I feel like I spent the past twenty-four hours in a blender set on puree. Just over two weeks from kickoff, optimism abroad, the Al Golden era about to get under way … and then this. Nevin Nagasaki. Hurricane Hiroshima.
Accusations of a convict. Former superstars from the ‘U Family’ tied to something shady. The NCAA camping out in Miami’s backyard. The media landing another anti-Canes story they can run with. It’s a Gator or Nole’s wet dream.
Like the rest of Hurricane Nation, I’m trying to wrap my arms around all of this – which hasn’t been easy to do based on the accusations, the accuser or the program in question.
A pure scumbag in the mold of Bernie Madoff, running his mouth from the inside, miserable in every aspect of this thing he calls a life and proudly boasting that he’s looking to wreak havoc, taking down anyone and everyone from his lonely prison cell.
A “man” seeking vengeance against players whose affection he tried to buy, instead of making amends with the countless folks he swindled out of millions. More focus on writing a tell-all book and destroying a university that pushed him away than doing something meaningful with what time he has left on this planet.
Nevin Shapiro is a steaming pile of human garbage. Scum of the earth and a perennial hanger-on with an oversized ego to overcompensate for his paltry 5’5″ frame. A little jock-sniffer, mugging for the camera in every picture and seemingly working overtime to sell the world on believing that he was “one of the guys”.
Yahoo! Sports attempts to push the Nevinesque photo gallery as something torrid, but the trained eye can see an overzealous booster mugging with players, in a Facebook world where people attempt to turn a meaningless encounter into a lifelong bond.
When you think of the typical front-runner and bandwagon fan, Shapiro is your posterboy. An unlovable loser who started donating money to the University of Miami in 2001 (shock – when the program was at an all time high) and a nobody using stolen money to in an attempt to become a somebody, buying his way into the ‘cool’ crowd.
A hack with the self-appointed moniker “Little Luke” – something you imagine this little Ritalin junkie howling into a player’s ear when asking for another personalized autograph for his trophy case.
Fan support is all over the map right now, as expected. The Yahoo! expose and round-the-clock ESPN coverage has been calculated. Sensationalism at its finest, all in an effort to elicit emotion. Sports media is a big business … which is why Yahoo! went from a search engine to the Woodward and Bernstein of college sports investigations.
For those embarrassed by the actions of legendary Canes, it’s understandable. Seeing some of the greatest names associated with this program thrown under the bus – it’s like finding out Santa Claus isn’t real. (Sorry kids.)
That said, let’s urge against a holier-than-thou stance and let’s remember the source. That’s not to say something grave hasn’t occurred, but let’s wait for the NCAA to report their findings, as opposed to basing everything on a jaded thug and two sports media outlets.
The Yahoo! report was extensive and detailed, but until it’s proven, it’s nothing more than a sensational story and which each hour that passes it seems more are speaking out, shooting holes in Nevin’s story. Either way, it’s time to shift the focus off of the report and put it on the NCAA investigation.
In all that’s gone down in college football this off-season, it’s amazing no one is painting a bigger picture regarding the overall issue that this type of behavior has become commonplace. A sports world that has elevated high school athletes to a level of stardom that yesterday’s professionals didn’t see and the coddling itself begins in junior high, or even the Pop Warner level.
Miami may be the scandal of today, but there were others yesterday and there will be more tomorrow. The game and culture are broken more so than UM as a program.
Today’s 18- to 22-year old star athletes have their asses kissed from middle school until their careers end – be that in high school, college or after reaching the NFL. Toss in the broken homes that many of these kids come from, overinflated egos, a sense of entitlement, a sports culture that elevates them to a god-like status and the allure of money to teenage-athletes-on-a-pedestal can prove too hard to turn down.
That doesn’t excuse the behavior, but it helps explain how things run amok and when you toss in a vulture like Shapiro, who swindled, schmoozed and won over smarter, older, more successful adults and professionals. Folks with strong resumes and banks accounts. Folks that should’ve known better and folks that make it easier to grasp how today’s entitled college athlete was ripe for the fall.
But there’s also the other side; that point where morality must come into play. Rugged upbringing and street mentality aside, there’s a world of difference between the temptation of a handful of cash on a recruiting trip and a decadent lifestyle. When discussing a one-time occurrence versus repeated bad behavior, at some point shouldn’t conscience take over? The line between right and wrong isn’t that blurry.
You read the reports and sadly it goes hand-in-hand with today’s sports culture. Wild parties. VIP access. Strip clubs. Loose women. Money to burn. Tales of crazy night life in the big city.
It’s much of the ‘stuff’ that lures kids into this world in the first place. The same way every kid with a guitar wants to be a rockstar so he can get girls and party ’til sun up, today’s average football player wants the NFL “lifestyle” as much (if not more) than he actually wants to play the game itself.
Stories like this have surrounded professional sports for years. The New York Mets in the mid-80s and the Dallas Cowboys in the early 90s were the most prominent. Where this thing goes new levels of sideways is the fact we’re talking about amateurs, not pros, but all the jaw-dropping needs to stop – all the feigned ‘shock’ as if this is new news for those who follow America’s favorite past-time, treating athletes like heroes because they run faster, tackle harder or catch better.
On a Miami-based radio show earlier today a caller referred to the NCAA, universities and administrators as the “pimps”, the fans as the “johns” and the players as the “whores”.
I dare someone to disagree.
The NCAA has descended upon Coral Gables and they’re doing their digging – as they should. Even if these allegations are from a vindictive thug trying to give his meaningless life purpose, red flags are raised and a full investigation is warranted.
UM was first alerted to Shapiro’s claims just under a year ago, but neither he or his lawyer would provide any additional information. They were saving it for the NCAA, and Yahoo!, who one would assume paid Shapiro a pretty penny for his story.
Once UM knew was in the know, the university itself notified the NCAA and began looking into the matter. The NCAA is said to have been investigating UM for upwards of five months and to date, no suspensions have been doled out.
All we have are one-sided claims from a desperate felon. Until the NCAA cracks down, it will have to remain business as usual for first-year head coach Al Golden, his staff and for these distracted Canes about to embark on the 2011 season.
From a fan’s perspective, you hope that the majority of this is embellished. Nothing more than desperate claims from a desperate man. Pictures at a nightclub and line-item credit card statements from just shy of a decade ago – not exactly concrete proof when talking about shutting the doors on a program.
The majority of the pictures on display appear to be from 2002-2003, which is definitely puts a black eye on that era of Miami football – but it’s also eight to nine years ago, featuring players long gone and guys who played for a head coach five years removed.
There are a handful of current Canes on the master list and again, you hope at worst those are claims of recruiting violations and that the days of yacht rides and hotel parties are as far removed as Kellen Winslow II and his infamous ‘soldier’ rant.
In all that Shapiro did spill to Yahoo!, there was nothing about former head coach Randy Shannon and if you read much of what’s been released, Shapiro loathed the fact that Shannon shunned him. Wouldn’t even speak to puny man or make eye contact (though Nevin tied several no-longer-with-the-program Shannon assistants to the scandal).
Shannon had been around the program – and the city – long enough to know that even a white collared booster could spell trouble. Thuggery isn’t proprietary to street agents and other bottom feeders.
The majority of what went down happened on the watch of former head coach, “substitute teacher” and after this, arguably the worst hire in Division-I football, despite a ring and a 24-0 start, Larry Coker.
Like a grandpa who didn’t want to actively parent, Coker warned his players about guys like Shapiro, but also like a grandparent, there obviously was no real policing – just a blind belief that kids knew right from wrong and would inherently stay away.
On a surface, this is a disastrous story, but as we sit here today, it’s also very one-sided. Unlike Shapiro, Yahoo! and ESPN, the NCAA is obligated to look at this situation, logically and not emotionally. Whether it does or not, we’ll see. With scandals at Ohio State, Southern Cal, Auburn, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, et al – this is a fork in the road for the NCAA.
Do they clean things up across the board and move forward, or do they pin it all on the perfect scapegoat; a universally loathed program with decades worth of image problems. Not to mention, a private school that does little on the revenue generating side regarding the NCAA’s bottom line.
Taking down Ohio State hurts the NCAA fiscally. Again, there’s a reason five superstars were allowed to participate in the most recent Sugar Bowl, with penalties pushed towards this season and there’s a reason the hammer didn’t fall in Columbus as swiftly as many expected it to. But in Coral Gables, the NCAA could reign hell without any serious fiscal ramifications, while satisfying the masses who demand that “something” is done.
Scandal rocked the college football world this off-season, which begs the question, when does the NCAA get to the heart of the matter? When do they start cleaning up the game across the board? Boosters are part of the problem, but so are generally out of control players, as well as coaches with a “win at all cost” mentality.
Even in ‘retirement’, former Florida head coach Urban Meyer is still revered. Two national titles over a three-year span and some great, teary-eyed speeches about his All-American everything Tim Tebow … but what about those thirty-plus arrests that always wound up back page news?
Shapiro’s nasty little tale is disgusting any way you spin it, but does it really compare to firing off AK-47s in public, aggravated assault, drug possession, stalking, battery, DUI, resisting arrest, violation of a sexual restraining order, felony counts of burglary, domestic violence, as well as stealing a credit card off the deceased girlfriend of a deceased teammate and running up months worth of charges?
Where was the Yahoo! expose on UF’s five-year run under Urban or all the other SEC programs – Georgia, Tennessee, etc. – who were hovering around two dozen arrests each over a similar span?
How can the NCAA claim “lack of institutional” control when a booster opens up his wallet, but allow a university to police itself when criminal laws are being broken left and right by “student athletes”?
Meyer suspended or booted kids that didn’t matter (in the grand scheme of winning), while letting superstars fly under the radar. (Safety Tony Joiner was arrested on a Tuesday but played at LSU the following Saturday – his punishment, being stripped of his captaincy.)
If the media is going to bring a witch hunt, then sack up and go balls out. Don’t go for the US Weekly cover story – go for Watergate. Take down the entire corrupt system, not just a few pawns in the game.
For Miami, the million dollar question; what did administrators know or not know? Was university president Donna Shalala really sweeping everything under the rug or turning a blind eye for a $150,000 donation? A woman with an impressive resume and the ability to raise tens of millions of dollars for the medical school, making UM a globally-respected university? She doesn’t seem the type to taint her legacy for the sake of the football program.
At the time everything about Shapiro screamed overzealous white collar booster / know-it-all fan. Before the Ponzi scheme this is a man who had hundreds of people fooled into opening their checkbooks. How is it so far fetched to believe that Shapiro could fool someone he was actually giving money to instead of stealing it from? How are critics so aghast that a world-class con-man was able to fool school administrators, coaches and college kids? Is that really so far fetched?
All this nonsense about access to the Orange Bowl press box and the university president dropping by a sky box on game day – standard procedure with big time boosters at major universities. Same to be said for sideline passes, locker room access, leading the team on the field and even flying on the team jet to and from away games.
Of course that’s only part of Shapiro-gate. The tip of short-stack’s iceberg. Yahoo! spent months carefully crafting Tuesday’s bomb, so the attempt of making sense of it in a day – it’s impossible.
It’s another waiting game in Coral Gables and while instinct has everyone angry, hurt and freaked-the-hell-out, alas, patience is the only emotion that should inhabit this fan base.
Right now it’s about supporting the innocent – namely Coach Golden, his staff and the gross majority of current Canes who have zero to do with this scandal. Nineteen days until kickoff and if you thought this program needed your support before, after this news, Golden and crew need you more than ever. Step up and support their cause. – C.B.
So I was just looking at the pictures that yahoo got. Now I’m sure there are many more that haven’t been released but if you look at the pics what you realize is that from 2008 on most of douche boys pics are with the basketball team and not the football players as much. Looks to me like he moved from the football team to the badketball team by 2007 (due to Shannon hating him). Maybe this post and my other is wishful thinking but once you get over the litany of pictures and stories and analyze you see that from 2007 and on the football team while in contact with him and got some money from him was nothing compared to what was going on in 2002 to 2006. This may be the silver lining and the reason why marve, brown brothers were cleared because his access may have been significantly limited. What y’all think?
I meant to say players on the football team not the whole team obviously.
Thought the same thing when looking at the images. Seems Shapiro’s Miami football heyday was 2002-2003, with him appearing to move his allegiance over to basketball once Shannon got on board. Maybe this will be Randy’s parting gift to UM – proof that he worked diligently to keep a guy like that out. Doesn’t seem Hurtt, Pannunzio and Hill got the message, but if Randy and the admin weren’t in the know, that could help.
The Yahoo! story was well-detailed … but it’s all based on speculation from a criminal and must be proven. Can it be? We’ll see.
The story by Yahoo! was some of the most irresponsible journalism I’ve ever seen. Not only is it all based on speculation from a criminal, some of it is blatant bulls***. The first paragraph Robinson says “[Shapiro’s} benefits to athletes included but were not limited to….an abortion.” Now while that is shocking and certainly gets people’s attention, Shapiro goes on to say that the player didn’t even know the girl was pregnant! That explanation is naturally buried, and most people don’t get that far. Charles Robinson is almost as disgusting as Nevin Shapiro.
I just randomly went to the accusations on William Joseph. According to his bio his last year that he played as a Hurricane was 2002. The accusations were in 2003. Several photos were from 2003 and one was from 2008!
This situation kinda reminds me of the first of the two big wikileaks incidents that occurred. In the first big leak the wikileaks people flooded the media with a whole bunch of information. In those initial first days there was shock and sensationalist stories as to the damage and the shock of all the information that was leaked. Once a few days passed and people actually looked at the documents that wikileaks revealed people in the media and else where realized the information was old and not pertinent to that moment. In essence it was made out to be bigger than what it was. I believe you have something similar with the U. All the revelations are shocking and appalling. But look at the dates when many of those things happened 2002, 2003, 2004. That is a long time ago. I think the most serious violations are the fact that some of the coaches were working with him that is the most damning. Well that and the 73 players. But if you can only prove a handful of players then what you have is nothing different than unc and USC. All the prostitution, strip clubs, abortion that’s all sensationalism BS. Did it happen, I’m sure it did, is there a check with a prostitutes name on it, I don’t believe so. The story is huge cause it involves a large number of players and a lot of immoral things but in terms of a program running wild which is what the media is portraying no way that is the case. I think a lot of the allegations Spanish different time periods mostly from before Shannon and the fact the yahoo article released it all at once in such detail makes it seem much worse than what it is. what may hurt us most is the stupid coaches and their dealings with him. Ive criticized Shannon during his tenure but if he managed to save the program by keeping this guy away for the most part then he should get a statue of himself at the U.
Span different time not Spanish different time (typo)
I was just thinking that about the statue of Randy right before I read it in your comment. If it’s true that he shunned this guy just in time to protect the football program, they should erect a 30ft bronze statue of him right in the middle of the Rock on campus. In any event, I think this will only galvanize the mentality at the U. Once again, we must band together as a family and get through another threat to our sovereignty and Alma Mater – even if this time it is quasi-domestic.
I thought about this all last night. Everyone has been hard on Randy Shannon for excluding the press and former players, but maybe he knew if he isolated the players, he could protect them when this situation blew up. Being a Cane for most of his life, he knew this was going to happen. People can say whatever they want about Randy, but he is a proud Cane and he put the University first
Honestly most of the pictures look like they could have been taken at booster events, and the yacht crap is stupid, because if you are going to deny athletes leisure time in Miami, then you should deny it everywhere and keep them locked in their dorms because thats about all they can do from the way everyone is making this sound. I also dont see how bank statements prove anything. Its not like it clearly states the player the money was spent for. This all seems like an idiot that is pissed he got caught, and wants to take his anger out on someone. If the NCAA wants to make a point of this well then they should investigate every team that has boosters donating to schools, especially when they hold events where boosters and players can interact. This is a NCAA problem not a Miami problem.
I can also say that i am truly glad that al golden is at the helm of this team. The way the guy deals with the media is astonishing.
I agree, the two most amazing facts that I have taken away from this whole affair is:
1.) Al Golden is one of the classiest men in Div1 and I am thrilled to have him in command, despite the fact that curb trash Shalala lied by omission and the school hid this info from him at hiring.
2. That Shalala is in fact curb trash for not telling him and she needs to be thrown on bonfire of appeasement to the NCAA, just for starters.
All I know is that in the end I don’t see how the President keeps her job after this. SHE is the head of the whole university and everyone, from the AD to coaches to players, takes their cue from her. The sharks are circling in the media, calling for the death penalty and for us to be made the example. I am numb already and expect the worst, but I don’t think it will change what is going on across college football.
i gotta be honest canes305 this doesn’t look like we are gonna end up on any high ground with this crap. Now i don’t believe golden or anyone else will leave because of this and i believe he won’t allow this to happen but this doesn’t look good. Plus all my friends who are cane haters are loving this.
Now i’ve looked at the photos too and it does look as if his hay day was 02 and 03 with football and maybe he is bitching because he had to settle for the universities b team and play with the basketball kids. Or maybe he is just a lonely cell mate with no one to comfort him but whatever the reason he did this, dude is tryin to put miami down for good.
Now when this story broke i told my buddies its no big deal the guy is just mad cause he thought he was closer to the program than he thought. and if the dude had all this info why doesn’t the ncaa already have it? If it was so readily available then why was it not public right off. Yes the hacks at espn believe we are getting the death penalty i don’t. i think we will get some major scholarship reduction and some bowl bans for a few years but no death penalty. I just hope none of our guys that are on the team now dealt with this ahole in anyway. Because if they did we are going down hard. We seriously look like usc and smu in this and thats not good. We need something good to happen or this season may not happen and may not matter.
It sucks cause things were lookin on the the up and up i mean big time run game qbs completing 70% of passes and not turning the ball over. and a defense that was reved up and ready to go. All looked to be well but that old saying looks can be deceiving is the best way to put it right now.
I am so sick over this I can’t even describe it. I refuse to read any other articles other than what I find here! I can only imagine the hate and inaccuracies that are being spewed by non Canes. thank God for this blog and I still love my Canes!
The picture Nevin Shapiro paints is that he used other people’s money to buy “friendships” with football players. The other people whom the money belonged to where his family, friends and people who trusted him. How ironic, taking money from friends to buy new ones. He was no real booster. He didn’t do any of this out of the goodness of his heart. A person like that has no goodness in their heart. He is all about me me me me. Since his little fantasy world collapsed he wants to bring down as many people as he can with him. He is a pathetic excuse for a human being. I hope he enjoys prison.
There’s no telling where this might all end up, but I think that anything short of the death penalty would be acceptable.
If it did end up with the death penalty, that would surely be the end of Hurricane football.
I heard in wqam radio that Shannon keep this guy
away from his players. Therefore most of the issues may
have come under coker!
Honestly, if something doesn’t fundamentally change about the structure of college football, then there’s only going to be a dozen more of these cases in the next few years.
Check out a piece we wrote about the scandal on our site, notyourfatherswatercoooler.com
There is a lot of denial going on here. I agree that the lack of hard evidence is more substantial than the presence of said evidence, but this isn’t a court of law we’re talking about. It’s the NCAA, who does whatever the f*ck it pleases. Just look at the USC case. Not to cite precedent, because the NCAA never does that either, but largely circumstantial evidence could do us in. Let us hope the NCAA isn’t listening to the media and its cries of “Death Penalty.”
Can someone please explain to me why when a Florida player gets arrested everything is taken care of by Mr. Johnson, a lawyer, . Would you think this is a special benefit?
As a 30+year supporter/fan of UM. and after hearing jimmy Johnson this morning on Mike & Mike, Let’s wait and see what is really facts etc. I agree that guy’s like this have no business around any programs, but also the players have to know that wrong is wrong.
My very heart is hurting. Just the thought of the death penalty, of not being able to see the greatest team in all of college football makes me want to cry. This is what our enemies, and we have many, have been waiting for. My brother who is a Florida State fan, said “now all the Miami haters will come out of the wood work”. He’s right. Every living soul who has EVER wanted the end of the Miami Hurricanes will now surface and be heard. Previous post about support is dead on. We must hold fast! Death Penalty worst case senario, suspension best case senario. Either way Shalala is done. Shes outta there. And i think she knows that, if theres any chance of the greatest team in college football living through this she will have to sacrifice herself and probably the athletic director as well. Shapiro, you are human excrement, i hope you rot in hell! A true booster is someone who PUTS THE SCHOOL FIRST, not themselves. Calling all ALUMNI from the 80’s and 90’s all FIRST ROUND DRAFT picks, Coach Erickson, Coach Johnson we NEED YOU NOW! Family lets rally, whatever happens LETS STICK TOGETHER !!
AllCanes, you bring up several excellent points and echo many of our thoughts. I have only written a few times to you, and one of those was on Aug 29th, 2010 inresponse to theAug. 27th article on the Media Guide. I was deathly afraid of this issue back then and it looks like it may end up worse than I thought possible. I am an extremely loyal Cane fan, but still just a fan and have no inside info on this. But trying to put this whole thing together there are a few points that I would like to comment on.
First, the university should have told Golden and his staff. The U has made it public that they tried to gather specifics about these allegatgions from Shapiro/and attorney a year ago. They knew that at least SOMETHING may be “percolating”. No matter how much validity the U felt there were to any allegations, they should have at least told the new staff. I feel so bad for the guys out there busting their butts and Golden et al as it really seemed that great things were ahead for this program.
Second, I have an issue with the “willful violations” clause, whatever it is. From reading many other comments, it seems that the meat of Shapiro’s mess with the football program dates back to the early 2000’s. My guess is that the NCAA doesn’t have a ton on the current players. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Shapiro is lying, but it seems that most of the “evidence” probably is from the earlier era. My fear is that the NCAA is trying to hit a homerun here and that’s why they are going back that far. I hear many current players on other teams have already been cleared, so I hope many of our current players will be cleared-still waiting on that. If the NCAA had plenty of evidence on our current 12 players then they would have plenty of ammunition for whatever they wanted to hand down. It seems that we are already guilty in the eyes of…well everybody and the NCAA is trying to gather up as much ammunition as possible. Given the fallout before, I personally don’t think the death penalty is on the table, despite the NCAA president saying otherwise. However, I think the NCAA WANTS to come down hard and is doing what it needs to do to make it justified.
Third, as you mentioned a few days ago I am ticked about the mass exodus that has happened during the last year. I am upset with myself for not being able to see through this earlier. It has become very apparent that many people KNEW this was coming and let the garbage can fall on someone else. I believe The Beast had an excellent article on this somewhere else, and this point should not be forgotten.
Lastly, I would like your opinion on how you think Golden should handle the current 12 implicated players. I heard Herbstreit supposedly suggested that they should be suspended immediately. My gut reaction is that we should support those guys until an infraction is proved or from recommendation from the NCAA, and not abandon our own when things got tough. However, with each day that passes and no word on their eligibility, I think we need to be proactive. This is the NCAA and their ego needs to be stroked a little. Suspend the players now and at least show them we are taking action. Maybe when all of this is over, and hopefully all of the current players will be exonerated, then they will get another years of eligibility? I don’t know if that is possible, but that’s why I would like your feedback. Thanks, Brian
AS A CANE FAN SINCE DAY 1, WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SINGLED OUT AND HATED…HMMMM? I WONDER WHY….HOW ABOUT BECAUSE OF SUCCESS!!! THIS ALWAYS GETS THE ATTENTION…BUT FOR SOME ODD REASON THE MEDIA AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEEMS TO NOT WANT IT FROM MIAMI!! MIAMI HAS BEEN BLACKSHEEPED FOR THE SAME THINGS THAT MOST, AND I MEAN MOST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PROGRAMS ARE DOING ACROSS THE LAND…MIAMI SHOULDNT GET THE DEATH PENALTY BECAUSE OF SOME CONVICTED (PROBALLY PAID) TO DO SO SNITCH..SHAPIRO DID WHAT ALL SCUMBAGS ALIKE DO….RATHER THE NCAA SHOULD MAKE IT THEIR UPMOST GOAL TO ROOT OUR ALL OF THIS CRIME IN EVERY PROGRAM BUT THAN THERE MAY NOT BE A COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAM LEFT… HOWEVER IF MIAMI IS TRULY GUILTY THE ONLY FAIR PUNISHMENT WOULD BE TO SUSPEND THE CURRENT PLAYERS AND INDIVIDUALS INVOLVE… GOD BLESS OUR KIDS…AND LONG LIVE THE U!!!!!!