FOOTBALL

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

USC moved into the top 10 rankings for recruiting following the signing of five-star tight end Duce Robinson on Thursday night.

I’ll say it again: USC should be doing better than cracking the top 10 with Lincoln Riley, but Riley has proven a better recruiter in the transfer portal than high school seniors so far.

Robinson’s father is well known to those who saw him play at Diamond Bar High School. Dominic Robinson spurned USC for Florida State and even asked to wear Deion Sanders’ retired No. 2 jersey. He ended up switching to wide receiver.

  • The NFL Network is parting ways with analyst Willie McGinest, according to Front Office Sports.
  • Colorado announced its spring football game has sold out, with attendance at “just over 45,000.” Colorado’s 57 previous spring games in its history averaged 6,103. The previous record attendance for a Colorado spring game was 17,800 in 2008.
  • In the past 30 days, more than 1,000 Division 1 basketball players (including walk-ons) have hit the transfer portal. This is why it is so hard for high school seniors to get scholarships.
  • When the NCAA Tournament started, USC and Florida Atlantic were both 20/1 to win the East Region per BetOnline.
  • When you watch the Final Four and see grandfatherly Miami coach Jim Larannaga, don’t forget he was a college basketball player at Providence College. And for one year he was teammates with the great Ernie DiGregorio. These behind-the-back passes are worth watching.
  • USC has appointed Monique Allard as vice president of student life. My understanding is she was involved in moving the Daily Trojan out of its historic offices in the Student Union that it occupied for the past 90 years.

Do you think she knows who Allan Malamud was?

  • And now for some history:
  • In 1962, No. 2-ranked USC was heading toward a national championship. Before it played UCLA and Notre Dame at the Coliseum, the heavily favored Trojans had a game vs. Navy and QB Roger Staubach.

Navy took a 6-0 lead on an 18-yard TD run by Staubach but USC took a 7-6 lead in the second quarter on a 7-yard pass from Pete Beathard to Hal Bedsole. Willie Brown then broke a 56-yard to make it 13-6 in the third quarter.

Late in the game, Staubach drove Navy down to the 5-yard line. He handed the ball off to his fullback, who fumbled just before the goal line. Or did he? Navy wanted a TD but the officials ruled a fumble and USC preserved its perfect season.

“If you can still win after playing a poor game, then you know you have a good team,” John McKay said afterward.

USC would defeat UCLA and Notre Dame and then Wisconsin for an 11-0 record and national title. But the Navy game almost proved to be a trap game.

Fullback Ben Wilson hits the line of scrimmage in the 1962 USC-Notre Dame game.
  • Dodger Stadium was a big celebrity hangout in the 1960’s. Here’s actor Vincent Price handing out hot dogs at a 1965 game.
  • Remember a couple weeks ago, how “King Kong” was filmed at the Shrine Auditorium when it was supposed to be a Broadway Theater in New York City?

Well, the Alfred Hitchcock 1951 classic, “Strangers on a Train” takes place in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Danbury, Conn.

But . . . the famous Tunnel of Love scene was filmed at an fairground in Canoga Park.

  • And some of the tennis shots, meant to be Forest Hills, were actually shot at South Gate Park in South Gate.
  • These USC fans look pretty happy vs. UCLA at the Sports Arena in 1961.
  • And they definitely look happier than John Wooden. Probably because USC won the game, 86-85.
  • Hey, it was all fun and games in the 1950’s, like these USC student demonstrations in 1953 that led to a car being burned on The Row.
  • In 1958, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity had a four-month old lioness mascot named Alpha.
  • Did you know Bovard Field served as a backdrop for two Hollywood legends? “The Freshman” starring Harold Lloyd (1925) and “College” starring Buster Keaton (1927).
  • USC graduate Pat Nixon returned to campus in 1962 to campaign for her husband, who was running for governor.
  • Jayne Mansfield had USC connections. She appeared in the USC homecoming parade in 1956 (remember I always talk about how big homecoming used to be) and seven years later served as the star attraction at the USC-UCLA Pancake Eating contest held at the International House of Pancakes on the Sunset Strip.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

It’s a long overdue appearance by the Electric Light Orchestra, performing Livin’ Thing.

  • Am I going to post another Milton H. Greene photo of Marilyn Monroe? Yup.

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

    1. I WAS AT THAT NAVY – USC GAME IN 1962

      THE NAVY FULLBACK THAT FUMBLED THE BALL WAS PAT DONNELLY
      IT HAPPENED RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME
      I WAS ON THE SIDELINE AND HAD RUN DOWN NEAR THE END ZOJE TO WATCH

      DONNELLY FUMBLED THE BALL AT OUR TWO INCH LINE AND IT WENT INTO THE END ZONE FOR A TOUCHBACK

      YEP
      I SAW THE FUMBLE OCCUR RIGHT AT THE TWO INCH LINE
      I SAW IT QUITE CLEARLY FELLOW TROJANS

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    2. Totally. 100%!
      Scott always puts together a delicious blend of stuff for Fridays —but this one probably oughta be signed “with love from Scott.” An even better photo of Marilyn than the last one [which I woulda thought was untoppable], a mystical performance by Electric Light [with real depth of field effects], a return to the good old days of fraternity mayhem [man, would Carol give it to the guys that set that car on fire], Hitchcock, King Kong and John Wooden…..
      …..And that sweet shot of Jayne Mansfield……

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      4. Well MG, I would not say the shot of Jayne was exactly “sweet,”
        or do you tone that kind-of-stuff down in case your wife reads your Posts-

        Liked by 1 person

      5. John —remember when JFK thanked Marilyn for her “sweet” rendition of the “Happy Birthday” song?
        #IMeantItInThatSenseOfTheWord
        [btw, I’m honest enough to admit I’m not as evolved as you are when it comes to feminine sensibilities]……

        Liked by 1 person

  2. I still say that just because Deion was a big success at Jackson State doesn’t mean he will be a big success at Colorado. He’s in the big time now. He may be and he may not be. We’ll just have to wait and see. But they are talking about him like he is the next Nick Saban before he has even coach a game at the blue blood level.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. Thee s a difference. LR was already a proven winner in the power 5 realm when he came to USC. Sanders has never won at this level.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I hope this guy turns out to be a game changer because he really plays hard to get. He waits to almost April to commit and the baseball draft is coming up in June so we’re still not sure of his future

      Like

      Reply

  6. OUR HIGH SCHOOL RECRUITING RANK IS 8 AS I WRITE THIS
    AND OUR OVERALL RANK INCLUDING PORTAL IS 7
    AND I AM SURE WE WILL ADD SOME GUYS FROM THE PORTAL BEFORE NEXT SEASON.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. Pervert that I am, I cannot get enough of Jayne Mansfield-Marilyn Monroe, and if I ever have photos of me done I am hiring that Greene fellow or his son

    Nothing quite like a birds-eye view of the past as witnessed by George Tirebiter,
    but a lot of teams lost to Staubach

    That tape of McGinest and his gang whaling away on that guy was unsettling.
    Tell me “it ain’t so” Willie

    Pat Nixon campaigning at SC. Was SC once conservative Republican?

    By the time I pledged SAE the lioness cub Alpha had outgrown the frat
    but a statue of her was erected in her honor on the front lawn

    And if that Allard gal moves the DT she will incur the ‘Wrath of Wolf’ 4 eternity

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Yeah, GT, ‘Celeb’ took the “running quarterback” to a new level
        although Lamar Jackson is mighty fine too

        And if you think you saw the Navy guy fumbling on the 2-inch line, I think I would ask for a review of that call

        Like

    3. Allard is moving the DT staff to make room for one of the 9 new
      “Safe Places” for Equity Groups…..
      #SheLovesHelpingStudents….
      #SheJustLovesIt
      [btw, Willie will get his chance to say “it isn’t so”….at his trial in the Criminal Courts Building…..]

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Is everybody avoiding what happened yesterday with Mark Ridley Thomas. I’m sure he’ll get (his) another day in court. Also, Karen Bass could be indicted at some point as well.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Well Scott, you have said this yourself and has been well reported, the USC NIL program is horrendous and light years from some of the top programs in the NCAA, so of course they would be behind on recruiting. And this is not the “mighty” USC of the past where the mere mentioned of the Trojans would send blue chip players swooning. Clay Helton took care of the destruction of USC and USC’s pompous and spoiled attitude of thinking their way is the only way. Look where that got them. It’s a new world out there and to think its just because Lincoln can’t recruit is incredibly unfair. And even after all of that, they STILL are positioned NUMBER 7 IN HS RECRUITING🤷🏾‍♂️

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Actually the de-mything of SC Football superiority established in the 1960s and 1970s was unraveled by Neuter Dame’s 12-game and sucla’s 8-game streaks that did not end until 1999. 2002-2008 Carroll
      re-established the Myth, but left a harsh trail behind that took SC nearly a generation to overcome with the arrival in 2022 of ‘Wiley’

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. The NCAA Appeals Division left the “harsh trail”, in my humble opinion…
        #PeteWasn’tRequiredToBe”In”OnReggie’sParents’HomePurchasae….

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I would point higher up the chain of command to the inept athletic directors who destroyed the USC cache.

      While I think that the recruiting results have been underwhelming, the lack of a credible NIL and destruction of recent evidence that USC is a dominant program are what tied Riley’s hands. I think that he is also very intensely interested in finding players that will fit with the team culture he is trying to create, so he will pass on highly ranked athletes that dont fit the culture.

      Let’s see how he does this year, now that they had a great season last year.

      In past years, Duce would have gone elsewhere. His commitment says we are moving in the right direction. Georgia had a perfect pitch to him, so USC’s win was quite impressive.

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

  9. George Bernard Shaw’s quote, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach,” comes to mind with regard to the juvenile comment that USC should be doing better than cracking the top 10 with Lincoln Riley.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    2. “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach; and those who can’t teach, teach gym.”

      Woody Allen’s addition to George Bernard Shaw

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  10. “The NFL Network is parting ways with analyst Willie McGinest, according to Front Office Sports.”

    This Dbag added nothing to the network anyways.

    #lock_him_up

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  11. Alan Malamud was a great sportswriter. His columns were clever, insightful and never tainted by his own petty gripes and insecurities, unlike a certain present day sportswriter.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Well, that is merely Wolf’s schtick, but Malamud and the other Herald Express sportswriters had me panting for the evening paper
      — not to mention Jim Murray at that Other paper

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply

      3. Malamud would understand and appreciate Scott’s penchant for getting the fans lathered up……
        #CheckTheOtherSitesToSeeHowBoringThingsGet….
        #…WhenEveryWordUtteredByTheCoachesIsEndorsed100%

        Like

  12. Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines asked University of Pittsburgh professor Gabby Yearwood if an archeologist could differentiate between two sets of bones as male and female. Professor Yearwood, who calls himself the “expert in the room,” answered “No”…to which the entire audience laughed.

    I guess the cluelessness just goes with the name.

    Like

    Reply

      1. This must be the first time you’ve ever visited this blog. We’ve discussed what a complete joke it is to allow men to compete against women before, especially as it relates to collegiate athletics. This ridiculous comment by the professor was made just yesterday at the Independent Women’s Forum.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. My bad. It is very pertinent after all and look at all of the conversation it has spurred…

        Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.