Talk about the most highly publicized and expensive form of “cheating” available to a team. How about having a network sports commentor give out the other team’s signals over the air during a game.

The University of Southern California formally complained Wednesday that ABC-TV’s Brent Musburger revealed privileged information in play-by-play commentary during Saturday’s game against the Nebraska Huskers.

The university sent a letter to ESPN, which oversees sports programming on ABC, saying Musburger, with less than 10 minutes to play and the Trojans leading 21-10, began describing how USC quarterback John David Booty lets receivers know he has spotted a certain kind of coverage.
 
“John David told us that his signal when he finds one-on-one and they’re coming, it’s that ‘hang loose,’ that familiar sign you’ve seen surfers use,” said Musburger, referring to the sign where the thumb and little finger are raised.

Evidently the Nebraska Huskers Football program wasn’t watching. They still lost 28-10.