Cusefan95
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- Joined
- Aug 20, 2011
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I absolutely hated the Miami Hurricanes in the 1980s through 2001. The brash showboating arrogance made them very hate-able. But over the last 25 years as sports have increasingly become a business and players are taught PR skills to avoid any unwanted controversy, I’ve started to miss the 80s sports culture more and more. And upon reflection, I also realized while I hated Miami - I LOVED hating Miami. That emotional investment made watching so much more entertaining. I still fondly remember watching some big Hurricanes losses with my dad, with key plays burned into my memory (George Teague “The Strip” is an example).
Which brings me to these playoffs. With Miami in the ACC and me not liking Ohio State (since frankly no team is worthy of the emotional investment of hatred anymore, it’s more of a mild dislike) - I started playing the opening from the Miami 30 for 30 “It’s All About The U” any time a big play for Miami happened while watching the game with my kids. It was a way of fabricating emotional investment to make the game more enjoyable. And when Luke would say “Miami” my kids would say “U!” That carried on through to today’s game. Close to halftime today, one of my 11 year old daughter’s friends FaceTimed her. During the conversation her friend asked my daughter why she was watching the football game. My daughter said “because my dad is a big Miami fan, so we’re rooting for THE U!!!!”
If you told me 30 years ago that was a sentence my daughter would say in the future, I never would have believed it. While it’s not really true, I totally understand why she’d think that after the last month watching games…but I’m absolutely astonished that the world changed in ways that her thinking I was a Miami fan was even possible.
Which brings me to these playoffs. With Miami in the ACC and me not liking Ohio State (since frankly no team is worthy of the emotional investment of hatred anymore, it’s more of a mild dislike) - I started playing the opening from the Miami 30 for 30 “It’s All About The U” any time a big play for Miami happened while watching the game with my kids. It was a way of fabricating emotional investment to make the game more enjoyable. And when Luke would say “Miami” my kids would say “U!” That carried on through to today’s game. Close to halftime today, one of my 11 year old daughter’s friends FaceTimed her. During the conversation her friend asked my daughter why she was watching the football game. My daughter said “because my dad is a big Miami fan, so we’re rooting for THE U!!!!”
If you told me 30 years ago that was a sentence my daughter would say in the future, I never would have believed it. While it’s not really true, I totally understand why she’d think that after the last month watching games…but I’m absolutely astonished that the world changed in ways that her thinking I was a Miami fan was even possible.