College football is a lot like Lost. You have to “Play by the rules“. The NCAA (or anyone else, for that matter ) doesn’t appreciate an unfair competitive advantage. (”Hey kid, come here and we’ll get you a BMW.”) When a program forgets this, and gets caught, the punishment is probation. Probation hurts college football programs. All of them. Even USC. (With it’s “star” factor, sunny weather, and elite recruits that grow in California back yards in numbers that would put the state’s grape-growing market to shame.) The Trojans and Lane Kiffin are beginning to pay the price for years of Pete Carroll fostering an open, unrestricted environment perfect for football players to reap benefits not likely gained at other institutions-giving USC an unfair advantage. (Bush and agents, Matt Leinart’s dad paying for housing for his son and Dwayne Jarrett, etc.) No matter what Pete Carroll thinks, this environment did give USC an unfair advantage. (Think back to when you were a kid. Did your friends have sleep-overs at the house with the strict parents, or did you tend to gravitate toward the house with the parents that let you watch the R-rated movie?)

Due to the NCAA dropping the hammer on the Trojans, their football empire will indeed weaken (how much is the question). Already, it has been forced to watch the possible start of a “domino effect” (small events leading to large ones) that could humble the proud program. First, the Trojans lost DE Malik Jackson. That hurt a little. Then, a bigger domino fell. Much bigger. A 6′8″, 350lb domino. The Trojan’s most prized recruit, Cretin-Derham’s Seantrel Henderson. The behemoth who almost certainly would have assured that Matt Barkley’s jersey would have stayed the type of clean that would make Martha Stewart jealous for years to come.

Seantrel didn’t want to be part of a program on probation (harder to win, no bowls, less exposure, bad reputation), and when Kiffin’s reassurances (Don’t worry, everything will be fine.) rang hollow, Seantrel was ready to be gone.

As of now, it looks like Henderson will try to reach stardom as a Miami Hurricane. As far as the Trojans go (and as a completely unbiased observer), I can only hope that this probation period treats the Trojans like gravity treats white basketball players.