Answer Thursday!
Interesting question in this segment about USC's willingness to rock the boat these days.
Q: oneillwatch said:
Every time you answer a question about Pat Haden and his dealings with anyone outside of the athletic department, you make a comment along the lines of his not wanting to rock the boat. Do you expect he will ever stand up for USC during his tenure as AD? Is he able to step out of his "deal guy" persona and step into the role of the head of a major athletic program? If the largest source of revenue in the conference can't say "no" to mid-week football games in downtown Los Angeles, who, exactly, does this person stand up to?
A: I think this is a fair question. It's one thing to foster good relations with the NCAA and another to fold being against black socks or a midweek Pac-12 home game. Of course, it is not settled yet whether USC will host a midweek game. But I think it's fair to say that Pat Haden's not been tested yet and mainly been a reactor so far. I don't think he will say no to the Pac-12.
In other areas, one could argue he is being bold, such as the decision to manufacture gear through the Dallas Cowboys. But like you, I'm concerned about future uniform changes and midweek home games.
Q: gotroy22 said:
Under Pat Haden's leadership and Lane Kiffin's approval do you expect USC to electrify the home crowd wearing all cardinal jerseys and a black helmet with a gold Trojan logo when they play the ruins?
A: By coincidence, last night a USC official told me he favored an alternate uniform for one game that would be special to the players. I translated this as a subtle way of saying USC will eventually try to wear a black uniform or black helmet and a completely different jersey and pants.
Amazingly, last week Lane Kiffin protested to me about not wanting new uniforms despite the fact his own direct supervisor confirmed that alternate uniforms were discussed in the offseason and Kiffin favored them.
Hey Kifin, troll out those half ass black helmeted uniforms and watch what a majority of 90,000 fans will do. Boo your ass off the field. Quit talking about alternate unfiforms. You have more important things to worry about.
All these concerns about uniforms are silly. Who gives a shit. Let's hope we can actually tackle this year. If we had been able to tackle last year, we beat stanford, uw, and ND, at the very least.
Obviously against alternate jerseys, but doubly against doing it versus UCLA. We just finally got back the home jerseys for both teams. It's the only game in the country like this, and the visual is special. I know I'm not a typical UCLA hater when I say I like UCLA's uniforms, and I love the contrast of colors for this game. Leave it alone.
Screw the alternate uni crap, if kids only come to play for you because you have 83,000 different uni's then let them play at that school, tradition does mean something at USC or at least I hope it still does.
oh Mr. Pooooooooooooositive, you are needed badly in this string....
Alternate uniforms are a gimmick that schools employ to hype the cool, "now" factor of their program. Kiffin said when he took the position that USC doesn't need to do things to call attention to itself (unlike his tactics at Tenn). We don't need gimmicks, uniform changes, or controversial statements in the media to focus attention on to USC. USC's rep. is so established that we elicited a top recruiting class after a HC change, under sanctions and after an 8-5 season. Focus on keeping a great staff together, competition, aggressiveness, and accountability.
STOP WITH THE GODDAMN UNIFORM TALK WOLF. DO YOUR DAMN JOB. BY THE TIME WE GET ALTERNATE UNIS NOBODY (OF THE FEW THAT ACTUALLY READ YOUR GARBAGE) IS GOING TO CARE ANYMORE. YOU'VE BEAT IT INTO THE GROUND. YOUR MATERIAL IS WORN OUT AND JUST PLAIN PATHETIC. GET A LIFE MAN! OR AT LEAST DO YOUR JOB BETTER. YOU SUCK.