Ever heard of Sanford Wurmfeld? William Dockery? No? And you call yourself a college football fan?! Don't feel bad, I've never heard of them either, however, apparently they are two members of the 8-member Heisman Trust Board, and they will decide if Reggie Bush deserves to lose his Heisman. Who are the other six members on this board? Good luck finding that out. I spent 30 minutes on Google trying to track down their names. Heisman.com didn't list any of the names either. Why not? I would like to know who makes up this Trust and what their background is in the sport of college football. Somebody call Oliver Stone!
I invite you all to Google Sanford Wurmfeld. You will quickly learn that this member of the Heisman Trust is a New York City abstract painter and a chairman of the art department at Hunter College. He will decide if Reggie Bush should lose his Heisman.
William Dockery? He's a New York City lawyer. He doesn't have a website. Not really sure what firm he works for either. His business address is the same as the Heisman Trust's website. So what type of law is he exactly practicing? Perhaps he is hired by past Heisman Trophy winners to fight for their rights to better seats at the Downtown Athletic Club once a year. Perhaps he just decides whether Reggie Bush should lose his Heisman.
I'm not so sure I like the idea of some artsy-fartsy painter, a lawyer without a practice, and six other mysterious members in New York City deciding whether or not Reggie Bush keeps his Heisman, which yes, went to the best player in college football that year. I would rather see the Trust hand this over to a vote by all the previous winners. If guys like Eddie George, Troy Smith, Tony Dorsett, Ty Detmer and Jason White feel Reggie still deserves to lose his Heisman, than I think most college football fans would understand and accept the final vote. But please don't tell me some abstract artist named Wurmfeld is going to have a say in this decision.
When is enough a enough? Reggie Bush isn't welcome on USC's campus or allowed to attend a USC game. USC has basically wiped clean any proof that he ever existed. The one thing that no one can take away from him is the season he had on the field in 2005. He was the best player in college football. That will always exist....even if members of the Heisman Trust say otherwise.
I'm a bit torn on this topic. On one hand, hindsight shows Reggie Bush should not have been on any field in 2005, so he broke the rules and should lose his trophy. On the other hand, he was on the field and proved he was the best player in the game. Now if a player was determined to have taken a PED that gave them an advantage on the field, than without a doubt they deserve to lose their statistics, awards and any other recognition they received.
ReplyDeleteIn this case of improper off field benefits I feel that once the games are played you can't turn back the clock. Nothing that Bush gained gave him an advantage between the sidelines. Yes, he cheated, but it didn't help him blaze through the Pac-10 or cut off from the sideline against Fresno St. As a football fan I'm glad we got to see his gifts on the field before we found out about his gifts off the field.
One of the reasons I am such a huge fan of college athletics is because of the turnover of players. I root for my program, my university and my team. The personality and tradition of a program is much less volatile and more resilient than any single player will ever be. I'm sure USC will bounce back quickly and you'll be there throughout the process.
The unfortunate result of NCAA violations involving individual athletes is often that a school ends up being punished while the individual offender moves on. I'm not sure there will ever be a way to change that, but in this case, I say let Reggie keep his Heisman. And if it’s any consolation just know that every time he looks at it will be a reminder of his tarnished legacy and what he did to his alma mater. As far as I'm concerned that Heisman is his to keep and will be a telltale heart in his trophy case.
Your a retard!
DeleteGood commentary Brad! I still feel like USC was used to make an example to other schools. Since the USC sanctions came down, there have probably 10 other schools that had violations. Reggie didn't cheat...he took money from an agent. Cheating is having your nanny write papers for your football players to pass a class (See Butch Davis).
ReplyDeleteHa Ha. I was just on the same googling quest that you are on. I did find the complete list of eight trustees on the Heisman website.
ReplyDeleteHere's the list and what I could learn about their alma maters:
William J. Dockery, President – Belmont Abbey College (NC) undergrad, UNC Law School
Michael J. Comerford – Cornell undergrad, Georgetown Law School
James E. Corcoran - Georgetown
Anne F. Donahue – Providence College undergrad, NYU MBA
N. Richard Kalikow – Georgia Tech
Brian D. Obergfell – Boston University undergrad, New York Law School
Carol A. Pisano – SUNY undergrad, Hofstra Law School
Sanford Wurmfeld – abstract artist, Hunter College professor