If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Answer Time
The other two voters who did not rank USC No. 1 were sportswriters from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette and Winston-Salem Journal.
Q: Why does Pete Carroll never punish a player who has been charged with a crime, is under investigation for a crime, or been arrested for a crime? This hands-off approach hurts the university's reputation and makes many compare USC to the Miami teams of the 1980s and 1990s, viewing the football team as a renegade group of lawless thugs. Why doesn't Carroll believe in discipline and accountability for his players? Why is he so soft with his players?
A: He would claim he disciplines players on his own, within the program. Every time something happens to a player, this question arises. I remember Maryland suspended some players for offenses that USC wouldn't in the past. Every coach is different. Maybe it's the looseness that creates the successful atmosphere. I'll let the fans decide if they approve. I'm guessing the 93,000 for each game is an affirmative.
Q; During the Ohio State game, did you see that one of the Song Girls, Allison (the captain), was now out of the squad? There are now 13, not 14, members of the squad and she is no longer even mentioned on the Song Girls' website, even though she was a member a couple of weeks ago. Was there yet another Song Girl scandal but this one flew under the radar?
A: Maybe this is why they doubled the squad, so no one would notice if one left.
Q: With Shareece Wright being charged with a felony for resisting a police officer, are the USC football players feeling pressure to step it up in order to compete with the USC Song Girls for which squad has more embarrassing off the field issues? Have the Song Girls upped the ante?
A: Maybe the above question sheds some light on your question.
And the other voter who did not vote USC No. 1 or No. 2 was the moron who forgot to submit his ballot.
Thanks for not really answering the arrested question.
Pete has suspended players in the past for committing/being involved with crimes - heck Eric Wright got kicked off the squad and had to enroll at UNLV.
He however does not suspend players without hearing all the facts first. Regular students don't get suspended from attending classes when they get arrested why should football players?
Players of the stature of USC get into trouble. They attract crowds when they are out on the town and get into situations most of you would have no idea even existed. It's the nature of celebrity.
Some fans seem to think that players should go to class, go to the games and practices and lock themselves away in their dorm rooms the rest of the free time for all 4-5 years. That's unrealistic at best. Why should they have to do that when most other students don't do the same thing?
Pick up any copy of the DT and see how many incidents are reported on a nightly basis. The fact is you don't hear about most of them because players aren't involved. This standard of holding players to a higher unattainable goal ridiculous. They are 18-21 year olds like the rest of the students on campus but also have a tremendous amount of attention associated with them because of their status. If they go out and get into a scuffle they're front page news. If you go out and do the same your parents get a call...
Eric Wright was never "kicked off the squad." Pete never punished him in any way.
Wright was initially suspended for one semester by student affairs after charges were not filed against him. After significant complaints and outrage from alumni and parents, student affairs changed the punishment to a suspension of three years. As a three year suspension would have ended his NCAA eligibility and effectively finished his plans in football, Wright transferred to UNLV.
Pete never punished Wright and even went so far as to vouch for his character at the 2007 NFL draft.
I'd go with the "innocent until proven guilty" standard.
And if the accusations are true, then discipline the player.
I'd agree with Sam Gilbert, however, one school thought it would be cool to keep an admitted rapist (plead guilty to charges stemming sexual contact with a 12-year old prior to attending OSU - However, Crazy Gundy recruited him and the school has honored his scholarship, even though he was kicked off the team.
Some things are more important than football...