In the face of adversity, UM fans packed the Bank United Center on Saturday to celebrate CanesFest. It was truly amazing to see thousands of folks donning the orange and green, not at all deterred by the allegations and NCAA investigation. Especially the younger fans.
At day’s end, kids like my four-year old have no idea who – or what – Nevin Shapiro is. Most of them don’t even know that the Hurricanes had a disappointing 2010 season. No, kids just love to be around football players, baseball player, basketball players, mascots, bounce houses and Dip-N-Dots. I saw more little smiles on Saturday than I’ve seen after a marathon day at My Gym and for the first time in a long time, this was a event not plagued by the usual jock sniffers that are known to show up at these things. This was about the #CanesFam and their families showing their undying love for ‘The U’.
Someone asked me what I learned from CanesFest. There wasn’t much from a news perspective, but what clearly stuck out was the bad rap UM fans get. This fan base simply doesn’t get enough credit for being a supportive group. We can’t help it that the University of Miami is a smaller school with a small alumni base. As fans we do the best we can and on Saturday our best was pretty damn good.
Those of you in attendance were visibly moved when Mr. allCanes Harry Rothwell (and staff) walked into the BUC with the #IStandWithTheU banner – all fifteen feet of it covered top to bottom with fans’ signatures and well wishes for U coaches, players and administrators. To all of you who made the time to sign the banner, thank you.
At the end of the event they lined the senior football players up in front of the crowd and these kids were beaming as the fan base gave them a well-deserved, rousing round of applause. Again, we have to remember that 90% of these kids and all these new coaches had nothing to do with Shapiro. With all the grief this program is taking nationally, let this be a reminder that especially this year – more than ever – we all need to support this program regardless of what happens.
This year’s CanesFest felt like a huge turning point for this program regarding fan support. It’s been a rocky two weeks at ‘The U’ and the adversity has brought people together, the way you hope it would. With kickoff a week away, it’s time to have some fun with football while putting all the other “stuff” aside.
If there’s something to learn from all this, it could be a lesson in perspective. Maybe some of us adults need to look at the game through the eyes of the kids. My son doesn’t see Tommy Streeter and question why he hasn’t had more of an on-the-field impact. He just thinks No. 86 is real tall and is cool. He didn’t look at Sean Spence with any eligibility questions on Saturday. He just saw a fun guy with wild hair.
Let’s keep this unity thing going, Hurricane Nation. Let’s remain strong. Let’s commit now to stand with ‘The U’ from how until January. Let’s prove the critics wrong, showing them that Miami’s fans are as stand-up as any in the country.
IN OTHER NEWS : Maryland talk and pre-season previews forthcoming from both Canes305 and The Beast later in the week …. Tune into allCanes Radio this week as we’ll have another big name former player on with us. Make plans now to be at the Titanic by 7pm ET on Thursday night as we’ll have many prizes to give away … Also, Mr. allCanes has promised to buy a draft beer for the first twenty-five fans who show up at Titanic and yell “I stand with The U” as soon as they walk in the door. (You must be 21 years old to take advantage of the promo, obviously.)