Darrin Walls returns, Tyrone continues to cash it in, and SC is apathetic (LOTD 6/1)

So the move to the .com world is complete (I think), and now I just have to deal with a couple of minor technical issues (which is not my specialty). It actually went much smoother than I expected, but that tends to be the case when you are a fan of the Irish and things actually work out.

Scout has been running a bunch of pre-camp assessment articles, looking at key players and where they stand heading into the fall. I've skipped over most of these as they tend to be overkill, but one player's profile popped up of importance: Darrin Walls. There was plenty of speculation last year over how much of an impact Walls could have had in key situations during the season. Interestingly enough, that's how Tim O'Malley leads the story. What would have happened if Walls was matched up against Sparty's Mark Dell, UNC's Brooks Foster, or Pitt's Jonathan Baldwin for what turned out to be devastating completions against the Irish defense at key points in the 4th quarter of those games? We can only guess. But Walls' return this year brings about an experienced, shut down corner who can play the run as well as the pass. Not too many people are going to pass up on a player like that.

Walls returned this off-season and was promptly put in the CB1 position on the depth chart. That goes to show what type of talent the kid has, especially when you consider the depth and talent of the Irish secondary this year (possibly the best since Lionel's first season). O'Malley believes that Walls is the best corner the Irish have, and having him team up with Robert Blanton and Raeshon McNeil could provide the defensive backfield necessary for a winning defense. O'Malley goes on to point out that the best Irish defense of the past twenty years have all had two top-tier cornerbacks; Todd Lyght and Stan Smagala in ’88, ‘89; Tom Carter and Greg Lane in ’92; Bobby Taylor and Lane in ’93; and Shane Walton and Vontez Duff in ‘02. It would not surprise me to see two of the three Irish corners listed above step up and shut down opposing passing games. I'm glad to see Darrin Walls back on the team, and I truly think that his play this year could lead to a one-to-two game improvement alone. It could have added three wins last year, given the three situations listed above.

Moving on, Brady Quinn has two super bowl championships... or Ben Roethlisberger just became much more appealing to the ladies. Either way, the TNT crew was trying to boost or crush either one of the two with their broadcast of the Cleveland-Orlando game the other night. And I don't think this mistake can be attributed to Charles Barkley's coughing tourrettes.

There's more news of Tyrone taking it to the bank. Coming off the heels of the news that Chauncey is the second highest paid "employee" at Notre Dame comes this: Willingham got at least $1,439,016 in guaranteed salary from Washington last year, and could have earned another roughly $110,000 in academic incentives. He was also due a lump sum payment of $1,000,000 within 30 days of his termination. Adding his ND salary and UW payments together gives Tyrone a salary of $2.825 million dollars in 2008, making him one of the highest paid coaches in college football. So here's what you do: tell your kids to pump themselves as "Molders of Men", get lucky and win a couple of games at mid-tier BCS program, and then strike it rich. Doesn't matter if you are the worst coach of the past decade as long as the checks don't bounce.

Do you have a big backyard? Want to own an authentic piece of Notre Dame history? How about a scoreboard? Steiner auctions has just the thing for you. Bidding for a full-sized, authentic Notre Dame scoreboard is now open and sitting at just shy of $2,000. The scoreboard is 16' tall and 40' wide. The description says it has looked down on Notre Dame Stadium since 1997, so it's seen some of the worst football ND has had to offer in the program's history. I won't be bidding on it since I already have a replica picture of the scoreboard taken after an Irish victory over the Trojans in 1999 (my only game in South Bend, and a hell of one at that).

Non-ND News: Heisman Pundit has his list of the fastest players in college football. It surprises no one that no ND players are listed. Perhaps Armando Allen would make the list if he wouldn't mind staying in bounds on a run every once and a while.

Now the the SC story everyone has been talking about. The focus of the LA Times story (by Paul Pringle) is on the silence on USC's part. USC has not talked to Reggie Bush's former confident, Lloyd Lake, despite attempts made by Lake to get in touch with the University. Lake was willing to talk, but SC didn't bother getting in touch with him over the two years since the story first broke. One of Lake's accusations is that of overhearing a phone conversation where Pete Carroll told Reggie Bush's stepfather to "put everything in order, to have a lease agreement," for a house that Lake's partner Michael Michaels was providing, rent-free, to the Bush family. The property was a $3,000-a-month condo. Carroll claims he has never met either Michaels or Lake.

Furthermore, SC has not tried to contact Louis Johnson, the accuser of Tim Floyd and OJ Mayo. "It did seem kind of bizarre that they didn't seek to speak to my client directly," David Murphy (Johnson's attorney) said of the school. "As far as I know, there has not been a single phone call." Then there's the issue of Rodeny Guillery, OJ Mayo's representative, who SC had known to be involved in wrongdoing with former Trojan guard Jeff Trepagnier in 2000, yet still dealt with him in an effort to get Mayo.

Carroll, Floyd, and AD Mike Garrett all refused to respond to the LA Times for comment. USC's general counsel Carol Mauch Amir told the Times in a written statement that the University has been "vigurously investigating" all allegations, though that wouldn't seem to be the case judging by the comments of all parties involved.

The interesting thing in this case is the arrogance and hubris the USC athletic department has displayed. Had the Trojans gotten out ahead of this and self-reported the violations they could have gotten off with probation, as Oklahoma did when players were found to be getting cars from a local dealership in 2006. The fact that they have not made an attempt to interview any of the movers and shakers in these deals shows that the University thought it would be able to skate on the allegations; possibly because they didn't think the case held any water, possibly because they thought they were USC, college sports powerhouse, and that the NCAA would not want to touch one of its best brands. Either way, if the allegations are true it displays a huge lack of institutional control on the part of USC. I would expect that Mike Garrett and Tim Floyd would be fired. Furthermore, though it seems shocking, I would not be surprised if Pete Carroll was fired as well, especially if the allegations of him contacting Reggie Bush's family are proven to be true. Either way, it is said that the NCAA wants to make a ruling on this before the football season begins, so we should have an answer in the coming months.

That's all for today. The .com world welcomes you, as do I.