Yahoo Report: Trust in Reggie, Part III

We've been critical of Scott Wolf here in the recent past, but the Los Angeles Daily News' USC beat writer showed his non-hack chops yesterday.

First, Wolf didn't bother to file a story about the new Yahoo! report. Then, he posted this on his "blog":

There's a lot of focus on the Reggie Bush investigation right now. But what does it mean? The existence of tapes does not necessarily hurt USC because the university could challenge the veracity of them if the NCAA used it to punish the football program. Not to mention that taping conversations like that is illegal.

Even if the tapes are correct, without USC's knowledge or complicity, it would be hard to hold the university liable. That doesn't mean USC is off the hook regarding the chance of getting stripped of a national championship, but we're referring more to probation for the program.

Exactly.

Also, in response to a few emails I received about yesterday's Displaced take on Reggie, I'll again reiterate the position here regarding the validity of the Yahoo! "reporting."

Yahoo! Sports is trying to make a name for itself. It sees this “story” as its Woodward and Bernstein moment.

The problem with [commenting on the Reggie Bush issue] is that [doing so] inadvertently gives too much credit to the Yahoo! reporting. As Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso [...] said on College GameDay outside the Coliseum [in September]: “IF … IF … IF.”

One of the reasons why none of the established, reputable news outlets are investigating this story is that many of the sources involved are scheming sleaze balls, several of whom have already been convicted of white collar crimes.

The other aspect of the story is that all the parties involved are in some form of litigation against each other, which brings into question whatever statements they make. Never mind what that says about the judgment of Reggie and his family in picking their associates, but no real news outlet is going to push this story … unless it is seeking to make a name for itself.

To say it another way, we go to TrojanWire's Rory MacDonald, who further illustrates the point:

[...] the Keystone Kops of investigative journalism continue to treat the testimony of known extortionists as perennial fact, conjuring up retroactive repercussions for USC [...]

Back to those jokers at Yahoo! [...] may we suggest refocusing your efforts on I don't know, technology? Congratulations on finally getting your much-delayed ad targeting software (Panama) done. It's probably every bit as good as Google's (heh), making your stock well worth paying over 2 times growth for (YHOO currently has a PEG Ratio of 2.10).

(Full disclosure: dumped all my YHOO stock yesterday.)

Perhaps someone should investigate the journalism skills (if not the ethical practices) of Yahoo! Sports and its reporters. We've seen the ugla "nation" do as much, when Yahoo! ran a story the bruins didn't like.

Funny how ugla's belief in the reporting at Yahoo! Sports is a matter of convenience. I suppose that's typical of Nestor. (Again, I will not post Nestor's real name, no matter how many times you ask.) But, I digress ...

Regardless of the motive and journalistic quality of the Yahoo! hacks, the fact is that neither the would-be agents involved nor Reggie Bush's family have shown us much in the way of quality, either.

A comment on yesterday's Displaced post from Jonathan Tu of 82 Sluggo Win, sums it all up:

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 wasn'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.

Precisely.

Now, let's move on ... or rather, Fight On!
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