They've Got Bush…They've GOT Bush

It's not just a rallying cry from Revenge of The Nerds (1984, Comedy, 1 hour 31 minutes, 20th Century Fox) anymore - although one could argue the NCAA is comprised of a gaggle of nerds. No, it looks like after a few months on the back-burner, the dam has broken on the Reggie Bush scandal at USC. I hope Petey and his prophylactic pals have rolled-up their pant legs, because a tsunami is about to rock Troy. As a zealous Buckeye apologist who has recently seen similar situations at my alma mater - and acknowledging that these are ALLEGATIONS - it still looks pretty bad for SC. The figure I have seen thrown around is $280 LARGE in rent, cash, and gifts given to Bush and his family over several years. Who does he think he is? Chris Webber? Time out, Reggie - say it isn't so!

There will be a lot of investigation in the vicinity of Watts over the next 12-18 months and if there is audio tape evidence and/or testimony from several of the people who were served subpoenas, then I think SC will be losing lots of hardware.

While I have always hated cheaters (that means YOU, Jim O'Brien), it is situations like this that cry for some type of individual penalty. If USC loses their Pac Ten and National Championships - and Reggie's Heisman, there ought to be severe repercussions for Bush, himself. Failure to harshly penalize the individuals in these situations - simply reinforces the risk/reward trade-off a student athlete faces when considering accepting gifts. It seems like there is no individual downside - with the obvious exception of the opprobrium and scorn from teammates, fans, and the public. One need look no further than the case of Boban Savovic at Ohio State. Along with Jim O'Brien, they two of them cost OSU plenty in many ways - both tangible (banners and hardware) and intangible (reputation). But what happened to Savovic? Zip, zilch, nada.

Anyway, it looks like the NCAA is about to close the deal…and get Bush. Add that to the list of things that sound dirty, but aren't (unlike Reggie's hands, in this case).