SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY SOAP OPERA

Soap operas have been disappearing from daytime television. But here is a plot that could give rise to a brand new long-lasting soap opera. It has everything – a college setting, multiple characters, sex, lawsuits, police investigations, liars, criminals, etc.

Last year four men accused longtime Syracuse University assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of molesting them when they were young boys. Fine was fired and the feds started an investigation into the charges.

Last December, Floyd VanHooser, one of the four accusers (then a prison inmate), admitted Fine never molested him. And now, Zachary Tomaselli, another one of Fine’s accusers, admits he made the whole story up because he was pissed off over Syracuse beating the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2003 March Madness championship game.

The accusations against Fine got the media’s attention after another headline-making sexual abuse scandal involving Penn State’s assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was beginning to play out.

Tomaselli admits to being a ‘habitual liar and sociopath.’ Here are some of the statements he made to various news organizations:

__ "The evidence that supports me is just pure luck, not real evidence. I made the entire thing up. I have never met Bernie in my life."

__“It was just a game that I decided to see how far I could push it and I was able to push it a lot further than I could ever have imagined.”

__ "One lie led to another. It grew and grew and grew and it was amazing to see it grow."

__ “It was a game to me. It was fun trying to make this story come alive.”

Fine was originally accused by Bobby Davis and his stepbrother Michael Lang of molesting them back when Davis was a Syracuse ball boy. Tomaselli now says that “Bobby Davis told me what to tell detectives and it pretty much took off from there. I was told by Bobby Davis what kind of porn Bernie likes. So I would add that we were watching lesbian porn and going on and on.” Davis says Tomaselli is lying.

Davis and Lang are suing Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim for defaming them following their accusations against Fine.

And all this gets even better. Davis has accused Fine’s wife Laurie of having had sex with several players and that her sexual involvement with the team was openly known.

As for Tomaselli, he is about to enter a Maine prison to begin serving a three-year sentence for sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy at a summer camp.

And what about poor old Bernie Fine who lost his job and has probably lost all of his family's financial assets defending himself? He could not be charged with molesting Davis and Lang because the statute of limitations had played out. Tomaselli’s case was the only one that was prosecutable. Now the U.S. Attorney who has been handling the case is left with nothing to hang his hat on.

Proctor and Gamble please note: This whole damn mess sure as hell looks like one great plot for a soap opera.