Deja U : Us Against The World

Days into Shapiro-gate, and the piling on continues. Even on the weekend, when you’d expect things to quiet down a bit. Every hour on the hour, seems another national media member wants his or her say and their five minutes regarding the latest hot topic.

And so it goes, Hurricane Nation. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The critics never went away. They’ve just been laying low and waiting on a new reason to pile on. Now they have one. Thanks, Nevin.

A few days back I felt embarrassment when the story broke. The sensationalism surrounding the Yahoo! piece – I was sucked in like any other sports fan in America. The media was doing its job; selling advertising space while working overtime to be ‘edgy’.

One idiot yelling louder than the fool next to him on the panel. If one uninformed moron screams “death penalty” the next one-ups him, going further and demanding the program is completely shut down.

Why not just blow the university up and put the entire team and coaching staff in front of a firing squad? Burn it down and let all the outsiders and critics descend on Coral Gables to piss on the ashes. ESPN F U can cover it and run a 24-hour loop all season. Miami already got the station its strongest ratings ever (UM / FSU 1994, UM / FSU 2006, UM / UF 2009). Hit for the cycle you hypocritical Bristol hacks.

No, a few days later any embarrassment has now turned to anger. Anger towards the piling on. Anger town a nationwide holier-than-thou attitude. Anger towards a flawed system and anger towards an old boys network that will look to make an example of the renegade program it’s hated for three decades, instead of doing the right thing and blowing up what’s been broken for so long – the system itself.

In the past few days a long-time coming epiphany: I hate college football.

I loathe what this game has become. I’m disgusted that those suits in town “investigating” see themselves as part of the solution instead of part of the problem, while the culture of the modern day sportsfan has reached an all-time low.

It’s your typical social hierarchy. A bunch of elitists turning their noses down at those who they feel are ‘lesser’. It’s high school bullshit alive and well in the real world.

A popularity contest with the administration ready to make an example of the rough-around-the-edges kids from the other side of the tracks, while the cheerleaders and jocks hide behind their parents’ money and social status. (Oh how I long for the SEC’s day to come. The Internet will break the day that story hits.)

I grew up a fan of the underdog and almost four decades into life, I still go against the grain and subscribe to the anti-establishment. It’s a big reason I still feel such strong ties to the city of Miami fourteen years after leaving my hometown and it’s the reason the Canes have always been more of an attitude and mindset than just a program.

It’s also the reason I stand here today, double birds raised in the face of the NCAA with an attitude of “do what you’re gonna do”, expecting the worst from a corrupt system adverse to any real change.

Miami is the perfect scapegoat and everyone knows it. FOX’s Jason Whitlock was one of few who had the stones to nail it a few days back. Nevin Shapiro is attempting to destroy UM to feel better about himself and you outsiders love what he’s doing because it makes you feel better about yourselves.

NCAA president Mark Emmert doesn’t want change. He wants to slap Band-Aids on cancer. A university ‘lifer’ who was probably a coin flip away from a career in politics. Shake hands, kiss babies, over promise, under deliver, fundraise and keep pushing papers.

No NCAA president is a forward-thinker looking to revolutionize anything. It’s about toeing the company line, making sure the rich stay rich and doing things more for show than to grow. The pressure is now on Emmert to let the class delinquent have it, while the secretly-troubled popular kids get off with a slap on the wrist.

All this media-fueled “death penalty” nonsense has forced Emmert to at least open the door to that type of punishment.

“If, and I say if, we have very unique circumstances where TV bans and death penalties are warranted, then I don’t think they are off the table and I would be OK with putting those in place,” said Emmert.

Spoken like a true politician instead of someone with some balls saying what needs to be said – that the NCAA is in the midst of a five-month long investigation and all that’s changed this past week was the release of a sensationalized article, which stemmed from the tales of a convicted felon who has already ruined many lives.

What happened to protecting your own, Mr. NCAA President? Put it out there; the University of Miami should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Instead, you give the idiots the headline they want – one ESPN ran with on Friday based on picking apart your words; “NCAA head: Death penalty should be option”.

While a new flavor-of-the-minute media idiot seeks his fifteen minutes, back-page news continues to trickle out, picking apart the Yahoo! article that started this whole firestorm. UM enthusiast Vishnu Parasuraman gave his take days back, picking apart the work of Dan Wetzel and Charles Robinson.

Matt Hayes at the Sporting News penned a piece asking why players at other programs tied to the story have been cleared, while no Hurricanes have – even in cases where the allegations are identical – and not just kids who were recruited by Miami and signed elsewhere, but kids like Robert Marve and Arthur Brown, who signed with and played for the Canes.

UM often takes grief for an “us against the world” mentality, but in the wake of public outcry this past week, maybe the critics will understand why. Had the allegations of a jailed Ponzi schemer come out against any other program, how many national media members would’ve jumped the accused (at this capacity) without even questioning the credibility of the accuser. An accuser who’s publicly stated that his intent is to destroy the program he once loved.

A twisted, attention-starved individual sitting in a jail cell, with aspirations of writing a “tell-all” book, filling spare moments writing ‘gotcha’ letters to the former Canes who stopped taking his calls years back.

It’s a lynch mob in full force right now, full of hypocrites looking to take down a program they’ve hated, feared and envied for decades now.

For the Miami fan, the only advice – turn off your TV, shut down your computer, go outside and take in some fresh air.

The truth always comes out, but until it does, the sports landscapes will be infiltrated with these roaches: the kind of loser who sees someone on the ground in a fight, runs in to get a few kicks in and scurries off before the attacked can get to his feet to fight back.

Keep your head up, Hurricane nation. Miami is a tough program and a tougher city. No one here is going down without swinging. – C.B.

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