Basketball OJ = A Thug Like Football OJ

by bluestreet on Jan 28, 2007 7:15 AM PST

Basketball OJ looks like he will fit in just fine in the "school" of thugs:

USC signee O.J. Mayo faces a two-game suspension after being ejected from a game Friday night involving his Huntington (W.Va.) High team in which he received two technical fouls and reportedly initiated contact with an official.

Mayo received one technical foul for taunting after scoring on a breakaway dunk, then a second technical for a verbal confrontation with players from the opposing team.

Mayo reportedly followed an official to the scorer's table to dispute the call and made contact, after which the official dropped to the court.

Newspaper accounts of the contact varied, with the Huntington Herald-Dispatch reporting that Mayo bumped into the official from behind and the Charleston Gazette stating Mayo had merely "put his arm on the official's shoulder to get his attention."

Police then escorted Mayo into the locker room.

According to West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission rules, a player receiving two technical fouls is subject to a two-game suspension. Huntington next plays Lakewood Artesia on Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C.

Mayo also faces possible disciplinary action for his contact with the official.

Ladies and gentleman here is the face of Gap Closers of Los Angeles:

Mollie Woody / AP

Again, this kid is nothing but a troubled AAU thug who was recruited only by Timmeh and Bob Huggins (KSU).

We have already seen how rest of SuC's key stars have turned out to be a bunch of academic rejects (Young needing tutoring from Jordan Farmar to get his SAT scores, Pruitt getting suspended for bad grades, and Taj going through like half dozen high schools to get into college) and now their glory recruit is turning out to be just another TrOJan thug.

So tell me again why should I have an ounce respect for a program trying to make a name for itself by taking the short cut of bringing in academic rejects and goons posing as student athletes?

Go Bruins!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Comments

That picture

is worth a thousand words!

Howland goes out and gets guys with character and class (Love) and Timberly gets guys like OJ! Speaks volumes!

I don't think anyone can really honestly say there's any "gap closing" going on, can you?

Great story!

by godblesstyus95 on Jan 28, 2007 9:45 AM PST 0 recs

So rich

Is there really any chance at all that this guy is going to avoid my big list of Southern Cal misconduct? If I was a betting man....

by Menelaus on Jan 28, 2007 10:21 AM PST 0 recs

A perfect match

I wouldn't be surprised if Mr. Gap Closer never makes it into a justsc uniform. His thuggery may take him to a different, somewhat more restricted, institution before justsc. Same personality types, but he would see Timmeh only on visitor's day.

by Fox 71 on Jan 28, 2007 10:48 AM PST 0 recs

I have a weird feeling

That this picture is going to show up every time we preview or discuss a Southern Cal game during the OJ Mayo "Era"

Hell, it better!

by Sweetbreads Bailey on Jan 28, 2007 11:30 AM PST 0 recs

Wow!

There is nothing flattering about that picture. I'm sorry he is troubled that way. I do have to say that it is probably better for him that he goes to SC before going pro the very next year. Can you imagine that attitude going straight to the Big league making millions? At least this way he'll have to learn the humility of only making tens of thousands first. Maybe he can learn how to pay lipservice to sportsmanship and class while still being a complete asshole on the court. Kind of like Joakim Noah.

by isodore on Jan 28, 2007 12:59 PM PST 0 recs

Love the Joakim Noah comment

I thought maybe I was the only one who thought that spoiled brat is a big jerk. He was such an ass last year during the tourney. Just compare his victory celebration after the win over us with AA's support of the fallen Gonzaga dude after our amazing comeback. (I can't think of names right now--I'm in a crap mood after the bad loss to the red bird junior uni.)

Bruins Forever

by bruinsince69 on Jan 28, 2007 7:42 PM PST up 0 recs

To Be Fair...

Check out the video of the incident. When I look at it objectively, it looks like the ref has it out for Mayo.

Mayo might or not be a troubled young man. I honestly don't know enough about him to make that assessment. But I think in this instance, he got jobbed.

http://www.wowktv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=19256&catid=3

by insomniacslounge on Jan 29, 2007 7:47 PM PST 0 recs

Also to be fair ...

How many of our guys were hauled off the court by cops at Stanford after being jobbed by the referees? I'm glad that character counts at UCLA, even if it doesn't at justsc.

by Fox 71 on Jan 29, 2007 9:01 PM PST up 0 recs

To be honest

he did absolutely nothing wrong. He just went over to talk to the ref, and ref tripped or fell on purpose. When I first saw the picture of him being taken out in handcuffs by the police, I actually thought he must have done something. But for incidental contact, that's ridiculous!

He should have never gotten the first technical, if you look at him after his dunk; he never hanged on the rim.

Now I don't know him personally, and I can't say what kind of person he is, but that ref had it out for him. And if I just received two technicals I would also want to go and talk to the ref too. He might be a troubled youth, he doesn't deserve this much media attention for this incident.

by abby8065 on Jan 30, 2007 8:22 AM PST 0 recs

The First Technical . . .

was for taunting after the dunk, not for hanging on the rim. The second was also for something he said to opposing players. The other team's coach says the refs warned O.J. several times to stop yapping. So you can't conclude that he did nothing wrong without hearing what all he said.

Even before the bump on the official, O.J. was already T'd up twice and ejected from the game, and thus subject to an automatic two-game suspension.

by vanaaron on Jan 30, 2007 10:36 AM PST up 0 recs

And thus his reputation is made

Every ref in every game (including in the Pac 10, if he actually gets this far) will know about this incident and see this picture. So even if he becomes another Mother Teresa, his reputation will be that of a thug with a short fuse and refs will be looking for reasons to T him up on just about anything.

He's going to be a reincarnation of Dennis Rodman.

by Fox 71 on Jan 30, 2007 11:04 AM PST up 0 recs

Should have added

In my opinion. (Too much pontification without the IMO.)

by Fox 71 on Jan 30, 2007 11:05 AM PST up 0 recs

actually

it was stated that he was holding on the basketball too long that is why he received his first Technical. And the second one he didn't even a say word to the other team. Just go and check the video.

I am not defending him, but come on, that was bull!!! Remember he is only 17 years old, and playing with a lot of emotion. Plus, not saying a word does not merit a Technical,. If you don't believe you can see the video yourself.

by abby8065 on Jan 30, 2007 12:41 PM PST 0 recs

First Technical . . .

was for taunting, as reported by the New York Times and ESPN and by the referee himself in his report after the game: http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/wsaz_OJ_lazo.pdf

It looked to me like O.J. said something just before he got the second technical, but on watching the video again I may be wrong. The referee says the second technical was for O.J. walking back into the confrontation after the referee ordered him away.

Without knowing what all was said, it's impossible to know if O.J. was being an ass, or the referee had it in for him, or a combination of both. But I'm trying to imagine this same situation arising around, say, Arron Afflalo, and I just can't.

by vanaaron on Jan 30, 2007 1:11 PM PST up 0 recs

the video isn't showing everything

The video is only focusing on the top half of OJ & the ref but when the ref falls, he appears to have been tripped up and potentially nudged over. He's falling over to his left but his hip is moving over to the right, which makes it seem like something took out his legs from the left side, which is where Mayo was approaching him from. Take a look at this shot: