For a read on the scandal-scarred Miami Hurricanes football program, look no further than the resale ticket broker Stub Hub. There, you can grab passes to "U" home games for as little as $7 against Kansas State and just $6 for ACC rival Georgia Tech.
The Canes' 2011 season kicks off under a cloud of controversy, with investigations into shady dealings by former team booster Nevin Shapiro. If Shapiro's shenanigans are as sensational as he claims, many college football observers believe the NCAA will shut down the program.
The imprisoned South Florida ponzi schemer -- who alleges that he paid players, showered them with gifts, including Cadillac Escalades, and even purportedly funded an abortion for a player's girlfriend -- threatens to send "swagger" headlong into oblivion.
"I'm holding my breath. The U has meant so much to so many people. You can't have college football without it," says Dave Aronberg, a former state senator who has been a lifelong Canes fan since his days growing up in Miami.
Aronberg, who earned bachelor's and law degrees at Harvard, says, "I don't believe what happened warrants the NCAA 'death penalty.' It doesn't come near the actions of SMU in the 1980s, when there was corruption from the university up to the top of state government. Here we have one booster with a history of lying."
Shapiro, who former UM coach Jimmy Johnson called as a "jock sniffer," became a team booster in 2001. Apparently miffed that former players "turned their back on me," the ponzi schemer has reeled out a series of salacious allegations which, he claims, point to a program out of control.
Media reports, led by Yahoo Sports, have quoted Shapiro as saying he provided cash, cars, prostitutes and entertainment to at least 72 football players, including 12 currently on the roster.
"I think this stuff happens at a lot of schools. That doesn't make it right, but let's not pretend that the U is an outlaw program while other major schools are clean as a whistle," Aronberg said.
That said, Attorney General Pam Bondi's drug czar singles out former athletic director Paul Dee for lax oversight and poor judgment.
"He never seemed to have a grip on what it takes to be an AD. Sign basketball coach Perry Clark to an extension? Sure! Sign Larry Coker to an extension? Then had to buy him out. Sure! Hire Randy Shannon? Sure! All terrible decisions, so why were we surprised that this happened under his watch?" Aronberg said.
Others wonder about UM President Donna Shalala, a former Clinton administration official whose tenure at Miami began the same year Shapiro became a booster. If the football program is closed, she should go, too, they reason.
Shalala says she has no intention of stepping down. Last week, she issued a terse statement:
"As a member of the university family, I am upset, disheartened, and saddened by the recent allegations leveled against some current and past student-athletes and members of our Athletic Department."
That selective wording has only angered her critics, who noted that Shalala failed to include herself in the denunciation -- even as she previously posed for cameras in accepting a $50,000 check from Shapiro.
"Everybody in college football knew there was something going wrong there. Anybody with common sense knew it, including their president and the board of trustees," said Robert Lloyd, a Lehigh Acres resident who follows the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Under pressure to act before the NCAA does, Miami officials reportedly declared ineligible eight unidentified football players said to be under investigation. Sources told the Miami Herald that quarterback Jacory Harris and linebacker Sean Spence were among those ruled ineligible.
The Herald identified 10 additional players whose status remains questionable: defensive tackle Marcus Forston; receivers Travis Benjamin and Aldarius Johnson; safeties Ray-Ray Armstrong and Vaughn Telemaque; defensive ends Adewale Ojomo and Olivier Vernon; linebacker Marcus Robinson; cornerback JoJo Nicolas; and tight end Dyron Dye.
Simply being declared ineligible now does not necessarily mean a player would miss any games this season.
Under NCAA rules, when a school finds violations have occurred, the athlete typically is declared ineligible and the NCAA begins a reinstatement process.
"The school must declare the student-athlete ineligible and then can seek reinstatement," NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn told ESPN.
Saying the "punishment should fit the crime," Aronberg related that he has received messages from fans and other unnamed teams "that are gloating.
"I would caution anyone from throwing stones from a glass house," he said.
New UM athletic director Shawn Eichorst acknowledges there are "tough times ahead" at Coral Gables.
"These are not times for pity and reflection. All of my efforts and energy are committed to ensuring the integrity of the NCAA investigation, demanding the full cooperation of our employees and student-athletes, and providing unwavering support to our more than 400-plus student-athletes and more than 150 coaches and staff," said Eichorst, who came on board in April.
"There will be a better day," he promised.
Meantime, the Canes are under the gun -- on and off the field. The U is scheduled to host perennial powerhouse Ohio State, another scandal-ridden program, at SunLife Stadium on Sept. 17.
Chris Mancini, a former federal prosecutor now in private practice in Fort Lauderdale, predicts that players fingered by Shapiro will feel the long arm of the law sooner or later.
"The United States attorneys office doesnt have a choice. They have a duty to pursue the proceeds of that ponzi scheme," Mancini told NBC News. "You see them doing it with cases like Bernie Madoff and Scott Rothstein and thats what they are going to do with this case, also."
Appearing on Miami radio station WQBA Friday, U.S. Sen Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was asked if college athletes should be paid.
"They shouldn't be paid a salary," the UM law grad told radio host Helen Agurre Ferr "They should be given some money so they can eat on weekends.
"Many of these young men come from incredible poverty," he added. "It's very said to see them on weekends -- after a game in which they have won $1 million for the university -- that they don't even have $5 for a meal at McDonald's. It's very sad to see that, and what it does is that these young men are then susceptible to these individuals."
Meantime, new head coach Al Golden, who was hired from Temple University, has declined to answer questions whether he has an "opt-out" clause in his contract in the event the NCAA tanks the Miami program.
With so much up in the air, the betting line on the Canes' Labor Day season opener at Maryland was taken down by Las Vegas casinos last week (the U had been favored by 5.5).
It's yet another stumble for a program that has been a prodigious incubator of NFL stars. From 1994 through 2008, Miami established a record of having at least one player selected in the first round of the pro draft. In many of those years, the U had multiple first-rounders.
Today's sense of impending doom in Miami is no cause for joy elsewhere in Florida's college football universe.
"Actually, if Miami does get the death penalty, it will be a loss for FSU. Both schools were at their best when competing at their best against each other," notes Peter Schorsch, who operates SaintPetersblog.com and faithfully roots for the Seminoles.
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Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
