An A-PARENT Problem in College

LaMar Griffin didn't play college football at U.S.C. He didn't even attend U.S.C. However, LaMar Griffin is one of the main reasons the U.S.C. Trojans are sitting on probation with a two-year bowl ban and a loss of 30 football scholarships.

Who is LaMar Griffin? Reggie Bush's stepfather.

It's been well documented by now that Reggie's stepfather and mother, Denise Griffin lived in a house in San Diego registered to a 'wanna-be' sports marketer and agent. This was one of many red flags to anybody interested in bringing down the U.S.C. football program (namely Yahoo!Sports, the NCAA, the UCLA Bruin mascot etc...).

Flash forward to 2010. Cecil Newton is the man's name. Father to Cam Newton is his game. Reports and allegations have been all over the news the past week claiming Cecil Newton along with another 'wanna-be' agent began to market the services of his son to various schools in the SEC Conference.

Is it just me or is the common theme in these two stories, poor parental values? I understand not everyone is raised in the perfect environment. However, even when the economic or social climate is not favorable, the one thing these kids should be able to lean on in hard times is parental guidance and morals from a mother, a father, a step dad or a grandmother.

Cam Newton and Reggie Bush are elite athletes. Unfortunately with elite status comes attention and dollar signs. All of a sudden you become more than just a football player, you become a commodity. A revenue producer. You now have leverage. The question is what do you do with that leverage? There are plenty of schools and agents that have a promise and a plan. So what is an 18 to 22 year old to do now? Logic would dictate that you turn to your parents for moral support and guidance. "Moral?" Sounds rather ironic in these two cases.

How would things be different if Lamar Griffin and Denise Griffin had just said to Reggie, "son, I don't think we should take this man's money. I think as a family we can wait until you declare for the NFL. What's another 12 months?" Or how about, "Reggie, this isn't right. You are putting the USC program in jeopardy if wind of these payments get out." Where was the voice of reason on Reggie's right shoulder, while the devil had his ear on the left?

The same could be said for Cam Newton's father. Cecil Newton could have squashed all these potential problems with five simple words, "We Aren't Interested In Money."

Whether you are a student-athlete, a Heisman candidate or just a regular kid taking classes on campus, you arrive day one with the morals instilled from your home life. Reggie Bush and Cam Newton became larger than life stars. They became targets by people looking to make money off their success. It's just sad that those people were their parents...

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The Cost of Change

Sports fan are fickle by nature. We love to love and love to hate, and that's just in the first half of a ballgame. The minute players stop performing, we have one of two options: blame the player or blame the guy coaching the player. Typically player blame is only good for a game or two. After that, it has to be the coach, and we demand change.

Fans love to launch websites that start with http://www.fire---------.com/. It's therapeutic. Somehow we feel like we are part of the process in getting a coach fired. We post angry comments on team message boards with the hopes of rallying a fan base. Some of us even send email after email to local sports talk radio hosts hoping their complaints make it over the airwaves. (Now who would do such a thing like that??)

We must ask ourselves as fans - do we think owners or athletic directors read those boards? Do they listen to those radio stations? Perhaps some might, but more often than not, firings become financial decisions. How much will it cost them to fire this coach? How much will it cost them to get a new guy in here? Will I lose my fan base if change isn't made? Afterall, if fans get so angry that change isn't made and don't show up and spend money, it can cost you down the road (see Dallas Cowboys).

In the Atlanta area alone there are plenty of case studies. Paul Hewitt at Georgia Tech (better known as Teflon Don, once details of his contract were exposed), can't get fired because his contract has a unique clause that automatically renews him for 6-years...every year! If the school wants to dump him, they will have to pay him 6-years worth of salary at $1.35 million per year! So basically Tech fans are stuck without change.

On the pro level, the Atlanta Hawks decided to fill their recent coaching vacancy by shopping at WalMart where they found Larry Drew on sale for about $1.2 Million. This makes him the lowest paid coach in the NBA. Good news for Hawks fans, it's only a 2-year deal and if they want to make a change, it's an easier pill to swallow than coach Hewitt's at GA Tech.

Over in Athens, Georgia, Bulldog fans don't know what to do with themselves. They aren't happy with Mark Richt...of late, but unless they know they can land a 'flavor of the month' replacement, they don't want to take a chance. Or it could just be the fact that the athletic department would have to stroke Richt a check for $5 million to make a change.

Just last week we saw across this great nation in the midterm elections, it's human nature to want change. When things don't feel good we expect it. We demand change. How did the GOP accomplish this change? Was it in the message or in the money?

They say sports often mirrors society. It's clear that change is en vogue right now. Coaches are no different then congressmen or senators. If we want change, it's going to cost us!

Goodbye Bobby

I don't know the man, but I wish I did. I've never met him before, but I wish I had. Bobby Cox, the legendary manager of the Atlanta Braves was ushered off into retirement Monday night as the Braves fell to the San Francisco Giants, losing the series 3-1.

Bobby Cox was the like the grandfather of a city. Turning on a Braves game and seeing Bobby sitting in the dugout or leaning against that rail yelling, "c'mon kid" at every one of his players became a rite of passage every Spring. It brought us a sense of comfort. The world was on it's axis. Bobby in that dugout was as much a part of the fabric of Atlanta as Lenox Mall and the Christmas Tree. Piedmont Park and the Dogwood Festival. The Varsity and hotdogs.

When Spring Training began for Braves fans there was always hope - hope that was generated from a sense of stability. That's what Bobby Cox did for this organization...he brought stability. Fitting that as Turner Field said it's goodbye to Bobby Monday night, they played a tribute video with the song, "Like A Rock" by Bob Seger. Sure, some players changed every year, trades were made in the middle of pennant runs, but the one constant was Bobby. Yeah, fans had their opinions on chess moves he made or didn't make in postseason games over the years, but Bobby survived the criticism and kept coming back year after year. It was all he knew. He was going to walk away on his own terms.

Which brings us to Monday Night. Bobby took the podium for one last time after the game and as expected he got a little emotional when talking about addressing his players after the loss. He had to bite his bottom lip to hold back the tears. Bobby was visibly embarrassed. As he put it, "a grown man shouldn't do this..." It's no surprise the one topic which struck an emotional chord with Bobby was having to talk about his guys. The ultimate "player's manager" 'til the end.

When Opening Day arrives next Spring, it will feel strange to players and fans alike to not see Bobby in that dugout. When the umpire shouts, "play ball" you can bet there will be a grandfather sitting in his house, probably with his grandkids, watching the game, biting his bottom lip...

Thoughts From Saturday's Couch...

I still contend, until college football has a playoff system, Saturdays will continue to have more storylines than Sundays. The games right now mean a whole lot more in September/October then they do in the NFL.

Thanks to the two televisions , and some fast thumb action on the remotes, I had the chance to watch and digest a lot of games this past Saturday. Here are some random thoughts:

It's blasphemy to say this, and most sportswriters down South would certainly never admit it, but has anybody noticed the S.E.C. is rather weak this year? Looks to me like a one trick pony named Roll Tide. There is some really bad football being played in this conference, primarily in the S.E.C. East. Who is having a rougher Sunday morning, Mark Richt, Urban Meyer or Derek Dooley?

Just when you thought losing to Miss.State was rock bottom for Georgia, they dug a little deeper and found there is still room to fall. Losing at Colorado registered pretty loudly on the Mark 'Richter Scale' with Bulldog alumni! I'm not even sure beating the Gators this year would be considered a quality win. Anybody seen their offense lately? Talk about an un-Godly (Tebow reference) performance against Alabama!

As for what's going on in Knoxville...well, Derek Dooley went from 'signature win' to 'I can't believe our coach had 13 guys on the freakin field! Lane Kiffin isn't that dumb!' Rather ironic Les Miles is in charge of this Tiger program because that dude has 9 lives like a cat! LSU may be undefeated right now, but they have certainly failed 'the eye test'. They have not looked good, primarily because their quarterback play has been so mediocre.

It's clear that Alabama is going to win the SEC West and take on some mediocre team from the SEC East and clean their clock at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Finally, who is the genius at ABC that felt the urge to jam a Notre Dame/Boston College game down our throats on the East Coast? I understand the power of the Irish Catholic church, but I heard from Rick Sanchez at CNN, Jews run the networks anyway! So what gives?!? (I kid because I can...) The entire East Coast missed the most exciting game of the night, a battle of two top ten teams: Stanford vs. Oregon. Ask an SEC fan who LaMichael James is and you'll get a blank stare. He's the 5-9, 185 pound running back that ripped off 257 yards and 3 TD's vs. Stanford on Saturday. He's the guy who is now in the Heisman mix with Michigan's Denard Robinson. (Which by the way, do yourself a favor and set aside time to watch Denard...it's like Reggie bush all over again. I wonder if his parents have a mansion in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan?)

That's all for now....stay tuned next week when I analyze whether or not Nick Saban has the ability to smile.....

Too Unscripted for Fairy Tale Endings

Sports - it's the best unscripted reality show on television. Regardless of where you live or where you're from, you cling to a team or two and hope for a fairy tale ending each season. However, the joy we experience from it's unpredictability can also provide us pain and anguish.



Here in Atlanta, Braves skipper Bobby Cox is managing his team for one final week. After this season he will do something he hasn't done in over 30 years, leave the game of baseball.


The final chapter of this fairy tale began in early Spring and continued throughout most of the summer. It has been quite the page turner with an old grizzled veteran character going down (Chipper Jones) halfway through the story and minor characters stepping up to become grand slam heroes at times (Brooks Conrad and David Ross).

This final chapter also had it's fair share of villains. Some appeared to be harmless on the exterior (Washington Nationals, Florida Marlins), but the minute the Braves let their guard down, they were tomahawk chopped right between the eyes, left for dead, and looking up at first place in the division. Like any good story, the biggest, baddest villain of them all (the Phillies) usually finds himself in a showdown with the main character in the final scene. This will be the case Friday, Saturday and Sunday when the division nemesis comes to Atlanta with intentions on destroying any hopes of a happy ending for these Braves.


In an ideal world we would skip ahead these final six pages (games) to sneak a peak at how this will all end. Will there be sadness or jubilation? Ahh, but in this cruel world of sports, we all know that's not possible. Those final six pages have yet to be written. The only guarantee we have right now is that when the last page is turned and we close this book for good, it's main character, Bobby Cox, will ride off into the sunset. We can only hope he lives happily ever after....

The Great American GiveBack

So Reggie Bush decided to step up and give back his Heisman Trophy before that obscure, random group I wrote about in my last column (The Heisman Trust) took it from him.

While we are in the giving mood, I have a few suggestions:

In Sports Illustrated issue dated April 1st, 1985, Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier of Nebraska admitted he had signed with an agent and accepted money before the 1984 Orange Bowl game, a violation of NCAA rules. I want Mike Rozier to give back his Heisman Trophy.

Roger Clemens cheated...he took steroids and lied to congress. Those are facts. So here's what I want: I want the New York Yankees to lose their World Series titles in 1999 and 2000. Roger Clemens pitched in both of those series. I want them to give those trophies back. I want Roger Clemens to personally give back all seven of Cy Young Awards.

Mark McGuire cheated...he took steroids and lied to congress. I want Mark McGuire to give back his AL Rookie of the Year Award. I want the Oakland A's to give back their 1989 World Series trophy. Heck, not only did they beat the San Francisco Giants with McGuire, but they had another cheater in Jose Canseco.

Alex Rodriguez took performance enhancing drugs. He signed a $252 million contract in the prime of his steroid-using career. I want him to give some of that money back.

October 8th, 1988 former Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett was arrested for driving under the influence -- well, that doesn't seem to live up to the moral standards of the snooty Heisman Trust, gosh darnit, I want him to give his award back.

Back in 2000, former Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims sold his trophy to cover a multitude of debts and to pay about $32,000 in back child support. I want him to.......wait, nevermind, he doesn't even own it anymore.

My point is all over the world of sports there are players who broke the rules or cheated that are sitting at home with a mantle full of awards. There are teams that benefited from those players that won championships that have their trophies proudly displayed. Yet, Reggie Bush seems to be the only one that has been "forced" to give his prize back. Why?

Can We Trust The 'Trust'?

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.