LSU Fans Crazy? Nahhh.

Really?

I just don't believe it. No sir no sir no sir, just no way. Not them.

In the latest of college football's tempests in a teapot, the world is afire about an alleged obscure recruiting violation committed by USC in securing the commitment of Louisiana boy Joe McKnight.

That's great and all, but the violation apparently never happened.

Carroll believes LSU fans created the controversy because McKnight chose the Trojans over his home-state school. "They went crazy about it,'' he said.

Crazy? Not LSU fans. They don't overreact to perceived sleights. No sir. LSU fans are classy.

No longer welcomed in Louisiana, never gonna be able to play in a national championship, will be compared to Reggie Bush every Saturday instead of making a name for himself. Yeah he's a smart one! Hope you choke big time!

McKnight's no longer welcomed in Louisiana simply because he chose USC?! (!) You stay classy, Tiger Fan!

For its part, USC is on the offensive. Unless Pete Carroll's pulling a Gary Hart it's probably safe to say this is a non-story.

Pete Carroll is emphatic that nothing illegal took place in the recruitment of Joe McKnight, including any conversations with Reggie Bush.

"It didn't happen,'' Carroll said. "So we won't get penalized. You can look at the phone records. I'm not worried about it one bit. That conversation with Bush never existed. Reggie and everyone else will tell you it didn't happen.''

Carroll said he is eager to obtain an audiotape of McKnight's press conference to see if his words were misinterpreted and said he thinks the recruit's words might have been twisted.

"(Bush and McKnight) never talked and never had a conference call or speakerphone conversation,'' Carroll said.

If you're still unconvinced after reading this, there's little comfort in this final note: the rule in question is an inane and seemingly counterproductive NCAA regulation.

Former players are considered boosters per the NCAA. What better person to lean on and ask questions about three to five years experience at one's potential college of choice than a former player? What does it say for the NCAA when it creates rules that restrict access to human resources who can give insight into a complicated and far-reaching decision like the choice of a college?

Best to bite the bullet here and see what comes of the original Bush investigation because there's just no meat in this violation. Sorry, Tiger fan. But at least your fevered reputation is intact.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

2-10-2007 @ 2:14AM

OlemissReb06 said...

Sorry but can this article be even more one sided the is on TV saying "Pete Carroll called Bush on speakerphone and Bush reassured me nothing was going to come out of it" Now everyone wants to say he was mispoken this is just another USC COVER UP!

3-01-2007 @ 2:04PM

Gregg said...

Give me a break. Fans are fans, regardless of what school they pull for. As for Joe McKnight's situation, he plainly stated on TV that he and Carroll were on a speaker phone with Bush. He didn't bat an eyelash when he said it. He didn't mean something else. His words were clear and without hesitation. LSU fans have nothing to do with this. USC's complience people are investigating and rightfully so. The NCAA needs to ask for phone records and take nobody's word for anything. That's what they would do if it was any other school.

2-10-2007 @ 2:23AM

OleMissReb06 said...

One thing also is with the phone records they wont be able to prove anything unless they will be able to get audio b/c Pete called bush on speakerphone on his phone

2-10-2007 @ 3:28AM

Ronnie McMillin said...

Ummm, The Times Picayune reported that (McKnight's Coach) Curtis told the Times on Thursday that he spoke to Carroll during McKnight's recruitment, but not on a conference call with McKnight or Bush. He also said McKnight told him "Coach Carroll was talking to Reggie on the speakerphone and Joe was able to listen and hear Reggie Bush's side of the story," the newspaper reported.

Further, On Wednesday evening around 4 o'clock there was a telephone interview on WWL 870 am with Kenny Wilkerson and Bobby Hebert and Joe McKnight and Coach Curtis. Joe McKnight and coach Curtis said on air that Joe spoke with Reggie , before NSD, on the phone and Reggie assured him that he didn't take any money. It is on tape at WWL.

This is in addition to the words coming out of McKnight's mouth on TV with his lips moving.

So, one of two things appear to be true:

One is that that there was a difference making violation that resulted in the signing of the number one recruit in the nation.

The other is that Joe McKnight fell for a cheap trick because the person on the other end of Carroll's phone was not really Reggie Bush.

Either way, the story is not about LSU fans and would be the same story of the same magnatude even if there was not one peep out of LSU fans. Denials about precise details (conference call, no conference call)or trying to blame this on the everpresent "crazy LSU fans" factor by Pete Carroll sound pretty lame.

Either he did it or pretended to do it. One is far from an obscure violation, it's just breaking the rules to get an unfair cheat. I have no idea if the alternative is a violation or not, but how would you like to be Joe McKnight and learn you had been tricked like that?

Facts is Facts.

2-10-2007 @ 9:54AM

luke said...

u wouldnt see notre dame bribing any players to come to there school. in fact they lost two recruits on singing day, thats how honest they are

and that last comment was serious. GO NOTRE DAME!!

2-10-2007 @ 10:21AM

Mark said...

Pete, asking Reggie if the call took place!!! Yeah right!!! Reggie also denied taking money while at USC!! HMMM. Reggie not allowed on sidelines at USC games!! HMMM. Yeah, he is someone we can believe?? After Pete leaves, USC will be on probation. So many violations will come out.

2-10-2007 @ 12:12PM

Sam said...

Please.... Brian Grummel has no credibility whatsoever. Yes, let's blame USC's supposed recruiting violations on another school. Pathetic. I care for neither team, but this is just asinine. YOU STAY CLASSY BRIAN GRUMMEL.

2-10-2007 @ 1:43PM

Garry may said...

I am a Mississipian who follows John Curtis football,
and think coach John curtis is a great coach with a
great program that looks out for his players. If
he says it, you can believe it. I don't think its a
coaches duty to push his players to any particular
school, including LSU.

2-10-2007 @ 1:49PM

John Anderson said...

This event took place, no ifs, ands, buts about it. I'm a USC fan as well, its obvious Carroll is sweeping this under the carpet, but as long as McKnight plays for us, GO TROJANS!

2-10-2007 @ 2:51PM

sadfdsfweqwef said...

Oh hell you haven't even touched on Bush driving McKnight all over New Orleans in his sweet ride. Not like Bush and USC have an investigation hanging over them or anything. Nope, clean as a whistle that program is.

2-10-2007 @ 3:47PM

Tom said...

So in spite of an interview that aired on local television that I've seen TWICE BTW, this WHOLE thing is made up by LSU fans eh? I saw that interview and didn't see ONE LSU fan prompting JM to lie about anything. He was explaining to the interviewer what had made him choose SC. He first talked about the journalism courses offered there and THEN about how PC would use him on offense and how PC got RB on the phone to reassure him no NCAA sanctions would result from the NCAA investigations of USC. Now I know that JM is no PUPPET and I don't think the interviewer was a ventriloquist so either someone is in ACUTE DENIAL of what really happened OR someone is trying to cover up, which seems most likely here? There is NO denying that JM made the remarks during an interview. There was nobody within camera range and no other reporters asking quesitons (like PC is trying to claim now). Joe McKnight CLEARLY stated that he got reassurance from Reggie Bush in Pete Carrol's presence about possible future sanctions and that it made his decision easier when considering USC. Calling the rule "obscure" doesn't make breaking it FAIR. Claiming LSU fans are responsible for JM's words is downright LUDICROUS!! I would bet $10K this blogger is a USC homer with NO IDEA how easily this can be proven!! Like I said before, I SAW THE TAPE TWICE.

2-11-2007 @ 12:38PM

mikeyanagita said...

That phone call was absolutely critical: if McKnight had any reason to go to LSU instead of USC, it would be the NCAA pwnage coming to USC. To have a Reggie Bush give McKnight his assurance probably sealed the deal for USC.

Considering USC's history of sweeping nasty stuff under the rug (Jarrett, Sanchez, Maualuga, e.g.), and the fact that they're ESPN's favorite team, I'm very afraid that they could get away with this one as well.

2-10-2007 @ 6:13PM

HS said...

What a bunch of no life whiners! Did anyone consider the kid "mispoke" because he was caught up in his own celebrity? Oh and check out the big brain on #3, olemissreb06, the phone records will show the call did or did not take place in arrol's office as McKnight reported. It has nothing to do with the speaker phone. LSU fans have whined and snivelled since they were forced to accept a shared championship. Give it up, drop the jealousey, get on with life. Let's be civil competitors. If you can't do that, lift your dress and give yourself a big scratch.

2-10-2007 @ 8:42PM

Brian said...

Are you talking about this video:

http://www.wwltv.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=119263&catId=53

If so it's vague at best what McKnight was talking about. Did Carroll call Bush and then put him on the phone with McKnight? Did Carroll call Bush at some other time in the recruitment and then later relay what Bush has said to McKnight? That's a huge snag in this story, whatever the alleged incident was is entirely vague.

The larger issue in this is that I feel that not just this rule but a lot of the NCAA's rules are counterproductive. It's a sad day when a recruit cannot be in contact with former players who can give them a different point of view than the coaches and current players as to what was good and bad about their experience at the various schools. And in USC's case with the NCAA investigation hanging over their heads it's somewhat unfair to not have Bush accessible to recruits to say hey, I did or didn't do such and such. The best decisions are made with perfect information and each rule that limits access to a variety of resources also hampers perfect information. Does that make a little more sense as to why I'm treating this story as I have?

Nobody's blaming LSU fans for USC's troubles although I wanted to make light of Carroll's reaction to how this thing was blown up in the first place saying LSU fans freaked out which is right in line with previous behavior towards USC such as the OnePeat thing and how the fans turned on him in the blog link I highlighted with the LSU fan saying he's no longer welcome in his own home state which is a terrible thing to say. But it's also pattern with how LSU fans react to things of late.

2-11-2007 @ 11:19AM

John Brown said...

How would this same rule apply to Sanders and Noel Devine?

2-11-2007 @ 3:39PM

Jim said...

The videotape is clear. Coach Carroll and Reggie Bush had a conference call with recruit McNight. Still doesn't mean the NCAA will do anything about it. USC is the teflon team.

2-11-2007 @ 10:10PM

BushParentsOnTheMove said...

Assuming all of what the USC folks are saying is true *cough* BS *cough* why did Pete Carroll choose that particular moment to discuss Bushgate with Reggie?

I doubt it had anything to do with MckNight's favorite player being Reggie Bush. It was purely a coincidence.

2-12-2007 @ 6:56PM

Coach Carroll is denying the conversation ever happened. So it never happened, he speaks the truth. He has no reason to be less then honest. The USC investigation will turn up nothing. The NCAA will yawn.