USC Fires Petros Papadakis As Basketball PA Announcer

USC decided at least two weeks ago it was not going to bring back Petros Papadakis to do the basketball PA this season at the Galen Center but did actually inform him until today . . . via text. Sound familiar?

Who knows what the official response will be but it would be naive to think the fact Papadakis has been critical of Pat Haden on his radio show is not a factor.

“USC no longer wants to employ me as the basketball public address announcer,” Papadakis said. “I loved the excitement of being court-side and having a professional connection with the school. I know the USC athletic department has bigger issues with the football program right now but it’s strange to me that after 11 seasons on the job no one at USC contacted me about this decision.

“I reached out to the school this Monday to ask about the schedule for the upcoming basketball season. Tuesday it was explained to me via text that my services were no longer needed. I wish the Trojans basketball team the best of luck.”

 

137 thoughts on “USC Fires Petros Papadakis As Basketball PA Announcer

  1. Being obnoxiously critical of a guy who decides if you have a job or not usually is not a wise move

    What happened to bucket, is he ok? Almost getting beat by Colorado with all that sun damage has to hurt – poor little feller

  2. Another low class move by low class southern cal… to one of their own sons… Petros deserved much better!

    • I agree that Petros deserved more than just a text… heck, if I were Haden, I’d have arranged a radio interview with Petros and publically fired his big fat Greek behind on the air!….How Petros ever got hired as a PA Announcer in the first place is a mystery to me…..

      • Why KU has a Men’s basketball program is a mystery to me.

        Mr Haden is paying millions of $$$$$ for a HBC that has won just 5 Pac-12 basketball game in 2 years.

        Now that’s what I call negative ROI.

  3. Petros really loves to dish it out but the ever-expanding slob can’t take it. Any fool understands when you’re coming up for renewal and the conversations stop, the party is over. It’s great he’s no longer professionally connected with USC any longer. Thank God.

    Petro’s dad, John, has also frequently trashed Haden on the radio, while poor mouthing USC in general . Vert personal attacks that anyone would say are out of line and inviting ill will.. Funny. I knew John when he was at SC as a player and he was by far the biggest loudmouth on the team. Some things never change.

      • Ellison was a much better ball player who dislikes how Sark somehow managed to be chosen, like many of us. He obviously wanted Del Rio who surely would have been better in hindsight.

        Papadakis, who I think misses the Taverna limelight, has a personal dislike of Haden that’s separate from the Sark hire. He likes anyone who kisses up to him and feels that Haden has dissed him by not treating him as the big shot he thinks he is.

        • All I know is one of these guys does what they are paid to do and it’s not haden.

          • Indeed, Haden does know how to rake in the dough. He makes more going to the bathroom than you do in a year.

        • I like Petros a lot better than his father! Petros will often make fun of his usc career, but his father is like Al Bundy. John papadakis, was a star usc football player, and he will be the first person to tell you that.

          • Papadakis wasn’t a star. I remember Oklahoma run around him like he was playing on one leg. John was a gold old tough guy with limited physical skills. If that makes him a star, so be it. The USC LB stars at the time were guys like Richard Wood.

          • I agree that Petros’ self deprecating humor can be rather endearing, and, more times than not, even his football knowledge is pretty good…..but his old man is out of control and Petros is the one who regularly provides his old man with a very public forum tell the LA audience how much he was wronged by USC, specifically, Haden……

      • Petros is an unapologetic cheater.
        Also not the brightest move to publicly criticize your boss at every opportunity.

    • Glad you condone pay haden acting like he is five and firing someone because he said true things about him.

        • I’d love to hear Matt Stevens go off publicly on Guerrero about his lurid weight problem and all his bad FB hires and Mora for his public meltdowns we all love to chide him about. Now it’s, Oh, the sun! Come on Matt. Get some zingers in. Dig in on that.

          ucla would probably just sit back and be glad he’s not talking about Wooden’s cheating ways. Now, that would be right up Petros’ alley!

          • Didn’t you guys literally just build a real life kiddy shrine of his old hobbit office on campus, including his old slippers and earplugs?

            Any way I can get a video tour with a Wooden voice over? I’d pay.

          • Well Stinky, you can be sure any statue of Mr. Wooden will not include a pair of Nike’s.

          • the great Wooden white wash…all you holier than thou little gutties were the first to cheat on a massive scale. How much did abortions cost back in the early 70’s? Oh that’s right, JW didn’t know. 🙂

          • Wooden didn’t know what an abortion was. He’d never heard of them. Nobody had ever filled him in and he was too busy learning how to properly lace up shoes.

          • That squeaking air sound you hear is Stinky’s self esteem leaking.

            Since Stinky’s ego balloon is always leaking he’s constantly blowing hard – A sissy – fist clone as it were.

          • You lost to Arizona State by two scores and Stanford by about five touchdowns .

            Your season didn’t leak it popped

    • Denial is a disease, Jackie. Turning on the Petros family because they report what they think is mis-directed angst.
      But go ahead and defend your AD, the longer he is there, the more drama and distraction and that’s fine with this troll.

      • Is it okay for me to be glad Petros is gone? Didn’t mean to hurt your feelings as usual.

        My humor preference isn’t of the 10-yr old fart joke or I’ve got a hangover variety. I really think Petros should have gone to ucla. He’s much more bruin which is why I suppose he started out at CAL. He’s actually meagerly talented for shock value and certainly unique. If you think he’s some insightful commentator, I guess it wouldn’t surprise me.

        I’d pay to learn the true story of how he found a live woman to marry him. They could have made a sitcom about that. I wish him well and future sobriety. Just happy he’s on another team now.

  4. This move was Pat Haden not wanting to allow those at USC to be openly critical of Pat Haden.

  5. When you trash your employer and boss in a public forum, you usually get fired. The real question is what took them so long. Now if they could just get rid of that stupid DJ at the games…

  6. Hey, Scott… if you’re trying to portray Petros as an innocent victim here, good luck….and if he’s looking for Sympathy, tell him he can find it in the dictionary between Stupid and Syphilis …….

    • What hurts the usc brand is when you have a guy running it with a big ego that fires people for disagreeing. Sign of a real crappy leader.

      • I am certainly not defending Haden, his leadership skills, nor the method used to terminate the Greek Geek…..but Petros should have been canned under Garrett’s watch…….

      • You’re clueless. Petros wasn’t dumped in the disrespectful way he was because he disagreed with USC or Haden. Were it that, he may have gotten a nice little termination letter.

        Instead, Petros was intentionally humiliated by USC because USC wants to cut ties with Petros and John due to frequent on-air personal attacks they made that have nothing to do with job performance or decision-making.

        Truth is, USC doesn’t need the Papadakis’ and they don’t need the school either. Glad that tired connection is over.

        Whereas Wolfie needs USC. He needs USC on that wall. Or, what would he do?

        • you think Petros will now just go away? I’d think decisions made out of spite may not be the best way to handle it.

          • Typical little gutty, paranoid. You’d keep the dude employed even though he and his dad are publicly trashing ucla on radio every day? I knew it.

            Hopefully, he doesn’t go away. Most of all I’m praying ucla hires him. I hope he’s very successful and continues verbally assault people and institutions loudly and drink heavy in San Pedro or the Palisades. Just not on SC’s dime.

            We don’t care about hoops and I listen to 710 (M & M – much better) instead of Petros.

            It’s a non-issue, except Petros got his feelings hurt and ran to Wolfie. You gotta love it. Merry XMAS Petros. Better take the USC ornaments off your tree!

  7. Hat’s off to Petro Papadakis for not biting his tongue, and he had to have known this was coming , because he was connected with USC , and knows the lack of class Pat Haden has . Haden still hasn’t learned the Karma factor, and will probably go down with the ship. Because nothing he does is right, and the athletic department is a reflection of that , so he can continue to raise big dollars , and be an embarrassment to the Pac 12.

    • Whatever Petros is or is not as a person, he gave his forthright, honest appraisal of Mr. Haden’s performance as USC athletic director. Of course, Petros paid the price of his opinions which I am sure Petros must have anticipated he would be required to pay, sooner or later.

  8. What has Petros done for USC? He was a second string running back who’s longest run was away from Cal. He left them in the middle of training camp.
    KFI runs an add in which Petros states “if a dog bites your balls” every time I hear it I cringe thinking this guy represents USC ?
    A text may seem low class, but as was the case with Sark it may have been the only way the school could reach him.
    And if it was for his outspoken hatred of Pat Haden then it confirms that it is not an ivory tower but a glass house in which decisions are made at USC.

    • I’d say Petros is a lucky man. Thankfully, he’s no longer associated with the ultimate Toejam loser program, were a attendance of 150 fans is considered a crowd.

      Poor Pat, can’t take criticism. Maybe Haden should hire Matt “Mr Charity” Leinart to replace Petros.

      • You know Owns you are right. And when you are right you are right. I have never heard Petros call a basketball game.
        I don’t even consider basketball a sport. If it were a real sport USC would at least pretend to care enough to recruit some players don’t you know.

  9. This is really a serious sports issue. Petros is gone, hope fully he has learned about the politics involved when you bad mouth your boss. Not that he was any good anyway.

  10. This is a total chickens—t move by Haden. The similarities between Haden and Obama are becoming more and more apparent.
    *Both have been told their whole lives how smart they are.
    *Both have lived pretty charmed lives. I’ll give both of them credit as to the fact that both have worked hard to be where they’re at.
    *Both think they are the smartest guy in the room, even on things they have no practical knowledge in.
    *Both have achieved positions that they clearly were not qualified for.
    *Both cannot admit when they are wrong.
    *Both are EXTREMELY thin skinned and cannot deal with any type of criticism.
    *Both are afraid of direct confrontation; Haden with the NCAA and Obama with Islamic terror.
    *Both are too politically correct to the detriment of the organizations that they’re leading.
    *Both are passive aggressive and vindictive to a fault.
    *Both worry about the small stuff instead of confronting the larger issues.
    *Both cannot handle the truth.
    Lastly, things will be much better for their prospective organizations once they both leave their posts.
    As much as a blowhard Papadakis is at times, he speaks the truth when he says that the USC athletic department has become an embarrassment.

  11. So much for once a Trojan, always a Trojan…….

    Joe Klack said yesterday on am 570 that “Hayden is not only hurting USC, but is screwing the whole Pac 12 chances of being represented fairly by the college football committee. Now the Pac 12 has no voice on the committee while the SEC, and Big 12 each have two.” Hayden needs some self evaluation.

  12. The thing is, is that they very thing Haden wants, Papadakis not criticizing him or the USC Athletic Department, is now going to get much worse. Papadakis is going to be on a rampage from here on out.

    • Don’t be so sure. There are a lot of powerful Trojan alums that are sick of his act and are in the radio business. How dumb on Petros’ part to risk losing his job over a story about USC that most listeners don’t care about. Guess he can always go back to his restaurant as a busser.

      • Do you really think that the PA job pays all that much. Papadakis moves the dial. People either love him or hate him. Him losing the PA job is like a fly being smashed by a windshield.

          • His radio station is a UCLA station. You really think they care about this? All they care about is the ratings that his program brings in.

          • Billy, let me spell this out for you. L.A. is a huge radio market. The Petros and Money Show is a highly rated radio broadcast in L.A. High ratings means a lot of money for Clear Channel, the parent company of KLAC. Therefore, they really do not care whether or not Petros was fired by USC as their PA announcer. They also do not care if Petros is critical of USC, because KLAC is a UCLA station.

          • Some people like to live in a delusional world where USC controls all events instead of well established economic principles.

          • It’s no big deal to either USC or Petros. Zilch. USC got to rudely dump him and send a message. Petros delivered it picture perfectly for them. Petros will go on just fine with his schtick but will lose some USC access. Doesn’t matter. He’s a ucla guy now who was jumpstarted by USC. I like it.

            I’m an M&M guy. Now, those talkers are good. Hope they comment on Petros and USC. Very interested to see what they say.

          • Mason and Ireland are more prone to comment – but yeah a dumb move by Petros’ making a stink rather than just ignoring the separation

          • I like Max and Marcellus. Much better than all the rest for me, except Cowherd, who’s also worth listening to IMHO. Mason & Ireland – no. Petros and $ – no.

          • Marcellus Wiley – yes!

            Max Kellerman? Seriously? – Kellerman knows nothing about LA – he’s your typical boorish New Yorker and does as nearly all New Yorkers do, telling us why all is better in NY. He knows little to nothing about USC

            When Keyshawn Johnson’s drops in on Friday Kellerman goes and sits quietly in the corner.

          • Agreed. In the grand scheme of things this is small potatoes. The problem I have with this is that it is another PR blunder by Haden. It makes him and USC look small. Haven’t we had enough of this? This has been going on since 2013.

          • I don’t agree – Papadakis wasn’t going to change – anything Petros says now on the air is going to be seen for what he is – a fool and were USC to continue to use him even bigger fools.

            Tom Hoffarth of the Daily News (same that Wolf works for ) is also a USC alum – be interesting to see his spin as this plays out.

          • Why do you think it made USC look small? They supposed to KA and send him a severance K with a USC watch? USC wanted publicly disrespect Petros and John for good and for what they considered out-of-bounds behavior. Love it. Good for them.

            Trump’s running around calling politicians stiffs and ugly and lightweights. Good for him. That’s exactly what some of them are. I’m glad USC finally drew the line and was wondering why they kept their head in the sand so long.

            Of course I thought the impromptu tarmac firing of Kiffin was classic and first rate. Well done! The Trolls here always go on like it was some crime. That’s why Petros and his fart jokes belong with the bruins. Neither one knows how to handle success.

          • The reason that I think that this was small of Haden and USC has a lot to do with the public perception of the scholl right now. If USC had not had any of these PR blunders, then this would be a non-issue. But the fact that this looks like another in a long line of PR gaffs makes the school look bad. The other aspect to this is that Papadakis has a huge public forum to spout off on. If he didn’t, again, it would be a non issue.

          • Some blunder. Cracks me up. USC dumps some guy they don’t respect anymore and he has to come crawling around asking for a basketball schedule only to find out he lost his job and then he goes crying to the press, of which he is a member. Perfect. That’s like winning the trifecta.

            I would have loved to see Petros’ face when he read the text. Mission accomplished. Hopefully, the USC person who sent the text was laughing and put a smiley face on it.

            OMG. Are you worried big, bad crybaby Petros is going to say bad things about USC? You need to grow a pair. Who cares what that obese blowhard Petros says? You obviously. Hope he doesn’t hurt your feelings. You’ll get over it.

          • Youngin’, wait until you get into the real world. Sponsorships were bought some time back. We’ll see how many want to stay on board for the future. In any event, other stations will be watching. The act is OLD.

          • If their ratings drop then a change will be made. They’re not going to change because Papadakis lost his PA job.

          • Can you get your point across in a clear, concise manner? Of people are not sure what your point is, that is a you problem, not a they problem.

  13. FYI Petros: Harold S. Wrobel, Esq. has been Senior Vice President of Business and Legal Affairs at Premiere Radio Networks Inc. since February 1994. JD 1985, University of Southern California Law School.

  14. I love Petros – most of us do. But USC is not the government – 1st amendment protections do not apply. A private employer like USC has the right to choose who represents it and its message publicly. Sure, Petros, his dad, his relatives have been critical of various decisions SC and the football program have made over the years. And SC continued to employ him for hoops. And face it, Petros is GREAT at it. Brings a level of excitement to a would-be dead Galen Center for hoops since Floyd left. But if SC feels that he’s gone too far for their comfort in “representing USC”, they have every right to sever ties. I’m sorry to see it happen, but hey, SC let him go MUCH further than most schools would have. So we’ll continue to listen to Petros on 570 and we wish him the best. He didn’t need SC hoops – he was doing it FOR SC. Much like Haden is doing his job FOR SC.

        • I think the point is that neither Petros nor Pat need their SC jobs. They’ve got plenty of $$-making opportunities beyond the university.

          • But this got into Pretros’ craw, which is why he whined about it and how he’ll miss the excitement of being courtside for USC. Truth is Petros didn’t have to burn this bridge and he could have still made his points. But he’s Petros and he has an immaturity and lack of manners to him he’s never grown out of – just like his buffoon dad. It’s not about money. It’s about respect and he just lost some today.

    • Your bright, even-toned comment probably doesn’t belong on this site. The only thing I would add: you wind up getting fired from any job—public or private sector–if you criticize your employer on a more or less regular basis. Snide opinions make the world go ’round –but you can’t realistically expect to be paid for them by your employer.

  15. Has Petros been banned like Reggie Bush from any involvement with Southern Cal athletics? When people are fired from some jobs they are not allowed to be on the premises of their former employer……..They can be arrested for trespassing. Will Petros ever be allowed In the Coliseum or Galen Center again? Will he be terminated from his radio job due to pressure from high powered alumni who are affiliated with the station?

  16. Petros is a self promoting bag of wind. Good riddance. I knew his uncle way back when and he was nice guy. His Dad is a loud mouth self promoter as well. You can criticize up to a point and then it becomes bad form. Haden was correct in doing this. Now we need to move Pat on as well. Clean house at HH.

  17. the Cadre TRIES to like Paddy O’Hadden, we really do!!!

    but MAN, he’s going downhill on a rollerskate!!! making crazy decisions, collapsing on the sidelines, leaving the Pac 12 in a lurch, now he’s trying to shut his legitimate detractors up!!!

    Paddy Boy has now reached a Nixonian level of paranoia!! trying to fire everyone who disagrees with him and holing up in his bunker!!!

    just one word of advice, Paddy Boy….you even look SIDEWAYS at the wolfman, you’ll have the ENTIRE CADRE come down on you so fast it’ll make your head SPIN!!

    #MoreThanItAlreadyIs

  18. Good points by those noting the foolishness by Petros Papadakis in getting sacked as the mens BB announcer at Galen.

    Papadakis is the fool here – he is trying to continue to climb as a national sports commentator – at the same time he is verbally for the record showing what a fool he is – that doesn’t sit well with professional executives who promote tv sports personalities.

    His biggest mistake was permitting his fat slob of a father access to the microphone every Friday afternoon – a one time gracious act now became an albatross.

    Petros’ other problem is he is now nothing but the Scott Wolf (also USC alum) of broadcast radio and what now happens should USC, Pac-12, selectively isolate him in both access and interacation that are tendered others.

    Fox is not going to like this having a daily fool always reminding all of how he was ‘treated’ and also every time USC is discussed knowing in advance what this poor envious sap is going to say.

    What Petros also has on his backside is Cowherd here – not in NYC – but here in LA who happens to like USC very much.

    Petros is funny and a quick study but he’s as so may fools are in this world – they have no idea how rare it is to ascend to that position of influence and , for Petros, throw it away by mocking the very institution that gave him relevance.

    I like Fred Roggin @ 3:00 pm – you don’t hear him or Mason and Ireland, Patrick, et. al. daily grinding a sef-pitying wine nobody gives a rip about,

    • Petros started his media career as an over-the-top SC homer. He has since pivoted to a role as a more “serious” objective analyst. Of course, that includes being critical of SC in which there’s been a lot to be critical of lately. Had SC fired him a few months ago it wouldn’t be as easy to blame Petros’ rants as the reason for his firing. It didn’t go down like that so we are all left to connect the obvious dots.

  19. Someone, anyone, PLEASE FIRE “PAT HADEN” !

    This perfectly describes the actions of a Low-Life, though “Scum” might be the better word !!

    “11” years on the job and you’re notified via txt messaging that your employment has been nullified ?

    That is Scum !

    ScumOn loser Haden

  20. Petros should take Southern Cal to the mat and sue them.
    All employees, even those considered “at Will”, are protected by law from being terminated BASED ON RETALIATION, harassment or OTHER UNLAWFULL MOTIVES.
    Kokizian Law Firm
    323 857 5900
    Weidman And Farrar
    310 201 9698
    Aquino law Firm
    626 564 8801

  21. Petros is a great guy and he calls them like he sees them. I think he has great credibility because he played and captained at USC. When he is willing to call out the school he attended, loves and employs him, that speaks volumes. Everything he has said about Haden and Sarkisian has been shown to be true. Petros can be a really funny guy, but just about everything critical thing he has said about USC, its coaches and athletic directors has turned out to be true. Personally, I am glad he is not doing the USC basketball games so we can hear more of him on the radio. But he often had some really funny stories about him doing the PA.

    • People tend to be more critical of those who are they are close to or have had a long term relationship with. My brother has been extremely critical of University of Arizona baseball over the last few years. He played there and it really pisses him off how far the program has sank. I think Papadakis is in the same boat.

  22. It’s the same old SC song.
    Fire a guy on the tarmac at LAX after you told the world you were 150% behind him.
    Fire Orgeron after you make him think he’s the man.
    Hire Sark when you know he has drinking problems and then fire him because he has drinking problems.
    Then you fire your SC alum announcer via text message?
    I get why he was fired, he was an insider that was ratting out the Godfather. I understand that Petros was supposed to toe the party line in exchange for his media support and he didn’t.
    I don’t get how a guy that’s supposed to be so smart and have so much class behaves how he has so consistently. Forget about class, how about just plain courtesy?
    Don’t you guys see the pattern here?
    Don’t you get what’s going on?
    Pat has now sealed himself in the bunker.
    The next guy that comes in with bad news get’s shot.

  23. They pull him in occasionally when Vic the Brick isn’t available. But he also records commercials for them.

  24. Petros bad-mouthed the school and the athletic department too much. The sark situation was the catalyst. Although the critiques were well-deserved, they (sc) didn’t appreciate being exposed by one of their own. Now, petros can expose them more.

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