Some thoughts on Lonnie White's "revelation"

For the life of me I cannot understand why Lonnie White decided to come clean about his taking money when he was a player from 1982-1986.

Why Now?

What purpose does this soul cleansing serve?

And does it really matter?

What should we make of former Trojan Lonnie White‘s admission that he took $14,000 worth of extra benefits while on scholarship at USC?

The revelation came via first-person account by the former return specialist and L.A. Times sportswriter. It’s straight out of "Blue Chips." It’s also 25-plus years old.

White played for USC from 1982-86. The behavior he described — selling season tickets, taking money from agents to pay bills — was hardly unique. It happened then, and it’s probably happening now, although it’s not nearly as easy to get away with.

White’s admission makes for good copy, to be sure, but I greeted most of it with a shrug. To think college sports wasn’t a dirty business (at least by the NCAA’s definition of dirty) in the pre-Internet age would be naive.

Why did White sell his former teammates and school down the river?

Is White that desperate for attention and relevance?

Is his career that far in the dumps?

White used his position as a member of the press to write a book on the USC-UCLA rivalry. I would imagine that he got a lot of help and access from his former school in writing that book. I mean, it's not like USC hasn't been in the news of late. They certainly don't need the attention...especially this type of attention. Why heap more negativity on the school and the athletic department?

I said numerous time that USC needed a strong PR campaign to refute the erroneous things written about USC. No one stepped up...including Lonnie White. As a respected member of the press, he could have been a trailblazer when this whole mess started by getting the real story out. He could have done it fair and objectively without coming off as USC homer, but for the most part he kept silent.

I am not saying embellish the story but merely correct where the story was wrongly reported.

I think it is pathetic that White thought it was OK to use his position with the LAT to gain access to write his book but it wasn't OK for him to set the story straight when his alma mater was getting skewered in the press. USC had some blame in all of this but not as much as the all misinformation that was thrown out there.

White is proving that his is simply an opportunist....agenda unknown

As with anyone who has ever donned the Cardinal and Gold and left it all on the field, I understand and respect the sacrifices that the players made for the rest of us who watched them play. But as has been discussed in many places, many times over, scholarship athletes enjoy a number of things that the regular student population does not.

Lonnie White used his time at USC to become a productive member of society.

That should make USC fans proud.

Instead, White decided write his own edition of The Jerry Springer Show. Essentially crapping on the the school that gave him an opportunity to have a successful life outside of football.

If this is weighing on his soul so much then maybe he should get into therapy and deal with his "guilt" in private.

The old saying comes to mind..."with friends like these........"