YouTubing the SC Defeat @ Seattle

I love watching the game from the fan's perspective:

The winning field goal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV_EUqy9_sg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Wup1gwxXQ

Rushing the field:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiy-O5zk8kk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlo5ekrSYI4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GkPS0OZS0o

Celebrating on the field:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mib9RgPe6G8

Taking it all in:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzneB5ULI_4

Dawg'n it

Not a huge surprise that SC lost to the Huskies. Sark's got that program headed 180 degrees from where they were last year. Locker is also an amazing talent.

What was a surprise was that Aaron Corp and the SC passing game was bad. Down right atrocious. I think Carroll is going to have a rough season with his two inexperienced quarterbacks.

The moment that changed the outcome of that game is pictured here...

Thank you Mark Sanchez. The Trojan loss up in Seattle is dedicated to you.

Or Vice Versa

Got to love the sweet irony that is USC basketball. Just a few months ago, Arizona was looking to hire Floyd to replace O'neill. Now SC is hiring O'neill to replace Floyd.

Not that it matters much. With veteran players bailing before the sanctions are levied and every single recruit jumping ship, SC basketball has received a virtual death penalty without the NCAA lifting a finger. I heard they may only have 9 scholarship players for this season.

Awesome.

Tim Floyd Tips Well!

Tim Floyd gave money to O.J Mayo's agent as a "thank you" for delivering Mayo to USC... allegedly.

Wait...

Wait...

BWHAHAHhahahhhaahaaa.

I hope with all my heart and soul that this is true.

Because this is what the death penalty was made for.

Awesome.

OJ and Mark

An interesting, behind the scenes, video of former Trojans Mark Sanchez and O.J. Mayo when they were on campus together.

Ten Reasons

Ed Note: OK, so I've been gone for a long time... a very long time. But I'm back for rivalry week.

Rivalry week is full of a lot of traditions. Victory Bells, bonfires, and parades. My own personal rivalry week tradition is to give 10 reasons why UCLA could beat USC. Here is the 2008 edition:

1. Buckets of Passion

When Rick Neuheisel was hired, he brought a new energy and enthusiasm to this program. Sure, the results haven't been that great, but that says more about the talent and depth of the personell than it does about their desire to win. This team hasn't quit all season and that will be an important element in a close game.

2. Chow Time

How can you lose when you have an offensive genius on your side? The Bruins have probably the best OC in the conference right now and you know Norm will have some special things up special for this game against his old head coach. A trick play, a lot of misdirection and a new look or two or three.

3. DeWayne knows Defense

In the last two seasons, coach Walker has had good success against USC. We all remember his brilliant 13-9 victory in 2006 where his defense held the Trojans to a single touchdown. But what many forget is the 24 point effort last season was pretty good considering how impotent our offense was in that game. If the offense can just hold their own then the defense can play well.. especially against a struggling Trojan passing attack.

4. The Rose Bowl?

Life's hard when you're a Trojan fan. Another Rose Bowl? Yawn. They don't care... they're not motivated. They are so spoiled that anything less than a NC game is a let down. Their fans, and players, and coaches are assuming a USC victory this week and they are already discussing how boring it will be to play in another Rose Bowl. Lack of focus = defeat.

5. The Rose Bowl!

UCLA is tough at home. Seriously. If the Bruins are going to win a big game it is going to be in Pasadena. The home field advantage is huge for us.

6. Which Craft

Kevin Craft is a good quarterback... except when he is an awful quarterback. If the good Kevin Craft can come back for a week then UCLA's offense can move the ball. If the bad Kevin Craft rears his ugly head again this week then USC will clown stomp the Bruins. Craft needs to channel all of the good advice and teaching he has received over his entire life.. and turn in the greatest performance of his career.

7. Even Steven

It is 2008. In even numbered years, UCLA does well. 'Nuff said.

8. The Monopoly is Over

Was UCLA's early season advertising campaign premature and ridiculous? Yes. Was it gutsy? Yeah, you know, it was. As much as people laugh about it now, that attitude of staring down the giant 600 lb gorilla in the room is what you need if you ever want to compete. Being affraid doesn't win games. Oh.. and for those that think that USC will gain some extra motivation because of this "smack talk"? They should note Harbaugh's comments about Carroll in 2007... and the corresponding result.

9. Punting is Winning

Punt baby punt. Seriously. Aaron Perez is a very good punter. UCLA punting the ball is a lot closer to a win than watching a Trojan defender run back an interception or fumble for an easy 6 points. UCLA needs to hang onto the ball and if that means punting away the ball and putting the game into the hands of DeWayne Walker's defense... then so be it. We stand a much better chance of winning with our defense on the field than our offense.

10. San Diego isn't that Far Away

Pasadeana... San Diego... what's the difference if you're a Trojan fan? They're all up and down Orange County anyways. I think our Ketchup and Mustard friends would actually prefer a trip to the Holiday Bowl this year, just for a change of pace.

Condoms Broken by Beaver

Upset? Yes. Shocking? Not really. A heavily favored USC losing to an also-ran PAC-10 opponent (of two) has become an annual event. Its strange how the Trojans completely intimidate out of conference opponents. Their hype and image preceeds them and those schools psyche themselves out before even taking the field. But the PAC-10 isn't feeling intimidated... and The Beavers weren't feeling the love for the Trojans either.

Things look bleak for USC to make it to the National Championship game. With the entire conference looking like poop, the Trojans will have a very low strength of schedule. Loosing to a then 1-2 Beaver squad will drop them significantly in the polls. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving program.

Love On for the Jonas Brothers

Got to love this. During USC's weekly coaches conference call with the media a prankster got through. The guy said his name was Steve Marsh from College Blog. He asked Carroll: "Would you ever reward your players with sex with Britney Spears or the Jonas Brothers?"

Awesome.

Of course, the coaches response: "Boys will be boys".

OK, I made up that last part, but you got to love the moxy of some guy to bring that kind of smack. Love on!

Scary

This strikes fear into my heart. Yikes!

Lack Of Institutional Control

Lack of Institutional control, as prepared by the NCAA committee on infractions:

In determining whether there has been a lack of institutional control when a violation of NCAA rules has been found it is necessary to ascertain what formal institutional policies and procedures were in place at the time the violation of NCAA rules occurred and whether those policies and procedures, if adequate, were being monitored and enforced. It is important that policies and procedures be established so as to deter violations and not merely to discover their existence after they have taken place. In a case where proper procedures exist and are appropriately enforced, especially when they result in the prompt detection, investigation and reporting of the violations in question, there may be no lack of institutional control although the individual or individuals directly involved may be held responsible.

OK, so we all have heard the news about O.J. Mayo taking illegal benefits during his time at USC. What's sad is that nobody, probably not even Trojan fans, are all that surprised by it. Mayo was a prep phenom that many considered one of the best players in the country. Yet very few programs recruited him coming out of high school. Why? Because those programs knew he had a checkered past and many doubted his eligibility as an amateur athlete. I mean, seriously, the kid brought along a documentary crew to film him visiting the SC campus for the first time. That's trouble with a capital T.

So here we are, again, talking about a super star SC player who took money during his time on campus. We're here, again, looking at receipts and paper trails dug up by an investigative journalist. And, again, the University has no idea that any of this happened. They had no clue that their best player (who wore new clothes , sported a flat screen TV in his room, and flew his friends and family out across country to watch games) was doing anything wrong. Again.

Here's the thing. The Reggie Bush incident was supposed to wake up USC. We have agents in our locker rooms? Hmmm... maybe that's not such a good idea. Yet, guess who was hanging around the Galen center locker rooms? That's right! Sports agents! The guys implicated in the investigation said there were hanging around the program for the last two years. So, in the time after their program was publicly chastised for giving professional agents access to their amateur players, they didn't absolutely zero to prevent it from happening again. In fact, according to transcripts from the investigation, these guys (well, their emissaries anyways) were an integral part of the USC basketball staff!!

From Pat Forde's piece about the whole thing:

The swag allegedly was financed by a man named Rodney Guillory, who previously had gotten former USC guard Jeff Trepagnier in trouble for accepting agent kickbacks. Not only did that fail to get Guillory banned from campus, he also wound up a fixture within the program. Of course, who wouldn't want a 43-year-old scammer hanging around a college freshman?

According to transcripts from OTL's interviews with Johnson, Guillory was sitting in the USC basketball offices when Mayo's signed letter-of-intent rolled off the fax machine. Johnson also said coach Tim Floyd talked frequently with Guillory about Mayo whenever "issues" arose.

I think this incident will hurt USC more than they can imagine. And not just in basketball. The NCAA is still investigating the Reggie Bush case. One thing they'll look at is a lack of institutional control (as defined above). Does SC have institutional control? I think you have to say NO. They're letting the same problems, and the same problem characters, continue to run their programs afoul. They aren't preventing these things from happening in the first place and that is one of the criteria for finding them at fault.

Will the NCAA finally come down on these guys? I think the public pressure is mounting. When guys like Pat Forde are calling for the death penalty, it's hard to imagine a scenario where they only get away with only a slap on the wrist.

Trojan Four-fecta

Let's summarize the last two weeks for the Trojans.

Incoming player, Maurice Simmons, arrested for armed robbery. Current player, Fili Moala, was arrested for resisting and obstructing an officer at a bar brawl. Former player, Dwayne Jarrett, then got hauled in for a DUI.

So, not to be outdone, former running back Lendale White had to go and get arrested too. He was cited by Denver police destruction of property, disobedience to a lawful order and interference and resisting.

I think they're going for the record this off-season.

When News isn't

I guess it isn't news when a Trojan player gets arrested in the off season. It's almost a monthly event. Well, keeping true to form, another player got scooped up by the boys in blue. This time defensive tackle Fili Moala was arrested for resisting and obstructing an officer after a brawl broke out at a local bar. He probably won't get charged but, dude, how many times are these guys going to show up on Police blotters?!? My favorite quote from the article:

Moala, reached on his cell phone, declined comment other than to say, "It's an important event, but it's being dealt with in-house. We're well aware of it."

Does Pete and USC have any other kind of way of dealing with things than "in-house"?

Starting Early

Our friends over at Fig Tech are known for being a university of scoundrels and criminals. Every spring and summer they make headlines, and police blotters, with their antics. This time, however, the latest Trojan couldn't even wait to get into school before he got arrested. USC recruit, Maurice Simmons, was arrested on Wednesday night for armed robbery. He is a line backer from Dominguez High School who just signed with the Trojans this past February.

Who Knew What

With the release of Tarnished Heisman today, the discussion around Bush-gate, and who knew what, is heating up. There are some interesting interviews with Lyod Lake, the wannabe agent and ex-felon, who is suing Reggie Bush over money owed to him from the former Trojan running back. He believes the USC coaches did know about the whole thing, but just kept it quiet.

In a piece written in the OC register, Lake says that USC's coaches should have noticed that Bush and his family were suddenly living the high-life:

"They knew Reggie was getting money from somewhere. They had to know," said Lloyd Lake. "Your family doesn't go from one extreme to the other, from barely making $1,400 a month in rent to paying a $4,200 (a month) mortgage, without that money coming from someone or somewhere."

A pretty obvious observation:

"If we didn't do it, who did? If we didn't buy this stuff, who did? They didn't win the lottery," Lake said. "They didn't go from never going to an away game to going to every away game, including Hawaii. From Reggie getting a new car to them living in a new house - it's too much of a change in your lifestyle. They didn't get a raise."

In another interview with the Union Tribune, Lake and his attorney mention a very easy way for Reggie to clear his name:

“If Reggie wanted to clear this thing up, all he'd have to do is show one canceled rent check,” Watkins said.

Said Lake: “Then we'd drop the lawsuit, and I'd give him all the book money.”

Lake also talked about an anonymous e-mail that the USC coaches received in 2005 warning them that Bush was taking money. He knew about the e-mail because Bush's parents called him up in a "panic". The only way Bush's parents could have heard about the e-mail is if the coaches asked Reggie about it. That should be something easy for USC to find and provide to the NCAA. If it is true, and trust me I don't believe everything this guy says, but if it is true then that could be a huge smoking gun. If they had any suspicion at all that Reggie might not be eligible and they did nothing to investigate it then that's NCAA sanctions time.

At the very least, the NCAA and PAC-10 have to force USC to forfeit games in 2005. That's an absolute no-brainier. Going back to games played in 2004 might be harder to prove as I have yet to see any receipts or evidence of illegal benefits back that far. Lake mentions in a recorded conversation with LaMar Griffen (Reggie's step father) that he has been giving them over $200K in gifts for a year and a half...

I never talked to him about [paying back $12,000 for a car], I wasn’t even looking for it back. I just wanted him to come to the company. I told him everything we did for you, because right now it’s about 200 grand. He can keep that or give it to you. If we get Reggie, he can keep that $200,000 we spent over the year and a half, whatever, see what I’m saying? He can just say “okay pay that back to my dad,” or he can give it to us, and we’ll give it to you.

... but that's just him making a statement. I don't know if they have any evidence that far back.

At the end of the day, with all the evidence that Tarnished Heisman and Yahoo! have uncovered, only the most die-hard Trojan fan could state that Bush didn't take illegal benefits. It is pretty obvious that he did and Bush could easily clear his name by providing evidence to the contrary. Did the USC coaches know? Maybe they did. Should they have know? I think the evidence is growing that they should have known as well.

Personally, I think at least some of the coaches knew about Bush and they just looked the other way. That's almost impossible to prove, but it is hard to believe they didn't notice that their best player was suddenly driving a new car and his family traveling all over the country to watch him play. It is pretty easy to add 2 and 2 together here. It's not like we're talking about some walk-on kicker either. It was Reggie freakin' Bush. If you can't keep tabs on your super-star athlete then you're doing something wrong.

Will the University get punished? There was a precedent set when Charles Woodson at Michigan took illegal benefits but the University received no punishment. Will that happen in this case? I don't know, but I think the NCAA and PAC-10 are under A LOT of pressure and attention with the Reggie Bush situation. If they do nothing then they'll come across as weak. I think at least some form of punishment (a lost scholarship, probation, no bowl) will have to be applied. The case is just too high profile for them to do nothing.

The Smoking Gun

Read 'em and weep Trojans. Here is the actual documentation used in the Yahoo investigation into the illegal benefits Reggie Bush received while at USC. It includes credit card vouchers for Bush and hotel receipts signed by Reggie. The deed to the Bush family house in his agent's name. Copies of e-mails between his step father and the New Era agents about promoting Reggie once he turned pro. Here is my favorite:

Bush posing in front of a car New Era bought for him

BUSTED!

TarnishedHeisman.com

With the release of the investigative reporting book on Reggie Bush coming out in 6 days, a website is supposedly being setup to reveal documentation of the almost $300,000 he and his family received in illegal benefits. The site, www.tarnishedheisman.com, has yet to go live, but it should be up to coincide with the release of the book on January 15th. I'm sure they'll be getting a lot of traffic on that day.

The domain is registered to a company run by the book's author, Don Yaeger. Yaeger is an investigative reporter and associate editor for Sports Illustrated. The initial reaction from the LA Time Trojan blog: "it doesn't look good".

That's just music to my ears.

SC fans taking it to a new Low

Just in time for rivalry week! When USC decided it wanted to put some pressure on the Coliseum for some improvements, it had a couple of ideas. First, was pretend that they were looking for a new home. That didn't go over so well, when UCLA and the Rose Bowl called their bluff. Second option? Call in death threats to the Coliseum Commissioners. Classy.

The USC athletic department urged alumni to call up the Coliseum Commision and "complain". Well Raider Nation... err, Trojan Nation responded! Here are some of the gems:

"I've gotten many, many calls along the following lines: 'Hey, Mr. Chadwick, hope our paths don't cross. Understand you're married, you've got three little girls,' " Commissioner Bill Chadwick said.

Don't these chuckle heads have a game this weekend? Guess the naming of Pat Cowan as the starter has them shaking in their boots. Unreal.

Bush Tapes Played

Well, well, well. If you haven't stayed up on the latest news from the Reggie Bush saga, here is what you need to know. Lloyd Lake, the wanna-be marketer and agent, has claimed for a long time that he had audio tapes that he secretly recorded of himself and Reggie Bush. These tapes, he claimed, showed that they had a financial relationship while he was still at USC. Trojan fans everywhere denied that such tapes existed. Fast forward to this week, and low and behold, Lake produced the tapes for the NCAA. In a six hour meeting, he played portions of the tapes for investigators. Finally, some tangible results from this investigation! It looks like it might be just a matter of time now before USC gets hit with sanctions, including having to forfeit games and possibly a national title. Good. It couldn't have happened to a more deserving program!

Look Who's Talking

Today Llyod Lake is scheduled to talk to NCAA investigators about the Reggie Bush case. According to his attorney, Lake gave $291,600 in payments, lodging and other accommodations to Bush and his family from November 2004 to January 2006. If the NCAA finds all of Lake's evidence credible then they could rule Bush ineligible during that time frame. That would force USC to forfeit those games. This might be just what Karl Dorrell needs! He could get two more ticks in the win column for his time in Westwood against the hated Trojans. Maybe Karl should send Lake a gift basket.

The real question is will the investigators find any wrong doing by the University? There doesn't seem to be any direct links between Lake and Michaels (Bush's supposed agents) and the Trojan coaching staff. Even the attorneys involved say there was likely no contact or knowledge by Carroll and company. However, if the NCAA finds that Southern Cal should have know about these transgressions then they can still be held accountable. Not very likely, but the possibility still exists. We'll keep an eye on this and see what happens.

trOJans

Really, no further explanation is necessary

(photo credit: Image of Sports, Deadspin)