Canes win, just like old times _ but don't carry bad-boy reputation.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

You can have five exceptionally strong fingers, but they must come together for their fury to be felt in a fist. Apart from one another, fingers can be easily gnarled, jammed and broken, no matter their individual strength. But when they are together, really together, close and tight, there is a protective safety in the bond and those exposed fingers suddenly become like all the best sports teams _ rock-hard, united and ready for any kind of fight.

One For The Thumb. That was the University of Miami's slogan before it won its fifth college football title Thursday night, and it had, if you'll pardon the expression, a championship ring to it. In their final game, as they put the perfect punctuation on a flawless season with a cruel knockout of Nebraska, the Hurricanes were every bit as banded together and invulnerable as fingers on an especially violent fist _ and a bejeweled one, at that.

This Miami team had more character than talent, and that's a pretty remarkable thing to say, given that its talent was more overwhelming and breathtaking than …