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Didn't really pay attention to these guys back in their day. And don't completely understand their contribution to basketball other than fashion statements. However, I can't get over how the show white washed their inglorious legacy.

ponyte wrote:Didn't really pay attention to these guys back in their day. And don't completely understand their contribution to basketball other than fashion statements. However, I can't get over how the show white washed their inglorious legacy.

Interesting quote from Jim Nance:
Jim Nantz as he was doing the Play-by-Play for the Michigan/Ohio St. game. ........."That as much notoriety as "The Fab Five" gave Michigan; that same group KILLED the program for the next two decades, as I was around to see the damage? ....With all the NCAA sanctions and penalties........."

MEH!

"We're poor kids that got manipulated by the Big Evil U"

Obviously they were the precursors for "One and Done"!

Beyond their futility in the trophy case there is the matter of those six magical weeks in 1992 and 1993 being significantly tarnished by corruption and scandal. ESPN’s excellent 30 for 30 documentary about SMU football was titled “Pony Excess.” The impetus was on the corruption and hubris that dominated the program which ultimately produced its downfall. Conversely, the tagline of the Rose-produced documentary is “How five college freshmen ignited a basketball revolution.” It’s got to be only revolution in the history of the world built on black socks, baggy shorts, trash-talk and second-place finishes. With the Fab Five, the real debate of its contribution is a matter of impact versus value. Terrific impact; negligible, if not negative value.

-Five Guys

I find it interesting that HBO was running a documentary about Tark and UNLV simultaneously.

I'm going to catch the UNLV replay on HB2W later tonight.

All this did was confirm how well The Thadsta did with his opportunity!

Seems like the entire show was as hard hitting as a feather duster. Rose admitted that he didn't lie tot he Grand Jury about what he received from Martin. The pay of play continued and the university presidents states that nobody knew is was going on. Webber received over a quarter million form Martin (and verified over $38,000 via specific identified money transfers.). None of this was brought out. THey have some sports writer with a really bad wig talk about how he saw no evidence that Webber had any money. He just couldn't believe this kid got all that cash. Wow, imagine that!

Poor kids were just exploited and used and just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. All they did was play good basketball with superior sportsmanship. Looked more like an infomercial than a documentary.

I think Mitch Albom was a total apologist for what happened during that scandal.

I didn't catch all of it but I wonder if it was brought up that the Fab Five was something like 1-6 vs. Indiana and Bob Knight. I love it.

still wondering how Ice Cube and Dr Dre were dragged into the documentary other than to add effect. When the Fab Five debuted, Cube had just left NWA and began his solo stuff. Somehow I dont think Michigan basketball was at the top of his list of things to give a sh*t about when it was going on. I could be wrong.

Here is what I got out of the documentary:
They wore baggy shorts, black shoes and black socks. I don't think they were trend setters there; MJ was already wearing baggy shorts, and he was much more the fashion bellwether. Oh, and they had tattoos (gasp!). And Jalen Rose didnt mean to get caught outside the crack house and have his picture taken.

RGV Pony wrote:still wondering how Ice Cube and Dr Dre were dragged into the documentary other than to add effect. When the Fab Five debuted, Cube had just left NWA and began his solo stuff. Somehow I dont think Michigan basketball was at the top of his list of things to give a sh*t about when it was going on. I could be wrong.

Here is what I got out of the documentary:
They wore baggy shorts, black shoes and black socks. I don't think they were trend setters there; MJ was already wearing baggy shorts, and he was much more the fashion bellwether. Oh, and they had tattoos (gasp!). And Jalen Rose didnt mean to get caught outside the crack house and have his picture taken.

Mr. Rose said that was no crack house and I believe him cause he also said he has seen crack houses and that wasn't a crack house. And the cops had really bad information and only one guy had crack on him during the raid.

See, it was all one big misunderstanding just like the multiple arrest for Webber for marijuana procession.

Did these guys elevate poor sportsmanship to the level of Miami football? No doubt. Did they cheat with two players on a boosters payroll? Yes. Did they lie about their involvement to Michigan investigators? Yes, and were ‘cleared’ of any rules violation by Michigan.

Were they honest about their involvement? Well one was when under oath and facing possible criminal charges if not honest. One still couldn’t be honest.

Not a very admirable group and the real legacy is the destruction of a program they left behind.

I watched the HBO documentary "Running Rebels of UNLV" and it is much better than the "Fab 5".

SMU fans will enjoy the cameo of the NCAA investigator David Berst as well. What a DB!

"We're out to get Tarkanian and we're going to hang him."

‘Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV‘ will re-airs on HBO Monday 6 p.m. and Wednesday at 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.on Tuesday, March 15



http://www.startribune.com/sports/wolves/117836188.html

Jalen Rose was the executive producer of the documentary.
It could have been great, but it was about as an honest look at the Fab 5 as you would expect from an actual member of the group.
Disappointing, and lots of revisionist history.
My jaw dropped when they mentioned the Fab 5 and the after effects of the Rodney King riots. I don't think I had ever heard those two linked in any way before...lol

HB Pony Dad wrote:

"We're out to get Tarkanian and we're going to hang him."

I love Tark:

Tarkanian and the NCAATarkanian spent most of his career as a Division I coach in a battle with the NCAA. After he left Long Beach State, its basketball program was slapped with probation for recruiting violations which occurred under his watch.

Just months before the 1976–77 season, the NCAA placed UNLV on two years' probation for "questionable practices." Although the alleged violations dated back to 1971—before Tarkanian became coach—the NCAA pressured UNLV into suspending Tarkanian as coach for two years. Tarkanian sued, claiming the suspension violated his right to due process. In September 1977, a Nevada judge issued an injunction which reinstated Tarkanian as coach. The case eventually made it all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in 1988 that the NCAA had the right to discipline its member schools, but required that due process be followed—effectively upholding the original 1977 injunction.[2] [3]

In the decade between the original suspension and the Supreme Court ruling, it was revealed that the NCAA's enforcement process was stacked heavily in the NCAA's favor—so heavily, in fact, that it created a perception that there was no due process. The enforcement staff was allowed to build cases on hearsay, and shared few of their findings with the targeted school. The resulting negative publicity led the NCAA to institute a clearer separation between the enforcement staff and the infractions committee, as well as a system for appeals. Also, hearsay evidence was no longer admissible in infractions cases.[4]

After being fired from the Spurs, Tarkanian sued the NCAA, claiming it had harassed him for over two decades. The harassment, Tarkanian claimed, started when he wrote a newspaper column alleging that the NCAA was more willing to punish less-prominent schools than big-name schools. Although the NCAA did not admit harassing Tarkanian, it settled out of court in 1998, paying him $2.5 million.

Basically, those f-ers in the NCAA cried uncle and quit.

alleging that the NCAA was more willing to punish less-prominent schools than big-name schools.

The same as it ever was!

One of the less important points that I saw in both documentaries was that the local press was very positive and supportive of their local team(s) and players depite their problems--a much different point of view than our two [deleted] Dale and Skip.

Like it or not, good or bad, they definitely changed the game and ignited a revolution. An era where the player no longer remains a slave to the system. The preponderance of underclassmen into the NBA...the swagger...the influence of AAU teams/coaches, the players no longer being the pawns of big $$ disguised as higher education. The bald heads, overly baggy shorts and tattoos were forced into mainstream because of these guys...no denying that. (Jordan entered the league in '84...check your old photos...from 84-93 what did those shorts look like??)


They werent the greatest team ever...and it never said that in the film. They were cultural lightning rods (as evidenced by all the racist hate mail they rec'd...as well as the support of the black community)

For people on a SMU forum to be talking bad about cheaters is hilarious!

Real Talk wrote:..The bald heads, overly baggy shorts and tattoos were forced into mainstream because of these guys...no denying that. (Jordan entered the league in '84...check your old photos...from 84-93 what did those shorts look like??)


They werent the greatest team ever...and it never said that in the film. They were cultural lightning rods (as evidenced by all the racist hate mail they rec'd...as well as the support of the black community)

For people on a SMU forum to be talking bad about cheaters is hilarious!

Theyd didn't revolutionize jack squat. It wasn't like these guys came up with this stuff and everybody followed. This film was totally revisionist history.

Oh, and that team kept getting its head handed to it by Indiana and the great Bob Knight. That's all I cared about.

Real Talk wrote:For people on a SMU forum to be talking bad about cheaters is hilarious!

Sooo, we are to take it that cheating is good now? Did SMU make cheating acceptable just as the Fab Five made baggy shorts, tattoos, poor sportsmanship and good not great basketball acceptable? One should read more of this board and maybe watch Pony Excess. One might learn that many SMU supporters did not and do not agree with the cheating and feel the DP was earned by SMU.