Answer Monday! (Part 2)
In this segment, a question about the private and public persona of Lane Kiffin.
Q: FiestaHobbit said:
If Barkley leads USC to a road win against Notre Dame would it be the signature win he has been looking for/lacking since Ohio State his freshman year?
A: It definitely would rank as a special victory if USC beats Notre Dame and if the game is close I would say it qualifies as a signature win.
Q: Trojans Rule said:
HI WOLFIE
Years ago, I asked you if PC's private persona was anything like his public persona. Now, may I ask you the same question about Kiff? Thanx in advance as always.
A: I always said that one of the most unusual aspects of Pete Carroll was the way he acted the same in public and private and always seemed upbeat. Lane Kiffin is like most of the rest of us. He probably comes across to some as a little dour with his public persona. He does have a sense of humor but he rarely shows it in public. And he tends to show it less this season, in my opinion. Last week was a good example. USC beat Cal and he joked to me about the media acting like the Trojans lost. But the next day he maade comments about all the ``negativity'' surrounding the program from the media reaction. I felt it cheapened USC's victory a little bit. The players don't worry about the media and there really wasn't much negative reaction. But some things got under his skin apparently. So in that sense, maybe the private does mirror the public. The problem is he doesn't let the good side of his private persona come out enough in public.
Q: Gillyking said:
In addition to putting your self in a box by over ranking BSU at the start of the season and stubbornly sticking to it by continuing to over rank them at #1, even though you recently stated that SOS was a factor in your rankings while they are no better than 5th by consensus, can you please justify to us why, out of at least 4 major college football ranking indicators, you are the only one who ranks So.Fla,ND,Fla,and SMU in your top 25 while they do not appear in the others, while also you do not rank ASU and HOU, while the others all have them ranked. What I'm getting at is how can you consider yourself as a legitimate AP voting member when your selections have become a laughing stock? Thanks in advance justifying why many of your constituents believe that you are wasting your vote.
A: I do use strength of schedule as a factor but it is not the only factor. Also I've not been the only voter to rank the teams you mentioned. Most of them have all received votes in the AP poll when I voted for them. I didn't include Houston this week. I understand there is criticism of my vote but I don't see my role as conforming to what everyone else wants.
Last week I was criticized for ranking Notre Dame and not Illinois. Well, Illinois lost last weekend. And if they played Notre Dame, I think the Irish win that game. So I guess we just see things differently. But I respect your question.
Why doesn't 380 yrds. as a true freshman in 2009 count as a "signature win" in South Bend for Barkley?
Kiffin's feelings about the press being negative is just a decoy. He knows the press is only echoing the fan's feelings and he is atleast smart enough not to complain about us! However, he saw what we all saw... the mistakes & sloppiness of the team play and it is the middle of the season. There is little improvement going on the offense side. It doesn't take a scholar from the Logic dept. to figure if CAL had been a little better team, SC would have been in trouble trying to win this game. If that is negativity Mr. Kiffin, so be it!
One more thing... Kiffin is literally ignoring a lot of the skill & talent on this team. What kind of team is he going to have next year when the QB & upper class linemen leave for the NFL? He should be shuffling players in constantly and using their skills they were recruited for. All we are seeing right now are creative ways to get Woods the ball whether he is double teamed or not. HELLO...
If one has ever listened to Kiff in post-game interviews it would be known that the guy has a pretty good sense of humor.
I also think he is a little shy, and that always translates to a bit of a poor public performance.
He's also a dullard Lawyer John, but keeping pumping that sunshine you rah rah
huntingtonharvey........beating a 6-6 team doesn't constitute a "signature" win. A signature win would be a great performance against a good team. Even better if he plays well in the 4th quarter. The reason I don't count Ohio State was that he wasn't the reason for the win. Joe McKnight was. He's got oportunities now against Notre Dame, Stanford, Oregon, and even Washington.