Words To Not Remember
Remember back in May when USC athletic director Pat Haden brushed aside the idea the Trojans would wear black socks in regular-season games. Here's what he said at the time:
``People are passionate about it and I'm pretty traditional.
``I see no reason why we wouldn't (wear white socks). We'll talk about it at some point.
I understand the tradition of USC football as well as most.''
Haden said he did not notice the socks at the spring game.
``Ultimately, we're a tradition-bound institution,'' Haden said. ``The black socks this spring game was something to try and we gave it a try.''
Don't care.
Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care. Don't care.
Today's uniform is not an exact replica of the uniforms of the past. Small changes are to be expected. There are traditional aspects of the uniform that I would be very, very upset to see changed. Helmets, pants colors, names on jerseys. But socks are the least of my worries. So the kids want to have a little something different that I swear 99% of the fans will never even notice if not pointed out to them. Given the punishments this crop of players is taking for things they had nothing to do with, I say give it to them.
And Scott, your efforts to paint Kiffin and Haden as renegades with no regard for tradition is wearing thin. Can't wait for the season to begin if for no other reason than maybe you'll get off this stupid track, stop trying to gin up controversy where none exists, and start focusing on botched plays or weird substitutions or something actually related to something I care about.
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Investigative Reporter, Haden says right there in your post, "We'll talk about it at some point." Well, they evidently talked about it and decided to go with black. Does that make him a liar or a hypocrite? No. He told you right there and then what they were going to do. Sorry the decision didn't go your way. I'm sure they spent a lot of time considering your feelings on the subject.
Well put, USC 91!
Personally, I don't care if they wear fluorescent pink socks if it means they can beat last year's performance.
I do care and it speaks poorly of Pat Haden that he bends over for the NCAA and then flat out lies about the uniforms and goes against the will of the fans. There's no defending this doublespeak.
Marx, bet you don't give the dept a dime.....maybe a cheap C&G dbag. Pipe down.
Well, I agree with the first guy. Haden said I don't think we'll wear black socks right now but we'll talk about it and make a decision later. So they talked about it and made a different decision. How does that make him a liar? How is that doublespeak? And who's to say it "goes against the will of the fans"? I don't think almost any fans will even remember that we usually wear white socks and if we win I don't think any will care.
Seattle, what part of "I see no reason why we wouldn't (wear white socks)" says "we'll talk about it and make a decision later"? There was a big uproar when this trial balloon was first floated and polls on fan sites were adamantly opposed to going with the lame black sock Cal Bear look.
MarvGoux, you are correct. There is no part of, "I see no reason why we wouldn't (wear white socks)," that says, "We'll talk about it and make a decision later."
However, call me (and apparently other readers of this blog) crazy but perhaps the VERY NEXT SENTENCE ("We'll talk about it at some point.") could in fact be taken to mean -- oh, I don't know -- that they would in fact talk about it at some point?
If you're going to wear white socks, then use white tape for the ankles.
Pat HAden Only does whats best for Pat. Whatever is in his best interest he will do that. This spineless jellyfish is ruining our AD. What a disgrace on Wolf's part to not report on how after the change pat has been MIA deferring to his lieutenants to make all the decisions while he plays golf and never commits on any decision.
Seattle, call me (and apparently the author of the blog) crazy but perhaps the VERY NEXT THREE SENTENCES Pat says "I understand the tradition of USC football as well as most. Ultimately, we're a tradition-bound institution. The black socks this spring game was something to try and we gave it a try.'' It could be taken to mean- oh, I don't know- that the black socks were merely an experiment during the meaningless Spring drills but USC would adhere to it's traditional uniform including white socks during the real season?
Okay. You're crazy.
Listen, you clearly want to hear what you want to hear and that's cool with me. But if you think the totality of what Haden says constitutes a definitive position that he later contradicted, I'm telling you that's not the case here.
Ultimately it's a waste of time to try and diagram the grammar of the quote since it's probably unlikely that the quote is a verbatim transcript of what was said, as indicated at the very least by the ellipsis when it's explained that Haden said he never noticed the black socks.
But the key thing here is that Haden did acknowledge: (a) his own preference; (b) the fact that he did not -- at the time -- see a reason for change; and (c) he feels that he's able to discern what is part of tradition. However, he never said what you wanted to read into his comments.
The flaw in your argument is this. It is a stretch to go from "The black socks this spring game was something to try and we gave it a try." to "The black socks were merely an experiment and the matter is closed," whereas it's pretty hard to misinterpret, "We'll talk about it at some point." Unless you think that by saying "We'll talk about it at some point," he was indicating that he was going to take Kiffin to task over the matter. In which case you're definitely reading your own bias into what the man was obviously saying.
Now if he'd said, "The black socks this spring game was something to try. We gave it a try and we're going back to the white socks," I'd be with you. But geez, man, the guy never said that.
I understand that you (and Scott) desparately want to turn the quote into a promise to close the door on a failed "experiment" which he's now gone back on, although I don't really understand why. But when the guy says "We'll talk about it at some point," it smacks of wish fulfillment to jump to that conclusion.
Listen, they're gonna wear black socks and it's gonna be ok. The world is not going to end. Almost no one will even notice. But the next time someone says, "Here's my opinion [on some topic] but we'll talk about it at some point," stay tuned for a final decision because that, my friend, ain't it.
Are we still talking about this?
marvgoux, dude, let it go. Haden never said what you think he did.
It's just socks. It's not the beginning of the slippery slope.
Socks????????......The Answer
Maybe one of you sunshine pumpers can explain why we would want to copy sucky Cal with the black sock look? It's Haden's job to tell a school employee and the players no once in a while.
And just like that this thread has officially descended into madness. You honestly think that we're going with black socks... because of CAL???
You're right...the Black Mamba spurned us because the Ducks wear black socks.