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The Alumni vs. Non-Alumni Relationship

The divide is between the UM fans and the guys who only root for UM football. There are way too many of the latter, and they annoy the real UM fans. I've yet to encounter a UM alum who roots for other programs in college basketball or college baseball.
 
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The difference between "the Alumni vs. non-Alumni" is the Alumni get spam emailed for donations, called and occasionally mailed stuff with the U and Sebastian all over it.
 
SF's point was the most accurate when it comes to this issue.

UM has always been a dichotomy/split between the "local" fans, and "alumni" a small part of which is local, but many of which are scattered all over the country and the world.

As SF said, in the 80s, UM was like having a second pro team in Miami. If you grew up in Miami in the late 70s and 80s, you had the Dolphins, and the Canes. That was IT. FSU rather s*cked until the early to mid 80s when they chased our coattails into relevance. But as SF said, Schnelly helped save UM football by selling it to the city/community. He got South Florida to "buy in" to "Suntan U" and it became "our team". And when UM became a national power, it drew a ton of new fans in, who prior to that, really only had UF in the State of Florida and FSU to a lesser extent to follow as "big time" programs go.

One thing people forget, is that there are probably a LOT more UF and FSU alumni in SoFla than there are UM alumni. That's just the nature of the beast. Those are the big state schools, and UM is a very expensive smaller private school. Not a whole lot of people in South Florida can afford tuition at UM. ****, of all my friends growing up who stayed and went to school in Florida, ALL die hard Canes fans, maybe 10% ended up at UM. The vast majority went to UF, FSU, UCF, FIU, etc. The reality is, UM does not have a deep alumni base in South Florida, its just not big enough. So without the support of local non alumni, you see the kinds of crowds you have seen the last few years. Pathetic empty stadiums, becuase when the team is losing, and now that its all the F*CK up at JRS, the casual local fans have been bleeding off for the last decade. Many of them have also come to have divided allegiances. I worked with a dude a few years ago, who grew up in the Palm Beach area, and was a die hard Canes fan as a kid, went to games, etc.. But when it came time to go to college, he ended up at UCF. Being a UCF alum, and having a Division I football team, he is now more of a UCF fan, and still sort of roots for the Canes, but as more of an afterthought. Its like that for a LOT of people.

And now that you have FIU in town too, as much of a joke as they are NOW, they are still bleeding support away from UM, as there are now TWO local Division teams in Miami Dade, and even though FIU is still somewhat of a commuter school without a national rep, the people that go there, and the alumni, of which there are MANY more than UM, do get a sense of pride that they have their own team now, and its helping to put the school on the map. NOT to mention that they actually PLAY closer to the city than JRS does. So many of those "casual" local/non alumni UM fans of the 80s, and 90s, have now been pulled in other directions, and there is not enough of an alumni base in So Fla to carry by themselves. This doesnt EVEN factor in all the Pro sports teams now in the area, which werent here in the early 80s when the UM brand built up... (Marlins, Heat, Panthers)

Lets face it, when you compare apples to apples, UM's DEEP fanbase is probably closer to that of Boston College, Tulane, or Pitt, than it is FSU, UF, Bama or ND. The only difference is that UM is in a metropolitan area, like Pitt or BC, and we have had a great deal of success, which has created many fans in South Florida, and around the country. BUt many of those fans, are fans we made in the 80s, and around the millenium. This is a program that if it doesnt win, it doesnt fill the seats. It never has.
 
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CANE4LIFE said:
SF's point was the most accurate when it comes to this issue.

UM has always been a dichotomy/split between the "local" fans, and "alumni" a small part of which is local, but many of which are scattered all over the country and the world.

As SF said, in the 80s, UM was like having a second pro team in Miami. If you grew up in Miami in the late 70s and 80s, you had the Dolphins, and the Canes. That was IT. FSU rather s*cked until the early to mid 80s when they chased our coattails into relevance. But as SF said, Schnelly helped save UM football by selling it to the city/community. He got South Florida to "buy in" to "Suntan U" and it became "our team". And when UM became a national power, it drew a ton of new fans in, who prior to that, really only had UF in the State of Florida and FSU to a lesser extent to follow as "big time" programs go.

One thing people forget, is that there are probably a LOT more UF and FSU alumni in SoFla than there are UM alumni. That's just the nature of the beast. Those are the big state schools, and UM is a very expensive smaller private school. Not a whole lot of people in South Florida can afford tuition at UM. ****, of all my friends growing up who stayed and went to school in Florida, ALL die hard Canes fans, maybe 10% ended up at UM. The vast majority went to UF, FSU, UCF, FIU, etc. The reality is, UM does not have a deep alumni base in South Florida, its just not big enough. So without the support of local non alumni, you see the kinds of crowds you have seen the last few years. Pathetic empty stadiums, becuase when the team is losing, and now that its all the F*CK up at JRS, the casual local fans have been bleeding off for the last decade. Many of them have also come to have divided allegiances. I worked with a dude a few years ago, who grew up in the Palm Beach area, and was a die hard Canes fan as a kid, went to games, etc.. But when it came time to go to college, he ended up at UCF. Being a UCF alum, and having a Division I football team, he is now more of a UCF fan, and still sort of roots for the Canes, but as more of an afterthought. Its like that for a LOT of people.

And now that you have FIU in town too, as much of a joke as they are NOW, they are still bleeding support away from UM, as there are now TWO local Division teams in Miami Dade, and even though FIU is still somewhat of a commuter school without a national rep, the people that go there, and the alumni, of which there are MANY more than UM, do get a sense of pride that they have their own team now, and its helping to put the school on the map. NOT to mention that they actually PLAY closer to the city than JRS does. So many of those "casual" local/non alumni UM fans of the 80s, and 90s, have now been pulled in other directions, and there is not enough of an alumni base in So Fla to carry by themselves. This doesnt EVEN factor in all the Pro sports teams now in the area, which werent here in the early 80s when the UM brand built up... (Marlins, Heat, Panthers)

Lets face it, when you compare apples to apples, UM's DEEP fanbase is probably closer to that of Boston College, Tulane, or Pitt, than it is FSU, UF, Bama or ND. The only difference is that UM is in a metropolitan area, like Pitt or BC, and we have had a great deal of success, which has created many fans in South Florida, and around the country. BUt many of those fans, are fans we made in the 80s, and around the millenium. This is a program that if it doesnt win, it doesnt fill the seats. It never has.
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thats just south florida in general in terms of attendance. if you dont win, you wont fill seats. thats just the way miami is. there are group of diehards for every local sports team in SFL but for the most part, the rest come because the team is successful and it becomes an event rather than a game.
 
I did not attend UM even though I had good grades I was not accepted. However I have a few things to add as well

1. I agree with some of the above posters about other teams fans who always say, " I bet you never went to UM" A lot of fans don't understand don't understand that UM is a private school and one of the toughest schools to get into academically. FSU and UF fans are notorious for saying this to UM fans, but thats just because as usual they are jealous of us.

2. UM and the Dolphins were the only sports teams around here when I was growing up. Naturally I support my hometown teams and the Canes are my hometown team. So a lot of people who could not attend UM because they were not accepted or could not afford it were fans of the team. I have season tickets and have had them since I graduated high school in 2000, but I have been going to games since I was a little kid.
 
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i've been a long time reader and and just felt compelled to add what i could here, i just want people to know that this is not a situation that is unique to univ of miami. i'm originally from florida but for a large period of my childhood resided in central il and raised very close the university of illinois campus in champaign il. and i can tell you the entire town roots for fighting illini football and basketball, depsite majority of them never having attended the school. i see countless people on facebook whom i know dropped out of high school or never went to any college and still support their team. i graduated college but not from miami but i still consider my self a fan just as much as the next guy, i follow the team all off season and live and die with the results on saturdays tantrums and all and dontate what i can. so if someone asks me did you attend the school i would just laugh it off, i hope no one truly thinks the 100,000 plus seat stadiums filled at random locations across the country on fall saturdays are all degree holders from that school. well thats my two cents, i love this website and go canes!
 
Watched the Canes from the 60's, long before I became an alum of Sun-Tan U. Anyone who thinks Donna enhanced the value of a degree from THE U knows nothing. The increase came from those bad, bad, boys who kicked everyone's rear. After that when U said THE U, people said OH! Miami! The buildings, the attendance growth, the donations, all were given a huge multiplier by the football team. Love this year B ball ACC Champs, really love all the College World Series Champs, but face it, THE U comes from the side of the football helmet. Hurt the football team, you hurt my degree, my happiness, my wellbeing. Hurt the football team, you hurt the community, the kids, the streets, the economy and you are an enemy. I an old alum and even older fan, and the best thing that ever happened at THE U is the football program. Its called bragging rights. Alum or non alum, if you understand that then U understand. If you don't, then alum or non alum, I can only say, "Its a Cane thing, and U wouldn't understand"
 
Gatorhater said:
Watched the Canes from the 60's, long before I became an alum of Sun-Tan U. Anyone who thinks Donna enhanced the value of a degree from THE U knows nothing. The increase came from those bad, bad, boys who kicked everyone's rear. After that when U said THE U, people said OH! Miami! The buildings, the attendance growth, the donations, all were given a huge multiplier by the football team. Love this year B ball ACC Champs, really love all the College World Series Champs, but face it, THE U comes from the side of the football helmet. Hurt the football team, you hurt my degree, my happiness, my wellbeing. Hurt the football team, you hurt the community, the kids, the streets, the economy and you are an enemy. I an old alum and even older fan, and the best thing that ever happened at THE U is the football program. Its called bragging rights. Alum or non alum, if you understand that then U understand. If you don't, then alum or non alum, I can only say, "Its a Cane thing, and U wouldn't understand"
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I agree with this. Donna gets a lot of credit for improving the academic standing, but it was the Football program's success, that really woke the nation up to the University of Miami and put it on the map. It was the success of the "Canes" that made people recongize the school, vs the days of "Suntan U".
 
I will also say this. There still seems to be a misconception about filling football stadiums for UM games. The fact is, even in the glory days, unless it was FSU, or UF, or ND coming to town, we would average about 55K for regular games in the OB. When teams like BYU, Colorado State, Maryland, Miami OH, Memphis, BC, Tulsa, etc came to town, even at NIGHT, in the OB, when we were UNDEFEATED, we only had about 55K showing up. So you combine the lack of success in the last decade, with the horrible gamtimes (noon) and being in that sterile, boring stadium, in the middle of no where, and that is why we have the attendance we have. Even if/when we really become a top power again, I dont expect to see more than 50-55K at JRS for regular games.
 
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As a non-alum, I always find it comical that people question my allegiance to the 'Canes because I did not go to school at Miami. Growing up in the 80s and 90s in Miami, I started going to 'Canes football when I was around 7 or 8, and baseball and basketball shortly after that. I was lucky to become a fan when we were a dominant force in football, and I've been a diehard ever since. I travel to at least one game a year and haven't missed a Miami/FSU game in Miami since 1990, so it makes me laugh when people think that the only way you can be loyal as a fan of a university is to have attended that university..

I didn't want to stay in Miami for college, and was lucky that I was able to avoid going to UF. I can't imagine having to deal with that terribleness every day in college. At UT (Austin), I still wore my 'Canes clothes proudly. People couldn't get over that I would root (and still root) for Miami over my alma mater. I tell people that I can't understand how they can change their allegiance to their teams.

As for the academics question, I'm sure I don't care quite as much as alumni do, but I want Miami to be a preeminent university, to be respected for its academics, as I don't think that being a great academic instition precludes it from being a great athletic institution. I think that Shalala has the ability and desire to make Miami a force on and off the field, and I just don't get the people saying she doesn't care about sports. Have a few of the coaches that have been hired during her tenure been bad - absolutely. But I don't think it's because she doesn't care about the athletics programs. The hire of Golden, Coach L and Coach Meier all look great at this point. I think she has our sports programs heading in the right direction. Once we start winning in football again (which hopefully happens soon), UM will have academic and athletic bragging rights over the other Florida schools, and I'll take anything I can to use as trash talking material to UF and FSU.

Go 'Canes.
 
Canefan235 said:
I agree w/zone3cane. Non-Alumni just want the team to win and represent the brand as strong, fiery group of young men that don't back down to any other team. I perceived that from 2003-2010 that Alumni were okay with having a team that is more in line with the Duke's and Wake Forest. Nice guys just having fun and 7-9 wins a season is good. However, it seems now that there seems to be a more favorable goal that both alumni and non-alumni both want to see--UM kicking *** and taking names again.
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I'm an alumnus, and 7-9 wins has never been acceptable to me.

Anybody who's cool with that as the standard isn't a real Canes football fan.
 
Rivals call Miami fans "Thug U Fans" yet the Alumni couldn't be further removed from that stereotype. No one I went to Miami with is unsportsmanlike, criminal or even unrefined. Now clearly that stadium doesn't get filled by alumni alone. I love that people support the Canes, it's just too bad they don't support ALL Canes games.
 
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Miami was no academic slouch before she arrived. Far superior to the other state schools.

Don't know much about how rankings are compiled, but I can guess there are a lot of intangibles?
 
I sense some snobbery from youngun's that went to the U. I saw George Mira (Sr) play, I have traveled coast to coast with a group of hard-core Canes fans, some that went to FSU and one who played for Auburn. Like me they grew up in Dade County and think of the U as their home team. I meet some nice UM fans at away games, sometimes the home "fans" at JRS are an embarrassment.

I arrive on time and never leave a game before the clock runs out, unlike some of these "fans" who like to stand up with their backs to the field for most of the game, generally make aZZhols of themselves, and get drunk then leave early (sometimes escorted). Once I bolted out of a business conference at the Parrot Jungle so I could get to an UM/UF game. I remember the amazing leaping catch that kept us in the game. I was in the OB when we beat Oklahoma and when we lost to BC. I had tears of joy in my eyes when we beat UCLA, and a terrible sadness when we lost to UT and watched their players take pictures in front of the 58 straight wins sign.

I'm not a big fan of basketball or baseball but I can't think of a more pleasant way to spend an afternoon than to go see a baseball game. It's also fun to go see the plays.

Not all of us from SoFL could afford to attend the U, for me it was way cheaper to go to Tennessee. I check these posts several times a day, but I don't have a clue as to who's on the UT football team--don't much care. Some of us don't think South Beach is a big deal, I spent summers "surfing" there before it became upscale. I much prefer fall at UT. I do miss The Grove.

After some false starts I finally escaped SoFL for good, but I will never part with Miami football. It brings back too many good memories of the small private school team that changed modern college football.

I have friends that are UM grads that don't attend many games. One of them is a big fan of the Hobbit, I am not, but I do recognize that it's a good thing that the school has raised it's academic standards, yet don't know if she had anything to do with it. I see her at the baseball games and she seems to be a pleasant lady.

Nothing wrong with pride in being an UM alumnus, but I don't think its you guys that have been the majority of the fans filling the stadium, certainly not on a hot Saturday afternoon playing Florida A&M.

Just a stream of thought, carry on.
 
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The "You didn't go to Miami" by alumn doesn't register with me. My Dad played FB for 'em, my mom graduated from the U, and I would have definately gone, but Foster didn't want a 6-3 forward, and despite a scolly offer I didn't like the tennis coach nor his team of weird foreigners.



Went elsewhere to play both sports, but still went to as many canes games as i could.
 
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Chuckles said:
I sense some snobbery from youngun's that went to the U. I saw George Mira (Sr) play, I have traveled coast to coast with a group of hard-core Canes fans, some that went to FSU and one who played for Auburn. Like me they grew up in Dade County and think of the U as their home team. I meet some nice UM fans at away games, sometimes the home "fans" at JRS are an embarrassment.

I arrive on time and never leave a game before the clock runs out, unlike some of these "fans" who like to stand up with their backs to the field for most of the game, generally make aZZhols of themselves, and get drunk then leave early (sometimes escorted). Once I bolted out of a business conference at the Parrot Jungle so I could get to an UM/UF game. I remember the amazing leaping catch that kept us in the game. I was in the OB when we beat Oklahoma and when we lost to BC. I had tears of joy in my eyes when we beat UCLA, and a terrible sadness when we lost to UT and watched their players take pictures in front of the 58 straight wins sign.

I'm not a big fan of basketball or baseball but I can't think of a more pleasant way to spend an afternoon than to go see a baseball game. It's also fun to go see the plays.

Not all of us from SoFL could afford to attend the U, for me it was way cheaper to go to Tennessee. I check these posts several times a day, but I don't have a clue as to who's on the UT football team--don't much care. Some of us don't think South Beach is a big deal, I spent summers "surfing" there before it became upscale. I much prefer fall at UT. I do miss The Grove.

After some false starts I finally escaped SoFL for good, but I will never part with Miami football. It brings back too many good memories of the small private school team that changed modern college football.

I have friends that are UM grads that don't attend many games. One of them is a big fan of the Hobbit, I am not, but I do recognize that it's a good thing that the school has raised it's academic standards, yet don't know if she had anything to do with it. I see her at the baseball games and she seems to be a pleasant lady.

Nothing wrong with pride in being an UM alumnus, but I don't think its you guys that have been the majority of the fans filling the stadium, certainly not on a hot Saturday afternoon playing Florida A&M.

Just a stream of thought, carry on.
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.i dont think anyone is being snobby on here just giving our opinion. i also dont think anyone is saying anything about the older fans on this board outside of the one dude that said they dont like when ppl stand up in his old section. we all love the canes the same for the most part thats why were on these boards. i do think ur showing some snobbery by trying to prove that ur a better fan than some of the younger fans/alums on the board. im glad you stuck by the canes even after you left and glad you traveled w a good group of fans. the young fans are trying to do the same in this current era that u did back then.
 
The biggest difference as I see it is that Alumni care about the entire University, and not just the Athletic Department. Granted that is a generalization. Alumni take great pride in the academics, and the individual schools they may have been part of as well as the histories and traditions. How many non alumni give a **** about the new Ratt?
 
The Franchise said:
The divide is between the UM fans and the guys who only root for UM football. There are way too many of the latter, and they annoy the real UM fans. I've yet to encounter a UM alum who roots for other programs in college basketball or college baseball.
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Textbook fake fans. Don't give a **** about the school who are likely to be frontrunners.

They can all drop dead.
 
CanesAreAble said:
Canefan235 said:
I agree w/zone3cane. Non-Alumni just want the team to win and represent the brand as strong, fiery group of young men that don't back down to any other team. I perceived that from 2003-2010 that Alumni were okay with having a team that is more in line with the Duke's and Wake Forest. Nice guys just having fun and 7-9 wins a season is good. However, it seems now that there seems to be a more favorable goal that both alumni and non-alumni both want to see--UM kicking *** and taking names again.
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I'm an alumnus, and 7-9 wins has never been acceptable to me.

Anybody who's cool with that as the standard isn't a real Canes football fan.
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exactly. idk where he got the 2003-2010 alumni r okay w ****** football seasons (mediocre is more what he said but i call it ******). we all wanted to uphold the stnadard that was built in the 80s and early 90s and rebuilt in the 00s. why cant everyone just get along and be at the point where its "oh u love UM? Me too! GO CANES" ive seen the team through the eyes of a youth, a teen, a student at UM, and now a graduate of UM being from miami and the common thread through all of that is that we need to win. PERIOD! who cares where you went, as long as you know which team and which school owns college football and hopefully basketball/baseball again.
 
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