Last week’s Salute to Troy was an uneventful affair unless you were seated at the table with the parents of a new player, who were upset because they felt he did not get enough chance to win the starting job and made a point to tell other guests at their table.

Did Florida coach Urban Meyer take Emmanuel Moody in any way to try and one-up USC coach Pete Carroll? That theory was advanced to me by a Florida source.
Meyer was unhappy when USC beat out the Gators for freshman wide receiver Ronald Johnson. And the Trojans were displeased when Florida got offensive lineman James Wilson to decommit from USC. Meyer also hired former Taft High School coach Troy Starr, which gives the Gators more connections in Southern California.
Taking Moody gave Florida another player USC wanted. And it only required one day of recruiting.

More news on Jamere Holland.
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_6745251

USC women’s tennis just became more interesting to entertainment masses today with the news that sophomore Katja Decker-Sadowski became engaged to troubled reality, uh, “star”, Jason Wahler of the show, Laguna Beach.
http://www.tmz.com/2007/08/28/jason-wahler-engaged/
Wahler’s best known for several post-Laguna Beach arrests and is currently being sued by an L.A. dept. of transportation officer for allegedly hitting him and making racist comments.

Sophomore Charles Brown starts at right tackle against Idaho, ahead of senior Drew Radovich.

Center Matt Spanos strained a muscle in his arm and left practice. Pete Carroll said if Spanos can’t play, Jeff Byers would start at center.
Patrick Turner suffered a shoulder stinger after a rough hit from Rey Maualuga and will get X-rays tonight. He said he feels OK.

Marc Tyler should be cleared Sept. 1. C.J. Gable is expected to start against Idaho and Joe McKnight is expected to get some playing time Saturday.

We hear 710 radio host DeMarco Farr broke his plastic chair and fell to the ground while doing his show from the lobby of Heritage Hall. I wonder if TrojanTV sabotaged Farr’s chair for bringing actual radio to the building.

I just spoke to a close observer of the Florida football program regarding Emmanuel Moody.
“He’s insane,” the person said. “Running backs rarely get 15 touches a game here.”
Moody also forgot that Urban Meyer’s never had a 1,000-yard rusher, the source said.

Tailback Emmanuel Moody’s choice of Florida is curious and not just because it’s hard to imagine he will be the Gators’ featured back. Moody’s pass-catching and blocking were not his strengths at USC and those are important talents in a spread offense.