forums

R.I.P. Connie Nickel

TheOriginalCane said:
I know a lot of folks won't know who this is, so allow me to 'splain.

Connie had a number of roles in the Athletic Department over the years. But perhaps the one thing she did that was most impactful to what we see/know today was to instruct the UM cheerleaders (back in the late 1980s) to teach the student section how to do "The U" with their hands.

You see, hyper-sensitive Thad Foote was not happy when TV cameras and microphones recorded the UM student section doing a middle-finger chop/warchant whenever the F$U band would play that annoying song. So we needed a TV-friendly alternative.

Enter...the Star Wars "Imperial March" and the two-handed (using all 10 fingers) "U" symbol that we know and love to this day. Connie instructed the cheerleading squads (varsity, JV, and the SunSations) to do the "U" hand signal instead of the middle-finger chop.

And for the love of god, ignore Bill Tigano whenever he tries to claim credit for inventing this.

R.I.P., Connie.

View attachment 324695
Click to expand...
My sister was a sunsation at this time. The story the original cane is mentioning is 100% accurate.

I couldn’t stand FOOTE. But broken clock theory applies here.
 
Advertisement
Ispyin said:
My sister was a sunsation at this time. The story the original cane is mentioning is 100% accurate.

I couldn’t stand FOOTE. But broken clock theory applies here.
Click to expand...


I will certainly not inquire as to your sister's name, though I am curious.

I was friends with Christina Espinosa on that Sunsations team (we were on Homecoming Executive Committee together) and I knew Jennifer Smith from the cheerleading team (dorms, classes, etc.). Jennifer and I are both Deloitte Tax alums.
 
RF-4CCane said:
RIP.
The Imperial march came a few years before the “U”, didn’t it?

On a similar note, did anyone catch the announcer last year, might have been Herbstreit, claiming some other team invented the four fingers up for 4th qtr?
What’s next? Claiming The Smoke as well?
Click to expand...
The same time.
 
RIP to Connie and condolences to her family. She came to speak at a sports management class I had in the '90's with Craig Angelos as the prof. Smart lady who bled orange and green.
 
Advertisement
TheOriginalCane said:
I know a lot of folks won't know who this is, so allow me to 'splain.

Connie had a number of roles in the Athletic Department over the years. But perhaps the one thing she did that was most impactful to what we see/know today was to instruct the UM cheerleaders (back in the late 1980s) to teach the student section how to do "The U" with their hands.

You see, hyper-sensitive Thad Foote was not happy when TV cameras and microphones recorded the UM student section doing a middle-finger chop/warchant whenever the F$U band would play that annoying song. So we needed a TV-friendly alternative.

Enter...the Star Wars "Imperial March" and the two-handed (using all 10 fingers) "U" symbol that we know and love to this day. Connie instructed the cheerleading squads (varsity, JV, and the SunSations) to do the "U" hand signal instead of the middle-finger chop.

And for the love of god, ignore Bill Tigano whenever he tries to claim credit for inventing this.

R.I.P., Connie.

View attachment 324695
Click to expand...
First of all...let's take a moment to mourn the loss of our dear friend of 30+ years who dedicated much of her life to the Miami Athletic department and the standard of excellence she set and expected from all of us who worked or performed under her oversight will be one of her many legacies.

Who do you think they interviewed for the article published in Miami magazine about the hand U's origin? Both John Routh and Connie Nickel were there and present when we started throwing up the U. I was cheer captain in 1991 and literally brought the idea to Connie about working with the band director to play the imperial march on 3r downs and have the students throw up the U. She liked it. She agreed. And yes, she both allowed and made it happen because she was the boss of everything we did as official representatives of the University and the Athletic Dept. So despite being a totally disrespectful jackass, you are partly correct. The coordination with the band, asking the band to edit their strictly scripted program of songs & timings, allowing the hand U itself to become a formal thing (everything was scripted - nothing was as hoc), the signs she had made for us, and the formal endorsement of the Athletic Department of the hand U was all due to her.

So as we celebrate our dear friend...Connie approved, supported, and fully endorsed, this crazy idea I brought to her, in her office at the Hecht - throwing the U on 3r downs to the imperial march. Without her support and endorsement, it doesn't happen and the hand U doesn't become a thing an time honored tradition.

We love you Connie. You will be missed.. and your legacy lives on.

'Splain this you ill informed big mouth and keep my name out yo' **** mouth.
 
RF-4CCane said:
TOC cleared that up. He was talking about the marching band playing it, while I was thinking about its use (recorded version) before that on the loudspeakers at the OB.
Click to expand...


Yeah, my roommate and I started UM in 1986 (we went to middle school and high school together), and the marching band played a lot of different stuff back then. There's a lot of stuff from the 1980s that the band played and/or the student section sang that doesn't get played anymore, including "Yamma Yamma" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Oh, and "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter (look it up if you don't know why the song isn't played any longer).

And like I said, "The U" was routinely thrown by Michael Irvin, in its original form, well before we did the modified version. And who knows, maybe there was some conversation, some collaboration, on how best to present it. Michael's version did not feature the whole hand, just the thumbs and forefingers.

Connie organized the whole deal with the marching band playing the "Imperial March" and all of the other elements of getting the student section to do it (throwing up The U). Much like with the 4 fingers in the fourth quarter, it might have "originated" in a different fashion, but the way it was sold to the student section was the key to it becoming a part of the UM traditions.


1746490152384.png
 
ben said:
Tigano’s got some Elon in him
Click to expand...
You clueless mofos and your 5th and 6th person hairbrained sources don't know your a$$ from a hole in the ground and how the whole **** thing worked 35 years ago. Every typical front running hater loves to run their mouth.
 
btigano said:
First of all...let's take a moment to mourn the loss of our dear friend of 30+ years who dedicated much of her life to the Miami Athletic department and the standard of excellence she set and expected from all of us who worked or performed under her oversight will be one of her many legacies.

Who do you think they interviewed for the article published in Miami magazine about the hand U's origin? Both John Routh and Connie Nickel were there and present when we started throwing up the U. I was cheer captain in 1991 and literally brought the idea to Connie about working with the band director to play the imperial march on 3r downs and have the students throw up the U. She liked it. She agreed. And yes, she both allowed and made it happen because she was the boss of everything we did as official representatives of the University and the Athletic Dept. So despite being a totally disrespectful jackass, you are partly correct. The coordination with the band, asking the band to edit their strictly scripted program of songs & timings, allowing the hand U itself to become a formal thing (everything was scripted - nothing was as hoc), the signs she had made for us, and the formal endorsement of the Athletic Department of the hand U was all due to her.

So as we celebrate our dear friend...Connie approved, supported, and fully endorsed, this crazy idea I brought to her, in her office at the Hecht - throwing the U on 3r downs to the imperial march. Without her support and endorsement, it doesn't happen and the hand U doesn't become a thing an time honored tradition.

We love you Connie. You will be missed.. and your legacy lives on.

'Splain this you ill informed big mouth and keep my name out yo' **** mouth.
Click to expand...


Look, Bill, I was there too. Quit denying that we had been doing The U for YEARS before your "genius idea". Michael Irvin started that, not you.

And The Band of the Hour played The Imperial March before your "genius idea" too. For at least 5 years before.

I give credit for the repetition and how it became a UM tradition. But let's not pretend that you invented it all.

I know the people who designed The U, and why, and how it was used for nearly two decades previously. We had all kinds of t-shirt designs (in the sadly pathetic pre-Nike days) that used The U in various catch-phrases.

You want credit for changing The U hand-sign from what Michael Irvin was doing to the current version, fine, I won't fight with you on that.

But there is photographic evidence that Michael Irvin was throwing up the U for years before 1991.
 
btigano said:
You clueless mofos and your 5th and 6th person hairbrained sources don't know your a$$ from a hole in the ground and how the whole **** thing worked 35 years ago. Every typical front running hater loves to run their mouth.
Click to expand...


Front running hater? Hilarious.
 
TheOriginalCane said:
Yeah, my roommate and I started UM in 1986 (we went to middle school and high school together), and the marching band played a lot of different stuff back then. There's a lot of stuff from the 1980s that the band played and/or the student section sang that doesn't get played anymore, including "Yamma Yamma" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". Oh, and "Rock and Roll Part 2" by Gary Glitter (look it up if you don't know why the song isn't played any longer).

And like I said, "The U" was routinely thrown by Michael Irvin, in its original form, well before we did the modified version. And who knows, maybe there was some conversation, some collaboration, on how best to present it. Michael's version did not feature the whole hand, just the thumbs and forefingers.

Connie organized the whole deal with the marching band playing the "Imperial March" and all of the other elements of getting the student section to do it (throwing up The U). Much like with the 4 fingers in the fourth quarter, it might have "originated" in a different fashion, but the way it was sold to the student section was the key to it becoming a part of the UM traditions.


View attachment 324705
Click to expand...
Do you have any pictures or footage of Irvin throwing the Utah U (fingers vs hands)? Check out any pictures of the team, cheer squad, students, players after the 1989 Natty vs Bama. Not one person on the team, the band, cheer squad, Sebastian, students threw a U in any picture at or after that game...and we took hundreds. Yes, Connie was the boss...nothing we did wasn't approved by her. When I brought her the idea, she liked it and made it happed across departments and the entire squad. I (unlike some other front running phonies) am not taking full credit for all the work and coordination it took to make the idea a thing. It took Connie's approval and coordination...and every member of both the JV and Varsity Cheer squads and the full band to make it happen.

Going forward, make sure you have your sh*t straight before you start spouting bullsh*t and calling me out by name in a public forum.
 
Advertisement
Ispyin said:
My sister was a sunsation at this time. The story the original cane is mentioning is 100% accurate.

I couldn’t stand FOOTE. But broken clock theory applies here.
Click to expand...
Except that it wasn't Foote, but Sam Jankovic the Athletic Director that asked us (the Varsity Cheer squad) to think of something the students could do with their hands when FSU comes to town and turns toward the UM student section and blasts the Warchant - instead of the entire student section shouting fuuuuuuk uuuuu seminoles while holding up the middle finger - on what were prime time CBS games watched by 20M ppl and talked about in the press for months.
 
btigano said:
Do you have any pictures or footage of Irvin throwing the Utah U (fingers vs hands)? Check out any pictures of the team, cheer squad, students, players after the 1989 Natty vs Bama. Not one person on the team, the band, cheer squad, Sebastian, students threw a U in any picture at or after that game...and we took hundreds. Yes, Connie was the boss...nothing we did wasn't approved by her. When I brought her the idea, she liked it and made it happed across departments and the entire squad. I (unlike some other front running phonies) am not taking full credit for all the work and coordination it took to make the idea a thing. It took Connie's approval and coordination...and every member of both the JV and Varsity Cheer squads and the full band to make it happen.

Going forward, make sure you have your sh*t straight before you start spouting bullsh*t and calling me out by name in a public forum.
Click to expand...


Hilarious. My **** is straight.

The Utah U? You do know that Utah didn't start doing that until 1997, right?

1989? You do know when Michael Irvin played, right? You do know that I worked on the Hurricane and Ibis, right? I saw it in person and in pictures. Who is the "we" who took hundreds of pictures? You mean my friends?

Hilarious.
 
btigano said:
Except that it wasn't Foote, but Sam Jankovic the Athletic Director that asked us (the Varsity Cheer squad) to think of something the students could do with their hands when FSU comes to town and turns toward the UM student section and blasts the Warchant - instead of the entire student section shouting fuuuuuuk uuuuu seminoles while holding up the middle finger - on what were prime time CBS games watched by 20M ppl and talked about in the press for months.
Click to expand...


Yessss....the Athletic Director communicated the complaint that was initiated by Tad Foote.

So what year are you claiming this all started?
 
Back
Top