King Kaufman's Sports Daily

The Reggie Bush house scandal: We're supposed to be outraged if he broke an unfair rule, hurting no one and helping his family?

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April 26, 2006 | Do you care where Reggie Bush's family lived for the last year? The only Bush family I care about where they live is George W. and Laura. Twice I've been asked, twice I've said, "Not on Pennsylvania Avenue" and twice they've ignored me.

But the USC tailback's mother, stepfather and brother? I'm supposed to care where they live because they may have broken the NCAA's unfair, outdated rules that dictate that anybody can profit from collegiate athletes' success except the athletes and their families?

No thanks.

Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson broke the story Monday that Bush's parents and brother had lived for the last year in a 3,000-square-foot house in the San Diego area that was owned by Michael Michaels, who was allegedly trying to recruit Bush to sign with his newly formed marketing firm.

Bush eventually signed with another agency. He also didn't sign with the agent Michaels and his partner, Lloyd Lake, were allegedly trying to steer him toward.

NCAA rules prohibit an athlete or his family from gaining "extra benefits" beyond a scholarship arising from their athletic success.

Bush has said his family did nothing wrong, that they simply rented a house, though he declined to discuss their rental arrangement. His attorney said Bush, like any 20-year-old college kid, was unaware of his parents' finances. But the family bolted the house just as this story was breaking over the weekend.

And by the way, Robinson, Yahoo's fine football writer, has done outstanding investigative work on this story. Cheers also to Yahoo's Dan Wetzel, for my money the best sportswriter in America, for writing a column making essentially the same point as this one, that Bush's "crime" is bogus -- a column that argues against the importance of a co-worker's work. And good on Yahoo for running that column.

USC turned the matter over to the Pac-10 to investigate. Coach Pete Carroll and athletic director Mike Garrett have declined to comment until that investigation is complete.

Let's assume for a moment that every allegation in this matter is true. Frankly, I have a hard time believing they're false, and by saying that, I don't think I'm saying anything about the character of Reggie Bush.

Next page: Rational people break irrational rules. And then the NCAA punishes some innocent kids down the line