FOOTBALL

If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Let’s see how smoothly things are going around USC at the moment during a normally quiet time of year.

  • USC is still apparently conducting its investigation into swim coach Jeremy Kipp, who allegedly kicked a water bottle into the face of a swimmer. If you read the comments of this story, there are many other incidents involving Kipp.
  • A football imposter, Joshua Pryor, says he strolled into the McKay Center several times through the front entrance. A natural question is, “What about the COVID-19 protocols that were supposed to be in place during this period?”

When Pryor said he saw Helton playing on the golf simulator under Heritage Hall, it used to be where to find Pat Haden and Lynn Swann when they were the athletic director.

Another take: The football team knew Pryor was an imposter and said nothing. Is that another sign of disrespect felt toward Clay Helton?

The imposter does his first interview on a podcast co-hosted by a USC reserve QB!

  • USC does not have a women’s basketball coach and two players have left the program. This has not created any sense of urgency within the administration to hire a coach.
  • The athletic dept. now has become Cincinnati West with five employees from the University of Cincinnati.
  • A member of the Board of Trustees admitted football has been overshadowed by other scandals: “The last couple years have seen a lot of changes and turmoil. Maybe that puts something like football on the backburner. Maybe 10 years ago, there would have been oxygen to put football under a microscope.”

Other than that, it’s going pretty good!

  • USC basketball announced its team awards Thursday and Evan Mobley was named MVP. He was also named the best defensive player. Tahj Eaddy was most improved while Isaiah Mobley won “underclassman who made an impact through example.” Isaiah White won the 110 percent effort award.
  • ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay did a mock draft with Kedon Slovis as the No. 2 pick. I realize quarterbacks have an inflated value but doesn’t Slovis have a lot to prove in 2021? When even people at USC complain about his athleticism, that’s a small red flag, I think.
  • A friend sent me some items that had this charcoal painting of the Bush Push by artist Dave Hobrecht. The image is printed on everything from coffee mugs to coasters. Luckily, Hobrecht did not erase me from the play!
  • And now for some history:

This is quite a photo from 1940 that features some big-time coaches to celebrate the film, “Knute Rockne All-American.”

On the far left, is former USC All-American Jesse Hibbs, who was assistant director for the movie and later became a director himself. Next to Hibbs is Amos Alonzo Stagg from College of the Pacific; then Glenn “Pop” Warner of Stanford; actor Pat O’Brien; Jim Spaulding of UCLA; Howard Jones of USC and Lloyd Bacon, who directed the film.

  • I got a lot of feedback last week when I wrote about Gypsy Boots. So here’s a couple more tidbits: In the 1950’s, he opened Gypsy Boots Health Hut on Beverly Blvd. in Los Angeles and drew celebrities like Red Buttons, Eddie Albert and Tina Louise.

He also made more than 25 appearances on the Steve Allen Show. USC players also visited the Health Hut and one day Boots started throwing passes in the parking lot and claimed he threw 50-to-60-yard passes. The players asked him to the following game.

  • John McKay wanted to lower expectations after USC defeated Alabama, 42-21.

“We were worried about Alabama (before the game), and we said that if we played well against Alabama, we should have a good team,” McKay said at the Football Writer’s Luncheon two days after the victory. “Now we’ve played very well against Alabama, and now I’ll retract my statement.”

Here’s another example of how much the world has changed. In 1958, it was a big deal when USC agreed to broadcast its football games on radio station KNX-AM. That’s athletic director Jess Hill (left) and KNX general manager Fred Ruegg celebrating the deal.

“Chick Hearn, regarded by many as one of the best sports announcers in the business, will again do the play-by-play action of seven of the games. Times columnist Braven Dyer will do the color commentary,” an announcement said.

Nowadays, USC signs with low-rated KABC-AM and there’s barely a peep, let alone a photo.

  • Can you identify these two USC tailbacks from 1994? I will have the answer in the USC newsletter on Friday.

43 thoughts on “If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column”

  1. I believe one of the backs is Shawn Walters. And the other might be Rodney Sermons before he switched his jersey to No. 5.

    #ScottieIsGoningOldSchoolWithMultipleBlackAndWhitePhotosToday

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  2. While I appreciate the board member’s testimony, I find it unbelievable they can’t address the football team, the main reason the vast vast majority of people even follow USC.

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    1. With a $6.9 billion dollar endowment, what’s the holdup? Oh, Steve, we can’t handle changing the head football coach….lol……what dude?

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    2. They are there for oversight only. But they could have some informal conversations with Folt and give a nudge. Or many nudges.

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      2. trojan67,

        I hope you are referring to nudging Folt out onto the 110 fwy where she will be free from reality.

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      4. Kinda like the politicians we have running the country now! Hopefully our country doesn’t continue going towards 1 big dumpster fire. Like what’s happening at USC now.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. So as usual Scott is on to something today. He has his mug on a mug and that’s cool, but I built a puzzle a few years ago and he’s among several celebrities on the cartoon picture of the coliseum during a USC football game.
    Jeremy Kipp is being misused at USC he should be coaching place kickers. Imagine the control and precise angle needed to kick a nonsymmetric cylinder into a exact location. He probably practiced on the virtual golf range in the basement of Heritage Hall. But Helton won’t use him because he’s afraid of losing control.
    The women’s Basketball team doesn’t have a coach because the school offered the job to Caitlyn Jenner. She holding back on her answer until polling for the recall election comes out.
    Joshua Pryor is using his celebrity status from USC to kickstart his run for Governor of California. He was slated for anonymity and I originally thought to say we won’t remember him in six months, but with this recall around the corner, everybody is throwing their hats in the ring. Gypsy Boots would run if he could, but he’s only been allowed to vote Democrat since August of 2004.
    Finally the charcoal painting is nice, but you have to realize one thumb smudge and the author is an anonymous source. Happy Friday Trojans

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  5. That’s Washington and Sermons. I think Washington was recruited out of Texasl. Walters was 31# and accepted extra benefits when he was at USC from a wannabe agent.

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    1. Washington was # 24
      Walters was # 31
      Green was # 18
      Woods as # 30
      Barnum was # 21
      Sermons was # 25 before going to # 5

      Washington was from Dallas, I think Walters was from Texas. Walters was cleared of any wrong doing, it was his mother and step father who took money, sound familiar ?

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      2. Yeah, 2 guys in the first round, did Gomer make either better ? Bama, 6 in the first what, 24 ?

        Faith On !

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      3. It’s a trick question. 25 was David Dotson
        Valley View HS Moreno Valley. 93 HS player of the year.
        He never played out & liked to party.

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      5. Thanks for doing a quick Google search and clarifying that or all of us Tebow. I was just going off the top of my head like everyone else. You are right about USC, not getting hit hard with sanctions for what Walters family did with a wannabe agent because he wasn’t a heisman trophy winner. But then again I’m sure the NCAA knew this was going on at most big time football programs. They did hit them too hard as not to a track attention to what was going on at most schools back then. Would’ve opened up a big can of worms. Did cost robocoach his job a couple years later because he couldn’t recruit.

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      6. He looks like the kind of self-starter that will be ok his own. Best we can hope for.

        https://247sports.com/Video/Courtland-Ford-Cedar-Hill-2019-senior-season-highlights-9564525/

        The link above is from high school, but still, the guy can use just his arms to level o-linemen, and if they engage him at the line, he backs them up until them go down and then he falls on top of them.

        From the perspective of facing Ford, It looks like somebody trying to push back against a small car with a lot of torque.

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      3. You’re right.. while he went #13, AVT was the jets second pick in the first round.

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  7. Liked by 1 person

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      2. I hope Helton succeeds….and Sark succeeds …and we meet in the playoffs……
        #…InTheRosebowl…..SoTheBruinsCanAttend

        Liked by 2 people

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