FOOTBALL

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

With USC opening training camp today, you can literally name any player you want as someone to watch without being questioned.

You can even say the offensive line is underrated. And no one will remember it in four weeks.

That’s the beauty of training camp.

Let’s see if someone tries to get away with saying USC is actually well-coached but doesn’t get the credit it deserves in that dept.

  • Isn’t it amazing how quickly USC decided to sell beer at the Coliseum when it takes so long to make decisions on other things? For example, USC is still delaying a decision on whether to rename Cromwell Field.
  • I hear people who own Coliseum suites currently don’t know how many people will be allowed in them for the upcoming season based on COVID-19 guidelines.
  • You have four QBs from Southern California in these Heisman odds but not the University of Southern California QB? That’s what happens when you don’t play for a marquee program.
  • It’s time for another week of “what is Washington State thinking?”

Eastern Washington basketball star Kim Aiken Jr. was denied admission into Washington State’s graduate program for political science despite having a 3.48 GPA. Cougars coach Kyle Smith told the Spokesman-Review it was a “tough pill to swallow.”

Aiken Jr. is now going to Arizona. Why is Washington State denying admission to anyone? Ever? Does it want to survive in the Pac-12? Stunning decision.

  • USC won its second gold medal of the Olympics on Thursday night when April Ross and her partner, Alix Klineman, won beach volleyball.
  • Three-time Olympic medalist Carmelita Jeter will be assistant sprints coach for new coach Quincy Watts at USC.
  • This interview with JT Daniels is worth watching.
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  • And now for some history:
  • When legendary ticket manager John Morley ran the USC ticket office from the 1940’s-70’s, “Aspirin Alley” was the pet name for Morley’s office, because as dispenser of tickets to all of USC’s athletic contests, great quantities of aspirin were consumed.
  • There’s no need for Aspirin Alley today. Who wants football season tickets? Who wants any tickets the way USC is flogging mini-game plans? Who wants a $496 tailgate permit?
  • Here are the USC Olympians from the 1952 Helsinki Games: From left: Sim Iness (gold medal, discus); Art Barnard (bronze medal in 110 hurdles; Willis O. Hunter (athletic director, Olympic official); Parry O’Brien (gold medal, shot put); Charlie Simms (gymnastics); Marvin Simms (water polo, fourth place); Jack Davis (silver medal, 110 hurdles; tied world record); Jim Norris (water polo, named all-Olympic goalie); Jack Beckner (gymnastics); John McCormick (diving, fourth place) and Harry Bisbey (water polo). Not pictured: Wally Wolf (swimming, 1948 gold medalist) and Allen Gilchrist (swimming).
  • Wolf was part of the 1952 gold-medal winning 4×200 relay team but in those days, you only won a medal if you swam in the final race.
  • If you were a USC music student in 1960, you could take a class from composer Miklós Rózsa, who was nominated for 17 Academy Awards and won three times, including the 1959 film, “Ben-Hur.”
  • When John Rudometkin graduated in 1962, he was USC’s all-time leading basketball scorer and the record stood until 1985. But this fact caught my eye this week: He scored 35 points against Indiana All-American Walt Bellamy in 1960 at the Sports Arena.
  • Did you know the house from the 1960’s TV show, “The Addams Family” was only 1 mile from USC?
Exterior of the home at 21 Chester Place. Photo via LA Public Library, Herald Examiner Collection (1960)

The house, located at 21 Chester Place, was owned by oil tycoons Edward and Estelle Doheny. When Estelle Doheny died in 1958, she willed all the land in Chester Place (including the Doheny Mansion) to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who made it a new satellite campus of Mount St. Mary’s College in 1962.

The house was demolished in 1967 and today the land serves as the track and field for LAUSD’s Frank D. Lanterman High School.

For the show, features were painted on to the house for the exterior shots to give it a more Victorian look:

21 Chester Place as it appeared in The Addams Family in 1964. (MGM Television)

  • Here’s another story on Stubby Shaw, who owned Stubby’s Trojan Barrel, which later became Julie’s Trojan Barrel.

“He had a real red face, he was always red,” said a USC student from the early 1960’s. “He looked like a football player. I think he played for the L.A. Dons (the first pro team to play in the Coliseum from 1946-49). He really kept the place in order. The McKeever twins really wanted the place and eventually bought it from him.”

CONCERT OF THE WEEK

Ella Fitzgerald performed at the Shrine Auditorium on Jan. 6, 1961

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK 1

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK 2

  • Here’s a 1953 ad for Carl’s Restaurant, which we’ve featured before, where you could eat inside or at your car.
  • Does anyone have the Trojan Horse collector’s bottle that Vendome sold in 1975?

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

  2. Maybe Kim Aiken’s application to Wazzu’s political science grad program was too “woke” for the school.

    #WazzuIsPrettyCloseToRedStateIdaho

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. JT sounds like he’s been paroled and has a new lease on life. But in the back of his mind he’s gotta be thinking, “Why the hell did I even think about going to USC and play for that ass hat Clay Helton?”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. J. T. probably didn’t need therapy. He just needed to get out of Helton’s clutches. Every ex-Helton player thinks the same thing about their experience: “What didn’t kill me made me stronger.”
      Helton —the QB guru — has set up for failure every QB that has played for him. He can’t get a O-Line coach for love or money. J. T., on the other hand, is now playing behind the 2nd best O-Line in the SEC.
      [Fans need to ask themselves why Graham was pushing a freshman as starter over Daniels. It was because he KNEW that a great but immobile thrower like J. T. didn’t stand a chance behind Helton’s O-Line…..and he figured Slovis (who runs the 40 one half second faster than J. T.) had a slightly better chance of surviving].

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. ““The people making the most noise about Pat are the ones that are outside the university. The $100 donors, not the million-dollar donors. Obviously, the $100 donors are the ones who spend all day on the message boards and talk radio and create all the noise. The people that matter the most — the school president — I think he knows where he stands with those guys.””

        – Tim Tessalone

        Senior Associate Athletic Director – Sports Information Director at University of Southern California

        Liked by 1 person

      3. At least Tim doesn’t say, “Good question! Thank you! So glad you asked it! You’re probably gonna hate me for saying this —but I just love Los Angeles & everybody in it!”
        #InOtherWords,I’llTakeTimToClayAnyDay…
        #..AtLeastTim’sFirstImpulseIsToTellTheTruthAsHeSeesIt..
        #[HeltonSitsAtHomeInADress&PretendsHe’sEleanorRoosevelt]

        Like

      4. Corollary argument, counselor:
        Graham knew that the Freshman–Slovis–had been coached up by Kurt Warner far better than by most D1 QB coaches. Time to use the Slovis before he picked up bad habits by the marginally competent present HC and OC.

        Liked by 3 people

      5. Bourbon –Hope Warner’s good influence doesn’t fade a few more degrees every time Clay gets too close to Slovis…
        #ISawASinbadMovieWhereTheVillainHadThatEffectOnPeople…

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Great break down of things of what happens with USC QBs and JTs time under Helton, while at SC. Why did they push him to graduate from Mater Dei high school early if he wasn’t right mentally? He should of stayed in high school and graduated with his class. Enjoyed his senior year, life and school. Let him be a kid. But no he was pressured to graduate early. He’s never going to get his senior year back. I blame this more on his parents than Helton. Although Helton’s incompetence caused the dominos to fall. He could of stuck with Jack Sears as QB who was the one person, screwed in all of this. I always wondered how he felt after he left SC and what he would have to say about his former clueless head coach..

        Liked by 2 people

  4. Morning,
    I don’t think anyone believes USC is actually well coached but doesn’t get the credit. I haven’t heard that around here in a very long time.
    It’s not sweating any long time USC Fans that our QB isn’t on that list so keeeeeep trying little man.

    “Three-time Olympic medalist Carmelita Jeter will be assistant sprints coach for new coach Quincy Watts at USC”
    No smart remark at that hire? How could you? You can’t say anything negative because the Track department is kicking a** right now.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. This is Clay Helton’s idea his offensive line being “well coached”…

      Had that video not surfaced when it did, Neil Callaway would probably still be coaching the offensive line today.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Dammit! What have you been told about this video?! No one wants to see this again. It makes us think about Helton hearing this shit every night after practice and saying, “You make a lot of sense, Neil.”

        Like

      2. How did they even hire that guy? He was more clueless than Clueless. Great content Tebow. They still can’t get a great o-line coach because the head coach sucks.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. “This is what you get when the Head Coach doesn’t deliver top OT’s and tells me to make a TE our starting OT”

        Is what I would have said

        Like

  5. Every Friday Scott puts together more fun historical stuff than you’ll find on any other USC sports site all year long. I hope Bohn is reading it. It might give him some perspective.
    But Scott missed something today: The “New” Adams Family House is located 13 miles from USC ….it’s in Santa Monica.
    #It’sCreepy&It’sCrawly

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Today training camp starts for USC. There are so many things to think about for this season. Some are, will the team even win one game, will they go undefeated, how will the defense be, etc. However, one thing is clear, there is a big heavy cloud hanging over USC and the football program until Helton is fired along iwht Foot, the BOT’s and Bohn. Politcal Crapness has oozed into USC and it has destroyed the fabric of USC which is win with very good coaches and beat teams like bama, nd, michigan, ohio st., and schedule teams like georgia, florida, oklahoma. Playing San Jose st. and BYU just suck. This is not USC football, it is a pussified version of USC football.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Dear P. T.
      USC’s president requests you strike the word “pussified” from your last sentence…and insert “feminized”…….
      #OtherwiseShe’sFineWithIt

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Michael,

        I had a sister that was one of these left wing nut jobs who believed in Politcal Crapness. One day I said something straight forward and she said I could not say that. I said why and she said to me that it was not Political Correct. I told her to stuff it and I will say what I want to say. I said it is a free country with freedom of speech. I said you will not control me what to say, just like you don’t like someone telling you what to say. She left pissed off and i said have a great day. People cower to Politcal Crapness. Not me. I am too old to care what others think and it is there problem if i don’t conform. They can shove it where the sun does not shine.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Would wussified qualify instead? MG, Like in Fast Times when Damone tells Ratner, “you know what you are Ratner? You are a wuss part wimp and part pussy”!

        Liked by 2 people

    2. I would give you more likes if I could Pasadena Trojan. That’s exactly what’s wrong and going on at USC right now. They need a serious house cleaning and culture change. No more gnome as President.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. And good for you PT telling your sister how it is with this political correctness crap that’s fucin up our country. Would rather have you as a friend also no sugar coating nothing. Just keeping it 💯 real.

        Liked by 2 people

  7. I never thought I would find a Scottie blog photo worse than the “open mouth Clay” or “the John Baxter Gut” photos. But this one with Clay and Carol takes the cake. Had to pass on breakfast. Maybe I will recovery by lunch. Thanks Scottie!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    2. Sorry to bring that photo up again trojan 1967. That made you want to vomit, but who is the schmuck in the white collard shirt with his arms folded? Looks like those 2 were literally trying to rub elbows with him, kissing ass and he just stands there looking at those 2 Helton and Folt like they’re pathetic. These are the clowns running the program now and we expect the University to be successful? Wow

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  8. I’m rooting for JT now. Glad to see he is at a place where he can succeed.

    I think that is what bothers me the most about USC football and the cast of characters managing USC. Lack of integrity, lack of honesty.

    Maybe Folt and Caruso and Helton and Bohn should teach Gaslighting 101: How to Fabricate a Fabrication and the Use of Meaningless Jargon

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  11. MG-Know you know your sweet science – Scott on Friday’s is like Buster in Tokyo or Lennox after a loss…rest of the time never know what you’ll get and often it aint pretty…but Fridays are always worth a read or better…

    Like

    Reply

  12. I have one of those ceramic collector’s items. Great colors. Keep it in my curio cabinet. Fun to reflect on times when USC actually meant something more than it does now…

    Like

    Reply

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