Road to Accountability Should Go Through Courts

GoneGator    Sports     Pac 10, Reggie Bush, USC

The NCAA’s recent punishment of Southern Cal for wrongdoing by athletes long gone has renewed the accountability dilemma: How can an athlete who caused their problems escape punishment while the school in its wake suffers?

In USC’s case, it is severing ties with pariah tailback Reggie Bush and purging him from its history, going so far as to send his Heisman Trophy back to the Downtown Athletic Club.

This is symbolic punishment. And sure, it might hurt Bush’s feelings. But it’s not accountability.

Pundits are screaming that this is the latest proof of a broken system. The NCAA is powerless to go after a long-departed athlete. The school is its only possible target.

Not so for USC, if it would consider my option: litigation.

Maybe I’m naive, but my gut tells me that if anything might make athletes tempted by premature riches think twice, it is the threat of someone grabbing for their wallet down the road.

That’s why I believe USC and the Pac 10 Conference should join forces and make the bold move of suing Bush for lost revenue (potentially millions of dollars thanks to the NCAA’s two-year bowl ban) and other damages.

(Yes, I realize basketball forward O.J. Mayo also played a major role in USC’s punishment, but let’s focus on Bush and his actions, which will have a far longer lasting impact on Trojans football.)

Admittedly, the Trojans were probably complicit in this case. The former coaching staff’s tendency to turn a blind eye to unsavory outside influences has been well documented. But USC, like every other major college athletic department, has extensive education programs in place to ensure athletes are well-informed about NCAA rules against accepting improper gifts and other favors. And having made my living for many years covering a major college athletic program, I know it’s impossible for a school to monitor its athletes 24/7.

But if USC successfully sued Bush for damages, that certainly would send a message that would resonate in college locker rooms across the nation. Wouldn’t it?

Or are superstar college athletes too narcissistic to even care?

What do you think?

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