What Would Pete Read?

Q: I know the athletic dept. has given you a lot of threats to shut Song Girlgate when all we want is transparency, fairness, and the elimination of corruption and nepotism, but why do you think this topic really brings out the paranoia in the dept? Are they really trying this hard to protect the people in charge? If so, why? It can't be just because the athletic dept. is stubborn. There's gotta be a reason why the athletic dept. refuses to give any concessions to the incompetence of the leadership of the squad and their insistence on shutting everyone up with this topic. If you can be candid, what do YOU think is the main reason for all this refusal for change? The paranoia is so baffling

A: I think the people in the song girl program have complained to the athletic dept., so the complaints then run downhill until they hit me. It's mostly about protecting your own and many institutions at USC are averse to change.

Q: Your pick for a non-BCS team to bust into the BCS games was South Florida. South Florida is from the Big East, which, last I checked, was a BCS conference (though some might argue otherwise). Could you give us a team non from a BCS conference that could be a potential BCS buster?

A: How about BYU. Are they in a non-BCS conference? But they have to beat Washington on the road and then TCU, Air Force and Utah on the road. So maybe not. But they have a chance.

Q: Pete Carroll usually refers to several books he has read that have shaped his philosophy. He mentioned some a while back in a TV interview. Do you know what some of his favorites might be? I'd like to finish the summer reading picking up a couple of books from his selection.
Also, although the Song Girls topic is definitely getting blown out of proportion, it makes for summer fun while we wait for more important developments when training starts.
Keep up the good work!

A: One of his favorite books is The Inner Game of Tennis, which he gave to Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and several other players. He believes it teaches people how to relax and perform without stressing out. It's been famous since the 1970's but a lot of people forgot about it. Carroll swears it's also helped him tremendously.