sc brain surgeons

When Powerful People Are Angry, Scores Change

17 to 14. NO! 23 to 14. Huh? Really? But......

Yea, just like me, I turned off the brain surgeons yesterday, thinking they squeaked by on a field goal. But today, well, just how does a score change hours after the game ends? It's a cinch if you're the university of spoiled children and you have rich and powerful supporters like Laker honcho Jerry Buss, who has been known to bet a bundle, a REAL bundle, on the occasional trojan football game. Six figures, easy; rumors say seven figures.

Lets start at the game, and work from there. In the waining seconds, usc had a three point lead, as the Utes lined up for a game tying 41-yard field goal attempt. The kick was blocked by brain surgeon Matt Kalil, and the ball caromed into the paws of CB Torin Harris. Harris took off due east for the end zone, but while he ran towards the parasol, uh, peristyle, mad-cap brain surgeons, showing their usual decorum and law-abiding morality, raced onto the field, resulting in the throwing of a flag, apparently before Harris reached the promised land.

Here's where things get tricky. The flag could have been for unsportsmanlike conduct, or for improper celebration under a brand-spanking new rule where a player who taunts or overly celebrates on his way into the end zone is denied the TD. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is, however, a dead ball penalty, and as the game ended on the play, in theory it could not be enforced. See the video below and see the improper celebrating before the play ended, as virtually every "student" athlete in usc football attire ran onto the field. But, you can also hear the referee say the penalty was for unsportsmanlike conduct:



So, the fans went home thinking the final score was 17 to 14. But hold on, folks. As ESPN deemed it, there was, hours after the game ended, a "collaborative effort between the PAC-12 and USC", " resulting in a score change. But who from usc was involved, and really, why? Well, informed sources tell theHoundDawg that the instigator was none other than Laker bossman Buss, who was among the throngs of bettors who wagered on their beloved brain surgeons, giving eight or eight-and-one-half points. Thus, a three point win and they lose, but add a touchdown and they beat the spread. Well it just so happened that PAC-12 Commissioner Larry Scott was in attendance, and lo-and-behold, Buss managed to get his ear, and after this "collaborative effort", the score was revised to 23 to 14, and Buss was a winner! Yea!

The result has been havoc on betting parlors across the US. Those offshore outfits deal in credits rather than cash, so they could revise their payouts after the fact. But Vegas books and others paid out millions to people betting the brain surgeons would not cover, and then had to pay out millions more to the trojan faithful who put their bucks where their mouths are, such as the head Laker guy.

But this is the thing: How many times have we seen absolutely horrendous calls by officials, including refs failing to call touchdowns that happened, and calling touchdowns that never happened? Often on review, the conference will sanction the refs, taking them off games, fining them, even firing some. But they NEVER, EVER go back and change the ruling causing a different outcome or different score in the game. NEVER, even if justice demanded that it be done.

We will just have to see if this is a one-time-only move, or a landmark decision by the new PAC-12 to be followed in the future, where players and fans alike may not know who won for days or weeks after the final buzzer.


theHoundDawg

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Today's Mason-Ireland Love Fest for Scumbag Pete Carroll Made Me SICK!

Don’t get me wrong - I like Steve Mason and John Ireland and love their sports talk show. But, I was thoroughly nauseated by the little bit of their interview with uncle petey that I caught, and then their follow-up commentary about his legacy.

It is absurd to compare unk to President Bill Clinton, and for them to say his legacy will be similar to Clinton’s in that his transgressions will be a speck on an otherwise exceptional career, as the Lewinsky matter will be to the Clinton presidency.

Bull Crap.

Carroll ran what amounted to a criminal enterprise at usc, and ran screaming from SoCal as the courts, not to mention the NCAA, were closing in. It has been well documented how he made crooks, scoundrels, go-betweens, and agents themselves part of the family, welcome in the clubhouse, on the sidelines, and in his heart. He looked away as reggie bush and his family received over $300,000 in illegal benefits, despite driving at least one such benefit around campus. The same for Joe McKnight, as he drove his benefit around the practice field.

But his biggest transgression that has received virtually no publicity and for which he has NEVER be called on to account for, is the Dave Watson matter, documented by SI.com (“Carroll knew about coach’s drug addiction before crash”) and discussed here (under the Pete Carroll tag) on Jan. 11, 2010. In summary, former petey assistant coach Dave Watson was addicted to painkillers, and under petey’s watchful eye, apparently for a period of years, was routinely dispensed prescription drugs by the team’s medical staff. Then, one day while driving his usc-assigned company car, Watson caused a crash, critically injuring an innocent passenger. Watson admitted it all, and plead guilty to felony DUI, and his injured victim sued everyone involved. Uncle petey was supposed to appear at a deposition in the case, but did not appear. He was then ordered to appear by a judge, and within days of that order, petey high tailed it out of SoCal for the Pacific Northwest and the bounty of the NFL.

Yea, great legacy. Steve and John - you should be ashamed.

theHoundDawg

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Bag of Wind Silenced; Media Silence re Sanchez

Thank you, Pittsburgh Steelers!

You have nobly silenced that bag of wind that has polluted the football world for far too long. You have shut up that effete snob (Spiro Agnew, c. 1970), windbag, and self-proclaimed Hall of Fame-caliber coach, one R. Ryan of the New York Pets.

Ryan's obnoxious season-long pronouncements were as painful to watch as the lancing of a boil. And just as relevant to the world of football.

A particularly excruciating portion of Ryan's exhortations involved his little trojan quarterback, the over-hyped, over-rated, and thoroughly disgusting Mark Sanchez.

It was clear to anyone watching Sunday's game that Sanchez' decent second half did not come close to making up for his horrendous first half, which thoroughly sunk the Pets into a sinkhole from which Sanchez' meager talents could not extricate them.

More important in the grand scheme of things, however, is the one-sided media, that cannot leave alone the transgressions of the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, while totally ignoring those of Sanchez.

Excuse me if I am wrong, but while Roethlisberger has been accused on a couple of occasions of sexual misconduct, thoroughly investigated, and the subject of civil proceedings wherein his alleged victims have sought monetary damages, he has never actually been arrested for a crime. Sanchez, on the other hand HAS been arrested for a sexual crime. Arrested for rape in 2006 while a freshman at the university of southern california, the trojan athletic department quickly dispatched the power and might, and unbelievable political clout, of the usc legal army, and viola' the case was quickly quashed, and nary a peep has since been heard from Sanchez' victim. (Query - how much did the payoff cost and was that yet ANOTHER uninvestigated violation of NCAA rules?)

Want to read more about Sanchez? This article, "Why No One Remembers the Mark Sanchez Rape Case" is a good starting place.

One final word on ex-trojan quarterbacks. The equally overrated Matt Cassel showed his true ability under fire (after a season of beating up on the lower echelons of the NFL) when, in a wild-card playoff game, he lead his Chiefs to a 30-7 drubbing at the hands of Baltimore, while compiling a 20.4 passer rating on 9 of 18 for 70 yards and three Favre-like interceptions.

theHoundDawg

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Haden v Kiffin: How Long Will it Last?

On July 20, a short week ago, I mentioned that new brain surgeon ad Pat Haden may want to "box up and mail back" football coach Lane Kiffin, just as had been done to the sc replica of r bush's ill-gotten Heisman.

Now, just a few days before Haden officially takes over, and while m garrett's chair is still warm, Kiffin has got the university sued, due to his well-documented unethical, and potentially if not illegal at least civil-liability-eliciting theft of Tennessee Titan assistant coach Kennedy Pola.

Of course, the brain surgeon athletic department has keep the sc legal staff busy for years, whether it was stepping in to prevent former qb Mark Sanchez from being prosecuted for sexual assault, preventing uncle Petey from having to actually show up at his deposition and testify about the FACTS in the Lloyd Lake v reggie bush civil lawsuit, or defending the university against multii-million dollar damage claims in the civil suit brought by the innocent, injured victim in the motor vehicle accident caused by former assistant football coach Dave Watson while driving a university-owned vehicle and while addicted to and high on prescription meds supplied by the sc medical staff.

Haden, a lawyer himself, may take only so much from his predecessor's most recent big-name hire.

theHoundDawg

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Basketball - The Great Haven For Egos and Idiots

Over the past few days, a couple of the most well-known names in the world of basketball have opened their collective mouths, and shown the world that they are in fact a couple of the great egos, and idiots, in the world of basketball.

As previously described here, the long-overdue resignation of the brain surgeon AD was a welcome occasion this week, as was the selection of San Marino’s only registered Democrat, Pat Haden, to succeed him. Is there anyone who could possible disagree with this change? Anyone who would, or could, laud the stellar work of of the disgraced mike garrett? Why yes, there is. And that person is: None other than Laker owner and celebrated over-grown preppy, Jerry Buss.

While the world, including the new sc Prez. and AD, have slowly come around to realize the extent of the criminal enterprise run by the garrett-carroll-floyd triumvirate, the good doctor Buss - who oh, so proudly wears his sc ph.d in chemistry as others would an M.D. from Harvard - has seen fit to submit his beliefs to the LA Times, who, strangely enough, printed his message in today’s sports section, to wit:

There doesn't seem to be much love shown for Mike Garrett and I would like to correct this if I may. I think in the future, the last 17 years will be known as one of the Golden Ages of USC sports. It is doubtful to me if we will ever win as many NCAA championships in such a short period of time as we have done under Mike. The football was fun; the basketball was fun; the track & field a glimmering of its past glory under impossible circumstances (the limitation of scholarships imposed on USC).I would also like to point out that for 50 years as a loyal Trojan, I prayed for someone with the ability, foresight and courage to attempt to build our own sports arena. This was accomplished by Mike Garrett even though there were numerous predecessors who attempted unsuccessfully to do the same thing.Let's not kid ourselves — things were wonderful under Mike and although I hope things will be even better under Pat Haden, I think we owe Mr. Garrett a very deep debt of gratitude.Jerry H. BussEl Segundo

All I can add is this: Had buss accepted comperable conduct from his LA Laker leadership and athletes, he would have been suspended by the NBA from any participation in the operation of his franchise, the employees directly responsible would have been removed, and the athletes involved fined unprecedented sums.

Then there is the case of the ego of Mr. Chris Paul, registering this week a solid
9.8 on the LeBum-Ego-Meter scale of ten.

What G-d damn arrogance! The mighty Mr. Paul wants to be a Magic, a Knick, or, heaven forbid, a LAKER?

By the way, isn’t he under contract to New Orleans? Why doesn’t that “no tampering” policy stuff apply to players who are under contract, as well as team representatives?

Well, Mr. Paul, with the recent moves the Lakers have made, signing Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, and Theo Ratliff, the two-time NBA Champs are just fine without your services, and, in fact, now possess a roster far stronger than that which, as just noted, has won the NBA Championship the past two seasons WITHOUT YOU!

The very idea, incredibly favored by many equally idiotic commentators, that the Lakers should break up their winning combination by trading the vastly talented and still developing Andrew Bynum for Paul, is absurd.

After painfully enduring the LeBum event (actually, I’m still nauseous from it all), who would have thought that yet another mindless ego would so soon emerge from the pro basketball world, with similar headline-grabing arrogance and impunity.

Come on, it’s BASEBALL SEASON with the trade deadline coming up and pennant races around the corner.

theHoundDawg

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Classy Start For New SC AD

Mike Garrett was still wiping the shoe prints off his ass, when new sc brain surgeon athletic director Pad Haden began making honorable decisions not seen at the brain surgeon hangout since, ... since, ...., well, EVER!

After weeks of “Who, me”, “Why us?”, and “We don’t deserve that!”, Haden accepted the consequences of the Garrett-Carroll-Floyd criminal enterprise, and not only ordered removal of campus idolatry depicting r bush and oj mayo, but further ordered that bush’s ill-gotten Heisman be packed up and shipped back to the NY Athletic Club.

Without them even asking!

Kinda makes you wonder how long Lane Kiffin has before he gets boxed up and mailed back.

theHoundDawg

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The More They Say, The Worse They Make It

Ah, for the good ole days when the prevailing sound from sc was silence.

The more the astoundingly arrogant uncle petey has to say, the more ridiculous he sounds, and likely the more the good folk in Seattle are having second thoughts, and I’m sure the more the dunderheads at 60 Minutes would like to burn the film of their blubbery tribute to the impeccable mr carroll from a year and a half ago (see my post “60 Minutes Disgrace - Pete Carroll Love Fest”, Dec. 14, 2008). The arrogance of this idiot - to again come out and say he had neither knowledge of the special treatment afforded his star players, nor of the total lack of institutional oversight of the goings on, boggles the educated mind, let alone the minds of sc students and alumni.

Even worse are the comments now flowing from the mouth of r bush. Lest you forget, the NCAA went out of its way to include in their 67 page report, the statement that “Bush and his family refused to cooperate with the investigation”. Now, bush has the gall, the arrogance, the audacity, to actually come out and say - while continuing to deny any wrongdoing, of course - that now, “all I can do is continue to try to help them and move forward with the situation.” Bush pledges to help USC fight NCAA sanctions. He has also said that he knows that he will not lose his Heisman. We’ll have to see about that.

For all you doubters out there, you have to read the definitive article, detailing the events of the bush-petey-timmy-m garrett years, written by then sc student and now ESPN correspondent Arash Markazi, entitled appropriately, USC turned a blind eye.

theHoundDawg

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Poetry in Motion: BCS Schools and Wanabees Vie For Mega-Conferences - This Cannot End Well

Bye, Bye, Big 12; So long, Big 10; Pac 10, I knew you well.

Right now, they are the Big Nought, the Big 11, and the Pac 11. Tomorrow, they could be anything.

Colorado is now in the Pac [Insert Number of Your Choice Here]. So is Texas. No, wait - Texas is in the SEC! No, That’s Texas A & M. And it’s Texas Tech that’s in the Pac [Insert Number of Your Choice Here]. But aren’t Miami and Florida State now in the SEC? Well, Boise St and Kansas and Kansas State and Missouri are all in the Mountain West, aren’t they?

So if there are going to be four super-conferences and the conference champs play a four-team playoff for the National Championship, where does that leave Boise State? Or will that mean that the Mountain West must also be a super-conference? But won’t that make five of them? Then you’ll need even more conference champs for that playoff.

And how does the University of Memphis fit into all of this:

”FedEx CEO Fred Smith has spoken to various conference officials and made it known that his Memphis-based company could provide millions of dollars -- perhaps as much as $10 million annually -- to a BCS-affiliated league willing to offer an invitation to the University of Memphis, multiple sources close to the Memphis program have told CBSSports.com.” CBSSports.com, June 12, 2009.

What seems clear here, is the following:
  • The super-conference movement will mean the end of the NCAA was we know it.
  • That may work well for football, probably leading to a real national championship playoff system.
  • It will be a disaster for college basketball - it could well mean the end of the NCAA Basketball Tournament as it has existed for the past several decades.
  • It likely will lead to more and more major instances of failure of institutional oversight and flaunting of rules - with a weakened NCAA or a replacement organization monitoring the ever-powerful schools and conferences, what sc did, and got away with for six years, will be much more prevalent.
Who was it that said “Power Breeds Contempt”? OR was it “Power corrupts, Absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

theHoundDawg

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USC TROJANS, RIP

THE REPORT is in, the sanctions have been announced, and justice, incredibly, has been done.

First, the official penalties:
  • Postseason ban in football following the 2010 and 2011 seasons;
  • Loss of 30 total football scholarships over the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons;
  • Loss of all football victoriesfrom December 2004 through the 2005 season, including the national championship win over Oklahoma on Jan. 4, 2005;
  • All statistics vacated for Bush, Mayo and an unnamed women’s tennis athlete in the games which the NCAA deemed them ineligible due to rules violations;
  • Bush and Mayo must be "disassociated" from USC athletics;
  • The acceptance of USC’s self-imposed penalties on its basketball program, which included a forfeiture of all wins in 2007-2008 and a one-year postseason ban;
  • All titles won during ineligible games must be vacated and trophies and banners must be removed;
  • The loss of wins in the women’s tennis program from May 2006 to May 2009, for long distance telephone violations committed by a student-athlete;
  • A reduction of recruiting days for the men’s basketball program in 2010-2011; and
  • Four years of probation.

On Page two of the report, the NCAA went out of its way state that Bush and his family refused to cooperate with the investigation.

So, what did the NCAA say about the brain surgeons’s athletic programs? Here are some excerpts from the 67 page report: [Note: Additional material added at 7:30 pm]

“The general campus environment surrounding the violations troubled the committee. At least at the time of the football violations, there was relatively little effective monitoring of, among others, football locker rooms and sidelines, and there existed a general post game locker room environment that made compliance efforts difficult. Further, in recent years, the NCAA has made efforts to encourage universities to curb excesses in the entertainment of prospective student-athletes making visits to college campuses so as to avoid a perception by prospects of special status or entitlement. Yet, in this case, the committee reviewed information that, during the official paid visit of a highly recruited football prospect, his host - student-athlete 1 [Bush] - did not pick up the prospect until nearly midnight the evening following a home football game and that he was taken out until the early morning hours. There also was information in the record that the assistant football coach knew that the prospect was not picked up until nearly midnight by student-athlete 1 [Bush] and that the prospect was taken to a club at which alcohol was served. These activities and others referred to during the hearing 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.”

“During a telephone conversation in late 2004, student-athlete 1 [Bush] informed agency partner A that he (student-athlete 1) was embarrassed to drive his current vehicle, a pick-up truck, and wanted a different vehicle. Agency partner A [agency Bush had agreed to hire upon leaving sc] agreed to provide the cash to purchase a vehicle. A short while later, in December 2004, student-athlete 1 [Bush] located a vehicle he wanted, and agency partner A gave student-athlete 1's [Bush’s] stepfather several thousand dollars in cash for a down payment on the vehicle. Student-athlete 1 [Bush] later contacted agency partner A to request additional money needed to purchase wheel rims for the vehicle. Agency partner A then drove from San Diego to Los Angeles and gave student-athlete 1 [Bush] an additional several thousand dollars in cash. Approximately one week later, agency partner A gave student-athlete 1 [Bush] another sizable cash payment, which the student-athlete used for a car alarm and audio system.”

"In the fall of 2004, while student-athlete 1 [Bush] was competing for the institution, student-athlete 1's [Bush’s] step-father and agency partner A discussed the formation of a sports agency and marketing company featuring student-athlete 1 [Bush] . Subsequently, student-athlete 1 [Bush] entered into an agreement with sports agency partners A and B to establish a sports agency to negotiate future marketing and professional sports contracts. Shortly after the agreement was reached to form a sports agency, student-athlete 1 [Bush] and his family began asking for financial and other assistance from agency partners A and B. Thus, began a pattern of impermissible benefits provided by agency partners A and B to student-athlete 1 [Bush] and his family." Some of what this included was the following: 1) "In January 2005, at the request of the parents, agency partner A instructed his former brother-in-law to arrange round-trip airline transportation between San Diego and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, a value of approximately $1,200, for the parents and for the brother of student-athlete 1 [Bush] to attend the Orange Bowl." 2) "In early March 2005, after a request from student-athlete 1 to attend a former NFL player's ("former NFL player") birthday party in San Diego, agency partner A contacted agency partner B to arrange for student-athlete 1 to use a room in a hotel near the venue where the birthday party was held. On the night of March 5, 2005, agency partner A provided cost- free round-trip limousine service for student-athlete 1 to travel from the hotel to the San Diego nightclub where the birthday party was held." The biggie: 3) "In March 2005 and after his parents were asked by their landlord to vacate their Paradise Valley Road residence, student-athlete 1's [Bush’s] parents and agency partners A and B agreed that agency partner B. would purchase a property located in Spring Valley for the parents. The written agreement called for the parents to pay agency partner B $1,400 per month (of the approximately $4,500 monthly cost) plus utilities until such time when student-athlete 1 [Bush] would pay the difference to agency partners A and B with money from the income he would earn once he became a professional athlete. However, the parents resided at the property at no cost until April 2006. In the spring of 2005, agency partner B provided the parents with approximately $10,000 in cash to purchase furniture for the Spring Valley residence. In April 2005, the mother of agency partner A ("agency partner A's mother") purchased a washer and dryer for the parents."

From December 2004 through March 2009, the institution exhibited a lack of control over its department of athletics by its failure to have in place procedures to effectively monitor the violations of NCAA amateurism, recruiting and extra benefit legislation in the sports of football, men's basketball and women's tennis. As a result, three different agents and/or their associates committed violations regarding student-athletes 1 and 2. Particular instances of lack of institutional control were exhibited in deficiencies in the following areas alleged by the enforcement staff: a) monitoring of student-athlete 1's automobile registration; b) monitoring of student-athlete 1's employment at the office of a sports marketing agent; c) involvement of boosters and agents in the recruiting process; d) monitoring the number of countable coaches in the football program; and e) monitoring long distance telephone calls made from the department of athletics.”

Too bad all this come down on sc. They had run such a clean, upstanding athletic department until petey came on board. Oh, wait!. NOT SO:
This was the institution's sixth major infractions case. Most recently, the institution appeared before the committee in June 2001 for a case involving the football and women's swimming programs. Accordingly, USC is considered a "repeat violator" under NCAA Bylaw19.5.2.3. The institution also had infractions cases in 1986, 1982, 1959 and 1957, all of which involved its football program.”

We now await the BCS to remove the brain surgeons from that ill-gotten championship, and the Heisman people to send UPS to pick-up Bush’s stolen trophy. And how long will Mike Garrett have a job?

theHoundDawg

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SC Rumors Abound - What Will It Be?

Rumors abound - but we will know tomorrow.

The LA Times just reported loss of 20 scholarships, two-year bowl ban, and what else??????

Can’t wait ’til tomorrow.

10:00 pm update - ESPN reports forfeiture of 2004 wins.

theHoundDawg

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ESPN Radio Deserts its Fans

Words to die by:

“Hear every match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com.”

For those of us who listen to sports talk radio, the best of which in Southern California is by far that which is broadcast through the local ESPN station, 710KSPN, not to mention play-by-play of stuff like, well, Angel and Lakers games, and for some of you demented fans out there, usc sports, this announcement is an abomination.

We want to hear Mason and Ireland not Libya v Myanmar soccer, Mike and Mike not Iceland v Croatia soccer, Terry Smith not that goaaaaaaal guy. This will be the schedule for all of ESPN radio, not just 710 SoCal.

It’s going to be a long, boring, radio-less summer with all this world cup stuff pushing INTERESTING REAL SPORTS off the radio.

theHoundDawg

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SC Verdict Next Week?

After years of anticipation and many false hopes, ESPN sources this morning reported that the NCAA will finally release the findings of their investigation of the sc criminal enterprise, uh, athletic department, on Friday.

Whitewash or Justice? We shall see.

theHoundDawg

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Ex-Trojan Cushing Has Illegal Steroid Use Validated by Sportswriter Panel Re-Vote

Ex-Trojan brain surgeon Brian Cushing, found to have tested positive for an NFL-banned performance-enhancing drug, was rightly suspended without pay for four games. In an interesting move, a re-vote was then taken among the panel of Associated Press sportswriters that had previously voted Cushing NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. The re-vote results were, to say the least, astounding.

In an incredulous validation of illegal steroid use, the erstwhile panel again voted Cushing the recipient of the award, which until then, carried a modicum of prestige.

Granted, 22 of the 39 sportswriter who originally voted for Cushing changed their vote, but 18 still endorsed him, including one writer who actually had the audacity to CHANGE his vote TO Cushing! That outstanding citizen is Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writer Ed Bouchette, When asked about his vote change, Bouchette has given only flippant responses, basically indicating he was upset about having to take valuable time away from his other activities to cast a second vote.

At a time where it would seem that the use of steroids, HGH, and other performance-enhancing drugs is down in professional sports, and with the apparently widespread realization of the serious damage that such drugs do to the physical well-being of those who choose to ingest, inject, rub in, or shove up such drugs, it is a slap in the face to every other college and professional athlete, in particular last season’s crop of NFL rookies, to give this award to Cushing. A second time. AFTER the announcement of his positive drug test.


theHoundDawg

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$$$ Rules at NCAA

The likelihood that the NCAA will now be increasing the field to 96 for next year's basketball tournament is extremely distressing. The current tournament structure, with the minor 2001 addition of a 65th "play-in" team, has been in use for 25 years. While I personally would love to see the field significantly decreased to only the schools who actually deserve to be included by virtue of having completed a championship-caliber regular season, the dollars the tournament generates have NCAA execs drooling for even more.

It is amusing, though, that they choose to ignore all of the arguments against a football tournament, in planning basketball expansion. All those arguments like not wanting "student"-athletes to have to miss classes.

I can just see a 96-team event next year: 15 Big East Teams, 11 from the SEC, and oh, yea, three from the Pac-10.

But seriously, the overwhelming fact that money talks at the NCAA does not bode well for those of us hoping that justice will prevail with the pending sanctions against the NCAA's biggest single money tree, the sc brain surgeons. The NCAA's long-standing history of protecting its top money-makers in general and the brain surgeons in particular, combined with two other recent events, makes one suspicious as to whether or not there will be a report that honestly recounts the sc transgressions and whether adequate and appropriate penalties will be assessed.

First, sc's signing a couple of weeks ago of Seantrel Henderson seemed to indicate some inside info known to the sc staff and Henderson and his family. That may well have been, however, intentional misinformation allowed to percolate, as the timing of the signing may have been more related to the timing of the receipt of Henderson's ACT scores, and just how low sc would lower their admission standards to get the guy in. The second item was UTEP's signing of ex-brain burgeon basketball coach Timma. On its face, his sob story to the media (Floyd "repeated his previous denials of wrongdoing, while praising UTEP officials for doing “their due diligence” in hiring him." according to Yahoo! Sports) would seem to indicate knowledge that things won't get any worse. If the powers that be at UTEP could have believed that there was any chance whatsoever that Timma could yet be found to have caused cash payments to be delivered to one of his players, would they have possibly hired him?

The next few weeks will show the world just how dishonest and greedy the NCAA really is.

theHoundDawg

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Bruins Scared Straight by Loss to brain surgeons, Win 4 of Last 5

Since the debacle of January 16, the Bruins have been a different team. I guess the embarrassment of the 21-point loss to the brain surgeons scared them straight. That, and the outstanding play of senior Michael Roll, the improved play of senior Nikola Dragovic, and the fabulous, continual development of super-talented freshmen Tyler Honeycutt and Reeves Nelson, have pulled the Bruins into a first place tie in the Pac-12, uh, excuse me Mario, Pac-10.

Of course, a big part of the turnaround has been the zone defense instituted by Coach Howland, though tonight the stellar defense during a key 9-0 run was with Howland's preferred (and the Bruin traditional) man-to-man.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a final four team, and maybe still not even a tournament team, but stellar defense which was so lacking for much of the season, improved free-throw shooting, and reduced turnovers could mean that this season that looked so ominous and started so horribly, may not turn out so bad after all.

theHoundDawg

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Mario - Who Are the Other Two Schools?

I've laid off Mario Solis for a while. Well, actually I've avoided listening to him for awhile.

Unfortunately, I saw his broadcast tonight, and I'm glad I did.

Otherwise, how would I have known that the major west-coast college sports conference has added two additional schools. Yep, according to Mario, UCLA, the brain surgeons, and the others now play in the PAC-12!

Thanks for the info, Mario.

theHoundDawg

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SC Scum and NCAA, and, Oh, Yea, Bruin Disgrace

Well, according to the late Mike Garrett (about two monhts to go, at most), OJ Mayo has joined the NFL's second-biggest scumwad r bush in their failure to cooperate with investigations into their illegal activities while enjoying the cardinal and gold glamour and classroom experience (thought I'd throw in a good laugh).

It is well known that bush took his Heisman and ran to the NFL where he had to take a pay cut, and refused to talk to NCAA investigators and others looking into his $1/2 million in ill-gotten riches while in the employ of petey and MG. Mayo followed in those footsteps to the NBA and as ESPN and the Daily News reported, refused to discuss the matter, as sc self-imposed all those darling little penalties.

While sc fully deserves what it is getting for employing criminal elements like petey, timmy, bush and mayo, the likes of bush and mayo should have had the decency to try to help out the school that paved the way for their future careers.

On another, equally sickening note, I really misspoke back on Dec. 24 when I though I saw a glimmer of hope in the Bruin basketball team. We all knew the team would not be very good this season, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect the team to be as bad as the brain surgeons figured to be. Alas, the brain surgeons, who had been playing reasonabley well most of the season, yesterday wiped the Wooden name off the hardwood with the horrible Bruin team. This was the most embarrassing exposition of Bruin bb in my memory, and I've been atttending Bruin games for five decades (Six, if I ever suck it up and go to a game this season - can't even watch them on TV right now).

theHoundDawg

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Buss Role in Kiffin Deal Defies Logic

Today's revelation that Lakers' owner and sc grad Jerry Buss paid the University of Tennessee the goodly sum of $800,000 as a buy-out of Lane Kiffin's contract is an eye-opener.

Draconian NCAA rules make penny-ante "offenses" into felonies, but this is legal?

sc, the second largest private land-owner in Los Angeles County and the beneficiary of untold riches generated by virtue of the illegal activities of its men's athletic department really does need all this economic help from its fan base. Heaven forbid they would have to pay this, or gee, what if Kiffin had to pay this himself, like, well, ANY OTHER COACH breaching a contract would have had to?

theHoundDawg

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Breaking News - Lane Kiffin New Head Brain Surgeon

sc brain surgeons have stolen Tennessee's first year head coach Lane Kiffin as petey's replacement.

Perfect fit. He will easily bring back the days of john mckay by regularly insulting every LA and Pac 10 sports figure NOT a trojan b-s-er.

theHoundDawg

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Petey's Tear Jerker Ignores NCAA and Dave Watson Lawsuit

We won't have petey to kick around anymore.

The white-haired phantom of the truth delivered his well-rehersed goodbye to his brain-washed brain surgeon minions today, pulling more wool over their eyes. Funny how he never mentioned throwing his undees into a suitcase and running to the airport, a few steps ahead of the NCAA and all those lawyers aching to take his deposition.

Turns out that he is about to be deposed not only in the r bush civil case, but also in a million dollar damage case brought by the victim in former assistant Dave Watson's felony-DUI auto accident, a case in which Petey may well have some personal liability. As finally reported today by local TV news following the article on SI.com, Watson, addicted to painkillers and other meds, was provided thousands of pills by sc football team physicians and an sc auto whch he used to maim an innocent bystander, all under the watchful eye, and apparent knowledge, of petey. Petey's knowledge and acquiesence may well mean that some of the $35 Mil in Seahawk money he'll be pocketing will end up paying for this guy's ongoing surgeries and pain & suffering.

Anoather unanswered question as petey waives bye-bye is what part Tim Leiweke, maybe the most influential sports figure in LA, as CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, that built and operates Staples Center, Home Depot Center, and owns the LA Kings, as well as numerous sports venues and teams around the world, and who has a hand in the new LA Football Stadium about to be built by AEG Co-Owner Ed Roski in the City of Industry, had in his younger brother and Seahawk CEO Tod hiring petey?

theHoundDawg

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NCAA Closing In,... Petey Takes the Money and Runs

On vacation for a week, upon my return I was overjoyed to see that the top rat was deserting the brain surgeon ship, scooping up a reported cool $35 Mil for his get-a-way.

The NCAA cops are apparently closing in, and even if not, the civil court proceedings in the Crime-of-the-Century just received a major boost, with an appellate court ruling ordering both Petey and r bush to submit to depositions. If they lie under oath, then they should be prosecuted for purjury. If they tell the truth about bush and his family receiving more than $.5 Mil in illegal benefits during his last two years at sc, then the NCAA will have no choice but to strip the school of their 1-1/2 championships, and bush will have his Heisman revoked. On top of that, there will be serious TV and scholarship restrictions. Add on the Joe McKnight violations, and the major violations pending against Timmie and the basketball program, and the sc brain surgeons could be facing the DEATH PENALTY!

Perfect time for the cappo to take his leave, and his millions.

Question: Will Mike Garrett be honest with coaching prospects and tell them what will likely happen to the football program. If so, how likely will it be for a Mike Riley, Jeff Fisher or Jack del Rio to leave any of their current jobs to return to sc?

Oh, well, Mike, there is always Charlie Weis or Karl Dorrall.

theHoundDawg

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With Two Weeks to Go .....

-The King of Interceptions is rounding into form, and taking his Vikings down with him. Over the last three games, Favre has thrown four key interceptions, and compiled QB ratings consistently in the 70s. The Vikes will split their last two regular season games, limp into the playoffs, and be blown out. Then we'll have another summer of Favre retirement updates, culminating with the King coming into camp the week before the first game.

-The Overrated brain surgeon quarterback contingency had a great 0-3 week, with the overrated carson palmer losing to San Diego, the empty uniform in KC losing to Cleveland, and the overrated m sanchez accounting for all of seven points in a loss to Atlanta, and getting knocked out of the playoffs by virtue thereof. On the same day, and against the stellar defense of the King's Vikes, ex-Bruin backup and one-year starter at Oregon State Matt Moore was dominant, passing for 299 yards. Moore has thusly elevated himself into contention for next season's starting job at Carolina.

-With Cleveland playing their best football in a couple of years, it appears that the end of the Eric Mangini era is imminent. The Cleveland truck is backing up in Mike Holmgren's driveway, ready to dump a shitload of cash. It's not the time to start over again. Mangini deserves another year, and a decent quarterback, to bring the Browns the rest of the way back.


theHoundDawg

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Poor Timmy Floyd, Picked on by Mike Garrett and the NCAA

The LA Times Sports department today devoted a substantial amount of newsprint and web space to the lament of crooked crybaby Tim Floyd. In the article, Floyd makes it sound as if he were the official scapegoat for the brain surgeon athletic department. Well, actually, that part is true, as I have written before. But, his assertions he is innocent of documented allegations that he dispensed cash for the benefit of former player OJ Simpson Mayo and that Mayo lived in abject poverty while attending brain surgeon u, are preposterous. Do a little reading, Timmy, and you'll see all that stuff about Mayo's dorm room full of high-priced electronics, not to mentioned the statements, under oath, made to the FBI and other governmental agencies, not just to the NCAA, by the currier you charged with delivering the funds.

It's all hilarious, except for the fact that the brain surgeon criminal enterprise is still running scott free, YEARS after some of the most egregious violations of NCAA rules ever described, not to mention possible violations of criminal statutes, and for that one bit of truth from Timmy's lips - that he and the basketball program have been set up to take the fall for petey and his band of money-churning reprobates in the football program.

Another note about Timmy. Professional reprobate, and so unfortunately a current Laker, Ron Artest has rocked the pro basketball world with his assertions that while a member of the Chicago Bulls, he regularly had a sip or two, or three, or .... of Cognac during halftime of games. A quick perusal of the record books shows that he was with the Bulls from 1999 to 2002. Guess who was Coach of the the Bulls during those years? Why, yes, none other than Timmy himself.

Yep, he's a great coach, an honest person, and he should still be in charge of a major program, or THE guy at his new location in New Orleans. Yea, right.


theHoundDawg

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Ron Artest Jersey: adidas Gold Replica #37 Los Angeles Lakers Jersey
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The Best Defense Money Can Buy

Petey, Petey, Petey.

What a shame.

All that money, and this is what you came up with.

Excuse me, but didn't a few of those experts say, like before the season, that your brain surgeon defense could be one of the greatest ever?

So, in the last three weeks, you've given up, what, 111 points? Yea, that's right - Oregon 47, Arizona State 9, and Stanford 55. But lets look further back. Before Oregon's 47, you barely escaped against Notre Dame giving up 27, and then let Oregon State score 36. That is, Petey, a five game average of 35 points. Per game.

Best defense money can buy.

Guess you had to take something out of the defense budget for all those quarterback, like this guy matt. You know the one, the guy that handed the Cardinal four touchdowns with a fumble and three interceptions.

Have a nice time at the Las Vegas Bowl.


theHoundDawg

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Jeff Sagarin is an Idiot

The self-appointed guru of college sports, Jeff Sagarin, has come out with his list of the all-time college basketball programs, and it's the biggest pile of crap since both my dogs had diarrhea on the same day.

Quierie - Which program has won, by far, the most NCAA Champtionships? UCLA of course. Where does he rank UCLA? Why number 2. Why? Becasue they were not a top program in the 1940s! The 1940s?

Who, you ask, is number one? Why Kentucky of course, the same Kentucky that has won 60% as many titles as the Bruins, and which has not sniffed the title in this milleniium.

He also rankes teams by decades, and in the current decade, he ranks Duke and Kansas as one and two, with Florida, winner of two straight titles number four, behind North Carolina, who has also won two titles in this decade, while UCLA, Final Four participants three straight years, getting knocked out by Florida in their two championship years, is ranked TWENTIETH!

Having totally screwed up the top rankings, he has some other schools ranked in places that are so totally absurd, it would appear he formulated his rankings by picking the schools out of a hat. He actually has the dysfunctional brain surgeons, who have never won a title, and who had only a few really top seasons (all decades ago under Bob Boyd) without violating NCAA rules, at number 25! Absolute lunacy. Even worse than perrennial loser Northwestern ranked number 77.

Happy 99th birthday to John Wooden.


theHoundDawg

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In the Sleeply Little Town of Seattle, and a Mario Solis Update

In my last post, I inquired:

"So, which top-five team will lose this weekend?"


Well, in the sleepy little town of Seattle, Wash., the might Husky DAWGS defeated the University of Spoiled Children Brain Surgeons 16-13!!!

All is right in the world of college football.

Oh, and according to Mario Solis, as he reported on his sportscast on the Channel 4 KNBC news last night, later today the UCLA Bruins will be playing Kansas City.


theHoundDawg

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Neuheisel Picks QB, Lays Down the Law

With the apparent decision that it will be freshman Richard Brehaut at qb Saturday against Kansas State, and not last year's walking interception machine Kevin Craft, it has also been announced that four players, starting soph db Courtney Viney, and three freshmen subs, rb Milton Knox, and receivers Morrell Presley and Randall Carroll, have been suspended for the game, for undisclosed reasons.

Rick Neuheisel must have had a damn good reason for the suspensions, and hopefully they were an exercise of the same good judgment that led him to choose the talented Brehaut over Craft to fill in at qb. Last February, I said that Brehaut could be the key to a successful 2009 season and beyond. Glad to see him get the chance, and who knows what the future will hold. You can't say enough about Kevin Prince, though, coming back into the game with his jaw broken, to take the final two snaps against Tennessee.

And on the other side of town, petey says his little boy has a boo boo on his shoulder and may not make it to Seattle for the brain surgeon's game against the Huskies and their new coach, former brain surgeon assistant (and flunk-out as an sc student/baseball player) Steve Sarkisian.

Speaking of Sarkisian, it was very interesting the other day hearing Steve Bishoff with Mason and Ireland tell the real story about the petey-Norm Chow rift and the fact that Chow only decided to leave the brain surgeons and move to the NFL AFTER petey told him he was being demoted from offensive coordinator in favor co-coordinators Sarkisian and petey's buddy's baby boy, Lane Kiffin, who we all remember from last Saturday in Tennessee.

So, which top-five team will lose this weekend?


theHoundDawg

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Almost a GREAT Day

The Bruin defense had a stellar performance, dominating Tennessee. Rahim Moore had two more interceptions to give him 5 in two games and the rest of the defensive backfield played just as well, in particular the Playmaker Alterraun Verner and Tony Dye, and Courtney Viney did well replacing the injured Aaron Hester. In the final couple of minutes the Defensive Line, with Brian Price on the bench part of the time, stopped the Vols on four plays after a first down inside the 10, and then kept pressure on Jonathan Crompton on his last-ditch 0/4 drive from his own territory. The offense sputtered much of the time against a strong Tennessee defense, but showed signs of real promise, and next week against a less talented Kansas State defense, I would expect to see some real improvement.

Notre Dame's last-second loss to an underrated Michigan team, featuring maybe the best freshman in the country in QB Tate Forcier, was unexpected and appreciated, and for the second time in the two-week-old season, a top-five team lost, as unranked Houston easily beat Oklahoma State.

And, oh, it cold have been a great day, if Ohio State cold have just hung on, played a tougher defensive game in the fourth quarter, and had a better offensive plan. The brain surgeons keyed on Terrelle Pryor, and Jim Tressell should have realized that would be the case, and prepared more options, in both senses of the term. That first-drive interception was the difference in the end.

Following up from the first week, BYU is a top team and their defeat of the Bradford-less Sooners was no fluke. I can see BYU going undefeated. Oklahoma played extremely well against poor competition without Bradford, and like I mentioned, should have only the one loss when they meet Texas, possibly with Bradford back at QB.


theHoundDawg

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Sporting News' 50 Greatest Coaches List - Some Hits, Some Misses

The Sporting News pretty much stays out of the news these days, but they did raise some controversy this week when they released their poll of the 50 greatest coaches of all time. I absolutely agree with their choice of John Wooden as the greatest coach in any sport. As should be the case, the vote was not even close, with the Wizard receiving 57 first place votes, from the TSN panel of 118 "experts". Unfortunately, many of their last 49 choices miss the mark.

The list includes only six additional college basketball coaches and five NBA coaches, and none of them, incredibly, is Larry Brown. His omission is the most glaring misstep on the list. The list contains ten NFL coaches, and eighth among them, and number 20 overall, is Bill Belichick, who should be the second-ranked pro football coach, following the list's number two, Vince Lombardi. Also as to NFL coaches, the bottom two, Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells, at numbers 26 and 33 overall respectively, should be above the higher-ranked Paul Brown, George Halas, Joe Gibbs, and Tom Landry.

Their ranking of college football coaches is not too badly composed, but I would elevate Bud Wilkinson, number 29 overall, from the seventh spot among college football coaches, to the third spot, behind only Bear Bryant and Knute Rockne, and I'd make Rockne number one, not Bryant.

As to the five NHL coaches that made the list, perhaps Scotty Bowman deserves to be higher overall than number seven, and there are dozens of coaches from other sports who deserve the last spot, over Herb Brooks. He's listed as an NHL coach, and that does not merit him a spot on the list. Call him an Olympic Hockey coach, and there is at least a sentimental and patriotic basis for his selection.

The list includes ten MLB managers, with the over-hyped, over-indluged, and over-rated Casey Stengel on top, at number nine overall. Give him Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, and the like, and he can win pennants. He managed three other teams, before and after the scumstripes, and to call his performances mediocre would be overly generous. He still owns, at least until the Washington National's current season comes to a close, the worst single-season record in major league history, with the 1962 Mets. For my money, in following MLB as close as I have for more than 50 years, and in reading and studying much of early baseball history, the four best managers I have seen, are Walter Alston, Tony La Russa, Sparky Anderson, and Joe Torre. Their listings at numbers 35, 41, 38, and 32, respectively, are absurd. The four should all be in the list's top 20 overall.

Finally, how could the panel waste valuable, limited positions on the list with the inclusion of not one, but two, woman's basketball coaches?


theHoundDawg

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Timmie Out - sc to Search Prisons for New Coach

Illegal recruiting, payoffs to student-athletes, and the flaunting of assorted additional NCAA rules all suffered a severe blow, when mike garrett on behalf of the criminal enterprise that calls itself the sc brain surgeon athletic department accepted the resignation of basketball cappo Tim Floyd.

Floyd, who bought and paid for the best basketball team sc has had in years, saw former confidants turn stoolie as outlined here, and with the NCAA, not to mention the FBI, IRS and other assorted governmental agencies, closing in, with his top talent from last year all running away as fast as they can, and with his top three recruits all bailing, decided that maybe summer back in Hattiesburg may not be such a bad idea. (Does Iowa have extradition to the US?)

With the likelihood of serious sanctions being imposed on the basketball program, which is already now in shambles, the fear that the basketball team will be the scapegoat is even more certain. floyd and his program are the Red Cross, March of Dimes, and United Way all rolled together when compared to the outrageous conduct of the football program run by the senior cappo, petey boy.

NCAA: Garrett is throwing floyd and basketball to the wolves to save football. Don't let that happen. The outrageous activities of the carroll years cannot be covered up any longer, and the lengthy investigation we hope and pray is continuing, must result in appropriate sanctions.

theHoundDawg

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Caught With The Goods: FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney Have Evidence of Tim Floyd Cash Payoff

As reported by Yahoo Sports late this afternoon, the sc brain surgeon's jig is about up, with evidence that head basketball coach Tim Floyd made a direct cash payment of $1,000 to Rodney Guillory, the "runner" who allegedly lavished former brain surgeon guard OJ Mayo with all those fancy accoutrements that decorated his dorm room.

Former Mayo confident Louis Johnson has told FBI, IRS. U.S. Attorney, and NCAA investigators, all about the payment, a small part of the $30,000 or so in illegal benefits paid to Mayo during his short trojan tenure.

Again, local media, protecting sc at all costs, has failed miserably, and it's Yahoo Sports that is reporting what scant info there has been about the now three-year-old investigations of sc basketball and football violations. Their report comes only a few days after Johnson gave his account to the NCAA, but almost a full year since he spilled his guts to the federal investigators.

One bad thought, however, permeates the "flow" of information about the sc basketball program: Are things being set up for the basketball program to take the fall, with the outrageous criminal enterprise that is the sc football program, getting off with a slap on the wrist?

And Floyd had believed that losing Renardo Sidney, whom he thought he had bought and paid for, was the low point of the off-season.

theHoundDawg

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It's About Time that the NCAA Gets Going on SC Crime Wave

The LA Times reported this morning that finally there is some activity in their investigations of the shameful culture of the flaunting of NCAA rules throughout the sc athletic department. The article states that the two major investigations - those of the bush football crimes and of the mayo basketball evils - have been combined into a single investigation.

This bodes well, as, first, it does show that the investigations are not lying dormant, but that there is activity on-going, and second, that the investigation involves the athletic department's lack of oversight as a whole, not just the failures of two sports programs.

For those with a short memory, you can find many of the details of the flagrant rule-breaking in the bush and mayo cases in some of my older "Crime" posts, especially that of Dec. 14, 2008, which can all be found here.

Get this wrapped up, NCAA, so that bush's ill-gotten Heisman is taken away, so that sc's equally ill-gotten football championship is stripped, and give this evil, evil group of miscreants, who pay for a golden image as well as athletic success, their well-deserved sports death penalty.

theHoundDawg

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NOT So Fast

Well, I guess we will still have t floyd to kick around.

Hope he and his band of thugs continue to enjoy their plasma tvs on south Fig.

theHoundDawg

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Bye-Bye, Timmie

On this great day in SoCal for college sports, we celebrate the run across the California-Arizona border by the brain surgeon's slimeball t floyd. May he continue his questionable recruiting, blind-eye to supporter and agent payoffs, and on-court thug mentality in SoAz.

I'm sure Arizona students, alumni, and supporters are just itching to see who will be the Wildcat's version of Leonard Washington, assaulting opposing players on the court with reckless abandon, and who will furnish his dorm with the best and biggest entertainment center agents' money can buy, besting even the pro complex oj mayo flaunted in front of the sc coaching staff. Oh, and will floyd's hooks carry along Renardo Sidney, or will he just find some other 300 pound pay-me-and-my-family NOW rent-a-stud in time for his first season in the desert?

So many questions to answer before next fall.

One other question: Does his getting out of town perhaps signal that the NCAA is finally getting something done on their multiple brain surgeons investigations?

theHoundDawg

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First Round Blues

Well, the First Round is history and overall I'm a totally unimpressive 33-15, but the brain surgeons lost their game two, and all of my Final Four picks are alive and well, as we await the Sweet Sixteen.

My concerns now are Missouri having enough to survive Memphis, and Oklahoma beating Syracuse. The Duke-Villanova game will be my major interest, however, as it will be very interesting to see my pick to win it all, Duke, against a team that so out-muscled and so overpowered the Bruins. Can Villanova really be that good, or have Ben Howland's Bruins fallen that far back?

theHoundDawg

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Tournament Day Three

My overall numbers are only so-so after Thursday and Friday games, and the disappointment of BC's falling apart against the brain surgeons, is staggering. Other teams that failed theHoundDawg and themselves, include upset losers West Virginia, California and Clemson, and lower seeds Utah St. and Tennessee that I thought would win their openers.

It will be nasty in Philadelphia this morning if the Bruins again shoot 37% from inside the arc and if Darren Collison and others again get in foul trouble. As Eric Maynor did his best trying to lead VCU over the Bruins with Collison on the bench, today could be a repeat against Villanova and Scottie Reynolds, but given Nova's overall talent, the result is likely to be different.

It will be hard for today's games to match the excitement yesterday with those two late overtime finishes.

theHoundDawg

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SHAME at Staples

In 2006, UCLA lost the NCAA Tournament final by 24 points, and in 2007 they lost the semi-final by 10, both times to great, great Florida teams. Last year, they lost the semi-final to an excellent Memphis Tiger team. Embarrassing losses all, but nothing as out right disgusting as losing tonight's Pac-10 tourney semifinal to a horrible group of brain surgeons, who should not have been allowed on the same court as the Bruins.

Coached by a deceitful, rule-breaking jerk, somehow this band of criminals ran away with a game UCLA should have breezed through.

This was Ben Howland's worst game ever as UCLA coach, letting his talented, previously defense-oriented squad self-destruct, throwing any semblance of coaching out the window, while firing up misguided shot after shot, with no teamwork, no "plays", no conscience. They shot an unbelievable 27% (19 of 70)! The brain surgeons did not win this game - UCLA gave it away.

My thoughts the past few weeks were that the Bruins might get to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. With miserable play like this, they will be lucky to escape that first weekend and get to the Sweet Sixteen, especially as their seeding took a major nosedive tonight.

theHoundDawg

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Where IS the Local Sports Media - How About Doing Some Investgative Reporting?

It's been more than a week since the brain surgeons snatched Renardo Sidney from the Bruins, and the brilliant investigative reporters of the Los Angeles media have yet to utter a word as to what really happened. Within a day or so, his "commitment' to UCLA was vanquished, and he orally announced his intentions to attend that other school. Something major happened, most likely something below-board, with rumors being rampant in the air, not not in the media.

When will local sports reporters step up and investigate and report on these types of stories?

The local media has totally ignored the NCAA investigations of the brain surgeons football and basketball programs, and were it not for Yahoo Sports and the likes of Charles Robinson, Jason Cole, and Josh Peter, we would never have known about all of the rules violations and illegal activity involving reggie bush, not to mention the pay-off in the civil lawsuit stemming from the hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal benefits he and his family received while at sc, and also the outrageous conduct of oj mayo under the noses of sc's basketball staff.

Yet another story is going unnoticed by the local sports media, and apparently by both sc basketball fans, as the brain surgeons have removed their basketball games from television coverage. Their Cal game Thursday, today's game at Stanford, and also both of next weeks final Pac-10 regular season games have been taken off their TV schedule. Why? Rumors fly, even including the one that has sc knowing they are facing significant NCAA sanctions and are trying to appease the gods and retroactively ban themselves from TV exposure.

Why are not any LA Times sports reporters, anyone at the Daily News, or any local TV or radio reporters reporting on these stories?

theHoundDawg

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Signing Day - The Day After

Late yesterday, UCLA cemented a top recruiting class with the signing of receiver Randall Carroll, a speed-burner that the brain surgeons thought they had locked up. The Bruins had earlier signed TE Morrell Presely, who sc also thought was set in red and yellow.

Scouts.com's final listings actually rate the Bruins at number four in the country, though neither rivals.com nor ESPN have them in the top ten. Regardless, with an emphasis on the offensive line, yesterday was a major UCLA success.

The brain surgeons had their typical highly rated group, but one thing stands out. While sc did tremendously well nationally, even with the loss of Hawaii's Manti Te'o to Charlie Weis's Irish, the Bruins had the better class of California recruits, and that bodes well not just for now, or for the 2009 season, but for the entire Neuheisel era.

theHoundDawg
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National Championship - A Final Few Words

It will be a lot harder for the brain surgeons to get away with claiming yet another phony National Championship this year, now that neither the writers in the AP poll nor the coaches in the USA Today poll consider them number one.

It doesn't take much for the brain surgeons to claim a phony title, as they have done at least twice in the past few years, but this year they ended number three in the AP poll, behind BCS Champion Florida, and real champion Utah, garnering only one first-place vote, and second in the coaches poll, but getting zero number one votes.

Mr. Ego, p carroll, in this morning's LA Times, though, says his team's the best and would beat Florida or Oklahoma: "'I don't think you know who the best team is,' Carroll said late Thursday night. 'You just know which team got the most votes.'" (USC finishes second in final coaches' poll, third in AP).

pete, the system played itself out, the voters have spoken. Give it a rest.

theHoundDawg
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Pac Ten Openers

The Bruins had an impressive victory over the Oregon Ducks yesterday. Exactly one month earlier, on Dec. 4, the Bruins lost to Texas, and the commentators were delighted over the "great senior leadership" of Longhorn guard A.J. Abrams. I wondered, where was the "great senior leadership" of the Bruin upperclassmen, especially point guard Darren Collison, who disappeared in the final minutes, just as Abrams took his game up a notch to pull Texas in front for good.

Statistically, Collison is having a great season, and his current foul-shooing streak is more than impressive. But, for the first time since last season, in a meaningful game, Collison stepped up when it counted, played like an All American, and led the Bruins to a win. In addition, Josh Shipp finally found his shot, and had his best game in memory.

The freshman-laden Bruins cannot rely on the youngsters for leadership if they are to win the Pac 10 and get anywhere in the NCAA tournament. Collison and Shipp and the other veterans need to be consistent, clutch when needed, and did I say consistent. The play of Michael Roll of late also has been outstanding - the perpetually-hyped three-point shooter (and as I have long though, underrated overall player) has been playing the best BB of his injury-plagued career, and he too needs to keep it going.

Congrats are also in order for First Brother-In-Law Craig Robinson and his Beavers, for taking it to the brain surgeons, for the first Oregon State Pac-10 win in what seems like decades, but is actually only about a season-and-a-half.

Also of note was Stanford losing decisively to Arizona State after building up an impressive 10-0 record, against a bunch of stiffs.

theHoundDawg

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60 Minutes Disgrace - Pete Carroll Love-Fest

The bull-pucky love-fest for Pete Carroll on 60 Minutes tonight was a disgrace.

He is the highest ranking piece in the chess game of the University of Spoiled Children, running the biggest scam in college sports, flouting the rules of the impotent NCAA, and committing the most flagrant rules violations of any school in the country. sc influence and payoffs have kept them from the highest levels of NCAA sanctions despite the single biggest scam in NCAA football annals - Reggie Bush and his family receiving more than 1/2 million dollars in illegal benefits (free rent for more than a year in a luxury home, debt payoffs, all-expense paid trips and luxury hotels) have been well documented, and the subject of civil lawsuits, but no NCAA sanctions. Any other program and Bush would have had his Heisman taken away, sc stripped of its national championship (they only won ONE under Carroll, not two as they claim).

Combine this with the OJ Mayo's flagrant violations in Tim Floyd's dirty little basketball program, and sc should long ago have received the NCAA death penalty. Yet, Floyd and his thugs like Leonard Washington are allowed to continue their cheap shot assault on other players, risking serious injury to unsuspecting players around the country.

CBS and 60 Minutes need to investigate the real sc sports department and not pull the wool over the eyes of the public. Take a look at the evidence, take a look at how sc has subverted the NCAA and curtailed any investigation of the NCAA violations and rampant criminal activity in the sc sports department.

Facts:

Bush:
The Reggie Bush Investigation: ESPN Ignores Potentially the Biggest Story in College Football History
Reggie Bush Investigation: Cash and Carry
Reggie Bush Investigation: : The Timeline
Reggie Bush and The NCAA: How will it all end?
Reggie Bush Investigation

Mayo:
NCAA investigating allegations involving USC’s Mayo
OTL probe: Mayo received money, perks from agent reps
The Mayo Investigation

and many more.

theHoundDawg

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A Quarterback By Any Other Name

Amongst the singular Cleo, Tarvaris, JaMarcus, and Sage, all of a sudden there seems to more NFL quarterbacks named Matt than any other name.

There are currently eight, yes 8, NFL quarterbacks named Matt, including current starters Matt Schaub, now back in good health at Houston, Matt Cassel, Sir Tom's fill-in at New England, Matt Hasselbeck occasionally actually healthy enough to play at Seattle, and the best rookie qb in years, Matt Ryan at Atlanta. In addition, there are four more backup Matts, Flynn at Green Bay, Gutierrez at New England, Moore at Carolina, and former first round over-rated brain surgeon Leinart, who spends his time on the Phoenix bench writing child support checks.

So, personnel guys, keep your eyes open for Matts around the college scene, and dads-to-be/formerqb-wanna-bes, name your kid Matt.
Dress like a Matt:





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Atlanta Falcons #2
Matt Ryan Jersey
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Houston Texans #8
Matt Schaub Jersey
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Seattle Seahawks #8
Matt Hasselbeck Jersey


theHoundDawg

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trogan THUGS II - Rey Maualuga: The Dirtiest Player in College Football

Two years ago, the vicious hit that brain surgeon Rey Maualuga put on UCLA Quarterback Pat Cowan became a staple of TV, internet, and email transmissions, winding its way across the football world time and time again. Part II of that video was produced in today's UCLA-sc game, by Mr. Maualuga, but this time, its far greater viciousness was far exceeded by its needlessness and illegality. With absolutely no thought for rules, or for the well-being of a fellow human being, Maualuga rammed Bruin qb Kevin Craft helmet-to-helmet, after the qb had gone out-of-bounds, in as outrageous, wicked, and just plain evil a play as I've ever seen on a football field, and I had season ticket for the entire 13-year existence of the Los Angeles Raiders.

He was given a personal foul and the bruins were given 15 yards. Craft is very lucky he was not seriously injured. Maualuga should have been kicked out of the game, but of course the trojan conference refs wouldn't do that to a brain surgeon. Well, now Pacific Ten officials need to review this play, and the only appropriate punishment they can provide is to suspend Maualuga from playing in the Rose Bowl game.

theHoundDawg

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Nice Few Hours for the trojan Thugs

First, brain surgeon Leonard Washington commits a flagrant assault on Oklahoma star Blake Griffin during their basketball game last evening, and then today, more than 13 years after the infamous double murder, all-time sc Poster Boy OJ Simpson was sentenced this morning on the 10 counts of kidnapping, robbery, conspiracy, etc., on which he was convicted, and will spend a minimum of 15 years in prison, though he is eligible for parole after 5 - but will any members of the Nevada Parole Board actually vote to release him early?

theHoundDawg

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Vote of Confidence for Neuheisel Misplaced?

Just yesterday, I gave a vote of confidence to Rick Neuheisel. Today, I feel maybe I made a big mistake.

No, I haven't changed my opinion of his coaching abilities, nor have I suddenly given up on the future of the football program under his tutelage.

Rather, I feel very strongly that his giving up a timeout in Saturday's sc game is an abomination. The Bruins are out-manned, out-talented, and likely out-coached, and all of Bruindom is angry enough over this situation. We do not need our coach ceding one small advantage back to the brain surgeons; an unexpected advantage handed Neuheisel and the Bruins on a silver platter, by carroll as a bi-product of his egotism in desiring to flaunt his cardinal and yellow brain surgeon colors in the Bruin's house.

I also have it on good authority that the decades-old tradition of both teams wearing home uniforms, contrary to carroll, the LA Times' Bill Plaschke, and apparently Neuheisel, is not so "traditional" after all, only being a short-lived trend in the 1960s and 1970s (maybe extending until about 1982 or so).

Go ahead, Buy College Team Gear Here!

theHounddawg
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UCLA Football Thoughts re Coaches and sc game

I've said before that Rick Neuheisel was the right choice and that his chance of success in his first year, coming in with little to work with, and then beset by injuries, was unlikely. I've also mentioned that Ben Howland was 11-17 in his first year, so give Neuheisel some leeway.

That said, some of the other candidates for the job have fared pretty well, others, not so well. Boise State's Chris Petersen has an undefeated season so far, but Al golden has had a disappointing 5-7 year at Temple, and a candidate who was met with skepticism and disbelief when discussed, John Harbough, has had a tremendous season as a rookie head coach in the NFL, taking the Baltimore Ravens, led by first-year and unheralded QB Joe Flacco, to 8-4, 2d place, and a probable playoff spot, coming off last year's 5-11 and total housecleaning, which included Neuheisel. Of course Norm Chow and DeWayne Walker are part of this year's painful UCLA experience.

That pain promises to get far, far worse, on Saturday. sc figures to dominate the Bruins, and the brain surgeons will not be satisfied with a 35 point win, as they were against ND. The sc coach may call of the dogs on offense, but given the sc defense and the disaster masquerading as an offense for the Bruins, it will be much more difficult to keep the sc defense from scoring at will, especially in the later stages, where the Bruin offense will be weary from all that time on the field, and the sc 3d string defense will be out to impress the coach.

theHounddawg
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More to Add to Chris Erskine's All-Ego Sports Team

In this morning's LA Times, Chris Erskine wrote an interesting piece on the egos of sports personalities, All-Ego Sports Team starts here.

Most of Erskine's selections are right on: Al Davis, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Tom Lasorda, Shaquille O'Neal, the Williams sisters, Isiah Thomas, to name a few. But, there are some that I do not think really belong in this group, and most notable is Mark Cuban, who Erskine includes because of his referee-baiting and due to his recent problems with the SEC. The SEC allegations are only that, and yet to be proven, and even if true, do not amount to an ego-driven event, but rather a profit-driven event. As to his referee baiting, I respect and applaud his refusal to kneel down to the powers-that-be who refuse with their power of the checkbook to allow any rightful criticism of incompetent officiating.

In reading this commentary, I was struck by the vast group of ego-driven sports personalities who Erskine failed to include. The likes of the late George Steinbrenner (I know, I know), Peter Ueberroth, who ran baseball, and the LA Olympics, as his own little dictatorships, Pete Rozelle, who did the same with the NFL, Michael Vick, Stephon Marbury, that 85 receiver guy with the Bengals, not to mention a couple of other current wide-outs, TO and R Moss, all need to be included in ANY such list, as does every single person ever associated with NASCAR (I know, I said in my first ever post here that I'd NEVER mention that group, but, common, ego, dictionary, picture, NASCAR ....).

But, the trophy has to be named after the University of Spoiled Children conglomerate of wide receivers that they passed on to the NFL, or at least tried to. Keyshawn Johnson and Curtis Conway broke records for egotism that no professional athlete could ever even dream to equal. However, proving that there is some justice in the world, or at least in the world of sports, they were actually exceed in their egotism by two brain surgeon wide-outs who did not make it in the NFL, R.J. Soward and Michael Williams.

But, the trophy goes, unanimously, to another trojan brain surgeon, the most egotistical, conceited, megalomaniacal jerk who ever transgressed the LA sports landscape - John McKay, the king of the put down, who never let pass an opportunity to ridicule another coach or a player from another team.

theHoundDawg

Note: I know its been too long since my last post, but the work and pressures of surviving in today' society have kept me away from here. I'll try my best to not let it happen again.

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Tomorrow's Picks






Ohio State (+2-1/2) over Penn State Penn State doesn't impress me as a top-5 team, and the return to health of Beanie Wells and the amazing, week-by-week development of Terrelle Pryor since playing USC has made Ohio State once again an elite team, with a lot to prove and a massive job to jump back into the BCS jumble. OSU will win this one.

UCLA (+17) over California Cal is coming off a loss to Arizona and now appears to have a full-blown quarterback controversy. This is a talented team, but until Tedford installs Kevin Riley as the QB, they will underachieve. UCLA's noticeable improvement has been sporadic, with one step back for every two steps forward, compounded now by several injuries on defense, especially to the D-line. Still, UCLA should keep the game close, and cover.

Arizona (+16) over USC Another game that seems like it could be close, though the brain surgeons have a knack for running away with these games. Nevertheless, this looks to me like it could be another Oregon State-type game, close to the end, with either team having a shot. Take the points. Also remember that Arizona, tied for the Pac-10 lead, is still the only conference member never to play in the Rose Bowl game, and if they are to have a chance to change that, this is the game they need.

theHoundDawg
Dress right for the Bruin and Wildcat games:


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UCLA Bruins Black Varsity Pleathed Jacket
$74.95


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Arizona Wildcats Hoody Sweatshirt
$59.95
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