🏈 USC investigation: This certainly reeks of Rich Johanningmeir playing lose with the NCAA by-laws -

[TerryP]

From a Foxsports.com article:

Dickey's office is overseeing USC's internal investigation. He said about 50 people have been interviewed in conjunction with the NCAA and Pac-10, with USC participating in every interview "except those few from which we were excluded."

"Our exclusion from these interviews mainly stemmed from demands from those making allegations against our student-athletes, insisting that no one from USC be present," he said.

Dickey said the university will not comment on what has been learned until the investigation is complete. However, he said he felt obligated to correct what he called inaccuracies that have appeared in media reports.

Dickey said USC has repeatedly asked to participate in the NCAA's interview of marketer Lloyd Lake, who allegedly gave Bush improper gifts while he played for the Trojans.
But Dickey said Lake and his attorneys have refused to allow USC to be present.

 

[kudzu]

Sounds like that sneaky SOB. Wonder if there will be any ''secret'' witnesess? I'm also wondering if they alllow USC to challenge the decision to not let them in on the inteviews with Lake and others?
This process,and the out come, is going to be interesting. We'll see how it stacks up against our railroading experience.

 

[BamaJay73]

Johanningmeir is a POS.

 

[bamafan4ever]

I am starting to feel the longer this goes on, the worse the NCAA will be on SC. There have been too many large profile cases in the last 5 to 10 years and Yahoo! Sports apparently has a hard on when it comes to this story. If the NCAA lets the Trojans slide too much, the NCAA becomes instantly more transparent and that's not going to be good pub for Miles Brand and company.

I would say this situation has become rather fluid. :rofl:

 

[TerryP]

Something I did not know until today.

Rodney Guillory (same guy associated with Mayo) was working as a runner for an agent and provided illicit benefits (including plane tickets) to USC's Jeff Trepagnier and Fresno State's Tito Maddox in 2000.

Allowing a known runner like Rodney Guillory within a mile of anyone associated with USC is an ingredient from which LOIC's are derived.

That, my friend, is the walking, talking definition of a systemic breakdown that allowed a serious violation to occur (if true).

 

[bamafan4ever]

Something I did not know until today.

Good grief. That would be a big "kaboom" if true.

 

[Tider27]

Things are definitely heating up and getting interesting.

 

[rammerjammer]

As this has gone on.....I feel more and more sorry for SC.

After being ass-raped by the NCAA a few years back I wanted every school that did wrong to get the same punishment that we did. That is why the NCAA is such a crappy sanctioning body. They have no rhyme or reason from the outside looking in. They also make up their own rules and has to answer to no one. That is enough for anyone to hate them.

Now that we have our legs back after having them cut-off around the knees, my disdain has subsided somewhat. If SC is found guilty of spending the same amount money or more on their athletes....then the only thing the NCAA can do IMO is give them the same type of punishment that we incurred. While the bowl ban only hurt us one year per say, it did hurt big that year. The schollie loss is the only way to punish a school IMO.

I think most everybody wants to see SC go down, but in reality I just want to see the NCAA say "Hey this is similar to what Alabama done, and we are going to punish you the same way". I think if they would be consistent, then they would have a little more credibility.

 

[TerryP]

I do understand where you are coming from - but I can't say I've ever waivered off of the point when big named programs are down it's bad for college football as a whole.

A down USC, if that happens due to sanctions, really puts a hamper on the Pac-10.

I don't mind seeing Notre Dame struggling, but I also see that as a team that would make the season that much more enjoyable if they were flirting with BCS contention.

That said, there are a couple of programs in the southeast that have been very involved in things surrounding our program. I can't say it bothers me much to see one struggle and the other on the precipice of tanking.

 

[252BAMA]

As this has gone on.....I feel more and more sorry for SC.

After being ass-raped by the NCAA a few years back I wanted every school that did wrong to get the same punishment that we did. That is why the NCAA is such a crappy sanctioning body. They have no rhyme or reason from the outside looking in. They also make up their own rules and has to answer to no one. That is enough for anyone to hate them.

Now that we have our legs back after having them cut-off around the knees, my disdain has subsided somewhat. If SC is found guilty of spending the same amount money or more on their athletes....then the only thing the NCAA can do IMO is give them the same type of punishment that we incurred. While the bowl ban only hurt us one year per say, it did hurt big that year. The schollie loss is the only way to punish a school IMO.

I think most everybody wants to see SC go down, but in reality I just want to see the NCAA say "Hey this is similar to what Alabama done, and we are going to punish you the same way". I think if they would be consistent, then they would have a little more credibility.

I'm not feeling sorry for USC, but unless there is 100% proof that a school is directly involved in such a case I don't think there should be any punishment to the school. It is way past time for the end of the policy of punishing a school for the action of someone who they have ABSOLUTELY no control over. More likely that the policy end with USC the victim. It sure as hell isn't going to end with Alabama as the victim.

 

[TerryP]

I'm not feeling sorry for USC, but unless there is 100% proof that a school is directly involved in such a case I don't think there should be any punishment to the school. It is way past time for the end of the policy of punishing a school for the action of someone who they have ABSOLUTELY no control over. More likely that the policy end with USC the victim. It sure as hell isn't going to end with Alabama as the victim.

If we have a system in place which checks the vehicles of every player we have on scholarship and that system keeps things like agents and boosters from supplying things like vehicles is it a safe assumption that schools should have things in place to check living arrangements as well?

If Smith was ineligible due to his family having discussions with an agent should it be something expected, no enforced, across the board?

I have a hard time believing people around the program wouldn't know where his parents were living. I could be wrong, but it would shock me if I was.