Legends of the Fall of USC

Tiger Woods is a VERY, VERY bad man.

Reggie Bush?  OJ Mayo?  OJ Simpson?  University of Spoiled Children?  Trojan Fans Demand #1 Standings each and every year!  “The Greatest Problem in the World  can be solved when its small!” –  unknown attribution!

Pete Carroll could smell the fear….he could sense that the end was near.  He took his gear and made the road trip out of town as quickly as possible.  The dirt was deep and it was time to leave and keep everything at a arms reach.  Pete Carroll is now the coach of the Seattle Seahawks and has even cut Lindell White from his squad…or so the story goes!  The USC Basketball Caoch is also gone…..after the Mayo affair.  Tim Floyd was a great coach too!

USC is going to suffer the rath of the NCAA today.  They will be banned from extended play for two years.  Lane Kiffin couldn’t have come along at a better time.  No pressure for two years!  If he screws the pooch after that…..who cares…we can go get another great coach.  If he is moderately successful or better yet has two undefeated seasons…..the Trojan Gods will be pleased.

Is Heisman Mike Garrett dust as Athletic Director?  What about a new Chancellor too?  Whoa!  Worse than all that will be the press that cross town rival UCLA will be getting for two years.  Rick Neuheisel such a twit.  Good Grief, do we have to suffer such Blue and Gold indignities?  The Great John Wooden couldn’t even stand the thought of what that might mean.  We loved John Wooden and certainly no aspersions on him or his great countenance – rest in peace Great One….even your USC fans are wishing you ever greatness in heaven.

Now the talk is that the PAC-10 will be no more.  We will wind up with a PAC-16 or something that has all these Texas schools that is – IF – Nebraska goes to the Big Ten…which will now be the Big -12 or 13!  The facts are:  The NCAA is out of control.  They are idiots that still think this is 1925 with Bronco Nagurski and Jim Thorpe playing for small college teams.  These are all terrible ideas..which are on the heels of bad teams created by Florida State and Notre Dame lately.  We loved Bobby Bowden…from afar.  We would have hated to play against him or for that matter, Steve Spurrier teams too. How many paid-off refs do the SEC have in the SEC anyway?  In fact, what about the entire make-up of the college and pro Ref programs all together?

Face it, College Football and Basketball yield colleges, universities, organized crime and retailers around the United States – Billions and Billions and Billions of dollars each and every year.  If you just take the sales of USC Sweatshirts, T-Shirts and Caps; as a example, the license fees to the University are immense.

The anecdotal oddball stories are endless, of student athletes that either have been bribed to win, lose or suddenly had problems with felony sex allegations or worse.  A USC kicker, who never missed a kick in a three year career for USC suddenly fell off a cliff in his home town and died.  The investigation was never conclusive.  No alchohol or drugs involved…..hmmm.  So Reggie Bush got a house for his mom and step dad?  Florida players got new cars, nights out with strippers, and the beat goes on.  College sports is dirty and has been for over 80 years in various degrees.  The great point shaving scandals in college basketball during the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s should have told us something?

It does not require  much imagination to understand that a kicker that makes nothing a year in college and the lowest amount on the Pro Teams could be approached to either miss a kick or just have  a sudden injury in practice, before the game.  How about those All American wide receivers that normally make every catch and then drop two in a pivotal game?  How about that Top Rated Quarterback that suddenly throws three interceptions in a nationally televised game?  How about the lineman that suddenly misses his block that puts the starting Quarterback out for the season or several games?

The NCAA needs to simply understand:  “This is the business they have chosen!”  Unless there is an indictable felony produced and found….forget trying to police college sports when it comes to cars, houses and scholarships!  What the NCAA should be concerned with are serious sexual abuse cases, Drug and Enhancement Drug Use,  felonies of any  kind or basic personal conduct unbecoming a NCAA Student Athlete.  They cannot have it both ways:  Either these athletes are role models or they are not!  If not, they deserve NO Special Treatment – do they?

The ridiculous thought that the NCAA could retro-actively enforce sanctions against a University in which one of the athletes took improper payments or received extra goodie bags from someone  – requires a serious re-think.  Unless the NCAA can catch people during their school years and take away eligibility, ban them, fine them/including the University,  or limit their participation in a season of events – this will be a worthless corrective action.  What about a Statute of Limitations?  Say One year?

They needed to catch Reggie Bush and O. J. Mayon during their active school years.  They could have immediately taken away any awards, banned them, fined them and the University for lack of oversight and may have limited any further scholarships to the University for five years!  This would send a message that could stick.  Yet, in order to do this the NCAA needs a  structured legal enforcement arm that is working 24/7 365 days a year.  These people need University placed agents/undercover people that are officially backed by the force of the Federal Government and maybe by a Task Force of the various State Attorney Generals.  College athletics needs Federal oversight!  Always has, always will.  This gets into the whole Olympic issue as well – everything is connected folks!

The NCAA can no longer claim they are nothing more than a bunch of volunteers operating a non-profit foundation.  They have control over Billions of dollars of Television Revenue and the ability to control great markets throughout our country.  Just look at Kohl’s and Wal-mart for example.  Those are small potatoes!  How about Off-Shore betting and Las Vegas and you are talking real money.  The NCAA revenue streams need to be audited  as well.  They are not without sin either!  Let’s get all the ducks out on the table!

OK, as USC fans we will now begin;  “The great suffering of 2010-2012”  We will painfully view the size of our sports coverage shrink on ESPN and in our local newspapers.  We will hear more about those dumb Texas Schools as well as CAL, Arizona State and the dreaded Schools of the Great Northwest! Yuk! Phooey! Blah!

We will now be supporting San Diego State and University of Hawaii this year.  At least we know they are hopeless!  The days of John McKay, John Robinson and Pete Carroll are over!  Where is June Jones Coaching again:  SMU?  “Go you Methodists!” “Go you little Peruna Mustangs!”