FOOTBALL

Morning Buzz: Who Is No. 1? Lakers Or USC?

Have the Lakers surpassed USC by firing Coach Frank Vogel through twitter?

The two most famous USC firings were when an administrator asked me for John Robinson’s home phone number to leave him a message that he was fired and the classic Lane Kiffin-on-the-tarmac-at-LAX firing.

The Lakers are giving USC competition. Since everything always has a USC connection, is it worth mentioning Lakers president Jeanie Buss went to USC and was a member of the Board of Trustees?

I’d still say USC is No. 1 in this competition, however.

  • USC running backs coach Kiel McDonald is high on Stanford-transfer Austin Jones.

“Austin Jones has been ballin’,” McDonald said Tuesday. “He’s had explosive runs. He’s catching the ball. His protection has, from Practice 1 to Practice 10, been phenomenal in terms of growth.”

  • Usually, in spring practices, the defense dominates early because the offense needs to learn its system. And then the offense starts to dominate more.

But that wasn’t the case Tuesday.

“The defense certainly, overall, won the day,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “The defense had a pretty long period of time where they sustained some pretty good play.”

More impressive was the defense did it without top cornerback Mekhi Blackmon, who was not in full pads but was fine according to Riley.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We can’t coast in. Losers coast in. Average programs coast in.”

— Lincoln Riley on finishing spring practice strong

79 thoughts on “Morning Buzz: Who Is No. 1? Lakers Or USC?”

      1. “The defense certainly, overall, won the day,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said.

        ‘Ol Mule Shoe better get used to seeing that. If the Trojans undersized soft hitting, can’t tackle worth a crap defense is giving his offense trouble, he and the Ladies of Troy are going to be in for a long season, just as I have been saying.

        When is ‘Ol Mule Shoe going to get a clue about the importance of the offensive line?

        I’m telling you clowns, ‘Ol Mule Shoe is Clay Helton 2.0

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      2. tebow,
        You should put “I hope & pray….etc., etc.” before every one of your declaratory sentences… or is that just implied?

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    1. “two really good tailbacks”?

      That keep getting shutdown by an undersized, soft hitting, couldn’t tackle a ham sandwich defense.

      LMFAO!

      OH MY SIDE HURTS FROM LAUGHING SO MUCH!

      AHA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

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      Reply

      2. Ol peenus breath, non-binary, gender-nonspecific human life form PARTICIPATION TROPHY.

        That’s the mame of the award Cal75 hippie received for being named the Castro Districts ‘House Boy Of The Year’ for the 10th year in a row.

        LOL!

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  3. A sign you’re really getting old. I typed my name in on the previous post as George Tailback before catching it just in the nick of time. I’m not kidding sports fans.

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. NO. BUT I COULD CHANGE MY NAME AND TROT ON. BUT HOW WOULD I HIDE MY TAIL. DONT ANYONE ANSWER THAT WITH THR OBVIOUS.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. It’s fun to get up early just after Scott has made an early one. It just occurred to me that Ed and I could do the first 40posts before anyone else gets up. Wonder how long it would be before I got permanently banned !! Ed would never get banned but I would.

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      1. YES YOU DID PT AINTNO CURE FOR THE SUMMERTIME BLUES. I DO TAKE SPECIAL REQUESTS FORANY SONG FROM 1954-59. BUT SOON I WILL POST SOME LYRICS FROM A SONG FROM THAT ERA AND GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO GO TWO FOR TWO FAIR ENOUGH BRO ??

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Ya know what’s double nice? No coach we play against made the top 10.
        #ButJustCuzUtah’sGuyIsOver45Doesn’tMakeHimAnyLessOfAThreat

        Liked by 1 person

      3. You see that Saudi Arabian video making fun of Biden? It’s hilarious! He’s on display for the entire world to wonder, “How could Americans be dumb enough to think this was the best person to lead the free world?!”

        1,014 days to go!

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  7. Ol dog is fired up after watching Annette for six straight hours yesterday—— yesterday hey hey——- I’m not half the dog I used to be !!

    Liked by 1 person

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      2. Mg. You know what I really forgot to mention ??? My hydrocodone/ OxyContin meds that I’m required to take every. Gee. I forgot how often. Can’t afford to miss a dose tho. As Elvis said in his song… I’m a little mixed up but I’m feelin fine !!!

        Liked by 2 people

      3. I’m sending Carol over there to walk you thru this one, George….
        #ThePurpleCloudsOnTheCeilingAren’tReal..
        #..AndRemember:ItDOESHurtToJumpFromA4StoryBuilding…

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Defenses normally win in spring, but not yesterday. Then LR says “the defense won the day”. Solid piece of journalism.

    Also, Scott fired John Robinson. No way the school could have had his phone number on their own.

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. I’m willing to put up with 102 per day…
        #TimRobbinsInThePlayer:#WhoCares!It’sTomWolfe!”
        #InsideTheRightStuff

        Liked by 2 people

  11. Ryno: USC OL Max Gibbs weighed in at 410 pounds when last season ended. He said today he’s down to 370 — and hoping to get down to 350 before long.

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  12. An administrator asked Scott for John Robinson’s phone number?!?
    What’s wrong with just looking in the staff directory? Honestly leaving a message on a machine was pretty chicken-shit but taking credit for it is BULL

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  13. Greatest firing of all time was Kiffen’s. The funniest part was that they left him at the airport and he had to find his own way home. Just shows what an utter asshole Haden was or still is, who knows.

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      1. Oh, I guess I missed that one. Still it doesn’t change my opinion of Haden, it just makes the word asshole a little more enhancing.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I have to make this comment. I realize it’s in extremely poor taste. *My specialty.
      There are probably some in Palm Springs who realize what an asshole Pat Haden has.

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      1. The trannies in PS are gonna get a $1,000 check every month just for the heck of it. FOR THREE YEARS!

        Every time I think this world can’t get any crazier, I’m proven wrong.

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  14. They should have hired Jeannie Buss instead of Folty. Better looking, and she had countless ways to get rid of people. Coming from the Lakers, she would have been talking trades instead of firing.

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  15. Haden’s squirrelly tarmac-tactic takes the cake. Kiff never saw it coming, whereas Vogel knew he was dead meat, it was in all the papers.

    The defense almost always is ahead of the offense at the beginning of Spring practice. It is easier to be an animal and rush the quarterback than it is to be the quarterback.

    Glad SC found a blocking quarterback– ‘Celeb’ needs all the protection he can find.

    Amazing how Scott would have John Robinson’s phone number and SC didn’t have it.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. It’s not amazing, John.
      [Or….Maybe they DID have it — but Scott was standing there and it saved the USC staff from having to open the Department Directory]….
      #”ThankYou,Scott—We’reAllTiredTodayFromWorking3hoursYesterday”

      Liked by 3 people

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  17. And up pops Haden’s name again, and not in a good way. He will forever be linked with the tarmac-firing and the Ton-o-Hel hiring.

    With all their millions I would not wish to have the reputation of Haden or Will Smith’s. Sometimes it pays to be anonymous.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. What is going on with Pat and Will’s agents? All taint could easily be erased by an arranged rescue of 27 church members from a burning bus….
      #EdCouldHandleThePostRescuePresser

      Liked by 2 people

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      2. Not sure even that would work, Michael. It seems bad news sells better than good news, especially in entertainment circles.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. It would have to be played perfectly…Ed would need to stretch his acting talents some but I really think he could pull it off…
        #TearsWouldHelp

        Liked by 1 person

  18. In terms of Laker badly executed firings, go back to 81. Sorry for long post:

    Paul Westhead coached the Lakers to the NBA title in 1980. Kareem was out with a bad ankle sprain, and Westhead put Magic at center versus Darryl Dawkins (6’11”, 280, remember his dunks?). Nobody gave Lakers a chance after Kareem was out and they were playing in Philly. Magic goes 42, 15, and 7, plays virtually every position on the floor, and Lakers have the title.

    Magic tells Jerry Buss”keep westhead. if you don’t, wherever he goes, I go.” So Buss extends westhead.

    A few months later, the team has started the new season 7-4. Magic is recovering from knee surgery, he is slow, but he doesn’t like that westhead is running the offense around kareem, so magic now wants westhead gone. So Buss fires Westhead 11 games into the new season, 7-4 record. After an nba title and extending him. What makes it so bad is that Buss claimed that firing Westhead had nothing to do with Magic’s ultimatum. Even though firing came one day after Magic made his demand.

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    1. 67, loved Magic as a player, but was a terrible coach, GM and Lakers don’t need him as a consultant (and no, LeBron didn’t come to LA because of Magic.)
      West as a consultant…yes please!!

      Liked by 1 person

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  19. Lakers need to fire that wimpy General Manager/VP they have, and bring in some youth to that team instead of senior citizens. Anyone notice during the season they always fell apart in the second half because of poor defense. Time to rebuild get some high draft picks for AD, and even Lebron. Look how far Cleveland has rebuilt their team, and Memphis has done the same thing through the draft.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Lakers are no longer “The Lakers”. They blew up their relationship with West back in 2000, and they haven’t been the same since. Nepotism didn’t work so well in the Buss family.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. It seems like all teams, institutions, etc. eventually tend toward nepotism…. and it NEVER works out well….
        #BrennanCarroll….
        #’NuffSaid?

        Liked by 1 person

  20. Texas A&M offensive lineman Derick Hunter has entered the portal, @247SportsPortal has learned. He was a four-star prospect in the 2019 class and has played in 15 career games.

    Liked by 3 people

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  21. Good news Michael that Chick Fil-A is coming to Maui. An In an Out location on the road to Hana would be a smash hit also for the locals, and touristas.

    However, Maui should keep the big fast restaurants to a min. number of locations.

    MAMA’S FISH HOUSE ON THE NORTH SHORE OF MAUI REMAINS NO. 1 IN MY MIND. Longhi’s was my second favorite but it is now gone.

    HOPE USC BASKETBALL APPEARS IN THE NOVEMBER MAUI INVITAITONAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT AT THE LAHAINA CIVIC CENTER IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS. It has been awhile time to receive an invite.

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    1. A big “Yes!” to every sentence, tommyd.
      [Except I too am sad about Longhi’s —I heard from one of the waiters at Mama’s last week that it was the founder’s idiot son who drove it into bankruptcy —seems 67 was right about nepotism]…..

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    2. I’m sorry to sat that the wonderful Longhi’s [all of them on Maui, anway] is/are gone…
      I talked to a guy at Mama’s who told me it’s a result of second generation not knowing how to do things —kinda like what’s happening with the Murdoch family and Fox News….

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  22. Michael: The former Kapalua Bar and Grill on the hill overlooking the golf coarse and ocean was also outstanding for fresh fish, and good looking views including females. I think it is under new ownership called Pineapple Hill something like that.

    Always wanted to see USC Basketball in the Maui Invitational to open the season. When and if it happens I am going to attend for sure.

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. ..I can do a comprehensive guide to the really good food trucks…
        #JustGotBackFromLeota’s,btw…Man,That’sAGreatPlace!

        Like

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