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Article: The de-volution of a Miami Fan

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Great post. If you are switching teams, good. I have no time for you or this bandwagon crap. I have grown with this football team and this University over the last 25 years. And to honest, I'm 33, there have been more down years then up ones in my adult life. But we go on. I will be here and I will be at games. Not because I support Al Golden but because I love the UM football team and being at games is what I do, win or lose.

I also really don't understand people who say "well I'm not even going to watch them on TV." Its your life and I am not saying you are wrong, but you are not invested in Miami football if you are at home and just not watching out of spite.

It has been a rough 10 years for all of us as fans but one reason I always cheer for up and coming NASCAR drivers is because when they finally break through it is so satisfying to know you rode through the storm.
 
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AUcane said:
ghost2 said:
To me, this is worse. It's not like Zook at UF where he brought in some good guys but was just a lousy coach and the next guy (Meyer) could just clean up and win quickly. This was a slow, painful erosion on multiple fronts that slowly sucked the soul from the program. That's why, as much as I'm for Golden getting the boot, it's equally depressing to be staring ANOTHER rebuild in the face after the fact.

That said, I do honestly believe Golden has brought in some players and if there is to be a next coach in the short term, I don't think we'd be looking at 4-5 more years of "wait till next season." Maybe I'm just being hopeful though...
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CFB has proven that provided you have some key pieces, you can turn a program around overnight. It's happened before (Auburn, Florida, etc) and I have no doubt it can happen again here. This talent right now is an 8 win team. With a solid coaching staff, it's a 9 win team for another year or 2 and then we can look at elite.
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I respect your opinion greatly AU, but I think you are wrong here. Properly coached, I believe this team is a NC contender. The only thing that might hold them back is having a true frosh under center. However, he has shown that he might have the stuff to be "the guy."

If our team had coaches that maximized their talent, we'd be staring at the showdown with FSU as a game that determines who gets in to the playoff.
 
I pray the next president gives a rats *** about football.
 
nwFL Griz said:
AUcane said:
ghost2 said:
To me, this is worse. It's not like Zook at UF where he brought in some good guys but was just a lousy coach and the next guy (Meyer) could just clean up and win quickly. This was a slow, painful erosion on multiple fronts that slowly sucked the soul from the program. That's why, as much as I'm for Golden getting the boot, it's equally depressing to be staring ANOTHER rebuild in the face after the fact.

That said, I do honestly believe Golden has brought in some players and if there is to be a next coach in the short term, I don't think we'd be looking at 4-5 more years of "wait till next season." Maybe I'm just being hopeful though...
Click to expand...

CFB has proven that provided you have some key pieces, you can turn a program around overnight. It's happened before (Auburn, Florida, etc) and I have no doubt it can happen again here. This talent right now is an 8 win team. With a solid coaching staff, it's a 9 win team for another year or 2 and then we can look at elite.
Click to expand...

I respect your opinion greatly AU, but I think you are wrong here. Properly coached, I believe this team is a NC contender. The only thing that might hold them back is having a true frosh under center. However, he has shown that he might have the stuff to be "the guy."

If our team had coaches that maximized their talent, we'd be staring at the showdown with FSU as a game that determines who gets in to the playoff.
Click to expand...

I respect your respect. As for this team, we are a year or 2 from being a NC contender, imo. We just don't quite have the horses to be a top 5 team now. With a well coached team, sure, there's a chance we can be a top 5 team next year but there's zero question in my mind we should be a top 15 next year.
 
Consigliere said:
Very good post, just wanted to talk about this below:

ghost2 said:
A post D$ made a week or two ago gives me hope for the long-term future of Miami football. Miami will ALWAYS have the potential to be not only relevant, but dominant. The talent in this area is just too great, too deep to be put aside forever. Another post Lu made yesterday I believe also gives me reason to believe - when that talent stays home, the coach will follow. The right coach - a MIAMI coach - is like a Miami player. They just want to be the best, no matter what. The right coach will take Miami's $2 million salary, underfunded facilities, high academic standards, and lackluster fan support and say "this is still the quickest path to greatness in all of college football."
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I'm not worried about the amount of money but how we spend it. In addition, we can pay more then $2 Million. When we gave Larry Coker his contract extension in 2005 it was one of the highest at the time and it was around that amount (yearly). Since then, we make more money from TV contracts, more revenue from the ACC and more money from the change in stadium (allegedly).

They should at this point be familiar with the cost of terrible decisions based on the following:

1. Coker's Extension

2. Coker's Buyout

3. Hiring RS

4. RS's Extension

5. RS's Buyout

6. Hiring AG

7. Extending AG

8. (soon to be) AG's Buyout

I think the Admin has learned first hand at what a quality hire can do (Coach L) and the additional revenue it can bring into the program. Now the question is whether the Admin and the school understands why they made so many errors and why they find themselves in the same situation aka Groundhog's Day over and over again.

We need to be smart with this next hire and learn from the mistakes above.
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THIS ****, how freekin' obvious. If you are going to take a coach from a lower conference let it be a proven WINNER not a proven MEDIOCRITY. Yes it would be nice to pick off an SEC or Big 12 proven coach but unlikely. Get JJ to help analyze the talent.
 
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Great post, ghost. As someone who grew up overseas, I never had a football team until I came to UM in 07. I came in with Randy Shannon and I left with him. Needless to say, my only experience with being a die-hard Canes fan has been one of gradual familiarization with mediocrity. There have been a few shining moments and glimmers of hope; but even in those moments, there was always the assurance that the linings were grey, and that a let down was imminent. I was at the last game in the Orange Bowl against UVA, and there was nothing of former glory in the air that night. You all likely remember the score. I remember the entire student section tearing the seats apart and a terrible, baffled irony.

I love hearing you "old-timers," relatively speaking, those of you who marched along with the Canes in the glory days. Your stories, almost mythical from my standpoint, are honestly the one thing that ties me to whatever is left that allows me to believe it can happen again. We "are" a great tradition, at this point, only in the sense that we "were" a great tradition. Our stadium is a castration. Our coaches are seemingly impotent. Our season is in shambles, and our future uncertain.

Every year a new batch of Canes fans are baptised in the same manner that I was: in the holy water of mediocrity. So for those of you who can still bear witness to the halcyon days of Miami football, please continue to remind us. It's how we get through.
 
sowba said:
Great post, ghost. As someone who grew up overseas, I never had a football team until I came to UM in 07. I came in with Randy Shannon and I left with him. Needless to say, my only experience with being a die-hard Canes fan has been one of gradual familiarization with mediocrity. There have been a few shining moments and glimmers of hope; but even in those moments, there was always the assurance that the linings were grey, and that a let down was imminent. I was at the last game in the Orange Bowl against UVA, and there was nothing of former glory in the air that night. You all likely remember the score. I remember the entire student section tearing the seats apart and a terrible, baffled irony.

I love hearing you "old-timers," relatively speaking, those of you who marched along with the Canes in the glory days. Your stories, almost mythical from my standpoint, are honestly the one thing that ties me to whatever is left that allows me to believe it can happen again. We "are" a great tradition, at this point, only in the sense that we "were" a great tradition. Our stadium is a castration. Our coaches are seemingly impotent. Our season is in shambles, and our future uncertain.

Every year a new batch of Canes fans are baptised in the same manner that I was: in the holy water of mediocrity. So for those of you who can still bear witness to the halcyon days of Miami football, please continue to remind us. It's how we get through.
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If you became a fan when we were mediocre to lousy, whether it be in the dark era of the early and mid 70's or the new era of mediocrity around 2006 and onward you'll be a much better fan.

Those who became fans when everything was rocking have it alot harder and many have probably bolted for greener pastures.
 
I don't fully buy it. Sorry, but I believe in a longer term focus. Programs like Notre Dame and USC have so many natural advantages and football heritage that their brief downturns are relatively meaningless. Miami doesn't enjoy that. Our upturn was always fragile. That's why I savored it and taped so many games, many of them posted in full on YouTube. I wish I could post more other than my account is now limited to 15 minutes.

We gave away the surreal artificial boost of the Orange Bowl. It's hilarious that any discussion of our heyday doesn't fixate on that building. I was a kid in the early '70s, and never expected the Canes to manage much more than an occasional minor bowl. But it was glaring via Dolphin home games in their heyday that if the Canes ever amounted to anything, they had a massive trump card advantage in the Orange Bowl. As soon as we got good in 1980 my dad and I talked about that all the time, that this could really turn into something.

I don't think we'll enjoy any top level success as long as Sun Life Stadium is our home. I like to stick to something and not sway wildly in either direction based on recency. It doesn't make sense to me that we don't lose premier recruits due to the bland empty reality of that stadium so far removed from campus, and I can't believe a great coach will volunteer himself into that situation.

Unless we get lucky like USC did via Pete Carroll, I'd suspect a nice program but hardly championship threatening.

Get a stadium. Blake James' recent sarcastic comment that the Canes are willing to relocate as soon as somebody builds them a nearby stadium is more disgusting and relevant than anything Golden or D'Onofrio have done. That comment certifies that the school and athletic department are clueless and overmatched. When that's the case, you can't expect any major decision to be astute.
 
I had this conversation with my brother last week when he asked me where I was going to watch the game. I felt a little relieved to tell him that I was going to record it. I just couldn't stand the heartache of a loss (which I half expected). I've not ever missed a Canes game if it was AT ALL preventable. My first Cane's game was 1986 in the OB (never missed a game as an undergrad and I never saw them lose during my tenure there). Over the years it was all good. FSU only beat us when we were handcuffed by sanctions. They were our ******* and I really miss those days. I even went through very clear clinical signs of depression after the 2002 Fiesta bowl and now? its come to this? I record games? I skip them????

This is pretty much a confession for me. I can't take anymore (I mean - NO MORE) disappointment. I even tweeted that somebody just needs to show me mercy, let me tune out, and then give me a heads up when we've hit rock bottom. I just CAN'T celebrate beating Duke and I can't really wrap my head around the idea of losing to Louisville and the GT's of the world. Or never winning the conference? Fearing VT & FSU? every year?? wtf......

I mean - REALLY?! He just has to go and this administration cannot **** up one more time. We need a brilliant hire. Maybe we are already past the point of no return but honestly I worry that this program cannot handle one more **** hire.

****.......
 
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Awsi Dooger said:
I don't fully buy it. Sorry, but I believe in a longer term focus. Programs like Notre Dame and USC have so many natural advantages and football heritage that their brief downturns are relatively meaningless. Miami doesn't enjoy that. Our upturn was always fragile. That's why I savored it and taped so many games, many of them posted in full on YouTube. I wish I could post more other than my account is now limited to 15 minutes.

We gave away the surreal artificial boost of the Orange Bowl. It's hilarious that any discussion of our heyday doesn't fixate on that building. I was a kid in the early '70s, and never expected the Canes to manage much more than an occasional minor bowl. But it was glaring via Dolphin home games in their heyday that if the Canes ever amounted to anything, they had a massive trump card advantage in the Orange Bowl. As soon as we got good in 1980 my dad and I talked about that all the time, that this could really turn into something.

I don't think we'll enjoy any top level success as long as Sun Life Stadium is our home. I like to stick to something and not sway wildly in either direction based on recency. It doesn't make sense to me that we don't lose premier recruits due to the bland empty reality of that stadium so far removed from campus, and I can't believe a great coach will volunteer himself into that situation.

Unless we get lucky like USC did via Pete Carroll, I'd suspect a nice program but hardly championship threatening.

Get a stadium. Blake James' recent sarcastic comment that the Canes are willing to relocate as soon as somebody builds them a nearby stadium is more disgusting and relevant than anything Golden or D'Onofrio have done. That comment certifies that the school and athletic department are clueless and overmatched. When that's the case, you can't expect any major decision to be astute.
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Couldn't agree more. The day the Orange Bowl came down I had a sick feeling in my gut that the great run was up for good....with an exclamation point. Think of the Cubs without Wrigley.....that's what we have become.
 
Dan E. Dangerously said:
ghost2 said:
...What pains me most though is my own personal affectations regarding UM football. As a younger fan, losses were aberrations. I would be sick for a week after a loss - both with the pain of the loss itself, but also with the general unfamiliarity with the feeling. Miami doesn't lose. That's not normal. Over time, the losses began to pile up and my mindset began to change until suddenly I woke up last Sunday morning feeling...well...fine. And it scared the **** out of me...
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From the age of 9, up until around the '03 to '05 season, I would avoid any and everything Miami related the entire week after a loss just to not be reminded of it. And as recently as 2011 I would be an absolute mess after losses. I've been numb to losses for a while too ghost, and it's not because we've grown up or matured. I'm still a 15 year old trapped in the body of someone in their early 30's. It's what makes Golden's tenure so frustrating. I really bought in with him. I honestly felt he was the guy, and anyone who said otherwise was a simpleton.
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could not agree more with ghost or dan's sentiments. I think all of this speaks to the pure vitriol for golden. He is a fake, a phony. If we all feel such hate i have to imagine there are several prominent players who feel the same behind closed doors. There have been several camera shots to illustrate this occurring on the bench this year, unlike what we've seen the last few yrs.
 
AUcane said:
ghost2 said:
To me, this is worse. It's not like Zook at UF where he brought in some good guys but was just a lousy coach and the next guy (Meyer) could just clean up and win quickly. This was a slow, painful erosion on multiple fronts that slowly sucked the soul from the program. That's why, as much as I'm for Golden getting the boot, it's equally depressing to be staring ANOTHER rebuild in the face after the fact.

That said, I do honestly believe Golden has brought in some players and if there is to be a next coach in the short term, I don't think we'd be looking at 4-5 more years of "wait till next season." Maybe I'm just being hopeful though...
Click to expand...

CFB has proven that provided you have some key pieces, you can turn a program around overnight. It's happened before (Auburn, Florida, etc) and I have no doubt it can happen again here. This talent right now is an 8 win team. With a solid coaching staff, it's a 9 win team for another year or 2 and then we can look at elite.
Click to expand...

Auburn....from worst in the SEC to 1st in the SEC in one year. It can be done
 
Awsi Dooger said:
I don't fully buy it. Sorry, but I believe in a longer term focus. Programs like Notre Dame and USC have so many natural advantages and football heritage that their brief downturns are relatively meaningless. Miami doesn't enjoy that. Our upturn was always fragile. That's why I savored it and taped so many games, many of them posted in full on YouTube. I wish I could post more other than my account is now limited to 15 minutes.

We gave away the surreal artificial boost of the Orange Bowl. It's hilarious that any discussion of our heyday doesn't fixate on that building. I was a kid in the early '70s, and never expected the Canes to manage much more than an occasional minor bowl. But it was glaring via Dolphin home games in their heyday that if the Canes ever amounted to anything, they had a massive trump card advantage in the Orange Bowl. As soon as we got good in 1980 my dad and I talked about that all the time, that this could really turn into something.

I don't think we'll enjoy any top level success as long as Sun Life Stadium is our home. I like to stick to something and not sway wildly in either direction based on recency. It doesn't make sense to me that we don't lose premier recruits due to the bland empty reality of that stadium so far removed from campus, and I can't believe a great coach will volunteer himself into that situation.

Unless we get lucky like USC did via Pete Carroll, I'd suspect a nice program but hardly championship threatening.

Get a stadium. Blake James' recent sarcastic comment that the Canes are willing to relocate as soon as somebody builds them a nearby stadium is more disgusting and relevant than anything Golden or D'Onofrio have done. That comment certifies that the school and athletic department are clueless and overmatched. When that's the case, you can't expect any major decision to be astute.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what Awsi Dooger will post in every thread, the same tired, old Orange Bowl excuse. I'll post what I posted in another thread where Awsi trotted out this fantasy that the magical Orange Bowl is why Miami had its success:

"Again with this stadium nonsense... Miami was elite during the 80s-00s because of Schnelly, Jimmy, Dennis and Butch combined with great players that those coaches put into position to win. Has nothing to do with where the games were played.

Miami is not winning anything of significance because of poor coaching, it is that simple. Playing in the Orange Bowl would not make Golden a better coach, just like it did not help Coker or Shannon. Just like it did not help anyone before Schnelly i.e. Lou Saban, Pete Elliott, Fran Curci, etc...

The great Miami coaches and players made the Orange Bowl, not the other way around. "

Now as for the rest of your points... Miami has the most important natural advantage: it sits in the best high school talent pool in America. And that will not go away barring something catastrophic. That is more important an advantage than any tradition or "football heritage". Those things don't win football games. Talent does (along with good coaching).

Miami's upturn wasn't "fragile" or fluke. It was inevitable. Eventually, someone was going to wise up and tap into all the talent in South Florida. Thankfully, Schnelly realized this and the rest is history.

Your view is so clouded by gambling that you cannot see anything beyond it and attribute some mystical powers to the Orange Bowl.
 
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Great post.

All we need is a coach willing to let these beasts loose and we will be back. Just got to wait.
 
ghost2 said:
To me, this is worse. It's not like Zook at UF where he brought in some good guys but was just a lousy coach and the next guy (Meyer) could just clean up and win quickly. This was a slow, painful erosion on multiple fronts that slowly sucked the soul from the program. That's why, as much as I'm for Golden getting the boot, it's equally depressing to be staring ANOTHER rebuild in the face after the fact.

That said, I do honestly believe Golden has brought in some players and if there is to be a next coach in the short term, I don't think we'd be looking at 4-5 more years of "wait till next season." Maybe I'm just being hopeful though...
Click to expand...

To go further, Im scared ****less that even if we fire Al, how can we really at this point expect that the University will make a solid hire and not just another used car salesman that will waste more of our time.
 
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Crazy4thecanes said:
I had this conversation with my brother last week when he asked me where I was going to watch the game. I felt a little relieved to tell him that I was going to record it. I just couldn't stand the heartache of a loss (which I half expected). I've not ever missed a Canes game if it was AT ALL preventable. My first Cane's game was 1986 in the OB (never missed a game as an undergrad and I never saw them lose during my tenure there). Over the years it was all good. FSU only beat us when we were handcuffed by sanctions. They were our ****es and I really miss those days. I even went through very clear clinical signs of depression after the 2002 Fiesta bowl and now? its come to this? I record games? I skip them????

This is pretty much a confession for me. I can't take anymore (I mean - NO MORE) disappointment. I even tweeted that somebody just needs to show me mercy, let me tune out, and then give me a heads up when we've hit rock bottom. I just CAN'T celebrate beating Duke and I can't really wrap my head around the idea of losing to Louisville and the GT's of the world. Or never winning the conference? Fearing VT & FSU? every year?? wtf......

I mean - REALLY?! He just has to go and this administration cannot **** up one more time. We need a brilliant hire. Maybe we are already past the point of no return but honestly I worry that this program cannot handle one more **** hire.

****.......
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Crazy..I started at UM in 87 and like you never saw them lose in the orange bowl. **** we lost 3 games in total during my 4 years there and one of those losses was the robbery in south bend with the infamous bs Cleveland Gary fumble. One loss was to FSU when Craig E was out injured and Geno had to step in, and the third loss I had to go to the emergency room the morning after the Ty Detmer -BYU fiasco..due to my ulcer going haywire with the stress of that loss. I like you.. am certifiable

I too was certifiably depressed and numb the morning after the Robbery in the Desert! I hear ya man!!! If i saw terry porter in an airport i promise you i would lay that **** out where he stands.

I don't think i can take much more. The craziest part of this whole thing is we have players. To sit and watch a coaching staff play a 4-3 cover two at the goal line is mind numbing! To watch our coaches call a bubble screen at the 3 yard line is mind numbing! To see a walk on player at SS with Dallas Crawford on the bench is numbing! I cants take no more of this.

To think that we would have to put up with this staff for another full year is unfathomable to me. I think i would have to take the year off and that thought is beyond my comprehension.
 
"Over time, the losses began to pile up and my mindset began to change until suddenly I woke up last Sunday morning feeling...well...fine. And it scared the **** out of me."

Great post, Ghost. I relate to all of it, especially the line above. My wife was downright confused when I took Saturday's loss in stride... but I expected to lose. In previous years, she knew I'd be a dysfunctional mess on Saturday night if we lost. (Incidentally, I felt like this at times in '96 and '97).

I'm here for the long haul and have too much vested to ever go back, regardless of how bad it is. I was at the '91 and '01 Championships, the '92 Bama loss... drove nearly 1K miles to watch us play UNLV on Smurf turf with optimism of the Randy era.. Flew to the final OB game from So Cal (nightmare).. and my to-be-born first daughter (Nov 13th) has a UM onesie waiting. I still have a 1991 plastic schedule-cup from the Orange Bowl that I've considered posting for nostalgia's sake...

I wrote a check last night (not for a huge amount, but sufficient) as I do every year. I always give to the school and try not to let the football team's crap performance deter the fact that I love this university for a number of reasons. I did pause for a minute because I'm so angry we've become a shell of what we were. Like you, I can't stay away... I will endure, linger. I'd be stoked to see Laranaga or Morris win a National Championship, but can't believe I can see both happening before our football team wins.

Again, thanks for the post - it obviously resonated.
 
I think most of us long time fans feel the same. My kids still cry when we loose which is to often lately but will never root for any other team. Its a tough situation right now.
 
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