Glenn Garvin Totally Doesn't Get The U, Insults Randy Shannon

via Rakontur

How is it that a man who's paid to review television doesn't seem able to grasp ESPN's The U in the same way that writers who don't generally review films do? Oh right, because it's The Herald's Glenn Garvin we're talkin' about.

While other early reviews of Rakontur's documentary on Miami Hurricanes football key in on how the film ties in the racial tension and vast poverty that ran through Miami at the time, Garvin ignores that and just riffles through the sensational negative aspects of the team. The stuff that anyone vaguely familiar with the history of the team already knows. He doesn't touch on the comical and touching segments that the other reviews see.

Of course it's the closing paragraph that really should piss off fans and flies in the face of evidence:

It's recently been reported that current Hurricane coach Randy Shannon, who played for the team during the '87 championship season, has welcomed Campbell back into the football family at Miami, allowing him to give talks to the players. So it sounds as if The U, like every good horror movie, will have a sequel.

You probably already know the highly touted factoid that only one Hurricanes player has been arrested under Shannon's reign as head coach, and that was former QB Robert Marve -- who left the team last year, with apparently no love lost between him and Shannon. And wasn't it just this morning the 'Canes were awarded for their academic excellence? It's just lazy to say the team is headed back to controversy when all available evidence points elsewhere.

Of course, maybe it's for the best Garvin takes this route instead of actually talking about the deeper, racial and class aspects of the film. Knowing him, that might not have been pretty.

You can make up your own mind about the film when it premiers on ESPN this Saturday at 9 p.m.