After Hours

Pat Haden, with many in the L.A. media riding shotgun, struts in on a white horse to save USC's athletic program from itself. As he does, the Trojans proudly proclaim they're whitewashing the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo eras as if they never occurred. How’s that for perception and reality?

And the Tim Floyd era? Pete Carroll's? Oh no, the Trojan brass isn’t touching those episodes. Why would it? It's more convenient to make Bush and Mayo the scapegoats.

Shamelessly, Carroll hawks his new book and passes blame on anyone but himself while the sins of the Trojans are coming out of every nook and cranny. Still, theirs aren't any different from many college football programs. They just finally got caught.

But wasn't it Carroll steering the ship? The same with Floyd and the basketball program? Wasn't he the one caught red-handed in the Mayo mess? And how foolish was he, turning down a better coaching job at Arizona only to return to SC and get caught with his pants down a year later?

Seriously, I'll be the first to say it's extremely difficult to keep a high-profile program on the straight and narrow. With the large number of sleazy agents and anyone with a pulse looking to make a buck off big-name players, the temptations for the players are plentiful and eventually some of them are going to eat the bait.

But to dump all the blame on the players is extreme. It's a cop-out. Do you really believe Carroll didn't know? Do you really believe Carroll never noticed all those SUVs in the parking lot at SC? Even if they didn't know, aren't the coaches and the athletic department still held responsible for it all?

It's not rocket science. When OU Coach Bob Stoops started babbling about how he didn't know about former quarterback Rhett Bomar getting paid for not showing up for work at a Norman car dealer, I found it ironic. Ironic because more than 30 years ago when I was cruising the OU campus, this was the same car dealer rumored to be supplying a few extra benefits to football players. It wasn't any secret.

And if you happened to walk through the parking lot outside the football dorm, you might notice 25 or 30 cars parked side by side, all from another popular area dealership. Surely, it was a mere coincidence.

Don't get me wrong. I believe Carroll is a wonderful person and contributes much to the less fortunate. His charity work and his pleas for peace in the inner city are to be applauded.

Still, despite the wacky world of college football, the politics and the archaic rules that govern it, if you get caught, you pay the penalty. And if you're going to take Bush and Mayo to task, you smack Carroll and Floyd too.

To use the “I didn't know” excuse and have it universally accepted is weak. To put all the blame on the players is even worst.

Read more of Forrest Lee at Blak4rest.com.

Logic says the Colts will win Super Bowl XLIV. They’re the better team. But logic has never been one of my strengths. Look no further than the folks who have much better heads than me, the oddsmakers in Vegas, who are picking the Colts. That means plenty. They opened as a three-point favorite, but they’ve doubled that. Tony Dungy says it won’t even be that close. And what better authority is there than Dungy? After all, it took Peyton Manning less than a half to figure out the Jets, the league’s best defense. Midway through the second half, it was game over.

The Saints’ defense isn’t the Jets. It isn’t close. It ranked No. 25 in the league (Colts were 18th). And it’s why many believe Peyton will have a field day with it and the Colts will win their second title in four seasons. Be prepared for the greatest of all time arguments. And how many commercials will he have then?

But in my convoluted logic, I still believe offense is the best defense. N.E. Quinn and Bill Standford taught me that. So whatever Jonathan Vilma, Darren Sharper and the Saints’ unit lacks, Drew Brees and the offense can make up. They're the league’s best, averaging more than 400 yards per game. A good defense stops offense you say?

OK, consider this: The Saints have one of the better rushing attacks in the NFL (they rank sixth) and the Colts were last in the league. It hasn’t meant much so far (unless you’re a Chargers’ or Jets’ fan) in this pass-happy era, but ball control means plenty for the Saints, particularly if they can keep Manning and his offense off the field and dictating drive after drive. Pierre Thomas will be a factor.

“It is very important to be balanced, to be able to run and pass and have each of those set the other up, because you can’t be one-dimensional against a team like the Colts," Brees said earlier this week. "They’ve shown with their pass rush and their ability to bring a safety down in the box to stop the run, if you are one-dimensional, they can eat you up. You have to be able to mix both the run and the pass and be effective at it.”

Here’s another stupid reason we’re picking the Saints: Isn’t Peyton due for a bad game and maybe the other Payton (Sean) is due a big one? And what about Dwight Freeney? Yeah, what about him? The Saints aren’t buying his story (so why should we?), obviously believing he’ll play. But will he be a factor? We say no. Or it won’t be positive if you’re a Colts’ fan. And that’s another reason we like the Saints.

How can Indy win if it doesn’t pressure Brees? The Vikings had the best front in football, and though the Saints struggled with it, they came out on top.

They’ll win this game too. Why ruin a good story and an awesome party?

Saints 33, Colts 31.

Read more of Forrest Lee at Blak4rest.com.