I am about to completely rip Tim Floyd and the USC program and exalt UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland

I am about to completely rip Tim Floyd and the USC program and exalt UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland.If you don\u2019t like it, make yourself useful and monitor whether Kirk Herbstreit has stopped being a tool while I write the rest of this piece.\nTo see ESPN go after O.J. Mayo is kinda sad.The dude doesn\u2019t exactly come from a privileged background.I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a stretch to say that only an idiot wouldn\u2019t grab that kind of cash when it\u2019s right in front of him.Yet, this isn\u2019t about O.J Mayo. This is about Tim Floyd.\nFloyd is going to pull the \u201cNO WAY! O.J. WAS TAKING MONEY? I HAD NO FRIGGIN\u2019 CLUE!\u201d card and USC might get away with it. Regardless, Tim Floyd knew exactly what he was dealing with from the moment a \u201crepresentative\u201d of O.J.

Mayo spoke with Tim Floyd during Mayo\u2019s recruitment.When Floyd asked for Mayo\u2019s number, the \u201crepresentative\u201d said O.J. doesn\u2019t give out his number\u2026apparently even to his prospective future coaches.\n\u201cO J wanted me to come here today,\u201d the man told Floyd. \u201cHe wanted me to figure out who you are.\u201d\nFloyd was desperate enough to play along. His starting point guard, Ryan Francis, had been murdered two months earlier The backup, Gabe Pruitt, was in academic trouble. The third-stringer, a walk-on, was leaving college.\n\u201cWhy aren\u2019t you at Arizona or Connecticut?\u201d Floyd recalled asking.\nThe man explained that Mayo wanted to market himself before going to the NBA, and that Los Angeles would give him the best possible platform.\n\u201cThen why aren\u2019t you at UCLA?\u201d Floyd asked.\nThe man shook his head UCLA had already won 11 national championships It had already produced many NBA stars.

Mayo wanted to be a pioneer for a new era.\n\u201cLet me call him,\u201d Floyd said.\nThe man shook his head again \u201cO J doesn\u2019t give out his cell,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019ll call you.\u201d\nThat \u201crepresentative\u201d was Ronald Guillory, the center of the firestorm himself Floyd knew exactly what he was getting into If you play with matches, Tim, you get burned. That little excerpt should have been warning enough.\nNow some of you are saying, \u201cWait\u2026you are telling me Ben Howland wouldn\u2019t talk to O.J Mayo, the No. 1 recruit in the country by many recruiting services, in a similar situation?\u201d\nThat\u2019s exactly what I am telling you. If a guy came into Ben Howland\u2019s office and said \u201cI\u2019m O.J.\u2019s representative, and he wants me to feel you out,\u201d Howland would personally kick his ass out the door.\nYou see, Ben Howland doesn\u2019t do the play with fire thing.The top recruit in the class of 2009, Renardo Sidney, has made it pretty unequivocal that he wants to go to UCLA. And UCLA has not offered him.\nWhy? Because there are questions about his attitude, personality, and me-first demeanor\u2026the same type of traits that would influence players to take cash in the first place.\nThere was some talk from inside Morgan Center (not confirmed) that highly regarded recruit Luke Babbitt was getting a little too close to Ohio State boosters.After he reneged on his commitment to OSU, Howland would not take him, not caring if he was, in fact, a five-star recruit.\nHowland doesn\u2019t play with matches.He believes in the sanctity of the UCLA program.

Floyd doesn\u2019t give a rat\u2019s ass about the \u201csanctity\u201d of USC\u2019s program, going so far as offering a scholarship to Lil\u2019 Romeo.Talk to any recruiting expert and they\u2019ll tell you that he is simply not Division I material. Period.\nWay to take away a scholarship from a player that actually DOES deserve to play in the PAC-10, Tim.Don\u2019t be surprised when that Romeo kid does something shady.\nAnd don\u2019t be surprised if Howland would personally kick his ass out the door, too.\n\n\n\n\nShare/Email This\n\n\tRelated posts\n\t\n\tJ\u2019Mison Morgan: Official Announcement Could Come Today (0)\n\tMorgan to be released by LSU (0)\n\tNCAA = Money Grubbing Jackasses (0)\n\tO.J. Am I right or am I right?My blog, guttylittlebruins , is all about objectivity…”,”created_at”:”2008/05/14 14:05:55 -0400″}); Ben Howland vs. Tim Floyd: A Tale of Two Coaches by Andy Andy Senior Analyst 84 articles written5 comments written5 fans View Profile Senior Analyst Written on May 14, 2008. BOSTON, April 24 (Reuters) – An aircraft flying from NewYork to Israel with 206 people on board was diverted to Bostonon Friday after a passenger apparently tried to break into thecockpit, Boston media reported.