I know , I know this the Media Hero but i gotta touch the sports page a documentary film sparked this so HEY, it qualifies.
The Fab Five were a group of freshman baskettball recruits at the University of Michigan in the early 1990's. They were all together for 2 years , and went to national title games losing both. The fab five were a polarizing group who had a us against the world mentality. The documentary shows the crazy fanatical college fan, really asks the question should college players be paid? and were the fab five a bunch of thugs?
Before i get into the meet of the documentary i wanna talk about my interest in the fab five. These guys more or less opened my eyes to college basketball, I knew it existed previous to them , but they were the first team that ever peaked my interest and caused me to be a fan of college hoops. I was a massive fan of Michigan hoops , even going so far as stealing my older brother's michigan gear , wearing it to school and putting it back in his closet when i got home.
Chris Webber,Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose ,Jimmy King and Ray Jackson made up the Fab five. They all committed to Michigan and are considered to be one of the greatest recruiting classes of all time, all five were in the top 50 in the nation , which is something unheard of in baskettball. They stepped on campus and begin to have a big influence on college sports. They brought the "Michael Jordan look" to ncaa hoops , that being getting away from the short shorts of the 80's and going to the baggy shorts that are so popular now. As freshman they made there way through the tournament and came up just a little short against Duke in the National Title game.
Beyond just general interest because I was a big Fab Five fan growing up , there were two fascinating things that came out in this documentary. The first being the financial impact these guys had on the Univeristy of Michigan. They showed a chart showing that in the couple of previous years to there arrival Michigan made 1.5 dollars in merchandise and gear sold. In the following two years the number went up to 10.5 MILLION DOLLARS!!! This is a complete and total different argument , but that to me makes a case that College athletes should be paid.
THe second thing was the incredible amount of racism this group faced from fans. The crazy thing about that is alot of it wasnt from other schools , it was from Michigan alums and boosters. People who didnt like the fact here was group of black guys who played with a swagger and had an attitude. They showed a bunch of letters that were sent to both Coach Steve Fisher and the players themselves that had profanity laced racist tirades including calling the guys the "n" word. I just thought that was truly shocking here your team is a National Power and your sending offensive letters out to your team. Then of course we have the emphamis TIMEOUT.
As i said earlier the fab five made two straight title games the second loss ended in spectacular fashion. So the crew roles into the 92 title game the odds on favorite against North Carolina. Michigan is down 2 at the end of the game , they have no timeouts, Chris Webber gets the ball , walks (ref's dont call it) dribbles up the floor and calls a timeout. Well when you dont have a timeout and call one , it results in a techincal foul. Michigan went on to lose , Webber went onto the NBA and the fab five was no more. The crazy thing about this is that 20 years later all five guys remain friends and they dont speak about it. Chris Webber has never spoken about it. Dont get me wrong I would be devastated by that , but Never speaking about it seems really crazy to me.
A few years later after the guys were in the NBA or in Jimmy and Ray's case being in the buisness world it came out that there were some under the table things at Michigan. It came out that Chris received in the neighborhood of 300,000 dollars from a booster. Hmmm maybe thats why he decided Michigan over Duke?? The booster gave Jalen money as well but not near as much as Chris. Chris plead guilty to perjury chargers for lying to a grand jury. Michigan went under a 10 year ban of not recognizing that Chris Webber was a part of the University.
The Fab Five did leave a legacy , Uniforms in College basketball , Black Socks , They were the beginning of UnderClassmen making an impact in College Basketball. This documentary was shot from a very pro Fab Five perspective, they called themselves "Revolutionary" , now i was a big fan , still am but i cant agree with this. I think you have to win a National Title to boast like these guys do. The Fab Five are defintiely infamous , and will be remembered but revolutionary??? I dont think so. Nonetheless it was another masterful documentary in the ESPN 30 for 30 Franchise and a must watch for Sports fan in my opinnion.
