Miami Needs to Shut the F Up!

Kellen Winslow Jr. chillin' with Nevin Shapiro in a VIP section of a South Beach club - IN 2003!

So on Tuesday, the NCAA delivered it's official notice of allegations to the University of Miami - Da U. As a result, there is NEAR UNIVERSAL OUTCRY by Miami, and by the media - AGAINST the NCAA!!!

How did the NCAA become the bad guy in this situation? Well, it turns out that the NCAA paid the lawyer of the booster at the heart of this scandal to help in their investigation by obtaining depositions on behalf of the NCAA. While not illegal, it oversteps the bounds of the NCAA's investigative powers. Therefore, EVERYONE from Miami president Donna Shalala to nearly everyone in the media is calling the NCAA out, demanding the NCAA back down. Why are the stakes so high? Because the NCAA cited the dreaded lack of institutional control in the allegations, the most severe charge available.

How did we get to this point? How did Miami become the victim and the NCAA the bad guy?

Renegade Miami football booster spells out illicit benefits to players

Miami says the charges are all media hype. Throw out the charges.
I would ask you to review what actually happened at Miami. The link is the original Yahoo! article blowing open the case. This article was based on convicted Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro. A huge Miami booster, he gave so many improper benefits to Miami football and basketball players between 2002 and 2010 that it makes your head spin. What are we talking about? Memorabilia, huge cash payments, dinners, clubs, strip clubs, yacht parties, prostitutes, and yes - even an abortion paid for by Shapiro! Do you believe Shalala who says these are all media hype, or do you believe Shapiro the convicted felon? Well, Shapiro has no reason to lie, as he is already in jail. He also has the receipts, ledgers and PICTURES to prove his statements. I think it is painfully obvious that a lot of bad stuff was happening at Miami, even if you nitpick the details.

Miami says this is dragging on so long it is ruining their school. Throw out the charges.
Allegations first arose in September 2010. The investigation is now complete. It would have been complete months ago had Miami not argued and went back and forth on the notice of allegations. So let's just say it's been 2 years. How long did USC's investigation take? Over 4 years. Looks to me that the NCAA did a pretty good job getting this done.

Miami says the investigation was botched. Throw out the charges.
As I said before the NCAA paid Shapiro's lawyer to depose witnesses to build a part of their case (they say less than 20% of the charges). Again, this is not illegal. Shapiro and his lawyer actually approached the NCAA with this offer. The problem is the NCAA has no real power. Yahoo! has more investigative authority than the NCAA. The media wants to blame NCAA president Emmert and the organization. Yet, Emmert serves exclusively as the representative of ALL THE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS IN THE NCAA! He isn't some outlaw taking down programs. He is trying his best to carry out his charge to keep the NCAA clean. Not because he has an axe to grind, but because the university presidents want him to! It's a tough job. The NCAA made a mistake on this one, but this isn't a court of law. It doesn't negate all the bad things Miami did.

Finally, a lot of media folks are taking another look at the Penn State scandal as another example of the NCAA overstepping its bounds. They point out that the State of Pennsylvania is suing the NCAA over this, suggesting the NCAA was again wrong. Uhhh, NO! Before talking heads spout out this as an example of the NCAA run amok, they should check the details of this lawsuit. It was filed by the PA governor, who was the PA attorney general during the Sandusky time period. While AG, he refused to pursue allegations or even investigate until forced YEARS after the issues came up. Now, as governor he is suing the NCAA. Yeah, he went to Penn State! Not to mention the new PA AG ran on a platform that she would figure out WHY it took so long to prosecute Sandusky, and she had NOTHING to do with this lawsuit!!!

Getting back to the NCAA... In this case, the NCAA used a public document commissioned by PSU to investigate the Sandusky scandal. They didn't need to do their own investigation. Some may say this had nothing to do with football, but I say it has everything to do with football. The whole Sandusky situation was covered up by Paterno, the AD, and likely even the president of PSU. There is also evidence that the local and state police, and perhaps even the state attorney general knew of this. It was all swept under the rug for one reason - Penn State football. If this isn't a lack of institutional control, I don't know what is. It is a fact that the university presidents wanted IMMEDIATE action, and forced the NCAA into action. It is also a fact that there was near unanimous support for the death penalty for PSU football by those presidents. However, the NCAA actually worked with PSU and lessened the sanctions. The NCAA didn't overstep it's bounds. It enforced the will of the university presidents sending a message that football doesn't override an entire university.

Getting back to Miami. Donna Shalala needs to shut the F up. Miami lived by the renegade, glamorous South Beach image - and now it will pay the price. I think the death penalty is appropriate, but it is likely off the table due to the investigation errors. I wish the media would step back and look at the big picture. There is so much wrongdoing here by Miami. The NCAA is not the bad guy here. In the end, the will of the university presidents will be served.

Further Evidence: Cowherd is an Idiot

One of the most divisive sports personalities out there is Colin Cowherd. I usually don't get too worked up about his idiotic rants. I have long realized (and he has admitted) that he picks a position and argues it just to stir up the pot. On any given rant, half the audience agrees and loves him, the other half want to kill him. Either way, it's ratings as people listen!

Every once in a while, he goes so far off the reservation that he gets in trouble. He really stepped in it when he RIPPED John Wall after he was drafted. He said he couldn't be a leader as a point guard because he didn't have a father role model (Wall's father was in prison and died when Wall was 8). He had to tuck his tail between his legs on that one.

Now, I think he may have gone a step further. I drove 5 minutes to Subway this afternoon to get lunch. In the 5 minutes I was in the car, Cowherd laid out his theory about the Pacers:

People don't go to Pacers games because Indianapolis is racist.

Wha-what? So now Cowherd is calling out an entire city (and really Indiana) as racist? I heard a bit of his argument, but not all as I expect this one to explode for the rest of his show. He claims Indy is a relatively affluent region, with not a huge minority population. He also says there is residual backlash over the Ron Artest fight incident. Does he mean the fight IN DETROIT BACK IN 2004??? Really?

Let's see if the facts back up Cowherd (hint: they don't).

Ron Artest
That fight happened over 8 years ago. The Pacers took a beating after it happened, but it also occurred at the end of the Reggie Miller era. The Pacers were in a state of decline. They continued to play well, and made the playoffs for the next 2 seasons before really hitting the skids. It was not until 2011 that the Pacers even made it back to the playoffs after 4 years missing out. That cycle of losing, more than anything else, reasonably accounts for the downturn in attendance.

Attendance
Looking at the official NBA attendance numbers, Cowherd's basic premise that people don't go to Pacers games is wrong! When sorting by % attendance, the Pacers rank 23 of 30. The 7 teams below them include other "lily white" metro areas such as Atlanta, DC, New Orleans, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Detroit. Not only do these teams include prominent African American communities, it seems to include ALL the midwest NBA teams. That gets me to another REAL issue for Pacers attendance: NBA superstars are clustering to big market teams. All the major market teams have a "big 3" or a superstar. Look st the Eastern conference All-Star team. 2 Knicks, 3 Heat, 2 Celtics, 2 Bulls and the token single Net, Pacer, 76er and Cav. The NBA has a real problem. When you put all the superstars in the major markets, the other teams suffer.


Racism
According to the 2010 census, Indianapolis is 62% white, 28% black. That's actually quite a bit more diverse than the USA in general (78% to 13%). I would also argue that having a higher % of black population does not mean more people will go to games. Look at Atlanta (38% white to 54% black) or Cleveland (37% to 53%). They are worse for attendance than the Pacers.

I just don't see how Cowherd can claim race has anything to do with low attendance at Pacers games. The Pacers are improving, but really only just got back to playoff level basketball in 2012. They lack a legit superstar, and their attendance isn't as bad as a lot of other teams. Notably, the midwest teams (with the exception of the Bulls) all seem to lack star power and are suffering in attendance.

Cowherd needs to backtrack on this one in a hurry. I'm not sure how the rest of his show went, but I hope he was brutalized by callers, emails and guests. I do have a fondness for Indy, but I would go ballistic if he said this crap about Cincinnati!

Top 10 Films of 2012

As the Oscars approach, I thought it would be a good time to do something different. I feel like 2012 was an exceptional year for movies. I saw quite a few outstanding films, and decided that I wanted to do my very own Top 10 list. I would have done this sooner, but I didn't actually see a lot of the late 2012 movies until the past few weeks as they have started to come out. I can STRONGLY recommend each of these to all of you - many of which really surprised me. So without further ado, here are my top films of 2012...

10) The Grey
This movie was completely lost in the shuffle for 2012. It was released January 27, and was all but forgotten when the summer blockbusters rolled around. Had it been a December release, I think Liam Neeson would have been nominated for best actor.

9) Silver Linings Playbook
I hate Bradley Cooper. For me, he will always be the jerk fiancee from Wedding Crashers! However, he turned in a phenomenal performance in this one, as did Jennifer Lawrence. This is THE date movie of 2012.

8) Flight
I saw this expecting to see an amazing movie about a plane crash. Turns out the plane crash was only the setup for the movie, which has nothing to do with said crash. If Denzel doesn't get another Oscar for this one, I'll be pissed (unless it's Joaquin Phoenix, who is the best actor to never win an Oscar).

7) The Dark Knight Rises
Look. The Nolan Batman trilogy redefined superhero movies. These were so damn good, it's unbelievable. While this does not rise to the level of The Dark Knight, few movies do.

• BONUS LIST: The top 5 superhero movies of all-time for my money: 5) Superman 2 4) The Dark Knight Rises 3) The Avengers 2) The Dark Knight 1) Spider-Man 2

6) The Avengers
A completely different approach from Nolan's Batman trilogy. This movie is the perfect summer blockbuster. Marvel carefully created several franchise characters, released their movies, then brought them together for this mega-free-for-all. So much fun, it is just a perfect superhero film. DC's upcoming Justice League has a very tough act to follow.

5) Chronicle
If you haven't seen this yet, I command you to immediately buy, rent or download it! This is one of those "found footage" films, but it completely flips the genre on end. I predict Dane DeHaan will be a Hollywood megastar within a few years.

4) Skyfall
Best. Bond. Ever. Think about all the evil villains in the Bond franchise. They all have awesome, cool lairs/hideouts. In this movie, we see James Bond's back-story, including his own lair of sorts - the eponymous Skyfall. His lair kicks the shit out of that of every single one of those villains'. I don't know how a Bond movie could ever top this one, which does make me a little sad.

3) End of Watch
This movie had zero appeal to me on release. Another cop buddy movie, perhaps the oldest genre in Hollywood. However, it kept popping up on other top 10 lists, so I gave it a shot. Holy hell was it awesome. Hands down the best cop movie I have ever seen. If you don't tear up for this one, you have a heart of stone.

2) Argo
This movie is great. Literally, a perfect movie. It has everything you could want from a film. Another guy who is not my favorite - Ben Affleck stars and directs. However, he is without a doubt one of the best directors in Hollywood. All 3 of his features are just amazing. Argo is without a doubt his best work both as an actor and director. He was absolutely robbed by not being nominated for director.

1) Zero Dark Thirty
I'll just make it simple. This movie literally defines the decade from 9/11 until Bin Laden's death. It is absolutely riveting. It runs 2:37, yet seems to blow by. I was totally engrossed in this one from the opening credits to the finale. You may not even breath for the third act. Kathryn Bigelow won best director and best picture for The Hurt Locker. This movie is 10 times better. It deserves best picture.

Best TV News Interview Ever

I love this guy.

Manti Te'o: The Last Word

So here we are. After a month of nonstop rumors, falsities and near-constant ridicule of Manti Te'o nationally, the truth is finally out there. No more guessing. We know what happened with Te'o and his supposedly dead girlfriend Lennay Kekua. Both Te'o and Ronaiah Tuiasosopo have given extensive TV interviews, including their families.

So now that we see the extent to which Tuiasosopo went with his hoax, is there any support for Te'o from the media? No. Has anyone who ridiculed him offered an apology? No. There is really only one word that I would consider to describe this situation. Cruel.

• Cruel what Tuiasosopo did to Te'o.
• Cruel how the media immediately reported that Te'o faked a dead girlfriend to win the Heisman.
• Cruel how Te'o was ridiculed for being hoaxed.

As a Notre Dame alum, I have been asked about this so many times, that I have first hand experience in seeing the huge misconceptions that the public has about this story. Without exception, when I explain some of the details to people, they immediately change their minds and show a lot of sympathy toward Te'o. Here are a few of the details that I think the media has decided to ignore: 


Te'o is a devout Mormon.  
So Mormon's have an unusual moral code that very strictly points out the do's and don'ts of dating. It is called For the Strength of Youth and is part of the Law of Chastity. It details celibacy, dating, dress code, dancing, music, language and pretty much everything fun about being young! In essence, Mormon's are allowed to hold hands and lightly kiss before marriage. That's it! In this context, it is not so unusual for a guy to be extremely inexperienced with women, and a long-distance or internet relationship is not so unusual.

This is 2013.
For all the reporters age 30 or greater, it is a whole new world of dating. Facebook, Twitter, texting and online dating are more common than hanging out in bars or at parties to meet girls. Yeah, it seems strange to me too, but that's just the way it is now. The geezers who can't believe Te'o had an online girlfriend who he never met are out of touch with dating in 2013.

Kekua was not a serious girlfriend until April 2012. A total of about 5 months.
Most reports ridicule Te'o for having an online girlfriend that he never met for years. That is blatantly wrong. This was literally a Facebook friend for a couple years. It wasn't until Tuiasosopo invented a car accident in April that Te'o was drawn in. So when was Te'o supposed to meet her while at ND and playing football? She was "in the hospital" from her car accident, then she was "diagnosed with leukemia" and undergoing chemo. Even if she was real, he wouldn't have had a chance to see her - he didn't even get to see his grandmother before she died.

Te'o was far from the lost puppy dog in the relationship.
As evidenced by the voice messages Te'o released, Te'o had plenty of other female friends before and during the intense few months that he had a relationship with "Kekua". On one, Tuiasosopo goes crazy when a girl answered Te'o's phone. There are pics online of a St. Mary's student Te'o was seeing shortly after "Kekua" died. Te'o also tried to break off the online relationship many times, feeling it was strange or not right. In fact, "Kekua's" death was 1 week after Te'o had called things off for good. When Tuiasosopo found out Te'o's grandmother had died, he called as Kekua again that same day. Te'o was angry and hung up on her. That's when and why Tuiasosopo had a family member call Te'o and say Kekua had died. The absolute height of cruelty.

My last word on this: 
Te'o's naivete made him a target, and as a result he was publicly humiliated. The degree to which the public took joy in ridiculing Te'o is completely unfair, especially because almost no one knows (or cares to know) the facts of the story. The laziness that the media displayed in first running with the dead girlfriend story was nothing compared to the laziness displayed in reporting this hoax. Te'o will forever be associated with this hoax, which makes me sad. In my eyes, it doesn't diminish him in any way as one of the greatest Notre Dame players ever.