Thursday, January 25, 2007

Yahoo Report: Trust in Reggie, Part II

Once again Yahoo! Sports breaks a bit of “news” about supposed Reggie Bush improprieties, and the majority of USC bloggers hesitate to comment, let alone acknowledge the piece. We’re quick to jump all over the “good news,” but bad news … not so much.

As I wrote back in September, this less than punctual response is understandable. And, really, when you read the new Yahoo! “story” there isn’t much to say in response, except to assess the actual impact this may have on USC Football, all of which was stated several months back. For a quick re-take on this we’ll try a less partial source in the blogosphere, The Wizard of Odds:
What does this mean to USC? The NCAA would have to show USC either knew or should have known about the alleged wrongdoings. At the moment, that's a longshot.
A “longshot.” Not reassuring enough you? Me neither.

Perhaps the most telling element of the Yahoo! piece is the last two paragraphs, which includes quotes from a radio interview Pete Carroll did with T.J. Simers one day after the Rose Bowl.
According to a report first published by Foxsports.com, Bush requested a sideline pass from his alma mater for the 2007 Rose Bowl but USC declined, stating that it had already distributed its allotment of VIP passes.

USC coach Pete Carroll was questioned about Bush's absence from the Rose Bowl on a Los Angeles radio program on Jan. 2, the morning after the game. Radio host and Los Angeles Times columnist T.J. Simers asked Carroll: "You saw the reports that Reggie was told not to come to the Rose Bowl, to stay away from USC. Do you buy that? Do you have anything to do with that?"

Responded Carroll: "No. I know that through this investigation, because he's not cooperating the way they'd like it, there's some issues about that. Reggie gets to do whatever he wants to do. He's not part of us anymore and we can't control any of that. But there's some, I think some opinions from the NCAA that they're mad at Reggie. And, you know, they would not like him to be associated with us. But I don't know what's going on with all that. But there is some stuff.

"I did call Reggie and he didn't hear from anybody about any of that kind of stuff. We're just going to keep working along the best we can and try to keep our head above water and do the right thing and stay out of that stuff. But that stuff, it is kind of nasty. You just don't know where it's coming from and people are out to get you. It can get kind of hard."
“Reggie gets to do whatever he wants to do. He’s not a part of us anymore.” Now, let’s not take this out of context or over-examine the words, but these two sentences say a lot.

Indeed, it is hard. Hard to get to the truth. Hard to know what it all means for USC Football. Hard to trust those allegedly involved, including Reggie.

But, until this thing plays out fully, what else can we do? What else can we say that hasn't already be said …
We can over-think this thing and convince ourselves that it doesn’t matter. Or, we can circle the wagons and trust in Reggie:
I'm not worried about any of these allegations or anything like that, because I know what the truth is, like I said from day one. Once the smoke clears, everybody's going to see we did nothing wrong.

Obviously it does affect you just because it is out there. But at the same time I know there's nothing to worry about. It makes you want to go out there right away and tell your side of the story. Show everybody the facts, the truth. But you can't do that. That wouldn't be the right way to do it

I told [USC] the same thing, don't worry about anything. If there was something to worry about, then I would tell you. But there's nothing to worry about.

Okay, Reggie. We’ll trust you. Just like we did at South Bend last year. Just like we did versus Fresno State in the Coliseum. Just like we did when you pitched a lateral to no one in the Rose Bowl … ?
We’ll trust you, Reggie. We’ll trust you ...
... but we have to admit, it may be harder to do so today.


Fight On!
.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are a lot (I mean, A LOT) of folks walking around wearing some big grins and an "I knew it all along" look on their faces today.

Even I am not hardly surprised by this, as since the story first broke there was this sense that it was all true. While at SC Reggie was so crooked he needed a corkscrew to put on his pants on game day.

The thing that interests me much more is to what degree (if any) is the University and/or the football program involved.

Even though I am not an actual fan of the Trojans, I would really hate to think that this mess extends beyond #5. Aside from it being a black eye for the conference, it would just be sad. I can't understand the schadenfreude surrounding anyone enjoying seeing any program be exposed.

That being said, if this stain extends beyond the agents and the Bush family, I would hope those involved are discovered and suitably punished - no matter how high.

Then again, can we really be surprised that someone named Bush is dirty?

Go Bears

jonathantu said...

I put my faith in Reggie back in April. An entire season later I feel that my trust can now be withdrawn as the evidence mounts. I don't consider the evidence in the area of "completely, utterly damning" yet, but I do consider it pretty overwhelmingly in favor of the Griffins doing bad things. I'm not sure where I stand on Reggie but it appears he had knowledge.

It's pretty obvious to me that USC had nothing to do with it. The Griffins may be that dumb to cavort with a guy named Michael Michaels (wearing a bolo tie, no less) but Carroll, Garrett and the rest are definitely not. In that sense I'm not worried about sanctions. Some idiots (i.e., Bruins Nation) will probably toss around terms like Death Penalty but if Alabama of the late nineties/early millenium weren't hit with the Death Penalty no one will be. I doubt USC even gets a slap on the wrist unless the Todd McNair connection has more meat to it.

Frankly, the worst thing about this whole ugly ugliness is thinking back to Reggie's acceptance speech at the Heisman ceremony. He pointed out LaMar and thanked him (LaMar) for teaching him (Bush) how to be a man. I won't lie: that got me a little teary eyed. To think that these infractions were going on at the same time as this speech makes me want to throw up.

Finally, I was stuck babysitting at a house with no internet. As soon as I got access I wrote a post about the whole thing here, but it's not exactly rip roarin' journalism of the Woodward and Bernstein kind.

Displaced Trojan said...

Mr. Jonathan Tu,

It is indeed a pleasure to have someone of your wit and talent commenting here ... even if it is to plug your new blog. ;-)

Seriously, you are a ridiculously righteous journalist, albeit a fake one.

Put that on your "Paid Ads" list!

The Displaced Trojan

jonathantu said...

Didn't mean to plug, just wanted to point out the 'SC bloggers weren't necessarily silent. Just maybe stuck in a house with no internet until yesterday afternoon. Thanks for the kind words and ignoring the fact I used "Alabama... weren't".

Displaced Trojan said...

Jonathan,

It's all good, and I sincerely appreciate your comment. Corrected your self-caught grammatical error when I quoted you in today's Displaced take.

Take it easy.