USC Morning Buzz: If It’s Sunday, There Must Be Another Rising Stars Camp

USC is holding another of its “Rising Stars” camps today at Howard Jones Field. That means more players should be “blessed” to receive a scholarship offer. Is anyone ever something besides blessed? How about thrilled? Or shocked? Or just happy?

And if someone commits today, it might or might not actually matter. Here’s a recruiting stat that caught my attention: UCLA has offered eight players at St. John Bosco from the Class of 2019.

23 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: If It’s Sunday, There Must Be Another Rising Stars Camp

  1. Yesterday was the Special Teams RS Camp, and they had a great turn out! One kicker, who won the longest kick competition, kicked the ball 70+ yds. WOW!
    Today’s camp is supposed to boast a higher level of players than the last one. Have a nice day.

  2. It would be a better world if more people felt blessed by God for the things they have.

  3. USC with the cool edit of Gaoteote and Tuliaupupu in SC gear sitting on wall of Coli w/ Trojan fans. Is it a prediction?

  4. Scott, it is offensive when you make fun of kids who express religious gratitude by using the word “blessed” or “blessing”. This is the second time you have done this. These are commonly accepted as religious words that come straight from the Bible. While you may not be a religious person, you need to respect these kids religious expression of deep gratitude. Stop making light of situations when these young men display their heart felt gratitude. It reflects poorly on you and your employer when you do. I am not ultra sensitive to these kinds of things and I gave you some latitude the first time you did it in April, but you need to stop. The comments you are making are very inappropriate in the context of discussing college football. If you want to start a blog about religion, be my guest. But your comments are likely offensive to many people other than myself, so you need to stop; according to your own company and blog policies. How would each of these kids and their families feel if they read your discriminatory remarks? They would be surprised and offended since they deliberately chose the word “blessed” as a sign of heartfelt gratitude which is religious in nature. In a time such as this, your comments can easily be interpreted as “hate speech” which is strictly forbidden by your employer, your blog policies, and state law. I am hoping you can choose to be more respectful of these kids and their families.

    • “Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject that will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest that
      will not bear serious examination is false wit.”
      -Aristotle

      • Ben, I understand the issue of humor. But the way it was presented by Scott back in April was not to make a light hearted joke, but to be condescending. There is a big difference. Today’s post was reminiscent of the previous post from April. A great theologian once said “take nothing seriously except God”, so I understand the value of humor. But Scott knows it is not appropriate to make jokes in a condescending in a way that is discriminatory. My hunch is that Scott is not religious whatsoever, and may even have hostility towards religion based upon the cynicism I see in his writing. But he knows better than to be condescending towards student athletes and their families because of their heart felt religious gratitude. That is not something that is appropriate to joke about or make fun of. It is very risky and easy to offend someone, especially the student athletes and their families. It’s just not appropriate. It’s a maturity thing and a decency thing.

        • Scooter did go to St. Paul High and so the inferior complex started their because they are always trying to prove that they are equal to Setvite and Mater Dei

      • So, to use your own words, this is a case of “a jest that will not bear serious examination is false wit”.

        • I think what Scott is making fun of the high percentage of the kids who say the exact same thing. Evander, it sounds pro forma and canned, not deeply religious–at least to me.

          Why do so many of them say the exact same words?

          As Fred pointed out, why do so few of them thank the training and work ethic they received from HS coaches or the values and work ethic passed on from parents.

          Did you ever watch Agholor’s commitment speech? It was so much more real. Born in Nigeria. No doubt his parents struggled with money, and all kinds of discrimination. People saw his ability, and invested resources and energy in him. He didn’t offer cliches; he told them how he could never have done it without them. When you’re born in Nigeria, that’s deadly serious talk, and it came through every word.

          Do you hear Kierkegaard when these kids say they’re blessed? If so, our “ears” don’t operate at all alike.

          • I see your point and you’re probably right that some of them don’t really mean it deeply, but many of them do so it’s still important to take their gratitude seriously. Getting a full ride scholarship offer is something that an extremely small percentage of athletes get the chance for, so they realize how fortunate they really are. They also realize it wasn’t just their hard work that put them in that position. I think most of their speeches give thanks in the correct order. They thank the Creator for giving them something they did not earn themselves; amazing raw athleticism and DNA for an extremely large, fast, or muscular body. They can’t take credit for that. Then they thank all the people who invested tons of time and energy into their development. I just think it’s in poor taste to make light of their speaches. I can’t think of a better word than blessed to describe how fortunate these kids really are. Can you? Most other words just don’t do it justice.

          • Kierkegaard? Sorry, I wasn’t a philosophy major. No, I never heard Agholars speech. But I wish I did now that you say it.

  5. I’d like to hear some players every now and then, thank their parents, coaches, along with giving themselves some credit for their hard work as opposed to saying “First and foremost, I’d like to thank the lord, Jesus Christ for giving me a scholarship “.

    • Fred, I enjoy all 4 words of thanks and credit, especially thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ.

    • Agree Fred. I just wonder if all the kids that don’t get rides are just in condemning JC and his dad for not helping?

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