Customer Reviews

Cane Mutiny: How the Miami Hurricanes Overturned the Football Establishment

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It seems the Miami Hurricanes fall into the same category as the New York Yankees. Either you love 'em (and I love both teams) or you hate 'em. Whichever category you fall into, you can't deny their importance to their sports. Bruce Feldman (who attended "The U" as it's called and also served as a writer while there) gives a complete rundown of the 'Canes rise to prominence from the dredges of the late-'70's through the wining and dining of Willie Williams in early 2004.

Mentioned in great detail along with the National Championship seasons are the bowl game losses to Boston College and Penn State (Jimmy Johnson says the Penn State loss was the toughest of his career). Also, the late-'80's-early-'90's "Catholics vs. Convicts" games against Notre Dame are expounded upon. The Fighting Irish hated the rebel, thug-like image of the 'Canes while Miami hated the stuck-up, we're-better-than-everyone-else image of Notre Dame. These games are considered some of the best in college football history. A humorous story of Brian Bosworth being woken up by a late-night phone call to his hotel room is also included.

But Feldman makes special note of the camaraderie between teammates and between current and former players. The phrase "It's a 'Cane thing, you wouldn't understand" was directed towards those who didn't like the program or didn't get the closeness of the team.

If you're a Hurricanes fan, this is a must-read. If you're a college football fan and not a 'Canes fan, it's still an easy recommendation.

As a huge UM football fan, I eagerly snatched Bruce Feldman's account of the 'Canes phoenix-like rise, fall, and subsequent rise to the upper echelon of college football. Feldman has obviously spent hours buried in the historical archives of UM and college football's past. He doesn't shy away from our nation's segregational past or the winning-at-all-costs mentality of today's top programs.

The book is crammed with quotes and ideologies from UM's greatest ballers; the pages are filled with memoirs of those superstars whom effortlessly transferred their skills to the next level (Michael Irvin, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis), as well as those players that left their legacy at school (Gino Torreta, Lamar Thomas).

It's the shear breadth of what Feldman tries to accomplish that prevents this book from being utterly riveting. Rather than focusing on an archetypal season and let the reader connect with each player on the squad, Feldman throws the entire school's multi-decade football history at the reader and drowns out any possibility of nourishing an emotional connection.

If you want to read about mighty UM's struggles and accomplishes throughout the years, this is a great reference. A captivating emotional story it is not.

This book describes the history (mostly recent) of the football powerhouse of the University of Miami Hurricanes. The author, Feldman, describes the beginnings of the Cane attitude, the former players and how they still feel part of the team, the problems that the team and the program have gone through, and the misperceptions. There won't be any incredible insights in the book, but it is a fun, entertaining, easy read. Good for a long plane ride.

I should preface this by saying that I am a recent alumni of "The U" so this was a book of which I was extremely interested in. That being said, this is a very well written book and a quick read that you don't want to put down. It's written in a very easy-to-read style and flows well. It is very well researched and I learned quite a bit about a football program that I thought I knew a lot about already.

If you care about the history of college football and want to learn about one of the most historic and important football programs in the country, definitely check this book out. You won't regret it.

If you are NOT a fan of the Miami Hurricanes, you should really be a sports junkie to invest the time in reading this. But if you are, this book will be endlessly entertaining, even though it's a little (maybe a lot) rough around the edges.

This book is good read for College Football fans. Those who aren't will have a difficult time following this book, though I doubt they'd even glance at it. Surprisingly it wasn't as insightful as I anticipated, a lot of the stuff I've read before in magazines like Sports Illustrated. The pre-dynasty history is very interesting as is the chapters devoted to Butch Davis. Feldman seems to fast-forward through the parts about Schnellenberger and Erickson and seems to focus mainly on the Jimmy Johnson influence on the school.

I don't consider myself a Caine fan but follow them passively having attended one game in the Orange Bowl. This book does a great job discussing what the program has accomplished in the past 25 years which is nothing short of a miracle. Most programs now are built by spending the most money and having the most fans which generally will be large state schools with some holdovers from previous eras. USC and ND come to mind. But the Caines secret is the local athletes that have attended and done well and continue to come and give back. Being actively involved in a D1A program I can tell you this is nothing short of a huge accomplishment. Hearing the stories of FAMOUS players coming back to mentor current athletes is inspiring.

Now of course there has been a history of coaches to be chronicled and some of the first really set the tone for the program, Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson come to mind. While all the coaches have been successful, many were never comfortable coaching this program under the pressure of previous athletes and local rap stars. But the program has survived and remains an "in your face" program that you either like or hate. To me, it's all about the athletes and what they inspire. Older people are generally not going to like the aggressive style. Me, I enjoy watching them do it the Caine way.

While the accounts mentioned in this book are definately one sided, this was a very enjoyable read for me. It made me wish I attended the U back in the day. Being a current student and reading about the passion the teams and coaches used to exhibit during games envoked a bit of jealousy in me. If you are a Miami fan then there is no reason why you shouldn't read this book, and if you are a football fan there is no reason why you shouldn't read this book. GO CANES!!!

Where this book shines is in detailing the run up to the fifth national title in 2001. Everything else has been written before. Feldman does a good job overall. But it's just a starting point for his next book, the excellent "Meat Market."

I ordered the book an I had it in my hands within 3 business days. Excellent service. I would definitely recommend this seller 100%. The book is great; it tells great stories about players, coaches and the program itself. It is amazing how the U became a powerhouse.