Doyel once again shows his bias against USC and Tim Floyd.
I am not going to get too crazy about this but I found some interesting comments from my favorite writer (NOT!) Gregg Doyel about Renardo Sidney and Miss. St.
The facts look one way, but the facts aren't the most important part of either story -- about "stupid" John Wall, or about "slimy" Mississippi State. It's the interpretation of the facts that matters. And it's in that interpretation where you're wrong.
...Unlike the Wall incident, which looks bad only if you're a moron or a member of the Raleigh Police Department (sorry, redundancy), the Sidney situation looks bad, period. He originally committed to play for Southern California, but the Trojans -- who can't afford any more red flags after the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo travesties -- backed off after getting wind of the NCAA's interest in Sidney and also his family, which followed him from affordable Jackson, Miss., to exorbitant Los Angeles and still paid its bills easily. Too easily? That's what the NCAA wants to know. And that's why USC backed off.
So Sidney, a 6-10 center, chose Mississippi State, which would allow his family to move back home and still watch him play. Assuming he becomes eligible.
And he might not. I'm not absolving the kid of NCAA guilt. If something against NCAA rules happened while he was in California -- playing for notorious club coach Pat Barrett or even for his dad, who started up a team with seed money from Reebok -- it wouldn't surprise me. At the highest level, the purest thing about youth basketball is the purity of greed. Bad things happen. Did they happen with Renardo Sidney? I have no idea.
Really?
So here is my question. If Sidney makes it in and then he is found out to have some baggage that affects his eligibility who gets the egg on their face? The NCAA or MSU? Will Doyel be as critical against MSU as he was against USC? I mean all the warning signs are there right?
Don't bet on it.
USC and the NCAA cleared Mayo with all of the rumors swirling around him yet as it stands now if it is stated by the NCAA that SC is responsible for Mayo's alleged "transgressions" they will be the ones that take the full hit not the NCAA. Will Doyel then write a column castigating the NCAA on their poor excuse of an investgation?
Again, it is doubtful.
Doyel wants to have it both ways...That MSU had to hire a sports attorney to make sure Sidney gets past the clearinghouse screams buyer beware. It doesn't make MSU dirty but if MSU lands him and if transgressions occur they will be in the same boat as SC...will Doyel chastise them in the same way he did USC? Doubtful, Doyel's fawning over MSU in this piece tells me one thing that he always had an axe to grind against Tim Floyd. I have no problem that MSU went after and landed Sidney, if they are willing to take the chance then I wish them luck but now its their mess if it blows up in their face.
Where will Gregg Doyel be then?