Your story on how you became a can fan

I thought I was aging but some of y’all are ancient

Yup, quite a few geriatric Cane fans on here. I have been a Cane fan for 62 years (since 1957). I grew up in gator country (Jacksonville), initially attended JJC (Jax.Jr. College), then got married and husband was on full football scholarship @ Miami. We lived in what was then the married athletic dorms on ****erson Dr. (later torn down and now there are athletic facilities) Our dorm was the one closest to the little bridge that went from campus over to the football field/office area.

Back then we were everybody's doormat. Fran Curci was QB (& always went to class - he was inducted into the Iron & Arrow Club) & Jim Otto (00 for the Raiders & in the HOF in Canton, OH) was the center. I went to school @ Miami part-time and worked part-time @ what was then called Variety Children's Hospital off Red Road. Miami was the winter home of the NY & Chicago mafia and was considered neutral ground. I loved the U and I loved the City of Miami & the Gables, but unfortunately in 1962 my husband's job moved us back to north FL., then central FL.
 
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Became a Cane in '83 and have never wavered. Not sure when this "Canes fan" thing started, but I'm not a fan of Canes fan. We Canes have always been one with our team. We are all Canes. We're not like other programs. I'm a Cane as in "We've got some Canes over here!"
 
Grew up around the Schenley Park area just north of campus and in my early twenties (I'm 64) I was drawn to UM football until 1982 when I bought season tickets and took cheering lessons from Yama Yama.
 
I was 14 or 15 and saw UM play VT in the Peach Bowl. I think it was 81 or 82. I'm not quite sure. That was my introduction to UM. The next game I remember was the 83 opener vs uf and that was the 1st time I was fully invested. It sucked watching the gator beat us 28-3 but after the game I told my dad that the new QB Kosar had a ton of potential. The rest is history as we would not lose again that year and the OB title game vs Nebraska was an unforgettable experience. I seriously think that every home in South Florida was tuned into that game on that amazing night. Nebraska went for 2 and the win at the end and Kenny Calhoun ripped their hearts out and we were national champions. Ever since that day I have been a die hard.

My dad taught at the UM Medical School so he used to take the family to UM on Sundays to use the tennis courts and I used to wander around the Hecht and got to meet many players. They were always so nice and approachable. Michael Irvin was a cool guy. The Blades brothers were great but my favorite was always Jerome Brown! Always very down to earth and very likeable. I cried on the day he passed. All of those experiences made me the die hard that I am to this day. You just can't compare the type of connection that can be made with a college program to that of an NFL team. To me there is no comparison.
 
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To follow up on my diatribe... This could be revisionist history so I am looking for some help. Someone on here was at this game I am sure. When they played LSU at night in Baton Rouge I remember ESPN saying it was so loud the Richter Scale was picking it up. By half the stadium was half full and Miami robbed the shed and took all the women. Was it roughly 40-0 at half? That was a beat down.

20-3 at half. Miami f*cked the southern drawl out of them in the 4th quarter, scoring 24 points. Yes, they said it registered on the Richter scale, but so does every other stadium.

F*ck LSU
 
I was a young impressionable youth watching the college bowl season in 1991. Came across the Cotton Bowl. Loved the hard hitting, the unsportsmanship penalties for taughting... And when Randal Hill celebrated with the double guns in the tunnel... forget about it... I was hooked.
 
I used to have that great state championship game for Jessie's senior year. I think Carter beat Odessa Permian Basin. When I went to one of the Sugar Bowls, I think at end of '89 season, spoke to a souvenir vendor from Dallas. He'd seen a lot more of Jesse than I had. I remember he said, "Jessie was a man among boys." I remember a video--maybe that game or another--where Jessie would be chasing opposing QB deep in the backfield. Next play, Jessie would be deep in secondary in coverage. He was everywhere. Had such range.

It was such a big deal when we recruited him. Great player, maybe number one in the country. According to JJ a great kid.

A year or two later Clifton Abraham (I think his name was) came out of Carter. First Team USA Today A-A. On his Miami visit he was so concerned about the depth chart. UM guys were not impressed with that.

The beat Permian in the semifinals. They beat Converse Judson in the final. That was a loaded team, so many D-1 guys on one high school squad. Miami was big in the Dallas area, Kevin Williams came to Miami(He attended Roosevelt HS), later on Daryl Jones from Carter(Whose mom was the Co-Op teacher at my high school, I still have an autograph from Daryl when he came to class to visit)
 
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1965 my brother-in-law took me to the Miami/Notre Dame game. The QB for ND was Bill Zloch a kid I played with in little league who sucked in LL and sucked in this game. It ended in a zero tie but was fun to watch. At that time Miami Hurricanes were almost ready to shutdown football and the Dolphins started winning so I became a big Dolphins fan, that was until Super Duper and Clayton ruined the Dolphins (doesn't need explaining). My best friend sold yearbooks to high schools and knew the high school coaches throughout Dade and Broward plus he was a big Hurricane fan. He dragged me to lots of games and I realized these kids play with much more emotion and desire then the Dolphins plus they started winning championships. I got to meet players and recruits through my friend and loved every minute of it. My work interfered some times with my ability to go so I bought tickets from scalpers every game (even got lots of free tickets from friends I made that couldn't make it). Sitting all over the OB was great giving me different views from different angles. Most games the OB was not full so if I did not like my seats I'd move to better ones without a problem. Hardly missed any games until I moved to Orlando in 1992 but went to quite a few games via the Hurricane Club as they chartered buses to games and it was party all the way down and back. Once a football fan I became a 100 percent Canes fan for all their sports. I had a blood test and it came out Orange and Green...;)
 
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Retired FDNY Father and mom, moved down and loved George Myra. They would go over on weekends (from Punta Gorda) and stay with my Aunt and attend Canes Games. My Aunt was a decade long reigning champion as Miami's Fastest Medical Typist, and ended up as a secretary for the Orange Bowl Committee. I watched the away games on TV with pops.

It worked out for me. But I cursed my three boys into being Dolphin Fans the same way - the team with the worst front office in sports history made me stop watching them 6 years ago...they still watch them.
 
Yea, my boo. Lost her when she insisted on attempting to be on top of the pyramid at cheer camp. The crane fell over trying to lift her into the sky to fulfill her dream. R.I.P. BOO BOO BIGGY!
I'm so sorry for your loss.
 
Grandfather graduated from Miami, uncle graduated from Miami and played baseball, dad walked on to play baseball and flunked out and went juco and resigned with Miami 2 years later and then had me and dropped out all together. Went to my first baseball game in spring of 98 and football game in fall of 98 and never really knew anything else.

I honestly liked Miami baseball before I did football. I was really young but I don’t remember much about canes football until 2000 when they were on tv religiously because they were good again. Prior to that I had seen 2 games in 98 at the OB and that’s all I knew of. We almost traveled the entire canes baseball schedule with my granddad from 98-2004 and didn’t miss much. Probably saw 35 games a year in that time span.
 
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