A few audio clips from the Q&A in the aftermath of Jalen Rose’s Ann Arbor premiere of tonight’s ESPN Fab Five documentary. More commentary, photos, etc. here.
In order:
1. Jalen On Chris Webber, why he hasn’t seen documentary and the time he still needs. He says there’s no beef with the team or whatever. Jalen just says that Chris isn’t ready to talk about it, says he’s still carrying a lot with him especially after to the two finals losses at the timeout. Jalen hoping he finds some way to “release” all that weight.
2. Jalen on the trip to Europe right after the 1991 Finals and how he feels they were exploited.
3. Jalen on how ESPN feels about the Duke/Uncle Tom comments and his message to the Duke guys he works with. He told ESPN, “Ya’ll better not fire me on Monday..”
4. Jalen on the content he wishes they could have fit into the film but didn’t make it. Jalen says there are a lot of things, but he definitely wanted to point out how life was in the early 1990s (pre-internet, how people felt about the music.)
5. For fun, someone asking Jalen if he would have called the timeout if he were in the same situation as Webber. Basically Jalen won’t answer but Jimmy King is sitting behind him shaking his head “No, no no no no” and the crowd loves it.
Clips:
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5 Comments
Dan
Just caught the movie on ESPN. I loved it. Thanks for the preview.
Tony
Not happy memories. Those guys are an embarrassment to the University. I wish none of it ever happened, and the sooner it’s forgotten, the better.
Mustelid
All five are an embarrassment? Why?
WWilson
Fab Five? Embarrassment? Far from it. Another example of thinking like a relic from the 1950’s, before TV. (It’s like chastising your own son in college for not going out with only virgins — get a grip, times have changed). What is this infantile, surreal preoccupation which so many middle-class white males have with insisting that (mostly) poor – some desperately poor – black kids must maintain some lofty mythical “amateur” status while they perform in, for example, that great swindle which is March Madness on TV? Why does it make any difference at all? Why is it so important to middle class males that the entertainer not be paid? The NCAA is a monopoly in restraint of trade. You might just as well be kvetching about the fact that someone actually allowed Michael Jackson, another young black entertainer, to earn millions when he was 18 years old. What is truly embarrassing, is that nationally and internationally famous entertainers figures, like Rose, Webber, all of them, were playing in a Final Four, bringing millions or billions of dollars to UofM and the NCAA monopoly, yet the Fab Five got none of that largesse. I have HUGE respect for the Fab Five — because they showed the spunk, intelligence, humor, diligence and commitment to excellence which is what the U of M should stand for. They did to college basketball what UM grad Arthur Miller did to American theatre. And my greatest respect is for Webber, the fall guy of college sports, who only did what thousands of college athletes have been led to do over the years — find money somewhere, under the table. Here’s hoping that someday the performers at the Final Four will sit down the day before it starts and declare that there will be no Final Four until they get paid. A pox on the NCAA fatcats (Emmert gets paid a million a year.) And to Chris Webber: you are one of the best of all the Michigan Men. Remember this great (paraphrased) quote from the mother of the OSU receiver (one of the five suspended for 5 games next year): “My son gives his life to OSU football; but I look around and everyone — except him — is going to the bank.”
Tony
I agree that students in revenue sports are misused by the NCAA. However, these guys made agreements with the University and the basketball program to follow the rules, and then broke their word for their own gain, screwing the other parties in the process: They damaged the reputations of the University, of their coach, of their teammates, and damaged the basketball program for a decade. Also, one perjured himself in court.
It’s just a game, as much as I enjoy it; what happens off the court in real life is the real priority. What are we teaching if we honor this behavior?
I’d say that the people who honor them are the people who use these student-athletes the most, more than the NCAA. It’s unintentional, but these people are encouraging teenagers to degrade themselves and learn all the wrong lessons about life, just for the sake of a game. You enjoyed the Fab Five on the court, but what price has Chris Webber paid? He’s a convicted felon, in a real court, and all will carry the burden forever.
Looking forward to Beilein’s and the team’s success, it’s great to watch these kids win, ‘with integrity’ as Bo or Carr would say. It’s about turning out young men, not about a game, as Coach Hoke would say. Go Blue!