Trojans Are Not Having Much of a Run Now

It’s so exciting to watch Reggie Bush, his parents, USC, Pete Carroll, Michael Michaels, Mike Ornstein and David Cornwell all trying to cover their butts and scrambling to come up with the same story. I haven’t seen this much action since Watergate, when Nixon and his Cabinet were doing the same thing.

JOHN PAUL WHITE

Moreno Valley

What do you expect from someone who continually wants to do a somersault into the end zone, at the risk of having his team assessed an excessive-celebration penalty? Pete Carroll must not include a “don’t do flips” lecture along with his stern warnings to his players.

GENE MILLER

Huntington Beach

While Stanford, in academic terms, likes to think of itself as the “Harvard of the West,” it has become all too apparent that the USC football program has become the “Miami of the West.”

JIM SCHWEITZER

Brea

As the Reggie Bush “scandal” was thrust in front of me by the indignant sports media, I couldn’t resist heading to my calculator and figuring out that the monetary and other arguable intangible benefits that Bush and his family possibly received were infinitesimal compared with the revenue reaped by the same media outlets covering and airing the BCS championship game.

We should all be grateful to the newspapers and television networks for being such sincere guardians of the sanctity and purity of the student-athlete.

MICHAEL I. MIYAMOTO

Mission Viejo

If Reggie Bush did not sign with anyone involved in leasing a home to his parents, then I don’t think USC or Bush should be punished by the NCAA. I’d rather see the NCAA go after the people who lured the Bush family into the lease agreement.

If, however, there are legitimate violations of NCAA conduct by the Bush family, I would love for the NCAA to give Reggie Bush the opportunity to make amends personally by removing his name from the NFL draft list for the same number of years that the NCAA might punish USC.

ALESSANDRO MACHI

West Hills

So, Reggie Bush thinks that college athletes should be paid. Hey Reggie, does that include college swimmers and tennis players, or just you? What about the $40,000 or so in tuition, room, and board that you get? Would you pay that out of your college football salary? Will you repay your school, as Marcus Allen did as a real pro?

If you didn’t come to college to be exploited as a football player, would you be awaiting big bucks from the NFL as a San Diego high school player? Would you have been admitted to USC at all if you didn’t play?

And, of course, how much has your family made out of your college career?

I’d much rather hear a walk-on with no pro prospects talking about getting paid. He’s probably earned it.

DAVID EGGENSCHWILER

Los Angeles

Oaks Christian quarterback Jimmy Clausen committed to Notre Dame over USC. I guess the Clausen family is comfortable with their current housing situation.

GARY HUNN

Thousand Oaks