First and foremost let’s get this straight, I don’t like USC.
My deep hatred for them started my freshman year, sitting in the sleet and rain in Martin Stadium, and watching Reggie Bush and company go up 21-0 on us before we even got to touch the ball essentially. The 2006 matchup at Martin was a respectable one, but then the hatred was reinforced in 2008 when I watched Mark Sanchez dump us 69-0.
Not a whole lot has changed today, I still hate USC. But man, I feel for them….News came out a couple of weeks ago that the appeal of their sanctions, doled out almost exactly a year ago, was denied by the NCAA and all sanctions were to be upheld. To add salt to the wound, earlier this week the BCS announced that they will vacate USC’s 2004-2005 National Championship.
So as it stands today, USC will suffer the following (football only):
A loss of 30 scholarships over the next 3 years, a post-season ban for 2011 (ban was also in effect for 2010), a vacation of all victories starting from December 2004 through the 2005 season and all trophies, championships or banners earned from that time must be removed, disassociation of Reggie Bush from the program and all statistics must be removed, four years probation.
Did you hear that? Oh that’s just the sound of the hammer being dropped. This was easily the harshest ruling against a school since the “death penalty” was issued to SMU football in 1987. The USC coaches and administration have let it be known that they do not agree with the severity of the punishments handed out upon them.
In a statement by USC President Max Nikias, he said, “We are extremely disappointed in this result…We are very concerned that the historical value of case precedent and the right to fair process in the NCAA adjudicative process, both in terms of the ability of an institution to defend itself or prove an abuse of discretion on appeal, have been substantially eroded.”
Whether or not you agree with the harshness of the penalties handed out to the Trojans, we can all agree that clearly, the NCAA was trying to make an example out of USC. Their main argument for the sanctions handed out was that the school lacked institutional control. They claimed that one of the coaches, specifically running backs coach Todd McNair, knew of the relationship between Reggie Bush and two sports marketers who were giving him improper benefits.
Wait a second???
A coach at a high profile university knew about improper benefits being given to his high profile players and did nothing about it? That sounds familiar….
The NCAA has painted themselves into quite a corner with the ruling against our Pac-12 brethren. In their defense during the appeals process, the school pointed to precedent of prior cases, and in response, the NCAA said that the cases pointed out were not directly applicable. However, now the USC ruling gives an interesting precedent for future cases like it, such as the most recent allegations against Ohio State. If the allegations (which are directly applicable) turn out to be true, the NCAA damn well better issue out the same severity of sanctions against the Buckeyes, or it will face an uproar from myself and many other college football fans.
Why?
Because as much as I hate the Trojans, I love college football, and I want nothing more than to see the integrity of the game in tact. I don’t necessarily think the Trojans’ punishments were fair, especially the ones that effect the current players, some of which were in middle school when Reggie Bush was running amok in L.A. Why should Matt Barkley not be able to play in a bowl game because of what a player who he never knew did? However, in the fairness of it all, I expect to see the same sanctions given to THE Ohio State University.
If there are no sanctions, or better yet no investigation, against the Buckeyes then you can count me in with the conspiracy theorists who think that the NCAA was simply trying to bring down the powerhouse of the west. But then again, it’s not like the NCAA isn’t a broken system. When a PUNK player can get arrested, suspended from his team, arrested again, kicked off the team, and then by some fluke rule, transfer to another school and play the next season….your system is clearly broken.
I could rant ALL day about the inconsistencies and failures of the NCAA, from Cam Newton to Jeremiah Masoli, from USC to Ohio State, but ALAS…I will save it for another post 😉
Until then…
GO COUGS!!!
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