Friday column: Bad cornerback — bad, bad, bad ...

It happens all the time.

An athlete at a big-time collegiate jock factory does something stupid. The coach is pressed by reporters to reveal if there will be consequences. The coach says “certainly,” then wriggles out of saying what those consequences are.

Southern California football coach Pete Carroll is the latest to take the Weasel Way.
Carroll said that yes, cornerback Shareece Wright would be disciplined for an incident that led to his being charged with felony resisting a police officer. And, Pete, that discipline is ...?

“When we have situations and issues to deal with, we always do so internally,” Carroll said.

Oh.

We know the discipline won’t involve any loss of playing time, because Carroll said early in the week that if the injured Wright was medically cleared to play (turns out he wasn’t) he’d be on the field Thursday night.

Since Pete won’t tell us what the discipline is, we’re free to speculate. My guess is that Wright will be hit sharply on the helmet with a rolled-up newspaper.

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On the other hand, in the Wright incident no one at USC has lied — as far as we know — which distinguishes the Trojans from many athletes who ply their trade in the National Basketball Association.
In just the last few weeks we’ve had:
* Rookies Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers deny smoking marijuana despite enough apparent reefer madness to set off a hotel-room smoke alarm.

* Another first-year player, Michael Beasley, originally deny involvement in the same pot incident before copping to the truth.

* Golden State guard Monta Ellis lying to his team about how he suffered a serious ankle injury months after signing a six-year, $66 million contract extension.

* And no list of NBA prevaricators should exclude O.J. Mayo, who in May denied receiving improper benefits from an agent in high school and college.

Last month, the agent, Calvin Andrews, was suspended for a year by the NBA Players Association for unspecified recruiting improprieties regarding guess who? — Mayo — which means somebody doesn’t believe him.

Since that action, Mayo, smartly, has made himself unavailable to reporters.

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Ah, if only Josh Howard could learn to make himself unavailable for comment.
Howard, who in April felt the need to profess his love for cannabis, in July at a charity flag-football game looked into a cell-phone camera and said, “ ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ is going on. I don’t even celebrate that shit. I’m black.” Howard then disparaged America’s first serious African American presidential candidate.

I don’t think even Pete Carroll would think a sharp rap with a rolled-up newspaper is sufficient for Howard; I suggest a muzzle.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.