Q. What does that "U" on the University of Miami's football helmets stand for?
Steve Schatz
Baltimore
A. It so happens that the university's president is a big Hammer fan. After the rapper's big hit, "U Can't Touch This," the school president decided to honor Hammer by having Miami athletic teams sport a "U" logo. U don't buy that? Good for U. Here's the real explanation, as contained in a recent University of Miami media guide:
"In 1973, the UM Athletic Federation, the fund-raising arm of the athletic department at the time, commissioned a local public relations expert to develop a distinctive logo. The University had gone several years with a variety of helmet and uniform changes and the Federation noted that a number of major colleges have the initials UM. Miami designer Bill Bodenheimer suggested the 'U' idea, which lent itself to inserting silhouetted athletes in the middle of the 'U' to establish distinctive logos for each sport as well as slogans like 'U gotta believe' and 'U is great.' "
# There, U satisfied?
