PChamp119 96 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Still not getting my hopes up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCWarEagle 0 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Yeah, it has been "funny" how when other schools are involved w/ alleged infractions, the NCAA drops like a hammer, but with USC the allegations have been all over the major news outlets and no NCAA action. Hopefully something will come out of this, but I'm not holding my breath either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleDrill 178 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Wow. They are meeting so soon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FootballFanatic 4 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 USC lost to stanford, their money train looks like it has rolled to a stop this year. Time to go ahead and investigate now and clear them while the bad year is up so they can be ranked #1 again next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DKW 86 7,441 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 USC lost to stanford, their money train looks like it has rolled to a stop this year. Time to go ahead and investigate now and clear them while the bad year is up so they can be ranked #1 again next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I'm happy to see this. Maybe nothing will come of it but the accusations are just too darn big for the NCAA to just sweep it under the rug. You never know if some more bombshells will fall if they do anything that resembles an investigation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 20,511 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I split the slapfight over who's investigating whom and sent it to the Woodshed. This thread is about the USC/Reggie Bush situation. Try to stay on topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 20,511 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Here's some more info from the L.A. Times: Sports marketer to work with NCAA on Bush caseLloyd Lake allegedly made improper payments to star running back's family while he was at USC. A civil suit is expected to be filed later this month. By David Wharton Los Angeles Times Staff Writer October 10, 2007 One of the two would-be sports marketers who allegedly made improper payments to Reggie Bush while he was still at USC has agreed to meet with NCAA investigators and claims to have documentation of financial transactions between Bush and him, according to a source close to the investigation. Lloyd Lake was also expected to file a civil lawsuit in San Diego this month. He will seek to recoup money allegedly given to Bush and his family and will ask for punitive damages, claiming the former Trojans tailback defrauded him in a deal to launch a sports marketing agency, the source said. Bush, now in his second season with the New Orleans Saints, has repeatedly said that neither he nor his family did anything wrong. Some people close to him have contended that the young athlete and his parents were led astray by unscrupulous agents. Others have questioned the credibility of Lake, a former documented gang member and convicted felon. Lake's attorney, Brian Watkins, and Bush's attorney, David Cornwell, declined to comment. An NCAA spokeswoman said investigators have encouraged anyone with information on the matter to step forward, but she would not discuss specifics of the case. If investigators find that Bush received improper benefits while playing for the Trojans during the 2004 or 2005 seasons, USC could be forced to forfeit games. The program could face further sanctions if it were proved that coaches or administrators knew or should have known about the alleged benefits. Bush's status as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner also could be in jeopardy. The source familiar with the situation said that USC officials declined to attend a meeting with Lake and NCAA investigators. Todd Dickey, senior vice president and general counsel for the university, said: "It's an ongoing investigation, so I cannot comment on any specifics. And I'm not going to confirm or deny any witnesses that are being interviewed." He added, "It's our policy to participate in any witness interviews if we are invited to do so or know about them." This is not the first time Lake has reportedly considered talking to authorities and filing a lawsuit. The controversy erupted in the spring of 2006 after Lake and business partner Michael Michaels alleged they had sought to create a marketing agency called New Era Sports & Entertainment with Bush and his stepfather, LaMar Griffin. In previous interviews, Watkins and Jordan Cohen, an attorney who represented Michaels, detailed their clients' version of New Era's short, troubled life. Michaels and Lake were unlikely candidates for a sports-related venture. Michaels was a real estate investor and an official for the Sycuan Indian tribe's development corporation. Lake had been convicted of a felony drug violation and was on probation. The attorneys said Lake knew Griffin and introduced him to Michaels at a San Diego Chargers game in 2004. They said it was Bush and Griffin who proposed forming the agency as a way for the eventual Heisman winner to avoid paying a percentage of his earnings to an established agent when he turned professional. According to previous statements by Watkins, Griffin soon began asking for favors. First came $28,000 to help repay family debts, Watkins said. Then, in the spring of 2005, the Griffins -- LaMar, wife Denise and teenage son Jovan -- moved into a three-bedroom house that Michaels owned east of San Diego. Watkins said the family agreed to a monthly rent of $4,500 but never paid. A September 2006 report by Yahoo Sports detailed further allegations, saying that Michaels paid for Bush to stay in hotels in San Diego and Las Vegas and gave the player $13,000 to buy a 1996 Chevrolet Impala registered in Bush's name. The alleged business venture fell apart after USC lost to Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl and Bush signed with marketing agent Mike Ornstein. Soon after, the Griffins moved out of Michaels' house. Yahoo reported that an Ornstein employee had paid some of the costs for Bush's family to travel to Berkeley when USC played California the previous season. Ornstein has denied the report and had no comment Tuesday. Lake and Michaels initially threatened to sue Bush for $3.2 million. Cornwell countered by saying that New Era was trying to extort money from Bush and, at one point, the FBI opened an investigation into the agency. Last April, Michaels reached an individual settlement with the player and his family. Yahoo reported that sources said the settlement was for $200,000 to $300,000. At USC practice Tuesday, Coach Pete Carroll said: "I don't know anything about it. It has not come up in months." While Carroll and several of his assistants met with investigators early on, the NCAA and Pacific 10 Conference have struggled to secure interviews with other key figures. Pac-10 officials declined to comment, but after Michaels settled last spring, Ron Barker, the conference's associate commissioner of governance and enforcement, insisted: "This has not gone away by any means." http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-bush10...1&cset=true Wouldn't hurt my feelings if they were stripped of their 2004 BCS title. I don't care if it's given to us, that's not the point. It was just an effed up title game to begin with when Chokelahoma got the nod instead of us. Now that we know USC was cheating the entire time, having the title vacated altogether would be sweet justice. 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DCWarEagle 0 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I know that I should be a "bigger" person and not be all worried about the "official" 2004 MNC, but I gotta say, we really did get a bad deal and I would love to see USC's title vacated, and I would love it even more if Auburn was officially recognized at the real winner that year. I would not expect Auburn to go crazy and throw a parade or a celebration, but a dignified acknowledgement of just how good our team was that year would be appreciated. I very much doubt that it is going to happen, but it would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PChamp119 96 Posted October 11, 2007 Author Share Posted October 11, 2007 Stewart Mandel has an excellent article/blog about all this. He puts a lot of insight that most people probably wouldn't think about. Mandel on Bush Case Basically, he is making it out that USC won't necessarily have to forfeit games unless the evidence shows USC involvement. The case of players getting paid have been made in the past without programs (Michigan and Florida) getting put on probation. Justin5 of this board made his comment about Auburn being the 2004 champs. That is not going to happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUesquire 1 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 I say the NCAA gets their Marion Jones on and strips em' naked. I don't care about Auburn being awarded any titles. I just hope that if it's proven they were cheating on an Albert Means level, they get publically flogged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUman43 5 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 we get a shot at their national championship? LOS ANGELES -- A sports marketer will give NCAA investigators financial records and other evidence linking Reggie Bush and his family to nearly $280,000 in benefits while he was enrolled at Southern California, according to a report Wednesday. Lloyd Lake, who allegedly provided improper benefits to Bush in 2005, has agreed to meet with NCAA officials and give them evidence to help their investigation, Yahoo! Sports reported on its Web site, citing two unidentified sources. Yahoo! Sports also reported it had acquired confidential e-mails from officers of New Era Sports & Entertainment, a marketing agency founded by Lake and Michael Michaels with cooperation from Bush and his stepfather, LaMar Griffin. The e-mails show the agency soliciting marketing and memorabilia deals on the running back's behalf, Yahoo! Sports reported. Both Yahoo! Sports and The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday that Lake is expected to file a civil lawsuit in San Diego against Bush later this month, seeking to recoup money allegedly given to Bush and his family. Lake's attorney, Brian Watkins, told The Associated Press on Tuesday he couldn't confirm or deny the reports. Watkins declined to comment about the details mentioned in Wednesday's article, only to say, "The story is very accurate." Lake and Michaels claimed more than a year ago that they provided money to Bush's family as well as a home for which the family had failed to pay more than $50,000 in rent. The conflict was made public after Bush signed with another sports agent. Bush, the Heisman Trophy winner as a junior in 2005, is in his second year with the New Orleans Saints, having signed a contract reportedly worth up to $60 million. He has said repeatedly that neither he nor his family did anything wrong in dealings with Michaels and Lake. A phone message left for Bush's attorney, David Cornwell, on Wednesday also wasn't immediately returned. Michaels reached a settlement with Bush and his family last April. Yahoo! Sports said the settlement was for between $200,000 and $300,000. If Bush is found to have received improper benefits, USC could be forced to forfeit games. The school could face other sanctions if it's proven that coaches knew or should have known about the alleged benefits. Also, if Bush is found to have broken NCAA rules during his Heisman-winning season, the award could be revoked. Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TitanTiger 20,511 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Look folks, we aren't going to get awarded the MNC. If they did give it to anyone else, it would go to Oklahoma since USC would have to forfeit the BCS title game to them. What they would most likely do if there are forfeits involved is just vacate the title altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellefay1 1 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 reggie bush = nfl/new orleans savior nfl/espn/disney>ncaa the guy that bought them a house is just trying to get paid. by saying he's going to go to the ncaa, reggie has to cough up 500k. all that will come of this. the machine of hyping reggie for "the good of the game" was put in motion a long time ago and the men behind the curtain aren't going to put up with some small name, rogue agent bringing any of this down to the level of say...everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCWarEagle 0 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Anyone know what the "statute of limitations" on NCAA sanctions is? When Bowden came out w/ all his nonsense was it too late for the NCAA to do anything (had they deemed it credible?) Just wondering at what point you "get away with it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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