University of Miami football is more than national championships, 30-game winning streaks, and being a pipeline to the NFL. It's the Gator Flop, defeating Tulane on a fifth down, and playing three games in eight days. It's converting third and 44 against Notre Dame, Michael Irvin talking smack with Florida State's Deion Sanders, and Vinny Testaverde being sacked by hamburgers. It's the Jet Lag Kids playing seven road games in one season, including one in Tokyo, and it's the Ibis mascot being arrested on the field in Tallahassee and being nicked by a bullet on Bourbon Street. Tales from Miami Hurricanes Sideline is a collection of the greatest anecdotes and stories ever told about 'Canes football. Jim Martz, who has covered the team for more than three decades, chronicles the ups, downs, and sideways of this spirited program that has produced five national championship teams under four different coaches since 1983. They have won under charismatic and colorful coaches and under low-key coaches. More than anything, they have won with colorful players. In an age of parity and just a few years removed from the program nearly being dropped, the Hurricanes have defied the odds and become the dynasty of modern college football. Tales from Miami Hurricanes Sideline offers stories about Lou Saban trudging through a blizzard to recruit Jim Kelly, Howard Schnellenberger in suit and tie refusing to sweat on a sweltering Gainesville afternoon, and Dwayne (aka The Rock) Johnson sharing defensive line duties with Warren Sapp. There are also details about Schnellenberger's pipe and Jimmy Johnson's hair (and Larry Coker's lack thereof). There are tales about 30,000 fans storming the Miami airport togreet the team's return after an upset of Purdue and crowds of just 11,000 in the Orange Bowl when the program bottomed out and only two radio stations--one in English and one in Spanish--carried the games. It is a must-read for fans of the Hurricanes and all those who envy them.

Jim Martz has covered University of Miami football since 1973 and has been editor of CaneSport magazine since 1992