Reggie Bush and La Cosa Nostra

I was speaking with a friend the other day about the Texas-USC game. The discussion led to some interesting possibilities of game fixing. If this were possibly true, it would be something that not even the NCAA would want to sniff out. If such a scandal were exposed could anyone watch a game without thinking that the outcome was previously decided?

Let me declare first and foremost that I am not a conspiracy theorist. However, there were so many strange plays that occurred during that game that you can't help but wonder. First off, why in the world is Reggie Bush pitching the ball after a 20+yard gain on Texas' 18 yardline? I have watched Reggie over the last 3 years and I have never seen him pitch the ball in the open field. Does he think that someone else is going to have more success moving the ball then himself.

Secondly, I found it odd that USC didn't decide to just pound the ball up the middle with Lendale White. White was getting big yardage, whereas Bush was struggling to do basically anything. However, this formula of running Bush over White (even when White was having the better game) is a pattern that USC followed all year.

Thirdly, if you have only 1 timeout left, why are you burning it on the 2 point conversion? This was one of the oddest calls of the night.

Lastly, on the final play of the game what was going on? Leinart wanders around for 8 seconds and then throws to the sideline, 30 yards short of the endzone. I have a hard time believing that a 5th year senior doesn't know at that point in time that on the final play of the game you've got to get the ball to the endzone.

As far as throwing the game goes, let's face it, it wouldn't be very hard to pull off. Some member of La Cosa Nostra shows up with $5 million and says we don't want you to lose, just don't cover the spread. It is minor plays such as the ones highlighted above that make the difference. Anyone who has looked at Michael Jordan's past with any degree of objectivity knows how much power the gambling community has(a future post). Bush was probably told something along the lines of, "Drop the football, take the cannoli".