Fellow Fanhouse lead Brian Grummell is a gentleman and a scholar, but he's also totally in the tank for USC and their comical cavalcade of minor recruiting violations. As a Michigan fan who watched his basketball team gutted and left to die for essentially the same violation that Reggie Bush and USC seem very likely to skate for (e.g., taking tons and tons of money as an extra benefit, not a recruiting inducement), I have little sympathy for the continual bad press the USC program is getting, especially when they try to spin stuff like Joe McKnight's recent admission that he spoke to Reggie Bush as some sort of misunderstanding. Watch for yourself:
This is not a confused young man who is erroneously reporting some detail of his recruitment, it's an innocent one unaware that USC has yet again ignored NCAA fine print. The conclusive point is some elder advisor of McKnight leaping in the second time he mentions the Bush call to cut him off and start practicing some damage control. It's clearly an "uh-oh, busted" moment.
The practical upshot of this? Virtually nil. It's a minor violation that would warrant a hand-slap at best and given the NCAA's lack of proof/cojones is unlikely to escalate even that far. But let's not pretend that this incident didn't happen, or that it's increasingly clear that USC has little use for NCAA regulations as long as plausible deniability can be maintained.
Joe McKnight Didn't 'Misspeak'
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2/11/2007 12:10 PM ET By Brian Cook
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- Brian Cook
Read More: USC Football Pac 10 NCAA FB Scandal NCAA FB Video Los Angeles
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Good post. While I agree with others that such a rule is kindof counter-intuitive, it's still a rule, however minor. Southern Cal obviously broke it, and Pete Carroll and company are lying about it. It shows a lack of integrity on the program's part, both that they broke it and are now being dishonest about it. It's a travesty that the NCAA will probably look the other way at this and the more serious violations undoubtedly committed regarding Reggie Bush. If USC were some rogue Big 12 or SEC school, it'd be two years of no postseason play and four with debilitating scholarship reductions. It's sad the way the NCAA looks the other way when the rules are broken by its cash cows such as USC, Michigan, OSU or ND.
Its funny how certain programs (USC, Ohio State) can do thiings and nothing ever comes of it. Is it because of their NAMES OR POPULARITY..... USC recruits wrong. A few years ago Ohio State had a freshmen help them win a title and he got cars and didnt go to school. No big deal.
Oh I believe it happened, but I also think it's quite plausible that the two (Bush and McKnight) didn't "speak" directly to each other and thus may not have committed the violation as I think there's wiggle room as far as having someone in the room on speakerphone but not directly on the line with the recruit. At least that's how I read it from someone with an NCAA contact who explained the minutae of it to me.
Nor do I blame USC for connecting the two. It's an unfair advantage to all other competitors to badtalk the investigation when USC cannot get a recruit to get a direct word about what happened from the indicted (Bush), no?
Such is life with the NCAA rules, lots of gray area.
An NCAA spokeswoman said they'll look at mitigating factors and the whole Bush investigation is one giant, throbbing, flashing red mitigating factor here in USC's favor for allegedly doing what it did.
I just wanted to make light of LSU's reaction in my post. The whole OnePeat thing and the "not welcome in Louisiana" entry I saw were amusing if disturbing. That was the purpose of the entry to show the pattern here when it comes to USC/LSU relations and how ridiculous the LSU fan behavior is.
Purely a USC hater, tries to spin off something small into a big deal. Heres the truth about this blogger... http://lakers.aolsportsblog.com/2007/02/09/brian-cook-is-crazy/
That's right, so you better listen up or I'll bite Phil Jackson's head off.
Not a big deal? This is about a player who's being called the best Louisiana high school football player since Kevin Faulk.
It's just a matter of time before Pete sinks USC and leaves it for dead.Then leaves for one last stint in the NFL.He has nothing to lose.
This happens each and every recruiting season and not just by USC. Look at this year's #3 Running Back and #5 overall on a lot of lists Noel Devinne or something to that sort. He took a visit to West Virginia and said he wasn't going to go to Florida State after going to WVU was going to sign there. Then Deion Sanders gave him a call and convinced him not to sign according to the recruit. Why is this not being blown up at all?
It's funny to hear the USC apologists making excuses for their redruiting practices. Now, if it happened to be...Miami? Well, that would be a whole different story. Lock em up and throw away the key. But because USC happens to be the NCAA's golden child, it will just be swep under the rug and business as usual. Personally, I would love nothing more than 6 or 7 programs be hit every year with violations until the whole mess was cleaned up. That way no one could say that "everyone does it." It seems the NCAA is constantly guilty of selective enforcement.
Lets get real here folks. Does anyone REALLY beleive that any top program doesn't occasionally have one of their ex top players throw in a good word or two? Eddie George hasn't told some recruit about the benefits of playing for the mighty Buckholes? Vince Young would NEVER tell some hot recruit about the advantages of playing at a University thats known for double digit IQ's of their players. Get over it, the NCAA is a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any thoughts about how this rule relates to Noel Devine and Sanders?
What's getting lost in all of this is now a minor recruiting violation is the talk of the NCAA sports world, and little is being mentioned about the big crime here and that's Bush and his family getting tons of cash while still playing at U$C. That is a major violation, and one U$C should have to pay for. McKnight should be going to a school facing major sanctions, but it most likely won't because they are who they are. U$C is good at spin control and now have a tiny little scandal on their hands but one they welcome because it hides the real truth of the bad things they and their players have done in the past.
Nice work, that's like a guy cheating on his wife and then running over his wife's cat on purpose. He makes a big deal about the stupid cat to hopefully get her to forget about the fact he was nailing his secretary. However, any rational person would see through that and still be pissed about the MAJOR violation...thank God the NCAA isn't rational.
USC is not merely a "cash cow." Its football program is on par with Notre Dame in terms of the sheer wealth of its non-regional following. Programs like Dame and SC make college football as relevant as the NFL. So programs like Notre Dame and USC may have the appearance that they are given special treatment by the NCAA, but they follow the rules the media glare dictates (which is far brighter than the glow on Iowa or UCLA: less publicized programs). This was a non-issue and every sports writer and analyst of the game understands that. A phone call is ONLY a violation if USC initiated the call. If the recruit said, I want to talk to Bush: no violation. And if I were a 17/18 year old young man and my college/professional future is on the line, I want to speak to fellow alumni of the program I am interested in. This whole discussion is silly. I hope it is put to bed sooner than later.
UmmmLets see Ohio Stae's Clarett CHEATED blatantly and after the NCAA found out NOTHING was done. How can they penalize a team whose coach wears a nerdy sweater and a tie? Number two- USC BLATANTLY cheated with Reggie Bush and in getting this new kid. Will something be done? NOT!
If this was Miami, pleeeease! Look what happened in the 90s. No. Look what happend after the FIU incident when only the year befor Clemson and USC were involved in a much worse brawl and the outcry was far less!
Lilly white USC with their blonde cheerleaders.excuse me, dance girls or whatever they call them there, and lilly white Ohio State, witheir billions of alumni cant be punsihed. The NCAA doesn'thave the gnocchis to do it.
USC must have some powerful hiearchy in the NCAA establishment somewhere, because if you throw all of these violations together, in my opinion, it's where SMU was when they received the "Death Penalty."
I believe that serious sports fans know the truth. College athletics are a haven for corruption. It is a business. Very lucrative to put it mildly. These stories of violations will continue as long as athletics play a prominent role in our society. Don't get me wrong, i'm a fan too. My favorite team is the Florida State Seminoles. I don't condone illegal practices by athletes,school programs,boosters,alumni or whomever; nonetheless, it is good to see illegal activities exposed. Hopefully, punishments will be levied equally regardless of the institution.
It's funny when SEC fans complain about special treatment for non-SEC teams such as Michigan, USC, Notre Dame. Mind you I am not a USC or Notre Dame fan, but can respect them for at least making an attempt at setting academic standards. I find it unbelievable that SEC fans can question the Michigan program's integrity after all of the documented infractions in the SEC.
What USC/LSU "thing"? Fact: LSU (SEC School) wins National Title......USC...not playing in the Championship game claims a share of title....
Following year USC wins National Title....Undefeated Auburn (SEC School) wins the equivalent bowl game USC played in the prior year but is not recognized by the NCAA like USC was the previous year.....
It's no LSU/USC thing... you idiot.....it's just a USC thing and the rest of the NCAA is finally seeing the big picture. USC is the problem.