ESPN 30 for 30 "The U"

The story of The University of Miami during the 1980's, presented in ESPN's 30 for 30 "The U", left me awe struck and wishing I had witnessed the rise and fall of this particular dynasty first hand. The integration of flashy personalities and pure badass-ness in the deep south of Florida, to a college football team was new and exciting for its time.
In the 1980's inner city high school kids ran the cities and towns of southern Florida, they were exciting, they were mean and they played football. These same kids became the recruits for Miami University, and their meanness did not go away, after all it was part of who they were, a direct result of how they grew up. The hip-hop mentality and the thuggish attitudes were about to take over a nation of college football that previously prided itself on smart, white, American, rich boys, who played football the "right" way. This foundation of college football was struck at its core by the Canes. Michael Irvin, a wide receiver for the university and an accomplished NFL player as well, notably quotes in the documentary that " There was no conspiracy against us. No media plot. We were very bad boys, and we enjoyed being bad boys." It was this badass-ness that made the movie great.
Taunting, dancing, and talking enough shit to make me upset is kind of difficult to do, but to do exactly what you said you were going to do, and completely dominate the upper class of college football for almost a decade is even more difficult to accomplish. The success of the Canes gives them the luxury to be cocky, and it was this cockiness that made this documentary so fun to watch. The group dances, the chest pounding, the "suck it" gestures, the high stepping to the end zone, and all of the off the field antics such as the refusal to shake hands, speeches, refusal to eat traditional dinners that involved both teams, and of course the crime that these players committed and somehow thought was justified, made The U who they are. The self proclaimed Muhammad Ali's of football. It was watching and witnessing these things for the first time that was simply phenomenal and the reason for such a successful documentary.
It was all this flashiness, all this hype, all this badass-ness, all this thuggish intimidation, and the way it was channeled on the field that made this team great, and it was the way it was all presented on screen that made this documentary great. Not just another boring documentary, a truly great documentary that portrayed a family unlike any that had ever been seen before, and probably never will be seen again in the same fashion, that family is the family of the University of Miami, The U.
To conclude, this documentary is top notch, it's badass, all the way from the coaches and owners to the pistol whipping in the tunnels, and even if you lived through the 80's and saw this team first hand, this is certainly a must watch.
Score 9 out of 10.