Garcia embraces tradition
Sometime in the wee hours of Friday morning, freshman quarterback Stephen Garcia thought it would be a good idea to head to Five Points, have too much to drink and get himself arrested.
Bravo, big fella. Bravo.
For those of you who don't know Stephen Garcia, he stands out like a sore thumb. He's 6 feet 2 inches tall, has a big build and long hair. Really long hair. Think Bo Bice long.
So it was no surprise when the police report came out saying that Stephen Garcia would be arraigned Saturday afternoon on charges of drunkenness and failure to follow police commands.
Stephen Garcia seems to be following a recent trend of USC quarterbacks. Under Lou Holtz, Dondrial Pinkins and Syvelle Newton both became temporary residents of the state following the six-man computer/picture steal-a-thon of 2005.
Follow that up with Holtz recruit and Steve Spurrier starter Blake Mitchell's recent ban from Pavlov's and you've got a stretch of troubled quarterbacks unlike anywhere else.
But Stephen Garcia is one of Spurrier's recruits, one of his chosen players. You can't blame the ghost of Lou Holtz for any ethics issues outside of Williams-Brice. Spurrier, who was out of town and unavailable for comment, is now faced with the dilemma of what to do with his prize recruit.
Since it is the offseason, you can't bench the guy, and not letting him play in the spring game almost isn't an option. After all, what are fans really going to Williams-Brice see? Hootie and the Blowfish? OK, I'll be there for Hootie, but I'll be in the minority.
The best lesson might be taken from USC's past. And what a comparison it could make.
Fellow long-haired, rebellious, talented quarterback Steve Taneyhill had his issues with underage drinking during his time at Carolina.
Taneyhill was caught drinking underage at a house party during the spring of his freshman year. Like Stephen Garcia, he received legal ramifications for being caught.
This is where the lesson begins.
Taneyhill's coach, Sparky Woods, reprimanded the passer and when the season started Taneyhill was the Gamecock under center. Over the next three years, the Altoona, Penn. native threw for over 8,000 yards (second all-time at USC), finished with over 60 touchdowns (first all-time) and led Carolina to its first bowl victory ever in the 1995 CarQuest Bowl.
So the lesson is simple - you can keep Mitchell out of Pavlov's, keep Stephen Garcia away from Five Points at least for another two years. But most importantly, don't punish him for being a stupid college kid. Like his predecessor, Stephen Garcia has a lot of potential to be a great player in USC football history.
If one drunken stupor in Five Points can ruin a person's future, there are a lot of diplomas hanging in a lot of rooms with USC emblems on them that might need to be voided.
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