Like a lot of stuff on the site here lately, this was supposed to go up at a different time than it is, earlier this morning to be precise. Then all heck broke loose. Again. So while it's no longer as timely as I had hoped, the line about Neuheisel will see the light of day no matter what. It's that important to me.
As you've probably heard by now, the NCAA just got through putting one on the University of Southern California that soap and water won't wash off. We now know that the delay was not one of those "yawn, beauracrats, long lunch" delays, but more a "Hey Herb, when are the starving jackals getting here? We need those puppies to stand next to the locusts and lepers at the USC press conference" kind of pause.
Sure the gang in Indianapolis hit the Trogans where it hurts, with a two year bowl ban that will sap some funds from the budget. But the one that got my attention was this line:
USC is also expected to face probation and possible limits on football recruiting contacts after the NCAA's four-year investigation into the school.
Now ask yourself, what do you think the phrase "limited recruiting contacts" means to Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron? I assume that Coach Orgeron, who is known for having some boundaries issues on the recruiting front, is going to require some education (and monitoring) on this one.
Dawg Sports tried to reach Pete Carroll for comment, but his assistant reported that he's in a very important windsurfing meeting and then pulled the old "What? I can't hear you. You're breaking up!" trick before the line went dead. We recognized it because Rick Neuheisel's been calling us since 2 a.m. Pacific Time to ask if we've "heard the good news" and we can only dodge his calls for so long, so we're considering pulling the same stunt. At first I thought he was a really enthusiastic yet insomniac missionary, but when he started saying some really callous things about Pete Carroll's terrier "Jacked Up Russell" we finally put two and two together and recognized the voice.
So who thinks Texas's road to the Pac-16 South crown in 2012 just got a little easier?