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Origin of Throwing up The "U"

bshaw28 said:
It was probably done occasionally before this, but I think of these being the points that started it becoming a common and popular thing:

Calling Miami "The U" - after Kellen Winslow's soldier speech
Throwing up "The U" - after Ryan Moore did it after scoring a TD
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This is correct. I don't remember it being called "The U" when I went.
 
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Not a great pic due to the quality of video
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JeffreyG said:
Video screenshot at FSU 87
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I was at that game, I've only missed one UM-F$U game since 1986.

If that photo was taken in the bleacher end zone (same end zone where Wide Right I happened), then that's where the UM students would have been sitting, and I'm telling you, that blurry picture looks a LOT like Marc Chaykin.

Marc Chaykin and Val Henry were our 2 primary male cheerleaders on the varsity team for several years (1986-1990 at least), and they were on the team when Connie Nickel had them teach the student section how to do the "U" hand gesture to the Imperial Death March (Bill Tigano was more early 90s). Val has since passed away, but Marc is still active in cheerleading. The Miami Hurricane should interview him next.

It's very probable that Marc was in the stands for the 1987 F$U game and not on the sidelines. Doak Campbell was a much smaller stadium back then, both UM and F$U were independents, and we didn't have a big budget for travel for the Band, the Cheerleaders, the Sunsations, etc. I remember everyone being very surprised when there was a travel budget for the 1987 Fiasco Bowl in Arizona, and that photo would have been about 9 months later, during the 1987 regular season.
 
Oh, I know the photo is blurry, but if that photo IS of the UM cheerleading team, then that is DEFINITELY Marc Chaykin. When I looked at the picture more closely, I thought it might be a shot of the cheerleaders that got a little too close and became blurry. The male cheerleaders usually stood behind the female cheerleaders.
 
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Home Slice said:
View attachment 83614
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That photo of Howard is from the 2000s, not from 1984. Someone is wearing Nike gear (we didn't do a contract with Nike until the late 80s) and the logo on the polo shirts is a 30th anniversary (probably of the 1984 national championship). And that whole "U" font (where all the letters of the alphabet are in the format of the split U) didn't start until the late 90s/early 00s.
 
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TheOriginalCane said:
That photo of Howard is from the 2000s, not from 1984. Someone is wearing Nike gear (we didn't do a contract with Nike until the late 80s) and the logo on the polo shirts is a 30th anniversary (probably of the 1984 national championship). And that whole "U" font (where all the letters of the alphabet are in the format of the split U) didn't start until the late 90s/early 00s.
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I know. Just love pictures of us with winning hardware :D
 
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I practically lived at Hecht from 95-2000...I truthfully can't remember anyone (players included) throwing up the U....
 
caneinorlando said:
I practically lived at Hecht from 95-2000...I truthfully can't remember anyone (players included) throwing up the U....
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The whole history was weird.

Michael Irvin(g) did it. A lot of the students thought it was corny when the cheerleaders taught it to us. We preferred to flip the bird towards F$U. As others have pointed out, it really became "a thing" in the 2000s.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
OK, no problem. I thought the picture was to support 1984 as the year the U was first tossed up.

And for the record, there was no crystal football back in 1984.
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I think that pic is from 2013 for some reason. Pretty recent. I left Miami during Howard S reign. He and coach Harold Allen mean a lot to me.
 
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