Posted on 09/14/2006 6:24:52 PM PDT by SmoothTalker
"An eight-month Yahoo! Sports investigation has revealed that Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush and his family appear to have accepted financial benefits worth more than $100,000 from marketing agents while Bush was playing at the University of Southern California."
" The benefits, which could lead to NCAA sanctions for USC and retroactively cost Bush his college eligibility and Heisman, were supplied by two groups attempting to woo Bush as a client. Current Bush marketing agent Mike Ornstein and one of Ornstein's employees were involved. So were Michael Michaels and Lloyd Lake, who attempted to launch an agency called New Era Sports & Entertainment, pursuing Bush as their first client."
The Benifits Include:
"$595.20 in round-trip airfare from San Diego to Oakland in November 2005 for Bush's stepfather, LaMar Griffin, his mother, Denise Griffin and younger brother to attend the USC-California game at Berkeley. The fees were charged to the credit card of Jamie Fritz, an employee of Ornstein. The document detailing the charges was provided by Lee Pfeifer, an estranged business associate of Ornstein's.
$1,574.86 for a stay by Bush at the Manchester Hyatt in San Diego from March 4-6, 2005, paid for by Michaels, according to a hotel document, a hotel employee and a source.
Approximately $13,000 to Bush from New Era to purchase and modify a car, three sources said.
$54,000 in rent-free living for a year at Michaels' $757,500 home in Spring Valley, Calif., according to Michaels and San Diego attorney Brian Watkins.
Also from previous Yahoo! reports, $28,000 from Michaels to help Bush's family settle pre-existing debt,
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
That's going to hurt. He'll have to enroll as freshman next year.
Here in the Bible Belt, we turn ourselves in and dump our quarterback over very small amounts of payments for work.
Boomer Sooner!
Wonder if USC is going to get banned from Bowl Games if this is true????
How exactly is it that they were stupid? Bush is now making the millions you mention, he won the heisman (whether it get's taken or not), and he won two national chamopionships with the team. He nor his family care now what happens to USC. Nope, not stupid, sly as a fox.
Sure you do.
If some of the other rumors are true, access of agents to sidelines of games and the locker room, one can only wonder how deep this all goes. This could end up being one of the biggest scandals in a long time in college football.
They already are!!! Did your get free ride at college?
College FB and BB players should be paid anyway. They bring millions into the schools.
Pray for W and Our Troops
You believe this...no...of course u dont
Only the naive, but to be fair if this had happened at an SEC, ACC or BIG 12 school the program would face huge sanctions - probably around 20 scholarships.
In this case, USC will say that they didn't know (which is mostly likely the case) and the NCAA will say "oh well, no harm no foul - good work guys" and that will be the end of it.
Hummer H3.
100% agree, but unfortunately the NCAA throws programs in the SEC, ACC and Big-12 under the bus for situations like this.
H3? not for 13K unless it was "hot"
That's different.
It'll be interesting to see if the darling of college football will get hosed.
I was wondering the same thing. Maybe a booster sold him something below cost or he got the rest of the money elsewhere?
Anybody know what he was driving then?
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