A Trophy in the Hand is Worth Two from a Bush

There is so much being written about Reggie Bush. Will he keep his Heisman Trophy, will the Trust make him give it back, will Reggie do the right thing as one NY Times blogger suggested, and give the trophy back on his own volition? All this speculation is interesting, but what is the right thing to do? Does it matter or is it all a big yawn?

The first question to really answer is, did Reggie deserve the Heisman for his heroics on the football field, if that was the only criteria? Clearly yes, as he had an absolutely amazing season, and was arguably the standout player of the year. Should somebody else have won the Heisman that year? A moot point because Reggie was chosen by the Heisman Trust, ahead of the only other real candidate, Vince Young.

Here's where it gets technical. Of course, on-field performance is not the only criteria by which a Heisman Trophy winner is selected. The winner must also have kept a multitude of NCAA rules to be eligible. Again, clearly Reggie Bush did not keep all those rules; as he and his family accepted lavish gifts that were definitely outside accepted boundaries. Should Reggie lose his Heisman for breaching those regulations?

That answer will depend on a number of things. Do you love Reggie or not, is one. Things like, are some of those NCAA rules just plain ridiculous? Should a person be held to those standards despite them being draconian? And I know some of the are; I have a friend that worked during an NCAA tournament, I won't say which sport, and the security staff at the venue were made the put athletic tape over the sponsor logos on their uniform jackets. You have got to be kidding!

But do we then condone unfair play, and set ourselves up for more misadventure, if we don't enforce those rules, and take back the Heisman? Integrity makes a man, or woman, that I can say. I think we open up a can of worms what ever the decision by the Heisman Trust ultimately ( and they don't seem to be in a hurry to make a decision).

For me the biggest regrets are, firstly that this all happened and Reggie is in this position. Second of all, why has this saga dragged on so long? It should be dealt with much more quickly and effectively. But the most distressing of all, according to the Yahoo report that broke this story open, is that if Reggie is stripped of the trophy then nobody will be awarded it, in his place. This would be a travesty of justice, because Vince Young, the second-place vote getter did obey the rules and also shone on the field, especially in the BCS Championship game. Surely if Reggie would not have been chosen if the selectors had known he was a rule breaker, then Vince would have won the trophy. Why not now?