Why would there be a poll question on FIU players? What is there to ask? Two were drafted, one pretty high, another in the sixth. One guy has a roster spot, probably will start. The other guy will do well to make the roster. A few signed as undrafted free agents, longshots to make a roster, at the same level as major conference middleweights, studs from NAIA schools and Juco studs who never got D-1 playing time. That's not a shot at them. This year's draft/UDFA period says the raw talent at FIU is improving. But slow down. And there was a lot of respect for Cyp -- predraft story, post-first round story, post-pick story with photos and video.

The multiyear APR after last year was 909. There's less wiggle room than between a stripper's butt and thong. Another year well below 900 will pull the multiyear below 900.

Southpaw, I'm sorry I didn't fly back from Southern California and interrupt my vacation (the one I mentioned in the first few words of the Saturday, March 23 blog post) to cover spring practice. Don't be afraid to read, Sparky.

After Denver's departure, 5 Sun Belt schools have swim teams. Conference USA has six schools now competing, will lose two and gain three, I think, for seven next year. Will it be more competitive than the Sun Belt? Depends on the sport. Just picking a conference I once knew well (and a pal's daughter was in the conference meet last week), the Big Ten's a good swimming conference. FIU's 800 free relay would've finished 7th in the Big Ten, third in Conference USA. Johanna Gustafsdottir probably will win the 200 IM tonight with a time that would've put her 6th or 7th in the Big Ten and won easily in Conference USA. Diving's tougher to judge because it is, well, judged. But Sabrina Beaupre's early round score would've been third in the Big Ten prelims. I guess I never think about "how does this compare?" unless there's a truly remarkable time or distance because this is where FIU is, just like the Pac-10 is where Oregon is or the ACC is where Clemson is. Generally, unless you've got a Kentucky-basketball-from-1940-1980 deal going, the rest of your conference is right around where you are in each sport, recruiting the same kinds of athletes, with similar budgets. So, your goal as a team and athletic department is to win your conference, beat your peers. The Sun Belt might be ever changing, but it didn't just start yesterday. So, to win your conference, break conference records or school records of time or distance, bully for you even if you're not going to threaten the NCAA's best.

Diagodog, there's a lot I could answer, but from the tone of your first and last sentences, the best reply would be, "Then, skip it until there's a post on a sport you care about."

+1 for think about it. I was so busy that spring -- senior year of high school while working 30-40 per week at MickeyD's -- that I didn't read that issue until after the letters appeared on the story two weeks later. Even so, as I read the story, I thought, "Is this serious?"

Pn8013, miacane, chiapanther, OC, Fanatic, DC, Really: gracias, sirs. Southpaw: you're not satisfied with any answer I give to any question, so my last answer to you is "go sit your happy butt over on the grassy knoll and read the blog or don't." And, BGH, I thought you weren't going to read the blog anymore. Yet, here you are again, commenting for the second time since that declaration. Because you know you like it...don't you? Don't you?...Come on, who's your blog daddy?...Say my name, say my name...:)

Yep, I'm trying to ruin the kid. Just like I tried to ruin every Dolphins player whose arrest or eviction (yes, eviction) I wrote about, every Marlins or Dolphins player whose DUI I wrote about, every Panthers player whose arrest I covered, every high school kid whose arrest or shooting I covered... I ran his mugshot -- which is available online. That's the size of the mugshot available online. We did the same with Dolphins cornerback Will Allen when he was arrested on South Beach and in the Pre-Trial Detention Center. Don't be silly, Southpaw. If I wanted to embarrass these kids or, really, anyone in the athletic department, I could do that before my second bowl of cereal each morning. Which wouldn't be Cheerios -- far too bland.

Southpaw, you're young or your memory is short -- The Herald, specifically Ken Rodriguez and UM graduate Dan LeBatard, uncovered the violations that got UM smacked by the NCAA in the 1990s. Ken was the beat guy and remained on that beat through some ugliness toward him over in Coral Gables. He didn't leave The Herald until years later when he got a chance to go back to his native east Texas as a columnist. Because of his great UM-related sources, Dan helped while still being a columnist. He's still with The Herald. And Ray Ray Armstrong got suspended over at UM for the 2011 FSU game after a tweet that indicated dinner with an agent. Same UM reporters who've covered them for years, Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan, reported that. So, uh, yeah, if I covered UM and UM players were stupid enough to tweet about taking recruits to the strip club and I found out about it the next morning, I'd blog it, be immediately asked to write a story on it, be congratulated if either went viral, and, months later, be planted in the press box with Coke and Pop Tarts at opening kickoff of the next season. I never publicly stated I was trying to dig up dirt on Pete Garcia. I publicly stated I had asked for yearly personnel evaluations -- again, as I stated before, evaluations I asked for before I wrote what was considered a "positive" story on Pete Garcia in August -- and was told they didn't exist. As this ran counter to what I was told on and off the record by people at FIU, I grew suspicious. Any professional reporter who wouldn't in that situation doesn't have a job at The Miami Herald. I've covered this beat for 20 months. There's information about the department and about key people in the department that I should have at my fingertips. For a reporter, Gordon Gekko spoke the truth when he said, "the most valuable commodity I know of is information." The person who runs The Miami Herald day-to-day is a Gator. My direct supervisors are grads from FIU and UCF. FIU is as tied into the local power structure as UM is. The Conspiracy Bus really doesn't have much of an engine.

No, Diagodog, they aren't that different. You've let the difference in build and, perhaps, melanin fool you. Medlock's at his best when he worked from the pocket or used his mobility to buy time for guys to get open. He wasn't as willing to run this season, especially after the foot injury. He had 87 runs, but took 24 sacks. So, 63 scrambles, keepers or sneaks and 20 of those were against Akron. Your "Tebow" comparison fit Medlock 2011. Hilliard's a reluctant runner and, also, likes to work from the pocket and use mobility to buy time. And the evidence, both statistical and eye test, is so objective as to who is better right now that stating said hunk of obvious defines "superfluous." I asked Turner about his offense the night they hired him and reported the answer -- basically a pro-style west coast offense with some spread elements. I mentioned the two recruits I did because those were two high school quarterback recruits FIU brought in for recent visits. FIU chose them, not me.

Southpaw, you're waayyyyy too sensitive. Or, maybe you're not college hoops junkie enough for the late night (in the east) ESPN college games that used to invariably involve some UC campus vs. a double directional school or Blahblahblah State. Junkies of any sport like to watch games between teams that aren't of great consequence (and, sorry, neither FIU or ULM team is right now) or game 35 of 82 because you never know what you'll see. Yep, The Herald forced me to cover FIU...when I asked to do it about six seconds after Adam Beasley left the beat. Let Adam have the Dolphins headache. This works out for me perfectly personally and professionally. If you have a problem with the way the UM writers cover their beat, go complain on their blog. If you have a problem with the way I write about what FIU players say in a public forum which everyone else in the free world can see then e-mail or text message to me, that's your problem. If you have a problem with the way I cover this beat or write this blog, we can talk about it. Over Apple Jacks and bacon.

PitinoFan: I believe there's one more assistant spot to be filled. What should concern you even more, though, are the spots on the support staff that need to be filled. It's like a football team playing without its backups and special teams players or an NHL team playing without its third line grinders and penalty killers. BucNasty: Don't know what happened to the $80 customers. Is that for a year? Online only, no print?

The stop work order certainly didn't help. And I mentioned that several weeks ago. Since the first week of December, they've been operating without a full support staff. Again, doesn't help. But each student-athlete needs to take ownership of his/her education. Even those from lousy backgrounds have enough exposure to the broader world to realize what's what. The days of naive bumpkin Bama student athletes went out with the Carquest Bowl.

When I asked about Perkins in the fall, his behavior wasn't brought up, certainly not in the words that I was told Monday: "he was nearly kicked off the team..." Sometimes, things come out after the season. Actually, NCAA enforcement officials get paid to determine whether or not it's a violation. I get paid to say it seems like a violation of NCAA policy at least one way. http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/29/3207377/recruits-strip-club-visit-irks.html I also get paid to say, when it comes to the NCAA, I'd worry more about the men's basketball team's APR last year.

Chia, reading waayyyy too much into this. This isn't hard. They took recruits to the club to show them a good time and talked about it in a public forum where people saw it (two people sent me "did you see this?" messages Sunday morning. You think they were only ones who saw it?). They violated stated school policy and most likely NCAA policy. Which is why it wasn't smart to talk about it in a public forum. That's it. To break it down. 1. Whether a kid is a no star or a five star, you want to make sure he has a good time on a visit whether you're in Miami, Muncie or Montgomery. You're recruiting him now, but also trying to make a good impression for anybody he'll talk to in the future (younger siblings, teammates, peers he sees at camps, summer workouts). Social common sense says you pay as host. 2. One recruit was committed to Ball State and we don't even know if he was part of the pack at the club. Again, ranked quality of recruit or whether or not he's already committed is immaterial. "Committed" isn't "signed." Also, recruiting is guesswork. You don't know if Shug will be the next Wes Welker or dead weight. 3. Perkins and Faciane aren't seniors. They're in their third year of post-high school education. And, again in the Immaterial column is whether they were angels or almost kicked off the team last year. 4. "C'mon, man" is a common phrase used for decades. So are "child, please..." and "ain't nobody got time for that." Because a phrase gets useded by a person or a Monday Night Countdown segment doesn't mean I can't use it as I have for years.

Shame.

Chia, I split the information because when I made the original post, I didn't have the official visit packet with the exact wording on the prohibition. By the time I got it, there was the Mirabal-to-Marshall hire, so I just decided to put it with that as the latest post. And whether the consenting adults paid their own way...I'm going to take you to the strip club so you can have a good time, be seduced to the business decision I want you to make and I'm going to make/let you pay? C'mon, man.

That might not have been a smart play call at all. But fourth and 22 from your own 25? Not tied, but ahead with under 3 minutes left in the one game your school desperately wants to win each year? He's the LB coach, but when you make one of the five worst decisions in football history and it costs your team the game in college football's oldest rivalry...even my football-hating Harvard Law '82 wife went "What?"

que bola: If that's the reason...then, that's kind of funny. Sorry I misinterpreted. System and others: Glad the reference made you smile.

que bola, I certainly recognize the description of Mr. Diamond. He's a good man with whom I shared many a professional and personal talk during my first 20 years at The Herald. I appreciate the defense of my fairness. If you want to take shots at my pal and colleague Adam, but the "Jerusalem cruiser" line sounded like a religous shot. Please leave those out. Especially on a blog written by a Christian married to a West Indian-Ukrainian Jew.

Pikedanny, FIU basketball doesn't exist in a vacuum. And this has historically been the nation's worst large market for college basketball, by attendance and TV ratings. So, with BOTH men's Division I programs in town excelling at an unexpected level, it's logical to ask the effects of BOTH successes on this college basketball marketplace. And I asked Pitino BEFORE Wednesday night's game. I don't care whether or not Larranaga is going to be asked the same question in the same manner. That's not my concern. I would've asked it of him Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon if I were covering UM. But different reporters ask different questions.

The Corey hire hasn't been confirmed on any level, which is why I haven't reported it. Not saying it won't happen. It just hasn't yet. The scholarship limit remains at 25, Jimmy. If FIU doesn't reach its limit, that's life. There's no rule that says you have to use 25 scholarships.

Google FIU Approved 2012-13 Operating Budget. Page 17 of 33 on a PDF file. First line. "Projected expenditures of $22.7M." http://finance.fiu.edu/ofp/docs/BOT_FY_2012-13_Operating_Budget_Presentation.pdf

FIU's "confidential books" are public record.

FIUFan, for 2012-13, total revenues were projected at $23.6 million with expenditures at $22.7 million. That's a budget that's "around $23 milllion."