But, instead of digging for the truth, he’s throwing the dirt back in the hole trying to cover it up.

(For those of you who never read Fox’s dialogue with Plaschke in which Fox asked why the fishwrap wasn’t all over this story — Plashcke responded that they had shovels all over digging for the facts.)

What an interesting sense of journalistic responsibility — Plashcke feels a responsibility not to the story but to the subject — he’s become the “defense” for sc.

Interestingly, his anonymous “influential donors” appear to be upset with the program. He calls them out for that position. But, if that’s true, Garrett will be in trouble. Especially, if Sample decides he has to shoot his own horse — but, as much as I hate sc, the horse is but a dumb barnyard animal and shooting it won’t solve the problem (and will get PETA involved.)

Oh, you say “that’s a figure of speech”? If so, then it’s Garrett who gets shot — and actually, I think the taint is also on Sample. As I said yesterday, our administration would have been all over the athletic department, years ago.

You are right, Nestor, Plaschke’s hypocrisy is comical as is Sample’s if he does nothing.

Interestingly, on DP’s show this morning, MIke Krzyzewski said that he never tried to recruit OJ Mayo for Duke because he was aware of all the “issues” surrounding Mayo (long before OJ2 arrived at SC*) and that Mayo would not have been a good fit for Duke anyway. Krzyzewski wouldn’t say exactly what those issues were, but I think it’s easy enough to read between the lines.

I think we have repeatedly seen that SC* has no such qualms about accepting athletes who have “issues” as long as they can run, throw, shoot or catch a ball.

Incidentally, although Nestor’s points above are well-taken, I happened to find Plaschke’s column mostly negative and critical of SC*. I still think it was BS for Plaschke to have waited so long to chime in (and Slimers continues to defend Floyd, both yesterday and today), but overall, I thought it was a pretty decent column with a lot of choice negative statements about Garrett and Sample. I guess I just read it differently.

If “coaches in other USC sports . . . are national champions and among the best in their business, and [un]comfortable watching their entire program painted with this same arrogant brush,” why haven’t they stood up and demanded accountability from their university and athletic administration? I understand there are politics involved, and I understand they have demanded accountability in private, but word would have leaked out if these ‘oh so honorable’ coaches had taken a stand. Let me point out that SCandal has been rocking Cheat Carroll’s program long before Timmeh put his finger in the cake and ruined it for everybody else. From Mark Sanchez’ Sexual Assualt to the Ecstasy drug ring being run out of the dorm rooms, these warts on the Prom Queen’s face have been appearing for years. Where is the internal outcry to clean these programs up?

USC prides itself on its insular and private nature. But nobody lives in a vacuum and word always gets out. To make another comparison, the Catholic Church was rocked by scandals that dwarf anything SC is going through and two very real results came of it. Word got out and the church was forced to defend itself for its actions and in-actions. Furthermore, huge contingents of faithful stood up and demanded accountability from an institution that has far more power over its flock than USC has over its own.

I challenge Plashcke to put his money where his mouth is. Show us the proof! Show us the indignation on the part of these honorable coaches and their demands to the administration to do something. Or, am I reading you wrong and you are admitting the corruption is wholesale when you say, “I can’t believe they are comfortable watching their entire program painted with this same arrogant brush.”

These are just guesses, but I like to think they are informed guesses:

1) USC, unlike UCLA, has a journalism school. Even if reporters went to school elsewhere, they’re probably going to be visiting USC a lot more than UCLA. I do need to mention that LA Times reporters did visit the Daily Bruin officers when I worked at the student paper and they were extremely helpful.

2) The OC Register is just pandering to the Newport Beach Trojan alums, or Matt Leinart really was the greatest human being and quarterback who ever graced this planet.

3) This decade, USC football has won 1.5 national championships. UCLA has won the Sun Bowl and as much as I hate to write this, usually loses the Victory Bell game.

It isn’t right, but the on field success is going to color the reporting, especially since LA doesn’t have an NFL team. Cover a winning team, and like Steve Bisheff, you can write a book about it. Cover a struggling team, and you get to fly around the country interviewing unhappy athletes and coaches.

This explanation doesn’t explain differences in basketball coverage, I have to admit.

On a semi-related note: Expect the tone of coverage to change now that Tim Floyd is cut free. Sacrificial lambs don’t always stay quiet after they realize that they’re paying the price for other peoples’ errors as well as their own.