Michael Ventre

LOS ANGELES - When we think of cheating in sports today, images of syringes, of shady doctors and bogus prescriptions, of EPO and steroids, and all sorts of other performance enhancing substances and strategies come to mind. Ours is a high tech world in which athletes continue to surprise us with the sophistication of their schemes to beat the system.

However, once in a big while an athlete comes along who reminds us of the halcyon days when cheating meant accepting money and gifts in direct violation of the rules. Reggie Bush appears to be this kind of old school cheater.

And if it’s true, it’s his old school that will wind up paying the price while Bush continues to cash in.

The recent Yahoo.com report detailing a series of benefits the star running back allegedly accepted while at USC may not cause the NCAA to automatically consider this matter an open and shut case and therefore retroactively strip Bush of his eligibility as well as removing the university’s name from the record books under “national championship.” But it looks bad.

The NCAA will surely zero in with its own investigation on a list of financial benefits that Bush and his parents are alleged to have accepted from parties interested in representing the Heisman Trophy winner when he jumped to the NFL that totaled over $100,000. They include money for airfare, limousines, suits, hotels, spending money and about $54,000 in unpaid rent.

It is about here that, as a responsible journalist, it’s my duty to point out that these are only allegations and therefore the man is innocent until proven guilty.

It’s also here that I declare I am not an idiot.

This is reminiscent of the Barry Bonds situation, where supporters of the bulked-up slugger continue to defend his exploits even though it’s obvious through grand jury testimony, a best-selling book and a mountain of other circumstantial evidence that Barry used more juice than Orange Julius.

With Bush, it appears he and his parents disregarded the NCAA rules and selfishly gobbled up as much swag as they could physically consume. That’s my opinion.

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Obviously, they did so because they didn’t think they’d get caught. Obviously, they’re irresponsible fools.

Their mistake began with the type of people they associated with. Michael Michaels and Lloyd Lake, a couple of first-team sleazebags, plied the Bushes with money so they could sign him as their first client in a venture called New Era Sports & Entertainment. Any agent or other representative who knowingly jeopardizes an athlete’s college eligibility — and the school’s good standing under NCAA rules — by giving him money while he’s still in college in order to persuade him to do business belongs in jail.

Oh, I forgot. Lake, a former gang member, is already in prison on a parole violation.

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Then there’s Bush’s marketing representative, Mike Ornstein. In 1995, Ornstein pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud for his role in a plan to defraud the NFL. A judge handed him five years of probation, four months of home confinement and $160,000 in restitution plus fines.

Bush’s agent, Joel Segal, was suspended for a year in the ‘90s by the NFL Players Association because he used an assumed name to pass money to a Florida State player.

What all of this means, though, is that it isn’t Michael Michaels’ fault, or Lloyd Lake’s fault, or Joel Segal’s fault, or Mike Ornstein’s fault.

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Ultimately, it’s Reggie Bush’s fault. He saw the red flags and chose to look the other way.

It would be impossible for Bush not to know what went on. There’s just too much. Too many payments. Too many flights and hotels. Too many instances where he put his eligibility and USC’s season at risk.

He had to know.

That means the great Reggie Bush, with the electrifying moves and breakaway speed, has run roughshod over his own legacy at USC. He brought disgrace upon himself and the educational institution that helped him get where he is today.