NCAA: Mayo's Free Clippers Tickets "Worthless"

LOS ANGELES - The NCAA today ruled that free tickets received by freshman
OJ Mayo to a Nuggets vs. Clippers game on Monday from Denver star Carmelo Anthony were "essentially worthless," and therefore not a violation of NCAA rules prohibiting athletes from receiving additional benefits.

"In order for a benefit to be categorized as 'improper' it must be something that is of value," said the NCAA in a statement released today. "Because of the team's lack of stars, poor record and inconsistent fan base, the NCAA has determined that Clippers tickets are without value, and therefore accepting free tickets is not against NCAA rules."

Mayo expressed relief in the decision.

"I mean, I didn't even go to the game to watch basketball," said Mayo. "Mainly, I wanted to check out the Clipper cheerleaders and get some nachos. Man, I love nachos. Besides, it was kind of sad in the front row. The only celebrity I saw was that short, bald guy that used to host the Oscars. And some old broad I didn't know."

The statement from the NCAA did warn that if Mayo or any athlete accepted free tickets to "a Lakers game, or any other real NBA franchise," they would be subject to NCAA penalties. WNBA games, however, are exempt.

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 3:02 PM 3 comments  

Ken Norton Jr. Breaks Bruin Hearts Again

You know Ken Norton, Jr. All-American linebacker at UCLA. The only player in NFL history to play on three consecutive Super Bowl-winning teams. Wanted to coach at his alma mater after his playing career but was told by Karl Dorrell that there was no room on the staff, he decided to take a job with his former defensive coordinator Pete Carroll at USC. Is now the linebackers coach for the Trojans, a squad that makes it their mission to destroy UCLA offensive players on a yearly basis, almost like someone had something to prove or an axe to grind.

Well, Rick Neuheisel decided to try and make a "big splash" by convincing Norton to come back to UCLA in the same position. And, just like you would think would happen, Norton listened and waited long enough to get Bruins' hopes up, before driving a stake through their hearts by announcing that he's not leaving USC after all.

At least Norm Chow is now available after he received his pink slip from the Titans today. (I found it interesting to read about his firing in the LA Times one day after they said he wasn't a serious candidate at UCLA because he had "just signed a contract extension." Am I missing something here?) Bringing him back as offensive coordinator to compete against Carroll, whom he had a "frosty" relationship with, could be one way to needle USC a bit. Then again, Chow is under the perpetual notion that he's just one interview away from becoming a head coach somewhere, when in fact Chow Yun Fat has a better chance of becoming a head football coach than Norm Chow.

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 10:16 PM 0 comments  

I'm Officially Skeptical of the New Reggie Bush Expose

Not because I think it's dramatically inconceivable that he accepted cash and other favors from a sports agent/marketer when he was at USC. That kind of seems hard not to believe. What I'm skeptical of is that the majority of the revelations in "Tarnished Heisman" are from, to quote the Los Angeles Times story today, "interviews with Lloyd Lake, who tried to secure Bush as a client for the marketing company he and others attempted to launch." And on top of that, the book's authors admit that they compensated Lake for agreeing to participate in the book.

Let's see: a whole book based on the claims of a disgruntled person with shady past and a grudge to settle, who is paid by the authors for his troubles. Yeah, I can't imagine that there's any blurring of the lines of journalistic integrity there. There would be no reason for the authors, after paying Lake, to pressure him to ensure that the revelations had sufficient sizzle and offered new, shocking claims not already uncovered by Yahoo! Sports. Except for the fact that, apparently, without that, they have no book.

The whole thing is dodgy. I give it a week before it's completely off the news cycle

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 3:08 PM 1 comments  

NCAA Places UCLA Football on "Proactive Probation"

LOS ANGELES – The NCAA announced on Monday that the UCLA football program was the first-ever school to be placed on “proactive probation,” following the Bruins’ hiring of former Colorado and Washington head coach Rick Neuheisel.

“In light of the multiple recruiting violations and lack of institutional control that will surely occur at UCLA within the next 12 months, we’ve decided to take action in advance and issue our punishment now,” said an official statement from the NCAA.

The statement from the NCAA including a laundry list of infractions that Neuheisel – who had a checkered past at both of his previous head coaching jobs – will “possibly to probably” commit in 2008. Included on the list:

• Exceeding number of recruiting visits
• Illegal contact with boosters
• Illegal contact with parents of potential recruits
• Illegal contact with hot sisters of potential recruits
• Sneaking underage recruits into NC-17 movies
• Larceny
• Participating in an underground street racing organization
• Wire-tapping Pete Carroll’s personal phone
• Selling graduate assistants into white slavery
• Taking the team out for ice cream after a tough loss

The punishment includes the loss of five scholarships over the 2008 season and a reduction in recruiting trips. UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero said that while they were unaware that the NCAA had the authority to issue punishment in advance of any infractions, they accepted the decision.

“Frankly, we knew this was a possibility the day we hired Coach Neuheisel, but we just didn’t know it would happen literally the day after we hired him,” Guerrero said. “At least this way we can plan ahead instead of waiting for after the season to find out what the punishment would be.”

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 12:34 AM 2 comments  

Kentucky Fans Demand Minnesota Fire Tubby Smith After Stunning Upset

LEXINGTON, KY - In the hours following Kentucky's stunning 84-68 home loss to lightly-regarded Gardner-Webb on Wednesday night, Wildcats fans took to the airwaves, the Internet and even the streets to demand that Minnesota fire coach Tubby Smith.

Despite the fact that Smith had left Kentucky in the off-season to take the head coaching job with the Golden Gophers, many Wildcats fans said that Smith needed to be held accountable for Kentucky's shocking performance.

"I spent 10 years watching Tubby Smith ruin the history and legacy of Kentucky basketball," said Myron Martin, who was part of an impromptu rally outside of Rupp Arena following the game. "
You would have thought that firing him would be enough, but apparently even that couldn't stop him from messing up our team."

Internet message boards were aflame throughout the early-morning hours with calls for Minnesota to fire Smith. One poster, known as DeepBlue69, stated that "if Minnysota (sic) ain't gonna do it, then we'll git a hunting party to go to Canada and do it ourself!"

Smith refused to comment on the loss other than stating that he "felt bad" for the players he had recruited. However, several sources reported seeing Smith at area bars late Wednesday night in a jovial mood.

"I haven't seen him this excited in years," said an unnamed friend who was with Smith last night. "He was buying shots for total strangers as long as they helped him sing the Gardner-Webb fight song. Although I'm not 100 percent sure that he even knew what the Gardner-Webb fight song is - I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't include the line 'And Kentucky fans can fuck each other with broken Coke bottles.'

Posted by The Duke of Everything at 10:38 AM 2 comments