Every once in a while though, my own East Tennessee blood runs over into my work here on this blog, and man… I am finding quite a bit of amusement in this report concerning the sanctions the NCAA has hit USC with, not because I have anything against the mighty Trojans (I personally don’t), but this little item in the report just makes me giggle quietly to myself…

A source close to the situation said USC coach Lane Kiffin was livid with the decision, which could cripple his program from a recruiting perspective. USC has received seven commitments from the Class of 2011 in football, but none are binding.

Maybe that dream job of Lane’s ain’t so dreamy anymore…  Kiffin more than likely feels as though he was misled about the seriousness of the situation he was to inherit at USC when he took the job.  I can understand that.  It’s how the Big Orange faithful feel about the Lane Kiffin Era in Knoxville.

Joe LaPointe, of fanhouse, writes:

So Rodriguez, among others, received a letter of reprimand. Training hours will be cut back. Minor staff reductions will reduce “quality control” coaches.

And that’s pretty much it.

There was no reduction of scholarships, no ban from bowl games, no television blackouts and no forfeiture of victories from the record book. Does the punishment fit the crime?

Certainly, the violations revealed so far in Michigan football do not match the dirty-money odor that wafted from the “Fab Five” scandal that put the Wolverines’ basketball program on probation.

But the NCAA might increase the football penalties after it meets with university authorities in August. Tuesday’s admissions and self-imposed sanctions amount to plea-bargaining.

Mike Celizic, of NBC Sports, comments:

“I don’t think this is a black eye,” Brandon told reporters. “This is a bruise.”

This is beneath the dignity and honor Michigan had built up over more than a century of academic and athletic excellence. Rodriguez is an embarrassment to the legacy of Fielding Yost, Bump Elliott and Bo Schembechler.

Dave Hackenberg, of the Toledo Blade, argues that Michigan’s actions “fail the smell test.”

So UM self-imposed the following penalties: the Wolverines will forfeit two hours of mandatory participation time over the next two years, 130 hours, for every one hour violation that occurred in 2008 and ‘09. The number of quality control assistants and the extent of their roles will be reduced.

Throw in a couple years of double secret probation for good measure and let’s call it a day.

Dan Wetzel, of Yahoo Sports, believes that Rodriguez has no room for error, but that in the end, it will all come down to the Wolverines’ performance on the field in the upcoming season, which will be tough with the tricky schedule they face:

In the past, when he got his players, he won big. There remains plenty of optimism that he’ll do it again. He better.

In the season with no room for error, one of those watershed games looms in week one. Michigan will celebrate its nearly quarter-billion dollar renovations to the Big House. It will host a tricky Connecticut team that is a way better program than many Wolverines fans realize. It’s not unlike his first game at Michigan when Utah, a team that would wind up 13-0, won in Ann Arbor in front of many fans who neither recognized nor respected its stature.

On the other hand, ESPN’S Mark Schlabach feels like this has been overblown:

What Rich Rodriguez is accused of doing probably happens on most college football practice fields around the country. It’s like a pack of cars driving 80 mph on the interstate and only one gets pulled over.

Nonetheless, it’s an embarrassment Michigan has never had to endure before.

In all honesty, Rodriguez is accused of NCAA misdemeanors. He is accused of having too many coaches involved in offseason conditioning programs, staff meetings and film rooms. He is accused of having his players practice too long and too often. The violations do not involve cash payments to players, academic fraud or improper recruiting inducements.

Seriously, Schlabach actually gets it right, for once.  The attention that this is getting and the ridiculous claims of some of those in the media is not warranted.   Not once did I hear one mention, of cash, steroids, strippers, or players driving brand new, fully loaded, Cadillac SUVs- not to mention that based on their performances over the last two years, I doubt they’d even get a third hand 1985 Camaro from those boosters.

The school has “self-imposed” the following sanctions:

• Docked itself 130 hours of practice and training time over the next two years — two hours for every hour of violation, which is common in these cases.

• Reduced its quality-control staff from five members to three and prohibited them from attending practices and games for the remainder of 2010. It also will keep those staffers out of coaches’ meetings, despite a new NCAA bylaw that allows them to attend.

• Taken disciplinary action against the “seven individuals who shared in responsibility” and fired a graduate assistant coach. Letters of reprimand were issued to coach Rich Rodriguez and strength and condition coach Mike Barwis, among others. Graduate assistant Alex Herron, who also worked for Rodriguez at West Virginia, was fired in March.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP)—The NCAA has denied Alabama’s appeal of a ruling vacating 21 football victories from 2005-07 and records from three other sports for widespread violations involving free textbooks.

The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee announced Tuesday that the Committee on Infractions’ ruling in June 2009 stands. Alabama President Robert E. Witt expressed disappointment with the “inconsistent decision.”

Alabama had argued that no other case involving textbooks had resulted in vacated victories and that the penalties were “so excessive as to constitute an abuse of discretion.” The NCAA vacated the football wins, one postseason win for men’s tennis and several individual and team records in men’s and women’s track.

and this:

Alabama must vacate all 10 wins from the 2005 season—including the Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech—all six wins in 2006 and the first five in 2007, when the textbook violations were discovered, leading to the suspension of five players before the Tennessee game. Mike Shula was the Crimson Tide’s coach in 2005 and 2006, before Nick Saban took over the program and led the Tide to the national championship last season.

The 2005 games the Tide must vacate includes that 6-3 nailbiter (sarcastic tone intended) they won over the University of Tennessee after UT FB Corey Anderson fumbled a sure touchdown into Alabama’s endzone for a touchback.  Thankfully (for Tide fans), this decision will not affect last year’s national championship.  However, it does improve the dreadful 2005 Vols record to 5-5, which would’ve made them bowl eligible.

The athletic department is stable, certainly more so than when Brandon’s predecessor Bill Martin arrived a decade ago, but Brandon faces several challenges right off the bat. Michigan’s three flagship sports programs — football, men’s basketball and hockey — are all struggling to varying degrees, and the football program is facing NCAA allegations of five rules violations.

Michigan has until May 23 to respond to the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations, and the school is scheduled to appear before the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions in August. Many will watch how Brandon handles this initial challenge, and he’s off to a good start.

If there was one bright spot for Michigan fans from the university’s Feb. 23 news conference to address the NCAA’s allegations, it was Brandon. The former Domino’s pizza CEO seemed prepared, poised and totally in command, even though he hadn’t officially taken over as AD.

As annarbor.com’s Michael Rothstein writes: “He was genuine. He was confident. He didn’t stumble over words. He acted like a CEO and a leader. All of this even though this situation is not one any employee wants to walk into — let alone someone preparing to take over one of the country’s most storied athletic departments. … He was the star, if there could be a headliner in a three-person press conference.”

Like Mike Hamilton at the University of Tennessee, Brandon is not a “football guy.”  Nor is he a basketball guy.  He has no background in collegiate athletics.  Heck, he probably doesn’t have a background in high school athletics either.  As the ESPN article mentions, more and more schools are turning to businessmen to run their athletics programs, as opposed to former coaches.    As was the case in Knoxville, this could mean that more and more historically successful coaches will find themselves in hot water much faster than they are previously accustomed to.