Chris Webber chimes in re: M in his book/NCAA sanctions lifted tomorrow

Submitted by DISCUSS Man on

Just searching through the twitters to see if anyone was talking about the sanctions being lifted against Webber, Traylor (RIP), Bullock and Taylor. And I found this that Chris just tweeted a few minutes ago-

 

 

HELL YEAH! Its bout to get sooo real! RT @njmatt18: @realchriswebber Are you going to write much about Michigan?

 

 

 

Very interesting to see if anything happens tomorrow. Like if his pictures start to reappear in the recordbook and Michigan photo store starts putting up Fab Five pics for sale since they can sell whatever photos they have the rights to. 

 

Edit: wow I suck at this formatting stuff.

joeyb

May 7th, 2013 at 10:47 PM ^

It's like reading an email thread. The first part is who the message is from, i.e. Chris Webber. The second part is his message. RT stands for retweet, meaning that everything that follows is the message he is responding to. The next part is njmatt18 sending Chris Webber a message.

So, to turn it into a normal conversation:

njmatt18: Are you going to write much about Michigan?

Chris Webber: HELL YEAH! Its bout to get sooo real!

James Burrill Angell

May 8th, 2013 at 10:35 AM ^

This may be unpopular but I don't think the Fab Five wants to be freed. I think four of the five want to keep their contacts with the University but I have yet to hear anything from Chris Webber that leads me to believe he WANTS to have any affiliation with the University. The guy wouldn't even sit with the other four for the NCAA game. I have yet to hear anything from him other than stating the system is to blame and not him. He declined to comment in the Fab Five documentary when he could very well have stated his opinion and taken the first step towards mending fences. Unless I'm reading the above texts wrong, it sounds like his prophecy of "getting sooo real" is going to be just more blaming others and the system.

Personally, I'd love to see the University honor the Fab Five, but I'm not convinced Webber would show. I still think in some way he blames the University right along side the NCAA and the proverbial system. While in many ways I agree with his point that athletes are getting hosed while the University makes money, he chose to participate in that system and be broke the rules (however unfair they may be). How hard would it be for him to just come out and say. "I think the rules are bullshit, but yes I broke them and I'm sorry if that caused anyone any unhappiness."

MidnightBlue

May 7th, 2013 at 10:35 PM ^

Is this a joke? They couldve been the all time great team of the NCAA and instead decided to play and act low class... What a shame. I was a student when they played and remember thinking this then. That with more character the world wouldve truly been their oyster.

WolvinLA2

May 7th, 2013 at 11:27 PM ^

We'll have our athletes consult you from now on.

EDIT: out of curiosity, what do you think they should have done differently (outside of the Ed Martin stuff, which I'm assuming you didn't know about when you were a student).

Don

May 7th, 2013 at 11:38 PM ^

Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you referring to? Long shorts? Black socks? Trash talking? They were hardly the first basketball players in history to engage in trash-talking. Larry Bird was one of the all-time greats at talking shit on the court:

http://www.complex.com/sports/2013/01/the-25-greatest-trash-talkers-in-…

http://hoops-nation.com/community/topic/62408-larry-bird-most-unheard-o…

Danwillhor

May 8th, 2013 at 1:07 AM ^

Entitled to your opinion but I'll never forget the Fab5 and I was a kid. I loved their street ball look and attitude. They looked and acted that was but the team was far from selfish on the court. They fed on one another like few teams ever did. Unfortunately, Ed Martin. Yet, I do not think he was given what was claimed (even dickbag Albom thinks so) and was mostly before he played at Michigan. Even if while at Michigan Martin tossed Webber a few bucks to eat and shit, while wrong and deserving of punishment, the way the entire Fab5 was punished was wrong. Before going to college not a single player did or took anything that straight to the NBA guys didn't. Lebron had TONS of "helping friends" before he signed with Nike in HS, etc. The Detroit area and later UM kids just went on to college after. At that point, a single penny is a violation. Punishment was deserved but excessive, IMO.

Don

May 7th, 2013 at 10:26 PM ^

If Webber actually follows through with writing a book, he will castigate UM, whine about his "mistreatment," will refuse to take responsibility for anything, and will blame everybody else.

If he does the opposite I will totally shocked.

Bando Calrissian

May 7th, 2013 at 10:32 PM ^

Fun fact: According to Sports Illustrated, as of last year, the working title of said book was "The Black Forrest Gump."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/richard_deitsch/11/26/med…

I wish I was kidding.

Long story short, the sun will come up tomorrow, and it will look and feel just like the last ten years. Anybody expecting some kind of massive overnight sea change is probably kidding themselves.

Lionsfan

May 7th, 2013 at 10:57 PM ^

The only thing I can think, would be if Chris takes the approach of "an ordinary guy who has extraordinary things happen to him".

If that's still the title, I bet we'll get a lot about how Chris was just a normal Detroit boy, and had other people take advantage of him and his naivety

ClearEyesFullHart

May 7th, 2013 at 11:09 PM ^

Lets not hang him for crimes we think he is going to commit.  As a young man, Webber might very well have reacted as you suggest.  But now he is what...40?  My money says we see more of the Rockey "The world aint all sunshine and rainbows" speech than the wailings of a victim.  I guess we'll see.

Space Coyote

May 7th, 2013 at 11:38 PM ^

And I say that as a big fan of Webber. I don't like what he did to Michigan, I don't like that he never takes any responsibility (even if he has some valid points, he isn't a complete angel here). I think he loves Michigan, he loves the fab 5, but he also just honestly doesn't think he did anything wrong at all. He doesn't like what Michigan and the NCAA did to him, and he'll probably tell what he believes is the complete truth, and that's just the way it is.

jdon

May 7th, 2013 at 11:36 PM ^

or come back... whatever you like...

For my part, I'll read it.  just like three and out I will read it, I will wonder, and a month or two later I will realize that it doesn't matter one way or another and that even this new/fresh view doesn't change the facts.

1.) fact is the fab five was awesome and one of the most exciting teams ever.

2.) fact is webber took money, lied, and never appologized

3.) fact is it all happened twenty years ago and I would rather focus on this years team, beilien, trey, next year, etc.  and if I want to look back I will see 89, 84/85 on back...

 

jdon

May 8th, 2013 at 6:48 AM ^

yeah, I should be back in the good sometime soon... and I won't be sharing my conspiracy theories here any more (apparently this site is low on 9/11 truthers, and needs to remain that way)... 

as for 'love jdon' that is more when I am being snarky or flippant...

 

 

M-Wolverine

May 8th, 2013 at 11:57 AM ^

-911

-9911

-999111

Or something.

But hey, now you can think the conspiracy goes all the way to the TOP...MGoBlog.

Tater

May 8th, 2013 at 12:04 AM ^

Just what we need: Chris Webber being so selfish that he has to "get real" after Michigan has finally climbed out of the hole he dug for them by making it cool to take Ed Martin's money.

Maybe Ross should pay him to STFU.

M-Dog

May 8th, 2013 at 3:00 AM ^

The hole was actually kinda small:  1 year tourney ban and a scholarship reduction for a few years.  

The deep part of the hole was self-inflicted.

 

Mr Miggle

May 8th, 2013 at 6:55 AM ^

Getting the actual penalties was a relief. The period of waiting for them was extended and painful, affecting our ability to hire a coach and recruiting. We should have done better than Ellerbe, but our options were severely limited. I still remember Roger Reid turning us down and his other prospects were nil. 

Erik_in_Dayton

May 8th, 2013 at 12:35 AM ^

...the world greets this book with a collective yawn. I have a feeling Webber is going to air all the dirty Michigan laundry he ever heard of so he can say, "I was just part of a corrupt system." ..Also,what does Chris Webber have to contribute to anything at this point? He stopped thinking and wasted his intellectual potential years ago. He's a damn NBA announcer. Shouldn't he be talking about how awesome Lebron is? ...I realize this is really harsh, but I am really sick of Chris Webber haunting the program. He has a bunch of money and an easy life. And that's all he ever wanted as far as I can tell. Leave Michigan alone.

ClearEyesFullHart

May 8th, 2013 at 6:35 AM ^

     Even if he does air the dirty laundry, the statute of limitations on shame has expired in the two decades that have passed since.  It might give some fresh material to spartan fans...which...seriously.  Two decades.  Children born then can drink now.  More importantly, it puts Michigan basketball in the headlines.  It's cool to have formers players who dominated the NBA.  State has got Magic, Mateen, and freaking Drew Neitzel texting/tweeting recruits...If Webber wants to be part of the program, it can only be a positive.

Jon06

May 8th, 2013 at 1:31 AM ^

But it's not obvious to me that Webber did anything wrong. The NCAA regime is obviously, illegally, exploitatively monopolistic. The O'Bannon case is about to make that official. We can't debate the morality of undermining a corrupt system (because the mods don't think we're mature enough); I'm just registering an opposing view here.

snarling wolverine

May 8th, 2013 at 6:51 AM ^

So . . . accepting money from a guy running an illegal numbers ring, and then committing perjury about his relationship with Martin in federal court - nothing wrong about that?

Even if you agree that the NCAA is exploitative (which I think is debatable), he should never have been associating himself with a shady guy wanted by the FBI.  And he certainly shouldn't have lied about it years later in court.  I loved the guy when he was at U-M and I want to embrace him again, but he's making it tough with his I-did-no-wrong attitude.

 

 

 

In reply to by DirkMcGurk

jmblue

May 8th, 2013 at 7:48 AM ^

Given that Taylor, Traylor and Bullock (and Rose) came clean in court, what was Webber going to be able to accomplish by lying?  He couldn't protect the school from getting nailed by the NCAA.  All he could protect was his own personal legacy.  We still would have had to vacate the 1995-99 seasons regardless.

I think the greater blame should lie with Webber's father, though.  Mayce Webber apparently also had a relationship with Martin, and he certainly was old enough to know what was up.

 

Jon06

May 8th, 2013 at 1:12 PM ^

Accepting money from a guy running an illegal numbers ring is only wrong if you know that's what he's doing (and if it's actually wrong to run an illegal numbers ring, but since I don't know what that is, I can't really say). Did Webber know where the guy was getting the money? I assume you'd disavow the suggestion that you don't believe in freedom of association if I made it an issue.

Perjuring yourself in federal court might only be wrong if you're committing perjury to avoid punishment for something that's actually immoral. What was he committing perjury to avoid punishment for? If he was committing perjury to help Martin avoid punishment, then again it would depend on what an illegal numbers ring is. But if he was committing perjury to avoid punishment for getting compensated for his work, then it doesn't seem obviously wrong to me.

But I'm probably making a mistake trying to continue a conversation with somebody who thinks that whether or not the NCAA is exploitative is debatable.