Randy Shannon suing the U. over money owed to him

Former University of Miami football coach Randy Shannon is suing the school for money he says is owed to him that was guaranteed for the final year of his contract.

Translation: Shannon was cut short when he was fired and wants his money.

If "The U" didn't pay Shannon what he was owed they should pay the man what was coming to him. They already fired him, so just pay him his money.

Shannon was fired in November 2010 after going 28-22 in four seasons. On Feb. 1, 2010, two deals - an employment agreement and a guarantee agreement - both went into effect. The lawsuit states that because those were less than a year old when Shannon was fired, the university decided to prorate the amount of what he was owed in the event of a firing by about one-sixth.


Exact amounts of what Shannon was owed were not detailed in the lawsuit, because terms of the employment agreement requires him to keep the amounts confidential. The lawsuit said Miami has been making monthly payments to Shannon, but at a rate lower than what was stipulated in the coach's contract.


''They are taking a credit for what they contend is an overpayment,'' said Shannon's attorney, Jack Scarola. 


''It's our position in the lawsuit that they are not entitled to do that.''


Shannon was under contract through Jan. 31, 2014, and was to receive a guaranteed amount per year if he was fired.  


Shannon is requesting a jury trial in this case. The number of dollars involved aren't named but I know that Shannon wouldn't be taking this to court over a few nickels and dimes.

Quote Of The Week: Stan Van Gundy

In light of the Miami Hurricanes scandal, Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy had some disparaging remarks about the NCAA.

“The system is set up for everybody but the kids while pretending to be about the kids,” Van Gundy said. “Athletics and education should be separate. Colleges shouldn’t be farm systems. It doesn’t make any logical sense. But the schools don’t want to be blatantly in the situation of being professional sports even though they already are professional sports. They just want to disguise it, so they hide behind education. But, really, all you want is enough of your athletes to graduate so it looks like that’s what you care about. Anyone around sports knows it is all a bunch of bull [expletive].


I think if you let kids take inducements it would widen the gap between the haves and have nots in college athletics. On the other hand the rules are so archaic and they need to be revised.

Former Miami Hurricane Highsmith Plans To Sue The NCAA

Alonzo Highsmith was one of the greatest Miami Hurricanes and one of the cornerstones of what made the University of Miami football team what it was in recent memory. His son A.J. is now on the team and that team might get hit with the hardest NCAA penalty since the SMU scandal that resulted in the death penalty.

The elder Highsmith is now threatning a lawsuit if the Hurricanes get hit with NCAA penalties coming from the Nevin Shapiro booster scandal. Highsmith's beef in this matter is that the current players shouldn't be penalized for sins of the past or the current 12 players that received extra benefits. I know a lot of former Hurricane greats are taking this hard but this might be borderline ridiculous.

“This lawsuit will be on behalf of all the kids who have done nothing wrong and would be being deprived of what they came to college for,” Highsmith said. “Look at the Reggie Bush situation. Look at what he did to the USC program. All those kids that went to USC for all the right reasons had to suffer the consequences.



“This has been going on for years and years. If someone at General Motors does something wrong, they don’t shut down the company. Nobody ever challenges the NCAA on this. Why? Why?”


“If you have a family and one child does something wrong then he can’t go to Disney World. But you don’t make all of the rest of the kids stay home too.”

“There are at least 70 kids on that team that have absolutely nothing to do with Nevin Shapiro, and you are going to tarnish their image over the actions of a few?



“You want to punish those kids that did something wrong, fine, I understand. But it’s a total travesty to punish the other kids who made good decisions. I’m going to sue if they try to ruin these kids’ college experience. I’m going to sue somebody.”

Well Alonzo, I understand what your getting at here, but if the NCAA let schools get away with illegal booster activity, this kind of stuff would be running rampant. School presidents and athletic directors would have a reason to turn a blind eye to players receiving gifts, money, cars, etc.

Of course Highsmith does have a dog in this fight with A.J. being a member on the team, so it's natural for him to want to see Miami get off light or receive no penalty at all. Sorry Alonzo, but the Canes are going down and they're going down hard.

Jimmy Johnson Takes His Shots At Shapiro

In the aftermath of Nevin Shapiro's damning interview to Yahoo! sports about former and current Miami Hurricanes players receiving improper benefits, it looks like the "old school Hurricanes" are circling the wagons, speaking out against Shapiro.

First former 2 Live Crew frontman, Luther Campbell, a well known Hurricane supporter came out to speak about Shapiro and his shortcomings as a person. Now former Hurricanes boss Jimmy Johnson has some words to say about Shapiro, boosters, and the state of the program.

Former University of Miami football coach Jimmy Johnson called into the "Paul & Young Ron Show" Wednesday morning to weigh in on the allegations of improper benefits involving former booster and convicted felon Nevin Shapiro.


On the "Paul & Young Ron Show",  Johnson called Shapiro a "jock-sniffer wannabe" and offered perspective on a number of the aspects of the story:


On Shapiro: "This little scumbag is in prison for bilking a billion dollars from a bunch of people and obviously he's going to embellish the truth a little bit, but I'm sure he took advantage of some of these kids and I hate it for the program."


On boosters with their own agenda: "These parasites hang around every program and the players have got to be smart enough to know that they want something, that they aren't giving out free drinks to them unless they get something in return."


On current UM football coach Al Golden: "He wants to do it the right way. He's very thorough, very detail-oriented. He's gonna be fine, but I hate that he inherits some of this mess."


On the temptation to student-athletes to accept extra benefits: "A lot of these kids come from the inner-city without a penny to their name and some booster wants to buy them dinner. It's hard for them to say 'no'."


First of all I hate to see this go on anywhere, especially one of the true heavywieghts in college football (I know some will disagree with that). There are some saying that Miami should get the death penalty. That's not gonna happen. I have plenty of reasons why, but not all night to discuss them. I don't see how they shouldn't since there were coaches and administrators that knew what was going on. They might get a bowl ban and loss of scholarships but that's it. I still don't see how the Canes escape with a light penalty. They better hope that Al Golden has the nuts to stick around, because I'm sure he didn't see this coming when he signed up for this job. He was sold a bad bill of goods.

Also, Ohio State might want to start kissing up to Terrelle Pryor, especially if he doesn't get admitted into the NFL supplemental draft. It's always the disgruntled athlete/booster that was promised something and didn't get it or never went pro.

Another thing is with the NCAA. Their rules about improper benefits are outdated. I know college athletes are "special". But I'll use this as an example. If I'm a well off individual helping a kid out because his home life isn't that great and I become influential in his decision on where he goes to college, then I'm giving improper benefits. Just because I let him use my expensive car or take him and his family out to dinner or loan him a few dollars to get by, those are improper benefits. Not everyone wants something in return, they just want to see a kid succeed. 

Don't get it twisted, I don't feel sorry for Miami. They did this to themselves. I know it goes on damn near everywhere, but to be honest it's almost what you have to do to win big in college football. But you know what happens in the end. Miami or some other big name school gets caught and Fresno State goes on probation.

I wonder how many ex-players will speak out against Shapiro.








-

If Momma's Not Happy, Nobody's Happy

When national signing day comes around for high school seniors to choose a school parents are normally happy to see their kid move on to the next phase of their life. Sometimes they'll choose a school close to home, go to where their parents went, or move far away as possible to see how it is at a place different from where they came from. Parents won't always agree, but are usually so proud they don't care. This past week there was a player whose name escapes me right now, his mom forged a letter of intent. Now we have the case of Jacoby Brissett.

Brissett is highly thought of in recruiting circles and a very talented athlete. He was called the best uncommitted quarterback and was being recruited by Florida, Miami (the U), Wisconsin, and North Carolina to play basketball. So you know he's good, at least at the high school level. He made his announcement during his senior night basketball ceremony. He chose Florida. And mama's not happy.  

Ellicia Brown, Brissett's mother, wanted him to go to Miami. Brissett won't send his letter of intent until Monday, so maybe mom figures she can "talk some sense into him". Brown isn't too thrilled about how Florida handled the process of Brissett's recruitment.

“Not my choice,” Brown said. “I’m very disappointed. I didn’t like the way Florida handled the process. I’ve never been able to meet the head coach … I’ve never met (Will Muschamp) face-to-face and I find that very disrespectful and I’m just hurt with the whole process with the Gators. I was hoping that he would respect me and go to ‘The U’ because ‘The U’ showed respect to his mom.”


“He knew I would be hurt and disappointed,” Brown said. “So he texted me.”

There was a mixture of boos and cheers from the crowd, some decked out in Hurricanes gear, left the game.

I see she realizes that it's his choice, but it is what it is. He's doing what he feels is in his best interest, since he wants to play both basketball and football in college. Florida has a better program in both sports than Miami at this point. Also, maybe if Randy Shannon was still coaching the Canes maybe Brissett would be "taking his talents to South Beach".  Just support his decision and give him the unconditional love only a mother can give her son.



  

Trump Stumps For Leach

Donald Trump is getting in the agent business. Kind of. He has been politicking for former Texas Tech head man Mike Leach to be hired for the vacant Miami job. Trump wanted school president Donna Shalala to hire Leach when they canned Larry Coker. Trump also sent this to Shalala.

When did Trump get involved in the coach hiring process. If all it takes to get some backing is to post his mug on the wall and quote him in a halftime speech or a speech of any kind maybe I ought to do the same. Maybe the Donald can get me hired at Eastern Michigan or a Division III school. 

Trump thinks Leach was wrongly fired at Texas Tech and says that Leach might not be the easiest guy to get along with but is a brilliant guy and a brilliant coach. Leach thinks it would be a great job and a great fit for him. He's already promising ACC championships and full stadiums.

My question is why Minnesota hasn't jumped on this guy yet. That is a team that can really use him. Maybe he doesn't cheat enough for them since it seems that's the only time they're good at anything.

Shannon Was The Fall Guy For The Losses

My personal opinion. Randy Shannon was fired unjustly by Miami. I know there are lots of folks who will disagree, especially fans and supporters of The U. 

Shannon simply didn't win enough to satisfy the appetite of school president Donna Shalala and I would guess numerous boosters. This was after he got the dreaded vote of confidence that seems to doom every coach that gets it. Here's the problem with college athletics, especially football. The president wants to win big. He or she will have boosters and regents in their ear telling them how much the school needs to win. All the while they don't want too much off field controversy and want a decent graduation rate. Shannon fulfilled the last two ( 1 arrest and 3rd best graduation rate), but couldn't win when it mattered most. I'm no great game planner or x's and o's master, but the players were just as responsible for the losses as he was. I know the coach is ultimately the fall guy for what happens on the field. Think about it, the players have admitted they were at fault for Shannon being fired. It wasn't Shannon who threw the game away at Ohio State. I know there was an embarassing loss to Virginia, but if Jacory Harris doesn't get hurt they win that game. The only game I question is the Florida State game where it looked like they didn't show up.

Shannon will get another oppurtunity he will definitely get a look as a defensive coordinator. I think he deserved one more year at Miami. 

The Canes Need to Show More Fight Than Their Fans

The Miami Hurricanes had a lame performance Saturday but their fans made up for their lack of a fighting spirit during the game.


 


If their players showed more heart and fire like this, their fans wouldn't be subject to ridicule by opposing fans.

Wake Up The Echoes

Word on the street is that the Notre Dame-Miami rivalry will be restarting in 2012.

 The Hurricanes and Fighting Irish will play Oct. 6, 2012, at Soldier Field in Chicago, then play a home-and-home starting in 2016 at South Bend, Ind. They play in Miami the next season. Even though the series dates back to the 1950s, this rivalry really got going in the 80s with Miami's emergence as a player on the national scene.Notre Dame leads the series 15-7-1.

In 1985 the Canes whipped the Fighting Irish 58-7 in coach Gerry Fast's last game. I personally enjoyed it as Miami blatantly ran up the score with no regard. On the flip, if you can't stop the backups, don't complain. That's why I couldn't be a broadcaster. I'm a bit biased. Going into the 1988 game Notre Dame supporters coined the contest 'Catholics vs. Convicts'. Notre Dame won the game and that was also the last time the Fighting Irish won the national title. During the 80s and early 90s this was a game that was a deciding factor in the national championship race. Notre Dame won the last game in the series in 1990, 29-20.                                                                                                                                                                             

I'm anxious to see this series get started again. I hope both teams are nationally relevant by the time this game rolls around. I would love to see the pregame trash talk and pushing and shoving that teams aren't allowed to do these days. Wake up the echoes.

A retrospective moment

I was watching the ESPN 30 for 30 special on the University of Miami football team.It was entertaining and insightful and it was good to see former Hurricanes coaches and players talk about their experience at "THE U".Going from the Schellenberger era to now it was good to get an inside look at what made them what they are.To me they were unfairly branded as thugs,convicts,outlaws or whatever.Even though they embraced that image,they also didn't like being called that by outsiders.Overall it definitely was a must see.There was one moment that stuck with me though.I forgot who said it pissed them off and called Florida State a Miami wannabe,but it was this seminole rap video,that even i didn't know existed.I thought it was pretty funny.

   

I can't believe Bobby Bowden let them make this.I remember the first game of that season,the Canes whipped them 31-0.Guess that's where Deion Sanders got his rap career started.