When a teenager falls into a lifestyle of drugs and partying, we say this is a result of choices they made and we place the problems and consequences on the shoulder's of the individual. But if a family has four children fall into a life of drugs or crime, we must look deeper and realize we are dealing with a parenting problem, not four isolated instances of bad decisions.
I know people are going to call this a head-hunt and say that the media has their sights set on the biggest, most lucrative programs, but with the recent details coming out of O.J. Mayo and how he accepted gifts and money from agents, I have begun to believe that there is a problem with the USC athletic department. I realize that the player, not the school, decided to take bribes and money. But, USC must take part of the blame. There are two possible explanations. 1) The USC athletic department is run by a bunch of naive, clueless, incompetent individuals who didn't think it was weird how the biggest basketball recruit in 2007 just happened to choose their school without being pursued by the University. 2) If Mike Garrett and Tim Floyd and the other staff are not clueless, then this means they knew what they were getting when a kid from West Virginia (with a pretty shady background I might add), made it clear he was coming to Southern California for the sole purpose of being one and done. If this doesn't raise eyebrows, alarms, red-flags and every other type of cautionary sign then I am not sure if this is the right business for you to be in. Has USC forgotten that they are first and foremost an academic University. If Mayo was so key on getting to the NBA ASAP, why didn't he sit out a year, workout 24/7 and prepare emotionally and mentally for the NBA...I take that back; that is exactly what he did last year considering he didn't have any class or schoolwork to attend too.
The NCAA needs to keep a close eye and start regulating collegiate athletics much better than they have been. And for that matter, they need to place certain programs with bad track records underneath a magnifying glass. The University of Miami continues to have current and former athletes involved in crime related activities. If its one or two athletes then o.k., but when a trend arises it hints toward a deeper issue. And recently, a supposedly well behaved Florida Gator program has had one player use the credit card of a dead women and then yesterday, a player was shot at a park.
Another program that needs to be watched is USC. They have had top athletes demonstrate or be linked too some shady antics (Jeff Trepagnier accepted money, Reggie Bush accepted money (allegedly), Matt Leinart isn't your poster child for responsible leader, adult, quarterback or father, and Mayo might have been the most predictable athlete to make this list of any to come through Heritage Hall). These are no longer isolated instances. This is a trend at a University that has suddenly forgotten what is important and what isn't. Maybe Coach Neuheisel can teach some of the people in the Trojan Athletic department what accountability and consequences are all about.
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