Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Talk about Reggie Bush, need a shower

    Reggie Bush feels a sense of loss. Like a death.
    The NCAA's hammer on his old school is "the closest thing to death without dying," he told reporters in Louisiana.
    Yes, Reggie feels the Trojans' pain. That’s nice, coming from a (alleged) cheater and (alleged) liar and part of a cheating, lying family (allegedly). Here's hoping the Saints let him go so they can cleanse themselves a little bit, of the stench and of a fat contract.
    And if his parents have jobs, here's hoping they get fired. Can an employer trust them? Make sure to pat them down on the way out the door.
    Bush's days at USC were dominant. On the field and in the NCAA report. Makes you wonder if any NCAA report had so many pages on pretty much one violator.
    His recent statements hit on every keyword that will lift simpletons to his defense. Sure, he'd love to get into details. He regrets that "the situation has occurred and has been brought on to USC because of me," which in English means, "damn, we got caught."
    He admitted nothing yet accepted responsibility. Richard Nixon would be proud.
    Of course, he also said he wouldn't do anything different. After how many pages of NCAA violations? Yeah, I believe I'll let that contract run out.
    He's smooth, so he'll have plenty of excuse-makers and fact-ignorers. I'd guess wool does snag with blinders when it's pulled over people's eyes.
    USC will survive for a variety of reasons.
    First, it's USC. It will still draw a certain level of talent that is more interested in a pro career than a bowl game.
    Second, when scholarship recipients 70 through 85 get some meaningful playing time, I'll buy that losing scholarships is almost death-penaltyish. When head coaches can actually name scholarship recipients 70 through 85, I'll believe.
    Third, "no bowl for two years" isn't the same as "no TV for two years". And as long as one is on TV, one will have TV nincomtwits apologizing for misdeeds.
    Fourth, it's nowhere near the death penalty, and yes, the Trojans will rebound, as did Alabama, which was handed a whack back in 2002.
    Bammer got five years probation, lost 21 scholarship over three years, and a two-year bowl ban.
    Figuring out the NCAA remains difficult, as ESPN.com writer Ted Miller found out  when offering that USC wouldn't get hit nearly as hard as Alabama.
    A wild card, in every sense of the phrase, is USC head coach and college football piñata Lane Kiffin. This defender still thinks Kiffin isn't all that bad a coach – I did spend the preseason saying Tennessee wouldn't be nearly as bad as everybody said, and the Vols weren't – although he left a little mess in Knoxville.
    But he took a lot of heat off the Vols, and they thrived. He's not a bad lightning rod, albeit a looney one.
    One thing will hamper USC's ability to at least doggypaddle. Athletics director Mike Garrett is an absolute clown. A clown without the funny.
    He'll be a TV commentator in no time, unless he runs for office.

LOUGHDMOUTHINGS
    New York is coming together to attract LeBron James.
    The mayor and The Hair are among those on some unofficial campaign to attract the game's greatest player to a city that has bee pretty brutal in hoops for awhile.
    Donald Trump is such comic relief, I don't know that he helps. There's always the chance that his hair will go crazy and choke somebody. Does LeBron want to risk that? ...
    Oh yeah, Southern Cal's dirty basketball program got popped, too.
    O.J. Mayo was a punk with his hand out by about his sophomore year in high school, and Tim Floyd's soul apparently remains AWOL, so.
    Makes the fact that Mercer smacked Mayo and the Trojans a few years ago all the more enjoyable. ...
    A giggle from Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel:
    "Wow, Stephen Strasburg is the most dominant righty we've seen in D.C. since Ronnie Reagan." ...
    Vince Young: what happens when people play football without their helmet on. ...
    Thank you, Tom Izzo, for staying. You're 55, and suddenly becoming a babysitter and traffic cop wouldn't be so good for your health. While I want Cleveland to keep LeBron and thus constantly beat New York and stick a tongue out at 'em all, college hoops is still better than the NBA for those who like actually coaching. ...
    Georgia had five pitchers drafted last week. Five, from a staff with an ERA approaching BP stock: 8.51.
    The ERAs of the draftees: 7.05, 7.42, 7.25, 6.65 and 5.84.
    The Bulldogs ranked 276th out of 292 teams in ERA, to go with 275th in walks per nine innings and 254th in hits per nine.
    A year ago, Georgia was in the top half of the SEC in ERA.
    Pitching coach Brady Wiederhold was fired, but as of 6 p.m. today (6-16-10) is still on the UGA website.
    David Perno nevertheless threw him under the bus with this comment in the Athens Banner-Herald:
    "I’m going to move over and have more hands-on responsibility with the pitching. I’m excited about getting over there and bringing some more accountability with what’s going on over there.”
    Am guessing WIllie Martinez has called with his condolences. ...
    Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times has a quality observation.
    "The Phillies' Jamie Moyer, 47, collected the 33rd complete game of his 24-year career in Saturday's 6-2 win over the Padres.
    "Bob Feller had 36 for the Indians — in 1946." …
    Stephn Strasburg finally had an appearance not loaded with strikeouts: Letterman, and the top 10 little known facts about Strasburg.
    10. "To keep my focus on pitching, I sleep on a mound of dirt."
    9. "Every morning I spread Icy Hot on my toast."
    8. "Got three of my 14 strikeouts while Twittering."
    7. "To celebrate my first big league win, I bought a hot tub time machine."
    6. "I wasn't really good until I got bitten by that radioactive spider."
    5. "Dumb guys think I directed 'E.T.'"
    4. "I also scored the winning goal for the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Finals."
    3. "I blew my signing bonus on laser back hair removal."
    2. "Don't even try to talk to me before a start or while I'm watching "Glee."
    1. "If I would have known I'd be on Letterman, I wouldn't have pitched so well."

No comments:

Post a Comment