I wondered about that half-empty stadium in the media guide cover (scroll down). But an astute observer said the dark clouds surrounding Lane Kiffin were entirely appropriate.
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It’s true. I’m rooting for Kiffin. But the guy seems to ruffle feathers whenever he makes a move. It makes me wonder whether he will be here in a year.
Anyone else think that Pete Carroll will eventually return and replace Kiffin?
I see that you have a new whipping boy Scott. Now maybe you can get off of Pete’s rear end for a while. Do we now have to hear day in and day out what you opinion is of Lane Kiffin. Both of these guys are far better people than you. Give it a rest please.
We have all heard how coaches kind of “lose it” with a team after a certain number of years, usually 6-10. That is, the kids grow tired or weary of their “schtick.”
This is probably more true with rah-rah types like Pete Carroll or Tommy LaSorda, than with low-key guys such as Joe Torre.
So I am saying, just sayin’, that perhaps it was time for our favorite Pete to move on. And his last year here was less than inspirational.
And maybe, just maybe, our SC boys were ready for new blood, a new approach, a new coach. Could be that serious-minded Lane Kiffin is just what the doctor ordered.
@Lawyer John, I do think PC had lost his focus at SC & it was probably a good thing he moved on but we’ll never really know for sure.
how does alabama give FB players textbooks to sell to other students in 2007 and escape scolarship reductions and a bowl ban? i think it’s a nice exhibit A in our appeal.
the way the program is wading through this period seems remarkable to me, almost unbelievable. it’s like we are getting better despite all this.
can we cancel one of our crappy non-conference games in 2011 to try and schedule a tougher opponent in case we are bowl banned and we need to strenghten our schedule for an ap title run? when do utah/colorado join the league and will we have fewer league games…and potential to schedule someone else outside conference?
it’s just keeps getting better. and the bruins just tred water and stay soft in westwood.
The only seats visible are the worst of the visitor section. To call it a half empty stadium is as much an exageration as calling this blog Pulitzer worthy.
Hi VB’s Office Plant,
The seats are empty not just because of the location; the picture is from the spring game.
Hi scinsc5,
We cannot easily change our contracts as Hawaii proved; however, the new Pac-12 should offer several opportunities for us to schedule. We will probably have to stick with old Pac-10 opponents to fill the vacant slots as other schools will most likely already have contracted their seasons out. We may get lucky and there might be a school willing to make a change. We will have to see how it plays out. One school that we will most likely get to play is Utah, who is consistently ranked among the elite and if we beat them our national rankings will do well.
I agree with Alabama and the hypocrisy runs high with the NCAA. The schools currently in trouble from the latest series of scandals may prove very important to SC’s appeal process. If similar sanctions are not given for similar activities (i.e. one player received $100K from an agent, etc.) it will be hard for the NCAA to explain why.
scinsc5, you must suffer from some type of rare decease, are you for real? you think USC is getting better? LOL now I’ve read it all!! Thanks for the laugh buddy! USC is certainly the “laugh factory” of college football.
Hi Sy,
the picture is from the Spring game? I don’t think so! I was there. Also if I remember correctly, there were 10-15000 for the Spring game (93,000 for Alabama) and only on one side of the stadium were you allowed to sit.
My guess is USC will be lucky to get more than 50,000 to the games this year, since USC is back to being a mediocre team, and with the larger percentage being bandwagon fans I really doubt USC will come close to selling out any game with the exception of when my mighty Irish come to town and destroy yout Lame led trOJans.
NDLarry,
I was at the spring game and you are right about the seating arrangements. Just curious, what were you doing there? As for the picture, it was taken after Reggie played as you can see the #5 off to the right, which means Lane was not in the original shot.
Unlike you I love USC, but I am very disappointed with this cover! Reggie’s number is still in it and the cover says 7 Heisman trophy winners. Reggie was #7.
As for SC, I’m pretty sure the seats will be filled and anyone who knows the school would agree. I also think the team is ready to play outstanding football and are very well coached. The talent is among the best we have ever fielded and we will be tough to beat.
As for ND, talent will be a problem; however, I think you finally got it right with Kelly. I hope the Irish do well and the rivalry becomes epic again. I remember the times were the national championship would depend on our rivalry. Those were special games and I hope we can get back to games of that magnitude that made our rivalry truly one of the best.
NDLarry, what a douche you are. You represent ND real well.
F*ck Lane Kiffin!!
I want my alumni donations back. I hate to somewhat agree with Wolf, but Kiffin is f*ckin up at the worse time. We don’t need this negative media attention. He keeps on messin up and I’m gonna start the campaign to run him outta town. Ain’t nothing new to here to see boys, I’ve been saying this since Kif was hired. Keep walking along.
Hi USConquer,
Don’t get so fired up. Jeff is a shit. This is not about Lane, this is about Byner. Jeff fired him without cause after he did a great job. Jeff just didn’t like him for some reason. Now Jeff lost the guy he sold the town on and is looking for a scapegoat to move everyone’s anger away. Lane is obvious as everyone already hates him in Tennessee.
Lane approached Jeff before talking to Pola. He made Pola an offer some time ago (a month or two) and Pola turned it down as he wanted to be the OC and Lane was only offering the running back coaching position. Lane found someone else (not disclosed) and wanted to reach out to Pola one last time before making the offer. Pola and Lane came to an understanding in a call on Friday night. Pola asked Lane to give him till Sat. morning and he did. Sat. morning Pola called Jeff and then Lane and accepted Lane’s second offer. Jeff is upset that Lane did not call him a second time. VERY WEAK!!!
Now that being said, the case filed claims malicious intent (i.e. Lane wanted to hurt the state and fans of Tennessee via hurting the Titans). This is absurd and Jeff knows it. Now the Titans want a jury trial in Tennessee because they know that the law and the facts wont matter to the people of Tennessee that hate Lane and USC. It is interesting that in their claim that the fact of how Tennessee treated Lane and how UT went after every junior and senior on USCs team openly as revenge for Lane leaving them (they did get one to go) as motive for Lane to go after Pola. The fact is that Pola and Lane worked together as USC coaches for three years and Lane really liked the way he coached running backs. He was not alone as an article by Garry Paskwietz on WeAreSC.com called Pola the obvious choice long before this weekend.
This is all politics and Jeff being a USC alum should be ashamed of himself. Don’t hold this against Lane. In fact what can you hold against Lane? His leaving Tennessee for USC? USC getting sanctioned by the NCAA? His offering a scholarship to a young quarterback with clear talent? His getting fired by Al Davis? His making bold statements while at Tennessee about beating Florida and Alabama (gave Florida a tough game and almost beat Alabama)? What exactly has he done wrong in your opinion?
Look forward to your thoughts…
ND–we love our rivalry with you. please just step up your game so we can strenghten our schedule. we’ve won eight in a row. my memory is short and i place emphasis on the present. maybe urban meyer will finally save your pathetic team. how’s bryan kelly doing anything better besides making the offensive players skip between plays rather then walk?
Sy, thanks for your comment. While I agree with you that this might be politically motivated, I think that Kif needs to be a lot more careful than he has been because our program is under the microscope…not only the NCAA microscope, but the national media microscope. Lane needs to learn how to better deal with the media and with people so that he’s not constantly drawing attention to our program. Let’s face it, he is socially inept to some degree.
I don’t know all the facts of the case and, either way, I’m not a lawyer. I just hope that you are right and LK did absolutely nothing wrong—but still, I think he needs to be more careful and diplomatic when it comes to situations that can blow up in his face and from the get go I haven’t been a fan of LK. Just speaking the truth.
USConquer — Great points. LK needs to be careful for sure. I was bummed when Pete left, but all things considered, LK may just be the right guy for the job. Remember, he’s young brash and already the head coach of one of the nation’s elite programs. Now they need to send him to polishing school ASAP.
Hi USConquer and Free_Thinker,
I fully agree that Lane must be many times more careful than anyone else because it is true, we are under a NCAA microscope plus a media microscope. It is interesting to see both of you feel he has not spoken well since being at SC. Outside of this one event, can either of you point me to one time he spoke poorly since taking over at SC. I know he made brash statements while at Tennessee, but I have not heard him speak inappropriately one time since becoming our HC. I may have missed it and would like to see it if either of you can point me to something he said.
The press keeps saying anything they feel like and if you hear it enough times you feel it is true, but is that fair?
Look forward to your thoughts and you two are my favorites to read!
he doesn’t speak poorly. just uniquely. i’m still getting a handle on it. he’s short and to the point, which can be good i think. he plays it close to the vest.
on college football live he sat back quietly and let neweasel play the jackass.
Hi scinsc5,
I agree with you. I think he feels very self-conscious (for very good cause) and just wants the season to start and for the play to speak for itself. This offseason has been very dangerous for Lane. He knows it and has been well advised I’m sure to say as little as possible. It will be interesting to see how he is in 3 to 4 years from now if everything has blown over and he hopefully has been very successful. He may open up or may permanently hold everything close to the vest. Time will tell…