More Open Forum Answers

I would appreciate any insight as to why they didn't bring in Sanchez to replace Booty (e.g., no confidence in Sanchez at that point, not enough prep time for Sanchez, Booty was throwing the ball okay, etc.) Any input on that issue is greatly appreciated.

Booty played the second half against Stanford because the coaches thought his passes were unaffected by the finger and because they did not have the confidence to put Mark Sanchez in a tight game for the first time basically. Remember the first half against Arizona? Now if Booty were hurt and affected (and that's something we may never know), then yes, a change should have been made.
Do you have a medical update on Broderick Green?

Broderick Green's foot feels 100 percent.How much do you attribute injuries to the notoriously tough and intense Carroll-led practices versus putting blame on the training staff?

The training staff is often like a MASH unit, just trying to keep everyone healthy. A natural conflict occurs if coaches pressure trainers to bring a player back too soon. That's why the team doctors are usually the final word, because they don't rely on the football team for a paycheck so they are less likely to bring a player back.

SC emphasizes their strength and conditioning & their coach, Chris Carlisle gets a lot of pub for having a supposed amazing program?

On numerous occasions, there's been speculation as to whether the conditioning techniques contribute to injuries. A few seasons ago, everyone in training camp seemed to get hamstring injuries. But every time it's mentioned to Caesar, he does not believe there is a connection.

Isn't Dayne ``Christ'' the perfect name for Caesar?

Notre Dame prides itself on marching out across the field and playing the other team’s fight song after the game. However, last weekend in South Bend, the ND band stood on their side of the 50 and did not play the SC fight song. Judging by the face of Art Bartner, he was pretty surprised by this and started up the SC band before ND was done playing. Do you know what went on? What this retaliatory for what occurred 2 years ago when our players and band celebrated on the field and did not let the ND band march out in formation and play? Thanks.

Actually, I was on the field right in front of the Notre Dame band and they did play the USC fight song. Now I don't know if Bartner started playing, but it wouldn't surprise me. A better question is when Bartner would ever return the gesture of playing the Notre Dame fight song. Or maybe stay more than 15 minutes after a game to play music.

I have not seen many passes tipped from Mitch Mustain.

Is there any inside commentary as to why ND has fallen so far?

Charlie Weis' problems stem from the fact he did nothing to prepare his younger players and he's also done a poor job recruiting. Despite what the recruiting services ranked his classes, some coaches tell me Weis made a common mistake by locking up too many commitments too soon from players who were overrated. This happened to Joe Paterno a few years ago. It's popular for Weis supporters to bash Ty Willingham but Pete Carroll, Bob Stoops and Urban Meyer won in their third year.

you keep writing PC and you have a great relationship. Do you see this friendship ending when PC realizes your myopic vision lead to you voting USC with the 2nd lowest poll position in the nation last week? (Lowest: Mandel, SI). Does PC also know about your strong contention that no NC without NC?

This is your second question but I will answer it anyways. I've told Caesar far more incendiary things but for the record, I pointed out to him that I voted LSU No. 1 a few weeks ago to send USC to No. 2 in the poll. And he's heard the Chow theory from more than me. So no, it does not affect our relationship.

Q: Does Carroll ever! listen to what the "public" has to say or what they think re: a particular issue?

A: Did Caesar consult the masses before invading Gaul?

Are these days not proof that his coming is part of some divine intervention before our hero Mitch Mustain returns us to the Promised Land?

Not even Dayne ``Christ'' could lead USC to the Promised Land better than Mitch ``His Holiness'' Mustain. It's just a pity we can't sell his scout team video to the public. But I will include it in the DVD release of ``Mitch and Me.''

Since you’re sticking with the vast majority of media pundits who are picking Oregon, how many touchdowns will the Ducks beat USC by?

I didn't know I'd picked the Ducks yet, but it does seem like all the pundits are lining up with Oregon.

Why do you think USC is not respected or liked in the national media? The Trojans seem to be the team/school that people like to hate. USC main campus is one of the most used colleges for location shooting in tv, movies, and commercials.

I was unaware of this bias, since movies since 1931 were made using USC as a marquee football program. I even included a picture of that one. More recently, Boyz in the Hood used USC. Often, a script might call for a midwest atmosphere or Hollywood tends to stereotype USC as an inner-city school, so it might cut down on opportunities. They filmed Blue Chips at USC but pretended it was a midwest campus. Damn Hollywood!

USC remains in the hunt for Arthur Brown but it's going to be an extremely competitive battle.

Did Weis actually not allow Jimmy Clausen to play in the game because of his statement that USC was guaranteed to lose if he were the ND quarterback or was he genuinely "too beat up" to play as per the game announcers?

Jimmy Clausen had a sore hip.