TARNISHED HEISMAN

Adam Rose of the LA Times got a review copy of the new Reggie Bush book called "Tarnished Heisman" which is set for release on January 15th. There are some interesting nuggets in the book including this info which was provided to Rose:

Back on the negative side for USC fans, the book's accounting says $47,000 went directly to Bush out of the overall $291,000 that went to his family. That makes it hard to deny he knew what was going on. While the photo section lacks any photocopied receipts, bank statements, or otherwise, the Author's Note says that a website will publish much of it. As of this blog post the site (www.tarnishedheisman.com) has not gone live.

It should be interesting to see what if anything comes out of this whole situation. It makes me wonder how much Pete Carroll and his staff knew at the time about the whole Bush situation. Even though it is impossible to know everything about all your players I think it is safe to presume USC officials and their compliance office had to have some idea or knowledge of these rule violations happening around one of their star players at the time.

I think it became even more painfully obvious when USC denied Bush credentials to the Rose Bowl last season. USC is going to try to distance themselves away from Bush as much as possible especially now with what appears to be a credible hard copy book being released by noted publisher Pocket Books and written by former Sports Illustrated's editor and investigative reporter Don Yaeger.

I'm not sure if the Heisman committee would strip Bush of his trophy even if he is guilty. There has been no precedence in a case like this and Bush could continue to deny the allegations ala Clemens and Bonds without facing any real sanctions from the NCAA because of one rogue agent who obviously preyed on a college athlete and his family.

But then again what is the point of having rules and regulations if the NCAA doesn't enforce them? Maybe we should ask Miles Brand.