What's Up With USC and NCAA Violations?

As you probably have heard already, OJ Mayo is in trouble being accused of (and here comes the shocker) receiving thousands of dollars worth of gifts given to him by many sources, with one source in particular being LA event promoter Rodney Guilory. The “shocker” part of that sentence was supposed to convey sarcasm, which is hard to sell on the internet. Mayo reportedly received a flat screen TV, cell phone, clothes and other items. This makes me think that Mayo probably had one of the most badass dorm rooms in all of college history, with the exception of that kid who got to live with Tommy Lee during Lee’s stint as a reality TV star.

There were also reports that Mayo received payments from Northern California sports agency Bill Duffy Associates while promising to let BDA represent him in the future. Mayo obviously denies all these accounts, as it would lead to career suicide.

With all this bad news coming out of the woodwork against OJ Mayo, one has to wonder: what the hell is going on at USC? It seems these past few years USC has been marred with a lot of scandal:

- Mike Williams entering the draft his junior year only ending up not drafted to Court Order. Not really a scandal I suppose, but controversial nonetheless.

- Brandon Ting quits the football team due to steroid allegations.

- Reggie Bush pulls an OJ Mayo; is accused of taking money and violating NCAA violations.

- Lil’ Romeo is offered a spot on USC’s basketball team in order to lure in butt buddy Demar DeRozen to sign with USC. Seriously, this is a scandal. Romeo is above run of the mill at best and doesn’t deserve to play ball on USC. Didn’t Master P teach his son anything?

- The controversial recruiting video that came out a few days ago.

I’m sure there are many other examples as well. Yet the funny thing is no one seems to blame the school, as is the case for many other institutions that create troubled athletes.

If Miami is considered “Thug U” by college sports enthusiasts, surely USC can be considered their white collared cousin when it comes to scandal. You don’t see USC players spraying bullets and instigating fights on field, the crimes their players commit are a bit more upper brow. Taking money and NCAA violations don’t perpetuate violent crimes, but they still are crimes none the less. Oh, but then again there was this guy:

With all these violations and hand slaps coming to light, one has question the ethics concerning USC’s athletic program. All of these cases have come up in recent years, yet no one seems to bring up suspicion revolving USC athletics. In these cases, the blame lies purely on the athlete. Sports media seem to have a field day when schools like Miami screw up while USC’s crimes go unnoticed. The athletic board should to take some responsibility. It’s easy to blame player like OJ Mayo and Reggie Bush for taking such offers, but shouldn’t the school step in when they see their star athletes driving around brand new SUV’s and purchasing diamond played watches?

The story will be much clearer once the facts start piling up. Or not. Even today, I still don’t know what the hell went on with the Reggie Bush case. All I know is that somewhere along the road, Kim Kardashian and her sex tape aura entered Bush’s life. After that, I was totally distracted by her boobs and could care less about Bush’s NCAA violations.

Though I don’t want to watch USC go down in a burst of flames, I would like to see some flags being raised toward the way they’re running things because all of this stuff is just questionable.

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