The Trojan Times regular sports section never really bothered to cover the scandals while they were unfolding. It looks like the paper is trying hard to salvage what little is left of its reputation by finally trying to get the record right wrt to most scandalous program in the history of college athletics. The subheader of the LAT Magazine piece entitled "the Fall of Troy" reads:
With USC FOOTBALL crippled, fans need to hear the truth: The school's supreme arrogance cemented its massive NCAA sanctions.
Well that's at least partially true. The part many of us would quibble with is labeling the sanctions as "massive." Arguably the NCAA could have been lot harsher for reasons detailed number of times here on BN. Nothing in the article is going to be shocking to anyone here on BN.
Still its amusing to read passages like this:
A lot, apparently. In fact, when it comes to an overall response, USC "provided a textbook case of what you do not want to do," said Michael Buckner, a Florida-based attorney and investigator who also works on NCAA cases.
• Within USC’s athletics department, a key early media report that alleged star tailback Reggie Bush had a relationship with an agent was considered "sensationalistic," the NCAA stated. Even limited inquiries were not undertaken.
• School officials waited more than two years after accusations surfaced to contact would-be sports marketer Lloyd Lake, who said he had given Bush cash and other perks while Bush played at USC.
• Instead of refuting Lake’s evidence, USC painted him—perhaps the key figure in this case—as a convicted felon who couldn’t be trusted.
The list of mistakes continues, from not imposing sanctions on the football program to belatedly cutting ties with those involved, such as Garrett. But one area that made USC stand out from almost all other schools that have faced allegations of scandal was its astonishing silence from the start.
Like I said none of it's news to anyone here but it is still pretty amusing to read at least one tiny section of Southern Cal's house organ aka as the LA Times finally waking up to the reality of all the cheating that has been gone on at the "school" over there. You can read the whole piece here.
GO BRUINS.