Open Forum

Missy Conboy the Notre Dame asst. atheletic director, signed off on the NCAA infractions committee report which clearly and self-righteously took strong exception over an incident where Reggie Bush went to a club/restaurant with a recruit where alchohol was served. (not that they actually had any alcohol, it was merely served there). This wasn't a buried footnote, it was blared on page 2 and sanctimoniously pointed to as a key example of where USC "fostered an atmosphere in which student-athletes could feel entitled to special treatment and which almost certainly contributed to the difficulties of compliance staff in achieving a rules-compliant program." It really served as the backdrop for the sanctions report.
Given that, and as Notre Dames' compliance director, won't Missy either have to suspend for the entire season the 9 ND players recently arrested for underage drinking, or publicly admit her committee's report was a blatant hit job against USC? Also, what is Missy's excuse for not knowing about the rampant and well-known boozing problem on the ND Football team. Is South Bend too big of a place, unlike Los Angeles?

Scott,
I have really enjoyed your blog and your take on what is going on regarding SC football, however, over the past months your comment section has mostly been taken over by Bruin trolls. I certainly do not mind intelligent debate between rival schools, but lately the comments have become increasingly juvenile and really detract from your readers who may have interesting, worthwhile things to say. Have you ever considered having someone moderate your comment section?

Bigger used car salesman - Henry Bibby or Steve Lavin?

Do you think any sanctions coming out of the UNC and Florida investigations for agents paying the players and if not how do you think the NCAA justify its decision after the sanctions USC received?

Just what precisely do you think qualifies Lane Kiffen to be a head coach over Ed Orgeron?

Regarding Pete Carroll's "Win Forever", are you planning to power it down in one sitting, or do you plan to savor it one morsel at a time...like the way you so admirably hang on everything he tweets?

Shouldn't SC have put self-imposed sanctions of a one year bowl ban on the football team during last season when they knew something would be coming down? If they had done this and the committee still came down with the same results, they would have lost only an Emerald Bowl and only have one more bowl game to go.

Last week I asked a question and you replied that we would sign 25 players in 2/11 plus up to ten in 1/11. A group of commenters had various different responses such as we have self imposed a limit of 20 for 2/11--others said that if our appeal is denied, we can only sign 15 because 2/11 is part of the 2011-12 season when penalties apply. Has anything happened to change your answer, or, hopefully, does your answer of last week still stand? Seems like there is a lot of confusion over this issue. Thanx for your help, Scott, and thanx for the forums.

What is going on with the hiring of a running back's coach?
Any predictions on who it will eventually be.
What is your opinion of the top senior associate athletic directors in the athletic dept. namely Carol Dougherty, Don Winston, and Steve Lopes and their involvement with the mess created by the sanctions?

is Pete Carroll the most arrogant coach you have ever met? If SC would have self reported the violations like Florida did, do you think the sanctions would have been lighter?

Who is Carroll's PR guy? the whole country minus a bunch of myopic sc fans think he's making an ass out of himself.

More and more accusations seem to be arising every day but at the time I'm writing this there are investigations to North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.

It seems that the NCAA would paint itself in a corner if they upheld USC's 30 scholarship penalty for one player taking benefits. Although none were Heisman winners, there are 13 players at North Carolina suspected of "Reggie Bush type stuff."
The Florida player was there alongside Tebow, who's success may be slightly tarnished if harsh penalties are levied.

So my question: Could/should the outcome of the USC appeal be affected by the possibility that the NCAA infractions committee would have to follow it's precedent in the other cases?

In The Blind Side, the lovely young Ms Lily Collins plays a cheerleader who is always shown cheering unconditionally for the school in which she is enrolled. Are we sure she goes to USC?

Scott - in what was, I'm sure, just an oversight on the webmaster's part, you posted my question last week but without an answer. So, I'll try again - given the unnecessary attention created by the Baxter phone call scandal, what will be done to those involved (namely Baxter), if anything?

What are the chances SC's administration is convinced the NCAA is being overly abusive in their sanctions, that they sue the NCAA if the appeal is denied? And what would be gained & lost by such a move?

How did you think Caesar did on the interview blitz?

Will Mike Garrett and Steve Sample issue a public apology to USC fans and players for the way they have handled the NCAA investigation?

Lastly, will USC reimburse me for my trip to Miami to see USC play Oklahoma? I can produce receipts of all expenses for them.

I love your blog although I don't always get your humor, but if I were you I would excise the crude, rude, humorless, anti-SC comments that come in daily from ucla rooters. It really has become boring and tiresome and I believe it is reducing your blog's fan base, which must be costing you some bucks. Any thoughts?

Hi DixieTrojan,

Actually, your tickets and game were good. This is one item that the appeal should overturn. The only reason for taking away our 2004 BCS title was due to Reggie's car, which the report claimed was given to him in Dec. of '04. As USC's corrections prior to the release of the report as well as the USC response clearly state the car came long after the game. As such it would be a big surprise and a huge issue for the viability of the NCAA appeals process if they did not overturn this part of the decision that is so factually incorrect.

At the end of 2010, USC will have no more than 8 returning OLs on scholarship. USC have offered scholarships to 22 OLs. Only 1 of those was from CA. He has accepted USC's offer, but none of the 21 out-of-state guys have. In fact, 10 of those out-of-state guys have committed to play somewhere else. Have you heard whether USC plan to offer any scholarships to SoCal OLs, and if so, do you have any idea which SoCal OLs they are considering?

SW - if USC goes undefeated in football this year (granted a big if, but certainly possible with the favorable home schedule), do they win the AP title?

Do you have any NFL sources that could indicate how Caesar is being looked upon by his NFL coaching colleagues in regards to his shameless social media promotional onslaught? Sean Payton, who has actually done something in the NFL also has a book, and you dont see him peddling his book on twitter, facebook, and any radio show that will give him airtime. How much credibility and respect has he lost from his contemporaries, especially considering the timing of his stupid book?

Would you say that the transfer of a player like Brandon Carswell is categorically a good thing for USC football because it frees up a scholarship?

Everyone keeps talking about SC taking a full 25 scholarships this year, but when i look at the recruiting rankings for last year many teams are listed as having more than 25. Auburn had a class of 32 i believe. Why do some schools take more than the alloted 25?

I've always wondered where CF players get all the gold chains, ear rings, watches, etc., that appear to be expensive, from. My question is...what prevents a star player from loading up on credit card debt during their college careers, with the likelyhood of a fat pro contract in the future? This is something that is available to all students.

Could you interview Todd McNair?

When questioned by the NCAA they screwed up the years on their questions that made him look evasive as they asked him about phone calls from Lake in 2005, when they actually occurred in 2006.

When did he first know about Lake's financial aid to the Bush family?

Is he going to take the NCAA to court over their allegations against him? (He has hired a lawyer)

Why he has not gone public since the ruling?

Does he believe the photo of him in San Diego with Lake in the background was "Photo Shopped", as has been reported? (The photo is not saved in the format used by cell phones, but in an altered format used by photo cropping programs)

With the hiring of Pat Haden, does Lane Kiffin get any leniency and do you think Haden may fire Kiffin if he does not do well?

What do you think about making an app for this blog? It takes really long for the whole web page to load on a smartphone. So creating something quick and easy for readers to access will definitely help out alot. Android and iPhone apps? If not apps, then making the blog's web page available in mobile view so it's easier to view and loads faster on smartphones?

p.s. both OS platforms and not just iPhone, because Android is just as big on the market as is the iPhone.

Also Android just released a program for developers so it would be easier and more convenient for them to create apps. The program is called "App Inventor for Android". So basically the program builds the app for you and you just design how you want it; super easy! Hopefully you and the IT Department look into this.

Here's the link to Google's website - http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/index.html

Thanks for the forum Scott!

I think the Pat Haden hiring is brilliant. I don't see any downside from USC's perspective. Do you? I don't know that it will sway the NCAA's appeal committee, but it can't hurt.

What thoughts do you have concerning: Haden's hiring; the impact his hiring will have on the football, basketball, and baseball (Kreuter?) programs; why USC decided to return Bush's Heisman Trophy (even though the Downtown Athletic Club has not yet asked for it back); and, whether his hiring will have any impact on USC's appeal to the NCAA. Sorry for the multi-part question, but there are so many new issues to address with this great hire.

As always, thanks for the forum Scott.

Wolfie,
Last month you were on the Media Night program for the SF Valley Trojan Club meeting in August. Now you're not. Were you bumped, or did your schedule change? I was looking forward to your appearance.

Hey Scott,

How about a poll: Should USC return O.J. Simpson's Heisman when it returns Reggie Bush's?

Thanks!

With new USC president Max Nikias taking such a refreshing Machiavellian approach to the athletic department, do you know if this means he will not tolerate football players getting arrested and dealt with in such laissez faire manner that we had become accustomed to in the past decade under the "leadership" of Mike Garrett and Pete Carroll?

Do you think the SEC has more of a cheating and violation problem? Everyone thinks USC is the worst school but the SEC has Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee under Lane Kiffin LSU, and South Carolina as all schools that had NCAA investigations in the past year you can include Florida State,and Oklahoma as schools that had situations with the NCAA. Whats your take on the perception that USC is the worst cheater when in effect there are worst schools look at the SEC or Miami? Please explain.

Is Mike Garrett the only casualty of President-elect Max Nikias's cleansing of the athletic department? What I'm really asking here is, are the gray-haired South Bay cabal going to continue roaming the offices of Heritage Hall completely unaccountable to anyone?

Florida and Alabama are having agent issues and people have sympathy for them with Nick Saban blaming the agents. Oklahoma had the the football issues and the basketball issues. Alabama is already on probation and has had many incidents. USC is blamed for lack of institutional control, do you think the NCAA should punish the other school by using the USC sanctions as the standards? Also what do you think about the situation?

Do you, or any of the readers, know where I can get good tickets for the Hawaii game?

Pat Haden said that he has "a real affinity for women's athletics" and wants to directly supervise one the women's teams, so do you know if that sport is USC's new beach volleyball team? Is that not all the proof needed to show women's athletics are the greatest creation ever?

Have you noticed on the Petros & Money Show's podcast page, for the interviews they have with you, they always have a picture of you with Miss California?

So, I just found out that Josh Shirley has left UCLA for Washington...any particular reason why we didn't sign him? other than the whole 'clean new regime' thing?

Since you are a Heisman Trophy voter, will you vote to allow Reggie Bush to keep his Heisman Trophy or not? If not would you vote for Vince Young?

Who is more likely to administer a beatdown to evildoers: Max Nikias or Ed Orgeron?

Will Lane Kiffin rely more on passing or running in the offense play selection?