As expected, today at 4 PM legendary college football coach Bobby Bowden announced his offficial retirement as the Head Coach at Florida State University.
Bowden stated that he will coach through the 2009 bowl game and then leave FSU. He will complete his 34th season at Florida State this year and may consider some role at the University once retired from coaching.
Also as expected, his successor will be current FSU Offensive Coordinator Jimbo Fisher will take over as Head Coach for the Seminoles beginning next year.
About Bobby Bowden:
Born : November 8, 1929 in Birmingham, Ala.
High School : Woodlawn High, Birmingham, Ala.
College : Howard (now Samford) 1953
Collegiate Football Experience : University of Alabama (QB), freshman;
Howard (QB), sophomore-senior
Graduate Degree : Peabody College
Wife : The former Julia Ann Estock
Children : Robyn, Steve, Tommy, Terry, Ginger, Jeff
HEAD COACHING HONORS
1977 Southern Independent Coach of the Year
1979 National Coach of the Year (ABC-Chevrolet)
1979 Southern Independent Coach of the Year
1980 National Coach of the Year (Bobby Dodd)
1983 Inducted - Florida Sports Hall of Fame
1986 Inducted - Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
1987 Region II Coach of the Year
1991 National Coach of the Year (Walter Camp)
1992 Neyland Trophy Winner
1993 ACC Coach of the Year
1996 National Coach of the Year (Home Depot)
1997 ACC Coach of the Year
1999 National Coach of the Year (Home Depot)
1999 National Coach of the Decade Finalist (Home Depot)
1999 ESPN College Team of the Decade (any sport)
2006 Inducted - National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame
2008 NCFAA Contributions to College Football Award
COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Second winningest coach in major college football history with 388 career coaching victories
• The only coach in the history of Division I-A football to compile 14 straight 10-win seasons (1987-2000)
• Coached the Seminoles to consensus National Championships in 1993 and 1999
• His 1999 National Championship team is the first in college football history to go wire-to-wire as the Associated Press' No. 1 ranked team
• Set NCAA records with 11 consecutive bowl victories (1985-95) and 14 straight bowl trips without a loss (1982-95)
• Ranks first among active coaches for winning percentage in bowl games and has led the Seminoles to 27 straight bowl games - the longest current streak in the nation
• Has guided FSU to 30 bowl appearances in 33 seasons, including 27 straight
• Since 1993, Florida State has played in the national championship game five times (1993 Orange vs. Nebraska, 1996 Sugar vs. Florida, 1998 Fiesta vs. Tennessee, 1999 Sugar vs. Virginia Tech, and 2000 Orange vs. Oklahoma)
• Since the inception of the BCS in 1998, FSU has reached one of the BCS bowl games six times
• Patriarch of the first father-son duo to lead Division I-A programs, let alone to lead them at the same time
• National Citizenship Award (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) named after Bobby Bowden in 2004
COACHING STOPS
1954-55 Assistant Football Coach/Head Track Coach at Howard (now Samford)
1956-58 Head Football Coach and Athletic Director at South Georgia Junior College
1959-62 Head Football Coach at Samford College
1963-65 Assistant Coach (Receivers) at Florida State
1966-69 Offensive Coordinator at West Virginia
1970-75 Head Coach at West Virginia
1976- Head Coach at Florida State
Yes Dye has potential at TE with his size, I think he is too tall for DE to get leverage, makes me think of a skinnier and faster Calais.
Yes, I've heard everything about his first step too...
With Vernon, Bailey, Smith, Ojomo, Mrob, and all them being back with a few new guys in the mix.. I don't see why Dye wouldn't make the move... JMO
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | December 01, 2009 at 04:13 PM
LMAO - first....
Been awhile.
I should get 12 shirts and an automatic CSHOF bid for my posting on my honeymoon. Thats a true fan right there..
Just saying.. I almost got banned for loving my Canes too much!!!
Sorry I know another pathetic pitch.. What can I say?
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | December 01, 2009 at 04:14 PM
CGNC...check our email!
Posted by: UMike | December 01, 2009 at 04:18 PM
Dadgum! Will do. I liked Bobby. His interviews were always funny.
Posted by: CGNC | December 01, 2009 at 04:19 PM
Life was better when ole Bobby was a fixture in our rivalry. All things must pass, but that doesnt mean we're better off for it.
it was past time tho.
Posted by: DallasTX Cane | December 01, 2009 at 04:22 PM
Repost:
I'm sure everyone is sorry to see Bowden retire, but it should have no bearing on our bowl selection process.
UM should play in the Gator Bowl on New years day if GT beats Clemson. UM should play in the Champs if Clemson beats GT.
Bowdens retirement should have nothing to do with the selection process. I'm thinking FSU/ND on the "Blue Field" in Boise is about what those two schools deserve this season.
I know that the bowl committee's have some leeway in deciding who does or does not play in their bowl games, but it would not be fair to the players or the coaching staffs of any school that gets bumped to accomodate Bowden.
I don't hate FSU or their fans, but if UM gets bumped, I'll single one or two FSU fans out at Landshark next year and pretend that they just threw a beer bottle at me! I'm just sayin'!!
Go 'canes!
Posted by: Sarasota 'cane | December 01, 2009 at 04:23 PM
Repost
Bobby Bowden officially retires from FSU!
Posted by: 86Cane | December 01, 2009 at 04:03 PM
86 have you heard any of the nasty rumors that are flying around. That they are gonna give FSU the ACC slot in the Gator Bowl. This is pure bull shyte if this happens. My team fought hard, earned tough victories on the feild and gets screwed over my a decaying program that sucked all year becasue their old azz head coach in leaving.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20091201/FSU03/912010312/Update-It-s-official-Bowden-announces-Gator-Bowl-will-be-his-last-game
Posted by: moneycane | December 01, 2009 at 04:10 PM
Posted by: moneycane | December 01, 2009 at 04:28 PM
Sarasota i'm right there with you. I know life ain't fair but don't fuk over my Canes
Posted by: moneycane | December 01, 2009 at 04:29 PM
Yeah, yeah... I know U'all Cane fandom have sentimental respect for St. Bobby. But he no longer could "walk over water," and work his miracles. LOL
Great-Grandpa Bobby should've said adios to F.S.U., as well as college football four or five years ago. That's all.
The good ol' boy Bob's ineptitude has cost F.S.U. in many a way, and the Criminoles will be just another average and or above-average college football program. Say it ain't so. LOL
But I do give Coach Bowden absolute respect for playing your Miami, F-L-A Hurricanes, year in and year out.
Matter of fact, like your Hurricanes, Bowdens' squads were NEVER SCARED CHITLESS of playing the best of the best in college football. And in the early years of Seminole football, St. Bobbby would take his teams into hostile territory.
Posted by: macjones de Albuquerque | December 01, 2009 at 04:30 PM
UMike - I replied - sent two different emails
Posted by: CGNC | December 01, 2009 at 04:31 PM
mac - I liked BB because he was never that overpompous coach-type like Cryer for instance.
Money if that happened that would stink
Posted by: CGNC | December 01, 2009 at 04:33 PM
86, you got mail
Posted by: JSQ | December 01, 2009 at 04:36 PM
For canesteeler:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIoHv8ZKHK8
Posted by: CGNC | December 01, 2009 at 04:38 PM
mac - I liked BB because he was never that overpompous coach-type like Cryer for instance.
Money if that happened that would stink
Posted by: CGNC | December 01, 2009 at 04:33 PM
Urvane Myth will eventually get his COMEUPPANCE. Don't U sweat it Missy. LOL
Posted by: macjones de Albuquerque | December 01, 2009 at 04:48 PM
Loco, Dallas, Cav
I've got to get in the rugby/soccer/football debate.
I love sport, I love football but never played, I played extensive rugby and soccer growing up in UK.
I can bring a look that perhaps others don't have from growing up in europe but now living in the states.
Outside USA, football is pretty much a non entity as a serious sport. Sure the games sell-out but then so did Chelsea/barcelona for a game akin to spring traing in baseball, when plaayed in seatle. football puts soccer fans to sleep like soccer puts football fans to sleep, this stems from lack of insight rather then the sport itself.
The rugby world cup was watched by billions, and the soccer world cup dwarfs everything sports on this planet, make no mistake the tournament is the biggest sporting event on earth, put everything else together and you still fall short.
It;s not by mistake either, soccer on TV works everywhere else except USA and that strictly down to advertising not the game itself.
The athlete's in all sport are something, one sport is not better then another.
I truly appreciate what footballs players can do, from EJ, Ray Lewis, Barry Saunders but sit down and see what a Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka, Gerrard, Rooney, Torrez can do. I love my Canes but also love my soccer.
Posted by: USAFCane | December 01, 2009 at 04:50 PM
They don't like the constant stopping off football.
They think it is too slow and boring LOL!
Which makes me laugh, cause I see soccor at times with them kicking the ball back and forth and while their running around.. NOTHING IS HAPPENING!
It is just ignorance pure and simple. Other countries don't want to take the time to learn football and it is an expensive game to fund - unlike soccer. Which anybody can play with a ball (makes goals from anything)
Americans don't want to learn soccer and acknowledge other sports the same way.
It is stupid, all sports can be good and competitive and exceptional (depending on the athletes)
It just happens that in America most great athletes play the big 3, unlike in other countries.
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | December 01, 2009 at 04:55 PM
I've got to say, Bowden deserved to go on his terms, he's a legend. He desrved one more season, what difference would let him playing one more season make?. I think they done him wrong. I certainly wouldn't want to follow him, Fisher will find it very difficult.
Penn State got it right, FSU got wrong.
Posted by: USAFCane | December 01, 2009 at 04:55 PM
I personally would prefer the bowl game in O-Town. It's on 1/1/10, it pays the most $ out of the non-bcs bowls, and for those at the USF game (or UCF), you saw just how well the Central Florida Cane fans travel when the game is in their back yard! I think UM sees the same thing and would be happy to play in O-Town and have a packed house. AND - we would probably play Penn State!
Posted by: 404Canes404 | December 01, 2009 at 04:58 PM
From Manny (I picked against the Canes) Navarro at the Heralds Q&A today:
"I think Miami's defense will be a lot better next year. Losing Darryl Sharpton will hurt. But if Colin McCarthy, Sean Spence, Ramon Buchanon and Jordan Futch are all healthy and a guy like Arthur Brown takes a step forward than Miami's linebacker core should be among the best in the ACC. You'll have Brandon Harris, an All-ACC First Teamer at corner, a more mature Brandon McGee, an improved Demarcus Van Dyke and mature Ray Ray Armstrong and Vaughn Telemaque at safety along with Jared Campbell. And then you'll have Marcus Forston, Adewale Ojomo back with guys like Curtis Porter, Micanor Regis and Jeremy Lewis a year older. Top that off with Allen Bailey and frankly UM's defense will be sick."
Posted by: 404Canes404 | December 01, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Hey canespacers,
Who is out contact inside the UM ticket office. I want to get tix for the ACC bball games this year because I am tired of waiting in line for student tickets.
Posted by: BEERicane | December 01, 2009 at 04:59 PM
86 don't you have a contact inside the ticket department?
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | December 01, 2009 at 05:02 PM
Posted by: 404Canes404 | December 01, 2009 at 04:58 PM
SCRATCH THAT POST. I think I got my O-Town bowls mixed up!
Posted by: 404Canes404 | December 01, 2009 at 05:03 PM
The Capital One Bowl is SEC vs. Big 10 and will likely be LSU vs. Penn State. 404, I think you are referring to the Champs Bowl, which we are in contention for, which is on 12/29. I still prefer Gator.
http://www.football-bowl.com/bowl-projections.html
Posted by: JSQ | December 01, 2009 at 05:03 PM
I'm not sure 404, I'd like to play Penn St. but if Ohio Taint, and Iowa get BSC bids. That moves Penn St. up.
Then you get stuck playing a team like Northwestern. That is really a no win for Miaim.
I rather go against WVU a team that tries to steal recruits from FLA.
a penn state matchup would be awesome, I just don't want to get stuck playing a SMall10 team that has nothing to lose, and everything to gain by going balls to the walls against us.
Posted by: CaneSawMassacre | December 01, 2009 at 05:04 PM
Hey canespacers,
Who is out contact inside the UM ticket office. I want to get tix for the ACC bball games this year because I am tired of waiting in line for student tickets.
Posted by: BEERicane | December 01, 2009 at 04:59 PM
Mine and 86's contact left this past week. Luckily, though, I ran into his old roommate in a sports bar in Tampa this weekend. The roomie also works in the ticket office and is a great guy:
Jon Timbas
(305) 284-6745
[email protected]
Posted by: JSQ | December 01, 2009 at 05:05 PM
Canesaw,
that's the whole point, athlete's play the big 3, but what make them a better athlete then someone from another sport?
Is 300 pound lineman a better athlete then a 260 pound prop in rugby? Is adrian peterson a better athlete then Beckham? He's faster but DB runs about 6,000 yrds in a single game and can hit a ball 60 yrds to within a foot of where he's aiming.
Nail .... head, lack of knowledge of sport, not the sport or who play it, is the issue. You see guys running and passing aimlessly, I see a pulsating game of soccer.
They see a stop start, stop start game, I see science and play calling,
Posted by: USAFCane | December 01, 2009 at 05:06 PM
Posted by: JSQ | December 01, 2009 at 05:03 PM
Anyone know where the delete button is on this thing? :)
Posted by: 404Canes404 | December 01, 2009 at 05:09 PM
I can barely watch soccer for the tenth of a sec it takes to pass on by it on TV. Even that is waaaay too much LOL
I would rather lick ballz or eat glass.
It is not popular here because it blows.
End of story.
Love it if you would like.
Thats your perogative.
Live and let live.
I can't stand Baseball either so what the F do I know lol
Not gonna be the same without Bobby....
Sad day for CFB!!
I agree with Manuel. We are gonna b str8 nasty next year on both sides of the ball.
GANGSTA!!!
GO CANEZ!!!!!
Posted by: Canez1 | December 01, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Playing in O-Town on New Year's Day is an absolute IMPOSSIBILITY. Simply because of the CONFERENCE TIE-IN's for each respective bowl, i.e., S.E.C. vs. Big Ten in the O-Town bowl game.
The Chick-Fil-Let Peach Bowl is an attractive game for Team Shannon, simply because that particular game will be in PRYME TYME, and the only game going on on New Year's Eve.
The other possible game is the Champs Bowl in Orlando, which would be traveling distance for the vast majority of Cane fandom.
It's a win-win situation for the Hurricanes, regarding either the Peach Bowl or Champs Bowl.
Posted by: macjones de Albuquerque | December 01, 2009 at 05:12 PM
Posted by: USAFCane | December 01, 2009 at 04:50 PM
I agree with your post. If soccer had TV timeouts, it'd be big in the U.S. We love the "big 3" because they're ours...made in the USA.
But even tho U love one doesn't mean U can't grow to love another or appreciate the grace, beauty and skill of another - oops...am I talking about sports or Tiger?!?
Posted by: DallasTX Cane | December 01, 2009 at 05:14 PM
IT WON'T BE THE PEACH BOWL, I LIVE SOUTH OF KNOXVILLE AND ON THE NEWS IT SAYS TENNESSEE IS GOING TO PLAY VIRGINIA TECH.
Posted by: MHCANESFAN | December 01, 2009 at 05:17 PM
I believe playing in Jacksonville is a bery, bery, bery, bery longshot. Why! Because of Virginia Tech and their traveling fan base.
IF Georgia Tech were to defeat Clemson this Sabao, the Tigers would have FIVE LOSSES, and by de facto make Beamer's squad the 2nd best team in the A.C.C.
But stranger happening have occured regarding the conference pecking order of who's going bowling to prime bowl.
Because there's always the "backroom" politics, as well as deal making. Think Miami's rep' for not traveling well during bowl season.
Don't shoot the messanger, it's just a fact jack, regarding the Canes fan base when bowl time comes around.
Posted by: macjones de Albuquerque | December 01, 2009 at 05:18 PM
Posted by: JSQ | December 01, 2009 at 05:05 PM
Thanks JSQ. I will give him a call in the morning tomorrow and see what we can work out.
Posted by: BEERicane | December 01, 2009 at 05:27 PM
Miamis problem witth bowl games is this...Miami makes for great tv ratings...but poor traveling attendence lol
Posted by: UMike | December 01, 2009 at 05:27 PM
At the start I didn't really like Bobby Bowden. I gave him respect for keeping us on the schedule but was upset because when his players got in trouble the news was just swept under the rug. (He was portrayed very nicely in the movie We Are Marshall, when as coach of arch rival Mountaineers he shared all his films with Matt McConaughey.)
I think Bobby stayed too long. He himself said that he would never put the school thru these past few .500 seasons, but he did. He also made sure his son got the OC job after Richt (the begining of the end for FSU). He is an icon in the sport but his time is long since past. In the end I don't hate the guy.
Enjoy your well deserved retirement dadgumit.
Posted by: DZ8 | December 01, 2009 at 05:28 PM
One more for Bobby.
UM is gonna get the raw deal out of this. That pisses me off to no end. You have no idea how angry that makes me. A 6-6 team is gonna get out bid, b/c lets give one more to Bobby.
Disgusting
Posted by: RandyCane | December 01, 2009 at 05:32 PM
Already a Even-Steven Seminiole team is PROJECTED playing in a relatively higher-tier bowl than your Miami Hurricanes. Say it ain't so.
I don't wanna' be the gloomy, harbinger of bowling news, but I have a funny feeling Miami could end up playing in Nashville or Charlotte. Think the SIXTH place and SEVENTH place A.C.C teams bowls de jure.
Team Shannon is no worst than the 5th place A.C.C. squad, and legitimately is the 4th best conference.
Again, bowl suits want teams with a traveling fandom.
Posted by: macjones de Albuquerque | December 01, 2009 at 05:32 PM
One more for Bobby.
UM is gonna get the raw deal out of this. That pisses me off to no end. You have no idea how angry that makes me. A 6-6 team is gonna get out bid, b/c lets give one more to Bobby.
Disgusting
Posted by: RandyCane | December 01, 2009 at 05:32 PM
I rest my case, thanks to RandyCane BACKING UP my opinion above. Because of all the bowl prediction sites I've perused today, F.S.U. is playing in a relatively better bowl game than Miami.
"A.C.C. backroom politics and deal making." Nothing more and nothing less. That's why the Seminoles may get their early X-Mas present next Sunday.
FREAK', why even have an A.C.C. bowl tie-in, if the WORST squad in the conference is going to leap frog a 4th place Hurricane squad.
This is not fair to Team Shannon, and it's a bloody INJUSTICE slap in the face of the Miami, F-L-A Hurrricane program. U's know!
Posted by: macjones de Albuquerque | December 01, 2009 at 05:39 PM
Before we all jump on the Debbie Downer bandwagon, let's see what happens on 12/6. If we get screwed over then, I will be the first one to complain - but at this point, it is silly because nothing has happened yet.
Let's just hope for the best! GO 'CANES!
Posted by: JSQ | December 01, 2009 at 05:42 PM
I have the utmost respect for the good ol' boy Bowden.. a real class act... I pray that he will eventually take over for Lisp Holtz at ESPN..
Posted by: 16 grams | December 01, 2009 at 06:03 PM
Every time I hear Debbie Downer it cracks me up.. is that an ol' school thing or am I out the loop??
Posted by: 16 grams | December 01, 2009 at 06:05 PM
I pray that he will eventually take over for Lisp Holtz at ESPN..
Posted by: 16 grams | December 01, 2009 at 06:03 PM
Seconded.
Posted by: DZ8 | December 01, 2009 at 06:08 PM
Every time I hear Debbie Downer it cracks me up.. is that an ol' school thing or am I out the loop??
Posted by: 16 grams | December 01, 2009 at 06:05 PM
It's from an SNL skit. Watch on YouTube. Hilarious.
Posted by: JSQ | December 01, 2009 at 06:10 PM
Sometimes it sux living in Tally. Listening to FSU fans talk you would think they just won the National Championship. Oh next year we're going to be so much better. We'll improve in this area and that area and we'll be the best teams in the ACC. WTF??
Posted by: moneycane | December 01, 2009 at 06:18 PM
RE: BOWDEN'S RETIREMENT:
An excerpt from an ESPN article regarding the UM-FSU rivalry:
But Bowden didn't win his first national championship until 1993, and rival Miami (Fla.) was largely the reason he had to wait. In 1987, FSU's only defeat was a 26-25 loss to Miami. The next season, the Seminoles were ranked No. 1 in the preseason but lost to the Hurricanes 31-0 in their opener. Miami beat FSU seven times in eight seasons from 1985 to '92, with many of those losses costing the Seminoles a chance to play for the national championship.
FSU's most famous loss to Miami came in 1991, when the No. 1 Seminoles lost to the No. 2 Hurricanes 17-16 after FSU kicker Gerry Thomas' 34-yard field goal sailed wide right with 29 seconds to play. The play infamously became known as "Wide Right." The very next season, FSU lost to Miami 19-16 when Dan Mowrey missed a 39-yard field goal -- how else? -- wide right on the final play.
"As good as we were, we didn't win a national championship until 1993, mainly because we kept losing to Miami on missed kicks," Bowden said. "I used to get mad because nobody else would play Miami. Notre Dame would play them, then drop them. Florida dropped them. Penn State dropped them. We would play Miami and lose by one point on a missed field goal, and it would knock us out of the national championship. I didn't want to play them, either, but I had to play them. That's why I said, 'When I die, they'll say, 'At least he played Miami.'"
(Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4426988)
Posted by: RBLCane | December 01, 2009 at 06:19 PM
For those waiting for the documentation of the U... "That's Miami"... The film documents the rise and fall of the University of Miami football Team/Program
Miami Hurricanes football
told by Rakontur filmmakers.
By Francisco Alvarado
Published on December 01, 2009
It's just before the start of the Cotton Bowl Classic at Fair Park Stadium in Dallas on the morning of January 1, 1991. The University of Texas Longhorns line up against the University of Miami Hurricanes, the most reviled college football program in the nation. There is not an empty seat.
The Canes fall into an intimidating line at midfield. Their intention is clearly — weirdly — to block their opponents from crossing the field for pregame warmups. They even mock them.
A chorus of boos descends on the Miami boys, who exult in the hate raining upon them. Some even thrust their prized white helmets with the green-and-orange "U" logo into the air.
Then, a few minutes later, Texas running back Chris Samuels catches the opening kickoff. He runs to the 14-yard line, where Miami linebacker Robert Bailey performs a vicious helmet-on-helmet tackle. Samuels slams to the ground like crumpled roadkill. Bailey jumps up, pumping a fist in the air.
A couple of plays later, the Longhorns must punt, but not before referees penalize Miami 30 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. The early flags set the tone. The Canes rack up a college football record 202 penalty yards in a 46-3 dismantling of the Longhorns.
That's Miami. It's also a pivotal event in The U, filmmakers Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman's latest project, which debuts locally next week and then nationally on ESPN. The film documents the rise and fall of the University of Miami football program from the '80s through the mid-'90s. "The Miami Hurricanes are not just a great sports story of the last 30 years," Corben says. "They are a great, sensational story of the last 30 years."
The documentary is no highlights film of the school's dynamic run as the most successful college football program at the end of the 20th Century. Like Corben and Spellman's 2006 cult hit, Cocaine Cowboys, The U explores an important cog in Miami's flashy outlaw history. The film places the Hurricanes' success against the backdrop of a city torn apart by the race riots of the '80s. "It was a very tumultuous time," Spellman notes. "And it was right around that time the university started to go into Miami's inner-city neighborhoods to recruit players."
A pair of brash North Miami Beach natives who inject their films with a muckraking style, Corben and Spellman in 2001 were the youngest filmmakers ever to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Their documentary Raw Deal: A Question of Consent explored an alleged rape at a university frat house.
They followed up with the critically acclaimed Cocaine Cowboys, a gritty, breathless account of the violent drug-fueled era that built modern Miami. The success of that film resulted in spinoffs such as a coffee-table book, a sequel, and a deal with Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Bay, and HBO to produce a fictional television series.
The genesis of The U came in 2007 before the Hurricanes played their last season in the Orange Bowl, which was torn down a year later. Spellman and Corben met with ESPN executives and worked out a deal to do the documentary. The channel slotted the project for its 30 for 30 series, a slate of 30 documentaries about the 30 most significant sports stories during ESPN's 30-year history. Spellman and Corben joined an elite stable of filmmakers including Barry Levinson and Peter Berg.
After locking up a contract with ESPN, Corben and Spellman (who are UM alumni) met with athletic department officials and the school's vice president of communications, Jacqueline Menendez. She says the university was open to participating in the documentary, but Corben and Spellman refused to provide her with a script. "Unfortunately, we couldn't take it any further," Menendez says. "It is standard procedure."
Responds Spellman: "They told us they weren't going to cooperate — and that we should rethink about doing the film."
As a result, The U lacks interviews with former school president Tad Foote and current head coach Randy Shannon, who for years was also a part of the program as a player, graduate assistant, and assistant coach.
University officials are probably not looking forward to watching ex-players rehash the team's arrogance. In the movie, ex-running back Melvin Bratton puts it succinctly: "We looked at it like going into somebody's back yard, turning their garbage can over, and walking out their front door. That was our attitude."
Staying true to their hyperkinetic filmmaking style, Corben and Spellman use archival news footage and engaging interviews to tell the story of the Hurricanes. The executive producers even persuaded Luther Campbell, former frontman of 2 Live Crew who used to pay UM defensive players bounties for vicious hits, to write a new rap theme song for The U.
The film begins in 1979, when the school pondered killing football but instead gave new head coach Howard Schnellenberger the opportunity to resuscitate the program. It then explains the concurrent turmoil of the Mariel Boatlift and the McDuffie riots.
Bratton tells the story of how he was still a teenager attending Miami Northwestern Senior High when Liberty City was on fire. He was a track star on a school bus returning from a meet in Orlando. "We had to stick our hands out the windows of the bus to show the rioters we were black," Bratton explains.
To continue page 2...see
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2009-12-03/news/miami-hurricanes-football-told-by-rakontur-filmmakers/2
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sneak previews of The U will be held December 9 at the Lyric Theater in Overtown
and
December 10 at the Cosford Cinema at the University of Miami, Coral Gables campus.
For more information, visit rakontur.com.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Just a guess, but I think our azzez will be showing on this one.
Posted by: Cat 5 Cane | December 01, 2009 at 06:22 PM
sounds like a plan sarasota hehehe
Posted by: canezilla | December 01, 2009 at 06:23 PM
and yes, Soup, I'm sorry the story is so long and should have cut it shorter... but the content was very appealing to me.
Posted by: Cat 5 Cane | December 01, 2009 at 06:27 PM
FSU will end up in the Emerald Bowl
peace
Posted by: solarcane | December 01, 2009 at 06:31 PM
Florida Gators starting defensive end Carlos Dunlap was arrested and charged with driving under the influence early Tuesday morning in Gainesville.
Posted by: Montreal-Cane | December 01, 2009 at 06:31 PM