NCAA Investigation: Miami is now on the clock

[GrantDawg]

This looks ugly, ugly, ugly.

Renegade Miami football booster spells out illicit benefits to players - Investigations - Yahoo! Sports

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

This looks ugly, ugly, ugly.

Renegade Miami football booster spells out illicit benefits to players - Investigations - Yahoo! Sports

I am going to be pissed if they take away the national titles and all the wins the team had recently.


What?

[molson]

So that's what a booster looks like, huh? Not what I expected.

I'm sure the bloggers will inform me when we have a "done deal" regarding sanctions/investigations.

Edit: Also, Yahoo's really into these investigations. I know they've broken stories and are a billion times more legit than most - but an 11-month investigation? Why can't the NCAA ever figure any of this out themselves?

[dawgfan]

Shapiro is a real shit-bag of a human being. I'm not trying to deny culpability by those in Miami's athletic department - if they were in the know and involved in Shapiro breaking rules, they deserve whatever (severe) punishments they get.

That said, why the fuck is Shapiro doing this to his "favorite" program? It's not Miami's fault he got busted for his Ponzi scheme.

Between swindling hundreds of millions and continuously acting like a giant douchebag, this fucker can't be jailed long enough IMO.

[miked]

This makes me very happy.

[Eaglesfan27]

Miami needs to get the death penalty.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Miami needs to get the death penalty.

Or maybe they'll be the centerpiece of the rebirth of the old Southwest Conference

I'll keep an eye on the blogosphere for that news to break.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Shapiro is a real shit-bag of a human being. I'm not trying to deny culpability by those in Miami's athletic department - if they were in the know and involved in Shapiro breaking rules, they deserve whatever (severe) punishments they get.

That said, why the fuck is Shapiro doing this to his "favorite" program? It's not Miami's fault he got busted for his Ponzi scheme.

Between swindling hundreds of millions and continuously acting like a giant douchebag, this fucker can't be jailed long enough IMO.

Because he got arrested, and all his "friends" deserted him. People you help break the rules aren't exactly guys you should count on.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by molson

Edit: Also, Yahoo's really into these investigations. I know they've broken stories and are a billion times more legit than most - but an 11-month investigation? Why can't the NCAA ever figure any of this out themselves?

I gotta give Yahoo credit. They break an awful lot of these stories that certain other sports "news" organizations seem to always miss.

Now if only we could get them started on business or politics- then we'd have a real winner...

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Or maybe they'll be the centerpiece of the rebirth of the old Southwest Conference

I'll keep an eye on the blogosphere for that news to break.

Or they make a perfect expansion match for the SEC. Bama's going to be pissed if they get knocked off the 'top cheater' perch.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I gotta give Yahoo credit. They break an awful lot of these stories that certain other sports "news" organizations seem to always miss.

ESPN would have suspended the writer for something like this.

[bionicgrov]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

ESPN would have suspended the writer for something like this.

Yep.

[Toddzilla]

In before the lock

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

ESPN would have suspended the writer for something like this.

Yes, suspended.

"Say, anyone know what ever happened to John Smithington. He broke that story about USC on ESPN and no one has seen him since. His phone is disconnected, house abandoned, and the police found his car on route 9, burned out and abandoned last year"

SI

[lcjjdnh]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I gotta give Yahoo credit. They break an awful lot of these stories that certain other sports "news" organizations seem to always miss.

Now if only we could get them started on business or politics- then we'd have a real winner...

SI

Yes, if only other news organizations would devote resources to helping the NCAA enforce rules that hurt teenage athletes...

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

ESPN would have suspended the writer for something like this.

Feldman wrote a book about Miami, too, but he's already been silenced.

[Ksyrup]

My favorite part of this is no one at Miami thought it was wrong for a booster to be the agent for 2 1st round picks.

Oh, and Paul Dee oversaw not only the first scandal, but the second, and then went on to work for the NCAA to judge USC for its scandal. Wow.

[Ksyrup]

Miami vs. Ohio State, September 17th

My favorite name so far is the Ineligibowl.

[RainMaker]

Yahoo! has become really good with their reporting. They make a mockery of ESPN's NBA reporting too.

[bronconick]

In the extreme short-term, this could help Miami since Jacory Harris is on the list.

Missouri basketball fans are probably thrilled since this probably kicks Haith right back out of town as well.

[the_meanstrosity]

Originally Posted by bronconick

In the extreme short-term, this could help Miami since Jacory Harris is on the list.

Missouri basketball fans are probably thrilled since this probably kicks Haith right back out of town as well.

Those are my sentiments exactly. If anything, Missouri lucked out with this and have a reason to fire Haith before he drags the program down.

[tarcone]

Wait, Miami cheated?

[Ksyrup]

The stripper abortion story is horrendous.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

The stripper abortion story is horrendous.

The only part of the story I didn't buy.

[CU Tiger]

This is pretty heavy shat...even for someone like me who is rarely even mildly surprised by some of these allegations.

[Ksyrup]

You've obviously never been to a Miami strip club.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

This is pretty heavy shat...even for someone like me who is rarely even mildly surprised by some of these allegations.

That's what I can't get over. This isn't small time stuff, and with heavy documentation. Yikes.

[Ksyrup]

You know, this reminds me. Back when the Ohio State thing broke (I think - all of these scandals are starting to run together), somebody claimed that there were two more scandal exposes in the works, one of which would come out "soon" (perhaps that was the Oregon/Lyles thing?) and one that would come out in several months, which would have put us around August.

I don't remember who that was (a Yahoo person?), but I guess that guy knew what he was talking about, huh?

[Ksyrup]

From Stewart Mandel's article, a list of current players/coaches potentially affected by this:

Among those named in Yahoo!'s report (which includes individual pages detailing the specific violations alleged against each player, many with audio of Shapiro's interviews with the feds) are current 'Canes quarterback Jacory Harris, receiver Travis Benjamin, safety Ray Ray Armstrong, linebacker Sean Spence and defensive tackle Marcus Forston -- some of the most important players on the team. Normal protocol says Miami declares them ineligible until their statuses are resolved and any found benefits can be repaid -- and that could take awhile. One former 'Cane accused of accepting benefits, quarterback Robert Marve, is now at Purdue. His status may now be in limbo as well. Ditto, Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown.

And then there are the coaches. Yahoo! raises some pretty serious charges against former basketball coach Frank Haith, now at Missouri, If they're true they could cost him his job. Two former football assistants, Jeff Stoutland and Joe Pannunzio -- accused of taking recruits to Shapiro's home -- are now on Nick Saban's Alabama staff. The NCAA will have questions for them. Ditto, Clint Hurtt (Louisville) and Aubrey Hill (Florida). Unlike all those former 'Canes players now in the NFL, the active coaches are obligated to cooperate with investigators.

Meanwhile, two particular coaches go conspicuously unmentioned throughout Yahoo!'s report: Former head coaches Larry Coker and Randy Shannon. Apparently, they were unaware. Coker was oblivious enough in general to believe it, and it wouldn't surprise me if Shannon helped drive Shapiro away. By 2007 (Shannon's first season), Miami's compliance director, David Reed, was apparently so aggressive about policing player-booster contact it nearly drove a drunken Shapiro to punch him out in the press box.

And if Shannon was unaware of his players' off-campus activities, what chance did Dee have? Is a 60-something-year-old man supposed to hit the clubs on Friday night to check out who his players are hanging out with? Of course not. That's ridiculous.

Except that's exactly what he suggested USC should have been doing.

Have to say, there's still more to come I assume, but Randy Shannon seems like a stand-up guy. That was the line when he got fired, too, but if he escapes implication in this, that's all the more impressive. Coker, OTOH, always had the look of a clueless guy.

[TurnerONU22]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

You know, this reminds me. Back when the Ohio State thing broke (I think - all of these scandals are starting to run together), somebody claimed that there were two more scandal exposes in the works, one of which would come out "soon" (perhaps that was the Oregon/Lyles thing?) and one that would come out in several months, which would have put us around August.

I don't remember who that was (a Yahoo person?), but I guess that guy knew what he was talking about, huh?

I know that Dan Wetzel (or Charles Robinson, either one) mentioned this when he went on the radio in Columbus right after the OSU story broke, and that quote was the first thing I thought of when I saw the Miami story.

[PilotMan]

The motto of this story is "you lie with the snake, you expect to get bit."

[TurnerONU22]

My bad, it was Charles Robinson and he stated the same thing when he went on the radio in Chicago

Charles Robinson, one of the investigative reporters for Yahoo! Sports, was just interviewed on the Waddle and Silvie show on ESPN Radio 1000 in Chicago. He stated that there are two additional high-profile stories he is working on, on which will break within the next few weeks and another that looks like it will break in August. Mr. Robinson was prodded fairly hard by Tom Waddle, but would not divulge any individual or institutional names. He was asked to rate the Tressel story on a scale of 1-10 scale, and gave it an 8. Mr. Robinson rated the story to be broken this month as a 6-7, and gave the late-summer story a 10-rating, without hesitation.

[PilotMan]

after reading the whole article, wow, that is some incredible detail. And again, something that I am sure it is happening on some level in nearly every campus all over the US.

[digamma]

At the going rate of $78 in benefits per year of probation (Ga Tech $312 benefits = 4 years probation), Miami stands to be on probation for just under 13,000 years.

(I know, Ksyrup. I know.)

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Yahoo! has become really good with their reporting. They make a mockery of ESPN's NBA reporting too.

And they have a radio network now.

[Young Drachma]

Jim Larranaga has to be wondering what he got himself into. Oops.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by digamma

At the going rate of $78 in benefits per year of probation (Ga Tech $312 benefits = 4 years probation), Miami stands to be on probation for just under 13,000 years.

(I know, Ksyrup. I know.)

I am totally fine with this analysis.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

after reading the whole article, wow, that is some incredible detail. And again, something that I am sure it is happening on some level in nearly every campus all over the US.

Watching the ESPN Blueprint special series they have...Urban was on there talking about how he asked some of his top players on Florida about this stuff and they all said it is rampant throughout, and he asked for examples and was given some examples.

He, Stoops and one of the other coaches on there were advocating stricter regulation on this and tighter rules.

[larrymcg421]

Wow the Canes are really stupid. Don't they know you're supposed to funnel all the money to the parents so the athletes can play dumb?

[Ksyrup]

Wait - Meyer was asking current players after he retired about receiving impermissible benefits, and they openly talked about it?

Yo NCAA, take the turnpike north to 75N and get off at exit 384, then turn right.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by larrymcg421

Wow the Canes are really stupid. Don't they know you're supposed to funnel all the money to the parents so the athletes can play dumb?

They can pay for their own strippers.

[Ksyrup]

[Desnudo]

I think this stuff is like blood doping in cycling. Does anyone truely believe any major program is clean? It's all degrees of corruption.

[Crapshoot]

Meh - Its hard to be outraged. the NCAA is a protection racket that gets pissed of when the people generating its revenue *gasp* benefit from it.

[molson]

If the schools and the NCAA actually policed all of the rules it would actually be pretty creepy. The only other group of adults I can think of whose lives are regulated to this degree (how much money they can make, how they can make it, who they can associate with, where they can live, what gifts they can and can't get, what kind of car they drive etc), are people on criminal probation and parole. And even that level of supervision can only go so far. Maybe every NCAA athlete should be handcuffed to a rules guy on the day he signs his letter of intent, only to be un-handcuffed during games and practices?

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by molson

The only other group of adults I can think of whose lives are regulated to this degree (how much money they can make, how they can make it, who they can associate with, where they can live, what gifts they can and can't get, what kind of car they drive etc), are people on criminal probation and parole.

You forgot a large chunk of married men.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

My favorite part of this is no one at Miami thought it was wrong for a booster to be the agent for 2 1st round picks.

Oh, and Paul Dee oversaw not only the first scandal, but the second, and then went on to work for the NCAA to judge USC for its scandal. Wow.

"We didn't have any suspicion that he was doing anything like this," said Dee, UM's athletic director from 1993 to 2008. "He didn't do anything to cause concern."

Well, USC got punished for should have done more work into investigating their program. Lets see what Dee does here

[Ksyrup]

[bhlloy]

I'm not a proponent of the "OMG USC should sue the NCAA!!!" crowd, but if Miami doesn't end up with at least comparable sanctions then I don't see any other way around it.

It's going to be delicious to see Dee try to squirm out of this one. Sorry to all the true UM fans, but I can't say I'm sorry that it's happening to him.

[Ksyrup]

Comparable? If they have reasonably solid evidence on even a quarter of this, they are going to have to come up with a new level of punishment short of the death penalty - assuming they don't have the nads to levy the DP.