The Cam Newton Allegations, Spilling Over Like a Kicked Bucket of Rotted Bait

Reports are trickling in that Cam Newton may be in trouble with the NCAA. His recruitment may have include a $200,000 payoff to an agent, and the NCAA is investigating.

This is an ugly business, and in the last few months there have been several such reports and investigations, including the one that got USC sanctioned for the next three years.

There's a seamy side to college football, and it's a shame to see all this coming to the surface in the same year Oregon is having a dream season. LaMichael James is contending for a Heisman, and the Ducks for a national title, and in the end both may be hopelessly tainted by a scandal that might end up before a congressional committee.

I'm not naive enough to think the illegal inducements don't exist, and not even naive enough to think they don't exist in Eugene. Boosters and their envelopes of cash have existed for a long while.

College football is a beautiful game. But it has a seamy underside, and the greed of a few individuals may blow the whole thing wide open in the next few months. This could reach the level of the baseball steroids scandal. It could even surpass it.

It would be a shame if the Ducks and their greatest season ever got caught in the middle.