Jamie Dixon declines a second overture by USC

At $2.5 million you lose almost all your itemized deductions so you end up keeping around 50% after state and federal taxes. That leaves $1.25 million to work with.
A nice 5000 sq. ft. house in the Palisades, Santa Monica, Brentwood area still costs $4 million, meaning you have to come up with $800,000 just for the down payment. You have $425,000 left now.
The loan principal on the house is $3.2 million and you can only get a 5 year interest-only mortgage at around 5.75% so your monthly payment is about $17,000 per month. Just for fun you have to pay $42,000 a year in property taxes. And if that isn’t enough, you-know-who is going to raise taxes in 2010; and with California in a mess you can bet they will follow his lead.
Now you have to add the cost of private schools (Brentwood School, Windward, Harvard-Westlake, Marymount) cost $30,000 a year per kid, or go to Catholic School for a more reasonable $10,000 a year.
The guy would have to be nuts to move here.
The question is: What the hell are any of us doing here?

. . . .leads me to believe “there’s a story in there” for Garrett.

If, he elects to allow for an “out clause”- and the shit hits the fan, as far as NCAA rulings and penalties are concerned, then he’s back at square one. I understand that. But. . . .considering he isn’t amenable to that arrangement tells Joe Public that THERE IS something in there in the investigations that would paint the basketball program AND/OR USC Compliance AND/OR USC Athletic Department “lack of control” or dereliction! It can be just one, or any two, or (God forbid) ALL THREE! Also, under consideration given Garrett’s stance on the issue (and- again, apart from being at square one should a new hire bolt) is the “silence” we’ve all been bantering about and discussing these past few weeks. Is Garrett or has Garrett been silent on these investigations, as well as keeping a muzzle on ex-Coach Floyd, not so much because it would taint the NCAA/USC dual investigations- but because there IS evidence uncovered that points to his guilt as our director of USC athletics?

I mean, earlier- we read opinions from fans and non-fans alike, with regards to Coach Floyd’s unusual stance of not publicly defending himself in the face of Louis Johnson’s allegation of witnessing Floyd passing off an envelope of cash to Rodney Guillory. With that said, I ask you to look at USC’s basketball equation. Where is it, right now as we comment? No head coach. The top half of our starting lineup is either “going pro”, some back-ups have quit (some might re-join?), the cream of our incoming class has asked for and have been granted their letter’s of release, we’ve got a state-of-the-art arena that hardly fills up for basketball games, and what the positional make-up of the team looks like right now? I hardly see anything to be optimistic about as far as being able to compete day-in-and-day-out at the PAC-10 level. There’s hope, yeah. There’s things going on that we can all pretty-up and ideally beautify which could make it “seem” things are gonna be alright for ‘SC basketball in the near future, but. . . . .really. Now as we become better aware of “our equation”, let’s factor in our universal “hope” that things aren’t entirely true as far as the remarkable allegations leveled by Johnson; and with it- let us also “pray” that Coach didn’t payoff Guillory on that fateful sunny Beverly Hills afternoon; as well as burn a few candles- lest the “compliance gods” should forget to grace (with diligence and keen oversight) our Athletic Department and Compliance Office these past 5 years; and lastly let’s spin our last yarns while defending the actions and inactions of our administrators, directors, coaches and players proudly representing the beloved cardinal-and-gold colors of The University of Southern California Trojans.

Now what? That’s a fair enough question, and to that I say- ask yourself, "Is Mike Garrett hiding something with regards to this combined NCAA investigation of Reggie Bush and OJ Mayo/Coach Floyd? Is there, for all intents and purposes, a likelihood that USC will be severely punished from the NCAA? Will it be “just” the basketball program? Or are football-related penalties going to occur as well? I mean, if we’ve done noting wrong from an enforcement and/or oversight standpoint, as far as supervising player conduct and athletic program machinations, why should we be overly worried about any unfavorable determinations from the NCAA investigations? In turn, why worry IF a coach opts to shrewdly guarantee his/her option to leave as a pre-condition of employment, if we are certain the USC Athletic Department and Compliance Office is not wholly at fault in these related issues?

In closing, the saying- “Put up, or shut up” comes to mind when it comes to the current dilemma of Mr. Heisman Mike G. If there’s nothing to hide, there’s nothing to fear. I’m sure there are plenty viable candidates out there in the college basketball coaching ranks. I’m sure there’s options in the pro coaching ranks too, who might be great candidates to take over our beleaguered b-ball program. However, there aren’t many who might be able to change the face, the culture, the attitude, and morale of our basketball program more than what hiring Jamie Dixon might do for us. From a PR standpoint? Total coup. From an organizational standpoint? Total top-notch. Again, nothing to not like here.

Before anyone gets all hot and bothered, I want to point out: this is not a Hire Jamie Dixon campaign! This is a: Hire Any Able Bodied and Well-Qualified Coach rant, even if the pre-condition in doing so requires USC to allow for an out-clause. It’s fair, it proves faith that our Athletic Department and Compliance Office has managed and acted responsibly despite accusations to the contrary, and it more than promotes hope among the many fans that USC football and basketball has little to fear in the face of mounting perception of impending doom from any and all NCAA investigations.