Advice from Sam Webb: Don't Boo Chris Webber
Sam and Ira were taking about this subject on WTKA this morning and I believe it's something that should be shared. If you're not happy that Chris Webber is coming back to Ann Arbor, just close your mouth or keep talking to your buddy. Do not boo him during the coin toss. This a huge recruiting weekend for football and basketball, and booing a former player can only reflect poorly on our university and our treatment of former athletes. With that said, there probably will be some boos and that means that everyone else should cheer that much louder to make Webber and the recruits feel welcome.
Go Blue and Beat PSU.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
what about finger snaps instead of clapping?
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
Like the Sharks vs Jets in Westside Story? That's sassy.
I'd prefer to go with the Euro version of booing: whistling.
November 3rd, 2018 at 7:34 AM ^
I'm hep to that, Daddy-O. Booing a Michigan cat is just squaresville.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:03 PM ^
Just blame the boos on psu. Problem solved.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
Maybe some people will just be saying Boo-urns.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^
Web-boooo-r
Web-boooo-r
November 2nd, 2018 at 9:18 PM ^
Did someone call for me?
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
I'll boo him from my TV
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
Well, there was that phantom time out..ah, nvm, it's all water under the bridge.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:07 PM ^
Boo Chris Webber? I hope he does a ceremonial dunk at halftime of tonight's exhibition basketball game.
Anybody who boos Chris Webber does not have a particularly good understanding of what transpired at Michigan from 1990-1998 in basketball. Yes, he should have told the truth about it to the Grand Jury, but he was far from the only one involved. I am not sure what people want him to do. Say sorry? I really don't think he owes anybody an apology.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
I'm afraid that ship has sailed. Chris will forever be the primary villain in the whole Ed Martin affair, justified or not.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:12 PM ^
I don't see him that way. If people want to "blame" anybody they should blame Steve Fisher.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:24 PM ^
Let me be clear, I don't see him that way either, but the popular narrative around the whole incident has been distilled down to the easiest and most visible target, which has been Webber. The truth is much more subtle and most people can't be bothered to really understand it. It's easier to adopt the black/white position of Chris Webber is a bad person and move on.
Nobody should boo, but I know there will be plenty on hand who will.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
The average fan says "Ed who?" and remembers Steve for the National Championship. Chris was tagged with everything, even though teammates and someone from another school were also involved.
At this point, he has to own it, but ensure (as much as possible) that everyone understands that he did something as a kid that he regrets as an adult. I have a bucket load of things that I regret doing as a younger version of me. I'm glad I'm not in out there in the public!
November 2nd, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
^^^This. Every one of us of a certain age can look back at our younger years and think, "My God, what the hell was I thinking?" If I made a list of every fuck-up I made in college and through my 20's, I could probably write a small book.
But part of being an adult is taking that critical look at your younger self and, as you said, own it. If Webber simply said something like, I made a foolish mistake. I was young, I didn't think it through, I screwed up and I'm sorry.
I really think that would do it. Most people are pretty forgiving if given the chance.
Edit: And I agree - don't boo. It doesn't look good.
November 2nd, 2018 at 5:22 PM ^
The average fan probably barely even knows this situation was much of a thing. You'd have to be at least middle-aged to even have been old enough to remember it, plus you'd have to have been really into it for a teenager or you'd still yet have to be older (now), PLUS you'd have to have cared that much about sports which most fans don't, PLUS you'd have to care that much about MMB and this is at a football game.
I'd be surprised if 10% of the people there are aware that they "should" be upset let alone enough to boo.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:16 PM ^
No; that is what I have been trying to communicate in this entire affair. It is a mistake to think of Chris as the primary villain. But Chris' very big and as-yet enduring problem is that he didn't help make Ed Martin the prime villain. Chris's silence and criminality helped to wrongfully make the University of Michigan a villain.
I think that perhaps Chris thought that a narrative that would help him was the "poor-college-athletes-don't-get-anything" narrative. Chris got a fabulous education opportunity at Detroit Country Day School, and then the University of Michigan and somebody got about $280,000 tax-free cash from Ed Martin.
November 2nd, 2018 at 2:26 PM ^
Anyone who thinks Chris Webber is the "primary villain" in the Ed Martin ordeal did not attend the University of Michigan and is literally insane.
November 2nd, 2018 at 4:36 PM ^
I did. F him and all non-victims claiming to be victims
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:14 PM ^
I've seen several board members say an apology is mandatory. The "for what?" continues to elude me.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^
All I can think of is shaming their institution of higher learning. I guess someone can yearn and need that but I find it pedantic and nothing to do with them. But humans are inherently entitled.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:52 PM ^
This is a depressing thread.
Chris Webber forfeited his right to cheers from the fanbase when he accepted money, and then again when he failed to come clean about it. Are these the values that are supposed to define a Michigan Man?
I’m willing to bet that many of you who will be cheering Webber derided OSU fans for cheering Tressel — and you would do so again if they brought him back for a 25-year anniversary. They’re no different — they broke the same rules for the same purpose.
Michigan is supposed to stand for something. The only thing Chris Webber appears to stand for is himself.
November 2nd, 2018 at 11:00 PM ^
Very few people here thought nailing OSU for tattoogate was the moral thing to do. We were happy because they actually got punished. North Carolina had some of the most egregious infractions and got away with everything. Not to mention all the legitimately awful things that keep coming out of college sports. Anyone still pissed about Webber taking some money for being good at basketball 25 or so years ago needs to wake up.
November 2nd, 2018 at 2:05 PM ^
You're excusing him just because he wasn't the only one who a) lied to a grand jury and b) broke NCAA rules by taking a large amount of money under the table? Talk about situational ethics. Homers are the worst. Imagine if this were an ex-Sparty. He lied under oath. He broke the law. And he, among others, caused the program to spend a decade in the wilderness. He's no hero.
November 2nd, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
He did not cause the basketball program to spend a decade in the wilderness. Poor facilities + hiring Brian Ellerbe + hiring Tommy Amaker caused us to spend a decade in the wilderness.
November 2nd, 2018 at 3:05 PM ^
1989 team will always be my number 1 Michigan team. Obviously with my avatar. But I am over hating on c Webb. It’s been long enough and I have no problem with c webb
November 2nd, 2018 at 5:46 PM ^
Lying is both on Webber and the program. They should have convinced him to just tell the truth, despite program repercussions. The spotlight on Michigan is so strong and he seemed to be standing alone among sharks like Martin, and Fisher should have known the danger there.
Webber knows hes culpable but is pissed the program took no responsibility, and thus has stayed away. His view is they made a ton of money on him, and they did, and thought taking pocket money wasn't a big deal. So be it. He must not be booed .
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:09 PM ^
Sad this even needs to be mentioned. Some of the best memories of my life revolve around that team and that era and they should be embraced.
Welcome home Chris, it's been too long but we're glad your back! Put the banners back up while your here!
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
I remember getting the black socks and wearing really baggy shorts in youth basketball. The Fab Five transformed the game with their swag, trash talk, and just their persona on the basketball court in that era and Chris Webber was an integral part of their success
Great memories!
Go Blue!!
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:08 PM ^
On the one hand, we were guilty of something so I feel like the banners should stay down (and I don’t believe in Final 4 banners anyway. Win the thing and then hang a banner.)
On the other hand, we are playing PSU this weekend and those pedophile-enabling sycophants restored 111 wins to JoePa’s record.
November 2nd, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
That last bit is where I am on this: what has happened at Baylor and the rest of the B1G East has put all this in perspective.
I personally think we should hang the banners and fully embrace the Fab 5 for the cultural phenomenon they are - including recognizing the scandal and maybe someday when the NCAA gets sued into it, an editorial on the fairness of not allowing young players to benefit from their fame.
Same thing for the Willis Ward story - own it good and bad.
The truth will set you free ... continuing to pretend - not acknowledge - the good and the bad only causes continued controversy and underlying resentment.
November 2nd, 2018 at 3:08 PM ^
I turn 40 next month and I'll have the black socks on in the Ann Arbor Rec D-League in a few weeks. Never gets old.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^
Even if you hold on to decades old hate (for a stranger...who was a teenager when he committed his infractions...but I digress) for Webber, PLEASE do not boo.
5-star ATH Quavaris Crouch will be at the game with his mom and grandma.
5-star C (basketball) Walker Kessler will be at the game.
A myriad of other recruits will be there.
The game is on national television and there's a good chance ESPN wants to get a Webber at mid-field shot.
Don't boo. It's never a good look. Not now, not for our players, not for Webber. Never.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^
Any chance they can just tell the recruits that it's just the Penn State fans booing?
November 2nd, 2018 at 2:55 PM ^
And that we’re just quiet? No.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:19 PM ^
I'm not going to be at the game, and if I were I would applaud him, but I don't think a HS athlete would factor booing Chris Webber into his decision.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:28 PM ^
What if you're from out-of-region, attending your first game at Michigan, already skeptical about the colder weather, and the game literally starts with Michigan "fans" booing one of their own?
What if all the above is true and the person they're booing is a legend who plays your position in your sport that you look up to?
I think that, if you're not already indoctrinated into Michigan and what it is as a university/athletics department, significant boos would absolutely dampen your first impression of the fanbase and how you'd be treated here.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:57 PM ^
Maybe it could be a teaching moment. “Unlike some fan bases, Michigan fans actually care about whether or not you follow the rules.”
November 3rd, 2018 at 8:34 AM ^
It’s 25+ years later. Move on.
November 2nd, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
If the recruit is truly stupid enough to not realize the situation, and put two and two together, and realize that this is something that in no way effects them and that it is an isolated incident, then I think its not that big of a loss FFS.
November 2nd, 2018 at 2:57 PM ^
Are you worried we may hurt these recruits or their grandma's feelings by being around a crowd that shows their emotion? Jesus dude, this isn't little house on the prairie.
November 2nd, 2018 at 11:35 PM ^
Was Little House on the Prairie known for not being emotive?
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
Webber is either 'hate him' or 'don't hate him', so good luck with the PR suggestion! Personally, I wish he'd apologize for lying about having taken money. Something like, 'I'm sorry we got in trouble because I lied, didn't want it to come to that. But yeah, I took money because we should be paid, dammit! And I was in college and needed it!'
I want to hear that from him, but I wouldn't boo him, either - dude and his teammates gave us some great bball and fun times that will never be forgotten. Boo's for that are low class - he was a kid that did what he thought he needed to do for him, and then got caught up in it...
As for the >decade long morass to UM bball? UM brought that on themselves with poor coaching hires (everyone between Fisher and Amaker - looking at you, Ellerbe), and waiting too long to pull the trigger on others. Amaker was a great bridge between crap and Beilein - a guy beyond reproach with a national name. But he was kept a couple of years too long, I think.
But yeah, I digress. To the OP's point - don't boo Chris!!
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
UM didnt get in trouble because he lied about taking the money, they got in trouble because he took money.
I see your point and respect your opinion though.
Me personally, I have moved on. Welcome back Chris
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^
Don't tell me what to do.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:12 PM ^
Don't be a complete jackass, oh sorry, I'm not supposed to tell you that. Carry on!
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:36 PM ^
Who shook your martini today and made you so salty?
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^
Right.
They couldn't even get the whole stadium to wear maize against Nebraska when it was printed on the freaking tickets.
November 2nd, 2018 at 12:40 PM ^
Honestly that's pretty common. Most teams that successfully get stadiums full of coordinated shirts usually end up giving away shirts, and placing them on the seats.
November 2nd, 2018 at 1:01 PM ^
Michigan should consider this. Hell, just raise the price of tickets for that particular game by $5. That would easily cover the cost of making those shirts.