Kurt's Thoughts

Uh oh.  Looks like there’s blood in the waters around USC Athletics and the media sharks are beginning to circle their next meal.  Anyone else get the feeling that someone’s about to get a long overdue visit from the oversight committee of the NCAA?

• CBS SPORTS:  Double trouble lands USC atop era’s cheat sheet
  “…This is the most scandalous athletic program of this era … and that’s saying something.”
  http://www.cbssports.com/columns/story/11746214

  CBS SPORTS:  Basketball troubles could pour over to USC’s gridiron
  ”The loss of 15 scholarships over three years, a postseason ban, forfeits including a Pac-10 title and… ripping that 2004 national championship.”
  http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/11746785

• SEATTLE TIMES:  Building a case to take down Tony Soprano, I mean USC
  “…all signs indicate they’ll be punished to the brink of irrelevance for quite a while.”
  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrybrewer/2009217849_brewer14.html
• YAHOO SPORTS:  USC probe centers on control
  “Yahoo! Sports has identified 17 individuals who have been interviewed at least once – and some multiple times – by the NCAA. However, that number is believed to only be a small portion of those who have met with NCAA investigators in connection with the USC probe…
  Two sources also have confirmed the NCAA has spoken with the FBI…”
  http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=AnGwZEVGNR5Cxn.2YRfN9m_EnZF4?slug=ys-uscprobe051209&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
• FOX SPORTS:  NCAA needs to throw the book at USC
  ”If you can’t put the University of Southern California in jail, you might as well close up shop. Declare amateur athletics dead. And get rid of your most beloved rules, which wouldn’t mean anything anyway.”
  http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9569020/NCAA-needs-to-throw-the-book-at-USC
• ESPN:  Mayo investigations going strong
  ”Memphis Grizzlies guard O.J. Mayo has communicated with the U.S. Attorney’s office amid allegations that federal laws may have been violated when Mayo’s former adviser gave him money and gifts during his high school and college career, according to a source with knowledge of the case.”
  http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4165378
• BLEACHER REPORT:  O.J. Mayo Took Money While at USC—Can’t Say I’m Surprised
  ”The Trojans are obviously delving into shady tactics with their recruiting efforts in all their athletic programs.  What will it take for the NCAA to actually step in and say something, or are they too scared to touch the golden boy that is USC?”
  http://bleacherreport.com/articles/174209-oj-mayo-took-money-while-at-usc-cant-say-im-surprised
• LOS ANGELES TIMES:  Did USC’s Tim Floyd pay for O.J. Mayo?
  ”Attorney Salerno said of Floyd: "It will be interesting to see if USC now backs him or throws him under the bus. . . . They can say, ‘Maybe we were negligent with Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo getting money, TVs and all that, but in no way can we condone what has happened here.’"

“The NCAA investigation alone may have already caused USC to lose another top basketball recruit, 6-10 power forward Renardo Sidney of Los Angeles Fairfax High. Sidney, who is ranked among the nation’s top senior big men, had announced his intention to accept a scholarship from USC, but the school later stopped recruiting him.
The Times reported that school sources, speaking anonymously because of the sensitive nature of the situation, said questions about the Sidney family’s finances had prompted school administrators to instruct Floyd to withdraw a scholarship offer.”
http://www.latimes.com/sports/college/basketball/la-sp-usc-mayo13-2009may13,0,5808708.story

You know what I think is particularly sad?  The number of fans like this guy who constantly drag out the ridiculous argument that “all teams do it” and “there’s no way to control student behavior"… without even realizing that they’re admitting that even they believe their beloved USC is corruption-laden and about to find its head on the NCAA chopping block.  To these folks, apparently, since “everyone does it”, that makes USC just like everyone else.

And last I checked, “everyone else” didn’t have a rap sheet that looked like this:

• USC Athletics Program’s Long Road to an Aggregated, Unified NCAA Investigation
  http://kurtsthoughts.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!97895BBB8AD10F37!1465.entry