I'll Take an NCAA Baloney Sandwich, Heavy on the Mayo

Here in the Southland, sports chatterers are fixated on two issues: Kobe's back and O.J. Mayo's wallet.

Yesterday, NCAA president Myles Brand announced they have "new information" on thousands of dollars of gifts allegedly received by the 20-year-old phenom while he was playing for USC.

Wow, O.J. Mayo got some cash from an agent. What a shock. In a million years, I would never have guessed this could happen. (Next thing you're gonna tell me, Amy Winehouse has been busted for possession of crack.)

So begins what will be an endless stream of anonymous accusations, denials, and the obligatory NCAA "investigation" that will conclude around the time Mayo qualifies for Social Security.

To me, it's not whether Mayo did or didn't take money from an agent. The real issue: why the hell can't he?

The NCAA's rationale:

Such payment is not allowed because it would be compensation based upon athletic skill and preferential benefit not available to the general student population.

C'mon, let's get real.

The college I attended had students who came from some of the wealthiest families in the nation. These kids drove shiny new Porsche's, had off-campus apartments that could have been featured in Architectural Digest, jetted off to St. Johns for long weekends on Daddy's Gulfstream, and had tutors helping them with assignments (ie., writing their papers).

Meanwhile, I was stuck in a four-person Ikea-furnished dorm room, riding to my two part-time jobs on a Schwinn cruiser, hitching home to Chicago for spring break and spending night after night in the library (named after the grandfather of one of my fellow students), forced to plagiarize without help from anyone.

It served as a constant reminder that some students were more equal than others.

USC is similarly packed with the progeny of Southern California's business and political elite. These Muffys and Juniors receive preferential treatment, perks not available to the general student population, based solely on heredity.

Yet a college athlete from modest means is disallowed those same privileges when he has an actual marketable skill? What's wrong with this picture?

And speaking of the general student population, they're free to take jobs, market and sell their skills to the highest bidder, be courted by prospective employers. Some in the entertainment industry even have agents.

But that's not true for the student-athlete basketball player. He's caught in a Catch-22. He can't play in the NBA, so he has to go college. Then, when he gets there, the college owns his ass. Not only is he prevented from getting gifts or spending money, he's often not allowed to work a part time job. Hell, he can't even get free tickets to see a basketball game.

In exchange for his scholarship, the student-athlete becomes an indentured servant to his school and the NCAA program that's raking in millions and millions of dollars off his talent.

All of which means it's okay for the university and the NCAA to receive compensation based on a student's athletic skills (skills "not available to the general student population"), just don't let that student-athlete near any of that green cuz it "wouldn't be fair" to other students. Oh yeah, and it would besmirch the integrity of these esteemed institutions of higher learning!

What utter hypocrisy.

Everyone at USC and the NCAA knew OJ Mayo was a "one and done": he made that crystal clear to coach Tim Floyd in their very first conversation. He was punching the collegiate clock. So, how exactly does it harm USC or the NCAA for Mayo to be in discussions with anyone he chooses about his future? How does it harm the college or the NCAA for him to accept gifts or receive favors? Why shouldn't he be allowed to hire an agent? This is his career, his future, we're talking about.

Besides, we've seen enough to know it's futile to try to stop it. If there is a talented pro-bound athlete in college, you know he or she is talking to a prospective agent right now, discussing deals, getting favors, a little "walking around" money. What the hell was USC supposed to do, hire the Pinkerton Agency to track Mayo's every trip to the men's room?

The real answer lurks Jungian-deep in a comment NCAA president Brand made about the alleged violations:

"This is not acceptable behavior and on occasion, it's illegal. You get thrown in jail if you rob a bank, but people keep robbing banks."

And therein lies the truth: These agents tried to cut to the front of the line ahead of USC and the NCAA at the First National Bank of O.J. Mayo. And for that, sirs, there will be blood.

In my view, these kids owe their schools and the NCAA one thing only in exchange for their scholarship: a promise to play their best during the time they are matriculating. Nothing more, nothing less.

The NCAA should pull itself off the star student-athlete teat long enough to admit that truth and write rules that give these young adults the economic freedom and respect they deserve.

Anything else is unfair, discriminatory and just plain un-American.