Growing up in Queens, New York, the options were somewhat limited when it came time for choosing my favorite college sports team. While I grew up a mile away from the Saint John’s University campus, their now defunct football program was division 1-AA and their basketball team was a few years removed from its glory days. Syracuse was the only division 1-A program in the state at the time but their geographical location was anything but local.
The old saying goes that the revolution will not be televised but I find that hard to believe because I saw it live and in color. In the very early 90’s, something special was brewing in Ann Arbor, Michigan. University of Michigan basketball coach Steve Fischer had just put the finishing touches on arguably the greatest recruiting class in the history of college athletics. Starting five true freshmen, Michigan’s famed “Fab Five” of Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, stormed through the competition and looked good in doing so. You see, the Fab Five didn’t just play basketball, they revolutionized it. The Fab Five is the reason why basketball players started wearing baggy shorts. The Fab Five is the reason why basketball players started wearing black socks and black sneakers. And most of all, the Fab Five is the reason why the brashness and swagger that we have all grown to love (and hate) has become so en vogue in the sport of basketball.
These five kids from all over the country joined forces in Ann Arbor and the rest is history. From the very first time the Fab Five picked up a basketball and challenged five upper-classmen on the roster and beat them soundly, you just knew something special was taking place. As a child of around 7 or 8 years old, I became immersed with the boys in maize and blue. With the New York Mets basically being America’s punch line and the New Jersey Nets seemingly losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs every year, the Fab Five and the Michigan Wolverines filled a void in my sports life. I had not only finally had a winner to root for but the seeds were being planted for a downright obsession.
For the next 12 years of my life, all things came to a halt when Michigan played on television. My obsession with Chris Webber and company soon carried over to the football team and before I knew it, I was singing “Hail to the Victors” like I was a proud alumni. I’ve since had the honor of seeing both Michigan football and basketball in person a number of times and in 2003 I was even lucky enough to witness the 100th meeting of Michigan and Ohio State in the “Big House.”
I’ve been through both the good and the bad with the Wolverines. I proudly wore my Chris Webber jersey to school the day after the infamous “time-out” game and took what I had coming from all my friends in school that day. I also saw the NCAA rule those great Fab Five teams ineligible and remove the team from the rafters and the record books as though it never happened. But that’s the NCAA for you, wiping out some of the greatest memories of your life because a kid took money when he couldn’t even afford a cheeseburger.
In 2002, my undying love for Michigan was put to the test for the first time. As a freshman at the University of Cincinnati, our basketball team was a national power while our football team was mired in mediocrity. I cheered for and followed the Bearcats but always found myself cheering much harder and following much closer the play of the Wolverines.
Truth be told, the real test came in 2004 when I transferred to the University of Florida. In Gainesville, Gator athletics basically define the people. To live here and not become obsessed with the sports scene is downright impossible. With each Gator chomp and article I read about the team, my love for Michigan died a little. Day by day, that love continued to die. I would never once refer to myself as a traitor or a fair-weather fan because the situation was inevitable. While I traveled to Michigan to see the Wolverines play and read all of the local papers to follow the team, I was never really a part of it.
One day shortly after transferring to Florida I was talking to my father when he asked, “Who would you root for if Michigan and Florida played each other?” It was the first time I had been asked that question and didn’t quite know how to answer. Would I find myself cheering for the team that made me a fan of college sports or the new kid on the block that was gaining my attention more and more each day? I remember responding something to the affect of how it would be depend on the situation but I really didn’t know.
Fast forward 2 years and of course, it is down to Michigan and Florida to see who will go on to play the Ohio State Buckeyes for the national championship. I no longer root for Michigan but it is the team whose jerseys I wore like they were badges of honor. Ask me that very question today that my father asked two years ago and without hesitation I would pick Florida. Call it what you will but that is the most honest answer I can give. Much like an ex-girlfriend, even though Michigan and I are no longer together, I still care about them and how they do. How could I ever turn my back on a team that gave me a national title in football in 1997, 2 NIT titles in basketball, and essentially is the reason why I watch college sports? You could even make the argument that aside from my parents, the Fab Five may be the most influential thing on my life.
Tonight the jerseys of Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Daniel Horton, Ty Wheatly, Scott Dreisbach, Tim Biakabutuka, Chris Perry, Anthony Thomas, Charles Woodson, and Tom Brady will sit unworn in my closet back in Queens, New York while I ironically enough wear my new Reggie Nelson jersey. Am I any better than the free agents who I sometimes bash for their lack of loyalty? I’d like to think so. But then again I would also like to think that tonight, the ghosts of all those jerseys help out an old friend and push the Gators past Michigan for that valued #2 spot in the BCS.
Shortly after 8PM on December 3rd, 2006, my fathe’s question comes to life, Michigan or Florida? Never in a million years did I think that I would say this but here’s hoping that the Wolverines are nothing more than da, da, da, da-da- da”¦GATOR BAIT!
