U-M saying adios to the Orange Bowl

Excerpt from my Tuesday, August 21, 2007 post
SouthBeachHoosier Time Machine: The Orange Bowl Isn't Worth Drive to Dade

Let me share a piece of SBH trivia so that you have some historical context for understanding my feelings on the Orange Bowl as an institution and the U-M, so you where I'm coming from.
The first time I was ever in the Orange Bowl was the last game of the Dolphins 1970 season, a 45-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills that propelled the Dolphins to their first playoff game, a loss to the Oakland Raiders in the muddy slop that was the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.
My very first U-M football game in the Orange Bowl was in 1972, when I saw the famous U-M vs. Tulane "Fifth Down" game, which U-M won in Coach Fran Curci's last year.
(This was back in the day when North Miami Beach had LOTS of Tulane and Newcomb alums, many of whom were parents of my friends.)

I'd gone to the game because Mrs. Wharton, the beloved librarian at Fulford Elementary School in North Miami Beach, where I was an eleven-year old 6th grader, told me one day that as the school sponsor for the Fulford safety patrol, she'd gotten word from the U-M that all South Florida kids in the safety patrol wearing their orange/red safety sashes would get into the game for free. (That's how desperate the U-M was for fans back in the day!)

I knew Mrs. Wharton pretty well since I was one of the 4-5 boys at Fulford who had A/V privileges, essentially kids who did well enough in school that if it was okay with my other teachers, if Mrs. Wharton needed help, we'd get out of class and rig up the film projector for her and run it for the younger kids.
She knew I was a devout football fan in general, from my always talking about the Dolphin games -I was a Dolphin season ticket holder for the first time in '72, the Perfect Season, and still recall getting the package in the mail from the Dolphins' then-HQ at 330 Biscayne Blvd., opening it carefully and and staring at all the interconnected, colorful football tickets like they were treasure, too nervous to actually separate them until the day of the game- she thought I'd probably be interested in seeing the Hurricanes.

Mrs. Wharton was 100% right, of course, so I suspect it was a rhetorical question, since she was always joking about my listening and re-listening to an NFL Films record in the library -with huge elementary school-type headphones- that featured all sorts of great play-by-play material, including a snippet of the Don Meredith-led Dallas Cowboys calling a play in the huddle, which I still recall. Since you asked it went exactly like this: "Brown right up, 13 take left, on one, ready, break!"

She said she'd dig up an extra safety patrol sash for me to wear, and about two hours before the game, I and a few other interested prospective U-M fans met her and her husband next to Fulford, giddy about going to the Orange Bowl.
I don't recall all the particulars in great detail, but I do recall that she told us that she and her husband were both U-M alums.
She'd even gone to the trouble of making us a copy of the lyrics to the U-M alma mater song for us to practice in the car drive down to the Orange Bowl, because she said that at some point, the crowd would stand up and sing and she wanted us to be prepared.Believe me, by the time we got there, we knew the first verse!
Oddly enough, a friend of my father had gone to a U-M vs. Alabama game in 1968, the first year we lived here, and bought a game program for me -the first of my collection- so I actually had looked at the lyrics a few times before as I had perused the program over and over again.

It was the first of dozens and dozens of U-M games I'd see over the years before leaving for IU in August of 1979, whether by myself or with friends, often via the Dade County buses that ran from the Levitz furniture parking lot west of the Golden Glades interchange, straight down
I-95 to the ballgame, the same ones that I usually used to get to Dolphin games.

I saw teams that were both known and unknown, ranked and unranked, from UNLV and College of the Pacific, and thanks to Woody Thompson, to the huge upset over Texas the week Sports Illustrated picked them first in their annual college football issue in 1975.
I saw many games against Notre Dame over the years, from the fight-marred game in 1974,Ara Parseghian's last year at ND, when they really got the huge OB crowd into a frenzy by calling a timeout with just seconds left, so they could score another meaningless touchdown to impress the AP football writers who voted in the AP Poll. (This was back in the day when the syndicated Notre Dame football program with veteran broadcaster Lindsey Nelson was telecast locally every Sunday morning, right before the NFL pregame shows, so I knew the ND players as well as I knew the U-M players, if not better.
"We pick up the action later in the third quarter at the Purdue 20-yard line...")

On a trip back from Evanston, I even was able to see the shutout shellacking administered to the ND team led by Heisman trophy winner Tim Brown.

THE highlight of all those games was being at the 1984 Orange Bowl Classic victory over Nebraska, when I was literally touching the railing behind the team bench seconds before running out onto the field with thousands of other delirious U-M fans as the gun sounded, giving them their first national championship.

IU featured in 10 of 36 Big Ten Network's Classic Big Ten Basketball Games

Friday's email brought interesting marketing news from the Big Ten Network about their since- initiated schedule of 36 Big Ten basketball games they're labeling "THE BIG TEN'S GREATEST GAMES."
Having gone thru the list of ballgames from their press release, http://www.bigtennetwork.com/corporate/PR110607.asp a few things stood out immediately to me, and perhaps you'll agree.
Not so surprisingly, ten of the 36 featured ballgames involve IU basketball teams from 1985-2003, including the famous 1985 game against Purdue that featured the chair Coach Knight threw across the court -and around the world according to some websites I've seen over the years, which showed it as a satellite orbitting the earth.
Some of the games make sense but there are plenty that I'd have preferred seeing and can't help but wonder why they're not here, given the caliber of players involved.

For instance, there are none of the 1980's classics against Michigan featuring Steve Alford and or Glenn Rice that made CBS-TV so gleeful for the compelling nature of the games.
If ESPN Classic had existed back then, they'd have been in heavy rotation.
And what about the great game where Georgetown came into Assembly Hall in 1980 or '82 and shot crazy, crazy 'lights out' basketball in the first half to the astonishment of the packed arena, something like 66%, but IU still found a way to crawl out of a hole and come back to win? That's one I'd like to see.

(A propos of nothing, I can't help but wonder once the NCAA football season is over, will ESPN Classic re-air the best of the ABC/ESPN Saturday basketball games on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. like they do for their football broadcasts, which have featured some great games, including that great UK vs. Louisville match that I watched from beginning to end when it was LIVE, as well as the encore broadcast. For my money, that's the best college football game of the year, though I hold out hopes that the U-M will surprise me and do something noteworthy in their last three games of the year:
tonight against UVA in their last game at the Orange Bowl -where my nephew Mario, a U-M junior will be tonight, and where in 1971, I saw my very first U-M game, the famous "Fifth Down" game against Tulane when I was ten years old-
next week against Virginia Tech in the land of the rabid Hokie fans, Blacksburg,
and then up in Chestnut Hill to close the year out against Boston College and Matt Ryan as they seek to go to a BCS Bowl game on a Saturday night game.
SouthBeachHoosier trivia: Boston College was my #3 college choice, after U.S.C., ie. Southern Cal and IU. )

I'll have to write the folks at ESPN a note about this good idea and if I hear back, I'll post it here.

Below are the ten IU ballgames to be broadcast.
____________________________________
excerpted from
http://www.bigtennetwork.com/corporate/PR110607.asp
November 6, 2007
Network to Televise 36 Classic Big Ten Basketball Contests
Fans can re-live some of the 'Greatest Games' in college basketball history

CHICAGO - Intense rivalries, improbable buzzer-beaters and impossible comebacks. These are the ingredients of some of the most exciting moments in Big Ten history.Throughout the winter, basketball fans will have the opportunity to re-live 36 epic match-ups on the Big Ten Network series, "THE BIG TEN'S GREATEST GAMES."
The series will highlight some of the best moments in the rich histories of all 11 Big Ten basketball programs.
Series producers have interviewed many legendary players and coaches from those games along with those who were on hand to cover the event. Their insight and memories will be integrated into each episode.
Big Ten Network President Mark Silverman said the "Greatest Games" series honors the legacy of the conference's past, and will be a consistent presence year-round.
"As a fan, you never forget your team's most emotional wins or heartbreaking losses. We know fans will enjoy watching these games," Silverman said.

Tuesday, December 4th Kentucky at Indiana - 12/18/1990
Indiana coach Bob Knight used a little tough love to motivate Calbert Cheaney, who scored a dismal four points in the first half, and apparently the tactic worked. Cheaney scored 19 in the second half as the Hoosiers rallied from a halftime deficit. A three-pointer by Kentucky's Jamal Mashburn tied the game at 82 with 55 seconds to go, but foul trouble plagued Kentucky and gave Indiana the edge, as 10 of the Hoosier's final 18 points came from the foul line. Indiana eventually hung on to defeat the Wildcats 87-84.

December 18th Indiana at Northwestern - 1/11/1988
Playing without three of its starters, Northwestern ended a six-game losing streak with an upset of defending national champion Indiana, 66-64. The Wildcats shot a perfect 21-for-21 from the free-throw line. Shon Morris led the Wildcats, scoring 10 points, grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out four assists and making many other key plays that didn't show up in the boxscore. Morris and his teammates seemingly dove after every loose ball, leading Bobby Knight to comment, "they just completely outplayed us."

Wednesday, January 2nd Iowa at Indiana - 3/1/2003
Playing through injury and sickness, Iowa took Indiana into overtime before eventually falling 91-88. Bracey Wright scored 21 points and sank the game-winning 3-pointer for IU. Jared Reiner had a career-high 25 points and 17 rebounds for Iowa.

Tuesday, January 8th Indiana at Purdue - 1/18/1994
Having been swept the previous year by their intrastate rival, Purdue looked to make a statement, and did just that. Down the stretch the lead changed hands several times, and when regulation came to an end, the game was all knotted up. In the end, the Boilermakers hung on to defeat eighth-ranked Indiana 83-76 and move into a four-way tie for first in the Big Ten.

Indiana at Illinois - 3/1/1987
On Senior Night, Illinois led by as many as 10 in the second before Indiana rallied and had an opportunity to win on the final possession. Following a timeout, the Hoosiers worked the clock down to seven seconds when Steve Alford missed what would have been a game-winning three-pointer. After a missed free throw by the Illini's Steve Bardo, Alford heaved a desperation shot from mid-court that just missed, giving Illinois the 69-67 victory.

Indiana at Ohio State - 2/17/1991
In a game that saw the lead change hands 16 times in the second half, neither team could manage a lead of more than six points. Indiana freshman phenom Damon Bailey scored 32 points without committing a single turnover while Ohio State forward and current Big Ten Network analyst Jim Jackson racked up 30 points, 11 rebounds and a game-winning assist. However, it was Treg Lee who sank the winning shot for the Buckeyes, lifting them to a 97-95 victory.

Indiana at Wisconsin - 2/16/1987
The Badgers took the second-ranked Hoosiers to triple-overtime before finally falling 86-85. Although Indiana's Steve Alford broke the school's all-time scoring record (2,192 points), he missed some opportunities to win the game in the first two overtimes. Instead, it was the Hoosiers' Dean Garrett who scored the game-winning basket with just four seconds left.

Purdue at Indiana - 2/23/1985
In what some believed to be an attempt to energize his struggling team, Indiana coach Bob Knight received three technical fouls, including one for throwing a chair across the court. Knight's frustration was sparked by consecutive foul calls against his players just five minutes into the game with Indiana trailing 11-6. Despite Knight and the Hoosiers' efforts, however, they still fell to the Boilermakers, 72-63.

Indiana at Minnesota - 2/9/2000
When Minnesota star John-Blair Bickerstaff was carried from the court on a stretcher after a foul by Indiana's A.J. Guyton, sophomore Joe Przybilla stepped in and scored a career-high 33 points, including the game-winner with only four seconds left, leading Minnesota to a 77-75 victory.

Tuesday, March 11th Illinois at Indiana - 3/5/1989
The two Big Ten powerhouses went back and forth for most of the game before some last-second heroics turned this game into one for the ages. Indiana's Jay Edwards hit an unthinkable shot tying the game at 67 with two seconds left. Illinois quickly called a time out to set up the final play. Nick Anderson came off a pair of screens, caught a perfect pass and drilled a 30-footer as the buzzer sounded, giving the Illini a 70-67 victory.

For more information regarding the Big Ten Network, visit www.BigTenNetwork.com.