Thoughts On ESPN Shills' Transparent Amplification Of Trojan PR Machine's Assaults On The NCAA

Let's build on P's outstanding analysis in which he laid out a road map on how NCAA appeals process usually works, instead of running with the spin being pushed out from the Trojan lackies from Heritage Hall. In recent days we have been taking note of how ESPN has been actively parroting Trojan talking points by championing the selective leaks coming out of USC Trojan fan sites. So it is worth to it reset parameters of NCAA procedures within which Southern Cal's public relation stunts aka its flimsy appeal will be considered.

Once again here are the NCAA Bylaws (as amended in 2008) P posted last night which form the basis for granting an appeal (p.397):

32.10.4.1 Penalties. A penalty determined by the Committee on Infractions shall not be set aside on appeal except on a showing by the appealing party that the penalty is excessive such that it constitutes an abuse of discretion.

32.10.4.2 Findings. Findings of violations made by the Committee on Infractions shall not be set aside on appeal, except on a showing by the appealing party that:
(a) A finding is clearly contrary to the evidence presented to the Committee on Infractions;
(b) The facts found by the Committee on Infractions do not constitute a violation of the Association's rules; or
(c) There was a procedural error and but for the error, the Committee on Infractions would not have made the finding of violation.

Note there is no opportunity here for the appealing institution to inject new evidence into the process.  Let's repeat that again. No matter how much panting they do to their ESPN chronies such as Ted Miller, the Trojans are not going to be able to introduce any kind of new evidence in this appeals process. If there is any doubt about that, let's go right to the Trojan spin breathlessly bloviating about "NCAA Missteps on McNair" on USCFootball.com (emphasis added):

Sources close to the case tell USCFootball.com, that USC and McNair detailed the inconsistencies and errors by the enforcement staff at the Committee's Feb. 18-20 hearing and they will be an element in USC's appeal and McNair's appeal.

"If there are apparent errors, the Committee requires that the errors be brought up at the hearing," Buckner said. The new appeals process does not allow new evidence to be presented in the appeal.

So let's chew over that for a bit. These guys are basically leaking old evidence (with their spin wrapped around it) which NCAA has already examined and gone over in last four years. Just by leaking it to USCFootball.com and then pushing it around through ESPN lackies and shills (who have over the years been exposed for shamelessly parroting baseless Trojan spin), will cause the NCAA to back down from its landmark sanctions (which arguably weren't harsh enough) on the Trojans? What world do these delusional and arrogant people live in?

The way ESPN is putting on a full court press by Ted Miller (who has been essentially cutting and pasting USCFootball.com's laughable propaganda) is not all that surprising. These shills are basically advancing their corporate MO, which has been over the years to pimp out the Trojan football program through both ABC and ESPN. It's the reason why Pete Carroll spent all those years spinning Brett Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit round and round (who never bothered to think about all the shady dealings going on in that program). It's the reason why we have trolls like SChilly Smith essentially serve as in house press secretary of Heritage Hall from the "ESPN LA" outposts. 

Now it's the same reason Ted Miller is working so hard to pimp out old, selectively leaked evidence as something dramatically new, spinning the narrative of Trojan victimhood. Of course it is cynically repulsive, but it shouldn't be surprise to see a network get in the middle of this, after the naked network driven greed we saw in display during the expansion madness.

While Ted Miller has been doing the daily "grind" (if you consider cutting and pasting as "grind") of parroting the Trogan propaganda on his "Pac-10 blog," ESPN columnists like Jay Bilas have been prostituting themselves by pushing disgusting Trogan TPs of defending Pete Carroll and Tim Floyd's stained legacies through attacks on Coach Wooden. I will not dignify Bilas's filthy column which can be found on any Trojan fansite. I will just point to BigKahunaMan's fanpost essentially summing the sorry Bilas mess up right here.  

There are of course few basic problems with Bilas's "analysis". He did not provide any citations concerning his allegations against UCLA basketball under Coach Wooden. We have already shown how the allegations that were put together by LAT's "investigative" reporters were somewhat flimsy. The NCAA itself debunked few of the allegations showing up in those LAT's reports that Duffresne tried to recycle within 72 hours of Coach's passing. We also laid out how smears against Coach based on "quotes" appearing in Wetzel's book were even more dubious.

What is even more poignant that Jay Bilas never had the courage to raise questions about Coach when he was with us. He has interviewed the Coach before but he never brought his questions up. Just like a Trojan coward he waited till Coach left us. Also, if there is any doubt that a Trojan wrote up that Bilas piece note the attacks he launched against Paul Dees, a member of the COI (who came from University of Miami). That came straight out of the Trojan talking points, we have seen percolating up all over Trojan message boards in recent days.

Moreover, Bilas embarrassingly as an attorney fails to take into account the fact that NCAA provisions and rules have changed over the years.  We are now operating under different set of NCAA rules than the ones that were in effect back in Coach's days. So for him to categorically advance the idiotic argument what took place under the shady reign of Pete Carroll, Tim Floyd (and is continuing under Hello Kiffin) is just OK, because it is the same deal that went on under Coach Wooden comes across as a transparent and clumsy attempt to advance pathetic Trojan spin.

Again, note that these ESPN guys are essentially advancing the narrative being spun through a football fansite associated with Southern Cal.  These guys are not any different than the run of the mill Trojan fanboys, who have been in denial about all the cheating that have gone on over the years.  Dan Weber, the author of these "reports" is a former Trojan beat writer for the Press Enterprise. Given what we have seen from the Trojan beat writers in Southern California papers (well chronicled on BN),  it doesn't take a lot to conclude that Weber is just another Trojan shill dutifully writing up the message frame coming out of Heritage Hall's PR professionals. Guess it is all pathetically predictable.

Of course this whole hysteria of Trojan victimhood (those poor, poor Trojans, the cruel and unfair world is so out to get them) around "missteps on McNair" looks even more ridiculous, now that Trogans themselves are trying to paint a picture of disassociation from the Dog Fighter. Of course more questions need to be asked about the nature of separation between the Dog Fighter and that shady program but still the way these guys are no distancing themselves from McNair, make all the whining and crying about "missteps" look just a little more absurd.

It's too bad the nimrods at the four letter network has no  sense of moral compass that will keep them from advancing BS fueled propaganda to prop up their poor little Trogans, even if it means launching unseemly, disgusting, and baseless attacks against a man like Coach Wooden, who can't defend himself from his grave. When it comes to bottom line greed and TV dollars at ESPN will end up trumping common decency.

GO BRUINS.