The Rakontur guys released another deleted scene from the soon-to-be-released-on-DVD “The U” documentary and this week the focus is on the intensity of practice.
Crazy how the sports culture has changed over the years in regards to practice. Just the mention of the words evokes images of a slouching Allen Iverson complaining about being too hurt to practice – as well as the unimportance of missing practice… practice… practice.
The clip below is the polar opposite, with veteran Miami Hurricanes talking about the IMPORTANCE of practice and how the battles fought at Greentree made the better, stronger and faster than the other guy come Saturday. Practice was the hard part and in turn, made game time easy. It was a Jimmy Johnson philosophy and his players bought into it.
Randy Shannon, a disciple of the prophet JJ, feels the same. Goes hard in practice. Expects a lot from his guys. Wants them taking hits so they’re game-ready when it’s game on.
Mario Cristobal called those practices the hardest, most demanding experiences of his life. Randal Hill said he’d never been through anything like that on the practice field in his life. Kicker Carlos Huerta referred to himself as a ‘punching bag’ year one and talked about how badly he wanted to quit.
Art Kehoe drove home the point that there was NO WAY guys were going to miss the message during the week, without seeing the payout on the weekend; winning ballgames – which UM did frequently.
Bernie Kosar, Brett Perriman and Kelvin Harris all emphatically stated that Miami practices were harder than a real game. Michael Irvin let it be known that the toughest competition the Canes faces every week was each other, on the practice field. Bennie Blades called Saturday’s a “cake walk”. Leon Searcy stated that practices was a lot faster, fiercer and competitive than anything he saw on game day.
These old school Canes who raved about practice – they have the record to back it up. Four national titles in nine seasons and four more left on the field during that span. Miami was as dominant force as anyone had ever seen (and probably will see) and every player spoken to ABSOLUTELY cited the battles on the practice field for making them who they were, equating in so many Hurricane victories.
Check the vid below and make sure to order “The U” on DVD. We’re currently taking preorders and are offering FREE SHIPPING between now and 8/15. Click here for news on our DVD launch party on Monday August 16th with the Rakontur guys!