The Miami Hurricanes' saga of stupidity and greed leads to some interesting takes

In my business, as Martin Short likes to begin as he tells his funny lead-ins to his funny songs as a guest on Late Night with David Letterman ...

Well, in my business, a hot-button topic leads to dozens of columns from dozens of columnists across America. And the University of Miami/Nevin Shapiro/Ponzi scheme/prostitutes-for-players/take-a-check-from-a-pushy-little-punk-donor-in-a-bowling alley saga is precious indeed.

Says Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times in this column:

This wasn't about feeding hungry kids, it was about getting them hookers. This wasn't about giving poor kids silver pocket change, it was about buying them diamond dog tags.

If you want to believe the argument that the Miami case illustrates a need to pay college athletes, then you must believe that, in addition to scholarships, athletes deserve NBA tickets, big-screen TVs and weekends in South Beach hotel suites.

Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star Tribune tells a simple truth in this column: A lack of Oceans and yachts help keep Miami-like scandals from the University of Minnesota. Reusse writes:

We've all been asked to celebrate the discipline the new coach, Jerry Kill, has brought to the Gophers.

We've heard about players who were made to stand on a sideline at practice wearing brown T-shirts with "LOPHERS" spelled in pink letters.

Yeah, that's going to do it, Jerry. There's no way one of your athletes would give into the temptation of women, jewelry or cash, knowing it could lead to a missed study hall and the need to wear a "LOPHERS" shirt.

Former Miami (and Dallas Cowboys, and Miami Dolphins, and Oklahoma State) coach Jimmy Johnson doesn't think much of Nevin Shapiro. Johnson said:

"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."

Mike Beradino of the South Florida Sun Sentinel

asks a fair question. Where is all the winning that often comes with a blockbuster scandal like the one Miami is enduring? He writes:

... usually, when it comes to big-time college sports, you're following the championships as well when rooting out these scandal

That was the case with Pete Carroll's USC football dynasty.

That's been the case at Jim Tressel's Ohio State and Phil Knight's Oregon.

That was the case two decades ago when Dennis Erickson was hiding drug-test results in Coral Gables and Jerry Tarkanian's UNLV basketball stars were sitting in that hot tub with Richie "The Fixer" Perry.

All those misdeeds came to light on the heels of tremendous achievement.

Not so, this time.

Aside from the 2002 Hurricanes football team that came within a late whistle of repeating as national champions, Shapiro's ill-gained cash didn't really buy much glory for his beloved "U," did it?

Finally, this piece from USA Today about the worried manager of a store near Miami's campus:

Harry Rothwell, manager of the AllCanes store a block from campus in Coral Gables, Fla., is worrying over the possible financial fallout on local businesses that rely on The U to put food on the tables and pay the rent. His store has been selling Hurricanes gear since 1959.

"We live and die by the university's successes. The death penalty doesn't hurt just the university -- it hurts the whole community. It hurts the people who sell merchandise like we do. The ticket-takers at the games. The people selling beer and hot dogs. It affects the whole community," he says. "If you go from having 60,000 people there on a Saturday, to nobody, that's a big economic hit for the whole community."