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

It’s graduation day at USC today or if you want to sound fancy, commencement. The main speaker is Kevin Fiege, producer and president of Marvel Studios.

Among the expected graduates is Sasha Obama, so there might be a lot of paparazzi at today’s festivities.

With graduation in mind, I want to spotlight the 1940 USC graduation, which took place at the Coliseum.

Mary Lyman, 22, won the women’s badminton championship at USC, was recruited by 13 sororities at USC and turned them all down. That took some courage given the social scene in 1940 at USC. In the above photo, she discovered she graduated cum laude by looking at the graduation program.

Instead of spending time at a sorority, she studied aviation in the U.S. Civilian Pilot Training program and received a private pilot’s license.

  • And now for some (more) history:
  • A reader passed along this photo from the 1964 USC-Notre Dame game, which the Trojans won, 20-17 after trailing 17-0. USC tailback Mike Garrett is being chased by Notre Dame/Minnesota Viking great Alan Page, who became a justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.

This also looks like a rare color photo of USC right guard Bill Fisk Jr. (left), who was an All-American in 1964. His father, Bill, was a former USC player and assistant coach. You might remember Bill Fisk Jr. as the football coach at Mt. SAC.

  • Did you know Marv Goux, Mr. USC, was demoted during the 1952 season to third-string offensive guard because he had trouble adapting to the offense? It was his first varsity season and Goux (above right) was also a first-string linebacker. His demotion did not deter him (of course) because Goux eventually became a starter again and was named USC’s most inspirtational player in 1954 and 1955.

This is the better known Goux, patrolling the sideline at the Coliseum.

Top row: Michigan wide receiver Anthony Carter, Pitt offensive tackle Jimbo Covert, Tennessee wide receiver Willie Gault, Nebraska center Dave Rimington, Ohio State guard Joe Lukens, Pitt quarterback Dan Marino. Second row: North Carolina running back Kelvin Bryant, USC offensive tackle Don Mosebar, USC offensive guard Bruce Matthews, Oklahoma running back Stanley Wilson. Bottom row: Georgia tailback Herschel Walker, Washington coach Don James, Washington kicker Chuck Nelson.
  • This is an aspirational picture for Lincoln Riley. Two USC offensive linemen (Don Mosebar and Bruce Matthews) on the 1982 Playboy All-American team. Will that ever happen again with a legitimate All-American team?

USC AND DOGS

  • Here’s a picture of George Tirebiter III with the Victory Bell in 1953. I’m all for bringing back the tradition of Tirebiter.
  • Christa McCluggage and her dog, Joker, graduated together in 1975 and reportedly attended every class together. Joker received his “dog-torate.”
USC Photo/Gus Ruelas
  • Professor Beauregard Tirebiter is a wellness dog at the University Health Center.
  • Here’s USC forward Jim Sterkel handing the ball off to guard Danny Rogers circa 1956. I’m running the photo because many people have probably never seen Sterkel playing basketball and the basketball court at the Galen Center is named after him thanks to a donation of at least $5 million by his friend, Wayne Hughes.

Sterkel averaged 7 points a game in the mid-1950’s and for awhile Bob Boyd, who played in the early 1950’s, used to always tell me, “Do you think Kansas or Kentucky would name a court after someone who averaged 7 points a game?”

  • Jerry Giesler, the man standing next to Marilyn Monroe, was driving a lumber truck in Los Angeles during the day and attending night law classes at USC in 1907.

He eventually became perhaps the most famous defense lawyer in Hollywood and was known as the lawyer to the stars. His clients included Errol Flynn, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Robert Mitchum; Monroe, Mamie Van Doren, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Cheryl Crane (the 14-year-old daughter of actress Lana Turner accused of stabbling her mother’s abusive lover, gangster Johnny Stompanato) and Bugsy Siegel. He represented Monroe in her divorce from Joe DiMaggio.

In Hollywood, the phrase “Get me Giesler” became popular because of his knack for winning seemingly unwinnable cases.

Jerry Giesler and Mamie Van Doren
Paul Mazursky with Sidney Poitier in the 1955 film “Blackboard Jungle”
  • You never know who might be a Trojan. Paul Mazursky was a writer on the Danny Kaye Show in 1967 when he took classes at USC in film cutting and film editing because he wanted to be a director.

“I was going to direct films or get out of show business,” Mazursky said.

By 1969, he directed his breakout film, “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.” Among his other films were “An Unmarried Woman” (1978); “Moscow on the Hudson” (1984) and “Down and Out in Beverly Hills” (1986).

John Wayne, John Ford, Henry Fonda and Ward Bond playing cards
  • John Wayne started out working as a prop man for director John Ford in 1927. Once Wayne became an actor, they made 12 films together and became close friends.

“Well, I’ve naturally studied John Ford professionally as well as loving the man. Ever since the first time I walked down his set as a goose-herder in 1927. They needed somebody from the prop department to keep the geese from getting under a fake hill they had for (the silent film) “Mother Machree” at Fox. I’d been hired because (Western star) Tom Mix wanted a box seat for the USC football games, and so they promised jobs to Don Williams and myself and a couple of the players. They buried us over in the properties department, and Mr. Ford’s need for a goose-herder just seemed to fit my pistol.” 

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

It’s Joni Mitchell performing “California.” This video gets bonus points just to listen to Johnny Cash introduce her.

CONCERT OF THE WEEK

Don’t forget Joni Mitchell performed at USC on Oct. 4, 1968. Admission was $3, $2 and $1.50.

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

      3. ..and the fact Garrett was –by far—the best Athletic Director USC has had for at least the last 25 years….
        [Even though we deserve a photo of Marilyn w/o Jerry Giesler, no one can criticize Giesler’s trial work in the Errol Flynn case…of course, he got an academy award performance from Flynn on the stand too]….
        Now it’s time to make my buddy Owns upset. John Wayne’s first major movie was called The Big Trail —in it, Wayne leads a massive parade of stagecoaches west —through deserts, Indian attacks, snow storms and raging rivers. When the settlers begin complaining, he gives a speech about how the first wave of settlers had to brave thousands of miles of ocean and it’s the duty of the folks on the wagon train not to quit & to finish the job of settling the country. It’s quite a speech. It’ll be fun for my friends on the Left to attack.
        [By the way when Wayne finds out one of the people on the trail killed his friend, he picks up a rifle and heads after him. The chaplain asks where he’s going and he says ‘to kill the man who murdered my partner.’ The chaplain says ‘we have to have a meeting to decide whether we should charge him with the murder.” Wayne replies ‘you can have a meeting to decide where to bury him.”
        Frontier Justice. [Time for an angry rebuttal to the concept of Manifest Destiny]……

        Liked by 1 person

    2. hi John, kan u teech mee how 2 spellll ? Cuz da people say eye sound lik a FUCC-TARD!! MissusEdG say she play peenus swords wit u if u fixx da spellcheck on my sell fone.. ok?

      Like

      Reply

      4. Impostor/Tebowobama – You are not LJ/SoCal/Ed/Pudly, but you are gay.

        Like

      1. ..of course, someone will say that, George….
        #WeLoveToBiteTheHandThatFeedsUsAroundHere
        P. S.
        It’s always great to see the name GEORGE TIREBITER gracing this site…

        Liked by 1 person

    4. ..and the fact Garrett was –by far—the best Athletic Director USC has had for at least the last 25 years….
      [Even though we deserve a photo of Marilyn w/o Jerry Giesler, no one can criticize Giesler’s trial work in the Errol Flynn case…of course, he got an academy award performance from Flynn on the stand too]….
      Now it’s time to make my buddy Owns upset. John Wayne’s first major movie was called The Big Trail —in it, Wayne leads a massive parade of stagecoaches west —through deserts, Indian attacks, snow storms and raging rivers. When the settlers begin complaining, he gives a speech about how the first wave of settlers had to brave thousands of miles of ocean and it’s the duty of the folks on the wagon train not to quit & to finish the job of settling the country. It’s quite a speech. It’ll be fun for my friends on the Left to attack.
      [By the way when Wayne finds out one of the people on the trail killed his friend, he picks up a rifle and heads after him. The chaplain asks where he’s going and he says ‘to kill the man who murdered my partner.’ The chaplain says ‘we have to have a meeting to decide whether we should charge him with the murder.” Wayne replies ‘you can have a meeting to decide where to bury him.”
      Frontier Justice. [Time for an angry rebuttal to the concept of Manifest Destiny]……

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. GOOD MORNING MICHAEL ITS TIME FOR THE DOG TO GO TO BED
        THANX FOR THE KIND WORDS

        BY THE WAY THE PRICE OF PASTA IN ITALY IS UP FIFTEEN PERCENT YEAR OVER YEAR
        I DUNNO ABOUT SICILY THO 😂

        Liked by 2 people

      3. “Get Guarino”

        The guy drives a lumbar truck in the day, studies at night and becomes the “go to” trial lawyer for a generation. Does not surprise me. The best trial lawyers are generally hard working, street smart guys from humble beginnings. They connect with people who sit as jurors. I would be very skeptical of any trial lawyer who was the beneficiary of a trust fund, or went to prep school, or even graduated from an ivy league school. But they might do fine in Probate court.

        Liked by 3 people

      4. 100%.
        Herb Lapin —greatest District Attorney I ever met —told me, “In a trial fight between a Swamp Fox and an Ivy Leaguer, Swamp Fox wins every time.”

        Like

  2. Marilyn and Mamie in the same column conjures up the song, “Create a disturbance in my mind”

    Mary Lyman is the spittin’ image of my wife; I’ll take her over the above 2 blondes
    (or not hear the last of it)

    How many Tirebiters were there; around here there is only One

    That 1982 Playboy All-American team might be the greatest of all time

    Just read “Lilies of the Field,” which was made into a movie with Poitier and who my female in-laws fell in love with

    $1.50 in 1968 to get into a concert was when a buck was a buck and a millionaire was a millionaire, not like today when a million will buy you a lot in West Los Angeles but the house is extra

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

      3. Gabby,

        SC could get rid of the woke administration and save around $60 million. All SC has to do is put up signs saying, shut ur mouth and keep your hands to yourself. Problem solved

        Liked by 2 people

      1. My only complaint with her, Michael, is when I read to her she laughs more heartily at your jokes than mine

        Liked by 1 person

      3. My only complaint with her, Michael, is when I read to her she laughs more heartily at your jokes than mine, and even rubs with her clit when she looks at your picture 😂😂

        Like

      4. Impostor/Tebowobama is a latent homosexual. Never had physical contact with a female because he prefers the company of other gay men.

        Like

    3. So your wife is the spittin image of Mary Lyman. We may need to start calling you “Lucky John.” Wonder what happened to Mary. She could fly a plane in 1940 just before WWII. Any chance the US allowed her to fly during the war? My guess in No. It was 1940.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Her tits are much bigger then Mary Lyman’s , and you should see those puppies bounce when I ask her to do two sets of ten jumping jacks .. Wow! 😀

        Like

  3. Another picture where Marilyn looks so ” happy ”

    Here’s three more actors who you might not think were Trojans

    Martin Milner aka Pete Malloy of Adam -12 studied at USC for a year before he dropped out to concentrate on acting

    Kent McCord aka Jim Reed f Adam 12 Went to USC in 1961, do not know if he graduated. Here’s a story on McCord
    While in college a friend invited him to play in a game of touch football. The captain of his team was Ricky Nelson. The captain of the opposing team was Elvis Presley

    Julie Gregg aka Sandra Corleone ( Sonny’s wife ) she also had parts in just about any top rated TV show in the 60’s and early to mid 70’s.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. Looks like it’s time for a False Ed joke: 69-69 tie.
        [Actually everyone of the guys mentioned was a good athlete –Elvis was into martial arts, Rick and Kent did all their own stunts in lots of tv shows…and check out Rick helping the Duke out in the big gunfight in Rio Bravo]….
        #btw,Sonny’sWifeOverDidItInHerBig”PenisSize”Scene…
        #…[DirectedByFalseEd.G]…

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Well, the way I heard it, Elvis’ handlers were “All Shook Up,” and forbade Elvis from showing up, which was the inspiration for Ricky’s new song of “Stood Up”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      3. Beautiful thoughts, guys.
        #SoNiceToSeeCivility&ThoughtfulnessOnTheBoard, although I’d love for someone to teach that FUCC-TARD, Ed.G how to spell 🙄🙄

        Like

      4. So Cal—
        Appreciate the humor [and the implicit commentary behind it]…
        #GoodShow

        Like

      5. Impostor/Tebowobama is so angry and makes stupid comments because he represses his homosexuality.

        Like

  6. Happy Mudder’s Day to all,

    We bag on each other each and every day and I enjoy it and expect it. However, just remember your mom, friend’s mom’s, (and other people with double y chromosone (for you woke people) thank them by thinking of them, calling them or seeing them, even just for a brief moment. Remember the times that dirt and spit would not heal your hurt. She had to play dr or at least nurse. Remember the kitchen being open at 12 am and her making you a sandwhich. Remember the kind words that she said to you and even though you tried to play a tough guy and not hear her, it affected you. Jimmy Dean has a great song about mother’s. All I can do is say, thank you mom. Thank you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. You’re a Class Act, P. T…. [I share those sentiments, btw]….
      #I’mSureSomewhereInParadiseOurMomsHearUs…

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      Reply

    2. Stop it, PT, you are rustling up my own mom memories of how she dutifully attended all my little league games even when I wasn’t pitching, once told me “Johnny, you are supposed to walk on the outside of the street when walking with a girl,” or how she fed my friends when they came over, how she was my best friend until I left for good for SC, and was burned to death at 53 in a tragic home fire

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. hi John sparrowcaramelcalypso30266, kan u teech meee how 2 spell, eye neeed ur help. MissusEdG say she’s let u play wit her peenus if u fixx da spellcheck on myyy sell fone. Put mee in national spelling bee, and I win for you.. ok?

        Like

  7. Well I’m still logged in so I might as well comment. The reason you don’t see USC grunts on the Playboy All American team anymore is simple. USC’s offense is geared to the passing game and blocking is a secondary thought. We’ve had some of the best linemen in the country over the years, but recruiting hasn’t made the line a priority. I think Lincoln is working on that.
    And I’ll bet you thought that I was going to say Playboy hasn’t published a preseason All American team since 2015. But Scott might not know that. Judging from the slow spread of ladies posted on Fridays he hasn’t gotten out of the 60’s in his personal collection of the magazine.

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  8. It’s shame Wolf doesn’t just stick to USC history. When he discusses things more than 25 years old he’s able to do it without the petty hatred he has for modern day USC.

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    1. “Petty hatred” might not be the best descriptive phrase, Globe…
      #Maybe”FilledWithContemptForWokeBullshit”WorksBetter…

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      1. Lots of ‘baseball bat against head’ sound effects in The Untouchables. [I still don’t get why De Niro, as Al Capone, went ape shit with the baseball bat on the poor guy at the banquet table. So he got raided?! It wasn’t his fault]!
        #…MaybeTheyDeletedTheFoundationalScene…

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Just watched it again about a week ago. Not much splatter on those swings either, but still enough to ruin a perfectly good white table cloth. #ExampleSetThroughForce

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Yeah –kinda like Ernst Blofeld electrocuting #2 in front of all the other Specter members at the conference table…..
        ##ZeroDefectProgram

        Like

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