Open Forum Answers, Act II
Today's second installment of answers is sponsored by Caesar, who must raise coin for the refurbishment of the Coliseum. Because no can be fed to the lions anymore, one fundraiser will include tying victims down at midfield and watching them suffer as they are forced to watch TrojanTV.
Offensive line coach Pat Ruel seems to draw the most interest from NFL teams every year. Among the younger coaches, secondary coach Demetrice Martin looks like he will have a bright future. However, because he is a graduate assistant, he will leave USC after the season unless he is made full time.
One of the big recruits out there besides the oft-mentioned Patrick Johnson and Arthur Brown, is wide receiver Deion Walker of Virginia. USC is considered an extremely long shot but he's a big-play type receiver that the Trojans could use.
As we enter spring practice, Mark Sanchez will be the clear frontrunner and Mitch Mustain will need to close the gap with his practice performances. All things being equal, it's apparent Sanchez will be favored because he's been in the system for three years. But that doesn't mean Mustain cannot overcome that hurdle.
With Fred Davis departing, Anthony McCoy will probably start. But someone who could come in and make an immediate impact (if the coaches are not conservative) is incoming freshman Blake Ayles of Orange Lutheran. His athletic enough to catch a lot of passes and could play defense but USC wants him to be a tight end.
The women's soccer team is in Final Four this weekend. In the past I pushed Coventry City coach Iain Dowie for the job, not a ``list of potential replacements'' as you inaccurately wrote. I haven't written about this team getting this far because I can't spell the coach's name.
Despite all the differences between USC and the Coliseum, the only thing both parties agree on is the appropriateness of renaming the landmark the Mitch Mustadium.
Since Pete Carroll's been at USC, there's always been a scholarship or two stashed away on signing date in case someone else changes their mind. Carroll's worried about running out of scholarships many times, but with transfers, academic disqualifications or players being ``eased'' out of playing, there's always scholarships. Remember last year, Mitch Mustain informed USC he was interested and even on signing date, USC kept a scholarship open for him.
Here's our media columnist Tom Hoffarth's take on the radio broadcast of the USC-UCLA game:
``WHAT CHOKES
It was beyond classless, a sophomoric signoff that USC radio play-by-play voice Pete Arbogast delivered over the air as the Trojans secured a victory over rival UCLA at the Coliseum on Saturday - "When UCLA fans say '13-to-9,' you can say, '42-to-28,' That's where the series record stands now. We're going to Pasadena! The Trojans are Pac-10 champions for the sixth consecutive time ... How do you do! Stick it right there, baby!" Aside from the fact USC is really only co-champions for the second year in a row, it's more embarrassing that the clip was used as a station promo on KSPN-AM (710) earlier this week and then inserted as audio on the "Trojan Rewind" show produced by Fox Sports Net. Can you imagine Vin Scully blurting that out after a big Dodgers' win over the Giants? Or even Chris Roberts doing so on the UCLA radio broadcast had the Bruins defeated the Trojans? Unfortunately, it came a day too late for Arbogast to clinch the Southern California Sports Broadcasters' "Sportscaster of the Month" award for November. That incredible honor deservedly went to Lakers TV play-by-play man Joel Meyers, whose excellence was "exemplified by his announcing of one of the NBA's greatest rivalries, the first meeting of the season between the Lakers and Boston Celtics in Boston on Nov. 29, during which he set the scene with a very objective verbal overview that captured the storied history" of the rivalry and "then followed with an enthusiastic and balanced account of the action that pointed out exceptional performances as well as provided astute lead-ins for color commentator Stu Lantz," according to the SCSB press release. A game, by the way, in which the Celtics blew the Lakers out. Arbogast's call for the ages has to give him the inside track for December recognition. We're hoping.''
In response to Tom Hoffarth's article, I would like to point out to him what it means to be classless. It is when ucla fans cheer and set sofas on fire after USC lost to texas in the rose bowl. It is when ucla fans bombard our message boards with 13-9 for the entire year. And it is when columnist's like Tom blasts Pete Arbogast for stating the truth. Tom, I dare you to go on air and debate it with Pete.
And one more thing, Pac-10 co-champions are still Pac-10 champions. If not, then why are we playing in the Rose Bowl. Fight on!
Chandy - 100% Agreed. Fight on!
Thanx, Scott for taking the question-------I asked because I think Florida signed some 30 plus guys last year---some really good ones coming in at the very end--and, since the max. is 25 per year, I wondered how they handled it--I WOULD GUESS THEY JUST WORK THINGS OUT, maybe under the table, to decide who will grayshirt, and who won't--probably there is no first in, first assured, NCAA rule as it very rarely comes up anywhere--but it might be interesting to find out for sure, even tho it's academic---if you ever talk to the guy at SC who would handle that, perhaps you might ask, and post the answer----also, I could well be wrong, but it seems like 4 or 5 years ago, we asked, or told, someone to grayshirt---if I recall right, it was 2 guys, and one did, and one went elsewhere--neither were super recruits.