Indy, WTF

[Sky]

What was that shit? I know it was at their house but damn, that was embarassing. Fran should have been gone two or three years ago and Alabama should count themselves lucky he left when he did. How many blow-outs has he been on the losing side of? How can you have a team largely comprised of seniors perform like that. I think a small part of the loss could be attributed to the players but ATM sure looked out-coached as well.

And did anyone watch that game? The "U's" sense of tailgaiting is largely pathetic. The only pre-game shots that showed any good tailgaiting were from the Aggie fans.

[PSUFAN]

There are more U fans in New Jersey than there are in Florida. No lie - the Testaverde family alone outnumbers Miami's Florida fanbase.

[SunCoastSooner]

There are more U fans in New Jersey than there are in Florida. No lie - the Testaverde family alone outnumbers Miami's Florida fanbase.

Miami is a small private school that attracts a lot of wealthy New Englander students to its campus that move back home after college.

[PSUFAN]

Thanks.

Also:

My hat is old.

My teeth are gold.

I have a bird I like to hold.

Now my story is all told.

[Killian]

And did anyone watch that game? The "U's" sense of tailgaiting is largely pathetic. The only pre-game shots that showed any good tailgaiting were from the Aggie fans.

I'm shocked those people had the balls to tailgate in that area. Fucking scary.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Miami is a small private school that attracts a lot of wealthy New Englander students to its campus that move back home after college.

Miami's enrollment is still about 50% higher than ND's. And a fair share of ND's students come from a fairly significant distance away from campus.

Granted, the ND comparison might not be entirely fair, but the criteria you cited, standing alone, shouldn't explain attendance. In fairness, the Orange Bowl is not the greatest facility in the world, and it's located in a horrible area.

[King Crimson]

no one from a wealthy East Coast/New England family who goes to UM is going there as a first choice. it's a default school....to save face for bad grades, disciplinary problems at prep school, got kicked out for smoking grass, etc. the prep school kids take a vacation/exile in the provinces and come back to Newton, Mass 4-6 years later with a degree or a Zoloft prescrip.

i teach at the University of Denver sometimes....and while DU is a good school for the most part ("US News top 100"), it's a rich kid flunkee school. most of the kids who go there are from the East or West coast who didn't get into their first couple or 8 choices. DU is like Miami that way. not so many Coloradans go to DU, unless their parents did "inna day". it's so expensive, and for a pricey better small school education Colorado College is down I-25 in Colorado Springs.

back on topic, Notre Dame is a school people "get in to". it's a top 25 school according to almighty US News. and the Catholic thing works too as far as national fan/alum love. Miami (like DU, or even CU to a degree) is an aesthetic choice for New Englanders who didn't get into where their parents went or Syracuse or some other middling private...or people who want to do blow and nail Cuban chicks....like my buddy Mike. Miami '96.

[Danimal]

no one from a wealthy East Coast/New England family who goes to UM is going there as a first choice. it's a default school....to save face for bad grades, disciplinary problems at prep school, got kicked out for smoking grass, etc. the prep school kids take a vacation/exile in the provinces and come back to Newton, Mass 4-6 years later with a degree or a Zoloft prescrip.

i teach at the University of Denver sometimes....and while DU is a good school for the most part ("US News top 100"), it's a rich kid flunkee school. most of the kids who go there are from the East or West coast who didn't get into their first couple or 8 choices. DU is like Miami that way. not so many Coloradans go to DU, unless their parents did "inna day". it's so expensive, and for a pricey better small school education Colorado College is down I-25 in Colorado Springs.

back on topic, Notre Dame is a school people "get in to". it's a top 25 school according to almighty US News. and the Catholic thing works too as far as national fan/alum love. Miami (like DU, or even CU to a degree) is an aesthetic choice for New Englanders who didn't get into where their parents went or Syracuse or some other middling private...or people who want to do blow and nail Cuban chicks....like my buddy Mike. Miami '96.

Nice, a school by tons of beach, partying, and drugs for underachieving rich-kids. Can you say "grade inflation" boys and girls? I thought that you could.

[Terry in Crapchester]

no one from a wealthy East Coast/New England family who goes to UM is going there as a first choice. it's a default school....to save face for bad grades, disciplinary problems at prep school, got kicked out for smoking grass, etc. the prep school kids take a vacation/exile in the provinces and come back to Newton, Mass 4-6 years later with a degree or a Zoloft prescrip.

i teach at the University of Denver sometimes....and while DU is a good school for the most part ("US News top 100"), it's a rich kid flunkee school. most of the kids who go there are from the East or West coast who didn't get into their first couple or 8 choices. DU is like Miami that way. not so many Coloradans go to DU, unless their parents did "inna day". it's so expensive, and for a pricey better small school education Colorado College is down I-25 in Colorado Springs.

back on topic, Notre Dame is a school people "get in to". it's a top 25 school according to almighty US News. and the Catholic thing works too as far as national fan/alum love. Miami (like DU, or even CU to a degree) is an aesthetic choice for New Englanders who didn't get into where their parents went or Syracuse or some other middling private...or people who want to do blow and nail Cuban chicks....like my buddy Mike. Miami '96.

Good points, although I have heard that Miami has taken steps in recent years to improve their academic ranking and reputation. I don't know how reliable that info is, as I don't work in education, am not going back to school and my kids are still several years away from college. I should note that one of the people I heard that from has a daughter who went to Miami, so maybe he had an interest, if only from pride, in selling me on that point.

I'm not sure how comparable Miami is to Syracuse. I know that Syracuse is a Top 50 school according to US News. From the standpoint of fanbase, I don't think there is much comparison. Even though Syracuse is a relatively small private school, its alumni are loyal. And at least close to home, they have a pretty decent fan following. Around where I live, Syracuse would probably be the third favorite college football team, behind Penn State and Notre Dame. Syracuse has potential to be #1, but hasn't been consistently good enough to get to that point and stay there (having said that, I should say in the interests of fairness that this area is a pro sports market first, second and third). Syracuse's biggest problem, from a fanbase perspective, is that it is perceived as a basketball school first.

Miami's fanbase seems to be a bit different from most schools'. The overwhelming majority of its fanbase appears to have no ties whatsoever to either the school or its nearby geographic area. I suppose one could say the same about ND, but at least most ND fans in that category would consider themselves "subway alumni", and act the part. The interests of Miami's fanbase appear to be restricted to the football team rather than to the university as a whole. And I think the majority of people who have adopted Miami as their team do so because of the image the team projects, much moreso than anything else.

[King Crimson]

i'm not comparing Miami to Cuse. i'm saying if your parents are writing a private school check and you didn't get into a school like Syracuse (which is not an Ivy or Duke or Vandy or BC on down the list), you go to a place like UM or U of Denver--and the exoticism compensates in Yankee blueblood circles. not saying UM is a terrible school at all. a private school has money, and money can get a lot of things. like good faculty. the education is there, but it's up to the student to go get it. that's pretty much my opinion of University of Denver. they have a good faculty but most of the students don't give a shit at all. some do. most just think your job is to wipe their ass and be happy you got to be near them before they take some "job" with the family investment firm. the education is there, but students are more interested in snowboarding, playing tennis or working out and making grade-inflated B's they feel like they already paid for. it's a four year country club.