Rick Pedone
SportsEditor

With radio, TV and Twitter clogged with sports talk, maybe we shouldn't be surprised that “The Decision,” LeBron James’ 75-minute-long news conference/infomercial on ESPN two weeks ago, drew more viewers than most actual sports events.

James’ show, when he announced that he was shunning Cleveland and moving to Miami as an NBA free agent, drew a 9.9 Nielson rating.

That was only slightly behind Game 7 of the NBA championship series (10.6).

Almost as many people watched LeBron talk about where he would play basketball as watched Kobe Bryant win his fifth title.

The only sports events that topped Lebron’s announcement this year were, of course, the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl, which drew an all-time record 45.0 rating, and the BCS championship game (15.8).

LeBron’s soap opera destroyed Game 6 of the Stanley Cup playoffs (4.7), the U.S. Open Golf Championship (4.5), and even the Major League All-Star Game (7.5).

The NCAA Final Four (9.7) hung tough against LeBron, but the British Open? How about a 2.6 rating, about one-quarter of LeBron’s audience.

That’s what happens when South African Louis Oosthuizen, whose name sounds like a Nordic exercise machine, and not Tiger, wins by seven strokes.

Can you imagine what would happen if ESPN could figure a way to get its airwaves wrapped around Lindsay Lohan?

ooo

Former Gators center Maurkice Pouncey allegedly pocketed $100,000 from a sports agent before the Sugar Bowl, according to ESPN.com.

So, here we go again. Who's up for another in the endless stream of NCAA investigations concerning sports agents who provide illicit gifts to athletes?

This charge, which might have come via an anonymous letter, could be bogus, but Pouncey’s agent is Joel Segal, who also represented former USC running back Reggie Bush.

The NCAA recently crushed USC with sanctions after it determined that Bush accepted improper benefits while playing for the Trojans in 2005.

As long as the NCAA is going to perpetuate the charade that BCS football players are “student-athletes,” then it’s time for the organization to find a more effective way to enforce the regulations banning players from accepting gifts.

Sanctions against the schools are only partially effective. USC won a national championship while Bush was on the take. But, Bush and those Trojans paid no penalty; team members today and for the next four years instead are punished.

How do you stop illegal gifts?

As the neurotic George Costanza of Seinfeld fame once said about a smelly  parking attendant, “Go to the source!”

First, enforce laws against agent tampering. Florida has in place a law that makes it a second-degree felony for prematurely paying an athlete, with a possible sentence of 15 years. It's hard to say how effective this law is since few agents have been prosecuted. Perhaps that means it’s working. Other states should create similar laws.

The big loophole is that athletes caught accepting gifts can't be punished after they leave school. Pouncey, the 18th pick in the NFL draft, will land a 10-figure contract from Pittsburgh.

What if the NFL owners and the Player's Association agreed to fine and suspend players who are convicted of accepting bribes in college? If they knew that they could be punished, even years after the fact, then players might be reluctant to accept gifts.

The same arrangement should extend to the coaches. Former USC Coach Pete Carroll bolted and signed a lucrative NFL contract with the Seattle Seahawks. What if Carroll was banned from the NFL while USC is under sanctions?

But, I think the best alternative is this one: just pay players.

Give them the cash amount of their scholarships plus housing expenses. If they want to go to class, fine; if not, they can play college ball for four seasons and move on. No muss, no fuss, and no more investigations.