My first thoughts on the Miami investigation can be summed up in this clip from Casablanca.

Granted that was just my knee-jerk reaction, but the more we learn about the situation in Miami, the worse it seems to get.

Who is Nevin Shapiro?
Sure you know he's pulling 20 years for his role in a $930 million Ponzi scheme. You know he is saying he gave all kinds of "stuff" to former players. And you may even know about his love for taking creepy pictures with athletes for "the U", undoubtedly destine to land front and center on his Myspace page. But who is he really?

He's that kid in your neighborhood who would do almost anything if he thought it would make the other kids think he was cool.

He's that kid who thought he was a bad mother because he swiped a warm beer from his dad's fishing cooler and then tried to not puke when tasting it. That kid who, for some reason, thought lighting fire crackers taped to random animals was hilarious. And that kid who once snuck that real slimey dirty magazine up to your tree house and then got upset when Big Black Butt didn't exactly win him any fans.

Things never work out for that kid. Best case scenario he gets used for his willingness to steal candy bars from 7-Eleven and then dumped the second he gets busted.

That's who Nevin Shapiro is, only with more money, and possibly less sense. 

Shapiro has admitted to using his illegally earned wealth to provide players with yacht rides, jewelry, entertainment -- at time including hookers -- and even an abortion once all in hope of winning a few high profile friends. And according to him it worked for a time, claiming 72 players, along with members of Miami's administration and coaching staff, from 2002 to 2010 benefited from his "friendship."

He also admits he felt burnt when his "friends" dumped him as soon as he got busted, thus providing the motivation for his recent tell-all frenzy. The guy players' once referred to as "Lil Luke" is now bitter as he sits in jail and not a single one of the guys who once drank up his expensive liquor will come and talk to him through the glass.

That's who the man is and what the motivation is behind this entire story, but does that make it fictional?

If it's not true, why haven't any of the players mentioned stepped up and cleared the air?
Vincent Wilfork, Jon Beason, Andre Johnson, Devin Hester, Kellen Winslow Jr., Antrel Rolle, Frank Gore, and Willis McGahee are a handful of the players who make up the list of Miami greats, as well as the list of Shapiro's "buddies."

So if this was false, why wouldn't they be stepping up to save their alma mater? Even if Shapiro's story isn't completely false and is instead just being totally inflated by him, why not go ahead and clear the air?

None of those guys are going to suffer any penalty at this point. None of them have anything to lose even if clearly the air means admitting some wrong doing on their parts, so what does the fact none are speaking out tell us?

How will this effect the current team and season?
Yesterday Al Golden looked like a guy whose new car had just blown an engine when being interviewed, as it's now clear his first season in Miami is going to be far more challenging than originally thought. 

Not only is he taking over a program that desperately needs a solid season he now has to deal with quarterback Jacory Harris, receiver Travis Benjamin, defensive tackle Marcus Forston, safety Ray-Ray Armstrong and linebacker Sean Spence being involved in this investigation according to Yahoo!

If this is true, Golden may be facing the toughest task since the The Texas State Fighting Armadillos had to reach out to Scott Bakula and Sinbad to save their program.

Of course the big question is, will Miami get the "death penalty?" Well, what do you think?