LOS ANGELES -- It's been since 2005 that Reggie Bush played at USC.
More than three years since Yahoo! Sports blew the roof off the sucker with the report that Bush accepted cash and benefits worth $300,000 from some would-be agents.
Fifteen months since an investigation of basketball star O.J. Mayo was made public.
Two-and-half months since it was reported the basketball coach slipped Mayo $1,000.
Fifty days since that alleged greaser of the palm, Tim Floyd, resigned.
Admit it, when you heard Thursday that the football program had perhaps committed an NCAA violation in the midst of all this, you were floored.
You had to be. This can't be happening again, can it? The Los Angeles Times reported that Pete Carroll might have violated rules by using former NFL assistant Pete Rodriguez as a consultant.
Carroll, speaking at the Pac-10 media days on Thursday, said the issue was cleared through the compliance department and was not a violation.
That's a relief. Would this be the same compliance department that passed Mayo and his entourage through the hallowed gates of USC? Was that the compliance department that slept while receiver DeWayne Jarrett literally slept -- in an apartment he shared with Matt Leinart that was partially paid for by Leinart's dad?
Or maybe we're being too harsh on the compliance folks as they pass through this mushrooming mess. All they're supposed to do is their jobs -- keep watch on the athletic department and make sure no one breaks NCAA rules.
But they have a boss, too.
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If you want accountability, try asking AD Mike Garrett what's up. You can try, but the closest you'll get to him is a taped statement from early June. That's how Garrett reacted when he was criticized recently for not being proactive in the investigations.
"We have no idea how long these investigations are going to continue," senior vice president for administration Todd Dickey said last month.
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| 'The Reggie Bush stuff is really not topical,' coach Pete Carroll says. (AP) |
Meanwhile, Troy is burning. It is starting to look like Oklahoma in the 80s or Alabama anytime. Message boards are filled with a fundamental question: When is USC going to be punished?
"Has it been only three years?" Carroll said of the Bush investigation. "It's been a long time."
Actually, it seems like it is approaching some sort of record for NCAA investigation longevity. Or maybe there is so much dirt that the association needs time to process all of it. There's still a lawsuit hanging over Bush. The key subjects -- Bush and Mayo -- aren't compelled to talk. What's most likely to happen is the NCAA is waiting for some courtroom or another to spew forth the gory details.
While the clock ticks, there is a wide perception that USC is getting some kind of preferential treatment. There's some messy stuff here. If it is found that Bush competed while ineligible, the Heisman and BCS folks might have to start thinking about taking back some hardware.
"He's a player who is just out there playing the game," Stanford running back Toby Gerhart said at the media days. "OK, he took the money but I wouldn't be like, 'He can't play. We're going to protest this game.'"
Bush is admired by many, not just Gerhart. There is the question of how all this would impact his legacy as well as his coach's. Even after the loss of eight NFL Draft picks Carroll is favored to go to his eighth consecutive BCS bowl. At that rate, you wonder who is going to get the Trojans first, the NCAA's investigative team or a Pac-10 team.
"[Bush took] $300,000 and he feels no ramifications?" Arizona State linebacker Mike Nixon said at the media day. "It's like steroids in baseball. You do it until you get caught."
Nixon knows a little something about accountability, maturity and both sports. He spent four years in the minors and will be 26 when the season kicks off in September.
"I think they should treat it like they would at any other school," he said.
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At the least, compliance has done a horrible job of overseeing football. Garrett is perceived as one of the emptiest suits in big-time college sports. He got lucky in hiring Carroll nine years ago. Mike Bellotti, Dennis Erickson and Mike Riley rejected overtures. Carroll was a third or fourth choice.
It worked, gloriously, but look where Tim Floyd got him. Kevin O'Neill, Floyd's replacement, was praised by Garrett for being "available."
That's going to look good in the press guide. Kevin O'Neill, one of the most available coaches in college basketball, comes to USC to rebuild the tradition ...
When you're stuck in investigative traffic like this, you don't wait for the light to change. You hold a come-to-Jesus meeting with the entire athletic department twice a week reminding everyone to stay clean.
You plead. You scream. You yell. You threaten coaches with their jobs if there is one more transgression. You don't put out videos that are archived on YouTube.
The Rodriguez thing looks to be minor, a secondary violation at worst. A person with knowledge of the NCAA process told CBSSports.com that the severity of any possible violation will be determined, in part, by who knew, who approved it and how long Rodriguez worked with the team.
The same person said, considering USC is already under investigation, this incident could give the NCAA reason to look deeper into the program for a pattern of violations.
"The Reggie Bush stuff is really not topical," Carroll said Thursday. "We don't hear anything about it. We did all our contributing a long, long time ago."
How long as it been for USC? Long enough for the Trojans to lose twice to Oregon State. Long enough for the Pac-10 to change commissioners and still be dealing with it. Larry Scott took over for Tom Hansen at the beginning of the month.
"I'm inheriting something that's in progress," Scott said.
Way in progress.