Why Would Anyone Send Their Kid to the U to Play Football?
Uncategorized November 28th. 2007, 12:31pm
Obviously one of the preeminent football programs in the country isn’t going to fold up shop and cease to exist, and yes, the Canes have been in decline for years, but we’ll ask this question and then offer three names: Why would any parent outside of Florida want to send their kid to play football for the Miami Hurricanes? Has any other program had to endure this many serious off-the-field problems?
Ray Lewis, Bryan Pata and Sean Taylor.
You are a parent and your son is a wildly-talented high school football player. The Miami Hurricanes are after him hard – he’s a turn-around-the-program guy who is being guaranteed the world. The Canes recruiting pitch is simple – five national titles! Two Heisman trophy winners! A surfeit of first round NFL picks! In the 80s, Jimmy Johnson created a monster … in both senses of the word. But how, as a parent, can you ignore Lewis, a former linebacker who plea bargained his way out of a double murder rap in 2000 (he later paid the families of the deceased)? The murder of lineman Bryan Pata at his apartment complex in Nov. 2006 (the case remains unsolved)? The unholy trinity was tragically sealed Sunday night, when former Hurricane Sean Taylor was shot in his house, and died 24 hours later.
Whether these players were involved in nefarious activity during or after their days with the Hurricanes is immaterial. This program – one that we rooted for for many years – has the culture of a gang, and bad things happen to those who enter. We haven’t even taken into account the notorious Luther Campbell, the 7th Floor Crew (which sucked in Greg Olsen), Bryant McKinnie spearheading the Vikings Sex Boat escapade, Michael Irvin and his multiple cocaine arrests, or the brawl with Florida International. Every Fall, the comically extravagent sideline scene is the same – former players who have ‘made it’ return to home base at The U to commiserate. Imagine the parties!
It’s the same story with almost all of the former players – great teammate, nice guy, but he just happens to ‘run with the wrong crowd’ or he miraculously happens upon legal issues. It’s a woebegone family that has been on a slippery slope long before a bullshit pass interference cost them the 2003 National Championship.
If you’re a parent, wouldn’t you ask yourself, ‘why the hell would I want to send me kid into this mess?’
Another sad chapter for UM, City (Miami Herald)
74 Responses to “Why Would Anyone Send Their Kid to the U to Play Football?”
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November 28th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Can’t tell if this is supposed to be satire or not.
If it’s not: well, if you fuck up that bad after leaving the U, you were probably that way before you even got there.
Also, their NFL talent is unmatched.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Dan LeBatard is going to have you killed.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
“Why Would Anyone Send Their Kid to the U to Play Football? ”
It pays well.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
If my boy is an off-the-charts football talent (i.e., potential NFL) I would point him to anywhere but Da U. It’s not even a Top 25 program at this point.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
excellent urban weapons and tactics training?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Two words….Gloria Estefan, I’ve seen the commercials
November 28th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
I was watching a Miami game one night, and I caught a list of things that Randy Shannon had banned from the team in order to bring some law & order to the univeristy. The first one was “no guns.”
Wow, next thing you know, they won’t be allowed to sell drugs, steal, and sexually assault co-eds.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
It’s not satire, Mike. Legit question.
You sending your kid there?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
There’s no way I’d send my kid there. I guess sometimes the U is a ticket to bigger things, so maybe parents are prepared to face the worst knowing there is a payday down the line. Being poor/ hungry forces the issues sometimes…
November 28th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Anybody else hear that squeaky-voiced little Billy Simmons on an ESPN radio interview yesterday? Mr. Cooler-than-thou sounds like a 10-year-old little girl. What an arrogant little putz. Had never heard her (him) before. Hysterical…….
Maybe HE’S the Sports Gal.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
As an educational school it really is great in the medical arena. As far as a football program, it really depends on the kid. I mean, yeah Ray went there, but so did Jim Kelly… so it is really a player to player thing IMO. I do think Miami as a city has plenty more distractions than say East Lansing, but USC doesn’t have the problems the U has and it is located in C-O-M-P-T-O-N. So it basically comes down to the character of the kids being recruited.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
great post until you brought up that PI call, it was the right one just took a little lomg to throw the flag.
anyways back to the post, i depends on what as a parent and a family you want from that school. The U has produced a lot of talented NFL players who have seen big paydays and much success…so if you are looking as a pure financial standpoint, then ya.
also it isnt up to a football coach/school to teach your kids right from wrong…its up to the parents to tell their sons what is socially/morally acceptable and what is not. if you have done some good parenting, then you shouldn’t worry.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
larry coker i thought was the guy who banned guns at the u?
you forgot other moral compasses of society that came from the u like warren sapp, jeremey shockey and wannabe infantry man/cheap shot artist/evil knievel wannabe junior winslow.
and i haven’t even touched upon najeh davenport’s bathroom habits.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2002/10/29/packers_davenport_ap/
what goes on at florida state (dillards/agent and booster shopping sprees at foot locker) or florida (jablunt gafney trying to drown a guy, players assautling students with full kegs of beer) is comical compared to what goes down at coral gables.
these guys at the u make switzer’s oklahoma teams look like choirboys.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
That PI flag was the worst call in the history of calls.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
I agree with what some are saying on here that it’s more of a function of the type of kids they’re recruiting. Also, my wife’s friend attended Miami, and before I met her and she told me about the school itself, I had always figured it was a large public university that anyone could get into, lacking any real educational values and overrun by thugs…mainly because of their football team. While it’s admittedly naive to judge a school based on their football program, it’s all I had to go on back in the day. To know that it’s a small (relatively speaking) private university with great academics was very surprising. Either way, Lebatard went there, so it must not be that bad…his chats are laugh out loud hilarious.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Oh, and there’s no fucking way in hell I’d send my football playing kid there.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
really…the worst call in the history of calls…
http://www.buckeyefansonly.com/notcalled.html
November 28th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
The U has a bad rep, no doubt, but when the U is on, it’s on like no other. They churn out NFL talent, they win championships, and people pay attention. And then, you get paid. That’s what it is all about for most football players, so the good ones from the area (and there are a lot of them), go to the U. The U is a program that ebbs and flows. It has it’s rough spots, and it has it’s bright spots. The late 90s and early 2000s, the U was a model program that was on top of the sport. No problems with players. Tons of talent. Tons of wins. Once the new crop of athletes came in, things slowly have gone downhill, until they are at where they are now which is rebuilding under Shannon (And rebuilding from a lowpoint like none I have ever seen at the U). The U is the pre-eminent college football program in the sport’s history when it comes to success on the field with success at the next level. The, best.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
anyone think the cleaning up of the program has led to its demise? why the major drop in talent at the U?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
i almost spit out me lucky charms when i read this
oh, and no, i wouldn’t let me kid go to miami
November 28th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
randy shannon will not let this program fall
Mike NYC + 1 for the comment, there talent at the next level is better than the majority of universities
i would send my child to the U because of the respect that players have for the program as well as the alumni of players that come back and train together still and getting the knowledge of top notch pros
what happened to the school shootings in arizona or the one at memphis
you dont hear that much about those because Miami has always had a bad reputation over the entire nation, they didnt get peoples respect until the kicked the shit out of them on the field
why not talk about how the bounced back from probation and went on a tear at home and set the NCAA record for most consecutive wins at home
that game against OSU was a fluck, because mcgahee got hurt, but that would of been number two championship in 5 years
what college would your kid have a better shot at playing in the pros?
Missouri, Kansas, or the U, even in this years draft
i guarantee a player from the U will go way ahead of anyone from Kansas or Missouri or even Ohio State this year
November 28th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
Really, just a very bad and uninformed post. I get incredibly annoyed with posts like these. How many inicidents did you bring up that involved Miami ALUMNI? How many incidents have Miami STUDENTS been involved in, say the past 5 years? How many charges have been brought against UF, FSU, LSU, Texas, UT, Penn St, OU players in the past 5 years? Do a little research. How many UM players have been arrested this decade?
“This program – one that we rooted for for many years – has the culture of a gang, and bad things happen to those who enter. ”
That is the most ignorant sentence you’ve ever written. Please explain in detail how this program has the culture of a gang. Please define “culture of a gang.” In what ways is this program even REMOTELY SIMILAR to a gang?
How did Greg Olson get sucked in to the “7th Floor Crew?” Was he abducted and forced to write the rap?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
irishmafia you are right, that game could have be a lot different with McGahee in it, but he wasnt and they lost.
still one of the best championships before USC/Texas a few yrs ago
November 28th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
i visited a with a friend who had friends at the U a few years back and all we did was drink at the beach and then go back and drink at a house with babes. they were also all basically preppy white kids. i seriously doubt your chances of getting shot dont significantly increase just because you play or played football at miami. i can think of worse locales to spend my or my kids years 18-22.
of course with the state of the quality of play, i’d prefer he’d go elsewhere, but then it’d be his choice anyway.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Who on Miami is going to go “way ahead” of Vernon Gholston?
November 28th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
btw, everyone knows OSU stole that title from Miami. Worst pass interference call ever. Those two teams play 10 times, Miami wins 9 of them.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
No, it isn’t. USC is just south of downtown Los Angeles, in an area known variously as Exposition Park or University Park. Compton is twelve miles to the southeast and on the other side of a freeway. Saying that USC is in Compton is like saying that NYU is in East New York or the South Bronx.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
I would not want my kid to go there. I would point out to him that just because they do put out all these 1st rounders doesn’t mean that he won’t get noticed if he is good. T.O. went to UT at Chatt. Moss came from Marshall. Steve Young from BYU.
My point here is that if you are really good, you don’t need to go to a huge program to get noticed. In this day and age, you can be noticed if you are good and if you are good, YOU GET PAID.
November 28th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
sean jean…look at my link and then argue against that call…and even if your win 9 out of 10 theory is right
they still lost the only one that counts
also Vernon Gholston will be an very high pick this year if/when he comes out
November 28th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Who on Miami is going to go “way ahead†of Vernon Gholston you ask Matt C
kenny phillips for one, calais campbell is better than gholston
glenn sharp, derrek morse
November 28th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Michael Irvin is writing a check as we speak to counter your hatin’
November 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
mmonast: Sorry man, but I don’t buy it. Picture frames don’t explain it. Sure, there are plenty of missed calls and incorrect calls during a game, but you don’t decide the game (and the national championship) on a very iffy penalty that is thrown a good 2-3 seconds late in the end zone. There are plays like that in every game that don’t get called. Players make contact with each other all the time. It was a gift.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
so the actual pictures of the questioned pass interference calls dont do it for you?
it clearly wasnt an iffy call, the defender was draped all over him and tugging on his jersey while the ball was in flight. the only thing that causes doubt was the late flag, but shouldn’t it matter that they got the call right? the other pictures were just showing ohio state being held all day, i agree that happens in every football game. but that pass interference call was the right one.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Let me pick up where my boys Irish Mafia and Gangsta D left off at which is how in the hell do you correlate a young man being shot to death in his home to that of a college football program which he attended four years ago? You have written some insulting posts in the past TBL, but this one takes the cake, I mean anything that’s negative and can be associated with the University of Miami, you guys in the media(yes, blogs are officially a part of the media now) just take it and run. A young man was killed, forget football, a young man was killed ,doing what anybody in his position would have done and that was trying to protect his family. That isn’t enough for those of you that hate Miami though, amother Miami player down so let’s put our foot on their neck and make them suffer even more. This act gets so tired, watching and listening to all of you Hurricane haters try to rationalize how Joe Simple should take this tragic incident and somehow turn it into a referendum on the state of the Miami football program in general. I live in Texas, and UT players stay in police lineups but I don’t hear you talking about that. what about some of these other pristine programs that we’re supposed to believe are beyond reproach and their players never get in trouble? Well, they get in trouble, but they just don’t get into the kind of trouble that Miami players do(allegedly). Gangsta D, who never fails to come with the real, made some excellent points and asked some even more perinent questions like “what exactly is the culture of a gang?” Obviously, you’ve been out set tripping with your crew TBL, so tell us all about that gang culture that you are so familiar with and how in the hell did Greg Olsen get sucked into the 7th Floor Crew? Did they put cookies and milk outside of their door and grab him and pull him in when he got close enough? Out of everthing you wrote, those two statements were the most inflammatory and border very closely on you know what, but in the interest of time I’m not going to go there today. Look, no one can deny that Miami has had it’s share of problems in the past and their own cockiness and arrogance defintely helped play a part in how they are perceived today, but it seems as if some people can’t let some things go and that’s what gets on my bad side about this. I’ll say it again, a young man was shot and killed only a few feet away from his girlfriend and child. This is not the time to try assessing blame and somehow associate a young man’s murder with where he played college football. The only person who is to blame for this, is the coward who broke into Sean’s home and killed him and left another child in this world without a father.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
paragraphs?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:28 pm
so……….ummm yeah uhh hmmm so you would?
November 28th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
@mmonast: Not using paragraphs is part of the “culture of a gang”.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
No chance I’d let my kid play football there. There’s far too many Jewish people at that school.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
mmonast: I know what you are saying, I’m just saying calls like that aren’t made all the time. You can’t post up stills of a hurricane player touching an OSU player and say, SEE, there is the violation! There was a lot of contact in that game. That call wasn’t consistent with the way it was being called the entire game. Not to mention it decided the entire game. Looking at photo stills which could be totally out of context don’t do well in proving this point. Video is the only way to see it, and I’ve seen the video. I hate late flags. Especially ones that are that crucial and debatable. I still think it was a shit call.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Campbell and Phillips, to name two.
November 28th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
gang members have been known to post on rival gangs message boards without using paragraphs…a despicable practice
and sean jean agree to disagree but that pic up top shows the pass interference. no matter what we say the record books have osu winning
November 28th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
another thing, most grads who make the NFL seems to be A-Holes as well.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
this is what kind of football player i want on my team
November 28th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=I82BPA5QAaQ
November 28th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
mmonast: Unfortunately, right you are. OSU won it that year. Phooey.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
damnit…fucking meeting…i missed all the fun.
November 28th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
love winslow on the browns
November 28th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
I agree with ChrisP and I don’t even like Miami.
This is the same bullshit that mike and the mad dog were spewing yesterday. The “typical Miami thug blah blah blah.”
Taylor, by all accounts, had turned his life around, and was shot in his home in the middle of the night, trying to protect his GF and baby. Not out “gang banging.” This has absolutely nothing to do with Ray Lewis, or Bryan Pata, or Michael Irvin, or Geno Torretta, or Reggie Wayne, or anyone else who has ever gone to the U.
Another thing: I don’t want to play the race card, but why was Greg Olsen “sucked into” by 7th floor crew? How do you know he wasn’t the one who started it?
Finally, for the 8 millionth time, it WAS pass interference in ‘03. Further, only losers whine about officiating when they lose. Get over it. If you wanted to win, you should’ve stop 4th and 15 in the first OT. Or not allow a double-digit underdog to take you to OT in the first place.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Does anyone talk about a culture of lawlessness at WVU? Both Chris Henry and Pacman went there…
How about Virginia Tech? Both Vick brothers went there…
No. For some reaseon, this stuff only seems to stick to Miami.
Now if you excuse me, I just DEFENDED Miami in two straight comments. I need to go take a shower.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
By the way, anyone interested in the U’s side of things read Jimmy Johnson’s book. He explains about what happened when Miami played Penn State and what started everything back then. And yes, my step-son wants to go there and I hope he gets in. It is a nice campus and a good program. I am not sure of the exact stats, but isn’t Miami one of the top schools for players to go into the NFL, and surely the ones that were listed above are a very miniscule portion of them overall. Jim Kelly, anyone?
November 28th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
yea, what about the fact that it seems a Texas RB gets suspended for selling/smoking/buying weed every week…
then again, if youve ever been to Austin, you know the weed there is the SHIT.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:15 pm
IrishMafia- another string of worthless posts from you. You are either Irish or attended Notre Dame, in any case you are dumb on both counts. The OSU is second only to the U in players drafted the last ten years. And, with the Mo-Clo exception, Buckeyes tend to stay out of trouble. OSU has won a national championship, played for another, and beat the fuck out the Irish in a BCS game. What was the last BCS game that the U played in? OSU is BCS bound again, while the U is not.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
triple post!!!!!
November 28th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
cool rick you still mad because you said two days ago that no one can die from a gunshot wound to the leg
you god damn jackass rick
im irish who cares, i could care less what you think, you are clearly the dumb ass on here not me by your comment
keep ridin
November 28th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Who the hell are you supposed to be mmonast, the blog’s english teacher? Who in the hell cares if gang members don’t use paragraphs on their message boards? As far as the pass interference call goes, if the interference was that obvious it wouldn’t still be a discussion.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
guiness girl
+ 10 with a Jim ” the machine gun ” kelly reference
best Qb to ever come out of the U
November 28th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
which texas rb’s are you talking about spence? besides ricky and maybe cedric or something?
i’m not from texas, but i’ve never heard that about austin
November 28th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
WCT – Are you really comparing the Vick brothers at Miami and two clowns at WVU to nearly TWO DECADES of lawlessness at the University of Miami? This is NOTHING near what Mike & Mad Dog were saying.
It’s a culture at Miami. Isolated incidents happen elsewhere … there’s a pattern at Miami.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
I will ride the “plane” to see the Buckeyes in a BCS game. Get on your boat, grab some potatoes and whisky, keep blogging about nonsense. Why no response to the fact that the Buckeyes have the second most players in the NFL?
November 28th, 2007 at 4:46 pm
because miami is first dumb ass, i have no response to that, i back my comments up with facts that you make clear
your dick riding rick
i got nothing against OSU, i went to high school in ohio at one of the most prestigious schools in the nation
November 28th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
TBL – I agree that stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason. And there is something to be said for the culture that Miami fostered, like, 10 years ago. But so far, based on the facts that have come out in this case, Sean Taylor was minding his own business, and was killed by someone who broke into his home. And Bryan Pata was killed as he walked home from practice. These were not thugs killed in the middle of doing thuggish things.
I think it is small-minded and dissmissive to blame it on the fact that they went to a school that had a reputation for violence in the 80s and 90s.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
http://www.drafthistory.com/colleges/o.html
if it were that prestigious you would fucking learn to spell. And by the way, it looks like THE OSU crushes the U. How am I riding a dick? You make no fucking sense. Like when you said that Barry Bonds “single hand-ly (sic) ruined the game of baseball.” Fuck you you irish prick. You aint from Ohio.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
lol cool rick getting mad, what are you a teacher asswipe
rocky river,ohio my driveway is worth more than your trailer rick
fuck off
November 28th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Cool rick shut the hell up, everybody knows the Kuckeyes sold their soul to win that championship game to Miami, and the devil came back to collect his payment when they played Florida in the title game in January. I know all of you Luckeye fans thought after ginn ran the opening kickoff back, it was going to be easy money………noooot!!!!!
Ohio State is the only reason I’ll be rooting for Missouri Saturday night, just to shut you arrogant, pompous Ohio State fans up until next year.
(Here’s your damn paragraph mmonast)No TBL, he’s not comparing Miami to WVU or the Vick brothers for that matter, what he is saying is that other schools have similar and consistent patterns of misbehavior but it’s not reported with the same kind of intensity or passion that it is when Miami is involved. Hey TBL, are you going to clarify your statements regarding “a gang culture” and how Greg Olsen got sucked into the 7th Floor Crew?, that’s what I’m waitng on.
November 28th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
It’s just as bad in Tallahassee. Except Bowden has the campus and local sheriff police on the payroll so the news doesn’t leak out as badly.
November 28th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Wow, another faggot joins the mix. Rocky River…..there really isnt a prestigious school around there. “Sold our souls.” For what, a dominating team, and BCS berths. Go fluff each other off. And no, I am not a teacher, just someone with an “edumacation.”
November 28th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
Clean up on aisle common sense
November 28th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
“nearly TWO DECADES of lawlessness at the University of Miami?”
Examples of this lawlessness please? Once again, I ask you to give me the names of Miami players arrested(in trouble with the law) over the past 5 years. 10 years. Notice I said PLAYERS, not ALUMNI.
And yeah, still waiting on that “culture of a gang” definition.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Fulmer Cup
Obviously, this isn’t the definitive report on CFB brushes with the law, but if Miami is so lawless, you’d think they might be on this list. Nope, no mention. Don’t take my word for it. Actually do some research and let the FACTS inform your opinion instead of perception.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
D – I made it clear that it mattered not if the player was presently on the team or an alumni. They are one in the same – associated with the University of Miami.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
If crime were such an epidemic at Miami, you wouldn’t need to include alumni to prove a point. Their addition definitely boosts the stats, no? Takes it from zero to a positive number.
I wonder what would happen if someone did some research and compiled a list of colleges with the most players(alumni & current) arrested in the last 20 years. I wonder if, on average, Miami would be no better or worse than any other college.
Still waiting on that “culture of a gang” definition.
November 28th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
So if Michael Irvin kills someone tomorrow with a crack pipe, the U is held responsible for it because he attended the university over two decades ago? That doesn’t make sense. Just from looking at him in interviews during his high school career, he seemed like an asshole before he went to the U. There might be a fostering for the type of players they recruit [aggressive kids with little care for their bodies] but you can’t ever suggest that some type of institution can possibly breed this type of human being to act this way.
You can’t demand any university to keep tabs on their players 24/7. It’s impossible. But somehow every university except the U gets a pass on off the field. Florida lineman fires an uzie at a bar? Apparently not newsworthy. Florida State LB goes to town on an underage chick at a bowl game? Slap on the wrist and a ticket punched to the NFL.
To conclude this rant, off the field antics happen everywhere. But when you’re reputation is built on playing tough and not taking crap on the field, you don’t get a pass on these things unlike finesse schools who show little heart on the field who have off the field issues.
How about we flip this on the other side and lay claim to some of the morally uncorrupted products that have come out of THE U?
Jim Kelly
Vinny Testaverde [Jimmy Johnson Product]
Bernie Kosar [Jimmy Johnson Product]
Michael Barrow
Randy Shannon [Jimmy Johnson Product]
Ed Reed
Leon Searcy
Dan Morgan
Rob Chudzinski
Frank Gore
Jarret Payton
Andre Johnson
Bryan Pata
Mario Cristobal
November 28th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
I can’t find a link to the chart that ran in the Miami Herald, but this link talks about it:
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/323438.html
A Miami Herald chart in Tuesday’s paper listed 10 tragic incidents that have occurred to UM players or former UM players. The 10 spanned from 1989 to 2007 — not including Taylor’s death.
”When the media puts it out like that,” Shannon said, ‘the media creates more problems. . . . What deaths have really occurred on Miami’s campus besides one? The only thing that ever happened on the [UM] campus was Marlin Barnes’ [1996 murder].
“Think about it. How many deaths occurred on the Virginia Tech campus? Is Virginia Tech a bad school to go to? No.”
November 28th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Nobody likes labels, and I’m sorry you disagree with the ‘gang culture’ reference to the Hurricanes. It’s just how i feel. I’m all for having a healthy discussion.
I feel that the Canes ‘family’ over the last two decades is similar to that of a gang – rambunctious, entitled, and unruly. No coach kept them in check. The players carried themselves a certain way on and off the field. Other schools throughout the country have similar problems – Colorado, ND, Florida, Alabama, FSU, etc.
The difference here, I believe, is that the Miami players carry that same college swagger/attitude into their professional years, except now they are doing so with deep pockets. It is a recipe for disaster. And i also admit that without question, Miami is under the microscope moreso than other schools because it has placed so many players in the professional ranks. Hence the created a monster reference.