Five Thoughts on South Florida Game

so im guessing you are against the bowl ban Rudy?

Unnecessarily... Really? You're clearly in the minority here unless you want to sacrifice the future of the program.

I'm the minority then cuz I'm with rudy

I been sayin a ban is not needed... everybody say we did nothing compared to the other schools but we should self impose another ban?? The other schools UNC, USC, OSU did neither suspend anyone or impose a ban and they were guilty by far for what they did, we suspended players and forfeited last year.. This year gloves are off if we beat duke play the damn game

Totally against it. We gave up a bowl last year. What happened at Miami is not deserving of two bowl games. I don't care what anyone says. Ohio State got a one bowl ban. USC did far more than Miami and got two bowl games, USC was far worse. I don't care about Nevin Shapiro. You can't quantify a couple hundred bucks here and there to multiple players to buying Reggie Bush a house. There is a huge difference. What happened with Nevin Shapiro, a pissed off guy who is now broke and has no friends because he's broke, is not the same thing or even close to the things that went on at Miami in the 80s and 90s and all we got then was a one year bowl ban. The 80s and 90s were far worse than this Shapiro nonsense. These guys have a chance to play for the ACC Championship. I don't care if the record is 7-5. It's for an ACC Championship. Let's just say, Miami beats FSU in an upset. That's 8-5. Then Miami gets to play in the freaking Orange Bowl. Let's say, Miami wins that HOME game. You are talking 9-5. That's program changing. IF Donna Shalala self imposes a bowl ban this week, Miami will get smacked at Duke. These guys won't even show up to play. And the team will finish 6-6 and there will be ZERO hype for this program. Part of marketing is having something to market. It's hard to market 6-6 every year. 9-5 is a lot easier to market. Even 8-6 is. What I saw today in that stadium was a disgrace. I swear to God at 2:59 p.m. I asked the SID, aren't we a minute from kickoff? The place was absolutely empty. 2,000 maybe in the building. I am convinced Miami held the kickoff up 15-20 minutes for people to get inside. It's shameful, but I will tell you that Miami simply DOES NOT market this team. I live in South Florida. They don't advertise. They don't get out in the community. Heck, give the freaking tickets away. Get people in the building. But you have to make a connection with the community. OPEN PRACTICE UP TO THE PUBLIC IN THE SPRING! Make people care. Miami closing practices to the public has crippled itself. There is no connection to this team in any capacity. Al Golden has to wake up because he is the decision maker when it comes to opening up practice and he is the one that will truly make this team connect with the community. I have said it before and I will say it again, you get the MEDIA on your side, you will get the fans on your side. People will come. By being open with MEDIA and not lying and BSing the MEDIA and making it impossible to get any information, the MEDIA will not be your friend. Instead, the MEDIA will look for anything to hit. By being open with the MEDIA, you will get far more positive stuff out there. That's just my opinion. But this program absolutely fell apart when the locker room got closed to the MEDIA and Miami became everyone else.

I think most fans want to be on your side Rudy, but in my opinion the NCAA is a crock of shit and they might slam us just because of the media blowout once the story hit in August 2011...but I do agree with you that this is a huge opportunity and Miami has to be very careful with it...its a rough situation for the administration

Absolutely unnecessary. This program has no future right now. The last seven years is a history of average and mediocrity. You can't build on 6-6. What happens if you sacrifice your bowl game and then the NCAA adds a THIRD bowl game. Then what? People are acting like what Miami did is so much worse than USC and it's not worse. Not even close. Heck, what Miami did isn't even as bad as what went on in the 80s and 90s.

I hope to God the NCAA sees it the same as you Rudy

It's pretty simple.

If the NCAA views the situation similarly to how Rudy views it, we don't self impose a bowl ban. I agree that our transgressions are lesser than that of UNC, OSU, or USC. In a game with fair rules, we don't deserve a two year bowl ban.

But we're not playing under fair rules. I don't think that the NCAA will agree, and that's why the bowl ban makes sense. I think the NCAA has at least one more bowl loss in store for us. I don't think the NCAA is being quite as flippant about our transgressions as Rudy is.

So do we take it now, when we're 6-5, despite our chances at the ACCCG? Or do we enjoy the fruits of our labor this year, and saddle next year's team (which should be better...) with the ban?

Unless Miami has intel suggesting the NCAA sees things more like Rudy does, then not imposing a bowl ban would be quite stupid.

And if you want to talk pitches for the future, which is easier to sell: A) The NCAA investigation will have no effect on your son's football experience, or B) This season we're about to undergo, your son's freshman year, is for naught -- we're paying for our 2009 sins in 2013.

A is the no-brainer...unless Miami knows something.