Heard in the Cheap Seats

As everyone already knows, there is another scandal involving a USC player receiving illegal benefits.  The only surprise is that the player is not from the storied football program, but from their basketball program that is trying to put themselves on the same map as conference and city rival UCLA. 

Unless you have been pulling a Rip Van Winkle, you now have heard that OJ Mayo has been accused of receiving thousands of dollars, a flat screen TV, hotel rooms for his friends, etc.  My guess is that not too much in the way of penalties comes out of this for USC.  Big shocker.  Although the NCAA has said they have “new information” on the case and an investigation will be forthcoming.  The school, athletic department, coaches, and anyone associated are playing dumb and denying any knowledge of any wrong doing.  Same thing they did in the Reggie Bush case. I, for one, do not buy a word of it.  Obviously, we have no concrete proof yet, and an investigation is underway, but this seems to be a growing problem in college sports today. 

I could sit here and rant about USC and all the shady things that seem to be going on, but I won’t.  We can easily lay blame on all sides here.  It’s easy to point fingers at OJ Mayo and USC, and I have no problem with anyone that does.  In my opinion, however, the main problem lies in the society and culture that has been created in amateur basketball.   All over the country, there are kids developing amazing talent, while at the same time being swarmed by money hungry agents and sponsors.  It starts for some of these kids as early as 12 years old.  This is a sickening trend that continues to get worse.  In the OJ mayo case, it has been obvious for years that he was going to become a millionaire in the NBA.  The only question was, who was going to win the race to latch onto his coattails and make millions. 

Allegedly, Louis Johnson and Rodney Guillory acted as “runners” for BDA, a sports agency.  This is an all too common practice in the world of high school basketball.  There have been discussions recently blaming the NBA’s age-limit.  Some might even say that the old argument of paying college athletes some sort of money would solve the problem.  None of these things are at the root of the problem.  The practice of scumbag agents and runners hanging around high school gyms has been going on well before the NBA instituted an age limit. 

I am not sure what the solution is.    Maybe someone needs to be made an example of.  We live in a society where money, power, and greed are center stage for many.  A society where, unfortunately, many people will do whatever it takes to get ahead, even if it means cheating, stealing, or just using someone else to benefit themselves.  So, we can blame kids like OJ Mayo for accepting money, gifts, and allowing these people into their circles.  We can blame schools like USC and coaches like Tim Floyd who seem to turn a blind eye in order to boost their program and save their jobs, even when it was obvious to many in the basketball world that OJ Mayo was already being paid for his talent.  We can blame ourselves for demanding so much out of a college program that it has become as high pressure as professional sports.  All of these are contributing factors.  But, we need to start looking at the society and culture we have created where kids can be taken advantage of.  Where agents, boosters, and runners have way too much to do with amateur sports.  A culture has been created that has taken the purity out of amateur athletics, and it continues to spiral downward.  Maybe we are all to blame.