June 2008 Archives
Here's some quotes from the father of Narbonne recruit Byron Moore.
``He's been going to their camps since he was in the seventh grade. There was something
in his heart that said he wanted to go there,'' Byron Moore Sr. said. ``At the end of the day, he felt in his heart he wanted to be at USC.
``It's been tearing at him even before that. UCLA's been very good to us. They are a good group of guys.''
``That's because E. Scott's gone. E. Scott's crucial to UCLA's inner-city recruiting.''
-- Rick Kimbrel of BruinBlitz.com on Narbonne wide receiver Byron Moore decommitting from UCLA to USC.
E. Scott is former UCLA assistant coach Eric Scott.
Notre Dame held its annual Football Fantasy Camp last week where with more than 500 campers. But could Charlie Weis give a chalk talk or throw a football like Caesar?
Here's the early Watch Lists for the Maxwell and Bednarik awards. Patrick Turner, Stafon Johnson and Mark Sanchez are just a few of the names that show up.
Narbonne wide receiver Byron Moore got plenty of attention from USC's coaches last week and he followed by decommitting from UCLA and says he will attend USC.
The significance of this to me is that Rick Neuheisel is not exactly tearing it up in recruiting so far, especially given his reputation at Colorado and Washington. And it appears UCLA misses former assistant coach Eric Scott because USC is now back in business in the Los Angeles City Section for recruits after getting steamrollered last year.
Here's a look at the Big Ten non-conference schedule.
This is the definitive article on the USC Song Girls and hopefully will answer questions for many of you.
We talked to a coach who watched USC basketball recruit Nikola Vucevic, a 6-10 forward from Stoneridge Prep.
``He has some skills. He needs work. He's OK. He's long but not quick,'' the coach said.
The position that probably drew the greatest scrutiny at the Rising Stars camp was fullback, because the Trojans really need more than Stanley Havili and are pretty thin at the position now and in the future, barring a position switch.
If you are a USC fan and a fan of right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt, you might have a conflict with this controversial comment.
``By the way, I -- I'm still trying to find two tickets to the Ohio State-USC game. And none of the USC people will give up their tickets to me. I'd pay fair price. They -- they know Ohio State's gonna slaughter the Trojans. They know that they're gonna slaughter the Trojans, and therefore they do not want me there at the bloodbath, since it's probably the last football game we'll ever get to see before the United States gets blown up by the Islamists under Obama. I -- I would like to see Ohio State slaughter USC. This is what I'm living for right now. I'm keeping -- all the bad news, I just focus on the Ohio State upcoming slaughter of USC.''
Link after the jump.
There's always a lot of breathless reports written about the Rising Stars camp, but one player who seemed to come with a lot of hype and just did OK was wide receiver Marlon Brown, the second-best player at his position in the nation according to Rivals.com.
Now maybe flying from Tennessee and being in new surroundings made it a rough transition, because he's been offered by just about every school in the country. At any rate, he did not exactly enjoy a stellar camp.
A couple good questions here. One on an in-depth article from 17 years ago on your favorite topic and another on a group of people who think they are entitled to hog the benefits of USC for themselves.
The answers continue as we wait to see if anyone will draft Davon Jefferson?
A question about the Ohio State-USC game looms here.
The topic of the Song Girls seems to have taken on a life of its own in the comments section. With that in mind, if you have a comment, please refrain from negative adjectives about physical appearance, etc., that can easily be avoided while still discussing the subject.
I refuse to practice censorship when it comes to the topics discussed. And believe me, there are some trying to force that right now. So if you want to discuss the Song Girls, football or anything else, feel free to do so. Just try to keep it constructive.
Here's a picture the Minnesota Timberwolves quickly removed from the website this morning.
USC ended its blue-chip with commitments from a pair of ``athletes.''
Dillon Baxter, who we previously mentioned as the best uncommitted prospect, committed after being offered a scholarship. He will be a junior at Mission Bay High in San Diego.
James Boyd of Jordan High in Los Angeles also committed. He plays linebacker but is capable of playing more than one position.
O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love seem to always be linked and now the pair were traded by Minnesota and Memphis in an eight-player deal.
Quote of the night comes from Wolves assistant G.M. Fred Hoiberg after taking Mayo: ``This means we're keeping him.''
The draft just ended and Davon Jefferson was not selected. Looks like he now will either go to Europe or play in the D-league.
Here's a statement from USC coach Tim Floyd on O.J. Mayo.
``O.J. did a great job for us. We haven't had a player work as hard as him to get to this point. We are very happy for him and believe he will have an exceptional career in the NBA.''
"He's the whole package," said Wolves Assistant General Manager Fred Hoiberg. "We went out and saw him two Saturdays ago and he just blew us away. The guy can flat out stroke the basketball. He can spread the court so that Al (Jefferson) can operate on the block ... The most impressive part was his interview after the workout. You guys are going to love him."
The Timberwolves selected O.J. Mayo with the third pick. Mayo wore glasses for the draft.
``I'm definitely going to bring some leadership,'' Mayo told ESPN.
USC assistant coach Sam Anno interviewed to become the linebackers and special teams coach at Central Connecticut State. If he takes the job, he would work with former USC football players Ryan Nielsen (defensive coordinator) and Jacob Rogers (defensive line) along with former USC defensive line coach Jeff McInerny.
Anno will make a decision on whether to take the job next week.
I don't think anyone will take offense to a picture of an Oregon cheerleader on a summer afternoon.
One of the better wide receiver prospects at USC's camp is wide receiver Emory Blake of Austin, Texas. Blake is the son of former NFL quarterback Jeff Blake, who spent most of his career with the Cincinnati Bengals.
When O.J. Mayo gets drafted later today, he should become the highest Trojan ever drafted. Paul Westphal was the 10th pick in the 1972 NBA Draft.
Wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey, already committed to USC, arrived at the camp with a lot of anticipation. He made a couple nice touchdown passes Wednesday afternoon and is kind of a David Ausberry-type receiver although not as big yet.
Who's the best uncommitted prospect at USC's Elite Camp? How about Dillon Baxter, an ``athlete'' from Mission Bay High in San Diego. He is a junior-to-be and was not offered a scholarship at the beginning of the camp but could earn one before he departs.
USC coach Pete Carroll was in an auto accident Tuesday night.
http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_9695600
USC basketball recruit Leonard Washington is participating in freshman orientation this week and enrolled in summer school classes that begin next week, the first actual sign he will play for the Trojans next season.
Washington, a 6-6 forward from Lake Charles, La., has wavered with public statements about where he would attend college although he was accepted by USC in the spring after failing to academically qualify last year.
Washington is projected as a starter because of his rebounding ability and physical presence. He spent the past year trying to get eligible.
Joe Montana, Lane Kiffin, Kennedy Pola and Shaun Cody observing football camp today at USC. Montana's son, Nicholas, a quarterback at Concord De La Salle, actually looked pretty good today and could be a legitimate prospect.
The first day of the elite prospects camp concluded and the most impressive player might be Tim McDonald Jr. of Fresno Edison. He looked even bigger than his listed size (6-1, 183) and made a lot of plays on Day 1.
There's talk the Miami Heat might take O.J. Mayo with the No. 2 pick or the Knicks might trade up to select Mayo at No. 2.
Quick thoughts: Good for Mayo. Weak draft.
Cornerback Torin Harris, who recently committed to USC, is listed as being from Las Vegas but he actually grew up in Pasadena and would have attended Muir High School if his family did not move to Nevada. He grew up a USC fan but is also going to take his visits to see what other options might be available.
USC recruit Dwayne Polee Jr., who plays for Westchester High, is in Orlando, Fla., to participate in the Vince Carter basketball camp.
Nick Young said the toughest players for him to guard his first NBA season were Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and Richard Hamilton of the Pistons. The toughest player who guarded him was the Mavericks' Josh Howard.
Here's the answers to the rest of the Weekend Forum questions.
The USC band AND song girls performing during Freshman Orientation festivities in front of the P.E. Building.
Randall Carroll visited UCLA's version of its blue-chip prospect camp to observe the festivities. His visits between USC and UCLA make him the biggest waffler since Winston Justice.
ESPN, which predicted Fili Moala would be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, now predicts USC will play Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl. Which means the Trojans will lose to Ohio State and the Buckeyes play Georgia in the national title game.
Link after the jump.
USC starts practice August 6.
Salute to Troy is August 22.
There will be scrimmages on the 12th, 16th and 21st. (subject to change).
If you want a look at wide receiver Alshon Jeffrey, who recently committed to USC, he is flying in to attend this week's elite camp.
Not many of you follow women's basketball, but guard Jackie Gemelos, who missed the past two seasons with two knee operations, is playing again with no significant problems, which is impressive considering her last operation was in the fall. It's a big deal if she plays next season because she was rated the top player in the nation in high school.
Although the incoming freshmen usually report at once, this year's group is coming ``in waves'' according to Pete Carroll. Among the yet to arrive group is safety Drew McAllister.
You can discuss the commitment of cornerback Torin Harris of Las Vegas here.
Pro: USC needs corners for the future. Con: The other schools who offered him were UNLV, Utah, Arizona and Washington State
Not every question is about the Song Girls.
Washington State just added a new multi-media Daktronics scoreboard to Martin Stadium. As of two days ago, the Coliseum still had not installed the new video screen for this season. There's still time, but I always get a little nervous about Coliseum ``improvements.''
USC calls its prospect camp the ``rising stars'' camp. Personally, I'd like to attend a Sinking stars camp one day.
More answers, more song girl questions.
Let's get to some of the questions, while still pondering the Oregon cheerleaders.
From time to time, we'll look at every conference's nonconference schedules. Here's the ACC.
I know what a celebrity suck-up Caesar is, so I've started a campaign to get David Beckham to a USC football game this season.
``It's one of the things I want to do at some point,'' Beckham told me. ``I will go to an American football game.''
Every mock draft seems to include USC's O.J. Mayo, Arizona's Jerryd Bayless, UCLA's Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook as top six picks. One even lists Westbrook as the No. 3 pick.
None of these guys strikes me as a surefire impact player, although someone will undoubtedly develop or surprise. That said, this must be a weak draft if these are the top six picks.
There is some question about what position Mayo will play in the NBA while some wonder about Westbrook's shooting. About all you can really bet on about this draft is the Clippers will make the wrong choice.
Two other schools at the USC passing tournament on Friday were Inglewood and Cathedral. Inglewood features wide receiver Shaquelle Evans while Cathedral is led by the much-discussed Randall Carroll.
Although Evans is lukewarm at best toward USC, it probably doesn't hurt to try and get him down to campus as often as possible, in the coaches' eyes.
Time for more questions on whatever you wish to discuss. One question per person please.
Rank all of Pete Carroll's teams. I just did.
The USC soccer and women's golf teams will visit the White House on Tuesday in honor of their national championships. USC soccer player Amy Rodriguez will arrive back from South Korea, where she played with the U.S. national team, on Sunday and fly the same day with her teammates to Washington, D.C.
Colony High School of Ontario defeated Banning of Wilmington with a TD pass on the last play to win the USC 7-on-7 passing tournament today. USC's coaching staff observed the tournament.
If you have playcalling advice, please leave it here for one of our readers.
Kevin Love was also going to sign with the BDA agency that signed O.J. Mayo until the controversy with Mayo erupted, so he signed with another agent.
Now we're on to our first question on you know what.
We get off to a quiet start this morning with some non-Song Girl questions.
Good thing I checked the comments section today. Reader xlxcd8 found this picture which demonstrates to all where UCLA ranks in the Pac-10 right now. (Photo: Bruce Yeung).
Gotta address this question now in lieu of today's events.
Q: Switching gears here for a little bit to different football, how would rate Portugal's performance in the EuroCup thus far? I ask this question due to the fact that Cristiano Ronaldo obviously plays for them as well as your much loved Manchester United team.
Actor Timothy Olyphant of the HBO series ``Deadwood'' was also a much different looking USC swimmer back in the early 1990's.
Davon Jefferson's also worked out for the Portland Trail Blazers as he tries to find a way to boost his stock before the draft.
The Eagles moved offensive lineman Winston Justice from tackle to guard. This might be a way to protect him after last year's unforgettable performance when he allowed six sacks in one game.
O.J. Mayo is supposed to work out for the top seven teams in the NBA draft on Monday.
News item: Alabama head coach Nick Saban and his wife Terry have pledged $1 million to the university for scholarships. The Saban scholarships are designed specifically for first-generation college students.
Reaction: Is this another way to exceed to the 25-scholarship limit from the coach who brought about the Saban Rule that prevented Caesar from going on the road in May?
Now this is the type of sponsor the Coliseum needs for its naming rights. The August 30 Washington State-Oklahoma State game in Seattle is being presented by the Washington Beef Producers.
Boston Celtics guard Eddie House is married to the daughter of former USC basketball coach Henry Bibby.
Luckily, this is not happening during football season, but if you get DirecTV, FSN WEST will move from Channel 652 to 692 while FSN PRIME TICKET will move from 653 to 694 effective tomorrow. I believe in soccer the term for this is ``relegation.''
Did anyone catch Caesar on ``The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch'' on CNBC? Probably not. The show had just 114,000 viewers in May, "which meant it got no Nielsen ratings, since it fell below the threshold of 122,000 viewers needed to even register,'' according to the ratings service. Of course, that's better ratings than Trojan TV.
O.J. Mayo seems locked in as the No. 3 pick (Minnesota) right now while there is a lot doubt over whether Davon Jefferson will even get drafted.
The Chicago Fire of the MLS, led by Mexican star Cuauhtémoc Blanco, trained at USC this morning and return tomorrow at 10 a.m. at McAllister Field.
Ironically, these two questions revolve around power plays, something omnipresent at USC.
An interesting question where I offer my opinion on what would happen if USC beat Texas in the Rose Bowl.
Cal forward Ryan Anderson and UCLA forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will stay in the NBA draft.
We hear former USC basketball recruit Malik Story is being looked at by Georgetown and Indiana.
Mater Dei quarterback Matt Barkley threw three interceptions in a passing tournament against Long Beach Poly on Saturday.
Any time a question involves Beano Cook, it deserves special attention.
Q: When Beano Cook is praising the USC Song Girls and what they represent, is he honestly referring to the current or recent squads, or reminiscing about the great squads from yesteryear that are long-since gone? Do you know if he has seen the Oregon cheerleaders and what he thinks of them?
If you have a question, there is still time to submit it in the Weekend Forum post (not here).
There's been so much talk about the song girls, I thought I would pass along a picture of another local dance team. Click on link for full-size picture.
View image
Here's some questions and answers that did not get posted previously.
The 49ers moved Chilo Rachal to right tackle because of his athletic ability. It also shows the pre-draft tackle about guards having less value than tackles does not mean a lot if you can play both.
Former USC tailback Desmond Reed, who went to a Seahawks mini-camp and got cut, said he might try out for an Arena Football League team.
Q: What are the chances of Roland Johnson switchinng positions from wide receiver to cornerback? He stated once he would not mind the change. Is Pete Carroll and Nick Holt thinking about. Also, with the recent departureson the defense would this not make sense.
I had to ask David Beckham today about his prediction from last week that the Lakers would sweep the Celtics.
``I do believe they've got a chance. It's going to be tough for the Lakers,'' he said. ``The Celtics are a good team, have a lot of aggression. But I'm a Lakers fan.''
We're humming along here with the answers.
Have no fear, a Song Girl question is here.
We're answering questions and this take, at least, does not include Song Girl questions.
Phil Jackson clearly won't be challenging the Emperor of L.A. after last night's Lakers collapse.
The Fantasy Football camp, featuring Sunny Byrd, Brandon Hancock and Desmond Reed, continued today. USC coach Pete Carroll worked the camp and then hurried up to Calabasas for tonight's Trojan Club meeting. The highlight was knowing the camp featured a ``Team Wolf.''
Former USC defensive linemen Ryan Nielsen is the defensive coordinator at Central Connecticut State.
Now that there are allegations of the NBA referees conspiring to fix the outcome of games, it reminds me that a former USC assistant swore that for years basketball coaches throughout the Pac-10 knew a well-known basketball official (now retired) regularly visited a bookie to bet on games.
Baseball recruit Jay Austin ``settled'' for $715,000 when he signed with the Houston Astros.
The NCAA track and field championships in Des Moines, Iowa, already experienced tornado warnings and thunderstorms, but USC experienced a strong first day with Corey White (javelin), Eva Orban (hammer) and Manjula Wijesekara (high jump) all positioned for possible individual titles.
DirecTV will launch the MountainWest Sports Network, the Mtn., on August 27 in conjunction with the Mountain West Conference's 10th anniversary season. The Mtn. will be carried on DirecTV Choice Channel 616.
Rumor has it that included in the naming rights deal the Coliseum seeks is the provision that the logo of a company will be placed on the playing field on both sides of the 50-yard line. It's already done on NBA courts, like Staples Center, for example.
Athlon magazine named USC's linebackers as the top unit in the nation. Here's the whole top 10: USC, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio State, Miami (Ohio), Wisconsin, Virginia, Cal and TCU.
Outfielder Jay Austin signed today with the Astros, which means the second-round pick will not be at USC in the fall.
A former USC spirit squad member sends this email.
``Basically, I think if one really wanted to look at how to get the Song Girls "fixed", not only do you look at the nepotism, but look at the spending habits, why the girls quit and move on, and where does all the money from events and stuff go? Also, how do they keep the USC competition cheer team from ever getting to perform at athletic events? Or the new spirit squad or whatever it is. Or the poor treatment by those in power towards the Dance Force.''
We hear USC recruit Jay Austin, the 56th pick in last week's baseball draft, wants seven figures from the Houston Astros.
One of our contenders for worst job televising a USC game gets two Pac-10 games right off the bat on August 30.
The network announced today it will show the Oklahoma St. vs. Washington St. game from Seattle, Wash., at 12:30 p.m., and the Washington at Oregon game at 7 p.m.
The enigmatic Randall Carroll was a no-show at UCLA's day camp last week. It's not surprising because he's always difficult to pin down. He figures to be handful wherever he ends up if his newspaper interview a couple weeks ago is any indication where he basically admitted he was illegally recruited to Cathedral High School.
Last week's team GPA for the football team did not include Alfred Rowe, who was dismissed from the university. Rowe knew back in December he had an uphill climb to remain eligible and so did USC. He was unceremoniously deleted from the team roster without comment.
If you recall, I wrote two years ago that USC's incoming class contained a higher-than-usual number of academic risks. So far, two of those recruits, Rowe and Vincent Joseph, were dismissed.
The mother of North Carolina basketball player Alex Stepheson said he still has not made a decision on where he will transfer although she said USC remains in the mix.
``We haven't made any decisions yet,'' Diane Stepheson said. ``We're still looking. We haven't really set a timetable.''
We're back on the song girl subject in this selection of questions.
We know some Dodger front-office types suck up to Pete Carroll but shouldn't USC get a cut from the sale of these hats at Dodger Stadium?
Bodog lists USC at a very optimistic 30-1 to win next year's NCAA basketball championship. By contrast, Kansas is 20-1.
Dominguez linebacker Marquis Simmons, a USC commitment, attended UCLA's one-day camp on Saturday. He did participate but watched the festivities.
Assistant coach Dave Watson has left the football program for the rest of the month on the heels of his arrest last month for driving under the influence of prescrition drugs.
Here's the details. http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_9535872
USC fullback Alfred Rowe was dismissed from the university because of poor academic performance. Rowe will meet with Carroll today to see if he can attempt to re-enroll for the 2009-2010 school year.
He will not be able to return this fall under any circumstances. He is the second player to be dismissed this year, following cornerback Vincent Joseph, who was his teammate at Long Beach Poly.
Rowe, the older brother of Oregon defensive lineman Kenny Rowe, sat out spring practice to concentrate on academics.
Linebacker Jelani Jenkins, ranked the 10th-best prospect in the nation by Rivals.com, visited USC today with his father.
Tom Hansen announced today he will retire as Commissioner of the Pacific-10 Conference effective July 1, 2009. He served as commissioner for 26 years.
Here's the press release.
In case you didn't want to wade through the Pac-10 schedule, here's the USC kickoff times for 10 of the 12 games.
Games will be on Versus, CSTV and The Mtn., among other channels. Viewer beward! USC-Stanford is on Versus again.
Time to answer questions. Above is a hint of the No. 1 topic of the forum. Still time to submit questions in the Weekend Forum.
Here's the new player numbers:
T.J. Bryant 1
Nick Perry 8
D.J. Shoemate 10
Drew McAllister 19
Curtis McNeal 22
Jordan Cameron 23
Brian Baucham 30
Uona Kaveinga 35
Maurice Simmons 51
Daniel Campbell 69
Tyron Smith 70
Matt Kalil 75
Khaled Holmes 78
Brice Butler 83
Blake Ayles 89
Jurrell Casey 91
Armond Armstead 94
Wes Horton 96
Malik Jackson 97
USC pitcher Tom Milone, a real bright spot the past three seasons, signed with the Washington Nationals after being drafted in the 10th round.
UC Irvine blew a three-run lead in the ninth inning and lost to LSU, 9-7, in Game 2 of their Super Regional.
It's hard to ignore any column that starts off this way: ``Never, in all the rest of the years we've got, or in any of the years we've already had, would you see the Los Angeles Avengers, of the Arena League, matched up against the USC Trojans, for a chance to play the Seattle Seahawks. Football doesn't work that way.''
The men's and women's track team departed today for the NCAA championships in Iowa. Each team should be able to finish in the top 10 but Arizona State is actually one of the favorites for the women's title with LSU and Texas A&M. LSU and Florida State are favored on the men's side.
Former USC forward Brian Scalabrine is back in the NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics. He previously made the finals with the New Jersey Nets.
I remember him shaving his red hair during latter part of the 2001 Elite Eight season. ``Coach Bibby asked each of us to give something up,'' Scalabrine said.
And what did Bibby give up? ``Nothing,'' Scalabrine said.
Scalabrine was always a good-natured guy at USC, and used to joke about his pro prospects:``Forty thousand dollars in Greece will go a really long way."
Mike Gillespie's UC Irvine defeated LSU 11-5 and snapped the Tigers' 23-game winning streak, which was an SEC record. One more victory and Irvine advances to the College World Series.
During a meeting this week on, of all things, compliance issues, Tim Floyd made the following joke: ``We're a basketball school now.'' To which Pete Carroll replied, ``You're sure getting the most attention now.''
Linebacker Jelani Jenkins of Wheaton, Md., ranked the 10th-best player in the nation by Rivals.com, is in Los Angeles and will visit USC on Monday.
Time to ask questions you didn't get into the Open Forum. One question only, which seems to be an increasing problem for some people.
Add wide receiver Randall Carroll from Cathedral to the list of expected attendees at UCLA's camp tomorrow.
The song girls officially replaced Mitch Mustain as the No. 1 topic on this blog.
Linebacker Vontaze Burfict of Centennial High in Corona, who already committed to USC, is scheduled to visit UCLA's one-day camp tomorrow.
Former football John Robinson and former basketball coach Bob Boyd joined Pete Carroll and Tim Floyd at the San Diego Trojan Club meeting on Wednesday.
OK, there is a football question in here.
I think if I sift through here, I might find a football question.
Cal coach Jeff Tedford just started his own blog, despite ``not being up-to-date with the latest internet developments like youtube, facebook and itunes.''
It's easy Jeff, you just get someone else to do it for you, ask Caesar.
Here's the link: http://calbears.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/tedford-talk.html
We were preoccupied with David Beckham today (so much for the sweep!), and never got around to the baseball draft, where USC recruit Tim Beckham was the No. 1 pick overall.
Does it just seem like USC's been hurt more than other schools by the baseball draft the past 10-12 years? Mike Moustakas, Sean Burroughs, Eric Chavez, Jon Garland and Trevor Plouffe just scratch the surface of the prospects lost.
Even worse, shortstop Aaron Hicks was picked 14th while outfielder Jay Austin went 56th overall in the second round. And pitcher Jon Pettibone was selected 110th.
The Boston Celtics dance team features four members of the Trojan Dance Force, led by our good friend, Alex (top photo). The Laker girls feature one dance force member.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa made a wager on the Lakers-Celtics where he says Pete Carroll would be interested in coaching the Patriots if they move to L.A.
Here's the full text of his wager where he proposes Boston sending the Patriots to L.A. if the Lakers win.
Former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller, who faced USC with both schools (which answers an earlier reader question about a player facing the Trojans with two schools), just signed a contract with the Los Angeles Avengers.
It looks like the Song Girls issue continues to dominate the Open Forum and Petros Papadakis passes along his own story: He was verbally chastised during a basketball for by song girls advisor Lori Nelson for complimenting the Trojan Dance Force. Can't we all just get along?
During an interview with David Beckham today, he predicted the Lakers would sweep the Celtics in four games and win the title. Now this has nothing to do with USC, but I'm an equal opportunity messenger for outlandish predictions.
Many of USC's assistant coaches will be down in San Diego today spending time with the Chargers coaches to see what they can learn, particularly on defense.
Here's an in-depth look at how the football and basketball teams fared academically this year.
http://www.dailynews.com/usc/ci_94
A couple weeks ago, an athletic dept. official attacked our accurate heights and weights on the quarterbacks and said we might not have accounted for ``bushy hair'' for height discrepancies between the media guide and actual measurements.
But playing along, maybe Davon Jefferson shaved his head last week. He is listed as 6-8 by USC but measured 6-5 1/4 at the NBA's pre-draft camp.
Pacific-10 schools have won 13 NCAA team championships this year. It is the second-highest ever for a conference and just one title shy of the all-time record of 14, which the Pac-10 did in 1996-97.
It's time for the latest rankings on where fickle USC commit Randall Carroll will end up.
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Texas A&M €€€
UCLA €€€
We hear several members of the Board of Trustee recently expressed their displeasure over the O.J. Mayo situation and the resulting image for USC.
We hear that since Mt. SAC defensive tackle Hebron Fangupo committed to USC last week, several Pac-10 schools actually increased their interest in the 330-pounder and intend to continue recruiting him until February.
Another NBA scout now floats the possibility that Davon Jefferson may not even get drafted following his disappointing pre-draft camp performance.
USC's compliance office has been temporarily understaffed for several weeks. Good thing there's nothing going on during this time.
USC is currently 11th in the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup Division I Spring Standings, which award points for each sport's performance.
``Whether or not we win in football, we always knew we could count on the song girls and band to be the best because we're USC. It's not that way anymore. There is no reason other than leadership that we can't be at the top of all three.''
While ABC and ESPN2 show the Virginia-USC game, ESPN will show ``Defending National Champion LSU will host Appalachian State from the Division I Football Championship Subdivision on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 5 p.m. (2 p.m. PDT). Appalachian State upset Michigan 34-32 in last year's opening weekend game.''
Just got this from ESPN: ``Virginia will host defending Rose Bowl champion USC from the Pac-10 in the first meeting between the schools on Saturday, Aug. 30, at 3:30 p.m. on ABC and ESPN2.''
If this is true, it means the game starts at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
A San Fernando Valley lawyer who handles cases similar to USC recruit Maurice Simmons said second-degree robbery trials usually last about three days. The key will rest on whether Simmons knew Lamont Hall had a gun.
``It's a winnable case if Simmons did not know his friend had a gun,'' the lawyer said.
The most important thing about basketball is that O.J. Mayo and Davon Jefferson passed the minimum six units in the spring semester to avoid losing scholarships under the APR guidelines.
But the program did not win any other awards this semester academically with a 2.08 overall GPA, which is quite a drop from the last spring's 2.52 GPA, which even included three players who dropped out of school. Even last fall, the team GPA was 2.37. But that's one of the repercussions of Kyle Austin, who was a pretty good student, transferring to UC Riverside.
Georgia coach Mark Richt recently toured the Middle East to visit U.S. troops. Last summer, he visited day-care centers in Honduras.
Conversely, Pete Carroll is making a whistle-stop tour of Trojan Clubs.
Phil Steele's All-American team lists Patrick Turner as a fourth-team selection.
Who ever thought Paula Abdul would be mentioned in a question?
I never thought I'd answer a question with Mazio Royster as the answer.
Some actual sports questions from our loyal readers.
Such a wide array of questions from our readers.
Warning: All Song Girl questions are being strictly monitored by the athletic dept., which is highly irritated.
Mike Gillespie and UC Irvine defeated Oral Roberts 8-0 and advanced to the Super Regional next week against LSU.
Instead of a poll question, you can post your opinions below.
Has the O.J. Mayo investigation made you more or less supportive of him going this month's NBA draft?
An NBA scout informed us that Davon Jefferson seems to be playing his way down to the second round at the pre-draft camp in Orlando and his conditioning remains an issue.
Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White left for Duke on Saturday. Why? He was essentially a powerless athletic director. Notre Dame's board of trustees fired Ty Willingham and then ordered a 10-year contract for Charlie Weis only seven games into his tenure.
The new athletic director will no doubt assert his own authority and want to make their own decisions. So that could be bad news for Weis, especially with fan support at an all-time low after last season.
Randall Carroll won the 100 meters (10.42) while Brian Baucham won the 300 hurdles (37.26) while Blake Ayles finished the second in the discus (193-06).
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