Email I received from a fellow former Miami Player today...

[Fondybadger]

As an ex-Miami football player, I'm part of the organization called Canes4Life. On a weekly basis I receive a few emails and offers to attend functions. It's always good to see what my "ex-teammates" and fellow alumni are up to. Anyways, here's a fun one I received today.

~Fondy

In 1973, the most action I saw during one particular game, was a bench emptying fight between us and Notre Dame...We were behind by some ungodly score, right before halftime, when the melee began, on the UM sideline, I believe after Kary Baker was tackled out of bounds by an ND player...


City of Miami cops were on the field then, too, with billy clubs drawn, even in that distant year. But, alas, these were less politically correct times. You could actually fight in those days, without fear of prosecution. Of course, fighting then was not necessarily a pretext to gang related murder, or a Columbine type massacre. In fact, all Pete Elliot did at halftime was to chew our asses and we went back out and everyone on both sides behaved...incidentally, we also lost 44-0



At one point during the brawl, I remember felling a hand on my shoulder pads...I turned around to punch the Irish bastard and low and behold...it was the sainted Ara Parsegian himself! It was like I was the Roman soldier who couldn't whip Jesus H. himself for offering water to Ben Hur, in the the 1960 classic...

Anyway, as bad as it was, at least there was some unbridled emotion shown on Saturday night which hopefully can be constructively translated to success in the remaining games of the season...minus the afterwhistle violence, of course...


Go Canes!
Bob Bleak 71-74

 

[Fondybadger]

Another one...

Is it me or are people making too much of a big deal out of this whole thing? I spent three seasons at UM and we got into two fights (San Diego St. '92 and Colorado '93). I don't remember 4 days of coverage of the event. While I don't condone the helmet swinging or the stomping, these things happen in a brawl. I remember, Kevin Patrick being unfortunate enough to get pulled over to the Colorado side in '93 and he got kicked while on the ground while others just about ripped his face mask off of his helmet. I don't remember indefinite suspensions for those Colorado players nor do I think K.P. would have wanted that. It was a fight, emotions got heated and then it was over. No one died, no one lost any teeth, no one cracked a rib. Sh*t happens as they say. Based on today's standards I would have received a one game suspension for my actions in San Diego St. in 1992 but in the grand scheme of things, it was harmless.

The public and the media expects players who are already in a battle to run out onto the field when a fight breaks out and try to break things up. That's not realistic. Nowadays you have 2 million media outlets and 4 million talking heads ready to offer up their opinion and judgment on others when the slightest thing happens. It's out of control. You have people suggesting that the University of Miami disband the football program. Are they smoking crack? Last I checked, the NHL is running strong. There's no talk of getting rid of that sport despite the common brawls that often result in blood-letting, stitches and lost teeth. Why is that allowed to go on without such outrage? I have stayed off of A.M. radio the last two days because of all of this.

The real reason children are affected by these events is because the media replays and replays and replays the video and talks about it all day and the kids become numb to it all. I coach a youth football team and I had two players actually get in a fist fight before practice yesterday. I am talking about two 10 year olds that were two of the least likely players to get involved in something like this. I can't help but wonder if them seeing the fight on Channel 4, 6, 7 and 10 plus on CNN, ESPN, MSNBC, Fox News as well as on CNN Headline News, ESPN2 and on NFL Network two times each would influence such a thing.

When I was a kid, NFL teams fought and it might make the news on Sunday Night and you never heard about it again. Nowadays, you can't get away from things like this because like everything else that's bad for the kids these days, it's constantly shoved in their face by the 1,000's of media outlets looking to capture an audience.

Finally, Lamar, I love ya man but they should have shut your mic off. Dude thought he was at Greentree and forgot he was on the booth going out to what has now amounted to a 100 million plus people.

Chad Wilson
'92 - '94

 

[abcs]

This guy is an idiot.
There is a huge difference in NFL and College fights, one you represent the university and your school..
Miami has been a program who has carried around with it a thuggish image and this did nothing to change it.

 

[Tarheel Brn&Bred]

This guy is an idiot.
There is a huge difference in NFL and College fights, one you represent the university and your school..
Miami has been a program who has carried around with it a thuggish image and this did nothing to change it.

lets see. do I want my school to fight when they are provoked into a fight b/c the ST's line went after everyone of Miami's ST's line/holder and kicker. or do I want my school to hire a KNOWN BASKETBALL COACH who has beeen kicked out of every coaching job hes had for ungodly amounts of rules violations.

what do you think ABC?? :drink:

 

[abcs]

haha Brilliant bud. Im sure you condone taking ur helmet off and hitting people with it and kicking and stomping on guys while their down, instead of pouring gasoline on the fire, why not try to break it up?

 

[abcs]

violin

lets see. do I want my school to fight when they are provoked into a fight b/c the ST's line went after everyone of Miami's ST's line/holder and kicker. or do I want my school to hire a KNOWN BASKETBALL COACH who has beeen kicked out of every coaching job hes had for ungodly amounts of rules violations.

what do you think ABC?? :drink:

Wasnt it one of your backup wr's who scored a td then started bowing to the fiu section??

 

[YesSir]

Thanks for sharing. I understand that the whole thing about protecting your teamates and standing up. TO stand up for your teamates is one thing but this incident was apsurd. It is not an uncommon thing down there though. Did you hear the majority of the fans cheering? The bottom line is that this would never happen at a well coached school that has classy individuals. Can you ever picture an Ohio State, Notre Dame, Texas, Oklahoma, or Michigan team in something like this? Truth be told you are who you recruit. What is lost in this is that some players were innocent and tried breaking this altercation up. Many players were trying to punch someone, or hit someone with a helmut for that matter, rather than seperate the teams.

Here is an article from the local newspaper(today)...it is reactions from Ohio State players. It also states several incidents that could have escalated if the players:

Miami fight stuns Buckeyes players

Ohio State teammates wonder how skirmish escalated out of control

By Marla Ridenour

Beacon Journal sportswriter

COLUMBUS - Ohio State center Doug Datish had his helmet knocked off and was punched in the face four times by Iowa defensive tackle Mitch King this season.
Defensive end Jay Richardson said flanker Ted Ginn Jr. told him that after a punt return, opponents jumped on him and one tried to hit him in the ribs. Richardson said every Saturday he's in a position where he wants to take a swing at someone and that having ``your face mask tugged, maybe an ankle twisted'' in a pileup is common.
But Ohio State players were amazed by the level of violence during Saturday's Miami-Florida International game.
FIU dismissed two players and indefinitely suspended 16, while Miami indefinitely suspended 13. One injured FIU player used his crutch as a club, while one Hurricanes player stomped on opponents and another used his helmet as a weapon.
``I thought it was kind of a wild fiasco,'' Richardson said. ``There's always talking on the field, there's always little personal battles because football is real physical and intense. To let it get that far was a little crazy. I thought maybe they could have done a little better job of keeping those guys separated.''
Redshirt freshman receiver Brian Hartline of GlenOak High School thought it was ``pretty troublesome'' that the situation escalated into violence.
``The first thing that came to my mind was how could that have ever happened,'' Hartline said. ``At no point have I ever thought about taking off a helmet and trying to hit somebody with it or anything like that. (Imagining) that in the 'Shoe with Coach Tressel standing on the sideline is just mind-boggling. There's no way that would ever happen.''
While nothing in coach Jim Tressel's six years at Ohio State can compare, linebacker Robert Reynolds was suspended for one game in 2003 after choking Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sorgi.
``I remember we had a big, long meeting about that and how completely unacceptable that was,'' Richardson said. ``Something like that should never happen on a football field.''
Asked why the Buckeyes have appeared to keep their cool since then, Richardson said, ``We try to be a classy team and we try to recruit guys who are classy individuals who wouldn't be in that kind of situation.''
There was some carryover with the Badgers the next year.
``I vaguely recall they beat us and after the game they were on the Block O doing something and a couple of our guys got into it with them,'' Richardson said.
The second-most publicized OSU altercation in recent years was between teammates. Center LeCharles Bentley sucker- punched offensive tackle Tyson Walter, breaking his nose and teeth, after a workout in February 2000. The incident came to light days before the Outback Bowl that season, when Walter sued Bentley before OSU lost to South Carolina 24-7.
Throwing a punch could have been an option for Datish three games ago. He was lauded by his teammates for not retaliating.
``My helmet gets ripped off, no big deal. I get punched in the face, that will happen,'' Datish said last week. ``But getting punched in the face four times with a guy standing over top of me and the ref saying, `Hey, why don't you stop that?' I was disappointed how that worked out. If I was doing that, I'd expect to be called for a personal foul. I've been called for less than that.''
Asked how he kept calm, Datish said, ``I've gotten personal fouls for retaliation and I know what it's like to come to the sideline and Coach Tressel says something to you, and then Coach (Jim) Bollman says something to you and you get a MA (missed assignment) on it and that's pretty detrimental to your grade,'' Datish said. ``I thought that in my head. Plus the ref was there, and I never thought in my wildest dreams there wouldn't be a penalty.''
Tressel agreed with most national observers who have said the Miami-FIU incident has given college football a black eye.
``That was not a good scene and it doesn't help college football,'' Tressel said. ``The only thing you could take away from it is a reminder that when you make poor decisions to that magnitude, that's something that you're going to be disappointed in for quite some time. Hopefully a whole bunch of young people took note of that and said, `I better make sure I'm in control.' ''
Notebook
Tressel said he didn't think starting tailback Antonio Pittman of Buchtel High School would have any lingering effects from the sprained left ankle he suffered Saturday at Michigan State.... Tressel said he won't know anything on defensive tackle David Patterson (arthroscopic knee surgery eight days ago) until Thursday.... The game against Indiana will be shown live on ESPNU, which few cable operators carry. OSU has arranged delayed broadcasts on Ohio News Network at 11 p.m. Saturday and 8 p.m. Sunday.

 

[Tarheel Brn&Bred]

haha Brilliant bud. Im sure you condone taking ur helmet off and hitting people with it and kicking and stomping on guys while their down, instead of pouring gasoline on the fire, why not try to break it up?

I agree on Reddick and his helmet bowling. as much as I hate to say it, he needs to be kicked off the team. Merriwaether needs an additional game as well. captain doesn't need to be out there doing Monday Night RAW on a saturday night.

but, you know how you stop a guy from bowing to the crowd or any TD celebration for that matter? easy. stop them from scoring.

 

[JumpOnBoard]

Or hand the ball to the ref and celebrate w/ your teammates.

 

[Fondybadger]

I'd been waiting to get some reactions from this from these guys... They finally quit complaining about not getting 2 free tickets to every game, now they're bitching about this.

 

[YesSir]

Also, in most schools or any of the ones I listed:

None of these schools would be jumping up and down with their helmuts off after a win. Each team would be forced in the locker room and would get their asses reamed. It was so pathetic to see these thugs jumping up and down after they beat FIU. These kids would also miss more than one game!

That is what you come to expect from the Miami HurriCONS

 

[cubsker]

I'd been waiting to get some reactions from this from these guys... They finally quit complaining about not getting 2 free tickets to every game, now they're bitching about this.

Miami might as well give them free tickets. It's not like anyone goes to their games at the "OB" as it apparently is called.

 

[Capt. Slap]

Wait wait...Fondy, you played for the U?

 

[Fondybadger]

Wait wait...Fondy, you played for the U?

Check out the U's football alumni page under Nick Rieder 89-91' you'll see me... send me an email and i'll respond to you.

 

[Tarheel Brn&Bred]

Or hand the ball to the ref and celebrate w/ your teammates.

If only Woody Hayes, old coach at ohio st university, had the oppurtunity to take back the punch he threw at a Clemson football player in a bowl game.

my point is not to bring up Woody Hayes punch but to remind any of you guys that all schools, at some point in time, have done some embarrasiing sh*t! dadgum, there was a similar fight that broke out at an IVY League football game the same day of this FIU/Miami mess.