Sportsmanship

The recent Stanford/USC game was a classic. Both teams struggled for almost four hours and the game was finally decided (?) in the third overtime.

As a former Stanford player, I was impressed by the effort by both teams. It was, I thought, and example of the best in college football.

Then the demon in USC football stepped up. USC in on probation for the Bush transgressions of five years ago. The school had to forfeit all games, give up a BCS Championship, and Bush had to turn in his Heisman Trophy. There was talk of the dealth penalty by the NCAA, the violations were that egregious.

This year's team was adversely affected, no post-season play, no league championship, and several scholarships were taken away. Moreover, while on probation, any player can transfer to another school with no penalty.

This is pretty serious stuff by any measure.

So, what does the head coach do after the game, he whines about the officiating! Meanwhile, during the game, some of the USC players, not all, are flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, taunting, and a head shot that incapacitated a Stanford standout player. In short, some (not all) of the USC players acted like street thugs.

And what did the head coach do, he whined about the officiating. He whined, in fact, so much, that he was fined by the PAC-12, $10,000, and a player was suspended for a half in the next game.

Any of the good feelings anyone had about USC's effort in the game were quickly lost in the post-game controversy. USC has an image problem to be sure, but their coach surely doesn't act like it.

The old arrogance of "we are SC" was in evidence; which means USC hasn't apparently learned a thing.

Football is a game. When I was at Stanford, in my three years on the Varsity, we lost my Sophomore year fairly close, were blown out my Junior year, and lost on a last minute field goal my senior year to USC. Those were the days of O.J. Simpson, who apparently, according to locker room rumors, was collecting money from alumni while he was playing. The USC teams then were dominant, competing for the mythical national championship every year.

When we played them we were competing against players who rarely attended class, were basically semi-professionals, with future doctors, teachers and lawyers. USC a couple years after I graduated were cited by the NCAA for sending players during the summer to make up units to Junior Colleges that were miles apart, for morning classes! This was technically impossible; they cheated and got caught.

We competed to be sure, gave them all we had, but usually lost.

But hardly any of them graduated. Most, especially minority players, wound up back in their poor neighborhoods, nowhere.

Stanford ex-players did something. After over forty years I can attest to that. Many of the USC players did nothing.

Oh sure, O.J. did something; he was all NFL and in the Hall of Fame. But then...?

My point is USC still has the same old problem. The arrogance is still there. The expediency is still there. And they are losing. The NCAA by the way is still there as well.

They just do not get it.