USC loyalist Mike Salmon is so concerned over the sports sanctions that have been slapped on the university that he wants a congressional investigation. Salmon says he is assembling a group, including a UCLA alum, to lobby for a hearing like the ones Congress held on steroids in baseball. “It’s not sour grapes,” says Salmon, a former Trojan defensive back and now a partner with real estate investor Madison Street Partners in Irvine. He says he isn’t trying to overturn the two-year bowl game suspension or other penalties that he estimates will cost USC at least $30 million in lost TV revenue. But he thinks reforms are needed so that USC is “the last school to get slapped for something out of their control.” Salmon contends USC’s athletes, supporters, university officials and former football Coach Pete Carroll (who Salmon played for with the San Francisco 49ers) are scapegoats for the sins of “wannabe” sports marketers and agents who target pro prospects. (NCAA investigators found that Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo had received improper gifts from outside representatives.) Salmon says agents who give gifts should incur criminal and civil penalties. He acknowledges that Congress has more pressing business, but thinks it could address the issue quickly: “It’s bigger than the NCAA and USC. I’d like to see the system get fixed” …
It just so happens that Irvine Congressman John Campbell is “a dyed-in-the-wool Trojan as is my entire family” who thinks the NCAA sanctions on USC “were wrong and unwarranted.” But he’s cool toward a Capitol Hill hearing: “We do have a few rather big things going on here. The problems are best left to college sports to handle.” However, he says he’ll mention the idea to his friend Darrel Issa of northern San Diego County, ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that deals with such matters …
Mike’s older brother, Angels’ great Tim Salmon, has written an autobiography, “Always an Angel: Playing the Game with Fire and Faith.” He’ll be at Coto de Caza July 19 for his annual golf tournament benefiting Canyon Acres. More on the tourney and the book at www.timsalmon.com …
Former Irvine Company CEO Mike McKee has a new gig—CEO of Seattle-based real estate adviser Kennedy Associates, which has plans to acquire about $1 billion in properties …
Eighteen-year-old Chris Fox, who has waged a three-year battle against Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, is the Honored Hero at Sunday’s “two-mile, fun-filled walk-a-thon” at Aldrich Park in Irvine. Chris’ team includes his mom, the OCBJ’s Carol Fox. Info at www.cctakesteps.org/orangecounty …
Bad weather forced Chapman U Prez Jim Doti down from Alaska’s Mount McKinley, aborting his attempt to scale a fifth world summit. But he was cheered by a text message informing him that Chapman’s student advertising team won the national championship in Orlando, Fla.
