A member of the USC Board of Counselors, which the official USC sports website describes as, “the main advisory board for the Athletic Department,” made some interesting recent comments to the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER about the NCAA sanctions brought against the school.
USC Counselor Mark Larson said of sanctions:
“There’s a difference between cheating and breaking the rules. This was breaking the rules. It’s ludicrous to say USC was cheating.
“It’s comical that everyone cares about what happens at USC. If this were any other Pac-10 school, no one would care this much.
“The people who are boosters and really involved in the program are of the same mindset I am. Face it, most people in the Pac-10 would take the nine years we had in exchange for what happened (Thursday).”
Larson’s comments echo what we heard from USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett last week.
Speaking at an alumni function immediately after the NCAA penalties against USC were made public, Garrett said:
“As I read the decision by the NCAA … I read between the lines and there was nothing but a lot of envy. They wish they all were Trojans.“
NCAA infractions report principals Pete Carroll and Reggie Bush have also expressed similar defiance.
The more we hear from prominent USC officials, the more I’m convinced that the NCAA absolutely nailed the proper punishment of the Trojans. Clearly, there was a disregard for NCAA rules within the sports programs and administration in the past. And in the case of Garrett and Larson, it appears that attitude hasn’t changed.
What’s lost on USC officials and former members of the program is that because Bush and O.J. Mayo were such high profile athletes, the school is held to a higher standard in policing their activities.
It’s exactly the same thing as tax returns of political candidates being scrutinized with a microscopic.
With the trappings fame and celebrity comes added responsibility.
By denying that, USC reps are being intellectually dishonest.
In the case of Garrett, Bush and Carroll, who are damage controlling their legacies, I at least understand the motivation for their whack reaction.
But in the case of Larson, a highly successful real estate executive who is charged with raising millions to fund USC sports scholarships ever year, that reaction has crossed over into outright delusion.
2:09 pm on June 17th, 2010
Nice to see the sterling example being set by those in charge
Keep up the great work Marky
2:25 pm on June 17th, 2010
“There’s a difference between cheating and breaking the rules.
That what I told my divorce lawyer
but the funny thing is alimony payments arent lower just because my wife caught me breaking the rule.
2:40 pm on June 17th, 2010
The last time you posted a sbb girl was when? No one can remember. Step it up.
3:22 pm on June 17th, 2010
There is much to what this gentleman says. There is much envy of USC. If the evidence they have was offered in a court of law the whole case would be thrown out forthwith. There is a great deal of vindictiveness re USC and California from around the country and the NCAA in particular. The things I read from down here (Mississippi) about the SEC and their practices would curl your hair. Did USC mess up? Yes! Did they deserve these levels of penalty. The levels are laughable but the NCAA has many hicks in at all levels.
3:35 pm on June 17th, 2010
You mean the evidence that Reggie Bush and his family took money from sports agents, making him a professional player? They got receipts. Hell the family lived rent-free in a California home owned by the sports agents. What more evidence do you need? Keep deluding yourself, USC fans. Enjoy the upcoming decade of mediocrity and be ecstatic the Big 12 didn’t merge with the PAC 10 because USC would have been Texas’ bitch for the foreseeable future.
4:21 pm on June 17th, 2010
All that matters is that Lane Kiffin is crying.
5:21 pm on June 17th, 2010
The crux of the argument is that some people see a difference between school boosters funneling money to student-athletes to play for/stay in school and a agent not connected to the school conspiring with the student-athlete to earn money based on his future earnings.
USC believes there is a difference, the NCAA infractions committee (headed by Miami, UCLA, Notre Dame execs) thinks they are the same.
6:07 pm on June 17th, 2010
There is no evidence whatsoever that USC knew anything about what Bush’s family was doing… Should it really be the schools job to keep track of every athletes family and extended family’s finances?
6:27 pm on June 17th, 2010
Cheating. Won Pac 10 chapionships, national championship and a Heisman with an ineligible player — SC’s best player. Now how is that not cheating?
6:29 pm on June 17th, 2010
Hey B40 — no evidence USC knew? Was Bush part of USC? Didn’t he know? And what about McNair? No one with USC program knew my ass.
7:07 pm on June 17th, 2010
No, $C does not have to keep track of every athelete. They do need to pay special attention to their elite atheletes like Bush. That was the point the NCAA was making. You don’t have to worry about your 4th string linebacker getting a new car from a sports agent, but you better take noitce if your star running back is driving around in a luxury SUV.
7:10 pm on June 17th, 2010
@JoeSchmo - McNair found out after the Rose Bowl, but before the NFL draft, according to multiple accounts; only Lake says otherwise.
Bush was the one cheating, and the school should forfeit those games. But that’s not what the NCAA infractions committee is accusing USC of … and that’s the crux of the issue, and why USC should fight this.
7:12 pm on June 17th, 2010
If I invite a bunch of drug dealers to my house and then come home to find my kids stoned am I allowed to claim, “It wasn’t my responsibility; I didn’t see it; I can’t watch them every single minute.” They knew what was going on, they just want to be able to claim plausible deniability.
8:11 pm on June 17th, 2010
1) Wonder if those are the standards he instills in his own children…
2) I’m sure all this remorse is looking just great to the NCAA.
3) They cheated.
Deny On!
6:06 pm on June 18th, 2010
There is no defense for SC. Every time a high level spokesperson representing USC opens their mouth with arrogant statements just causes that institution further embarrassment. Further, it reinforces the old stereotype, University of Spoiled Children
7:33 pm on June 18th, 2010
B40 - Yes, yes it is
What a bunch of entitled whiners. Pete included. Convenient time to cut and run Petey
7:54 am on June 20th, 2010
Speaking as a Tennessee native and Vols fan, I just have one thing to say: Lane Kiffin can suck it!
8:36 pm on June 22nd, 2010
I think he’s right. The rest of you are jealous or uneducated. You can’t tell the difference between breaking a rule and cheating? Come on.
7:57 pm on July 6th, 2010
Too bad you’re too ignorant to see the difference.