THE U, long before there was da U

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Schnauzer

Schnauzer

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I remember earlier at the end of the summer or perhaps it was even during the season there was a thread arguing over U of MN being referred to as "The U". There were a couple individuals arguing that they have never heard that term associated with MN and claiming that whoever was using "The U" terminology was "trying to be like Miami", the "real U".

Slowly but surely an avalanche of posters weighed in with info that they have referred to MN as "the U" since they were kids, and so on. Anyway, I have chuckled to myself a few times since then when I have seen others use the term "the U". For example, take a look at the movie 'Miracle', there is a scene where Herb Brooks is asking players who they play for and one of the guys answers "Well for you, right here at the U". And today, I noticed the t-shirt on the adds that appear right here on Gopher Hole. It is a maroon t-shirt with gold lettering that simply says THE U

That whole argument, coupled with the previous "The football announcer shouldn't say 'rah' at the end of the rouser because nobody else ever has" debate just goes to prove there is always someone willing to argue anything on the 'hole.
 

Schnauzer said:
I remember earlier at the end of the summer or perhaps it was even during the season there was a thread arguing over U of MN being referred to as "The U". There were a couple individuals arguing that they have never heard that term associated with MN and claiming that whoever was using "The U" terminology was "trying to be like Miami", the "real U".

Slowly but surely an avalanche of posters weighed in with info that they have referred to MN as "the U" since they were kids, and so on. Anyway, I have chuckled to myself a few times since then when I have seen others use the term "the U". For example, take a look at the movie 'Miracle', there is a scene where Herb Brooks is asking players who they play for and one of the guys answers "Well for you, right here at the U". And today, I noticed the t-shirt on the adds that appear right here on Gopher Hole. It is a maroon t-shirt with gold lettering that simply says THE U

That whole argument, coupled with the previous "The football announcer shouldn't say 'rah' at the end of the rouser because nobody else ever has" debate just goes to prove there is always someone willing to argue anything on the 'hole.
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The legitimacy of Miami claiming the title "The U" is tenuous at the very best. The sports media has bought into it, NFL players go an camera listing their college as "The U". It's just an illegitimate marketing campaign by the University of Miami to take a title that does not belong to them. It's simply not theirs to take, and I'm not going to cave on this.

As far as "rah" goes, there are some people you just can't please. If you do what everyone else does, they will say you're just imitating. But if you do have something unique, they will complain that no one else does it. Some people are just insecure: our traditions are ours, and if someone from some other school doesn't like it, they can stuff it. We shouldn't mistake smack talk for serious opinions. Michigan has a tradition of jumping up and touching a banner as they enter the field. It doesn't seem like much of a tradition to me, but then again, I'm not a Michigan fan. Of course the BTN will gush all over this tradition, just because it's Michigan's, but it's no better than anyone else's traditions. Some people would strip the U of any traditions that someone opposing fan might not appreciate. But that only leaves you with no traditions, they aren't there for opponents to like.
 

I still have a letter circa 1968 written by Malcolm Moos. He called it "The U". Not a particularly good friend of athletics but at least he knew what to call our university.
 

The final answer is

I am not a young guy and the U is what the University of Minnesota has been called since I was a kid and the rah at the end of the rouser has been around just as long.
 

I was part of the original discussion and I don't remember specifics but I was on the Miami side of the argument.

Let me just ask you this, do you think the Miami message boards have threads that mirror this one? I would doubt it.

In Minnesota, and possibly other places in the midwest, the University of Minnesota is known as "The U."

To people all around the country, Miami is referred to as "The U." It's not that I really care about the matter, it's just my observation. I deal with a lot of people in the College football business and "The U" = Miami Football. It's just the way it is.
 


KoolAid said:
I was part of the original discussion and I don't remember specifics but I was on the Miami side of the argument.

Let me just ask you this, do you think the Miami message boards have threads that mirror this one? I would doubt it.

In Minnesota, and possibly other places in the midwest, the University of Minnesota is known as "The U."

To people all around the country, Miami is referred to as "The U." It's not that I really care about the matter, it's just my observation. I deal with a lot of people in the College football business and "The U" = Miami Football. It's just the way it is.
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To people all around the country, Miami is refered to as Miami. I don't think the the phrase "The U" is quite that deeply ingrained in the public consciousnes beyond the college football business. If you go all over the country, the phrase "The U" will be understood to refer to the the University of <insert state here>, as opposed to the term "State" which is a generic term for <insert state here> State University.

The University of Miami is promoting this usage, but that doesn't mean that any of us have to take it lying down.
 

When a patron of a sports bar in East Grand Forks says "I hope 'the U' wins 10 games next year", he's probably not talking about Miami of Florida.
 

Bo Darville said:
When a patron of a sports bar in East Grand Forks says "I hope 'the U' wins 10 games next year", he's probably not talking about Miami of Florida.
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+1

The University of Miami is promoting this, and wants us to accept it as fact, but it's paper thin.
 

Miami uses the letter U for its logo instead of M but we don't do that. The University of Mississippi uses Ole Miss as its logo. It would be dumb but we could always change the logo to The U or Ole Minnesota or whatever if we wanted.
 



I'm 29 and have always referred to the university as the "U". I am sure most people in their respective states refer to their university as the "U" as well.
 

I'm 25 and a current student, I grew up referring to it as "the U". I think everything did. I think a claim by Miami is pretty dubious. I mean, we also used to call it the U of M - but Michigan and Maryland both use that moniker too.

Personally, online I've started transcribing it as UMN. But members of my family ask me from time to time, "are you still at the U?"
 

When people say they're going to watch "State" play football, are they referring to Michigan State, Florida State, Penn State???? How about "I went to the U of M"? Did you go to Minnesota, or Michigan? All of these refer to their colleges similarly, and a debate about who is the first one to refer to themselves that way is for people who must not have a lot of things going on in their lives and are just up for debating. It's essentially a nickname. I'd like to see all the people down south fight over who's the REAL "Bubba"!

Thankfully, Ohio State clarified it for all of us that they were THE Ohio State University. I was having a difficult time differentiating them from imposters before!
 

I don't really have a problem with people using "The U" to refer to Miami. It's that they pretend that it unambiguouosly refers to the University of Miami, and that the phrase is their own property.

When people talk about "The U" to refer to Miami, I pretend not to know which school they are talking about. Let them stamp their feet and get all huffy that I 1) don't automatically assume that The U refers to Miami and 2) don't acknowledge the legiticimacy of their marketing gimmick.

It's like a restuarant claiming that "lunch" only referred to food served in their restuarant. Or trying to trademark the letter "E".
 



It's not that big of a deal folks. It's kind of like the debate of 'is it a golf club or a country club?' Everyone has their long winded definition but in reality it comes down to what the club chooses to call itself. If the University of Miami wants to call itself the University of Miami Yacht and Country Club, fine with me.
 

DA that is a little racist. Anyone who hears the players say it on Monday night football knows they emphasize THE in The U/
 

I'm sure nearly every state that has a main University refers to it as 'The U' unless they've found a better nickname like UDub for Washington.

A little research shows that the University of Miami has traditionally referred to themselves as UM. In 1972 the athletics department started using the split U logo, they copyrighted it in 1992 and it became the official logo of the entire University in 2009. This is something that has grown overtime and for some reason ESPN has jumped on the bandwagon and produced a documentary called 'The U'. They will always be Miami to me, and hopefully the rest of the country too.
 


I have always expected alot of visitors who have never arrived. Now I understand. The "U", does not refer to me. I have worried needlessly about lost people who really weren't lost. And have been needlessly angry at people who never intended on visiting. I feel better and less anxious. Thank U.
 

Down here in Texas, where people know where I came from, when I refer to the "U", they
know EXACTLY what school I am talking about, and they know it isn't Miami. I don't even
have to elaborate- no follow-up necessary.
 

Gopherlovin said:
When people say they're going to watch "State" play football, are they referring to Michigan State, Florida State, Penn State???? How about "I went to the U of M"? Did you go to Minnesota, or Michigan? All of these refer to their colleges similarly, and a debate about who is the first one to refer to themselves that way is for people who must not have a lot of things going on in their lives and are just up for debating. It's essentially a nickname. I'd like to see all the people down south fight over who's the REAL "Bubba"!

Thankfully, Ohio State clarified it for all of us that they were THE Ohio State University. I was having a difficult time differentiating them from imposters before!
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I suppose you're right about who this debate is for. Uh, you did notice you're right here with the rest of us?
 

I went to the U back in the early '70s. My brother went to the U before me. I remember back in my high school days talking about going in and seeing football or hockey games at the U. Nowadays I have to tell people I went to college at Minnesota because I live in the western US and nobody would know what the hell I'm talking about if I said the U, but it will always be the U to me.
 

I'm sure if you poll people nationwide, most would assume "the U" is Miami. We can all thank ESPN for that. But that wasn't the point of my original entry. I was just sharing a chuckle I have when I think of the guy (or guys) in that original thread (I don't even remember their login names) that were claiming nobody around here referred to MN as "the U" until someone decided to "copy" Miami. And, related posts in a completely different thread that claimed the "rah" had never been said at the end of the rouser until the football stadium announcer started to "force" it.
 

RaT said:
I'm 29 and have always referred to the university as the "U". I am sure most people in their respective states refer to their university as the "U" as well.
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This. No one outside of Minnesota assumes 'The U' refers to the University of Minnesota, it could refer to any # of schools, depending on where you are. Miami's the only one that has a semi-national claim on it, but unless they're doing 'the U' with thier hands, you shouldn't assume it's Miami either.
 

I don't think a lot of states just say "The U" like Minnesota does.

However, if you say "The U" outside of Minnesota and nearby areas, nobody is going to know you're talking about Minnesota.

I grew up in Lincoln, and Nebraska is referred to locally as UNL.

Michigan it's U of M and State.

Illinois it's U of I.

Iowa it's Iowa.

Indiana it's IU.
 

WAGopher said:
I'm sure nearly every state that has a main University refers to it as 'The U' unless they've found a better nickname like UDub for Washington.

A little research shows that the University of Miami has traditionally referred to themselves as UM. In 1972 the athletics department started using the split U logo, they copyrighted it in 1992 and it became the official logo of the entire University in 2009. This is something that has grown overtime and for some reason ESPN has jumped on the bandwagon and produced a documentary called 'The U'. They will always be Miami to me, and hopefully the rest of the country too.
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Miami is in Oxford, Ohio. Are you talking about Miami of Florida?
 

The University of Miami simply has an inferiority complex because of Miami University (OH) and they felt they simply had to poach what was traditionally called "The U" from us. I would be absolutely thrilled if we had a great season next year and Marion Barber stated, "The real U" on Monday Night Football. I know, just a pipe dream.

Nonetheless, we have a great deal more tradition, and I don't care if Miami's is more recent.
 

Schnauzer said:
That whole argument, coupled with the previous "The football announcer shouldn't say 'rah' at the end of the rouser because nobody else ever has" debate just goes to prove there is always someone willing to argue anything on the 'hole.
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I hated the "rah" when I heard about it, and I mockingly said it at the end of the rouser for the first few home games this year, but I have to say, it grew on me and I say it like I mean it now. The PA announcer made it kinda fun.
 

Bo Darville said:
Miami is in Oxford, Ohio. Are you talking about Miami of Florida?
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Bo, I'm flattered that you skipped the entire thread and only ready my post! How else would you not know we were discussing Miami Florida. :D
 

As I was watching the NCAA Hockey Championship game, Dave Ryan described the X as nine miles from the U campus, not the Minnesota campus.
 

In Minnesota, and possibly other places in the midwest, the University of Minnesota is known as "The U."
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I've never heard any other school in the Midwest referred to as "The U", other than Minnesota. UW, IU, UND, SU (or NDSU), and UM (for Michigan, not U of M...they're particular, I found), but not simply "the U".

I'm guessing every school has a term...however, it's silly to me to claim one school has rights over the other, which is why I find it silly whenever I hear it proclaimed as the be-all-end-all for Miami.

And for the record, growing up two hours Northwest of the twin cities in outstate Minnesota, I can't remember ANYONE ever calling it anything but "The U"...nobody. There was St. Cloud State, Moorhead State, Minnesota-Morris, UMD, and all the others, but if you said "The U," everyone, and I mean everyone, knew where you were talking about.
 

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