College Corruption :: Who's to Blame at The U

If you've been living under a rock the last few days or don't follow sports, click here for the back story.

My dad went to graduate school in Miami in the early-mid 70's. He brought me up on Miami football in the 80s when they were "The U".  A bunch of chest-beating, ass-kicking, show-offs who were widely viewed as thug niggers to a vast white audience used to watching Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, or any other mid-western school showcasing large, corn-fed, white linemen running the "3 yards and a cloud of dust" offense. Miami Football in the 80's was an unwelcome change. A high-flying passing attack that didn't just beat people, but destroyed them with speed and tenacity that was unrivaled, and they knew it. So every chance they got to show it off, they did. Big time.

But you can't look at something without historical context. In 1983, Miami won their first championship [as a 10-seed] against [then #1 seed] Nebraska that was heavily favored at the time. In this day in age, you would never get that match-up that allowed a team to jump 9 spots after one game. Beyond that, Miami had been getting their ass handed to them by teams like Notre Dame and Oklahoma for 10+ years prior to that. Most of these "elite" teams, which had almost every high-school all-american on their roster, would leave the cold midwest and schedule a vacation week down in Miami and kick the shit out them on National TV once a year. The NCAA fat cats were happy with the Old Boys Clubs beating up on the hapless, rag-tag thugs. If you were a catholic, all-american athlete, you went to Notre Dame. If you weren't, you tried to get the most money possible between schools like Texas, SMU, Oklahoma, or some SEC school like Alabama or Georgia. There were only a handful of schools where you could gain national exposure and help out your poor family.

SMU Football got the "death penalty" for running a program so corrupt, the money chain went all the way up to the Texas governor's office. College football is an arms race, you're only as good as your next recruiting class. SMU sanctions opened up the opportunity for Barry Switzer to take the reins and do similar things at Oklahoma (read "Bootlegger's Boy" if you don't believe me).

Every time one school goes down, it opens up the chance for another to step up. Usually their rivals.

Recently, school's like USC (Reggie Bush/Matt Leinhart/coach Pete Carroll), Ohio State (Maurice Clarrett, Troy Smith, Terrell Pryor, coach Jim Tressel), North Carolina (former Miami coach Butch Davis), Tennessee/USC-again (Pete Carroll descendent and fellow weasel Lane Kiffin), and possibly 2010 champs Auburn (Cam Newton, coach Gene Chizik) have all violated NCAA rules and, in some cases, won NCAA titles!

The NCAA refuses to acknowledge ANYTHING UNTIL THAT TEAM WINS! Congratulations, here's the trophy. Soon we will take out the microscope, peel back the curtain, and find out just how corrupt this title really was. Either that, or a media outlet blows the whistle on a program and the NCAA comes out with a statement a week later that reads, "we've been investigating them for 6 months already, we just couldn't tell you..." Sure thing.

I graduated from the University of Miami with degrees in both Broadcast Journalism and American Studies. I covered the Football team for a local magazine while in college. I got to cover the team that I grew up watching every Saturday as a kid. And I'll tell you, truthfully, it ruined the fantasy for me.

I realized that college athletics are full of hypocrisy.

My freshman year, I watched the 2001 Hurricanes, the greatest college football team ever assembled. Longest winning-streak, longest home-game winning streak, largest average margin of victory, over 26 first-round NFL draft picks, etc. University President Donna Shalala started her tenure there in the same year. Donna had different priorities. Hers were to raise a billion dollars in 10 years and turn the image of Miami into the Harvard of South. Talk about not knowing your audience. Here's what happened.

2001: The Best Ever?

Miami hasn't won a title since 2001, but they led the NCAA Academic Progress Rating (APR) with Stanford for the last two years. This year, they were ranked 47 in the Princeton Review College Rankings, which was the highest ranked school in Florida. Shalala raised her billion dollars in just under her 10-year goal.

Like the locals say, "Miami is a sunny place for shady people."

Shalala the oompa-loompa yells, "show me the money" like she's Jerry McGuire, just make sure the check is made out to something that benefits the school and keeps her looking good.

Even if the check is signed by Nevin Shapiro, the bitter, convicted, $930 million-dollar ponzi schemer. He's not to blame for this mess,  University President Donna Shalala is. She didn't care where the money was coming from, just as long as it was coming. You didn't ask about this guy or his background?

Oompa-Loomp, Doopity, Doo...

That's where the hypocrisy in college sports arises. The athletes can't behave a certain way, but it's totally legitimate for the University president to open up her back pocket. Now, newly-hired head coach Al Golden is thinking, what the fuck did I just inherit.

ESPN's Heather Dinich's puts it perfectly:

"Former athletic director Paul Dee, who once sat as chairman on the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions and lambasted USC for its violations, has some explaining to do. Former athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who abruptly resigned to become athletic director at Texas Tech after he hired Golden, has some questions to answer. (Hocutt did not immediately return a call to his office.) Shalala, who can be seen in a Yahoo! Sports photo accepting a donation that was allegedly comprised of illegal money, needs to address the issue beyond the statement released earlier today. And former coaches Randy Shannon and Larry Coker, under whose watch these alleged violations took place, also need to state their cases. (Shannon did not return a text message to his cellphone.)

Funny how the majority of Miami officials who are accountable for this mess are gone."

Pete Carroll left before USC got hit, his protege Lane Kiffin did the same thing at Tennessee, and Ohio State's Jim Tressel "resigned" before he could be fired, so as to not forfeit any money lost if he was "fired".

Here's what chaps my ass. Miami basketball has never been any good. Miami Football hasn't even been good for about 7 seasons. So what the fuck was this Shapiro guy paying for? Himself! He was a 5'5" douche bag from Miami Beach who has been a professional fraud his whole life. He never played sports, never went to The U, and was never publicly accepted by any university clique. Like so many people, he fell in love with the U-Swagger in the 80s. So as long as he acted like the man, everyone should treat him like that, except for when it comes time for punishment.

Miami is full of people who can sell & promise you the world, until you start asking them how they plan on doing it. News flash: Young kids in Miami love to party for free.  This guy hoodwinked adults out of $930 million dollars, but some 18 year-old, undereducated, poor kid is supposed to say no to advances? Please. Like the Miami New Times wrote about Shapiro*, "he's the epitome of a Magic City con artist: a hard-partying, tasteless, status-obsessed gambler with a lust for harems of girlfriends, famous friends, and luxury yachts."

Shapiro and Shalala

Tell me you don't like college sports, tell me you don't like Miami, but don't tell me that this whole thing doesn't fall squarely on the shoulder's of President Donna Shalala.  This whole thing benefitted her while she claimed to be changing the perception of the school . She's the only one still employed by the university who has ties to Shapiro. The athletic department was completely overhauled 6 months ago. Rather than punish them, fire the person who is really in charge. Stop the hypocrisy.

That's change we can all believe in.

America loves two things. A winner and a comeback story. The Miami Hurricanes have been both. Donna Shalala accomplished her goal.  She changed the perception of the University of Miami.

P.s. How does Urban Meyer chime in on this on ESPN? Dude had 27 players arrested while coaching Florida! Pot, meet kettle.

*click the link for the article, "Nevin Shapiro: Miami's Caligula"