96 thoughts on “Is USC The Most Dysfunctional Program In Sports?

  1. Is P “Harum-Scarum” Haden the most lethal Trojan Horse against his alma mater in history?

  2. Without question, Pat Haden looks like a fool, and has no clue how to run an athletic department. Former Trojan great, Riki Ellison said Pat Haden only answers to himself, so I guess when the board of trustees feels like he’s done enough damage, then he will be replaced.

    • Haden would have looked more like a fool had he let the Sark situation continue – agree?

    • Owns is (I can’t belieev I’m saying this) right – this is on Haden – it’s 100% his.

    • Yes John, it’s how you manage it. Haden acted without considering all aspects of the situation. He hired Sark and made a mistake, Sark is an alcoholic and needed help, you have to let him go, just pay him off like every other coach that gets fired, and move on. Fire for cause, without pay and you are open to a mess.

    • The lawsuit seems like it’s mostly b.s., but ultimately, the Sark mess is on Haden. What a soap opera it’s all been. (Not that I mind that much; USC keeps us entertained all year long. How dull it would be to root for certain other schools).

  3. The public’s memory is short. Sark and his lawsuit will be in the rear view mirror by week’s end.

    And isn’t it interesting that a guy like Petros would be using the word ‘clown.’

    • I don’t think the word “clown” is necessarily foreign to him, as he might be the biggest one himself among the former SC football players.

      • Yep… While he was a player his most impactful play was his 15 yard clipping penalty against Cal on a long Touchdown that was just awesome. It only cost us the game!

    • John, I wish you were right, but Wolf will be bringing up “Sark and the Suit” for months, if not years. Jeez, he just recently let go of Kiffin, and how long did he worship Pete after he was gone.

      • All Wolf cares about is hits to this blog. He will bring absolutely anything to do that. This is really the National Enquirer not a USC football blog.

  4. I never thought i would ever say this but Sarkisian, with his behavior the last few months has made Lane Kiffin look well behaved!

    I think I know what Steve Sarkisian’s problem is! I know he comes from a very wealthy family in the South Bay, and I think Sarkisian’s upbringing was too easy. He has always struck me as a total flake! One reason. Why he got so far in the coaching world is because of two things. The first is Pete Carroll, who just nurtured him completely. second is his “smooth talking nature.” He was so good at interacting with the players, and recruits that Pete Carroll never wanted him to leave. But sarkisan has absolutely no work ethic. The Trojans were almost always completely unprepared under his tutelage. The guy thought he could skate by, by working 40 hour weeks. The division 1 college coaching protocol requires a lot more than that.

    This lawsuit is so comical that Steve Sarkisian looks like Billy Madison!

  5. Only appropriate that since we’ve had a real clown covering the “clown college.”

  6. I have not talked to anyone that actually takes Petros seriously. Now revenge is dictating his thoughts and actions. Be careful PP, one day you may need USC, don’t burn anymore bridges.

    • out of curiosity, who did you talk to and would it matter to anyone else whether they took Petros seriously?

      • Actually, steveg doesn’t need to talk to anybody other than the dozens of people on this very blog [who, it appears, agree 100% with him]. The majoritarian process at work.

  7. Petros is a carnival barker. He becomes the news. He’s in heaven. Much ado about nothing actually. Sark’s a broken dude and wants USC to fix him. It’s an insurance company matter.

    • Nothing???
      Jackie, you must be impossible to embarrass. Haden hired Sark knowing he had issues.
      To say he didn’t is like saying SoCal scouted Stanford and didn’t know they would try to get the ball to McCaffrey.
      Clown College.

          • LOL….when all else fails, fall back on the stereotypes……show even a shred of creativity and shock us all, homeboy…..To paraphrase Scott, your effort at humor lacks any ambition……Benjamins in a brown bag….. LAME!!!

      • Unwittingly, you just provided the best defense anyone could mount for Pat. Thanks for the analogy.

  8. There cant be any question right now about this and USC. And usually that means it is driven by its leader which in this case is Haden. It is beyond me how he keeps his job. But i guess that speaks to the dysfunction

  9. Haden and USC’s General Counsel, both Attorneys, could have prevented this by actually talking to an expert in employment law, and not following the “ready shoot aim” manner USC seems to adopt when dealing with coaches. This will hurt any future coaching decisions.

  10. Me thinks Petros is bitter about losing his job as USC basketball public address announcer.

  11. The only thing I know for certain is that the entire affair is does not put the school in a favorable light. There is plenty of blame to pass around.

    • You are right about that. It is not a good reflection on the school or on Pat Haden’s athletic department.

      However, the amazing thing is that USC football will continue to bring in an outstanding recruiting class this year. The recruiting will not skip a beat.

      • Look at what a sleazy soap opera the NFL is. Playing for drunk and pill-addled Sark is good preparation for SC players who may someday play for Irsay’s Colts.

        Seriously though, our whole society is now so enthralled by reality show trash and gossipy news, I’m not sure that anything going on at USC is actually all that shocking except to old guys who get angry about baseball players flipping bats and football players doing celebration dances. It’s embarrassing, sure, but these kids dream of playing in a league of massive egos, over-the-top, absurd scandals, and wife-beating dudes on probation. All Sark did was get drunk and swear.

        • Exactly…..I can hardly wait for Caitlyn Jenner to lead the Bruins out onto the field before a game…or carry the Olympic torch for the summer games in Rio…….

          • In some employment situations you have to offer accommodation for a disability and may have to offer rehab for addiction. It may also depend upon an employee’s classification. Given that Sark had a contract, it may specify something different. That is why I believe that Haden should have done something different after the first incident. Haden’s reaction to the Salute to Troy incident was insufficient, IMO. Legally? We may never find out. I doubt this sees the light of day.

        • Where I think SC may have some vulnerability is how Haden and the school handled things after the Salute to Troy incident. One could argue that Haden placed the football program above the health of his coach. Had SC suspended Sark at that time and required that he enter treatment, there may have been a way to avoid it all. I think it is reasonable to assume that SC should have known they had an alcoholic/addict on their hands in spite of his denials. Denying the disease is pretty typical. Haden fumbled the ball at that point, IMHO.

          What I don’t know is what the school’s obligations are for an employee under contract versus an “at will” employee. That may change things, but certainly the optics of handling things before the season would have been a better way of handling things.

          • From a PR standpoint, Haden botched this thing from start to finish. I’ve said before on this board that I think that dragging the players into it (“We made Coach run some laps as punishment!”) was embarrassing and disgraceful.

            But from a legal standpoint — and (disclaimer) I’ve never worked on a case involving an alcoholic employee — I don’t believe the employer has a responsibility to take the initiative and push the employee into rehab. It seems like Sark is now alleging that, at the eleventh hour, he more-or-less said he couldn’t come to work because he needed help, but by that point, he had already given SC plenty of cause to fire him, as I understand it, and the axe was already falling.

            Anyway, I expect he’ll get some settlement money. It’s too bad they couldn’t have reached a deal without a suit, but that’s how people like me make a living.

          • Great post Web and you as well 88!!! I was wondering Web, as a attorney in a case like this wouldn’t it of been prudent for Haden or SC to make Sarkisian sing or comply with something stating the reason or cause for his termination?

            As far as Petros, look I’m not happy with many of the things my friend says. I also don’t think that if there wasn’t a bit of truth in what he said it wouldn’t bother me so much. Just bad vibes the entire university is putting out these days.

          • As far as making Sark sign something, there are a couple of problems there. First, when you’re firing a guy, you can’t really MAKE him sign anything if he refuses. A guy getting fired may not feel like being cooperative.

            Second (and we’ll never know how this might have turned out), even if USC had gotten Sark to sign some kind of settlement or buy-out when they fired him, he was in such a bad state that he might now claim that he was not mentally fit to have signed the agreement because he was drunk or on drugs or in withdrawal, or he signed it under duress, or some such thing. That doesn’t mean that those arguments would prevail in court, but sometimes people file suits to create leverage for negotiations, not because they believe that they will ultimately win in court. I suspect that the current suit is one of those.

            I agree about the bad vibes. Even if Helton can’t get them back to being national champions, it would be good to have a few years of stability and no weird scandals.

          • Thank you very much for your very thoughtful and insightful words Web.

            I really hope that your right that there will be some settlement reached and this never reaches a courtroom.

        • Dupee, this whole KU/Sark show could have been averted. All KU had to do was suspend Sark and move on. Unfortunately, Pat Haden is the KU AD. What a PR disaster.

          • It could have been averted if Sark hadn’t been hired in the first place. But even if Sark had been suspended for a few early games, he would have come back in time for … the UW loss? The Stanford loss? We might have reached the same ultimate result, perhaps a little later in the season, even if the Salute to Troy incident hadn’t been handled incompetently.

          • Sark could have been suspended for the duration w/o KU incurring a Lawsuit. KU had a perfect reason to suspend Sark for his behavior. Sark goes to rehab, and settles his divorce, while Helton does HC duty. .

          • Suspend him for a whole season, and then we’d be stuck with him next year? I think most of us would rather have the bad PR now and try to move on.

    • And to top it off we’ve got the Galen Center filling with water for days on end. Oh wait, that was Pauley Pavilion, nevermind…

      #WaterSports

  12. Petros is a 100% complete shill. He is out for himself and himself only. If he thinks he can get ratings for his radio or TV shows, he will prostitute himself any way he can. This guy was a 3rd string half back on a lousy USC team. All he has now is his big mouth to support his family. What a total turncoat!

      • way to disrespect your former Captain….what is WRONG with trOXans??

        Paddy Boy should just call our very own dapper Dan for tips on how to fire someone….then we fired Neu, it was a two way love- fest!!! that’s how you treat your own!!!

        #UniversitySansClass

        • Let’s make one thing absolutely clear here… Petros was NEVER O Captain, My Captain… and he never will be……How did Disco Dan handle the firing of Ben “Howlin'” Howland?……As I recall, the word AWKWARD comes to mind…..

          • you better call the Wiki Editors: “While playing for University of Southern California, Papadakis scored 16 touchdowns. In 1999 and 2000, he was named USC’s team captain.”

          • He may have been appointed captain of the USC football team, but never was he MY captain………

          • That was probably just a reward for free food and drinks provided by his dad’s tavern in Pedro.

          • 16 TD’s baby…..2 less than Sam Bam Washington, Tied with Alan Bradford and more than Joe Mcnight, Aaron Emanuel, CJ Gable!!! he’s #16 in Southern Cal HISTORY in rushing TD’s!!!!!

            #TouchdownPetros

          • Well, as you know, Bradford didn’t get to do much until late in his time at USC, and CJ Gable was here for the “let’s have nine tailbacks” era.

          • And McKnight might have had more touchdowns if he didn’t coat his fingers with butter before taking the field.

    • Say what you want about Petros now but he was the Captain of the football team and a starting Tailback! So much for “once a trojan always a trojan”

      • How can a drunk call anyone polluted? Tiny fish, hardly. But I certainly don’t have to justify myself to a losing troll. Get a life, a job, a family.Get something worthwhile.

  13. The biggest clowns on the USC campus right now are President, Max Nikias, Athletic Director, Pat Haden, and Assistant Athletic Director, John K. McKay. McKay was hired by his bud, Haden to come in and keep an eye on Kiffin. After Kiffin left, McKay had no duties, other than to walk the sidelines at the Coliseum. Why wasn’t he keeping an eye on the drunk his bud hired as head football coach ? Three Stooges for sure. They all need to leave.

  14. LOVE IT!!!! Petros and borrOcho will spend the next 24 mos taking turns kicking the trOXans in the Crouch!!!!

    Southern Cal DESERVES every buh-BAM they get based on their conga-line of bone-headed personnel decisions!!!

    they can’t fire someone with a even a low standard of professionalism and dignity: it’s gotta be an ambush on the tarmac, a firing via text message or they fire a guy struggling with a disabling affliction!!!

    total and complete CLOWN COLLEGE!!!

    #IfThisIsHowTheyTreatTheirOwn…

  15. This entire subject matter is preposterous.
    You cannot tell me that USC did not expect this lawsuit or that Haden did not review options with his own legal team prior to termination. Sark is playing the only card he has.
    As a fellow Greek and Alumnus, I am disappointed with Petros’ continued self serving comments at the peril of his alma mater. I couldn’t care less if he played football or cleaned up after Traveler. He is profiting off of his own sensationalizing of events and continues to do so.
    Bottom line; Petros is the only clown I see here.

    • That’s what my fist thought was Pete, how in the hell didn’t Haden do his “do diligence” and make sure this couldn’t happen? ? I thought the whole indefinite suspension the two days before the firing was about? ?

  16. Haden is a Domer loving traitorous cancer. At any school with a President who cared about athletics Haden would have canned long ago. He is an absolute disgrace.

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