Second time’s the charm.

Nice star witness you got there, NCAA.

Nevin Shapiro, the convicted University of Miami booster who blindsided the school’s athletic program with claims of gift-giving to players, is now admitting to committing perjury when he testified in a criminal trial against a local businessman who is serving 18 years in prison.

Shapiro has sent a letter to a Miami federal judge — along with an ethics complaint to the Florida Bar — claiming he lied under oath in December 2008 when he testified against Juan Rene Caro, who was charged with running a $132 million check-cashing scheme.

But of course nobody thought to let Shapiro self-corroborate on the witness stand.  That would have fixed everything.

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UPDATE:  Straight from the horse’s orifice comes this.

“Who can really take the NCAA serious at this point? Or should? This investigation could have changed the landscape of policing collegiate sports, not… becoming a colossal joke as it has become…. If I had to do this all over again, I would have just kept to myself and allowed the NCAA to sink in their own stew for how ever many more years.”

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Musical palate cleanser, I don’t wanna go home edition

I had a request for some Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes.  Here’s a really cool clip from the group’s debut album release party at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, appropriately on Memorial Day, 1976.

If that doesn’t capture the flavor of the mid-70’s rock scene, I don’t know what does.

And here’s something from the same venue fifteen years later.

“Trapped Again” is from their greatest album, Hearts of Stone.  It’s one of those records that belongs in your collection.  “Walk You All The Way Home” is off Better Days, also highly recommended.

“Will the Auburn-Georgia game always be every year?”

Judging by the rather tepid defense of the game’s future you read here, I’d say not without going to a nine-game conference schedule it won’t.

What do I mean by tepid?  This is what I mean by tepid:

“I’m firm that Georgia-Georgia Tech needs to continue every year,” Adams said, “and I prefer that the Auburn game continue.”

Enjoy it while it lasts, Dawgnation.

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UPDATE:  From Emerson today comes this —

As far as Georgia is concerned, keeping the annual rivalry with Auburn will be of paramount importance. At this point, the rivalry is safe. Yes, there is sentiment to junk it, along with Tennessee-Alabama and LSU-Florida. But is there enough sentiment?

SEC commissioner Mike Slive tends to get what he wants by gently pointing his school’s administrators in his direction. But what does Slive want on scheduling? He’s been cagey on that. When it comes to scheduling, you can sense that Slive wants the SEC to at least consider going to nine games. So it will consider it. But it doesn’t seem Slive is as eager to get rid of more good rivalries.

It also seems that if push came to shove, schools like Georgia and Auburn would accept nine games more than they would getting rid of their rivalry. So if that’s what it takes to preserve the deep South’s oldest rivalry, then they’ll do it.

Selfishly speaking, I’d take that deal all day long and twice on Saturdays.

 

Les Miles, particle physicist

Lester took his scheduling road show to Tim Brando the other day.  We are fortunate enough to be rewarded with this exchange:

Brando: If I would’ve told you in the last 13 years, you would’ve played non-divisional opponents Florida and Georgia, you’ve played them 17 times. And Alabama has played them eight times. What would you say to that?

Miles: I’d have to say we have a scheduling quark there…

I just wish Brando had followed up by asking if LSU was going to build a linear accelerator in order not to fall behind any further in the quark race.  Because you know Saban’s already got one of those suckers…

In service of a greater good

There’s a quasi-rhetorical question buried in this Jon Solomon article about the five big topics up for discussion in Destin this week that bears watching.

In the shorter term, finding schedule windows for live games is the SEC Network’s biggest focus over the next couple months. ESPN’s Justin Connolly, the head of the SEC Network, will be in Destin meeting with coaches and ADs to get a feel for their current programming and scheduling. How comfortable will schools feel playing some non-revenue sports on different days and times for exposure?

Oh, I suspect after a few choice words about academic concerns and the student-athlete experience, they’ll be just fine with the idea.  The Network needs product and it’s not like those kids are bringing any money in to support their programs.

The more intriguing answer will come a few seasons down the road when ESPN asks the same question politely about revenue sports.  The beast must be fed, after all.