The NCAA handed out their sanctions to Ohio State today. The summary version:

• Nine scholarship reduction over 3 years
• One year bowl ban
• Five year show-cause penalty for Jim Tressel.

[The original title of this was going to be "Shit Tyrone Get It Together" but then Paragon asked me to main-page it, and SBN doesn't like the filth-flarn-filth in headlines...]

I was working against the limitations of AT&T's network, spousal disapproval, and the inherent limitations of the  SBNation app last night to keep up with the community commentary on the second half of the Minnesota game, when I came across this gem of a quote from Lane Kiffin's post-game press-conference:

We have 1….we have 2 good players on offense right now

Since I'm still above the jump here, I'll skip my initial reaction, and go to a rhetorical question: is this a joke? Because this has to be about the worst man-management (to use a soccer phrase) that I have seen in some considerable time... especially when being used in reference to a group of players the majority of whom can't legally drink yet.

I've defended Kiffin in a variety of places to fellow alumni who are sceptics, as well as alums of other universities, but this is the kind of "candor" that makes me wonder about the underlying coaching skills. 

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Interesting comments from Frank Beamer on the radio...

On the NFL upholding the five-game suspension leveled to Terrelle Pryor at Ohio State:

"I appreciate the NFL working with the colleges to … [take] the general statement, if you’ve done something wrong in college, you can’t take the next step and just walk away from it. I think the NFL’s sending a message and hopefully it will hold up in court and we can have consistency throughout."

Shouldn’t they do the same thing to coaches then, like Pete Carroll?:

"I agree totally. I don’t think you can just be somewhere and something happened and you can just walk away from it and take the next step."

Sounds like someone is still butt-hurt over getting hammered by USC at a defacto home game.

Maybe Beamer can point to the part of the NCAA report where Pete Carroll was found guilty of something other than the extra coach...Hardly a reason to jump to the NFL.

I am not thrilled about Pryor getting shelved for five games for breaking ZERO laws while others in the NFL are punished minimally and allowed to play after domestic violence charges or driving under the influence etc. But that is an NFL thing not an NCAA thing.

 Maybe we should punish coaches whose players break the laws while on scholarship...after all, they are leaders of men and substitute father figures to many of their players.

Jesus!

Just shut up and coach Frank...

The CFB world won't let this go easily so here are a few more takes on this situation...

Bruce Feldman's Suspension, ESPN, And An Order For Watermelons All Around - SBNation.com
Bruce Feldman's suspension from ESPN has nothing to do with Craig James' godlike powers, and everything to do with giant infants in business suits.

Report: Feldman suspended for role in Leach book - CBSSports.com
Eye On College Football - Report: Feldman suspended for role in Leach book

New Leach book lands Bruce Feldman on suspension, and ESPN in media crosshairs - Dr. Saturday

ESPN Suspends Bruce Feldman Over Mike Leach Book "Swing Your Sword" - Corn Nation
ESPN has suspended Bruce Feldman, allegedly for his involvement in Mike Leach's book which had the gaul to criticize Craig James and the leader of the sports universe.

Silver Lining in ESPN’s Vindictive Sword Swing Against Bruce Feldman - Bruins Nation
There is a great opportunity for a happy ending for sports fans and Bruce Feldman following ESPN's vindictive actions against the famed sportswriter for writing a book on Mike Leach.

Note: Regardless of who writes it, I will link to any relevant posts on this subject.

This is an odd one to me. But ESPN has suspended Bruce Feldman indefinitely for his involvement with Mike Leach's book Swing your Sword.

Doria, Hoenig and Stiegman informed Feldman today that he has been banned from writing for any ESPN entity, is forbidden from appearing on any ESPN platform, is not allowed to Tweet from his Twitter account nor participate in any promotion of a recently-released book in which Feldman played a role.

Well before Mike Leach was terminated by Texas Tech in late 2009, Feldman had agreed in principle to assist the coach in compiling material for a Leach biography. That biography, in which Feldman was mostly charged with recording Leach’s first-person account of his life, was released this week with the title, Swing Your Sword.

[...]

Because of Leach’s acrimonious departure from Texas Tech, which allegedly stemmed from complaints about the coach’s alleged treatment of the son of ESPN college football analyst Craig James, Feldman’s participation in Swing Your Sword was not initially assured. Multiple management and editorial sources at ESPN have told me in recent months that Feldman would only participate in the Leach book project upon  direct approval from ESPN management - which Feldman indeed received.

Feldman is one of the good ones in this business. He always answers his email, always has an encouraging word and is generous with his time.

That the Mouse would go this far in suspending Feldman to protect a person like Craig James is mind boggling to say the least.

Feldman will be just fine. If he leaves ESPN he will be snatched up faster than you can breathe.

The money is really getting to ESPN's head...

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........"

Just some random thoughts thoughts on last nights game...

First, this is from Bill Plaschke...

Ending what might have been the most exciting college football season in history, Auburn finished off Oregon in perhaps the best championship college football game in history, taking a 22-19 victory on Byrum's 19-yard field goal as time ran out.

Really?

I guess he wasn't at the Rose Bowl in January 2006 when Texas beat USC in the final 20 seconds.

No offense to Texas' national-title victory over USC in the Rose Bowl after the 2005 season, but this might have been the best Bowl Championship Series show ever.

Oregon jammed the game down Auburn's throat, outgaining the Tigers, 125 yards to 21 in the first quarter. But then Auburn spit it back, gaining 258 yards in the second quarter.

I pretty much stopped reading at that point...What's the point? What game was he watching?

Where was he when the season started?

Neither team, Auburn or Oregon, was expected to be there. The pre-season/early season focus was on Alabama possibly repeating and how USC would fare after getting drubbed by the NCAA. Sure, Oregon looked to be the Pac-10 favorite but Stanford got a lot attention as well. Auburn was on NOBODY'S radar to get to the title game. As the season progressed talk turned to the BCS buster side of things with TCU and Boise State. Oregon was making its move but there was still some games to play.

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At first glance, Lane Kiffin calls to mind a first-year head football coach: a near-500 record, an effort to make peace with athletic administrators and an emphasis on the future, you know, better days ahead and all that.

Strangely, such traits have embodied Kiffin in his initial year as the USC headman, despite previous controversial stints with the Tennessee Volunteers and the NFL's Oakland Raiders, where he appeared all too adept at irritating his employers. None of that, however, has been the case during his now-10 month stay at Heritage Hall. 

Since arriving in Los Angeles, he's largely been a good little boy scout, kicking deemed malcontents Jordan Campbell and Markeith Ambles off the team, as well as suspending miniature Reggie Bushes. And just for good measure, he's excelled in coachspeak when dealing with the media.

But USC's record presently stands at 7-5, which means all else is irrelevant. Underachieving and disappointing are simply two of the multitude of adjectives used to describe all that has transpired in 2010. 

Despite one game remaining on the schedule, the finger pointing has already begun, and as expected, most of the attention has centered on the guy with an expletive for his middle name. 

The team: wound too tight. The playcalling: too conservative. The defensive schemes: better served for Sundays. The visor: a better fit on Bob Stoops.

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