Things are looking up, Mr. Sebastian … mothers are selling their kids hard on Miami. Go Hurricanes!
In most cases, parents don’t usually want their kid going to Miami.
Let’s review the reputation, shall we? The Hurricanes have been mired in an improper benefits scandal, involving a former booster (think UNLV style under Tark the Shark’s reign of terror). New details are still coming out on that. Back in the 1980s, Miami was a hotbed for sex, drugs and running up scores as the culture of the “U” took over Americ. (think Michael Irvin and a pom pom full of cocaine).
While Al Golden has sought to clean the program up, some ghosts will linger. It’s hard to break bad reputations. But as horrible of a reputation as Miami might have nationally, it isn’t quite as bad as Arkansas apparently.
A mom of one of the top football recruits in the country has instructed her son not sign his letter of tent for Arkansas, insisting that he go to Miami instead. The player, running back Alex Collins, showed up at Miami Wednesday to sign, then left without putting his John Hancock on it, according to ESPN.
“The family was not on the same page and needed to work things out,” said school athletic director Mike Collins.
Collins’ brother told ESPN that going to Miami would be “a better program for him” and “it’s more convenient if Mom wants to go to a game.”
Mark your calendars. For the first time in our lifetimes, a student-athlete is choosing Miami over Arkansas and this move is being endorsed whole-heartedly by his mom.
Sixers fan buys row for $0.74
As much as the Sixers have struggled this season, the team still stands within striking distance of the playoffs, just a few games behind Boston for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference.
But with all the Andrew Bynum drama in Philadelphia — and the return of the beloved Flyers — fans in the City of Brotherly Love don’t care much about watching the pro hoops team. Truth be told, there really has been much buzz about basketball in Philly since Allen Iverson took his cornrows to Denver. And left his mansion in Atlanta.
One fan took his frustration to hilarious levels Wednesday night when he tweeted out a screen grab of his purchase order from Stub Hub, via philly.com, which shows a completed order for 18 tickets at $0.04 cents apiece totaling $0.72. (He wound up paying $10.67 due to delivery and service fees. Damn taxes!).
The fan later tweeted out a photo of himself relaxing at the game and sent a Twitter invite out to Sixers CEO Adam Aron. No response.
We realize these Sixers aren’t going to win a championship. Heck, not even a Dikembe Mutombo finger wag could make that happen. But they are at least competitive on most nights, unlike the Charlotte Bobcats and Detroit Pistons. Yet a quick PFT research project revealed that the cheapest ticket to a Bobcats-Pistons game was selling for $1.10 a seat.
With the Flyers struggling right now — and the Eagles and Phillies not playing — that’s just cruel, Philly. Don’t be cruel.
— Mike Greger is the sports editor for Metro Philadelphia. Follow him on Twitter @mike_greger
