Note: As of this writing, I have not seen the piece on Outside the Lines yet. I am waiting for the 12pm EDT showing on ESPN News to see the whole thing. I am only going on what is on ESPN.com

Before anyone goes and lights their hair on fire over the allegations that O.J. Mayo received improper benefits from those who are/were in his inner circle I want you read the last paragraph of the story on ESPN.com . (emphasis added)

Johnson told ESPN he didn't get paid, but hoped to profit once Mayo made it to the NBA. He said he fell out of favor with Mayo because Guillory created a strain in the relationship by misrepresenting things Johnson allegedly said about Mayo and, eventually, sabotaging their relationship.

WOW!  Really, so now that he is out of the picture, for whatever reason, he is going make these allegations without any form of proof?

Where have we seen this before?

Based on past allegations we all know Guillory is probably an unsavory character but unless Johnson can provide any other evidence that there were improprieties going on all we have  is another case of sour grapes. I love how he acts like he is only looking out for O.J.'s interests...right, sure and you have no vested interest in this, am I reading you correctly here?

More importantly:

USC issued a statement, saying: "The NCAA and the Pac-10 reviewed O.J. Mayo's amateur status before and during his enrollment at USC, and did not identify any amateurism violations. Mayo and USC fully cooperated in these investigations. The University investigated and reported a violation involving Mayo's receipt of tickets to a Denver Nuggets game from his friend Carmelo Anthony. Mayo's eligibility was reinstated after he made a charitable contribution in the amount of the value of the tickets."

Once again, if the powers that be have done some due diligence and found no wrong doing then whats the point here?

I am sure we will hear more about this and when there is more we will comment more but until then it's best to let it play out. Let the clowns from across town light their hair on fire and throw wild speculation around. Heck, it's what their good at so why not get your entertainment free with your price of admission.

One final thing, if there was any concrete proof that OJ had taken money other than hearsay ESPN would not have waited for some OTL piece to break the story, they would have broken it on Sports Center just so they wouldn't get scooped by another media outlet.

I am going to need more than just the word of a jilted hanger-on to get me to believe anything here.

UPDATE:

OK, so I have now seen the piece. Right out of the gate Johnson acts like he has O.J.’s best interests in mind by coming forward. If he was so worried than why did it take so long for him come forward.

Clearly, Guillory is bad news. Whatever the reason he took advantage of BDA Sports and spent a lot of their money. There are a lot of copies of receipts and wire transfers yet no direct proof that Mayo took any money or gifts. Do I think BDA hired Guillory to to get close to Mayo? I could buy into that the wire transfers alone could be used to get close to O.J.’s friends in order build the relationship with Mayo but not necessarily pay Mayo directly. That's called walking around money. Shady yes but an improper benefit? Doubtful.

Anyway, those are my quick thought’s as I get ready to head out the door for Mothers Day. I will have more as this develops.