
January 29th, 2013 at 12:41 PM ^
Even after May 1st there is no way she allows it to happen. She was embarrassed by the Ed Martin Scandal and won't forget it quickly.
January 29th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^
Listen to the Jalen Rose podcast on the Grantland Network. Even he doesn't think they will put those banners back up.
He also has some interesting insight on why it has taken 20 years for Michigan to become a national contender again.
January 29th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^
I really don't get the hate for the Fab Five, especially for Jalen saying he wants to get the guys together to cheer on the team they all played for. I hope Glen Rice is saying the same thing to the 89 team, I hope Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims are talking about it, I hope Jammal Crawford is thinking about, I hope Daniel Horton and Courtney Sims are looking to book flights to Atlanta. They put on the Maize and Blue and love the team just like we do. There is nothing wrong with them trying to ge togher to watch the best team we have had since the 92/93 season.
Also, I really don't get why the Fab Five is looked at as cheaters. If I am correct, Michigan never payed them to play here, right? Did they take money to alter the vegas line? They never took banned substances. They never filmed other teams practices to get an edge. They didn't cheat. What they did on the court, they worked hard for and they earned those back to back Final Fours. Yes, they took money that was given to them. But from everything I read, that money was not given to them to play for Michigan.
January 29th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^
I guess we better get ready to call the '97 football team a bunch of attention whores when we start to talk about them more in the coming years as the football team competes for a NC (obvious caveat about C-Webb et al taking benefits aside).
If they want to go a game and show their support regardless of their past transgressions, let them. They didnt kill anyone for gods sake.
January 29th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^
Would SMU let Craig James walk the sidelines at one of their games? I've heard a rumor about him and 5 ladies of the night.
CJK5H
January 29th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^
How about a Fab Four reunion? I don't think the person who dug a ten-year ditch for the University of Michigan's basketball program with his greed, and has never offered up a mea culpa or apology, should be allowed back in any official capacity. Ever.
January 29th, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^
I say #FreeTheFab5
And a hearty wanking motion to the holier than thous saying no.
January 29th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
Anyone take the time to appreciate the irony in the title of this thread?
It begins, "Freep Warning", as a note to all those here who hate the Free Press because of their (wrongfully) overzealous attention to our football team's ("major" though minor in reality) NCAA violations. No one denies that Michigan football, untarnished for ages, committed actual violations, but there are still shrines to RichRod in some MGoBasements and not a single adult in A2 is blamed for the violations. Instead...it was the Freep's fault. The football team was terrible, committed violations and we all still love the program/players/(and many) the coaches.
Contrast that with Webber...The bball team committed violations two decades ago and the kids are still taking endless shit from Michigan fans here. There can be no excuses, no tolerance. We don't blame the prosecutor or Cleaves or a black cat walking under a ladder?
I don't understand the disconnect, but if we're to blame a newspaper for football violations committed by the staff, why blame the kids (still, decades later) for basketball violations? Personally, both programs committed wrongs; I'm just more inclined to forgive a kid (20 years later) than I am to make excuses for a highly paid staff of adults.
January 29th, 2013 at 2:39 PM ^
Do you really believe that stretching to long is the same as taking money from a booster?
January 29th, 2013 at 3:06 PM ^
I sure don't. I also don't believe adults are the same as kids, or that it makes sense to blame a newspaper (endlessly) for one wrong and then a kid (excuses be damned) for another.
January 29th, 2013 at 2:52 PM ^
I believe if you read 3 And Out by John U. Bacon he address who was at fault in the Athletic Department for failing to keep up to date forms. Also something about a quality control person told the kids he was an assistant coach which led to some confusion. There were adults who took the heat for Stretchgate and are no longer working for the University.
Still this pales in comparison to taking six figures and showing no contrition when busted.
January 29th, 2013 at 3:06 PM ^
I don't blame just Webber. I blame the coaches for not keeping a closer eye on the type of contact Ed Martin was having with their players. Those guys all knew who Ed Martin was and his involvement with Detroit baskeball players, but they turned a blind eye. I blame the Athletic Department and Compliance (if there even was such a thing 20 years ago) for not keeping closer tabs on the basketball program. Webber makes an easy target in the eyes of many fans, but he's far from the only transgressor in this scandal.
January 29th, 2013 at 3:09 PM ^
I think it would be best if every player who had wins vacated came back. Yes, the Fab 5 was the overwhelming driver of value, but those important role players who had absolutely nothing to do with the sanctions got screwed, too.
Why is it automatically a Fab 5 reunion? What about Rob Pelinka, Eric Riley, James Voskuil, Dugan Fife, and all the other players not in the Fab 5? Without Riley, the Fab 5 doesn't make the Final Four in 91-92. Without Voskuil, they don't beat Cincinnati and make the title game that same year. Etc., etc., etc.
I love the Fab 5, and I was one of those students who filled Crisler to the rafters back then. But let's have some more respect and recognition for the other guys on those teams who busted their butts for Michigan.
January 29th, 2013 at 3:21 PM ^
I'd love to see all of those guys back. No doubt.
January 29th, 2013 at 3:26 PM ^
The school would be surprised at the reception some of those guys would get. Even Jason Bossard would get love from the alumni at that time. I think that if you honor the entire team, it can take some of the negative press away.
January 29th, 2013 at 4:52 PM ^
Like it or not the Fab Five did a lot to not only impact U of M in a positive way (not just negative) but they also transformed a culture. People need to stop getting their panties in a bunch over them and what happened. With that said, of the five the one who gets the least respect is Webber. His silence in the Fab Five doc and throughout has me believing that he knew what he did was wrong and that he doesn't regret it. I don't hate Webber at all, it's just easier to let something go when the one at fault apologizes. I think the Fab Five attending a game is cool. Honoring them would be off limits IMO.
January 29th, 2013 at 5:02 PM ^
January 29th, 2013 at 7:18 PM ^
Yeah, because Beilein isn't hauling in enough Top 100 guys as it is. He definitely needs the help.
January 29th, 2013 at 7:52 PM ^
The Fab Five has zilch to do with this team or it's current success. This program was built in spite of them, not on their legacy. At this point they are a liability. How about not compounding what you did to this university and staying the hell way? This isn't about you.