The University Of Miami, Georgia Tech, And Monetary Fines ($6,000,000+)

by Winfield Featherston on Aug 18, 2011 8:30 AM EDT in Georgia Tech Football

Side note: Al Golden wasn't told about the investigation and he is angry about it. The media has called UM out on it . But as we've seen with investigations, the coach was probably not supposed to be told. This type of scenario, though, on an extremely much smaller scale was exactly what Dan Radakovich was trying to avoid when he went to Paul Johnson and made him aware of the NCAA investigation at Georgia Tech.

If $312 in apparel resulted in a $100,000 fine for Georgia Tech which turned into losing 1/3 of the Athletic Association's operating profits. How much should the University of Miami get fined? The numbers are staggering and we'll never know the right number, but we can add up the football bounties.

Total bounties in football games add up to $20,650 , including one $1,000 payout to Antrel Rolle for keeping Calvin Johnson at bay in 2004. In a perfect world the NCAA would look at their books and take $20,650 / $312 = 66.18 Georgia Tech-esque penalties * $100,000 = $6,618,000 in fines and penalties. NCAA, I expect nothing less from you than to serve the Hurricanes in the same way you served Georgia Tech.

Miami Is Dead

History says we should know better and not trust the NCAA to be "fair" and hand out punishment based on precedent. We've looked out and have seen the NCAA hit the little schools hard and let the big schools go for what many would believe the financial clout that those bigger schools bring to the organization. CBS Sports' Greg Doyel echoes these thoughts:

But the NCAA won't [hand down the Death Penalty]. Just you watch -- it won't happen. And when it doesn't happen, this is why:

The NCAA knows the entire structure of college sports is teetering on the edge of the abyss. One wrong move -- Texas A&M to the SEC ... or the death penalty to a football powerhouse -- could push the whole thing off the cliff. And when it goes, it won't be just the Big 12 and the ACC that go down. The NCAA will go down with it.

Yes but he forgets that Miami is not the program it once was or wants you to think it is. A proper death to a team in an average conference may have less affect than one thinks. Regardless, Miami football was dying already and this monstrosity has only pushed it further to the brink. Any NCAA penalty remotely close to fitting will damage the program for years.

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Comments

I agree.

I think the Canes are toast. The death penalty will cost them more than $6 million.

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

by orientalnc on Aug 18, 2011 8:35 AM EDT reply actions

Why do I keep thinking

we are not going to be satisfied with the NCAA ruling?

by Atlanta's original team on Aug 18, 2011 9:47 AM EDT reply actions

I have the same feeling after what I just read.

cbssports.com has a column this morning that argues the NCAA will not give Miami the death penalty because it fears the BCS schools would bolt from the NCAA. The FSU blog says they doubt Miami will get a ban on TV or home games because of their contractual obligations already in place.

If these folks are right, what kind of penalty is proportional with the infractions alleged by Shapiro and Yahoo!.com? We were fined $100K for what might have been a $312 gift from the roommate of a relative. Or it could have been the relative. We also vacated our ACC championship and if Bay Bay had caught that pass, a victory over UGA would have been vacated as well. Or yeah, and recruiting sanctions. It’s a wonder the coaches didn’t have to give up their iPhones.

A fine of more than $6 million would be the largest fine in the history of sports. If the BCS schools would bolt the NCAA over anything, a fine like that is sure to do it.

I keep focusing on what is important to consider. The members of the NCAA are not the athletic departments or the boosters. They are the universities themselves. If they abandon the NCAA over this issue, they will be abandoning far more than football. They will be abandoning the very idea of amateurism in college sports. I cannot see Duke and UNC, or Michigan and Wisconsin, or Notre Dame, or (heaven forbid) Texas doing that. USC and Ohio State, in spite of the sins committed recently, are proud universities. Money is important,, but the lie the current system supports is very important to these schools.

I wonder if football will ever again be important to the Board of Trustees at the University of Miami? I know grads of the U and they are crushed by this. They are not blaming the NCAA enforcement staff or the guys at Yahoo. They want to know why the university they attended has allowed their degree to be so sullied. The photos of Haith and Shalala with Shapiro is devastating to them. In the photo I saw, her eyes are glued to the check.

Lastly, when Miami was sanctioned in 2003 and placed on fives years probation, they were already on probation from the 1995 case. So this is a situation where they are repeat repeat offenders. This is not Butch Davis or Jim Tressel bad. This is a whole new level of bad.

Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?

by orientalnc on Aug 18, 2011 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions

I think the ACC could step in, take Miami's portion of the TV contract

and split it amongst the other schools. Or keep it for themselves.

Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat

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by Winfield Featherston on Aug 18, 2011 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions

"This is a whole new level of bad"

Or if not, it is a level only matched by SMU. I guess the other thing I keep wondering, along with wondering why Miami will not be hit at a level proportionate to Tech, is whether or not the NCAA has a larger view of all of this. Do they deal with each infraction at each school as if they were discreet, isolated events, or do they try to set a larger pattern of consistency that helps schools see where they are lax and where they need to improve their programs?

I guess what I am wondering is after what they did to Tech on a questionable if not potentially a non-transgression do they feel boxed into a corner now with these other huge infractions? Do they have to come down hard to prove they have a consistent interpretation of the law or do they simply say that all that matters is what they say matters?

by Atlanta's original team on Aug 18, 2011 10:47 AM EDT reply actions

Vacate games?

If things are as bad was what they seem, I guess Miami have to vacate most or all their wins from 2002-2010.

by Dive Keep and Pitch on Aug 18, 2011 2:17 PM EDT reply actions

Don't assume consistency with the NCAA

It’ll reduce your stress levels. Miami probably brings in enough money to get a little leniency from the NCAA (same with Ohio State and LSU). I fear for UNC, because their football program doesn’t bring in much money and can easily be made an example of without many repercussions.

by acedarney on Aug 18, 2011 2:38 PM EDT reply actions

right

this ain’t Roy Williams and the hallowed basketball team we’re talking here

Better to have died a small boy than to drop this football - John Heisman FromTheRumbleSeat

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by Winfield Featherston on Aug 18, 2011 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions

CNN's headline news today lumped Tech in with Miami

so I guess that means Miami will get fined too.

by Atlanta's original team on Aug 18, 2011 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Miami=perfect example?

I see Miami being the perfect example for the NCAA. “thUg U”, bad history, lots of sordid excess, what is NOW a middling team in a weaker conference (i.e., not the $EC, Pac-12, or B1G), weak alumni fan base.

If they pick on Tech you bet they will slam Miami. You know some SOB in Indy wants to get the hat trick in the ACCC.

by jabbajacket on Aug 18, 2011 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions

It's all about money

Miami brings in more money than Tech, and I definitely wouldn’t call their fan base “weak.” They can’t let them off too leniently because of the points you’ve made, but they’ll treat them better than Tech.

by acedarney on Aug 19, 2011 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions