Needle Reading: $300,000
A 'Move The Needle' Original Commentary
I was at the Barnes & Noble and stumbled upon the new book about Reggie Bush possibly committing NCAA infractions by taking money and a house for his family while still grinding the gridiron at USC.
Reggie will be turning that Heisman in very shortly I believe. He might want to start filling out the Fedex box slip.
I jumped through the book and read about 80 pages.
Most of it is transcription of numerous phone conversations between the bush family and the thugs who loaned bush $300,00 and signed the lease on the the bush family house. And also a few phone conversations between Reggie Bush himself and these guys. All of the conversations pretty much implicate bush and his family of accepting the money and house and not paying it back when Reggie promised he would if he did not sign with these guys.
Again I did not read the whole book but I did not see much implicating USC. Pete Carroll was alerted of the house and contacted the bush family to ask about it. The book does not say what was said in that conversation to Pete Carroll. I think it leads us to believe that the Bush family told Pete it was all up and up. So, Reggie may lose the trophy and USC still may have to forfeit games and a national championship which is huge. Maybe not lose scholarships. Hard to say.
So, there you go. That is a little bit of coverage on what I read in book.
Amazing how Mario Williams has developed and Vince Young and Bush have regressed. Way too much hype about draft picks I say. The Texans and Charley Casserly got lucky.
Oh, yeah in that book also they talk about Casserly offering bush to be the number one pick. He said he was alarmed by the allegations he heard about bush and called Reggie direct and said they wanted to draft him number one but wanted to know straight up if any of the allegations were true and is this going to be a media problem if they draft him? Bush said it was all false. Casserly says he did not believe Reggie but figured it still might be worth taking him number one and taking the chance. They offered both Williams and Bush the same contract, Bush said no and wanted more money. Mario Williams said yes and so they drafted Mario Williams. Jeez, never enough money for Reggie. Ha-ha.
HERE BELOW IS THE AMAZON.COM BOOK DESCRIPTION
December 10, 2005: Amid a roaring ovation and media crush, with his family standing proudly by his side, Reginald Alfred Bush is named the year's Heisman Trophy winner. With his honest demeanor, effervescent smile and, of course, stunning talent displayed on the fields of the University of Southern California, Reggie Bush is, on that celebratory night, the portrait of a great American sportsman, and the pinnacle of everything the NCAA espouses in its athletes.
What America didn't know about the acclaimed college star was that, in direct violation of NCAA policies, Bush and his family had allegedly taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gifts long before he ever laid his hands on the Heisman.
The rumors first surfaced one week before the 2006 NFL draft: allegations of improper benefits that transformed Bush's final year at USC into a financial windfall. The resulting scandal from such charges could mark one of the darkest chapters in college football history. Now, drawn together for the first time in Tarnished Heisman, the facts are laid bare.
Don Yaeger, a former Sports Illustrated investigative reporter who documented the Duke University lacrosse case in the shattering New York Times bestseller It's Not About the Truth, reveals the heated controversy behind Bush's high-flying rise before turning pro for the New Orleans Saints, going back to his first taste of fame, when Bush landed in the pages of Sports Illustrated and all eyes were watching to see what was next for the USC sophomore. What few eyes saw, however, were the ties between Bush and two San Diego men, cofounders of a fledgling sports agency, who claim to have paid Bush and his family in cash and gifts to ensure his endorsement -- benefits including a vintage car, lavish trips, and an upscale home where Bush's family lived rent-free. Don Yaeger exposes the NCAA-prohibited activity in which Bush allegedly engaged, and also shows how USC and its coaching staff appeared to have turned a blind eye to the increasingly luxurious lifestyle of their star athlete and his family.
With the explosive information revealed in Tarnished Heisman, Bush stands to be ruled ineligible -- a decision that could cost his alma mater the 2004 national championship title, force the forfeit of every game Bush played in after losing his eligibility, and potentially strip Reggie Bush of the shining prize of his college career: the Heisman Trophy.
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