If you’re a college football fan–and unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks–you know that punishment was finally handed down on the USC football team for the whole Reggie Bush saga. According to reports, the NCAA “threw the book” at USC, giving them a “two-year bowl ban, four years’ probation, loss of scholarships (30 over three years), and forfeits of an entire year’s games for improper benefits to Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush dating to the Trojans’ 2004 national championship.”
So as much as I love to see USC suffer, it ticks me off that the one person who is essentially getting off free is the person who caused the problem in the first place: Reggie Bush.
Despite overwhelming evidence, Bush has never taken responsibility for his actions and shows no remorse. And don’t try to tell me the potential of losing his Heisman is going to really hurt him. He has enough money.
Think about the damage: no bowls for two years, 10 less scholarships in what will become an insanely competitive recruiting battle should the Pac-10 expand to the mega-Pac-16, and potentially vacating a national championship.
Where is Bush in all this mess? He regrets the “turn that this matter has taken.” Not the actions he took. The fact that he got caught.
Ridiculous.
Professional athletes are role models
You can definitely make an argument that this shouldn’t be true (and I would agree with you), but the fact remains: pro athletes are role models. That means that every action a pro athlete takes on AND off the field/court can speak volumes to the kids who watch them.
What do Bush’s actions tell kids? “Don’t worry, kids. If you’re good enough at a sport, you can do whatever you want, and everyone else can be punished while you make big bucks.”
Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think USC should be let off the hook. But Bush shouldn’t either. It sends the wrong message.
Where is the accountability?
As a new father, I find myself seething at this total lack of accountability that’s not permeating our athletes, but our society as a whole.
Politicians, athletes, Wall Street… no one can take responsibility for anything. There’s always an excuse. And an attempt to turn the transgressor (look it up) into the victim.
I’ll say it again… ridiculous.
Why can’t anyone take responsibility for their actions? Shouldn’t we be teaching our kids that this is the right thing to do?
I know I will. And I hope you will, too (if you haven’t already been doing just that).
What Bush should do:
You may think I’m being a bit extreme, but I think Bush should cover the 30 scholarships he “lost” for USC. But not for football. The equivalent of 30 full-ride academic scholarships.
Knowing that USC is $30-40K per year, let’s assume Bush needs to supply $150,000 per student. That means he needs to donate $4.5 million to the scholarship fund. Considering his yearly intake, I think that’s perfectly reasonable.
He should also apologize, be forthright, and hold himself accountable.
Just a thought.
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