State Of The Program

wolf: this is the sugary sweeeeeeetest prose i have ever read on a sports page!!

"With probation, USC is not quite the plum job everyone imagined Kiffin got back in January. Then again, maybe it's a perfect job for someone with seven victories in three seasons with the Oakland Raiders and the University of Tennessee"

it's as if you are channeling F. Scott Fitzgerald! the style, the wit, the economy! did i hear Pulitzer nomination??

AUUUUUUU-WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

"But it's not just the marquee players who are leaving".....as in plural? One marquee player, Henderson, has left. The rest are bench players who are using this convenient "get out jail card".

used The Force, wolf did to write this story.

worthy of recongnition in the Jedi Archives, it is.

defeated, the trojans are.

but from within, the destruction comes.

possible, redemptions is not,

while Sith Lord Garrett remains, i sense.

meditate on this i will.

"The nation's most glamerous football team."

No wonder bruins hate SC so much.

Keep it comin'. The day ucla stops talking about Trojans will be the day SC loses relevancy.

stung the Counselor, the comments did, hmmmm?

herh herh herh.

use The Force, padewon.

herh herh herh.

relevance, trojans still have to Bruins, i sense.

as empty cans do to a BB gun perhaps??

herh herh herh.

Yoda...oh no you just din't!!! you buried the Paralegal dude!! all there is left is a smoking crater!!

oh man! little green Yoda laying it DOWN!!!

trOJies, you outta just give up right now!

ChuckerBucker and Yoda coming out of retirement to take names and kick A$$!!!

wolf, you have awoken the sleeping giants with your sugar sweeeeet scoops!!!

Wolf, that is a column that would make the editor of the Enquirer proud.

- "the marquee players who are leaving"...one marquee RECRUIT and a handful of career backups
- "USC could be down to 55 scholarships"...complete fabrication; run the #s, USC will not dip below 70 scholie players; our thinnest roster will be this season
- "someone with seven victories in three seasons"....uhh, check again, dummy. Kiff had 7 wins at Tenn alone last season.

May I please have the 5 minutes of life that I wasted reading that column back!

hello!!! i am "Count" Smackula, and i love to count!!!

not so fast, DWF: when i count up all the victories of the "Best Coaching Staff in America" (according to Kiff), i find that Kiff, the Agin' Cajun and The Old Monty all have, indivudually and collectively, LOSING RECORDS as head coaches!!!

the only recognition i will grant Kiff is perhaps "Biggest Liar in America" based on the lies he told to Dillon Baxter, Seantrell Henderson et al.
Hall of Fame coach/owner Al Davis said it best, and was proven right when he said years ago: "he's a flat out liar" Al Davis carries a lot of weight in my book by virtue of his HOF status and years of straight talk. i wonder if the folks in Tenn believe Davis' words???

I can't believe I read DFW's post....there's another wasted few seconds of our lives gone....

Who would of thought Wolf's article and Yoda's comments would have so much in common... Both just as entertaining and riveting as watching turtles race.

Scott Wolf, I rspect your views and I am loyal to your website.
It is very easy to be judgmental being on the sidelines and reporting "after the fact". SC is a high profile football program that draws attention to all those whether they be football followers or high-profile players who feel they deserve more. When they don't get it, they leave. This happens every year, not just when sanctions occur. Most of the players who are leaving now are of the same category as every year... wanting to play on the field at the position they want. As for the program itself, if you don't want an AD with an attitude-ego, you don't want high-profiled players who are good but spoiled, if you don't like being hated by other envious fans and you don't like your school made an example of by the NCAA because it is high profile, then you need to find a lesser profiled school to judge and root for...

dtkst: forgetting the denial about sanctions causing players to walk (sorry it's true) your other comments are fantastic! (in the sense they aren't reflective of reality). i won't dispute your other points, but i will consider them representative of the Southen Cal mindset.

so according to you, "high profile" schools by nature have "attitude ego" AD's?

it is a given that good players are spoiled?

other "envious" fans hate Southern Cal (who are you, Mike Garrett Jr?)

the NCAA made an example of Southern Cal simply because it is "high profile"??

OH! MERCY NURSE!!!! well i'll give you this: you speak from the heart!

Ma Bucket: have you ever been to a turtle race? the fans go nuts!! sometimes the women throw their undergarments or hotel keys to the winning turtle.

as for me, i feel Yoda is the most exciting poster in the history of this venerable blog.

Yeah, you tell 'em, Yoda!

Pretty ironic, that Yoda, the creation of George Lucas, a USC alumnii, would come back to haunt USC. USC, demolished by one of its own!

Kind of like when my love of young people went a little too far and cost me my job as a gym teacher. Why did that jury believe that I did all those terrible things? I hardly did any of those things they said I did!

WHY WOULDN'T THE JURY BELIEVE ME? I bet Coach Rick would have believed me!

Go BruWins!

Wolf

You are full of your own self-importance.

Really shoddy work product.

Wolf has always been an equal opportunity basher. He points out Kiff's seven wins when he wasn't with the Trojans, which balances out him pointing out Slick Rick's six Pac-10 victories with the Bruins. Although one set of stats is more relevant than the other considering what jobs the coaches currently have (lookin' at you Slick Rick)

Westwood Rob - Slick Rick's belief in you would depend on how fast you run the 40. Not just to help on the field, but also to get away with all those purses. Get caught and he can't let you into practice until he gives you your scholarship back in a few months.

Count Smack - Turtle races aren't fun unless Slick Rick shares his inside tips, and he only does that for the coeds that throw those undergarments and hotel room keys you mentioned.

This article is lacking in factual information. Scott Wolf, he may run Inside USC, but it is all negative and very inaccurate. For example, we will never be limited to 55 scholarships as his article states; the limit is 75 (10 short of the normal 85) should we lose the appeal - otherwise it is 80. We typically recruit 20 and will do so again this year taking a voluntary 5 reduction while the case is under appeal. We also are often under 75 total as we are now. Scott should know this. On top of our recruits we typically gain several team members via walk-ons such as Clay Mathews. Walk-ons do not count towards the 15 limit that will be imposed for 2 years (not 3 as we are taking a partial reduction this year and will have one more such year to follow the 2 year larger reduction) should we lose our appeal.

Our program has the best athletes in the conference and all but DJ that has left probably would not have started at any time at USC. As for the incoming recruits, Henderson had many academic issues and possibly would not have made it anyways. Each year we lose recruits for academic and other issues as does most other universities. Miami is much easier, which was no small consideration for him all alone. Glen has issues as well and that is why he may not go to a major college anyways. As I understand it Bowl ban was not the issue for Glen. It was not an issue for DJ and the others, it was playing time and in DJ's case he wanted to play tailback.

We still have one of the best classes coming in that we have seen. Our team is extremely talented and focused and looking forward to meeting the challenges ahead.

On the note of poor factual information I would like to bring up Dillon who, as I understand it, did receive the calls. What cannot be determined is by whom and what are their affiliations. They were probably made using *67 to hide the caller IDs or they could have been prank calls. As such we had to retract the allegations even if they were actually true. It is all unfair to Dillon and we should all give him the benefit of the doubt as he has a great future and is a great kid with no reason to makeup anything. The farfetched ideas that a coach or administration personnel put him up to making it all up is really ludicrous to say the least!

My two cents worth...

This will be the year in which Notre Dame and UCLA start a long string of victories over the hated trOJies.

NDLoser, levave me your email. I'd like to bet my new 600 MBZ Sedan against your 25 year old F150, you know, the one you were able to afford last year.

Scott Wolf knows as much about football as my grandmother. Over time, I have read his articles and mostly find them devoid of solid, well-researched reporting but filled with conjecture, innuendo and his own self-important speculative reasoning.

Why the Daily News has this hack covering a major college sport is a mystery. Wolf makes the writers at the L.A. Times --who are generally solid reporters and good writers-- look like gods of journalism. Please get rid of this buffoon and get someone who actually researches his material.

Note to all you Bruin trolls and multi-identity doofuses like Resos who posts under different names like Smackula,Yoda,Bucket-of-Sh**: Wait til the season is over to shoot off.

At least then you'll see if your predictions are correct and the bRuins will rise to greatness this year...winning four conference games instead of three. Then you can all chant the UCLA football fight song as you move up a notch in the PAC10: "We're #7, we're #7, we're #7".

Fight on!

Hi Guys,
To tell you the truth I a am very excited about this season, more then others because of the defections. It is my belief that these very highly recruited bench players needed playing time and it stressed the DC and OC to give these players well deserved playing time.

Hey, now they are gone. The starters can play without looking over their shoulders to come out after one play, etc. We should get more rythm between the QB and WR's. However, Coach might have to scale back on "Gladitor Tuesday's. Now when players comes into game, they are we will be coming into "SPELL" not "REPLACE". This will also provide a lot of continuity of the coaching and play calling.

We are SC, We Fight ON! Like the undersize, undermen, team '96 battling #1 FSU to the last minutes of the last quarter. The six man basketball team that battled Duke in NCAA playoff's and was jobed. The players that take the field in September will represent. Enjoy the rest of your summer because the REAL TROY FANS AND SPIRIT IS ON THE WAY not this Johnny come lately 2003-2009 flakes. The real fans of the dark 80's and 90's that braved eight effen straight losses to the RUINS. I can't wait to see real fans and players that want to play here.

Fight ON!

Hi Jay#42,

When I went to SC Ted Tolner was our coach - man was that painful! I remember being in the Rose Bowl playing UCLA down by two scores with 4 minutes left and a 4th and 2 at mid-field. Do we pass or run? He punted and I was screaming mad! We never saw the ball again! We have nothing to complain about now. We are in SC heaven with all of the great players and coaches and bright future. You got to love it if you have seen the 80's and 90's!

FIGHT ON!

you should know since you seem to be the definition of buffoon, Free....

Epic reporting wolf!!! i haven't seen such sweeeeeet scooops in ages!! i also like this passage:

"USC's lost its invincible aura. It actually started last season when Carroll and the Trojans got routed by Oregon and Stanford...That was nothing compared to what the NCAA did in June."

sugar sweeeeeeet writing!! forget the Pulitzer talk... i am thinking Nobel Prize!!

ooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooo!!

Sy and Jay#42,

You are right on. I believe the present SC coaching staff will have the Trojans prepared for each and every game, including the "road games" at the northern Blue State hell-holes and Hanoi East, Ulca.

I was at field level during SC's greatest Victory in my lifetime, the 1967 beating of Gary Beban's Ulca team, then ranked # 1 in the Nation. The loss was so devastating to Ncla that I believe it forever discredited the Westwood football program in their own minds and in the minds of the Football Universe. The Baby Blue has had to watch their cross-town Superiors win 6 NCAA National Football Championships since OJ's historic run.

Beat the Hell out of Stanford!

Fight On!

Chalk up another one for Trojan Rerun. Man, is that the best you have? You insult people and then all you can say is "oh yeah." Go home to mommy girl!

Bucket of Sh** -- You're lofty assessment of Wolf's writing is inversely proportional to your intellect. By the way, here is a link so you can go try and figure out what I said. http://dictionary.reference.com/

My oh my, I have never seen so many delusional nut jobs supporting a cheating team. You should all be ashamed of yourselves, have you no scrupples? USC has been cheating for over a century.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-then-20100619,0,4450391.story

I see no problem with the article written by Mr. Wolff. Mr. Nobs, you sound like a childish jackass, who cares about your mbz 600, I have my own private jet, and fly from Carlsbad to South Bend for all the games, does that make me better than you? YES it does.

ND - Feast on this flyin leprechaun:

By AP: The son of the former Notre Dame standout Joe Montana was among 11 Fighting Irish athletes arrested on misdemeanor charges

Nice school you got there.

Neutered Dame Larry -- Your misspellings look an awful lot like the work of some other doofi who lurk here. Did your jet fly the lousy teacher back and forth between South Bend and Westwood to make you all crappy writers, or is it just a gift among trolls?

Hi NDLarry,

Normally I try not to respond to attacks by rival alumni. I will try to edify some key facts for you. Assuming you have not read the NCAA report, USC was not guilty of cheating with regards to Reggie. Reggie is the key reason for all of the sanctions.

The NCAA decided that a call made after Reggie had declared himself eligible for the draft and after he was no longer playing for USC that in 2.5 minutes Lake informed McNair that he was attempting to become a marketer and had given Reggie's father a lot of money. He claims he threatened to go public if McNair did not act immediately and make sure Reggie used them as his agents. It was a lot to cover in 2.5 minutes at 1 am in the morning. McNair denied having any conversation with Lake. This call Lake alleged occurred in 2006. As such in no way was USC cheating.

No one at USC looked the other way either. The car was a ten year old cheap car well within what was normal for a kid of Reggie's background to drive. He ate at commons and never had any money. All the money went from Lake to Reggie's step-father and mother, not to him.

As for what happened a century ago, please... There are lots of stories about Notre Dame, UCLA and almost every other major institution. You have to have lots of free time on your hands to be digging that deeply.

Wolf:

You are a hack "journalist". Today's column is a perfect example. In SW's delusional world, Pete Carroll is your peer. The rest of us know that he thinks that you are a low life and that his granting you some access represents his desire to sell a few more books.

Honestly, you are an embarrassment to the field of journalism. Two years? That may be the over and under for you to retain the helm of this piss-ant blog, but not a multi-million pro-football contract. I think that it is time for you to submit your resignation.

In the last 12 months, have you not broken a new story, had an interview with a key member of the team, nor provided any relevant insight on anything SC football? It is time for you to go.

I've given you the benefit of the doubt over the last few years but it is clear that you provide no more insight, or color, than several of the regular posters on this site. It's time that you gave up the charade and hand over the "access" to someone like JAG who is intelligent, articulate and actually thinks about what he is posting (he probably has a real job).

Your posts are short-sighted, full of grammatical, factual and syntax errors, negative, often ill-informed and have a constant, pathetic personal agenda. Although I do not have an esteemed journalism degree from SC like you, I know enough that you should leave before you are fired.

Over and under on SW on this blog is 3 months. Why don't you post that as one of your "clever" web questions? Then again your holiness doesn't read the comments. Too bad your boss doesn't either, otherwise you'd be long gone by now.

Kind regards,
Bobo

PS: If you think that we believe that you don't read the comments, then you are more pathetic than you appear.

Horendous article on state of USC ! Scott did you fall and hit your head ? Mistakes galore !
First of all 75 scholarships for 3 years . Not 30 off a year ! Its 10 a year ok ?
And horrendous opinions on many subjects.
So full of mistakes. So UNLIKE YOU SCOTT!
Scott you should be embarrassed. Did someone pay you to bow to the press? It was very inaccurate and quite slanted to the ignorance the press has pushed the last month. Your attacks on Pete Carroll were slanted and very uncalled for. Nor could you prove a thing you said. My god Scott get some sleep and get back to accurate insight on USC. Because your view of the program was just pathetic !

Hi hadenusc,

I'm rather new to this blog. Was there a time in which Scott had an "accurate insight on USC"? I have yet to see anything from Scott that is either accurate or unbiased. I'm surprised he is running this blog and that he is a USC graduate. If you told me that he was from Notre Dame or UCLA I would have a much easier time believing it!

Hi Sy and hadenusc,

ROTLMAO...hint! SW = "rope-a-dope"

Fight ON!

Wolf - Bobo is right on. Frankly, I think you are an embarassement to the University. Why don't you concentrate on your career and try to emerge from working for the Daily News? My God man, in the day of the internet etc. working for a paper like that must feel like picking elephant poop at the circus. Your negative, less than insightful comments only draw our cross town friends. Nothing of merit in the form of real news is found on this blog.

WOLF'S AMATEURISH REPORTAGE: PART 1

I think its fair to say that no knowledgeable sports fan expects homer, rah-rah coverage from alums who work in the press. There are numerous examples of broadcasters, reporters and commentators who provide balanced, accurate reporting and information about athletic programs with which they were once connected.

Sadly, Wolf is neither competent nor fair. Aside from the overtly negative, often hostile and unashamedly vindictive tone of Wolf's articles, a main problem is that they contain very little properly sourced information and are devoid of thoughtful insight. As a reporter, a major part of his job is the development and fostering of sources. It is evident from the recurring lack of firsthand attributions and direct quotes fro high-level personnel that Wolf has no real base of contacts within USC's athletic program. While writers at L.A. Times and others regularly get access to star players, coaches and senior administrators -even Mike Garrett-, Wolf does not.

It's not hard to imagine that his unpleasant and vitriolic approach has turned him into a pariah within USC's programs. The baseless infantile personal attacks against Pete Carroll are unprofessional and ,were it not for the latitude the press has due to the PC's public persona, would be considered libelous. Without even mentioning his frequent blunders of simple fact, Wolf is at best incompetent and needs to be replaced with someone who can report accurately and show some balance.

CARLSBAD? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Cowabunga dude, let's jet to swingin' Indiana to watch my Crying Irish. I'm bringin' my sea hag. Later bro.

CARLSBAD?

ROFLMAO

Hi Free_Thinker,

I completely agree with you. I also believe that this article was written with the desire to scare recruits from coming to USC and encourage those here to want to leave. It also appears intended to depress the fans and overall ruin the football program. That is of course in addition to being an attack on Pete and USC. Maybe someone reading this blog, such as you, would like to create a petition that we can all sign to submit to Wolf's editor for his removal. There is no excuse for this article from someone running a pro-USC website. We deserve better than this! Let me know if you or someone else wants to do a petition - I will be very happy to sign it!