These days living in and around Los Angeles doesn’t suck. The Dodgers and Angels are in first place in their respective divisions, the Lakers are up 2-1 in the NBA Finals, and the USC Trojans just got a near death penalty on their football program. The penalty includes a 2-year ban on bowl games, 30 lost scholarships, and their 2004 undefeated season will be forfeited along with their wins from 2005.  As a UCLA Bruin loyalist nothing could be sweeter than to see the grim reaper show up on the Trojans doorstep.  Oh, this has nothing to do with OJ Mayo and the basketball program so I will await those disciplines too.

We all knew the hammer from the NCAA was going to fall it was just a question of when.  Reggie Bush’s constant denial of his family receiving in upwards of $300k in gifts from naive agents that ultimately sued him was a huge red flag. To make it worse Reggie ended up on the first day of the trial giving the agents back their $300k and not saying a word which really smelled fishy.  It was about time this out of control program was dinged for improprieties that were happening.  Why it took so long is an anomaly since we are now in the fourth year of the investigation.

I do have sympathy for this year’s freshman class because they now have to go out on the field everyday knowing they will not see any fruits of their hard work for the next two years.  Sure USC will be able to be seen on TV against the Irish, Bruins and others, but even if they go 12-0 they can’t win a NCAA Championship.  Look for UCLA, and potentially new PAC 10 members Texas and Oklahoma to split the 30 recruits that would have gone to USC and gain a competitive advantage over the Trojans going into the proposed realigned conference.

Yes indeed, this is a beautiful day.