Is there any limit to what USC will do for a buck? Of course not!
Caleb Williams has barely started classes but USC is selling his autograph on items at its team store. The prices range from $199.99 to $599.99.

But the real sign of the apocalypse is at the USC bookstore: A Swarovski Crystal USC football helmet for $10,000. That includes a certificate of authenticity and display case.


With the NIL rules, does Williams get a cut of every autograph sold or a flat fee?
This is just scratching the surface. Think monthly paid subscriptions to “SCTV” streaming service or the like where Carol Folt, USC faculty et al have daily shows where they discuss topical issues.
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I’d pay any price to see Carol explain the dynamics of “The Path Of Righteousness” while wearing the crystal helmet …and her shortest mini….
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Live softball interviews with George Gascon, Chesa Boudin and their ilk.
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Carol’s first question:
“George –can you tell us who you think your constituency is? No? Ha! Me neither.”
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Don’t make me vomit with that Carol Folt in a mini comment, MG! Fucin gross.
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I’d advise you to stay far away from any videos of her making game appearances…
…or hiking in Santa Monica….
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Michael, if I start to dream-nightmaring about this woman guess who I will be holding responsible.
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I’m already having dreams about Carol — & they don’t make any sense. I’m a carrot and she’s a donut and we’re going for a walk in the park at midnight…..
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Caruts and donuts? smdh, we don’t have carruts at our house, just no room in the rfigurator, 2 cases of mountin doo takin up most of that room. But the missus does get those day-old donuts from that dunkin place with the hot cawfee. I asked for day old cawfee so we can saves some monees, but she popped me one, call me stoopid. smdh
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67 –You are actually turning into Ed…
#ShouldIBeWorried?
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Michael, it is the product of years and years of bad USC football, Helton, AKA the village idiot, Scottie’s blog, you name it. Somehow, after all this, Ed G. makes a lot of sense to me.
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Yes, I completely understand. Whenever I get to this dark place I try to watch Biden’s State of The Union Speech….. it restores my sense of hope…
#ExceptForThePartWhereHeForgetsDoctorJill’sName..
#…AndTheNamesOfEachOfHisCabinetMembers
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You must’ve been a comedian in another life…
Then again, no time like the present to take your show on the road [Comedy Clubs, Vegas, YouTube, Instagram, etc]
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I got a feelin MG is kinda sweet on Ms Carol.
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to kwesschuns,can we try the hellmit on be four bying it and do they except my britcoin fir it?
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Answer: As the bookstore already told the mother of a 4 year old who wanted to wear it, “you break it, you own it.”
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If you are a carrot in your nightmare, MG, make sure ‘Without’ Folt does not turn into a rabbit.
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#”Eh, What’s up, Doc[tor] Folt?”
—With Apologies To Mel Blanc and Chuck Jones
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That home shoppin netwerk has genooine repleecas of that cristal helmut for $69.99, or you kin pay $6 evry month for about4 years on there ez pay plan.
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67,
I have a feeling the people who want one probably also want to pay $10,000 for it.
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Damn elites…buying up all the good stuff so that Ed and the missus are left empty handed.
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The missus is never empty handed….
#YouKnowEd
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Got the missus that dubble plasticized table cloth for annivursary. Spills wipe rite off! She popped me one, saying somethin’ about wantin a helmut. smdh. What she need a helmut for?
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Pretty sure the time where a helmet could have helped Ed has come and gone.
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LAT Commentary: With Lincoln Riley in charge, USC has finally stopped living in fear
https://news.yahoo.com/commentary-commentary-lincoln-riley-charge-022604707.html
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Great article, Charles. Thanks for posting it.
Coach Riley [it’s time we start calling him that] is adopting the Colonel Kurtz ‘zero-defects’ philosophy in Apocalypse Now : do what needs to be done ruthlessly –“or what people call ruthless — which is only seeing things clearly and acting like a soldier.”
This is the antithesis of the all icing, no cake approach of Clay Helton. And Carol Folt.
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Where are all the pre-madonnas?
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Answer:
They’re busy honoring your SC graduation …..
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If he had graduated with honors, he would have known it’s “prima donnas”.
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So…on top of everything else — SC Grad W/Honors’ GPA is less than a 3.5?
#Wow..
#YouCan’tTrustAnybodyTheseDays
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Pre-Maddona’s? Maybe Cher? Or Blondie? Certainly Marilyn.
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If you understood sarcasm you would know it was a joke.
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um…I knew it all along…
#IWasJustPretendingNotTo…
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Hanging out with the post-malones.
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Since the big hook is that they are official team items, every single member and player on the team deserves a percentage of the money. After all, it’s not an individual sport. It’s the only fair thing to do. Share the pie, grow the pie, use the attraction to recruit the best players and coaches and be up front and honest about it.
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The competitive marketplace…these guys are making their choices based on (i) the upfront NIL money (sure thing) and (ii) the prospect of NFL money, which (the guaranteed part) is relatively small if you arent a first rounder, particularly high first round.
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The schools can’t play the players nor will the NCAA part with any of their precious coin. That’s how they justify the NIL it’s a “work around.” Would love to see what the ROI on some of these NIL deals is.
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How low can the ROI go?
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I am all for the players sharing in the enormous revenue they generate, but can’t say that I like the way NIL is evolving. Not that the big name players weren’t under pressure before, but brother, oh brother, are they under pressure now to deliver.
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It’s only gonna get worse….
#[ItSureAin’tGonnaGetBetter…TheGenieIsOuttaTheBottle]
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This plays right well for USCs and other well-heeled schools. Wisconsin…not so much.
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I love your implicit putdown of UCLA, 67…
#WellDone
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“UCLA – the Wisconsin of the West!”
Where is the real Gotroy22?
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I pray that he’s here…somewhere… operating undercover under some clever new name….
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To expand on that point, Coach Smiley (how is that for respect?) said that SC would be a player in the NIL market, and with well-heeled Trojan alumni anxious to “help out” you know the Trojans will be “buyers.”
And this idea of guys like NIL-rich ‘Celeb’ sharing his dough with his lesser teammates is a thought one would come up with if smoking some good weed.
The L.A. Times beat writer said that SC has become another pro team in Los Angeles, and being a pro means pressure to produce now or else. So the term ‘student-athlete’ is a phrase that will hit the garbage bins faster than the terms ‘gay’ or ‘fairy’ did last century.
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I’m headed to Michael’s or Hobby Lobby after work so I can pick up some self adhesive rubies and maybe even diamonds so I can make a few of those myself. I figure I only need to sell ten of those helmets to retire a year early. I just gotta grab a few helmets from the local high school trash bin and boom I’m good to go.
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Ha! Sounds like a variation on the theme of “American Movie”….
#..WhichWoundUpMaking40TimesThe$40,000TheGuyExpected
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I had not been paying attention to the staff that Lanning put together at Oregon. The DC is an amazing hire. He was a DC at Alabama and then the Cleveland Browns. And I see they beat us out for 2 recruits recently.
Anyone that thinks we will easily beat Oregon on the recruiting trail or on the field of play isnt paying attention. Oregon is going to be better under Lanning than under Cristobal.
The Pac-12 might actually start to get some respect in a few years from now. I really think the days of West Coast players leaving the area are going to be gone very soon.
Defense wins championships and I think Oregon is going to have a better defense than SC.
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Up until 2005, I thought the line about “defense wins championships” was horseshit. But –when our highest scoring offense got stopped by Texas’ defense—I changed my mind.
#InTime,RileyWillHaveBoth
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If only we kept Normie…if only Reggie’s ill-advised lateral was called down rather than a fumble…if only the refs would have called Young down when his knee touched the ground…
Both teams gained 550 yards, both offenses were remarkable. Shame somebody had to lose that game. Not sure if there was any team in the country that would have held either team below 35 points on that day.
#IfOnly
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You just outlined all the reasons why it was such a great game between two such great teams…. one in which our guys made more mistakes (coaches and players)….
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Michael, you have pointed out how Pete never really figured out what to do with the read-option. That game showcased that particular deficiency. You would have thought that the LB group of Cushing, Mauluga, Sartz, Rivers, along with Rucker and Lojack on the D line would have been up to it, but that was such an incredibly young team.
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I watched the Rams/48ers game, and it was the Ram defense that won that champeenship.
#ISureMissCharlieBucket
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They are losing their premier DE to the draft (prob top 3 pick), lost a couple more d guys to Auburn through the portal, lost two QBs, lost Travis Dye, they are going to need to work through that. Not to say they won’t be good, just that they are going to have to scramble in the portal just like all the other teams.
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On balance, I like our odds for taking the Pac 12 in Year One of the New Era.
#[I’mMoreWorriedAboutUtahThanOregon]
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By “amazing hire” you mean walking NCAA violation?
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Or so Amazing that he never stays at a job for more than a year or two. No thanks on Tosh.
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Ha… yeah, that’s the guy…
#IGiveHimLessTimeThanHermToGetCaughtRedHanded
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Every team has a better defense than SC. At least in 2021.
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Riley says he won’t just take anyone to fill a void. The biggest requirement is speed which we have not seen in years. As players become available and he has time to recruit I think the defense will be built. Till then I guess we just need to be patient and hope this staff can coach up what we have.
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