Canes History: "Stop Mooning Over Miami" SI 1975

[Dandycane]

Dandycane I agree about the younger generation being spoiled. I'm part of that generation. LOL! I came in the same year we won our first MNC. Still though I'm sure the perspective is even more different for our more recent Canes. What were the Zum Zum years?

Those of us who remember sitting in the OB every Friday night for Canes games are alot less spoiled than the current fanbase.....understandably.
Anybody who would of even suggested that we would simply qualify for a bowl game, let alone a Natty Title, would have been mocked as insane.

Though the play was horrible, especially on the offensive side in those years, the teams always played their hearts out and gave some of the best teams in the country a hard time on occasion. In spite of it all "those Zum Zum" years were some of most enjoyable ones.

Lou Saban definitely turned it around in his last year......defeated Auburn and the Gators behind OJ Anderson's amazing one man show performance.

Zum Zum was the brand of the hot dogs, pretzels and other goodies sold at the OB concession stands. The logo below was on every foil hot dog wrapper.
Brings back memories of the old Canes and the AFL Dolphin team with John Stofa at QB.

 

[Bennubird]

Great stuff! Thanks for that. Makes me wish I had been able to see those early games in person. Alas, I grew up on tobacco road.

Dandycane I agree about the younger generation being spoiled. I'm part of that generation. LOL! I came in the same year we won our first MNC. Still though I'm sure the perspective is even more different for our more recent Canes. What were the Zum Zum years?

Those of us who remember sitting in the OB every Friday night for Canes games are alot less spoiled than the current fanbase.....understandably.
Anybody who would of even suggested that we would simply qualify for a bowl game, let alone a Natty Title, would have been mocked as insane.

Though the play was horrible, especially on the offensive side in those years, the teams always played their hearts out and gave some of the best teams in the country a hard time on occasion. In spite of it all "those Zum Zum" years were some of most enjoyable ones.

Lou Saban definitely turned it around in his last year......defeated Auburn and the Gators behind OJ Anderson's amazing one man show performance.

Zum Zum was the brand of the hot dogs, pretzels and other goodies sold at the OB concession stands. The logo below was on every foil hot dog wrapper.
Brings back memories of the old Canes and the AFL Dolphin team with John Stofa at QB.

 

[cubin10]

And the winner of the oldest Cane in cyberspace goes to Cubin10! Great stuff! I've never heard of Gene Trosh, but I'll look him up. So you were in class with the Mad Stork. What was he like?

I actuallyt had classes with Hendricks and have been a Cane lover since the late 50's. The team the stork was on was not bad, they had another great defensive line named Gene Trosh who played pro ball, I think the bills. Actually go back to the Andy Gustafson and Fran Curci days. As I have said on the board before, if you go back to those days, you can easily say IT GREAT TO BE A MIAMI HURRICANE.

I am actually from South Florida and remembered Hendricks from Hialeah High School as both a legendary football player as well as a very basketball player. He was in a\ the same Business Statistics class. He was quiet guy, appeared to be quite studious and actually was in class most of the time. Times were different, the U as an institution was like our defense weak, known as "Suntan U" or as advertised in "Life" and as much as anything, it is been brought to an institutional level that one could be proud to to say you graduated from the U. When I graduated, it was looked at differently and negatively, but always have and will love the CANES no matter what

 

[mianjomar]

Finally, Something I know about. I attended my first hurricane game in 1948 and attended most of them until our move to North Carolina a few years ago. And because I'm old I love to reflect on times past. UM football was it until the Dolphins came to town. The OB was basically full on Friday nights during the 50's and 60's until as the article said Shula came to town. The 70's were painful for the Canes. We thought Cane great Fran Curci was the answer as HC at the beginning of the decade but he bolted for KY. The home run in those days was to go 500 or better. We played Fl.,ND and FSU every year and we were the Charlston Southern for at least three other powerhouse teams. We had some great players even then such as Chuck Forman, Burgess Owens, Rubin Carter, Don Latimer, Eddie Edwards and later in the decade Otis Anderson and Don Smith all who starred in the league. Kerry Baker was a Miami Edison kid that we had high hopes for but you can't judge him harshly because he had nothing around him. He was followed by another Baker E.J. The ob was a lonely place in those days. I would sit in my seats for a while and then sit most anywhere I wanted to. Despite the article Miami in fact was considering dropping football. Selmer was a disaster. The U asked VP John Green to access the situation and make a recommendation to the board. He was asked to implement his plan and the first thing he did was to fire Selmer. He did that immediately while Selmer was at an away game. As someone said Lou Saban was hired and purged the roster. His recruitment of his first class was the first stepping stone in the rebirth of the program. He recruited a blue chip South Florida QB (Mark Richt) who was the first recruit that I ever heard of that helped recruit other players including Lester Williams the top DT in the country, Mark Cooper, Jim Burt, Larry Brodsky and others. Unfortunately Sabans wife committed suicide and he moved on. and Schnellenberger built on that class and Miami had an unprecedented run. The 70's was a time where Cane fans had to enjoy the little victories in football like a good play, an occaisional win over someone you weren't supposed to beat (Texas) and just have faith that our time would come. I always enjoyed Cane football even during the bad times.

 

[cubin10]

Finally, Something I know about. I attended my first hurricane game in 1948 and attended most of them until our move to North Carolina a few years ago. And because I'm old I love to reflect on times past. UM football was it until the Dolphins came to town. The OB was basically full on Friday nights during the 50's and 60's until as the article said Shula came to town. The 70's were painful for the Canes. We thought Cane great Fran Curci was the answer as HC at the beginning of the decade but he bolted for KY. The home run in those days was to go 500 or better. We played Fl.,ND and FSU every year and we were the Charlston Southern for at least three other powerhouse teams. We had some great players even then such as Chuck Forman, Burgess Owens, Rubin Carter, Don Latimer, Eddie Edwards and later in the decade Otis Anderson and Don Smith all who starred in the league. Kerry Baker was a Miami Edison kid that we had high hopes for but you can't judge him harshly because he had nothing around him. He was followed by another Baker E.J. The ob was a lonely place in those days. I would sit in my seats for a while and then sit most anywhere I wanted to. Despite the article Miami in fact was considering dropping football. Selmer was a disaster. The U asked VP John Green to access the situation and make a recommendation to the board. He was asked to implement his plan and the first thing he did was to fire Selmer. He did that immediately while Selmer was at an away game. As someone said Lou Saban was hired and purged the roster. His recruitment of his first class was the first stepping stone in the rebirth of the program. He recruited a blue chip South Florida QB (Mark Richt) who was the first recruit that I ever heard of that helped recruit other players including Lester Williams the top DT in the country, Mark Cooper, Jim Burt, Larry Brodsky and others. Unfortunately Sabans wife committed suicide and he moved on. and Schnellenberger built on that class and Miami had an unprecedented run. The 70's was a time where Cane fans had to enjoy the little victories in football like a good play, an occaisional win over someone you weren't supposed to beat (Texas) and just have faith that our time would come. I always enjoyed Cane football even during the bad times.

Cannot get back to 1948, but your articulation of experiences bring back great memories of those days. Do you remember Bill Miller, Jim Otto or playing in the Gotham Bowl? The memories are storied, never expected in those days for Miami to ever be really good in football, let alone what has been accomplished.

 

[cubin10]

Finally, Something I know about. I attended my first hurricane game in 1948 and attended most of them until our move to North Carolina a few years ago. And because I'm old I love to reflect on times past. UM football was it until the Dolphins came to town. The OB was basically full on Friday nights during the 50's and 60's until as the article said Shula came to town. The 70's were painful for the Canes. We thought Cane great Fran Curci was the answer as HC at the beginning of the decade but he bolted for KY. The home run in those days was to go 500 or better. We played Fl.,ND and FSU every year and we were the Charlston Southern for at least three other powerhouse teams. We had some great players even then such as Chuck Forman, Burgess Owens, Rubin Carter, Don Latimer, Eddie Edwards and later in the decade Otis Anderson and Don Smith all who starred in the league. Kerry Baker was a Miami Edison kid that we had high hopes for but you can't judge him harshly because he had nothing around him. He was followed by another Baker E.J. The ob was a lonely place in those days. I would sit in my seats for a while and then sit most anywhere I wanted to. Despite the article Miami in fact was considering dropping football. Selmer was a disaster. The U asked VP John Green to access the situation and make a recommendation to the board. He was asked to implement his plan and the first thing he did was to fire Selmer. He did that immediately while Selmer was at an away game. As someone said Lou Saban was hired and purged the roster. His recruitment of his first class was the first stepping stone in the rebirth of the program. He recruited a blue chip South Florida QB (Mark Richt) who was the first recruit that I ever heard of that helped recruit other players including Lester Williams the top DT in the country, Mark Cooper, Jim Burt, Larry Brodsky and others. Unfortunately Sabans wife committed suicide and he moved on. and Schnellenberger built on that class and Miami had an unprecedented run. The 70's was a time where Cane fans had to enjoy the little victories in football like a good play, an occaisional win over someone you weren't supposed to beat (Texas) and just have faith that our time would come. I always enjoyed Cane football even during the bad times.

BTW as senior citizens we should get a discount from CIS.

 

[Pentagon Cane]

Miami beat the bejesus out of Steve Davis that night and should have won the game. Elvis Peacock and Joe Washington were the deep backs in that wishbone.

 

[AZHurricane]

I first fell in love with UM in 1983 at Wallace Wade Stadium watching Miami pummel the then hapless Duke Blue Devils.

I was at that game. Graduated in '81 and went up to visit a friend who was in Chemistry grad school there.

Good stuff.

 

[Bennubird]

This is great! I really appreciate you sharing this with the board. I think it's safe to say that you've overtaken cubin10 as our elder statesman. A few questions: when we played against Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, etc. back in the day was the OB sold out? I know you said it was empty for most games, but I wonder whether it was ever as electric in the 70s as it was in the 1980s and 1990s. How could we have so much talent and suck so bad? That is an impressive list of players. What do you remember about the gator flop? Was that what really started the rivalry with uf or in your opinion was it already a big rivalry?

Finally, Something I know about. I attended my first hurricane game in 1948 and attended most of them until our move to North Carolina a few years ago. And because I'm old I love to reflect on times past. UM football was it until the Dolphins came to town. The OB was basically full on Friday nights during the 50's and 60's until as the article said Shula came to town. The 70's were painful for the Canes. We thought Cane great Fran Curci was the answer as HC at the beginning of the decade but he bolted for KY. The home run in those days was to go 500 or better. We played Fl.,ND and FSU every year and we were the Charlston Southern for at least three other powerhouse teams. We had some great players even then such as Chuck Forman, Burgess Owens, Rubin Carter, Don Latimer, Eddie Edwards and later in the decade Otis Anderson and Don Smith all who starred in the league. Kerry Baker was a Miami Edison kid that we had high hopes for but you can't judge him harshly because he had nothing around him. He was followed by another Baker E.J. The ob was a lonely place in those days. I would sit in my seats for a while and then sit most anywhere I wanted to. Despite the article Miami in fact was considering dropping football. Selmer was a disaster. The U asked VP John Green to access the situation and make a recommendation to the board. He was asked to implement his plan and the first thing he did was to fire Selmer. He did that immediately while Selmer was at an away game. As someone said Lou Saban was hired and purged the roster. His recruitment of his first class was the first stepping stone in the rebirth of the program. He recruited a blue chip South Florida QB (Mark Richt) who was the first recruit that I ever heard of that helped recruit other players including Lester Williams the top DT in the country, Mark Cooper, Jim Burt, Larry Brodsky and others. Unfortunately Sabans wife committed suicide and he moved on. and Schnellenberger built on that class and Miami had an unprecedented run. The 70's was a time where Cane fans had to enjoy the little victories in football like a good play, an occaisional win over someone you weren't supposed to beat (Texas) and just have faith that our time would come. I always enjoyed Cane football even during the bad times.

 

[Dandycane]

Between 15K to 21K was the norm attendance for an average opponent if I remember correctly. Most of the fans were naturally clustered between the 40 yard lines and we used to move about the stadium to find the best seat. A major opponent could have a decent crowd -in the high 30's low 40's which was impressive at the time.

I do recall a massive rain storm during a game against Navy. The game was delayed for a half hour and we sat through the entire storm having a ball. If there was 8,000 people in the stands it was alot.

 

[Bennubird]

Without looking back at the stats, I wanna say Miami was leading by four touchdowns in the first half on their way to hanging almost 50 on Duke that day. I still remember that game like I watched it last night. In those days, Wallace Wade was like mainjomar's cavernous description of the OB in the 1970s!

I first fell in love with UM in 1983 at Wallace Wade Stadium watching Miami pummel the then hapless Duke Blue Devils.

I was at that game. Graduated in '81 and went up to visit a friend who was in Chemistry grad school there.

Good stuff.

 

[capefearcane]

Always figured I was one of the oldest on here - but obviously not. Transferred to Miami (no one called it the U then) in 69 attended every **** home game - and most baseball games. Our frat, known for BBall players was next door to the frat known for Football. Both pretty rowdy. OB was heaven. BBall was dropped when I was there. Lost 2 roomies.

 

[sebastian91]

This is great! I really appreciate you sharing this with the board. I think it's safe to say that you've overtaken cubin10 as our elder statesman. A few questions: when we played against Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, etc. back in the day was the OB sold out? I know you said it was empty for most games, but I wonder whether it was ever as electric in the 70s as it was in the 1980s and 1990s. How could we have so much talent and suck so bad? That is an impressive list of players. What do you remember about the gator flop? Was that what really started the rivalry with uf or in your opinion was it already a big rivalry?

Finally, Something I know about. I attended my first hurricane game in 1948 and attended most of them until our move to North Carolina a few years ago. And because I'm old I love to reflect on times past. UM football was it until the Dolphins came to town. The OB was basically full on Friday nights during the 50's and 60's until as the article said Shula came to town. The 70's were painful for the Canes. We thought Cane great Fran Curci was the answer as HC at the beginning of the decade but he bolted for KY. The home run in those days was to go 500 or better. We played Fl.,ND and FSU every year and we were the Charlston Southern for at least three other powerhouse teams. We had some great players even then such as Chuck Forman, Burgess Owens, Rubin Carter, Don Latimer, Eddie Edwards and later in the decade Otis Anderson and Don Smith all who starred in the league. Kerry Baker was a Miami Edison kid that we had high hopes for but you can't judge him harshly because he had nothing around him. He was followed by another Baker E.J. The ob was a lonely place in those days. I would sit in my seats for a while and then sit most anywhere I wanted to. Despite the article Miami in fact was considering dropping football. Selmer was a disaster. The U asked VP John Green to access the situation and make a recommendation to the board. He was asked to implement his plan and the first thing he did was to fire Selmer. He did that immediately while Selmer was at an away game. As someone said Lou Saban was hired and purged the roster. His recruitment of his first class was the first stepping stone in the rebirth of the program. He recruited a blue chip South Florida QB (Mark Richt) who was the first recruit that I ever heard of that helped recruit other players including Lester Williams the top DT in the country, Mark Cooper, Jim Burt, Larry Brodsky and others. Unfortunately Sabans wife committed suicide and he moved on. and Schnellenberger built on that class and Miami had an unprecedented run. The 70's was a time where Cane fans had to enjoy the little victories in football like a good play, an occaisional win over someone you weren't supposed to beat (Texas) and just have faith that our time would come. I always enjoyed Cane football even during the bad times.

I was too young to remember it, but my Dad mentioned the 'flop' pretty much every day of his life. In the mid-70s when I started going to games, 30k would be a really good crowd.

We had a few good players in those days, but for the most part, they were it (and I mean IT).

 

[Bennubird]

No but you're still probably first team All Oldest Canes on CIS!

Always figured I was one of the oldest on here - but obviously not. Transferred to Miami (no one called it the U then) in 69 attended every **** home game - and most baseball games. Our frat, known for BBall players was next door to the frat known for Football. Both pretty rowdy. OB was heaven. BBall was dropped when I was there. Lost 2 roomies.

 

[bozcane]

Yeah. I'm actually an Oakland Raider football fan and have been since the 1970s. The Raiders fielded some great teams back in the day, but that's a loooong way from where we are now. LOL!

Thanks for sharing sebastian91! It's funny if you think about it, we actually had some really good players during that 1970s period, Chuck Foreman (late 60s a rely 70s) and Otis Anderson come to mind though they are most remembered for their subsequent NFL careers. I don't recall seeing them play in college because I wasn't following UM football at that time.

Good stuff. Thanks for posting it. I went to my first Miami game in 1974. We lost 3-0 to Auburn. Witt Beckman was my favorite player at the time, and I definitely remember Kary Baker. Those were some lean times. The 30 for 30 generation will never appreciate what the program really came from.

And Ted Hendricks was before my time when he was at UM, but I loved those Raider teams in the 70s.

Don't forget Pete Banaszak. Great guy and tough baller. He was a terrific ambassador for the U back in the day - in my jr high and high school days it was common to get in touch football games with him and a bunch of other Canes players and Raiders players in the offseason. They'd be working out at the varsity field, then come over to what is now the intramural fields (where there were tons of games, and fields) to get in games. Fun stuff.

 

[Bennubird]

But of course, Pete Banaszak! Who could forget the name, and touch football with Oakland Raiders, that's great stuff.

Yeah. I'm actually an Oakland Raider football fan and have been since the 1970s. The Raiders fielded some great teams back in the day, but that's a loooong way from where we are now. LOL!

Thanks for sharing sebastian91! It's funny if you think about it, we actually had some really good players during that 1970s period, Chuck Foreman (late 60s a rely 70s) and Otis Anderson come to mind though they are most remembered for their subsequent NFL careers. I don't recall seeing them play in college because I wasn't following UM football at that time.

Good stuff. Thanks for posting it. I went to my first Miami game in 1974. We lost 3-0 to Auburn. Witt Beckman was my favorite player at the time, and I definitely remember Kary Baker. Those were some lean times. The 30 for 30 generation will never appreciate what the program really came from.

And Ted Hendricks was before my time when he was at UM, but I loved those Raider teams in the 70s.

Don't forget Pete Banaszak. Great guy and tough baller. He was a terrific ambassador for the U back in the day - in my jr high and high school days it was common to get in touch football games with him and a bunch of other Canes players and Raiders players in the offseason. They'd be working out at the varsity field, then come over to what is now the intramural fields (where there were tons of games, and fields) to get in games. Fun stuff.

 

[cubin10]

But of course, Pete Banaszak! Who could forget the name, and touch football with Oakland Raiders, that's great stuff.

Yeah. I'm actually an Oakland Raider football fan and have been since the 1970s. The Raiders fielded some great teams back in the day, but that's a loooong way from where we are now. LOL!

Thanks for sharing sebastian91! It's funny if you think about it, we actually had some really good players during that 1970s period, Chuck Foreman (late 60s a rely 70s) and Otis Anderson come to mind though they are most remembered for their subsequent NFL careers. I don't recall seeing them play in college because I wasn't following UM football at that time.

And Ted Hendricks was before my time when he was at UM, but I loved those Raider teams in the 70s.

Don't forget Pete Banaszak. Great guy and tough baller. He was a terrific ambassador for the U back in the day - in my jr high and high school days it was common to get in touch football games with him and a bunch of other Canes players and Raiders players in the offseason. They'd be working out at the varsity field, then come over to what is now the intramural fields (where there were tons of games, and fields) to get in games. Fun stuff.

Jim Otto a center from the U in the late 50's early 60's is a HOF from the raiders,

 

[Gatorhater]

Finally, Something I know about. I attended my first hurricane game in 1948 and attended most of them until our move to North Carolina a few years ago. And because I'm old I love to reflect on times past. UM football was it until the Dolphins came to town. The OB was basically full on Friday nights during the 50's and 60's until as the article said Shula came to town. The 70's were painful for the Canes. We thought Cane great Fran Curci was the answer as HC at the beginning of the decade but he bolted for KY. The home run in those days was to go 500 or better. We played Fl.,ND and FSU every year and we were the Charlston Southern for at least three other powerhouse teams. We had some great players even then such as Chuck Forman, Burgess Owens, Rubin Carter, Don Latimer, Eddie Edwards and later in the decade Otis Anderson and Don Smith all who starred in the league. Kerry Baker was a Miami Edison kid that we had high hopes for but you can't judge him harshly because he had nothing around him. He was followed by another Baker E.J. The ob was a lonely place in those days. I would sit in my seats for a while and then sit most anywhere I wanted to. Despite the article Miami in fact was considering dropping football. Selmer was a disaster. The U asked VP John Green to access the situation and make a recommendation to the board. He was asked to implement his plan and the first thing he did was to fire Selmer. He did that immediately while Selmer was at an away game. As someone said Lou Saban was hired and purged the roster. His recruitment of his first class was the first stepping stone in the rebirth of the program. He recruited a blue chip South Florida QB (Mark Richt) who was the first recruit that I ever heard of that helped recruit other players including Lester Williams the top DT in the country, Mark Cooper, Jim Burt, Larry Brodsky and others. Unfortunately Sabans wife committed suicide and he moved on. and Schnellenberger built on that class and Miami had an unprecedented run. The 70's was a time where Cane fans had to enjoy the little victories in football like a good play, an occaisional win over someone you weren't supposed to beat (Texas) and just have faith that our time would come. I always enjoyed Cane football even during the bad times.

Plenty of NFL players on those old Miami teams. I was actually at the Houston game, but getting a little old to remember details. We usually had very good first sting dline--many made it to NFL-- and secondary plus some fantastic RBs. Saban definitely upgraded talent and left Howard the building blocks. His greatest gift was Jim Kelly--he brought offensive excitement. My favorite was Curci. Not so much as coach, but he told a bunch of gator boosters and Miami would win a National Title before they ever won an SEC title. And he was right. That memory is almost as good as the actual Cornhusker game. Well, that is not true. The first NC was probably one of the greatest football games ever and we won. God I miss the OB.

 

[cubin10]

Finally, Something I know about. I attended my first hurricane game in 1948 and attended most of them until our move to North Carolina a few years ago. And because I'm old I love to reflect on times past. UM football was it until the Dolphins came to town. The OB was basically full on Friday nights during the 50's and 60's until as the article said Shula came to town. The 70's were painful for the Canes. We thought Cane great Fran Curci was the answer as HC at the beginning of the decade but he bolted for KY. The home run in those days was to go 500 or better. We played Fl.,ND and FSU every year and we were the Charlston Southern for at least three other powerhouse teams. We had some great players even then such as Chuck Forman, Burgess Owens, Rubin Carter, Don Latimer, Eddie Edwards and later in the decade Otis Anderson and Don Smith all who starred in the league. Kerry Baker was a Miami Edison kid that we had high hopes for but you can't judge him harshly because he had nothing around him. He was followed by another Baker E.J. The ob was a lonely place in those days. I would sit in my seats for a while and then sit most anywhere I wanted to. Despite the article Miami in fact was considering dropping football. Selmer was a disaster. The U asked VP John Green to access the situation and make a recommendation to the board. He was asked to implement his plan and the first thing he did was to fire Selmer. He did that immediately while Selmer was at an away game. As someone said Lou Saban was hired and purged the roster. His recruitment of his first class was the first stepping stone in the rebirth of the program. He recruited a blue chip South Florida QB (Mark Richt) who was the first recruit that I ever heard of that helped recruit other players including Lester Williams the top DT in the country, Mark Cooper, Jim Burt, Larry Brodsky and others. Unfortunately Sabans wife committed suicide and he moved on. and Schnellenberger built on that class and Miami had an unprecedented run. The 70's was a time where Cane fans had to enjoy the little victories in football like a good play, an occaisional win over someone you weren't supposed to beat (Texas) and just have faith that our time would come. I always enjoyed Cane football even during the bad times.

Plenty of NFL players on those old Miami teams. I was actually at the Houston game, but getting a little old to remember details. We usually had very good first sting dline--many made it to NFL-- and secondary plus some fantastic RBs. Saban definitely upgraded talent and left Howard the building blocks. His greatest gift was Jim Kelly--he brought offensive excitement. My favorite was Curci. Not so much as coach, but he told a bunch of gator boosters and Miami would win a National Title before they ever won an SEC title. And he was right. That memory is almost as good as the actual Cornhusker game. Well, that is not true. The first NC was probably one of the greatest football games ever and we won. God I miss the OB.

Say what you want about Curci he was exciting, the QB's after I think were David Olivo and David Teal.

 

[77cane]

I can remember us having some great defensive lineman- Eddie Edwards, Ruben Carter, Don Smith and others who stuffed some high powered offenses. Unfortunately, we didn't have any offense back then. I still remember like it was yesterday when Freddie Solomon did a quarterback draw and darted around 50 yards for a TD , as we lost to that football monster -University of Tampa. Oh for the days of low expectations. Just Kidding!