Should anyone be surprised by Miami mess?

Column

The scandals rocking intercollegiate sports in the past few months apparently were just the warm-up acts. We give you now the main event.

The University of Miami has taken the stage to show 'em how it's done.

Ohio State? You'd better bring more than tattoos and memorabilia sales to hang with the Hurricanes. Hey Tennessee, wayward coaches Lane Kiffin and Bruce Pearl are the best you've got?

North Carolina? Academic fraud is a nice try, but not good enough. Southern Cal? We'll see your payments to Reggie Bush and raise you, oh, half the team.

Down in Coral Gables, Team Caligula apparently lived by the motto that if you're going to sin, sin bad. And man, did they know how to sin.

Yahoo Sports reported a lengthy history of illegal payments and favors to many Hurricanes, all traced to Nevin Shapiro, South Florida's favorite felon. He is doing 20 years in the federal slammer for masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme. Before that, he was so welcome at Miami that the school named its athletic lounge for him.

Shapiro told Yahoo that he provided money and favors — including the use of his oceanfront mansion for wild parties — to UM athletes while some of its coaches looked the other way for nearly a decade. He left a paper trail to prove much of what he claims.

You could make a good argument that Miami deserves the NCAA death penalty, but I wouldn't agree. But does this fit the classic "lack of institutional control" that earns special wrath for miscreant schools? You betcha.

At this time, we introduce former UM athletic director Paul Dee, who served as chairman of the NCAA infractions committee. When Southern Cal tried to say it didn't know a booster was making life easy for Bush, the former Heisman Trophy winner, Dee sniffed "high-profile players demand high-profile compliance."

Mr. "High-Profile Compliance" led Miami's athletic department from 1993-2008. The period of violations alleged by Yahoo! ran from 2002-2010. The story implicated 72 Miami athletes and seven coaches.

There are too many problems with the NCAA to detail in one news column, but as president Mark Emmert noted in a statement, "If the assertions are true, the alleged conduct at the University of Miami is an illustration of the need for serious and fundamental change in many critical aspects of college sports."

Start by going after stuff that matters. The NCAA's goal is to run college athletics fairly and with integrity, but honestly sometimes it seems like all it really does is make sure the hired hands keep their grubby mitts out of the cash box.

Jim Tressel deserved to lose his job at Ohio State for lying and trying to cover up information that quarterback Terrelle Pryor and others swapped team memorabilia and jerseys for favors, including discounted tattoos.

But why were those violations to begin with? Selling personal property shouldn't be against the rules.

The NCAA's concern that a quarterback might leverage his team jersey into a Ferrari would carry more juice if the organization didn't allow coaches to turn players into walking Nike billboards. Or sell TV rights for billions. Or … you get the idea.

Maybe Miami isn't really dirty. Maybe the Hurricanes just saw all that money and figured they ought to get their share. The rules, wacky as they are, don't work that way though. When you play college sports, you're supposed to follow the rules.

If this lands UM on probation, it will be the third time since 1981. The previous two resulted in bowl bans and lost scholarships, along with promises that it would never, ever happen again.

It keeps happening though because athletic programs, like players, are addicted to all that cash. That's why Miami let a snake like Shapiro hang around.

You can dismiss him as a rogue booster with no credibility, but if so then he and Miami were perfect for each other. If you're a fan of chaos and calamity, sit right back and get comfortable.