FOOTBALL

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

Would you believe the Cotton Bowl says all tickets have been sold? However, there are a lot of tickets available on the secondary market.

  • Caleb Williams was the winner of the Walter Camp Player of the Year award on Thursday night. The award is one of the oldest and best because it also includes the Camp All-American banquet held March 11 in New Haven, Conn.
  • Former USC QB Max Browne and current USC QB Miller Moss will take photos and sign autographs from 12-1 p.m. on Saturday at the Ralphs market at 2600 S. Vermont Ave. in Los Angeles.
  • And now for some history:

This is the USC band in 1937-38. As you can see, it featured two drum majorettes (front row). I wonder if that means the first female drum major didn’t actually happen in 2019?

One of the majorettes was Marjorie Woodworth. While she was at USC, she was “discovered” by a talent scout at an amateur theater production. This led to a contract with Hal Roach Studios and lead roles in the movies, “Broadway Limited” (1941) and “Niagara Falls” (1941).

She also had a supporting part in the film noir classic “Decoy” (1946).

Despite the early promise, stardom never came for Woodworth despite ad campaigns and promotions.

She married her college sweetheart from USC and retired as an actress in 1947. Her father, Clyde Woodworth, attended USC Law School and was city attorney of Inglewood and Manhattan Beach. This elementary school in Inglewood is named after him. There is also a street in Inglewood named Woodworth Ave.

Sometimes, there are USC connections right in front of us and we don’t even realize it.

If USC really wants to get to the College Football Playoff, it needs linemen like Anthony Munoz (shown in the 1980 Rose Bowl vs. Ohio State).

And safeties like Ronnie Lott (42), Dennis Smith (49). Or corners like Larry Braziel (47). All shown in the 1979 Rose Bowl.

  • Here’s a nice, clear USC-UCLA photo from the 1950’s.
  • This is a 1960 copy of the Daily Bruin the day before the USC/UCLA game, asking USC to take it easy on Bruin quarterback Billy Kilmer the next day. Kilmer ended up completing 4 of 18 passes.
  • Last week I called the 1960 USC football team the happiest in school history juding from all the pictures of smiling players. Here’s another example as smiling co-captains Mike McKeever and George Van Vliet stand with John McKay and athletic director Jess Hill before boarding a Western Airlines jet for Columbus, Ohio, to play Ohio State.
  • Student body elections used to be a huge deal at USC as these banners on the Student Union building in 1961 illustrate. You can see a banner for future Los Angeles district attorney Gil Garcetti. He was elected USC student president.

About two months after he won the Heisman Trophy, Charles White won the 1980 version of “Superstars” in the Bahamas. White narrowly edged New England Patriots tight end Russ Francis (right) by 1.75 points. Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Phil Garner (left) was third. That’s Dick Button with the microphone.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

  • Why do even simple businesses from the past have such nicer looking buildings than today? This is the Specification Motoroil System service station at Washington Blvd. and 8th Avenue in Los Angeles.

The station offered 56 individual spigots of oil, each labeled with a different make or variation of car. Specification believed auto manufacturers should set the oil specifications required to get the best performance out of their particular engines.

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

  1. Majorettes (baton twirlers) are not quite the same as our current drum majors. But love the photo!!

    Our current twirler, Emily Tutnick, is trying to raise funds to compete in Liverpool in August. For anyone wanting to kick in a few bucks, you can find it on GoFundMe.

    Say what you want about how bad the Raiders are, that was a great comeback by Baker last night. A guy who’d been with the team for about 48 hours?!

    Liked by 2 people

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    2. Regarding the band picture. I spy our blog dunce slo cal. He’s the midget, top-row first guy on the right. The guy was so small they made a mini tuba, especially for him…..

      Slo troll…..where is that recession???? Gas today is cheaper than it was a year ago…..

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      1. But at least he was right, the drum major of the band was a guy in the middle with a military baton. The word baton translates (roughly) to “stick.” Which means Baton Rouge is red stick. Which begs the question where did LSU hide their stick?

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      2. Inner Gabby: I am so jealous of So Cal–he has all of the good lines, the best of the arguments. Damn! I just hope no one sees my grade school pictures in which the teacher glued a permanent dunce cap on my head .Okay, so I struggled with things like math, reading, writing, history, geography and a few others. But I was damn good at, the, ya know, the thing, come on! You guys all know the thing.

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      1. Says the troll who promised to stop making childish comments….. hypocrite!

        The shar pei said it’s been a slow recovery for you, from the blue wave crushing you like a fly….

        I laugh at PT!

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      2. You get what you give, Dumbass. Quit trying to play the victim, as usual. You are the one who keeps it going, ad nauseam.

        More than one person expressed an appreciation for my efforts. Once again, I’ll do my best. But if you’re going to continue to act like a child, don’t be shocked if I respond in kind.

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      3. Slo cal: More than one person expressed an appreciation for my efforts

        You mean “EAT SLEEP SHIT BIDEN…24/7…(ad nauseam.)

        you take the bait every time!

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    4. That band picture looks weird from many angles. Who has glockenspiel players? And who is the huge guy in the tuba section – he looks like a statue. A couple of guys look like gangsters. My guess is the band sold those coats to century 21. The drummers appear to be holding only drumsticks. I cannot find trombone players.

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. We were all thinking the same thing…. but too polite to say it…
      #ThankYouForYourHonesty
      …And, Scott, a big thank you for continuing to remind us what a beautiful place Los Angeles once was….
      #KarenBass:JustTheTicketForAReturnToGreatness…
      #WellDone,LosAngelesVoters…

      Liked by 2 people

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      2. I don’t disagree with that assessment. Max is smart & knows football. I just wouldn’t want his autograph …unless he put in parenthesis, “Max Browne, College Football Analyst”.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. btw, Brock doesn’t have to include any parenthetical remarks —he was a FOOTBALL player…AND…. he’s plenty savvy.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. I don’t see any point to go out of one’s way to get his autograph…..now if he wanted to spend time talking about why Caleb is the best in the business, I’m making time for that.

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Inner Gabby: Da ya think the guys bought my Max write up! I mean, it took over three hours to write this comment up!

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    2. Max Browne was a great quarterback… In high school. He couldn’t beat Kessler as a freshman, and barely edged Darnold as a Junior. He was a deer-in-the-headlights quarterback behind a run-for-your-life line. Alabama shell shocked him. He transferred to Pitt, where he proved that a lousy line wasn’t his only problem.
      He does have a good presence on game day TV, having spent years in the sidelines watching other players play.

      Liked by 3 people

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      1. I’ve still got my SCPlaybook Magazine (April 2013) with the headline, “The Next Great Trojan, The Nation’s #1 Quarterback, Max Browne!” …I keep it as a reminder of how little the “experts” know. Anybody watching the immobile [but loveable and vivacious] Max throw air balls in high school could sense “trouble ahead.”

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  3. Deion Sanders at Colorado is going to turn that program around fast. He is going to be a monster on the recruiting trail. This is not good for USC.

    What is wrong with USC’s recruiting efforts?

    As an OC and WB coach, Riley has been excellent, but I’m not so sure about him as a head coach. Grinch and the defense are a real problem, a good HC would not let this drag down the whole team. This isnt a one year problem for Grinch, he had crappy defenses at OK as well. That excellent DC from Wisconsin is going somewhere and it wont be USC. Donte Williams is underperforming as a coach. They dont have a special teams coach and it shows.

    I’m not disappointed with the record this year. But I just dont see things getting better next year when we lose players like Vorhees, Tuli, Blackmon, Addison, Dye, Jones, etc and we dont seem to be getting quality talent to replace them. If you eliminate the players Riley is bringing over from OK, the recruiting of high school players is pathetic.

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      1. Deion was interviewed by 60 minutes about 2 or 3 months ago, and he described how important it was for him to coach at a HBCU, and that he was so committed to that as a career. Once D1 came calling, however,…

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      1. Inner Gabby: Notice the subtle use of “dude”. I looked up the word and it considered so very cool. I hope the guys noticed! The guys are great and all that, but I sometimes feel I don’t get the full credit I deserve. Possibly the girlie name I use? I know they call me Miss Gabby behind my back, but boys will boys.

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    4. In case you are not aware, 11 of the last 12 offers in the portal has been to players on the defensive side. If you look at the commits coming in there are 3 for defense there also. Perhaps you don’t see anything getting better is because they are right in the middle of the process. It is going to get better on defense, it has to, can’t get much worse.

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      1. thats cuz womin r bad dryvurs and nead to keap qwyit cuz thay all waze naging me and spenting munneys on stuoopid stough like tam ponz that i aint evr use,smdh

        Liked by 2 people

  5. It would probably cost about $25 million to construct a similar building to the oil depot in Scottie’s photo today in LA, including the value of the land and the soft costs (permit delays, attorneys, environmental reviews, payoffs to community organizers). Any developers/real estate people here to confirm? CA has gone off the rails when it comes to building.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Permits? The Board of Zoning? The Board of Zoning Appeals? Think of Bullseyes —- ones in which there is only one way to hit the target — to wit, PAY someone on staff a VERY big pile of money to take your arrow and put it in the target for you…
      #..EverybodyElseGetsToStandInLineForever

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Obviously I need to slow more, to give you time to catch up. See: “The Weirdest People in the World?” by cultural psychologists Joe Henrich, Steve Heine, and Zara Norenzayan. See you at the border.

        Liked by 2 people

  10. It’s getting close and I didn’t have the heart to give Owns a lump of coal for his stocking so I’m gonna give him an autographed Max Browne 8 X10. Andy Williams was right, “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year” Merry Christmas, and keep tha change, ya filthy animal.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. I don’t even bother saying “keep the change!” I just put my $20 for a $19.99 Phil Steele Football Preview and walk the hell away from the cash register!

      Liked by 1 person

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  11. Just read on “another” USC site that USC doesn’t have to worry about Colorado’s improved Pac 12 recruiting cuz we’re leaving the Pac 12…… um, yeah, but last I heard we’re leaving our University and the Coliseum in Los Angeles……
    #ColoradoIsGonnaBeAProblem….
    #UntilSandersProvesHeCan’tCoach

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. There used to be a magazine “New Times,”’49, in the late ’60’s thru the ’70’s that ran a hilarious feature about a used car salesman. This salesman related how he sold a car to some stiff and then helped the stiff push the car off the lot.

        Liked by 2 people

  13. The Trojans threw their hats in the ring for the nation’s No. 1 JUCO offensive lineman, Coffeyville Community College prospect Keyshawn Blackstock on Friday.

    Liked by 2 people

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