Shame on "the U"

The brawl that occurred between the University of Miami and Florida
International University football teams last Saturday night was a
black eye on the face of college athletics. The brawl was so raucaus
and nasty that it was more like a broken nose with the complimentary
pair of black eyes. Not surprisingly, the melee resulted in 31
players receiving at least a one game suspension.

FIU did the honorable thing and held its players accountable for their
actions. Some of the FIU players received increased suspensions, were
kicked off the team, or had their scholarships revoked.

Meanwhile, "the U" took the low road and maintained its much deserved
public image of a university more interested in coddling thug football
players than in preparing the youth of America for life after college.
Miami President Donna Shalala should be ashamed and embarrassed by her
actions this week.

Shalala failed to take any significant action after the brawl. In
fact, the only action she took was to avoid watching the tape of the
incident. How can the head of a major university do her job by
sticking her head in the sand? Shalala caved to boosters and the
football program when she decided to ignore the problem.

At an absolute minimum Shalala should have expelled the player who was
swinging his helmet at FIU player's heads and Brandon Merriweather,
the defensive captain, who was stomping on at least two prone FIU
players with his cleats.

Donna Shalala is a joke of a leader and should be fired. Head Coach
Larry Coker should follow her out the door. Miami needs to start at
the top with this housecleaning.