The Miami Hurricanes. They do excess like nobody else. I mean nobody. They always have (there’s something about South Beach). If VH1 ever did a “Behind the Hurricanes”, the episode would make Ozzy Osbourne feel like he needed to take a shower to rub off the filth. And this was a man who would drink another’s pee to show how hard he could party.

The Hurricanes and Nevin Shapiro have taken over college football two-and-a-half weeks before the season gets underway. And rightfully so. There hasn’t been scandal like this since the days of SMU, or Barry Switzer at Oklahoma. Shapiro was a Miami conduit that got some of the best players in program history wined, dined, paid, and laid. Oh, and coaches too. Engagement rings? No problem. Or, if that’s not your fancy, we can go in the opposite direction and get you an abortion too. Shapiro was sleazy and versatile. Like Pat Forde said, “the Wal Mart of sleaze”.

Beside this being such a story because of previously-known scandals from Eugene to Columbus (hey things are tough for college football right now), this intrigues me because it’s Miami. The bad boys of college football. Man, how I would have loved to be in my prime as a college football fan during the “Catholics vs Convicts” era. When NBC branded their programs as “must-see tv”, they must have borrowed the idea from this series. A rivalry that got shut down because, get this, it was too intense. If the system was around at the time, the ND-Miami game would have garnered an NC-17 rating. Not too much brings me more joy than Notre Dame winning. A close second is Miami losing. Some would say Florida’s Disney World is “the happiest place on earth”. I’d say wherever the stadium Miami lost at was even happier.

That’s beside the point. In the aftermath of the scandal allegations, is there a point (or points)? The Blarney thinks there are a few, so it’s time to put some out there. This is what I think can be learned from the Miami mess:

There’s at least a little bit of dirt everywhere. Not like Miami, but I sincerely believe that every program has “gray areas” that they could be held accountable for. Even honorable programs. The dirt comes to the surface more these days because technology gives the means to uncover information more than ever. When you “play to win the game” it is human nature to look for any edge possible, and the leads to the lines of proper conduct being straddled. This might mean as little as a $20 handshake here and there for some, or the orgy of misdeeds seen in the Miami case.

It’s our fault. I mean you and I, and fans everywhere. We put the value in college football by tuning in every Saturday, combing through news stories, posting on message boards or blogs, following recruiting, and engaging in damn near drunken fist fights at a local watering hole because a college football discussion got too heated. Without us, ESPN wouldn’t rule half the world, and networks and schools wouldn’t be getting their wallets stuffed to the point that powerful people with less-than-normal scruples would do almost anything to ensure said programs keep stuffing wallets. Everyone is richer and happier that way. Fans fuel the fire. And the market. (This point goes hand-in-hand with human nature looking for any edge in competition.)

Don’t f–k with Yahoo’s Charles Robinson. If you do very bad things, this investigative journalist will find out. Rule breakers need not worry about the Boogeyman haunting them, but they do need to worry about Robinson.

Notre Dame’s rebirth under Brian Kelly just got a little easier. The Irish are going back to the toughest schedule in the nation formula it had under Holtz-adding teams like Oklahoma, Texas, and Miami to traditional toughies in the future. Well, Miami just made it a little easier in ‘12 , ‘16 and ‘17.

If they really want to stop this, no tolerance is the way. I don’t know if this is what should be done, but if the powers that be want to put a serious dent in these happenings, no tolerance is the way to go. In the current system, the wrong-doers often skate, and the innocent that come after the fact pay the price. Make the punishment so steep for major violations and neglect (not minor things like dinners and small benefits), that nobody will want to take the chance. If you steal in America, you might get a slap on the wrist, in an Islamic country you’ll get a hand taken off at the wrist. You want a school to police it’s players? Make it care too much to be negligent. Start from the neck up. Fire presidents, athletic directors, and head coaches on the spot when egregious things happen. A school gets an unfair advantage due to agent and booster gifts? Subject the school to million dollar fines. Money talks.

Those are the Blarney’s learnings, but what will the people with power learn?

Miami is the biggest test case of a major rule violater. The NCAA is going to have to study it closely (and the rest of the cases), reach importante conclusions, and decide where to go from there. It’s time to either tighten the grip on schools, or loosen them, and rethink the concept of amateurism. Which way will they go?

So, just quick piggback to my post about ND independence yesterday. Most Irish fans feel that independence IS what makes Notre Dame. Not the case.

Actually, WINNING is/was what makes Notre Dame. The Irish became what they are to college football because they won. A Lot. So much that winning was to Notre Dame what mustaches were to Tom Selleck. They were one in the same.

Just like what the SEC is right now. The SEC is in a conference situation, but, they are definitely national.

(From the Chris Low article highlighted):

“We’re not the only league that has great players. There are great players all over the country. But it’s the best of the best in the SEC — the best players, the best coaches, the best competition and the best place to come win a national championship.”

The SEC has the best of everything football-wise, and they keep theirs asses parked in that La-Z-Boy comfortable recliner of their own region. SEC schools don’t go out of conference to play big boys. They don’t play tough road games out of conference. Yet, they are still national becasue the teams in that conference win championships. (The last five, as we will here multiple, multiple times this season.)

The point is this: If college football gets f—ed, and all the conferences realign into superconferences, and ND can’t play coast-to-coast-schedules with ease anymore-all can still be fine. Even if that valued indepenence is lost.

All they have to do is win, and the players will come. That’s what the SEC does. And they keep their hands up…and they stay there…and they stay there… (White boys should be careful when listening to this song, the urge to raise your hands in a bragging manner will overcome you. You have been warned.)

GGXzlRoNtHU

So, Texas A&M may or may not be joining the SEC. At this point, who really knows? And if A&M is going, it isn’t going alone. The SEC won’t stop at 13 schools. They’ll take on an ACC school like FSU or Clemson ( to make even divisons). If the SEC adds on, another conference is sure to do the same. I’m not here to predict they future, I’ve found that I’m no good at it. However, I do know this: in this day and age, even is Notre Dame does “return to glory” under Brian Kelly, there is no longer an assurance that the Irish will have “the juice” (not the kind Jose Canseco likes) to stay independent as they would desire. (I won’t go into it, but Domers believe independence is as vital to their being as special effect explosions are to a Michael Bay summer flick.)

Here are 5 reasons why:

1.) Money. The rights to college football broadcasts are soaring. Conferences can make buku bucks from the networks. Therefore, they will constantly be looking to make even more (this is America). This is something that could be addressed annually. Adding assets (teams) to a particular conference increase the value of its portfolio to the networks (it’s synergy). Mo’ teams, mo’ money. Good for that conference, bad for ND.

2.) Arms race. If, say, the SEC adds Texas A&M, and Florida State to bring in more cash, you can be damn sure the B1G will be looking to increase its value too. Add Oklahoma and Missouri, maybe? If the major conferences keep adding to their lineup (playing more conference games in turn), the Irish, as an independent, would be hard-pressed to schedule any of the top teams they crave.

3.) Money. See the first explantion.

4.) ND’s other sports. No disrespect, but the other sports don’t exactly carry a lot of clout. With conferences getting more powerful, and the weak ones going away, Notre Dame won’t be able to strong-arm any of the big guys like they currently do the the football-challenged Big East. The other sports need somewhere to play.

5.) Money. See the first explanation. Now, I’ll add a quick amendment to that. Sure, some schools could try to form their own networks like Texas and ND, and, in doing so, kill the conferences. But, most can make more as a piece of a pie than they could individually (B1G member schools currently make more on their conference contract than ND does on its individual deal.)

Do you see, parents? Your kids can learn from rap. “It’s All About the Benjamins”. (Write that down.)