Great take by Miller in his Mail Bag yesterday...
Frank from Dallas writes: U$C is the biggest cheating school in college football and everyone knows that besides you. Your article was ignorant. U$C got what it deserved. It knew Bush was getting money. He was driving around in a souped up car. U$C is a repeat violator, which you should know is why they got such hard penalties. This was one of the worst cases in NCAA history. You're an idiot.
Ted Miller: May I whine for a moment? I am weary of this subject. This might be the last time I reply to a note about USC, Reggie Bush and the NCAA.
Part of my exhaustion is this: USC critics who celebrate the NCAA's harsh penalties almost uniformly don't know what they are talking about. They don't know the facts of the case. They don't know what is and isn't relevant to the case. They haven't read the relevant documents.
Let's just take one of Frank's assertions: Bush was driving around in a "souped up car."
Wrong. Bush was driving around in a 1996 Impala. The car didn't get dudded up until after Bush declared that he would enter the 2006 NFL draft a year early. Here's the often, er, mis-remembered photo. Note the date. Of course, you can't blame Frank and others. The NCAA infractions committee struggled to keep its facts straight, too.
Look, I know many of you hate USC. I know there are USC-hating blogs out there that have blistered me over my belief the NCAA treated USC unfairly, even though that is a widely held perception among sports writers who actually know the details of the Bush case. I don't mind getting blistered. Just get the details right.
Miller is one of the few out there that has actually read and been able to comprehend what is in the NCAA report.
I am mature enough to understand that anti-USC fans will dance on our graves...comes with the territory in the world of college sports. But at least come to the table with an informed opinion. I can't tell you how many times I have read that "USC" paid Reggie Bush. Obviously, that was not the case...even the NCAA didn't say that.
I have disagreed with Miller on things in the past but the one thing I will always give him credit for is this, no matter how much I agree or disagree with his positions he is at the very least informed, he does his research and gets his facts straight. That is refreshing to see when there are supposed professional journalists still saying USC paid Reggie Bush.
Kudos Ted!