FOOTBALL

USC Notes Column Friday Supplement

Last week I ran a photo of dapper-looking USC assistant Bill Fisk from 1954.

I said I would show other sartorially resplendent USC assistant coaches. Here is assistant coach Joseph Muha from 1951. Check out the geometric-patterned tie!

Muha was an assistant at USC under Jess Hill from 1951-52. He played five seasons for the Phildelphia Eagles (1946-50). After leaving USC, Muha was an NFL umpire from 1956-71.

And look at the ties and shoes for the 1949 coaching staff under Jeff Cravath.

Front row, left to right: Sam Barry, Ray George, Harry “Blackjack” Smith, Jeff Cravath (head coach), and Bill Fisk. Back row, left to right: Walt Hargesheimer and Roy “Bullet” Baker.

Read about the great Sam Barry here. Harry Smith was a two-time All-American at USC. Ray George was the head coach at Texas A&M but spent 15 years as a USC assistant, was a former player and then worked in the athletic dept. until 1985.

103 thoughts on “USC Notes Column Friday Supplement”

    1. Our First Solid “Identity Clue”:
      #…EdWasMarriedToImeldaMarcos…..
      [This finally gives us something to work with —date of birth and home address is around the corner]…..

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Forgive me, Charlie —I’m late to your homecoming…
        …and, as Cal75 puts it, I have shamed myself for not being here to greet you the moment you came back!
        [I’ll make it up to you on Valentine’s Day]!

        Liked by 2 people

      3. I thought maybe you’d finally quit on El Lobo Macho. Granted, these threads aren’t as much fun as they used to be (half the people posting here seem to have personality disorders), but at least everyone cheered up when Lincoln Riley was hired. It was getting dark there for a while.

        Like

    1. …or straight to ABC Studios to play one of the frat boys in The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet….
      #Starring”Ozzie,Harriet,David&TheIrrepressibleRicky”….

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Me and missus ed still watch ozzie and the fellas and gilligoons island. I say to the missus I remind mysilf of the purfesser. The missis, she pops me one and says that old ed makes gilligoon look like a perfesser. smdh.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Scott Wolf needs to monetize all of his knowledge of USC football and sports and publish it in book-form. Another book idea: chronicle the Helton years and call it either:
    “Fear and Loathing in L.A.”
    “Coach Hugs: A Case Study of the Pussification of a College Football Program”
    “Helton: Failing Up and Loving It!”

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    2. Yes! There’s a huge market for diving into USC’s Lost Decade. Who is buying that book? UCLA fans I guess? What’s done is done, best to just leave it be.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. My guess is that spit is body fluid and contains blood borne pathogens 🦠. Anyway it’s different in other areas. The LA district attorney would probably just let the person off with a two hour spittoon training. In Orange County community service and three hours of spittoon training. San Bernardino County would charge the person with attempted murder and allow the spittoon class to use them as a spittoon holder.

      Liked by 2 people

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    2. Charlie –any unconsented to touching constitutes both a civil and a criminal battery…..
      #NotMuchOfOneHere…
      #ButStillTechnicallyABattery

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. UCLA hoops is good at doing crimes. Cough, cough Sam Gilbert. Same holds true today. They’re 5-stars and the fat Ball family kid got popped in China for trying to steal sunglasses from a Louis Vitton store. I do wonder how much Casey Wasserman had to eat to make the whole stealing in China thing go away?

        Liked by 2 people

      5. …who now wishes he had left them to their own devices….
        #ParallelUniverseBeijingTimesHeadline:
        #”BruinsReleasedAfter45YearsHardLabor”

        Liked by 1 person

      6. The “glove slap” has a certain panache.

        #ATimeHonoredTradition
        #ThatShouldBeBroughtBack
        #HeltonShouldStepUp

        Like

  7. Scott,
    Just to supplement your biography on Muha, Dr Muha taught an intro business class as PCC for a number of years in the late 70s to 80s.
    I too thoroughly enjoy your historical reflections of the campus and surrounding hangouts.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  8. How to title the Helton Biography–

    To repeat a silly joke, “How Riley scared the Helton out of the Trojan footballers”

    Or, “Helton- How he managed to go from SC to Georgia Southern”

    Or “Helton– How Tugging in to be bed his Players worked out for him”

    Or “Helton- How a man who professes a love for God reconciles being basically a Used-Car Salesman”

    Liked by 3 people

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      5. Ok, then we will need to hack the morning edition of the “Maui Times” late that night…

        #NoCellPhonesAtMike’s
        #NoCameras
        #NoRecordingDevices

        Like

  12. Not So Fighting Enfield’s vs Arizona starts at 2pm on local Channel 11 (FOX.) I wouldn’t build my day around it if I were you. I pretty sure it’s gonna get ugly fast – just like Pudly & his Mom.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. You need to see “3:10 to Yuma”, John. Not to put too fine an edge on it ….but…no one knows what they’re living for until they see this movie…..

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Meanwhile, I am waiting for the Arizona-SC game to start in a while, but I am afraid the Trojans get exposed for who they are, namely, a good but not great club.

        I have always said that Hawaii has the best time zone to be a sports hound, whereas Back East has the worst time zone. So those SC games starting at 8 p.m. are 5 p.m. in Hawaii and 11 p.m. in New York. Take your pick.

        Oh, and one other thing– the weather. I had a conference call scheduled for yesterday with a New York lawyer, but he e-mailed me that he had to cancel because the snow prevented him from making it to the office.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I think Andy’s bunch has lost confidence. There’s more to it than home court when you beat Arizona State by 22 at home and just squeak by on their court….
        #EdCouldFixThisWithOneHalftimeSpeech

        Like

      4. John –The only problem for me is when USC plays before noon Pacific Time…
        #ItFeelsWrongToBeEatingBreakfastWhileWatchingAGame

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Ha! [That used to be my line when meeting a new woman at Harry’s Bar—not the Ed part …but the I just fell to earth part] …

        Like

  17. I don’t think this game is going to be competitive enough to even come close to being a Thanks Enfield game. A Thanks Enfield would be a great achievement – it’d mean the players kept the game close enough that Andy gets an opp to screw it up

    Liked by 1 person

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      2. Andy —“Well I guess I just showed all those Vegas odds makers a thing or two…”
        #”TheySay11…AndIGiveThem9…AndWalkTheHellAway!”

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I was speed reading….and at first I thought you said “Coach of the Year”…
      #…WhichWouldBeSomethingOfAStretch

      Like

      Reply

  20. Well, the Arizona game was competitive due to SC’s sterling defense until the end, but 1 for 14 shooting in the last 3-minutes spells doom. And bless Peterson’s heart and energy, but 1 for 13 shooting will prevent him from being NBA drafted.

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. I like to listen to the game on the radio because the crowd noise comes across better than with a t.v., and SC kept that crowd at bay until the end. And you could tell the Wildcats’ crowd was busting at the seams to really get into it if Arizona could have put together some 5-15 point runs.

        SC’s crowd has never reached that point of sophistication, where they can almost will their team into a nice run.

        And the UofA chant could be matched by a chant of USC- USC- USC, similar to USA, USA, but I have never been able to get the Trojan crowds to get into it. And I have used placards of ‘USC Chant’ and “Bruins Suck’, but only the latter has garnered much enthusiasm.

        But I won’t stop trying although I still am afraid to go to the sucla game this Saturday because of you-know-what. But it is so tempting to go because an SC-sucla basketball game, whether at Galen or Pauley, is packed with more intense excitement than even a football game. We don’t beat them often, although the Trojans have a nice streak going at present, but when Troy does win, ‘heaven can wait!’

        And I have the equivalent of a lifetime pass to Pauley because of a settlement I reached back in the 1990s when a school administrator sucker punched me at Pauley as I was leading SC cheers of ‘Bruins Suck.’ May the good times continue to roll!

        Liked by 2 people

      2. It seemed like the Trojans were saying to themselves “we’ve done enough — why does the game have to go on for three more fucking minutes?! Can’t we both just relax & stop scoring now? Oh, you’re gonna keep scoring?! That sucks!”
        #ThisWouldn’tHaveHappened….
        #..IfJohnHadBeenThereToYellEncouragement

        Liked by 2 people

    2. He’s never been a potential NBA player. He isn’t athletic enough. I don’t think this Mobley isn’t going to be much of an NBA player either. Good game though. It’s a good loss for tournament seeding. It was on the road and they didn’t get blown out.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    3. 1 for 14…smdh. Once the missus was called out to halftime of junior high game cross street we was watching and she shot 10 from chairtty strip. She got one for 10, a banker right off that dam backburd.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Cheatin’ Johnnie Wooden’s greatest gift to hoops. Though you would hardly know it from today’s game. The bank shot seemed to go the way of the bruin football team when the Big Fundamental retired.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Forgot to say, that if you want a surefire thing from 10 feet out for the refuse bin, then use that backboard. They put it up there for a reason.

        Liked by 1 person

  21. Off. Topic

    Take a look at George Gsascon supporters
    Who’s Who of dimwits – Gavin, Kamala, Bernie and Elizabeth W.
    Also, some organization called USC LEFT

    LA County residents please sign recall petition to get Gascon on first flight to Caracas!!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. Nothing is lazier (or more destructive to the quality of community life) than prosecutors saying they won’t enforce misdemeanor laws… or low level felony laws….or laws Soros doesn’t like….
        #CaliforniaVotersNeedToIgnoreMainstreamMedia…
        #…AndTakeALongLookOutTheWindow

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Ironcially, Newsom was at the railroad tracks in So Cal where much of the crime has been occurring and said “This looks like a third world country!”

        #WelcomeToTheRealWorld,Gavin
        #BringPelosiNextTime
        #SorryForPoliticsRant
        #ButCaliforniaIsAMess

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Because of the millions of wonderful, hardworking people…and the sun…and the beaches…and the parks… and the orange groves …and the vineyards…California can easily bounce back once the kindergarten D. A.’s are shown the door….

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Long story short, you know who controls Ca politics, and that housing is out of control expensive, and guess who is blocking new housing construction?

        If you need a laugh today (who doesn’t), the town of Woodside (high wealth, high income, silicon valley, very left) – 15% R – has filed a petition so that they won’t have to abide by a new building law intended to increase density. The reason “it should be a protected habitat for the mountain lion.”

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Mountain lions are people too, 67….
        #…WithFeelings&DreamsJustLikeOtherPeople
        #IHeardPrinceHarrySaySomethingLikeThat…
        #..BeforeHeEndedHis12MinuteOnceAWeekPodcastOnGrooming….
        #…DueTo”Burnout”
        #[I’mWaitingForCarolToBorrowThatExcuseSoon]

        Liked by 1 person

  22. Sorry, but I get worked up over SC-sucla games. Of course, the fans can only do so much, it is on the players, but a rabid crowd can help their team. Let’s hope the Trojan faithful bring their ‘A’ game Saturday night.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Maybe Herb decided making people happy with his music meant more than getting a diploma…
      #NoBachelor’sDegree…
      #But…
      #…TheTijuanaBrassInstead

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      3. He and Jerry Moss sold A&M Records to Polygram in the 80’s for $500 million. Several years later they sued Polygram for another $200 million. Nice work if you can get it.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Who says Hunter’s art shouldn’t be fetching as much as Picasso’s? I’m completely confident all they’re paying for is the artwork!! Nothing to see here. Move along! – Frank Derbin

        Like

  24. Pingback: If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column – InsideUSC with Scott Wolf

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