One of the most amazing things about the Nevin Shapiro saga was how the booster wanted to be the players’ friend.  Normally you think of shady boosters as fat old white guys who just want the team to win.  But Shapiro was a different animal, a Napoleon complex Jew who would rather hang out with the players than see them do well.  This explains why Miami wasn’t that good when he was giving players impermissible benefits.  Shapiro didn’t give a shit about the Canes doing well.  The guy went to USF for Christ’s sake.  He was just taken in by the allure of South Beach that also seduced LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

It’s funny; if you read the articles about him, he says that he’s going public because he feels like his friends have abandoned him.  Now, it’s probably not easy growing up as a 5’5” Jew in Miami, and I’m sure Shapiro used that as motivation to construct his massive Ponzi scheme.  But the man never learned what the rest of us failed jocks did: there comes a time when you realize that you’re not going to be a big time athlete, and big time athletes don’t want to be friends with you.  They’re in their own world, full of people they have no idea they can trust.  Everyone is looking for a piece of them, and simply lavishing them with gifts won’t make you their friend.  Shapiro seems to lack fundamental understanding of how one actually becomes friends with people.

Worst booster ever?  Worst booster ever.