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O.J. Mayo (Official Thread)

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OCBucksFan;1160917; said:
I have mixed feelings on this issue:

On the one hand, if Mayo had been free to go to the NBA out of HS this wouldn't even be an issue. People are going to have to deal with this, the fact is, most schools will do anything for a chance to hang that banner, to get that spotlight, and this "one year" rule only fuels this.

So, who do you blame? Do you blame the NBA? Do you blame the school? do you blame the kid? It's a tough issue, and there's not going to be a lot you can do about it. One year, the kids just have to get along grade wise, and they don't even have to make a full year.

On the other hand... Methomps, just stop. Ok, so this somehow makes Bush innocent? This somehow makes all the speculation towards your football program forgiven? No, this just means that ESPN actually got their own lead and went with it instead of going with the word of someone who they had no contact with. You can't use one mistake to justify another, just like we couldn't do the same thing. Whether you want to accept it or not, there's something dirty going on in your sports program... do I think Pete Carroll has master minded this? No, but I do think your school needs to look at how much contact your boosters have with the athletes, I think your AD needs to start paying more attention to all aspects of your program. I think you need to stop living in denial and accept there may be some issues.
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Whoa, I don't know where you got that from. There is page after page in that thread complaining that ESPN is using kid gloves with USC and turning a blind eye to the program's issues. There is even speculation that it is tied to some Disney exec. who went to USC. This recent Mayo investigation reveals all of that talk to be pure bullshit. I never claimed it says one thing either way about the Bush situation itself.

I think someone even said I was living in denial about ESPN's love for USC. :)
 
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methomps;1160925; said:
Whoa, I don't know where you got that from. There is page after page in that thread complaining that ESPN is using kid gloves with USC and turning a blind eye to the program's issues. There is even speculation that it is tied to some Disney exec. who went to USC. This recent Mayo investigation reveals all of that talk to be pure bullshit. I never claimed it says one thing either way about the Bush situation itself.

I think someone even said I was living in denial about ESPN's love for USC. :)
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What does Percy Miller have to say about all this?
 
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methomps;1160925; said:
Whoa, I don't know where you got that from. There is page after page in that thread complaining that ESPN is using kid gloves with USC and turning a blind eye to the program's issues. There is even speculation that it is tied to some Disney exec. who went to USC. This recent Mayo investigation reveals all of that talk to be pure bullshit. I never claimed it says one thing either way about the Bush situation itself.

I think someone even said I was living in denial about ESPN's love for USC. :)
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Aaah, my bad, you were going a different way with that and I took it the wrong way, sorry dude.
 
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The funny thing is that what the NCAA may need to do to preserve its credibility (punish USC) may be at odds with what it needs to do to preserve its integrity. USC investigated Mayo thoroughly before he got on campus. So did the NCAA. USC sent a number of administrators (compliance folks, USC general counsel, and athletics officials) to West Virginia to do due diligence. The NCAA also held a lengthy and involved eligibility hearing on Mayo back in 2007.

If, as is alleged, this has been going on for four years, then the NCAA missed it just as much as USC did. Yet I don't see them sharing our punishment. Both sides did a lot of looking.

While deciding that USC should've done more may please the crowd, it would also be the height of hypocrisy.
 
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methomps;1160936; said:
The funny thing is that what the NCAA may need to do to preserve its credibility (punish USC) may be at odds with what it needs to do to preserve its integrity. USC investigated Mayo thoroughly before he got on campus. So did the NCAA. USC sent a number of administrators (compliance folks, USC general counsel, and athletics officials) to West Virginia to do due diligence. The NCAA also held a lengthy and involved eligibility hearing on Mayo back in 2007.

If, as is alleged, this has been going on for four years, then the NCAA missed it just as much as USC did. Yet I don't see them sharing our punishment. Both sides did a lot of looking.

While deciding that USC should've done more may please the crowd, it would also be the height of hypocrisy.
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Is due diligence being done with Demar Derozan?
 
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So, who do you blame? Do you blame the NBA? Do you blame the school? do you blame the kid? It's a tough issue,
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IMO this one is crystal clear. Mayo was literally coated with red flags - regardless of what any pre-enrollment investigations found. The school that took him was willing to take big risks for what he might contribute. He is the poster child for kids schools need to say no to - and USC didn't.

Granted, he is not alone and any superb athlete presents an agent risk. But Mayo was a poster child. If you want to have any hope of cleaning this up you have to make the schools pay so they back away from those risks. It is the only way....

.....the only way to keep exploiting amateur athletes while the schools make millions... but that is for another thread.
 
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I read the headlines this morning and I just knew that somehow Ty Willingham had his big mitt in the cookie jar again. Damn!

But honestly, what do we expect kids to know? They get scooped off the playgrounds as early as sixth grade and put into year round sports programs, programs that are all about adult values, adult needs, adult egos and all disguised as kids elite basketball, baseball, tennis, football and soccer.

The coaches in these programs don't have to be certified; aren't required to attend sports medicine seminars; don't have boundaries other than the distance their reputation as a "winner" carries.

OJ's name began appearing in Cincinnati papers when he was in 7th grade. He had traveled through the Ohio Valley and beyond. He was encouraged by a series of adults to go where the situation fit him best. By age 16 he was a handful and if you didn't let things go his way he moved on. Much as I disliked him, it would be hard not to fault "his mentors" for his behavior. After all, they were reliving their glory days through a kid.
 
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It seems to me that for some semblance of justice to happen here, BDA should be forced to never have Mayo as a client, so they are prohibited from making money off his future contracts. If these allegations are true, they're the outfit that was breaking the rules, along with Mayo. In order to prevent the unwanted behavior, the penalties when somebody is caught must be a deterrent. Some aspiring agents (such as Lake in the Bush case) would still chase after these guys with improper benefits, but if agents and agencies were liable it could reduce the activity.

But I'm not sure if BDA broke any laws, so I don't know what can be done. I don't see the feds doing it, so perhaps states need to pass more laws to protect the financial viability of the sports programs at institutions within their state. Even though USC is a private school, the finances associated with the football and basketball program affect citizens of the state.

edit - based on the expanded "Outside the Lines" report, BDA would have been committing a misdemeanor in California by providing such benefits.

It's just my naive sense of justice that makes me feel this way. Yes, methomps, the same sense that made me state that Joe McKnight shouldn't be allowed to attend USC if he received phone calls from Reggie Bush that were in violation of NCAA rules.

And I'm not calling for the Death Penalty at USC like Pat Forde, but I think they're guilty of 'failure to monitor' and that there's a real chance of them getting hit with a 'lack of institutional control'. They're not alleged to have funneled money to Mayo, and I know they investigated him before he enrolled, and sometime during the past year; but the flat screen TV seems to be an obvious red flag that was missed.
 
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When Coach Floyd was told by Mayo that he'd "take care of recruiting", did Floyd consider the possibility that potential NCAA violations might do just that? :tongue2:
 
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methomps said:
The funny thing is that what the NCAA may need to do to preserve its credibility (punish USC) may be at odds with what it needs to do to preserve its integrity. USC investigated Mayo thoroughly before he got on campus. So did the NCAA. USC sent a number of administrators (compliance folks, USC general counsel, and athletics officials) to West Virginia to do due diligence. The NCAA also held a lengthy and involved eligibility hearing on Mayo back in 2007.

If, as is alleged, this has been going on for four years, then the NCAA missed it just as much as USC did. Yet I don't see them sharing our punishment. Both sides did a lot of looking.

While deciding that USC should've done more may please the crowd, it would also be the height of hypocrisy.
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I guess they didn't stop by the dorm room to check out his new plasma? Or check up on Jarrett's crib? Why would they let this shady runner into Floyd's office when the LOI came rolling in? Doesn't seem like he really belongs there.
 
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