By Matt Hayes

updated 7:55 p.m. ET April 1, 2008

Matt Hayes

We're simplistic and judgmental. It's the easy way out, the quick way through, the convenient escape.

Who has time for anything else?

"The reality is someone can say something," Mark Sanchez says, "and you're branded for life."

Sanchez, in some people's eyes, will always be linked to a rape allegation. How do we know this? Embrace, for a moment, what our culture has become: anonymous message board venting and talk radio vitriol. A kangaroo court of public opinion. Don't believe it?

Mitch Mustain is a spoiled athlete, enabled and pandered to from Day 1 before eventually exposing the seedy side of college football with his trivial tantrums. Got a coach fired with his selfish ways. Or so the perception goes.

How do we know this about Mustain? We just do.

"When a crisis happens," Mustain says, "people are forcing opinions or promoting opinions. Good, bad or indifferent, that's what sticks to you."

And now here we are, two once-in-a-career prospects, seemingly a lifetime removed from the life-altering impact of accusations and perceptions, competing for the most high-profile spot in college football: starting quarterback at USC.

One day you're a freshman in college and life is limitless. The next you're staring through iron bars, defending yourself through the indefensible.

One day everything you've dreamed of is in your hands. The next you're 1,500 miles from home with nothing to lean on but the second-guessing rattling through your head. Thankfully, mercifully, sport once again has become life's safe haven. USC is deep into spring practice in Los Angeles, kick-starting what has become an annual preseason coronation: The Trojans are good. Damn good.

The only thing the nation's most talented team lacks is a quarterback. A leader. This isn't just any spring competition; this is survival.

Heismans are won and lost and multimillion-dollar NFL contracts are a mere formality for those fortunate to win this job. You want glitz and glam? By the time Matt Leinart finished his junior season in 2004, he had two national titles and a Heisman Trophy in his pocket — and was running from the paparazzi like a Hollywood star.

Yeah, it's big all right. And never has more been on the line. But compared to what Sanchez and Mustain have already dealt with away from the game, this all-or-nothing competition is a piece of cake.

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