Damn i knew something was fishy at USC, lol...

UoweDucks · Apr 25, 2006

In what could be the next big step toward a finding that USC tailback Reggie Bush was ineligible for all or part of the 2005 football season and that USC knew or should have known about Bush's ineligibility, Liz Mullen of the SportsBusiness Journal reports that sworn testimony from two hearings regarding a parole violation indicates that New Era Sports & Entertainment had an agreement of some sort with Bush.

Michael Michaels and Lloyd Lake founded New Era in 2005. Earlier this year, Lake faced the revocation of his parole from federal prison. At one of the hearings, Lake's lawyer, Marc Carlos, testified that "Mr. Bush — or through his associates — had made some type of agreement with Mr. Lake's group."

Carlos also testified that, after Bush signed with another group, there was a dispute over "representations made by Bush and his family to Mr. Lake's group" and that "they were going to discuss potential litigation — or a settlement involving Mr. Bush's involvement with that agency."

David Caravantes, an NFLPA-certified agent who reportedly was being lined up by New Era to handle the negotiation of Bush's football contract, testified as well. Caravantes confirmed his arrangement with New Era: "Lloyd [Lake] and I had got together in October [2005] to start a new sports management company with Sycuan. . . . Since October, Lloyd was a viable part of the company, helping recruit players, and in the process of merging this New Era Sports with Sycuan. In the process of this happening, you know, it obviously hurt the company because he had some relationships with certain players who ended up not signing."

Lake gave the following testimony: "I had a sports agency that we had formed, and we had a guy in, Winston Justice, from USC. . . . Reggie Bush came into town. And at that time he was going to go out with us."

The initial significance of this testimony is that it removes any credible doubt that, at some time after Bush's family moved into the house owned Michaels but before the completion of the 2005 football, Michaels was an "agent" within the meaning of the relevant NCAA bylaws. Thus, if it ultimately is shown that Bush's family paid anything less than fair market rent after Michaels became an "agent," then Reggie was necessarily ineligible under the NCAA rules for each subsequent game.

More importantly, the reference to "potential litigation" suggest that New Era had (or at least thought it had) some type of binding commitment with Bush. If such an agreement was reached prior to the completion of the 2005 football season, Bush was ineligible regardless of whether his mother and stepfather were paying fair value for the house owned by Michaels.

Also intriguing is Caravantes' reference not to Michael Michaels, but to his tribe -- Sycuan. The Sycuan tribe previously has denied involvement in Michaels' sports venture. The testimony from Caravantes potentially muddies the water.

Folks, this thing has gotten a lot uglier over the past 48 hours, and we've got a feeling that it will get uglier long before it gets un-ugly. As more evidence of the ties between Bush and New Era is revealed, it will be harder and harder for USC to claim that it didn't know -- and shouldn't have known -- that Bush had forfeited his eligibility either by striking a deal with New Era or through the receipt of benefits from New Era by his family.

www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm

Conan · Apr 25, 2006

4 months since Bush signed up with a legit agent and he and Michaels parted ways (assuming that they were somewhat attached)... with any kind of binding agreement between the cons and Bush, at least alleged statements about it from a guy who just violated his parole... so why don't they just sue the Bush family and Reggie too? I think they are shooting blanks and they know it but are out to save their sorry ass reputations. Maybe if they are lucky they'll land an attorney who wants to be on TV. Maybe that's their angle.

Nothing substantial from Cervantes once more I noticed. He once declined any overtures made to him by the cons about meeting Reggie. And so what if they formed a corporation late in the game? Anybody here can go to a State office in California, pay the $35 and you are now a professional sports marketing corporation. Voiala! (On paper at least.) But nobody had any contracts with them. That's where BS ends and reality begins. All this looks like nothing more than what's inside some con's head. I have to admit though that I am curious how they slickered their way in to begin with.

Conan · Apr 25, 2006

By the way UoD, you should realize that this story was pure muck based on the "version" (too kind a word) given to the writers by a nobody with less than nobody friends. The writer is pimpin a story off those hos. I mean, what do Michaels and Lake offer that in any way legitimizes their so-called sports business? Any other clients? A history in the industry? Anything besides a criminal rap sheet or a certificate that Michaels completed a card dealer training class? Do they floss?

I have to admit that I laugh when I think about NCAA officials taking statements from those characters. Who would want to be the fool that buys their sorry ass story?

UoweDucks · Apr 25, 2006

I am just going to enjoy watching this play out. No real opnion on it either way. Biggest benefit in all of this is probably Houston. They can use this as leverage to get Bush to sign on the dotted line...

That appearance of impropriety

UNION-TRIBUNE
April 25, 2006

Even at rest, Reggie Bush remains elusive. He provides straight answers at roughly the same rate he runs straight lines.

He is all cutbacks and curlicues, a rhetorical dervish disposed to deliberate misdirection and exasperating evasion. USC's Heisman Trophy running back surfaced yesterday long enough to assert that everything was in order concerning the Spring Valley house his family abruptly departed over the weekend.

Just not long enough to provide any proof.

Bush promised clarification would be forthcoming during a series of interviews on ESPN, but he was prepared to provide none. He conveyed calm, yet supplied no comfort. Consistent with the Congressional testimony of fellow Trojan Mark McGwire, Bush treaded lightly on specifics while pounding the platitudes.

He flunked the smell test with flying colors.

If Bush's mother and stepfather paid rent during their occupancy of a house belonging to aspiring marketer Michael Michaels, where are the canceled checks? If their sudden move is above suspicion, why all the suspicious behavior and lawyerly non-denials? If Denise and LaMar Griffin did not jeopardize their son's eligibility and USC's 2005 season in a reckless rush to Easy Street, the time for explanations is now.

For in the absence of a credible cover story, connecting these dots is depressing. Already, the appearance of impropriety has prompted USC to request an investigation by the Pac-10 Conference. Should it be determined that Bush or his family have accepted “extra” benefits from an agent, the running back could be ruled retroactively ineligible. That would mean 12 Trojan victories and a conference championship could be subject to forfeit.

Though this is unlikely to impede Bush from being the No. 1 selection in Saturday's NFL Draft, it is still serious stuff. Though the recorded message greeting callers to the Heisman Trophy Trust yesterday congratulated Bush as the 2005 recipient, it is not entirely clear that he would be encouraged to keep the stiff-armed statue should the story reach scandal stage.

“The Heisman Trophy trustees have been contacted and have no further comment at this time,” Heisman coordinator Tim Henning said. “To the best of our knowledge, nothing like this has happened in the past.”

That much, at least, is naive. The culture of corruption in big-time college sports predates George Gipp and continues to flourish in various forms. So long as athletes are agreeable to fast money and rules are written to benefit institutions at the expense of individuals, under-the-table commerce will be brisk. So long as agents are willing to take shortcuts to secure clients, abuses will be inevitable.

Barry Sanders won the 1988 Heisman Trophy at Oklahoma State, but chose not to defend his title as a senior after his school was placed on NCAA probation for recruiting violations. Sanders' decision, in turn, helped Houston's Andre Ware win the trophy during his school's probationary period in 1989.

This is not to suggest that either Sanders or Ware was guilty of anything except association with corner-cutting colleges. Still, it's hard to imagine Reggie Bush and/or his parental proxies could have broken any new ground on the infractions front.

Given Bush's extraordinary talent and earning potential, securing conventional financing for a $757,000 home should have been relatively simple. Yet in negotiating directly with Michaels, whose interest in Bush exceeded that of a typical landlord, the Griffins invited cynical conclusions. Even if the transaction should withstand investigative scrutiny – as Bush has promised – it just looks lousy.

“As is the case with most 20-year-old college students, Reggie was not aware of personal or financial arrangements relating to his parents or their house,” attorney David Cornwell wrote in a statement released yesterday. “Mr. and Mrs. Griffin now realize that, given Reggie's public profile, their personal decisions can reflect on their son.”

The ignorance excuse would work better had Bush and his parents spent the last three years in an isolation chamber. But USC's concern for compliance is made manifest in seminars, team meetings, printed handouts and individual instruction. Every USC season-ticket holder receives a brochure on compliance, and rules reminders are printed in game programs.

For high-profile players such as Reggie Bush, there is extra emphasis. Parents get briefed on compliance concerns. Warnings are issued with routine redundancy.

That the system is exploitive is indisputable. Though Reggie Bush has generated millions of dollars for USC through bowl and television revenues, jersey sales and his recurring role on mattreggietv.com, he is denied a piece of that action by NCAA rules.

Those rules may be misguided, but they are rarely misunderstood. Reggie Bush and family will need a better excuse.

AlwaysKeen · Apr 26, 2006

why is all of this coming out now, as opposed to say before the Rose Bowl? It's not gonna hurt his draft status...

Conan · Apr 26, 2006

Damn, I should have bought that house yesterday when it was reportedly worth $357,000 at the time. It appears to have doubled in value in less than a year! I guess you snooze and you lose in real estate. Either that or somebody's inflating "things" around here.

It's shady how the writer "donated" such credibility to this "bonafide" agent. They appear to be the focus of the story... well let's say a "blurry" focus at best. New Era Sports & Entertainment, a non entity with no clients that didn't incorporate until 6 months after the Griffins moved in. Just a coincidence or could that have been part of the game all along? But the reporter deliberately confused the time sequence of events... an easy way to confuse the issue so he can more easily point the finger of culpability at anyone he chooses. Kind of a sloppy way he confused the time element though. Too easy to pick out. I could have done much better.

And so as it turns out, within 30 days after New Era Sports incorporated, Bush signed with another pro agent and "bankrupted" the fledgling company even before they inked in their first client! And how well have they done since then? Any more new clients of note to speak of? Or could the whole scenario been a setup to land Bush and only Bush... somehow... with no credentials, no references, no solid proof of any deals. Who runs a legitimate business this way? And, who would want an agent like that?

But who cares about such technicalities when there's so much good dirt to print if you just ignore a few minor facts. After all, an agent is an agent whether they have any clients or not. The point in time they actually formed their company is just another inconvenient fact. No clients, no company? Skip it... it takes too much wind out of the story. It lowers it to a hapless yarn about a con game that blew up on some low life grifters... and a happy ending to boot. The bad guys were sent packing but unfortunately, that won't sell newspapers. Gimme a scandal any day! Nice job obscuring those facts though. (The agency didn't exist at the time the Griffins moved into the house.) Like I said, what's a minor detail like that worth in a world of journalistic excellence (where blow jobs don't count as sex.) The writer sure seemed upset over RB's unwillingness to disclose any details to him, as if he was rightfully priviledged to know these things (against the Griffin family lawyer's advice.) What a dick.

If Michaels/Lake, New Era Sports et al really had a deal with the Griffin family and the Griffins renegged on the deal, why haven't they sued them for breach of contract? It's been more than 4 months since Reggie Bush signed elsewhere with a legitimate agent and the NFL draft is only days away. Their time has been running out and they've done nothing about it for 4 months. I'd be hoppin mad and ALL up in my lawyers face if I just got screwed out of millions. You bet I'd sue. Screw the NCAA too. That's USC's problem. I got a contract baby!

But I still wonder how they got their hooks into the Griffins to begin with. Perhaps there was some other lure that had nothing to do with football at first, just a good deal on a house and (with no sports agency or company in existence) some other type of business arrangement? But then when their true intentions surfaced, when the sports company was formed, the Griffins blew them off (as they should) and it got ugly and turned into a matter of threats and arm twisting... maybe even a little blackmail.

Now comes the smear and it wreaks of blackmail and extortion. Their timing stinks. Sour grapes? Don't you feel a little sorry for those cons? Gotta give that reporter some credit though. He turned a story about which he still doesn't have a shred of proof into a real headliner. (Mr. Griffin, Mr. Bush, tell me what you know or I'll have to go to print without your side. And that he did.) Welcome to the world of shark infested waters and the world of professional sports Reggie.

WCBias · Apr 26, 2006

Conan, you nailed it right on the head...I hope the people who are ignorant to this story read your post so they get a better understanding about what happened here...at least from Reggie Bush's and USC's position. The other thing that is somewhat irratating to me is the fact they keep publishing this $750,000 figure...For the rest of america that is a lot of money, for San Diego...let's put it this way, I just sold my 35 year old 1,700 SF house with a detached garage for much more.

These guys are and were nobody. It wouldn't suprise me if they got the idea to form this company AFTER the Griffins moved in. STILL, they can and might have created an agent/player relationship because of the idiot parents. The Griffin's should have walked away the second they got a sniff this guy was trying land Bush. These guys aren't even boosters, they are low lifes trying to capitalize on a 20 year old kid!

I'm not defending Bush or USC because it's west coast, if I knew these same facts and it was happening to D'Brick or Mario Williams...or SNOOP STEWART, I would defend them too. Compared to what was going on at Ohio State....and at football schools across america, including USC, this is serious chump change.

I am totally anti-NCAA when it comes to football. USC and the NCAA made millions marketing Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart. Before those two kids stepped foot on campus USC was averaging about 60,000 for home games and barely got a sniff on TV. Now they are media darlings and football revenue whores and hollywood elite. I know the kids benefited too, and they are both going to be gazillionaires come Saturday, but the fact remains these kids generated serious $$$$$$$$....they ARE professional athletes, they deserve to get compensation.

Conan · Apr 26, 2006

WC, I have a pretty strong feeling that the Griffins had no idea that Michaels had any intention of becoming a sports agent when they first met him and the house for rent was offered. USC prints warnings to their alumni and players, families etc. warning them of NCAA rules involving payments to players and their families.

I don't know their living situation at the time either, or if they had plans to move at some point anyway.... but obviously Michaels saw some need or he wouldn't have offered. Even if he was only 1/2 a con, he'd know better than to approach the Griffins and involve their son in any deals that could jeopardize his career. That would be taking an unnecessary risk that could hurt his chances of befriending them in the first place. He had to keep that a secret and hide it from them.

His stated motive when he approached Cervantes, a real sports agent in San Diego, was to "keep it all down in San Diego"... I am truly touched by his loyalty to the local economy. Yeah right... as if!! But it makes a nice cover story for others involved to advance his scheme in a not-so-obvious way. My theory is that he used the house as an innocent ploy that didn't involve any sports discussion whatsoever to get his foot in the door.

I find it coincidentally ridiculous that the Bush's blew him off and the house along with shortly after he created New Era Sports. I think that was around the same time that a light came on in Mr. Griffins head and he realized what Michaels was all about. But in reality, Michaels never had a chance with the Griffins plans for their son, well not unless he brought Cervantes into the picture at a later point in the game. Cervantes wanted nothing to do with New Era Sports after Michaels promise to deliver Bush fell through. Michaels was counting heavily on Cervantes buying in so he could approach the Griffins with a legitimate agent in his back pocket, (like an afterthought duing the course of their relationship.) But that never really came together as planned. Michaels had absolutely nothing going for himself otherwise.

Cervantes, being the pro that he is and understanding NCAA restrictions, kept his distance. It's even on record that the Griffins and Reggie never met with Cervantes, the only real sports agent involved. But Michaels, to move his plan along tried to hook them up, most likely in a social setting. That is also on record. Like I said, Cervantes being the pro turned down that opportunity. That must have been one bad day for Michaels.

The fact that he incorporated before the end of the season shows how sloppy he was... even for a 2 bit con artist. I think Michaels did that so he could represent himself to Cervantes with at least a business license.

So all we have is some guy who befriended the family with other intentions and big ideas. That's how cons operate.

WCBias · Apr 26, 2006

<TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Tax consultant says marketers never met Bush
<SCRIPT> function BlogThisStoryTools() { var headline = "Tax consultant says marketers never met Bush"; var url = document.location.href; var destination = "http://blogs.foxsports.com/BlogThis.aspx?r_title=" + escape(headline) + "&r_url=" + url; //alert(destination); //return; window.location.href = destination; } </SCRIPT><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR align=middle><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px" align=left>Story Tools:</TD><TD>

</TD><TD>

</TD><TD></TD></TR><TR align=middle><TD></TD><TD> Print </TD><TD> Email </TD><TD> Blog This </TD><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=440 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Associated Press
Posted: 1 hour ago<SCRIPT> // front-end hack to remove postedTime from Rumors page until a better way can be determined if (document.URL.indexOf("/name/FS/rumors") != -1) document.getElementById("postedTime").style.display = 'none'; </SCRIPT> </TD><TD width=10> </TD><TD align=right><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10></TD><TD width=440><SCRIPT> if(fanid.length > 0 && typeof(nflDefaultLeague)!= "undefined") { leagueId = nflDefaultLeague; //find teamId of default league (if exists) for(var i=0; i < teamsInfo.length; i++){ if(teamsInfo[4] == leagueId){ defaultTeamId = teamsInfo[0]; } } var fantasyLeaguePlayerJsPath = 'http://msnfantasy.foxsports.com' + '/nugget/200002_' + leagueId + '|||' + fanid; } </SCRIPT>SAN DIEGO (AP) - A financial and tax consultant said the man who reportedly tried to land Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush for his startup sports marketing firm didn't have any experience in the business.

David Reyes said he met with Michael C. Michaels and Lloyd Lake before they began courting Bush for New Era Sports & Entertainment LLC. Michaels and Lake, used Reyes' office address on a brochure for New Era Sports.
The two men reportedly also attempted to compel Bush to sign with San Diego agent David Caravantes, who is certified to negotiate NFL contracts. Caravantes represents six players, none of them considered stars, according to NFL Players Association records.
"I know for a fact they never met with Reggie," said Reyes, who advises pro athletes on how they can help minimize taxes on signing bonuses.
"Quite honestly, I was concerned from the beginning with this whole deal with Reggie, as far as getting him," Reyes said. "Most people felt he was going to be a No. 1 pick, and he was going with more of a known entity."
Reyes also said he wasn't aware of Michaels and Lake having any marketing experience.
"This was all from scratch," Reyes said. "They didn't have the credentials."
Bush didn't sign with New Era Sports or Caravantes, who did not return phone messages and e-mails seeking comment Tuesday.
Bush's family lived in a house owned by Michaels for nearly a year. Yahoo.com reported Sunday that the family moved out last weekend after questions over its ownership arose.
The Pac-10 said Sunday that it will investigate whether any NCAA rules were violated when Bush's family, including mother Denise Griffin, stepfather LaMar Griffin and brother Jovan Griffin lived in the house in the San Diego suburb of Spring Valley while Bush was still playing for Southern California last season. NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes and their families from receiving extra benefits from agents or their representatives.
In an interview with ESPN on Monday, Bush said his parents leased the house but declined to say who paid the rent.
Also on Tuesday, a powerful Indian tribe said Tuesday it had nothing to do with an attempt by Michaels, who is a member of the tribe, to steer Bush to New Era Sports.
The Sycuan Tribe said it was approached last fall by Michaels.
"There was a request to become partners in this New Era Sports," said Adam Day, Sycuan's assistant tribal manager. "Both the tribal council and the development corporation board of directors refused to join into the business venture."
Michaels is an employee of the tribal development corporation. He didn't immediately return phone calls Tuesday seeking comment.
Also Tuesday, Day disputed unsworn court testimony in which Caravantes linked New Era Sports & Entertainment with Sycuan, which is located in eastern San Diego County and has annual revenue estimated at $250 million.
During a parole violation hearing earlier this year for Lake, a documented gang member now serving time in prison for a probation violation, Caravantes told the court that he and Lake "got together in October to start a new sports management company with Sycuan. Since October, Lloyd was a viable part of the company, helping recruit players, and in the process of merging this New Era Sports with Sycuan," according to an account that was confirmed by Lake's former attorney Marc X. Carlos.
"He was trying to help a friend who got sent to prison, and made inaccurate statements about his businesses relationship with us," Day said. "We are going to have our attorney look at the statement and transcript to see what actions we can potentially take."
Michaels, who is also known as Michael Pettiford, was linked to Lake in a lengthy 2002 FBI affidavit filed in support of arrest warrants for Lake and other accused San Diego gang members. FBI agent Allan Vitkosky that Lake's "close relationship" with Michaels allowed Lake to tap a $10,000 line of credit with a quick phone call when he was running low on money at the casino.
Lake, 32, of El Cajon has a felony record that stretches back more than a decade. Police records identified him as one of 73 documented members of a street gang, according to the 2002 warrant. Lake has arrests and convictions for gun- and drug-related charges, and he is currently serving 12 months in a federal prison in Victorville for beating up his girlfriend while on probation for a drug-related charge.
Lake also started a San Diego-based rap music label, Breakbread Records, which received wire money transfers but never filed a tax return, Vitkosky wrote. Sycuan has operated a casino for 24 years, but in the last 10 years has diversified beyond gaming. In 2000, Sycuan paid more than $1.5 million to become the title sponsor of the San Diego Padres' season. Sycuan has had other sponsorship deals with the Padres and invested in a hotel in the redevelopment zone surrounding Petco Park, the Padres' home. Sycuan owns a resort that includes three golf courses, and promotes boxing matches.
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AlwaysKeen · Apr 26, 2006

it's all coming out now...so basically the guy gives bush's family the house to live in, with the understanding that when Bush goes pro he hires this guy?...but I'm sure the whole time Bush new he'd screw the guy over, which is why the guy now blows the whistle on him...do I have this right?...very interesting...

LEYKIS101 · Apr 26, 2006

Now it's being reported Sanchez was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting another student.

ucking:

LSUpete · Apr 26, 2006

LEYKIS101 said:
Now it's being reported Sanchez was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting another student.

ucking:

Was it a male student?

GoSooners · Apr 26, 2006

If I understand all of this right the big question still is who was paying the rent on the house. If the Griffin's can prove by any means that they made payments on the house I believe this will all blow over, regardless of if the NCAA frowns on sports agents relationship with an athlete's family. If they can't this is going to end up being a long drawn out mess of searching for paperwork between a shady sports agent wannabe and a middle class family. They need to find a rental contract of some kind between the Griffin's and Michaels. That's the million dollar question. Where is it? Or does one exist?

UoweDucks · Apr 26, 2006

GoSooners said:
If I understand all of this right the big question still is who was paying the rent on the house. If the Griffin's can prove by any means that they made payments on the house I believe this will all blow over, regardless of if the NCAA frowns on sports agents relationship with an athlete's family. If they can't this is going to end up being a long drawn out mess of searching for paperwork between a shady sports agent wannabe and a middle class family. They need to find a rental contract of some kind between the Griffin's and Michaels. That's the million dollar question. Where is it? Or does one exist?

So far this is the key question. If there was proof why hasn't it been presented yet. It leads to the assumption that it does not exist. If rent was payed this is a non story.

On Sanchez:

USC Backup QB Sanchez Arrested For Alleged Sexual Assault
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Associated Press
6:40 PM PDT, April 26, 2006

Southern California backup quarterback Mark Sanchez was arrested Wednesday after being accused of sexually assaulting a female student, police said.

Sanchez, 19, was arrested around 4 p.m. just north of campus and was being booked for investigation of sexual assault, police Officer Jason Lee said.

"The alleged assault occurred earlier today," Lee said. The USC student reported it to police but no other details were immediately available.

A spokesman for USC said the university will release a statement later Wednesday.

Sanchez is listed on the Trojans' depth chart as the backup to John David Booty, but is expected to battle for the starting job this fall. Booty practiced only once this spring before he injured his back and had to undergo back surgery.

Sanchez, a redshirt freshman, played the recent spring scrimmage and has been practicing with the first unit.

LEYKIS101 · Apr 26, 2006

LSUpete said:
Was it a male student?

:missingte

(AP) LOS ANGELES Police say USC's backup quarterback Mark Sanchez has been arrested for investigation of sexual assault.

LAPD Officer Jason Lee says Sanchez was taken into custody around 4 p.m. today. He's accused of sexually assaulting a female student.

A spokesman for USC said the university will release a statement later tonight.

Sanchez is listed on the Trojans' depth chart as the backup to John David Booty, but is expected to battle for the starting job this fall. Booty practiced only once this spring before he injured his back and had to undergo surgery.

Sanchez played the recent spring scrimmage and has been practicing with the first unit.

WCBias · Apr 26, 2006

Sanchez is 50 times the story that Bush is...that really sucks. I'm not going to jump to conclusions, but they must have some sort of evidence to arrest him.

Pete had better start cracking the whip...Bush was bad press, Sanchez is a nightmare. Pet's glorious holyweird coaching story might just end up that...on the cutting room floor.

Conan · Apr 27, 2006

GoSooners said:
If I understand all of this right the big question still is who was paying the rent on the house. If the Griffin's can prove by any means that they made payments on the house I believe this will all blow over, regardless of if the NCAA frowns on sports agents relationship with an athlete's family. If they can't this is going to end up being a long drawn out mess of searching for paperwork between a shady sports agent wannabe and a middle class family. They need to find a rental contract of some kind between the Griffin's and Michaels. That's the million dollar question. Where is it? Or does one exist?

GoSooners,

I don't think that will matter and if the Griffins got a screamin good deal on rent that wouldn't even matter. The reason why is because Michaels is a nobody. He's no sports agent or marketer. He's never marketed anything in his life. He still has no clients. He got big ideas about what he might pull off being close to the Griffins. He rented the house to the Griffins before he decided to become a marketer with his criminal buddy and that's when he tried to get hooked up with Caravantes. Most of the season was already finished when he started the company. But he was nothing before and nothing since. If he already had a rental agreement with the Griffins before he formed his business, then how can anyone imply that low rent (if true) was a Reggie Bush related sports benefit? He had never acted as an agent or marketer in his life at any time. So then one day, he goes into business as a sports agent hoping to land Bush but Bush signed elsewhere. How can this implicate the Griffins in accepting benefits from Michaels in any sports related way? They even lived in the house 4 months after Reggie signed elsewhere.

Caravantes denied that Michaels ever represented him. Nor was he backed by his own Indian tribe who sponsors the Padres. Nobody backed him up and he had no experience in sports marketing at all. He wasn't a USC booster. He was nothing. Just some sorry dude who thought he could whip together a deal for himself and his jail bird buddy.

Because Michaels was OBVIOUSLY a sports agent wannabe all his life, USC should have known all about Michaels and his deal with the Griffins. USC should have dispatched the A-team to pick through the Griffins' trash for rent receipts because Michaels was thinking about becoming an agent. How could USC overlook that?

I say revoke Reggie Bush's Heisman and ban the Trojans from any bowl appearances for the next 3 years. There you go Vince, now you have the Heisman. Forfeit all USC conference wins and make the Ducks the 2005 Pac-10 champs. Now Oklahoma looks even better for beating the champs. Forfeit ALL of USC's 2005 games and make Pat Hill at Fresno St. happy too. It's as if Reggie Bush never ran up 550 yards against the Bulldogs. (Pat Hill finally gets his win over a big name school too.) Notre Dame picks up a win. Penn St. and Ohio State just moved up a notch in the 2005 rankings. Maybe soon, Michaels finds a client to represent in his sports marketing business and a new tennant to pay him enough rent ON TIME for his house. Everyone is happy.

Mark Sanchez gets arrested on suspicion of rape. Now even the press is happy.

Insiders · Apr 27, 2006

LEYKIS101 said:
:missingte

(AP) LOS ANGELES Police say USC's backup quarterback Mark Sanchez has been arrested for investigation of sexual assault.

LAPD Officer Jason Lee says Sanchez was taken into custody around 4 p.m. today. He's accused of sexually assaulting a female student.

A spokesman for USC said the university will release a statement later tonight.

Sanchez is listed on the Trojans' depth chart as the backup to John David Booty, but is expected to battle for the starting job this fall. Booty practiced only once this spring before he injured his back and had to undergo surgery.

Sanchez played the recent spring scrimmage and has been practicing with the first unit.

WOW
Bigtime story brewing here! USC might just might not have a QB, now that sounds strange for sure.

Conan · Apr 27, 2006

Well in 2004, Hershel Dennis was DA MAN at USC but he got hurt and couldn't play for 2 years. Didn't matter. Last season USC lost 1/2 it's linebackers and secondary before the season began -- that didn't matter. Now they may lose their top QB recruit and that probably won't matter either. All this means to the Trojans is if Sanchez career is history, Booty will probably lead them to a Pac-10 title this season and win the Heisman in 2007. Don't get me wrong, I'm still sick about it. I hope this goes nowhere. But I wonder who is going to back up Booty on the depth chart if Sanchez doesn't make it?

Willye · Apr 27, 2006

lol such a fine program that pete carroll is running out there, lol :missingte:missingte

Damn i knew something was fishy at USC, lol...

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