Fab Five vs state game (The butt wipe game)?

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

I have read numerous times about a game in the 90s when the Fab Five was playing at state. And I think it was Jalen Rose who whiped his butt on the "S" at midcourt and jumped on the scorers table and flipped off the crowd.

Does anyone have any footage of this? Would LOVE to see it.

jmblue

January 18th, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^

I think you mean "wipe."  It was the 1993 game at Breslin.  I don't think it was caught on film (it was after the game ended).  They were out of line, obviously, but that was a nasty, nasty crowd they played before.  There were fans chanting racist things and holding up banners saying things like "JUWAN, I'M PREGNANT" and so forth.  It was just an ugly scene all around. 

jmblue

January 18th, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^

My point is not that MSU is more racist than Michigan, or was at that time, but just that on that particular night, the MSU crowd did everything it could to get under their skin, saying/doing things that are usually beyond the pale.  And our players (a few, anyway) did not take the high road in response.  The whole affair was ugly.

Bando Calrissian

January 18th, 2012 at 1:09 PM ^

Wouldn't be too hard to verify.  If memory serves, the film didn't blur out their names, and alumni directories exist.  Seems to me someone who takes the time to write a letter like that and puts multiple degree years after their name probably isn't making it up.

CRISPed in the DIAG

January 18th, 2012 at 12:05 PM ^

The game was broadcast on local Fox affiliates.  Some guy behind the scorer's table, where the TV announcers were sitting, could clearly be heard yelling "N*g***s!!" repeatedly.  My copy of Mitch Albom's book was lost a long time ago, but seems like he described this incident, as well.

jtmc33

January 18th, 2012 at 12:12 PM ^

It's okay though, that guy yelling racial slurs at UM's black players had a black friend from high school, so he's not a racist.

Also, I wonder if MSU's black players looked over at him, gave him a thumbs up and said, "You are right, sir, they are different than us, so please, continue..."

Unless, of course, he was just a pure racist and liked going to any basketball game to specifically antagonize all black players no matter the team.   Does anyone remember if he was wearing a Larry Bird,  Pistol Pete, or Alabama jersey at the game?

CRISPed in the DIAG

January 18th, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^

Not sure if serious...    The Fab 5 documentary described UM's team as somewhat emblematic of a culture that was different from college athletes at the time. The team was seen as five cocky, "hip-hop" athletes who became a lightning rod for a lot of ugly, racist comments.  And it appears some of these stereotypes were on display in EL that night, unfortunately.  They were also displayed in a much more subtle fashion by the mass media, but that's a whole other can of worms.

jtmc33

January 18th, 2012 at 12:40 PM ^

Not serious.  And my extreme examples of excuses for such behavior are more of a comment on the faulted justification of people to use racism in certain situations... sounds like Breslin was full of fans that took the "us versus them" mentality to the extreme.  

And I saw the documentary and thought the race element was very interesting.  That went right over my head when I was a high schooler in s'west Michigan in the early '90s.

ClearEyesFullHart

January 18th, 2012 at 12:39 PM ^

But its rumored that this year Zack Novak is going to tear that ugly S out of the floor with his bloody bare hands, sand the wood down and use it in his bathroom...

neoavatara

January 18th, 2012 at 1:16 PM ^

I was at Michigan at that time, and I can tell you, virtually every campus that the Fab Five went to got comments like that.  East Lansing was just the worst. 

The Dukies were especially bad as well. 

WolverineHistorian

January 18th, 2012 at 1:40 PM ^

I was given a couple dozen Fab Five games last year by a friend and Iooking through them, I have the 92 game at Breslin and the 94 games at Breslin and Crisler.  But I don't see either the home and way games from 93, all of which were wins.  Despite this, I'm not even sure if Jalen's little response was caught on tape.