USC's Breakup with Reggie Bush and Mike Garrett: Great for NCAA Appeal

I went over the Heritage Hall right after I heard that the NCAA had released its report on violations to USC, hoping I might get a little information on what the report contained.

The somber mood really didn't indicate anything at the time.

However, little did I know that would be my last opportunity to lay my eyes on Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy, which USC will now be sending back voluntarily.

The news just happens to come out on the same day that Mike Garrett is ousted as Athletic Director, and I'm supposed to think it is coincidence?

Please.

These are all calculated moves, pitting USC in the perfect position going into its appeal of certain NCAA sanctions. Troy has officially done everything it possibly can to separate itself from the wrongdoers of the Pete Carroll era in the hopes that it well lesson the punishment on those who have done no wrong.

Perhaps USC is trying to stop the slowly progressing bloodletting of transfers? Perhaps everyone knows that the legendary program is, actually, in some danger of having a serious down spell if drastic preventative steps are not quickly taken.

This has been an absolutely insane year for the University of Southern California's leadership.

President Steven Sample retired. Pete Carroll moved to Seattle and is still trying to pretend he prefers the rain over sunny SoCal (I hope you like Starbucks and Nirvana, ship jumper). And now, FINALLY , Mike Garrett is going to be moving on to another job that requires no personality.

We'll all miss you, Steve.

For the other two, I think everyone is a bit mixed on Pete and Mike definitely overstayed his welcome. Thanks for getting us the Kiffins, though.

But I digress.

Of course, we're all really interested in why these events are unfolding in this particular manner. When a University makes multiple blockbuster announcements on one day, that is indicative of a cautious, well thought-out plan.

In this case, they punished the sinner by doing two things which seem far more drastic than they actually are. They're taking Reggie's Heisman off of display on campus (Reggie has his own so I doubt he really cares) and they're saying he can't come back around.

Reggie Bush is busy winning Super Bowls these days. If he has the time to come back to USC and wander around campus, am I to believe that someone is going to call the LAPD and get them to remove him?

I can see how that will go down:

"Sir, I am going to have to ask you...wait, are you Reggie Bush? Man! Can I get an autograph for my kids? We love the Saints and we love USC..."

As soon as the appeal is over, I am certain everyone will forget about Reggie's ban.

I mean please, OJ Simpson murdered two people, and he can come visit whenever he wants (as long as he isn't in prison, which might be difficult for him most of the time).

When it comes to Garrett, his head was going to roll no matter what. The school just waited until they had someone available to replace him before making the announcement.

Which leaves us with USC's motivations.

The school is trying to lessen the penalties that are hurting now, by dropping the bowl ban from two years to one year and by dropping the scholarship restrictions from 10 to five.

Those are what most would call survivable levels.

That would make 2010 irrelevant, but as far as the program is concerned, the entire sanctions process would then be a small blip on the storied football team's radar.

All USC had to do was get rid of the sinners, which they did, and now the NCAA looks awful for punishing a bunch of kids who did nothing wrong.

Heck, we even created "institutional control," whatever that means, as our program is being run tighter than any other program in the country.

I'll definitely admit that today I feel a little bad for Reggie Bush, happy to see Mike Garrett go, but ultimately, thrilled as a USC fan.

Our case for a successful appeal just improved ten-fold.

This was the best news we've had since Pete Carroll left.