Hey VINCE....Your 2005 Heisman Trophy Is On It's Way To You...

So it turns out that Reggie Bush WILL have to vacate his 2005 Heisman Trophy after all! Score! This will be the first time ever in the 75 year history of the award that it will be taken away from the winner, and I couldn't be happier. While nothing "official" has been done as of today, it looks pretty much like a done deal.

Now look, I understand that Bush is certainly not the first guy to take things that were against the rules, and he won't be the last by a long shot. I get that. I also understand that if we're really interested in being accurate, we could if we wanted to, take back a whole lot more Heisman Trophy's that were given to guys that took money and gifts over the decades of college football. That's another argument for another time.

The fact of the matter is, Bush and USC got caught. They got caught for one reason only, and that's arrogance. They really didn't believe all of the money and gifts would come back to haunt them. They really thought nobody would rat them out. Nobody would cry foul. Nobody would care. Well guess what? When certain people like Lloyd Lake get ripped off, they tend to seek vengeance their own way, and they also tend to tape record incriminating phone conversations, as well as hang onto paper trail evidence. If people like Lake are going to go down, they'll take everyone with them.

Had Bush and his shady family had simply paid off their debt to Lloyd, we wouldn't have found out about any of this.

Parting Shots

The Beard will be taking his act out on the road starting Thursday. I shall return Monday with fresh thoughts and perspectives, but before I go here are some quick hits:

• I absolutely LOVE that USC is sending Bush's Heisman Trophy from 2005 back! Good luck with Pat Hayden as the new Athletic Director. Not sure what he's going to do? Maybe nothing, or maybe he just needs to be some B.S. Face of Integrity for the university? Either way, I love that USC is being forced to pay the piper. Believe it or not, I'm hearing from these ignorant, arrogant, and self-indulgent USC fans and alumni claiming that they are being "unfairly singled out". If by unfairly singled out, they mean, "It sucks that we got caught cheating" then yes, my hemmorhoids bleed for you Trojan Nation. Go screw yourselves.
• Imagine that, Bobby Jenks blew another win for the White Sox tonight. Jenks gave away the Sox best chance of sweeping the Mariners in Seattle since 1994. So congrats to him on another dubious milestone achieved. I've already shared my thoughts on how much he needs to be removed as the closer post-haste. Hopefully tonight gives Ozzie enough cause to do exactly that as the Sox head into Oakland.
• The rumor mill is circling and candidates Ryne Sandberg, Bob Brenly want to manage the Cubs, and hell even Joe Torre won't rule himself out as a possible candidate. Again, it's going to take more than a good manager to make a winner out of this bunch, and I still don't care what Ricketts said, I don't believe Jim Hendry is back next year.
• The Bulls are supposedly working out Tracy McGrady. YAWN. McGrady is so washed up parents tell their kids to "Tracy McGrady" before they go to bed.

See you guys soon!!!

College Football JOLT

What the hell just happened? College sports, specifically College Football has been turned on it's ear today with some startling announcements. The first announcement of the NCAA hitting USC in the crotch shouldn't be too surprising to anyone who's read this blog with regularity. The second announcement of the Colorado ("ssssthweet stadium...I heard they sssthell booozthe there...) leaving the Big 12 for the Pac-10 today is particularly intriguing because they are now the first official domino to fall in what is believed to be widespread disintegration of the Big 12 conference.


Let's start with USC. The NCAA seems to have grown a pair as they handed down one of the stiffest punishments since 1995 against "The U" when they removed 31 scholarships from Miami. This reminded me of the old days when things like "The Death Penalty" were still able to be used by the NCAA to punish rogue programs like Kentucky and in the infamous SMU case. The damage for USC? They are banned from playing in a Bowl game for 2 years, on probation for 4 years, lose 30 scholarships over the next three years, vacated 14 victories from December 2004 - and the entire 2005 season (looks like Notre Dame DID win the "Bush Push Game" after all), and there's now discussion on whether or not the 2004 National Championship will be vacated as well.


That's a pretty spicy meatball Trojans! For people like me who have always found something rotten in Denmark or in this case University Park, Los Angeles, this is pretty impressive. After reading Tarnished Heisman, while I was no doubt entertained by the details in it, I still had doubts if the NCAA would really be firm with USC, or if they would continue their recent history of slaps on the wrist. We got our answer today, and that answer is the whip is cracking. The only real question left for me is will they take Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy back? Here's a good piece debating that possibility. I know there are certain legalities involved that don't leave this a cut and dried issue, but if I'm on the board of trustees at the Downtown Athletic Club I'd have to at least be uncomfortable with the now FACT a "professional" athlete won our award. Another favorite part for me is the reaction of Pete "Captain Happy"Carrol and Reggie Bush. They really want to have us believe they are "shocked" by these findings? That's up there with OJ searching for the "real killers". Go sell that somewhere else fellas...

Now let's get to the Big 12. Colorado has officially made the first move to the Pac-10 from the Big 12. Nebraska is expected to announce they have made the move to the Big Ten on Friday. There are also rumors out of Kansas City that Texas, and Texas A&M have petitioned to join the Big Ten, and Oklahoma wanting to join the SEC. While that rumor is strictly unfounded at this point, the more realistic scenario is Texas, TAMU, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State joining the Pac-10 and making it a 16 team conference.

If that happens, doesn't Notre Dame HAVE to join the Big Ten? While obviously Notre Dame doesn't HAVE to do anything (don't believe me, just ask them and they'll tell you) personally I hope they do. I think it would be terrific for not only Notre Dame to finally stop playing The Military schools but it would also be fabulous for the conference to have 14 teams in it with Nebraska, ND, and Rutgers in the mix. Plus that silly National TV Contract ND has with NBC is not making NBC any money any more. In one felt swoop, Notre Dame can finally put away the argument of "They Don't Play Anybody", join a Big Ten that is suddenly going to be considered a Power Conference, have annual games with Ohio State, Illinois, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Penn State among others, they would also get a piece of the increased revenue the Big Ten is going to get with this new realignment.

While I still can't get an answer as to why all this conference realignment is all happening other than the short & easy answer of "money", this are historic events taking place right now. If the Pac-10 gets 16 teams, and the Big Ten gets 14 teams, how far away are we from having 4 Major Conferences divided by geography each with 16 teams in it for a total of 64? That would make a playoff scenario a little easier to structure wouldn't it???

Balls Deep

Lots of sports news making the rounds the past 48 hours. Here are some that seem to be the most interesting:

Plenty of Mark McLiar fallout stories (a ton from this link alone) taking place, post his supposed confession. From Jose Canseco calling LaRussa and McGwire liars. A supposed FBI informant telling the NY Daily News that McGwire was using "super-potent anabolic steroids for about a decade", and not nearly the "very low" amount McGwire suggested he took during his interview with Bob Costas last night. Goose Gossage drawing the line in the sand for all the juicers' Hall of Fame eligibility. Ari Fleischer apparently bizarrely coordinating McGwire's entire confession from start to finish. Bud Selig continuing to try and save his legacy by calling the steroid era "...a thing of the past..." , and justifiably getting destroyed for saying such a ridiculous thing by both the USADA, and WADA. Phil Rogers and Chris DeLuca finally realizing what the rest of us with 3 digit I.Q.'s and common sense have known all along. Imagine that, juicers should not be allowed into the Hall of Fame because it's cheating? Better late than never huh fellas? DeLuca btw, thinks that Greg Maddux is the only player that will be Hall of Fame eligible that won't have any questions about steroid use. Apparently Chris hasn't heard of guys named Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. Bottom Line-if McGwire thought that his admission last night, and subsequent fudging of the facts of his steroid use would be enough to settle things once and for all, he obviously was mistaken. His Pandora's Box is getting swung open in a major way, and the damage could be way more substantial than anything he might have imagined.

How do you replace a successful scumbag, dirtball head coach? You get a young scumbag, dirtball head coach to replace him, although what he has in youth/arrogance, he lacks in success. With the random and conspicuous departure of Pete Carroll aka "Captain Happy" to the Seattle Seahawks, Lane Kiffin has been named the head coach of USC after one tumultuous season at the University of Tennessee. To call this randomly surprising would be an understatement. In some ways, Lane is perfect for the USC job. He's an arrogant, immature, young punk who runs his mouth way too much to the point of getting sanctioned by the NCAA. The only problem was, Lane already had a job and he made a commitment to UT's players, coaches, recruits, students, alumni, athletic director and university president that he would be their head coach. Now that USC has stolen him, what's to stop some NFL team from stealing him from USC down the road? Why would USC put themselves in a position to trust Lane, when he's already proven that he can't be trusted? The initial opinion of The Beard is that Lane and USC deserve each other. It will be fun watching who will screw who over at the end of this movie, especially when all the inevitable sanctions will be handed down as punishment for the cheating that went on during Captain Happy's watch.

The Chicago Bears first two choices for the Offensive Coordinator position have been eliminated. Jeremy Bates would rather take his chances in Seattle, and the Packers understandably told the Bears "kiss my @ss" when the Bears asked to interview Tom Clements. Now it appears that Ken Zampese (Ernie's son) will interview first for the open job. OK, it appears that he might be qualified, and he's certainly got the dreaded "up and coming" label associated with him. He's as good a prospect as any, but it's anybody's guess who the Bears will end up hiring for both open positions. Whoever it is, the best chance for success will be their ability to immediately innovate with the pieces they have available on the roster, and it must translate into wins because this is not a rebuilding job, but rather a "win now" task at hand.