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

It’s too bad the USC-Arizona State game isn’t going to be more competitive because there could be a good atmosphere Saturday night.

Maybe because it’s Family Weekend at Arizona State, a crowd of around 54,000 is expected at Sun Devil Stadium, and it could be a sellout. But expectations are non-existent for the game.

  • USC 7-foot sophomore Vincent Iwuchukwu had offseason back surgery, according to Jeff Goodman. Iwuchukwu hopes to be back for the start of the season. He missed half of last season with a heart issue.
  • USC has suspended two reporters in the past 10 years. It’s hard to believe now that in 1971, sports writer Bud Tucker lived at John McKay’s house in Covina because Tucker’s family was in San Diego. Tucker had been the first public-relations director of the San Diego Padres but after he was fired returned to sports writing. Talk about a different world.
  • And now for some history:
  • Marcus Allen rushed 39 times for 208 yards against Oklahoma in 1981. That’s a season for some USC tailbacks now.
  • USC cornerback-wide receiver Skip Thomas (26) lettered in 1971 after transferring from Arizona Western and then made his mark in the NFL with one of the best nicknames ever: Dr. Death.

A member of the Raiders’ famed Soul Patrol defensive backfield with Willie Brown, Jack Tatum and George Atkinson, Dr. Death played in 82 games with 56 starts and intercepted 17 passes for 222 yards and 1 TD. He was a member of the Raiders’ Super Bowl XI Championship team.

  • USC All-American tailback Clarence Davis gains yards against Nebraska in a 21-21 tie with the Cornhuskers at the Coliseum in 1970. Nebraska defensive tackle Larry Jacobson (75) won the 1971 Outland Trophy. Linebacker Jerry Murtaugh (42) had 25 tackles in the game.
  • Johnny Carson hosted the first noon rally of the football season at Bovard Auditorium the day before USC hosted Pitt at the Coliseum on Sept. 25, 1954. At the time, no one knew Carson would go on to become America’s best-known late-night talk show host with his 30-year reign on The Tonight Show (1962-92).

Carson was a writer-performer for CBS when he hosted the rally.

  • Look how popular Rockazor was as the first USC horse mascot. Here he is on the steps of City Hall with L.A. Mayor Norris Poulson and USC student vice presdent Joan Price in 1954. USC alum Bob Caswell is riding Rockazor.

Poulson is passing a scroll to Caswell that officially proclaimed the start of USC homecoming week. It was a big deal in those days.

USC professor Frank Baxter and actor Eddie Albert.
  • Frank Baxter, who was probably the most famous professor in USC history, was so big that when he was introduced to medical students in 1956, the host called Baxter, “the man, who through TV, has done more than football to spread the fame of SC.”

During his talk, Baxter said he feared that eventually, “a good speller will be stuffed and put in the Smithsonian Institution.”

Remember, Baxter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, hosted several network TV shows and his biographer estimated his “Dr. Research” educational films were seen by 200 million students.

I’m sure there are egomaniac professors at USC today who think they are big time and have no idea what Baxter accomplished. I bet Baxter let people call him “Frank.”

Baxter knew the importance of football. He did commentary on the 1964 season highlights album and in the 1950’s was part of a weekly panel that picked football games for the Daily Trojan. Marlo Thomas also did it for a year.

She was known as Marg Thomas in those days.

  • Tailback Addison Hawthorne (23), shown in 1952, was the first African-American football player at USC since All-American Brice Taylor in 1925.

BEAUTY QUEENS, BANQUETS AND LUNCHEONS

  • When the recently retired USC track coach Dean Cromwell celebrated his 75th birthday in 1954, the Football Writers of Los Angeles had a birthday cake for Cromwell at their luncheon. The only problem was they forgot to invite Cromwell. Oops.
  • Kathleen Leavey, a 19-year-old sophomore, was named USC homecoming queen or “Helen of Troy” in 1954.

Kathleen Leavey McCarthy then became a USC trustee in 1986 and remains a life trustee today. Her family foundation provided the lead naming gifts for Leavey Library and McCarthy Quad on the USC campus. The Kathleen L. McCarthy Honors College at the USC Village is named after her and the foundation donated $30 million to the university in 2014.

REMEMBERING THE TOWN HOUSE

The USC football team used to spend the night before home games at the Town House hotel in the Wilshire District when it was one of the best luxury hotels in the country. So it’s a little surprising the Trojans stayed there during a more Spartan era of spending compared to today.

Elizabeth Taylor celebrated her wedding to hotel heir Nicky Hilton in 1950 at the Town House. Hilton’s father, Conrad Hilton, owned the hotel at the time.

It later became the Sheraton Town House and then the Sheraton West. It was built in 1929 by oil magnate Edward Doheny, who also has USC ties.

There was a swanky bar called The Zebra Room, that had a wall which showed the entire depth of the swimming pool. The actress/figure skater Belita, who is well-known to film-noir fans, did a famous photo shoot for Life magazine from the Town House swimming pool.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

  • I’m sure there is a USC connection with France Nuyen and until I discover it, I’ll just keep running pictures of her.

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

    1. hal9000 — I love you & agree with 99% of everything you’ve ever written ….but….
      ….L. A. Mayor Poulson [succeeded by Sam Yorty and Tom Bradley—the three greatest Mayors Los Angeles ever had]& beautiful Liz Taylor & France Nuyen & tailback Addison Hawthorne & Frank Baxter [who not only narrated the Mole People but made it onto Mystery Science Fiction Theater 2000 where he was critiqued by a spaceman, a robot and a duck] & Johnny Carson are not boring.
      And it would be interesting to check out how Marlo Thomas did on those picks in the Daily Trojan —she’s not exactly in sync with everybody else.
      [But, yeah, time for a football game. Do you realize what the traffic here is gonna be like after this week? Starting with Colorado every single game left on the schedule is gonna be a ton of fun].

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Yeah, brother – admittedly I out- kicked my coverage on those topics.Who couldn’t gaze at a young Liz Taylor (along with Marilyn)! The 1981 game was on my birthday – will always remember it. I met Marcus Allen at a Laker game that year against Seattle at The Forum. Your valuable perspective makes for a more broad (not the chicks) view of all things. (Must be that fresh island air.) Keep it coming. I am but a humble cog in the great SC blog machine – but the bruins still suck.If they upset Utah, we’ll never hear the end of it. I hope they see Rising.

        Liked by 7 people

      2. That’s deep, my brother.A standard we can all aspire to.In my view, yours are the takes that contain substance at a consistent measure. #LoveFest

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Hey mg what do you think about that ucla vs Utah game? I think its going to be a tough rumble in the jungle after that ass kicking ucla laid on Utah last year they are going to be out for blood on this one

        Liked by 2 people

      4. MG: “it would be interesting to check out how Marlo Thomas did on those picks in the Daily Trojan”

        Marlo did great. The record count is at the top of the column. She was 101-43, tied with hall of famer Mel Hein.

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Poulson? Greatest mayor? Yorty knocked him out because we were required to separate trash from glass/metal (cans/bottles) and place them in separate containers for weekly pickup. Before you all go soft on this 1963 precursor of ‘being green understand the LA Times magnate Norman Chandler’s brother had a recycling yard over in Vernon which is where all the glass and metal was sent. Yorty uncovered the ‘deal’ and beat Poulson thus earning the eternal enmity of the LA Times.

        Poulson was also responsible for giving all of Chavez Ravine, including mineral rights, to Walter O’Malley for a sweet $250,000. O’Malley wasn’t out a penny. In 1961 when Gene Autry got the LA American League franchise and wanted to call them (what else) Los Angeles he had to pay O’Malley a sweet (guess the amount) $250,000. That’s why sports fans when Bud Selig, the LAT, NYT, the Los Angeles Dodgers and of course, the sainted vin-dawg went apoplectic upon the change in name by Moreno in 2005….all claimed it was illegal – none of them had the sense to see if Moreno had legal standing to do so. He bought the Angels in 2004 and with it all its’ assets.

        Poulson was a RINO

        Liked by 2 people

      6. Hi guys — Glad we’re giving up a little love for Marlo, Liz and Scott this morning. As for Alv’s comments — he’s 100% right. I only have a soft spot for Mayor Poulson cuz he was nice to me as a kid [and he made my Dad Executive Director of Urban Renewal — downtown Los Angeles was rebuilt during my Dad’s tenure & I feel about my Dad the same way Roth felt about Bugsy in the Godfather , “He built Las Vegas and he doesn’t have a street or a building or a bench named after him”]. I mention Bradley cuz I feel guilty –I prosecuted his girlfriend, Juanita Saint-John. I think all the pressure we placed on him in that prosecution helped lead to his stroke.

        Liked by 2 people

      7. It’s true that ‘Mole People’ was on MST3K and Dr. Frank Baxter was there critiqued. But between Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, which one was the robot and which was the duck?

        Liked by 3 people

      8. Thanks, Hal. I was merely repeating what “you” told Mission Control. It seemed a fitting response, when you seemed to discount the value you add (as a humble cog).

        I know you, Parcel and several others tend to agree with my posts, but refrain from expressing it, so you won’t have to deal with the blog child. I don’t blame you guys one bit. (She even had to make this rather inspiring Hal9000 quote vulgar down below. It’s rather sad, the world in which she lives.)

        Cheers!!

        Liked by 2 people

      9. Now you’re sucking Hal’s cock. go get the single-wide repairs…..neighbors call it an eye-sore. Why do you keep avoiding a meet-up with Gabby….you called him a ‘WUSS”
        MAN UP OR BE LABELED THE REAL WUSS

        Like

      10. 3:00 a.m…..still trolling the blog. What the fuck is going on between the ears?

        #EROSION!

        Like

      11. This is fun. But New Rule: When a certain someone types the words “Scott Wolf” or So Cal for the 40th time in the space of a single day — she should slow down… catch her breath….and look up a new & different pejorative …
        #..WhichShouldBeTough….She’sBadWithWords…
        #..[AndIt’sAlwaysNiceToExpandHer3rdGradeVocabulary]

        Liked by 2 people

      12. says the freak trolling the blog at 3am….it’s really pathetic that this blog has evolved into the only life you know, well over a decade now.

        Like

      13. Michael,

        Your dad was the one responsible for eliminating entire downtown neighborhoods like Bunker Hill and replacing them with soulless concrete monoliths? It boggles the mind that he hasn’t been honored with a statue yet.
        That’s way more of an accomplishment than being the visionary behind Las Vegas!

        Like

      14. MG is eroding between the ears quickly. Perhaps the irony may be lost

        Like

      15. Frank Young/JackSmith —
        Really?
        #ThisFromTheGuyWho’sNeverAccomplishedAnything?
        #[btw,TakeAWalkAcrossTheMainStreetBridgeSomeday….
        #….MillionsOfOthersHave]….

        Liked by 2 people

      16. Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith has turned this blog into “Bash Scott Wolf and Challenge Posters To Fights and Then Chicken Out” from a paranoid schizophrenic’s point of view

        Liked by 2 people

      17. With all the hand wringing here about government overreach, one would think hundreds of residents and businesses being forced against their will to relocate would not be something to celebrate.
        In this case though we’ll put a positive spin on it and say we rebuilt downtown.

        Like

      18. With all the lies you spew daily, Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith, nobody cares what you think about Michael’s father any more than we care for your fiendish comments after Michael survived the Maui Fire.

        Liked by 1 person

      19. I never made any disparraging comments regarding the Maui fire. In your typical paranoia and confusion over who posts as who, you have it wrong and now you’re stating a flat out lie against me.

        Like

      20. Yes you did, Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith. You lie like you breathe

        Like

      1. Sanders founded a scandal-scarred Texas charter school he modestly named Prime Academy to “do good in the ‘hood.” After 2 ¹/₂ years, the school closed amidst an avalanche of unpaid administrators, faculty contractors, dilapidated buildings, allegedly misspent public funding and broken promises to black parents and hundreds of their children, mostly with an eye on college athletic scholarships.

        He bolted as the head coach of mostly black Jackson St. for Colorado weeks after telling CBS’s “60 Minutes” that he took the JSU job two years earlier because “I truly believe with all my heart and soul that God called me, collect, and I had to accept the charges.”

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Exactly Hal if you meant it in the way of a wipeout game being “Pretty boring,” as in “Get out of the way already Arizona St, it’s time for SC
      to get started with the “Bigs””

      Liked by 1 person

      1. SC this is a boring week because LR needed negative PR stunt with Lucas to show mental weaknesses and passive agressive intensity. Maybe they weren’t practicing with the necessary intensity needed for a ASU team?

        Liked by 1 person

  1. “Expectations are non-existent” for the SC-ASU game tomorrow?”
    Actually Scott, the hope of the ‘Devils is they are not christened as they are creamed

    Liked by 1 person

  2. When Wolf runs out of USC history he might have to start writing a current column. Oh, you say he already does that huh?

    As Johnny Carson would always quip after a lousy joke– “Not all these are gems”

    Liked by 1 person

  3. A sellout possibility at ‘Devils’ stadium means 54,000 screaming fans trying to jam SC”s offensive signals while chanting, “Keep it under 35-points!”

    Liked by 1 person

  4. To So Cal’s claim that a man should put himself “to the fullest possible use, I say for me “Is that all there is?”
    There’s got to be more inside there

    P.S. You see what Scott has turned all of us Posters into– writers,
    amateur writers of course, but we are writing. Without Scott I know
    I would never write like this, maybe an entry to a diary is all

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Back in the day Burger Continental was THE place — unlimited salad bar [including fresh fish and chicken pasta salad], pitchers of Bass Ale, belly dancers, packed yard under lights. And Hunter’s Books was right across the street.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Spent a lot of time at Burger Continental. Huge portions of food for very reasonable prices. Lot of dishes wrapped in pastry and drizzled with butter. Not the best place if you were on a diet. But I think Buddha had something else in mind with the “stir something” comment. Not known for compliance with health and safety regulations. The City of Pasadena finally shut them down after about 35 years because they required them to re-route their sewer lines and BC refused.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. road apple: Spent a lot of time at Burger Continental.

        That’s why you look like a 300 pound “dough boy”……ouch!

        Like

      4. Here’s what Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith looks like

        Like

      5. Slo cal came over to the house last Monday night and brought Tiny with him, his old lady’s dildo. We went up to my treehouse and played a well-needed game of butt-dart. We take turns stabbing each other in the asshole with Tiny. I am still walking like John Wayne!

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      6. LMAO! Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith is the one who insists on visiting this blog every day and bitching about what Scott Wolf does. Dumbass acts as if someone puts a gun to her head and forces her to come here.

        Disagreeing with him occasionally is one thing. But she takes it to a whole ‘nother level. As so many have said, it’s a shame she doesn’t get the help she desperately needs.

        Liked by 1 person

      7. Ha!
        “I will read every line ever written by anyone on Scott’s Blog…and I shall find it wanting…. and I will call it out as such to the entire multiverse ….and this will make me become more powerful than Tron or Ironman.”

        Liked by 1 person

  5. LJ: To So Cal’s claim that a man should put himself “to the fullest possible use, I say for me “Is that all there is?” There’s got to be more inside there

    Mrs. So Cal: Nope! He came up way short. He gave me “Tiny ” so I could go where he had never gone before. “Tiny” made me a new woman

    Like

    1. Your fullest possible use is brown nosing, Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith…

      Remember this?

      Gabby (original)
      JULY 13, 2023 AT 6:01 PM
      Thanks for sharing your experiences. He must have made an impression on you, your details are still clear after many years.

      Gabby aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young
      JULY 14, 2023 AT 1:36 PM
      Look at Cowardly Gabby the hypocrite. She exploded in rage and cursed out Plowhorse for exactly the same thing!

      Plow Horse
      JULY 8, 2023 AT 2:54 AM
      Wow. What are the odds we have 3 regular bloggers attend the 1968 Rose Bowl. I worked with a guy in 1982 who was a cornerback on the Indiana team. I asked him what was his impression of O.J. Simpson. He said “yeah, I meet him in the hole, helmet first, left my impression on him.”

      REPLY
      Gabby (original)
      JULY 8, 2023 AT 3:01 AM
      LIKE YOU FUCKING REMEMBER WORD FOR WORD WHAT A GUY TOLD YOU 40 YEARS AGO…..YET YOU CONVENTILY FORGET YOUR DEBUNKED RANTS OR HOW YOU TALKED SHIT ABOUT ANYONE THAT PROVED YOU WRONG…BUT YOUR OLD LADY IS OFF LIMITS….I SEE WHY YOUR LAW CAREER ENDED EARLY

      Like

  6. Wolfe great Friday column it’s gives us history we didn’t know. Now can for once give us some real inside information about what’s going on inside the coaches perspective? Are you allowed at practice? Maybe you need kiss LR ass to gain access? I don’t mean it literally!!! I know someone is going to say noway because Grinchy isn’t going to allow it? Well at least try!!! #FightOn#LucasForUSC#1ReporterOfTheYear#NotYouScottOnlyOnFridays

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Looks like you challenged two posters to fights and chickened out, Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith. I have never seen anyone on any blog —sports or political —go so far out of his way to alienate everyone else 24/7 than Cowardly Gabby. It’s like she is paid to come here.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. MG, it happens to all of us except Gabby n all of his old n new alter egos. We should all double click on purpose to make sure we all get our posts in before Gabby n Friends turns the blog into “All In The Pyscho Family*.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. That’s you, Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and Jack Smith

        Liked by 1 person

      1. The Congressional Black Caucus and most of the black leaders and black rock stars and black movie stars and the Lakers and NBA basketball and all the pro sports and Labron James support BLM. Don’t they realize that the BLM leaders are (by their own admission) trained Maxists and that Karl Marx was an avowed racist and hater of the black race. He thought that they were one step above monkies.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. That black caucus remark was hilarious.

        But not nearly as funny as Gabriela trying to claim there’s a “famous Gabby”. Now infamous? No one on this blog would disagree with THAT other than her multiple personalities.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Remember Lebron’s Fake Hate Crime where he cleaned up all the evidence before the police arrived? What a BLM racist black Democrat fraud he is.

        Like

      1. Frustrated Airline Passenger: “Do you know who I am?!”
        Airline Gate Attendant: “May I have your attention, please? We have a passenger who doesn’t know who he is.”

        Bah-dump-bump! Calling George Tirebiter! Calling George Tirebiter!!

        Liked by 2 people

  8. BLM all lives matter Parcelman? Do your homework sir. There is nothing hilarious about the Black Cacaus. Your racist views are not warranted by me. It’s just shows how racist think and act. I’m proud to be a black man in this country and all of my brothers are too #ProudToBeA LeaderN RoleModelFor PeopleOfColor#Don’tCareForRacistCommentsThat DemeansPeopleWhoStandUpForJusticeInThisRacistSociety#EveryoneHasOpinionButThatDoesntMakeYouLookSmartOnlyToEngageInMakingYourzelfLookRight

    Like

    1. I am not a racist by my definition of the word “racist” and my definition is the only definition I care about. I really don’t give a dam about what your definition of racist is. My definition of a racist is that you are a racist if you don’t like another person strickly because of his/her race. Some people today could turn a cucumber into a racist with their definition. Anyhow, the question is really not whether I am a racist or not. The question is whether what I said is true or not. All of those groups that I mentioned support BLM. The leaders of BLM do not even try to hide that they are trained marxist. Karl Marx was an avowed racist. We still have his personal letters to all his intellectual friends. He used the “N” word all the time. He had no use for blacks. That is a fact.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You are not black? I don’t condone the N word my friend. I don’t give a dam about your views about the definition of a racist. I really could care less about anybody on this blog who doesn’t agree with me or my views. But I don’t put people down or make fun of of people race. You need to refrain from speaking about another race when you haven’t walked in their shoes. You don’t even no what is to be a black man in this racist ass society. I like your post most of the time and will continue to give you props when appropriate. I don’t really care to go back n forth with anyone on this blog. If you still feel a certain way about this then it is what is I’ve said my peace

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      2. You have not read what I said. When did I use the “N” word? I said that Marx used the “N” word all the time. That is a fact. Karl Marx was a racist. You say I’m not black. That’s not the problem. I’m not white either. I’m a New York Puerto Rican although I don’t live in NYC anymore. But I don’t go around trying to control everyones speech by calling them a racist if I don’t like their views.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Sure you are, and I’m the King of England. You can claim to be anything on the internet. Prove it or shut up with your self righteous blather.

      The Black Caucus is hilariously hypocritical. Defend this you big mouth clown.

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      1. I guess I just don’t like being called names(racist, sexist, homophobe, transphobe………) by everyone who disagrees with my views.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. You were right, the Black Caucus is a joke and BLM is a con that has made things worse for the black community in America’s big cities.

        Like

  9. So Cal that goes for you too Ditto my brother. Making jokes about monkies is very racist think before you type my friend. You need to get a life but you don’t have control over yourself Gabby or whoever you are.

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    1. I made no jokes about monkies. Maybe you ought to reread what I said. I said that all those groups that I mentioned support BLM. The leaders of BLM make no question about their being “trained Marxist”. Karl Marx was a racist. He did believe that blacks were one step above a monkey. The same was true of Charles Darwin. The only difference between those two was that Darwin didn’t hate blacks. Marx did. My point was simply that it is very strange that the leaders of BLACK Lives Matter are followers of a guy who hated BLACKS. You had better read what I said again. Don’t put words in my mouth.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Nobody is putting words in your mouth I’m just letting you know I’m not cool with nothing about racism in this society this is why this world is like it is now because of hate!!!!

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    1. You are putting words in my mouth. You implied that I used the “N” word, which I didn’t. I said Karl Marx used the word all the time, which he did.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. You are an internet troll who showed up a few months ago and are now spewing your libtard nonsense here. You love your racism, you hateful lib.

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    3. Anyone who cries that we can’t stand Kamala & Karen Bass because they’re black is just looking for an excuse to be offended. Libs are the most racist group on the planet.

      P.S. I don’t recall joking about MONKEYS. But I could be mistaken.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Anyone who supports an old man who thinks he can endear himself to Latinos just by playing Despacito is as racist as that POS old man.

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      2. I don’t believe his bs either, about attending a black church as a boy every Sunday after mass. Another lame attempt to endear himself to the black community because he thinks they’re stupid enough to believe it.

        Like

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