*as has become customary with these posts I try to lead off with a picture of the oppositions fans but a quick google search for "Miami Redhawks Fans" came up empty. That in and of itself is much funnier than the expected image of Miller Lite drinking frat boys wearing J. Crew (with popped collars of course) with penny loafers on their feet. And I am sure that all of this is deeply offensive to Chris who of course went to Miami.
And yes the (OH) was deliberate. I know that it pisses off the thin skinned little Miami fans who for some reason think that anyone will ever confuse Miami with Miami. The truth of the matter is that everyone who is a UC fan knows Miami. There isn't a school the Bearcats have played or beaten more often, or lost to for that matter. After all it is the longest running rivalry west of the Allegheny Mountains. And yes, that is the only time the Alleghenies get play in the sporting world so we should at least let that stupid, stupid tagline stick.
University Origins
Miami was formed because George Washington thought it would be a grand idea to have a college on the frontier of the country, northwest of the Ohio River, near the Miami Valley. And no I am not making that up. Land from the Symmes Purchase was set aside for an academy. That academy came to be Miami. The early years of Miami were pretty much uneventful, apart from construction being shut down for the War of 1812. In 1848 there was a "snowball rebellion" which consisted of half the student body packing Old Main with snow. Everyone involved was expelled and a long, slow slide to closure began, it finally took place in 1873. It reopened in 1884 and nothing really interesting happened since then. The important lesson from all of this? Even 160 years ago Miami students were still just a little bit douche baggy.
Traditions
The Cradle of Coaches: It is quite literally all they have got
Miami has exactly two traditions, one is the rivalry with UC that is one of the few in the country that stretch into three different centuries. The other is the Cradle of Coaches which ties the University to many of the innovators of the game from Sid Gillman and Weeb Ewbank to guys like Randy Walker who as at the forefront of the hurry up offensive trend. Even though, technically, Walker is not an official member of the cradle, he is the only Miami coach in the last 50 years to make any sort of meaningful impact on the way the game is played on a scale resembling the contributions made by Gillman and Ewbank.
Famous Alumni
I suppose that we should start with the obvious and say that this guy went there.
That is bad enough in and of itself, but it gets worse. I can handle Big Ben going to Miami and everything but Chris Rose? That is unforgivable. Chris Rose makes Joe Buck seem tolerable and pleasant by comparison. If you haven't figured it out by now I really hate Chris Rose.
Talking Football
Last year Miami went 10-4 but they did it with smoke, mirrors and by generally being lucky as shit. Don't get me wrong, Miami was a better team in 2010 than they were in 2009. But they weren't that much better. It certainly helped that Miami plays in one of maybe two leagues in the entire country where it is possible to go from double digit losses to double digit wins in a year. Regardless that remarkable turnaround allowed Miami to part ways with Michael Hayward days before he pissed away a promising career.
Into that void walks Don Treadwell and this game gets really complicated for me, more complicated than it was just my sister with ties to Miami. See I know Don Treadwell and his family pretty damn well. Chances are that if I go to the Miami UC game this year at Nippert West I will be watching in his box with his family. So I am conflicted I want him to do well and advance up the coaching ladder, but I also want UC to destroy Miami this year and for all eternity. Miami should be a good team this year, but I doubt they win the MAC again. Last year wasn't a vintage Miami Championship season they didn't really dominate in any single area. They were middle of the pack for the MAC in most areas statistically. Miami won't win the MAC again, but they won't go 1-11 either.
The Last Word
Tune up. Miami is not going to lay down for UC which is going for a six game winning streak against Miami which will shockingly set a new record in the series for consecutive wins for either side. Last years result is hard to get past. That was the worse UC team of the last 5 years and they absolutely destroyed the best Miami team from the same span. I still think that the gap between the Bearcats and the Redhawks is wide and getting wider every year.