Gregg Doyel

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

There is proof in the form of receipts of purchases made by Rodney Guillory for Mayo as well as other documents. All of this  was provided by one of Mayo's former "inner circle" people, Louis Johnson, who was the one who broke the story to ESPN. Also, several store clerks who, when interviewed, said they were behind the register when Guillory was with Mayo and purchasing him various clothing items and shoes. If you go to the espn.com men's basketball page there are several stories, in detail, about this.

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

And I'm glad to see that LAsportsfan's comments have been removed.

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

What's sad is that Mayo probably thinks Guillory is the good guy in this situation, the only one who would help him get around rules that were preventing him from making a living.  Fact is, no one gets to play the good guy here, it's a travesty all around.  My opinion is that guys should have the option to go to college, but if they go there should be a three year waiting period for the NBA.  Or allow teams to draft players but let them stay in school.

Now I'm going to go off on the NBA draft.  It is a mess for two reasons:

1.  It happens so late in a player's development that the stars are known, and you have to get a high pick to have success (I'm not saying all high picks work out, but that it's extremely rare to find a franchise player after the top 5).  If we allowed them to draft Lebron when he was younger then wait to call him up for a few years, it would make things a lot more interesting and reintroduce guesswork.  If you look at the teams left, their main guys were picked 1, 1, 1, 3, 4, 4, 5, and 13, and Garnett and Bryant only went 5 and 13 because they were considered risky as the first high school players ever drafted - you can virtually guarantee that they would have been picked first if drafting high school guys was more accepted at the time.

2.  On the same topic, the salary cap, which limits the maximum salary a player can earn, ensures that players like Lebron and Duncan are guaranteed to be bargains and it's very hard to make up the gap.  The only team to win without one of these guys is the Pistons, and Rasheed is just a step off (and you'd have a hard time convincing me that wasn't a fluke facilitated by Karl Malone's injury and the Lakers' general implosion).  If the cap stayed in place but the max was removed, you'd see Lebron make 30 million a year, and his supporting cast would wither.  Team play would be encouraged, and their wouldn't be as much focus on the draft.

It's kind of sad that by listing Bird, Magic, Moses Malone, Isiah, Jordan, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq, Rasheed, you've covered every champion from the last 30 years with only 9 players.  By comparison, the list for the NFL and MLB would be probably 15-20 guys.  Make it interesting NBA!

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

Even if all of those items and people are correct...I still don't see any proof that USC knew what was happening.  Nor have I seen anything proving that USC knew anything about the ALLEGED Reggie Bush incidents.  If you want to crucify Mayo already, I guess you have enough to erect the cross, though I remain far from convinced and would rather wait until a length investigation can be conducted.  But, even so, I can't see how USC deserves to be implicated at this point.  Far from it, as a matter of fact.

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

CBass...outstanding post, very well supported.  I think you have it on a lot of issues that have kept the NBA from being more popular over the last several years.  I know that I went from being an avid NBA watcher to basically waiting around for the conference semi-finals, conference finals and NBA Finals.  And I know plenty of people who don't even watch that much of the league anymore.  I think the competitive balance is an interesting issue, and the NBA is the only league that I know of where guys are acquired simply for their expiring contracts.

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

There is no rule that says these players have to spend the one year waiting period in college!!  The NBA rule only says that it has to be a year since their high school class graduated before they can declare.  So they can play professionly at the age of 18, just not in the NBA.  If these kids want to get paid for playing during their one year wait then there are other alternatives such as Europe.  Some of the posts on this topic are just  priceless!!  Especially the ones that propose any type of recriminations against the agents or promoters.  Under what law or rule would you punish them?  Or would you just call "shenanigans" on them?

Is the rule fair?  If it applies to everyone then it is as fair as it gets!   Grow up, folks!  "Life" is not fair, "Justice" is an entirely human creation.  Yes , you can CHOOSE to die for this country at the age of 18, but you can also choose not to by not enlisting!

What's not fair is the straight A student that didn't get a scholarship so that this bonehead could!

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

So USC paid OJ Mayo to come to their fine university. So what. The NCAA is the most hypocritical, omnipotent bag of fecal matter i've ever seen. Who cares if OJ got a few $100 handshakes? I don't. USC should have to pay him. They needed him a whole hell of a lot more than he needed them. Grow up NCAA. You're entire institution is a joke.

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

Gregg,

Nice interview on the Rome show. Its refreshing to hear a columnist hit a subject with passion and conviction. Great!!!

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

 The NCAA won't do a freakin thing to USC, other than perhaps, throw them a banquet.   A memo to you, Gregg, the NCAA is so mad at USC, they are going to drop the hammer on Alabama State.      Let's face it, USC,Kentucky,Memphis,and most SEC schools break more rules in a day than the Alabama State's do in a full year.   The only one(s) who hide their heads in the sand are the spineless wimps that run the NCAA, no one is a bigger coward than Myles Brand.   It is what is referred to as, "selective enforcement" and the NCAA will not do one single thing to USC in mens basketball or football.    You can take that to the bank!

I hate to say I told you so, but ...

Yet 4 days later you are posting a blog comment about how a coach that has run a clean program for over 50 years should step down because he is an embarrassment to the program.

Might want to get back on the ritalin.  The ADD is acting up again.