If you're not cheating, you're not trying.

The year was 1986; I was a senior at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. My school, it was revealed in local news reports, was guilty of many NCAA infractions concerning its football team. It, along with very rich boosters, was paying cash to players. Despite having been placed on probation by the NCAA for similar violations, the boosters and SMU higher authorities approved continued payments to the players because they had a "contract with those boys." The end result was the NCAA dealing the ultimate penalty to SMU football for its infractions, the Death Penalty.

The Death Penalty destroyed SMU football for 20 years, aided in the collapse of the Southwest Conference, and forced me to go to a soccer match for my first homecoming. It also forced the head coach, Athletic Director, and President of the University to resign. I have never thought it would be imposed against any other program due to the impact it has had on college football in Texas. But, I am not so sure anymore.

Yahoo! Sports has reported that a former booster of the University of Miami ("The U"), Nevin Shapiro, has spilled his guts about how he used to provide excessive benefits to The U's players (football and basketball) starting in 2001. Shapiro, who is in federal prison serving a 20-year sentence for running a Ponzi scheme, is apparently upset with the players he "took care of" because they did not come to his side during his investigation, arrest, and prosecution.

According to Shapiro, he provided players with cash, parties on his yacht, prostitutes, and on one occasion, an abortion. He claims he paid a stripper to have sex with a player, and the stripper was impregnated. Shapiro says that he paid for the abortion without the knowledge of the player who was "so stupid he might want to keep it." The allegations are stunning. While it is true this guy is a fraud and a felon, it is difficult not to believe him. Yahoo! compiled written documentation to confirm his story.

So, what happens to The U? The NCAA has been investigating the allegations for a few months, and there are rumors the Death Penalty may be imposed yet again. But, the NCAA is a big money making monopoly. It looks after its bottom line before it looks after what is right or wrong. You only have to look to the big programs who have committed serious infractions yet only get minor penalties of forfeiting prior games won and a few scholarship reductions. USC has received the harshest penalty since SMU when it was banned from competing in bowl games.

I remember the day when cheating programs were banned from appearing on television while on probation. SMU was one of those programs. Now, there is no way the NCAA would strip its own pockets of money by such a ban. So, it is ok to have television networks pay to show the games, it is ok for the universities to sell the jerseys of its players and make millions in the process, but it is not ok for the players to have jobs or get paid stipends for every day expenses. It is hypocrisy at its finest, and it is as disgusting to me as the Shapiro story. The old fashioned notion of the student-athlete is a just that; old fashioned. The truth is college football is a dirty, dirty business taking advantage of young people.

I do not know what the answer is to the NCAA's problem. But, I do know that the Death Penalty is not a good option for The U. I would not wish that on any university. It has not been much fun to watch SMU games for the past 20 years, but SMU is on the up-swing thanks to Coach June Jones and a couple of bowl game appearances. Nevertheless, it will never be the same because in today's college football "if you're not cheating, you're not trying."

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