Living in a Hurricane of Denial

Sometimes the only thing that is more shocking than an incident is the reaction to said incident. This was definitely the case in Miami this week after the University of Miami football team was part of a shocking but not all that surprising on-field brawl with Florida International University's team.

For years, Miami has seemed to live by the Al Davis code: "Just win, baby." And like the Raiders owner, that has usually meant taking in players who aren't exactly model citizens. It's meant recruiting players whose list of high school All-League awards was exceeded by their rap sheet, it's meant partying with Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew fame, and it's meant more than a few on-field incidents. Your typical Miami game features at least 3 personal foul penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct and enough woofing to drown out a whole kennel. For a little while, it was believed that this type of behavior would go away. After all, Miami was placed on a pretty harsh NCAA probation 10 years ago and it meant a couple of lean years for the perennial national champions, which included things like a 66-13 beating at the hands of my Syracuse Orangemen in 1998.

Now under head coach Larry Coker, it's quite clear that the Hurricanes are back to their old tricks. After taking a 40-3 whupping from LSU in last year's Peach Bowl, they rumbled with some of the Tigers players in the tunnel. This season, they've already had one of their classic "stomp on the other team's logo until they come at you swinging" routines before a game at Louisville. And now, there are the events of last Saturday. If you haven't seen the practically-viral video by now, here's what happened... Miami was playing FIU, which is located in nearby Fort Lauderdale. Apparently, this means a lot of the Miami and FIU players dislike each other. After a lot of the usual woofing and rough play, a Miami player scored a touchdown, pointed at the FIU bench and then bowed to the Orange Bowl crowd. Needless to say, FIU was not happy about this, and they came after the holder on the extra point attempt. At which point, all hell broke loose.

Both benches emptied and soon national TV viewers were watching video of Miami players stomping on FIU players, and one Miami player swinging his helmet at an FIU player's head. It took 20 state troopers to break things up on the field and more to break up fights in the stands between Miami fans and FIU fans. Miami TV analyst Lamar Thomas (an ex-'Cane) actually enjoyed what he was watching, saying, "Now, that's what I'm talking about... I was about to go down the elevator to get into that thing." On LIVE TV!

At this point, the referees could have set the proper example that this would not be tolerated by declaring the game a Miami forfeit. Instead, they played on, Miami finished off its 35-0 drubbing of FIU, and the Miami players pooh-poohed everything after the game like nothing happened. Miami quarterback Kyle Wright said, "It's something they started, and our guys finished it. They're going home with a 35-0 loss and they're 0-7." Right, cuz winning the game is more important than assault and battery.

As for Coach Coker, the "guardian of the program"? He said, "This won't be a big negative on the University of Miami, I'll put it that way."

No, of course it's not a "big negative"; it's TYPICAL. However, that's not the end of it. ACC president John Swofford handed down the following punishment for 13 Miami players: a ONE-GAME SUSPENSION. Anthony Reddick (the helmet swinger) was later suspended "indefinitely" by the university. Monday morning, UM president Donna Shalala (a former Clinton Cabinet member) met with the trustees and decided to hand down the following punishment against Coker: NOTHING. Then, she told the media, "We will not throw any student under the bus for instant restoration of our image or our reputation." She then insisted that she doesn't think the football program is out of control.

Nice job, Ms. Shalala... way to continue that Clinton administration tradition of not taking responsibility for the actions of those under your command. She even shook her fist for emphasis; I'm surprised she didn't wag her finger too.

FIU did things correctly. In all, 18 players were punished. Two were dismissed from the team, the rest were placed on athletic probation for the rest of the year and they have to attend anger management. And this is the team that got stomped ON; they had the helmet swung at THEM.

What should have been done? Simple. First off, forfeit the game. Secondly, Coker fired. Immediately. Third, all 13 players dismissed from the team. Instead, Miami put in a policy that will throw the book at players next time. Unless, of course, they don't. If the school will not take the proper measures to control its sports programs, then the NCAA has to get involved. I think it's time for the NCAA to investigate the Miami football program again. This is not one isolated incident. This is the latest in a string of deplorable behavior. The phrase "lack of institutional control" certainly applies here, and wherever the NCAA has seen that at the past, they have punished universities severely. We do need to set examples for younger players, and the time for the NCAA to put its foot down is now.