Open Mic:Fab Five, 2003 Tigers among worst Michigan sports disappointments

James Andersen by Contributor Written on June 11, 2008
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It’s difficult for me to pick out any one disappointment in sports history and call it the greatest of all of time.

 

If I had to pick a recent one, it would be the New England Patriots 2007-2008 season. Tom Brady and Co. went 16-0 in the regular season and made it all the way to the Super Bowl only to lose in the closing minutes to the eventual champion New York Giants.

 

Given the media build-up and the popularity and talent of the Patriots, they seemed destined to take their place in history as the greatest team of all time.

 

The Giants had other plans and put together a great effort for the win. With the way the Patriots breezed through the regular season, a championship seemed inevitable.

 

They walked away empty-handed.

 

Instead, I’ve highlighted several disappointing moments in Michigan sports history in the past 20 years. These are four events/moments I consider to be some of the biggest disappointments in recent Michigan sports history.

 

The failure of the Fab Five-

Five players—Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Ray Jackson, Jalen Rose and Jimmy King—took Ann Arbor by storm in the fall of 1991. These five freshmen are still considered by many to be the greatest recruiting class in college basketball history.

 

With their collective talent, these guys made the Wolverines a dominant power for two years, with their street ball style and hip-hop fashions on the court. They went 55-13 and went to back to back NCAA title games as freshmen and sophomores, losing both times.

 

As good as they were, the Fab Five never reached their ultimate goal of a title, though if Webber had stayed another year, they might have. They often played poorly against lesser opponents and only seemed to show their full talent range against powerhouses like Duke. Unfortunately for them, their legacy as basketball players is often best remembered by Webber calling the timeout he didn’t have in the waning seconds of the 1993 title game and turning the ball over.

 

The Fab Five was simply a great team that couldn’t finish.

 

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written on June 11, 2008 History

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