SHOULD REGGIE BUSH BE STRIPPED

Reggie Bush is said to have taken money during his Heisman trophy winning season at the University of Southern California and for that, the organization that issued the award is considering taking it back. It sounds like an open and shut case doesn’t it. Guy breaks a rule and guy gets punished for it. The only problem is that the simple equation that is justice and the metering out of consequence for infraction is not as black and white as we conveniently make it.

The entire 2010-2011 USC Trojan football team has been sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for Bush’s indiscretion. So now not only is the said party penalized but an entire athletic entity. What are we prudes prone to do. We book our fair on the finger-pointing express saying that all these “Bush-like” athletes are selfish, brutish, hedonistic narcissists. Hmmm…the logic seems malformed. In reasoning there is such a thing as either-or fallacy. That’s when someone tries to convince you of an outcome based on a limited number of choices. For instance, I could ask you, “Are you a fan of futbol (soccer) or Cricket,” as if to suggest that these are your only options. The truth is, you may dislike both and prefer baseball. Reggie Bush is a convenient and expendable example. We the public have been asked, “Should Reggie Bush be stripped of his Heisman and taught a big fat lesson or not? Either he’s guilty or he’s not,” we’re told. But the reasoning is fallacious because this problem of athletes violating NCAA guidelines is as pervasive as it is grievous. And nothing goes viral without the help of multiple hosts to spread it.

Bush is a marquee National Football League (NFL) player and perhaps is viewed as the rich, arrogant athlete who left a wake and now makes millions. But were we to take a trip back to our own adolescence I’m sure we’d find things blog worthy but hardly flattering. Here comes what sounds like excuses: YOUTHFUL INDISCRETION, POVERTY, “THE SYSTEM” OF EXPLOITATION, ETC. And some of you reading go, “YADA, YADA, YADA.” But if you’ve never been a member of the underrepresented group that constitutes most of American Football how can you discount the alleged excuses? Furthermore, and more importantly, how can the media and former players fall for the ruse of over simplification of a very complex issue. If Reggie Bush’s Heisman trophy is stripped on account of a technicality, there can be no argument. They have him dead to rights. But truth be told, we ought to make a stink about how systems of society create deprivation, entitlement and enabling double standards.

Bush is not a phenomenon and shouldn’t be treated as one. If you saw him play that year, you know that no trophy is needed to establish that he was head and shoulders above any college player that year. He dominated. Perspective is what makes an issue like this one fodder for debate. Some are sympathetic to the “plight” of the young, talented athlete with one shot at lucrative gain while others are staunch keepers of the rule book. Everybody believes in their position too, to the extent of proclaiming their substantiated conclusions. The “hall monitors” of the world don’t care if you were in the halls after the bell rang because you vomited after third period. And the guy who takes money from an agent, trustee, booster, etc. doesn’t see it as wrong because somewhere along the line, those generous persons made it seem acceptable. By the way, I don’t see anybody stepping up saying, “Don’t take Reggie’s Heisman, I gave him the money.” Where are the USC Alumni turned surrogate dads? Where’s their character when the system puts the screws to a guy who broke a rule with their prompting? Where are the NCAA Division I athletic administrations and the NCAA brass itself? Why haven’t the governors of this environment admitting some culpability? Even Billy Graham admitted at one point in his life that he spent too much time doing traveling ministry to the extent that it harmed his marriage and family. Where are the tentacles of NCAA sports into the communities from which they draw these Heisman winners? Where is the vested interest in personhood, development, mentoring and discipling? You might say, “It isn’t the NCAA’s job to mold young men and women. That’s the job of mothers and fathers.” In reasoning we call that a Red Herring fallacy. The highest level of college sports demands integrity. Then it should stop talking about it and be about it. I don’t mind playing by rules but if we’re going to play, everybody should have some pads on and not just #5.