FOOTBALL

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

USC wide receiver Zachariah Branch will run the 60-meter dash today at the Boston College Eagle Elite Invitational indoor meet. The final takes place at 1:40 p.m. PT.

  • It remains a travesty that USC has not inducted a Hall of Fame class since 2018. There are a lot of deserving athletes that need to be inducted.
  • Recruiting analyst Tom Loy of 247 Sports on five-star QB Julian Lewis.

“Honestly, I’ll just call my shot at this point, I don’t see USC keeping (Julian Lewis) in their class,” Loy said.

And now for some history:

  • The sports cartoon/illustration is a lost art. Here’s a nice homage to USC running back C.R. Roberts by what looks like Clint C. Wilson in 1956. The headline at bottom left says “C.R. Roberts captures PCC rushing title.”
  • Here are the final PCC stats from 1956. Some familiar names like Jon Arnett, John Brodie and Joe Kapp. Don’t be confused by Arnett’s rushing stats. The numbers are transposed. He gained 625 yards.

RESTAURANT OF THE WEEK

Speaking of 1956, here is what the Bob’s Big Boy menu looked like that in year. A Big Boy hamburger for 50 cents. The combo is 80 cents. A steak is $1.65.

BRING BACK CELEBRITY BASEBALL!

  • Why did USC get rid of its celebrity baseball game? Here are Casey Stengel, Bill Sharman and Ed Hookstratten at the 1975 game.
  • And here is USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux hitting a double in the same game at age 61. Mickey Mantle also attended this game. He and Stengel actually signed autographs. Imagine that.
  • College tennis was better in those days too. In 1973, USC’s Raul Ramirez defeated Stanford’s Roscoe Tanner, 7-5, 6-2.

A DREAM HIRE THAT ALMOST HAPPENED

  • When Bob Boyd decided to step down following the 1978-79 season, there was a lot of speculation during the season who would replace Boyd. At one point, the favorite was Iowa coach Lute Olson. He visited USC in February, 1979 (this sounds crazy 45 years later that everyone was so open about it) and there were reports he agreed to take the job.

But Iowa promised Olson that it would finally build 15,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena, a long-awaited project and that caused him to decline USC’s offer.

USC athletic director Dick Perry tried to make a splash by offering the job to Kentucky coach Joe B. Hall, but failed. He also wanted Utah coach Jerry Pimm, a former USC player. Ultimately, Perry hired Pacific coach Stan Morrison.

Four years later, Olson decided he had enough of Iowa’s winters, thought it would be easier to recruit in Tucson in a declining Pac-10 vs. Iowa City in a rigorous Big Ten and accepted an offer from Arizona for $150,000 a year. That was what he was making at Iowa, by the way.

A DIFFERENT WORLD

You want to know how college football has changed? Look at recruiting in 1979.

Don Mosebar
  • Don Mosebar was considered the best high school offensive tackle in the nation in 1979. So what were his final three choices? USC, UCLA and Arizona.
  • George Achica was similarly ranked as the top defensive tackle. He chose USC over UCLA.
  • John Elway, the No. 1-ranked QB, chose Stanford over USC.
  • Where are the SEC and Big Ten schools? Not in those days.
USC swimmers celebrate an 81-32 victory over previously unbeaten Cal. This was when swim meets were held in “The Dungeon,” the indoor pool in the P.E. Building.
  • Did you know that in 1975, former President Richard Nixon and USC announced his presidential library would be built on campus?

Nixon said his papers were so voluminous “they can only be adequately handled by a major institution.” Nixon also said he chose USC because of its location in a major city.

“I thought there would be greater accessibility to the papers there in the metropolitan heartland,” he said.

Needless to say, the library never got built. And Nixon’s desire for a major city as the location eventually became Yorba Linda.

Here is the proposed Richard Nixon Library. Just kidding! Actually, this is a rendering of a never-built Heritage Hall from 1957.

STRIKING RESEMBLANCE

  • You know what’s great about this photo of USC’s first All-American swimmer, Buster Crabbe, at the 1932 Olympics? If you took this picture today, the swimming pool and Coliseum would look pretty similar. He won a gold medal in the 400 meters at the 1932 Olympics.
  • USC sprinter James Gilkes won a gold medal in the 200 meters at the 1975 Pan American Games and an NCAA title in the same event in 1974. In the photo below, Gilkes (in T shirt) edges teammmates Guy Abrahams (far left) and Mike Simmons (far right) before a large crowd at what looks like the Coliseum.
  • Sometimes I come across random items, which out of the blue have a USC connection. Here’s a 1974 ad for the World Football League’s Honolulu-based team, “The Hawaiians.”

The coach? None other than former USC assistant coach Mike Giddings.

Giddings left USC in 1965 to become the head coach at Utah, then was an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers from 1968-73. He then became the Hawaiians head coach for its two years of existence.

BANQUETS, BEAUTY QUEENS AND LUNCHEONS

Rams coach Joe Stydahar (left) looks thrilled to be at the Football Writers’ meeting in 1951. Next to him is sports writer Dan McGuire.

To be fair, Stydahar looks happier below talking to Loyola University star QB Don Klosterman at the same meeting. Stydahar was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and College Football Hall of Fame. He went to West Virginia and then had a stellar career with the Chicago Bears, where he was a four-time, first-team All-Pro and won three NFL titles. He is considered one of the 100 greatest Bears of all-time.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Karen Carpenter was actually an amazing drummer before she became an amazing singer. She started playing the drums in the Downey High School band and hadn’t begun singing yet. Here’s a look at her prowess on the drums.

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

  1. I’m going to be attacked by a certain die-hard Biden guy…but… today’s is a fucking great Friday column. Bob’s Big Boy, John Arnett, C. R. Roberts, Mickey Mantle…and a very energetic Karen Carpenter.
    btw, As great as Bob’s double-decked burgers were I hope there are still those who recall how they tried to pass off chocolate ice cream as “a malt.” They didn’t even melt it –they just stuck it inside an aluminum glass and put a cherry on it. Even as a kid I considered legal action.
    #JohnArnettThanksScottForGettingHisRushingRecordStraightenedOut!

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      1. Good for the Daily Trojan!
        [They always treated me well back in the day —when Elliot Zwiebach was the Scott Wolf of the paper —and Eric Cohen was writing hilarious “undercover” pieces on the local eateries].
        #Carol:GiveTheDailyTrojanTheirSpaceBack!

        Liked by 3 people

      1. Don’t worry what the blog crybaby, pervert, pedophile, blog dunce thinks. The entire blog knows he’s not all there.

        Like

    3. MG, don’t remember the malts but the Bob’s sundae was really good. As a kid, my mom would treat us to Sundaes after our dental procedures. It almost made the drilling worth it.

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      1. You’re getting the cavities fixed but then go right back to the product that helped contribute to the cavities. ……. interesting!

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  2. You make it look lke Stan Morrison as the new SC basketball coach was a consolation prize when in fact he was one of the best coaches the Trojans ever had

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      2. Incompetent AD Mike McGee fired Stan Morrison, the last men’s basketball head coach to lead USC to a conference title, and replaced him with Jim George Raveling. Morrison’s blue chip recruits Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers fled to Loyola where they had great success before Gathers tragically died of a heart defect, while USC men’s basketball underachieved despite great talent for the next decade. McGee also gave us football coach Larry Smith.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. McGee and Morrison didn’t mesh at all, Morrison had a very strong personality.

        Don’t forget about Tom Lewis who also left when Raveling got the job, he was THE recruit that year, ended up at Pepperdine.

        Liked by 3 people

      5. All Mike McGee had to do was get out of the way and let those 3 great freshmen develop in the Pre-One And Done Era… but of course, his massive ego wouldn’t let him stand by and let others get the credit. In the mid 1980s UCLA was in the dumps and Lute Olson was building Arizona up with JC transfers. The Pac 10 was ours for the taking, but instead McGee ruined it all.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Following escorts?! Escorts=call girls, hookers, high priced hoes. They can be sexually harassed?!

      What’s next? Movie critics being sued for defamation? “He made people not want to see my movie!! How dare he?!”

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      3. a person commits solicitation of prostitution(crime) if he or she: knowingly offers or agrees to pay a fee to another person to engage in sexual conduct with that person or another.

        where is your moral compass?

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      4. regarding, call girls, hookers, high priced hoes.

        Your old lady told me the first thing you asked her, as she was working the supermarket parking lot, “How much?”…….

        She also recalls having to ask you numerous times “is it in yet”

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      5. So lame. But no one is surprised. Most of her shit is lame as hell.

        What a sad, miserable life she leads to think that is in any way funny or amusing. Especially having been used 100 times before. LOL

        Liked by 1 person

      6. says the poster child for “Lame”……..

        Who in the fuck meets someone in a parking lot unless something nefarious is taking place. You got triggered……..Freak!

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      11. “Who in the fuck meets someone in a parking lot unless something nefarious is taking place.” Next post: “Let’s meet up!!”

        LMFAO! You can’t make this shit up. Her stupidity is like the Energizer Bunny. She gets slapped around over & over, but claims to be winning. THAT is how dumb she is.

        Liked by 1 person

      12. Triggered!……… I take pleasure in fucking with you. I throw the bait and you’re all over it like stink on shit……freak!

        Let’s meet up and see who can take a punch……

        wait for it …..another lame rebuttal from the blog dunce…..3-2-1!

        Like

      14. I see you were ghosting the blog at 3am and responded to a love letter. ……Blog insomnia must suck or it’s just plain OCD.

        Like

      17. So Cal — We’ve all been struggling to respond to Gabby’s clever political rants —in doing so, we’ve been playing his game and, naturally, he’s been beating us at it… but you came up with the perfect post…. Nothing will ever top it… Total Victory….
        #PurePoetry
        #It’sOur”GoTo”FromNowOn

        Liked by 1 person

      18. Beating us?! LOL! Only in her disturbed mind. To all else, making a complete fool of herself.

        You have me wondering about that coconut, making a ridiculous claim such as that. I know you often feel sorry for her. But don’t take so much pity on her that you make yourself look cuckoo!

        Liked by 2 people

      19. What MG posted flew right over your head, typical. Another prime example of your inability to properly process written content.

        The blog is laughing at you. Go find something productive to do and quit being a pest!

        PS…..Let’s meet up and see who can take a punch

        (watch, he’s super triggered and the BP is spiking…..haha!)

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      21. but YOU speak for the blog?……STFU!

        Guilty once again of the same shit he bitches about……they don’t come any more ignorant than this old man……I see why friends and family run from him, especially the teenage girls

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  5. Mosebar and Achica, the days when the SC ‘brand’ would recruit itself,
    or as the song goes, “Those were the days my friend,
    we thought they’d never end”

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    2. Mosebar attended a BBQ at some famous ex USC running backs home, what was his name again ? Oh yeah, OJ, lots of other high profile ex USC players were also there wooing Mosebar.

      Mosebar was taken by the Raiders in the 1st round, one pick ahead of Dan Marino

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  7. From Phil Mushnick in the NY Post

    The National Labor Relations Board this week ignored the fact that Dartmouth is a college that provides grants in aid — scholarships — to varsity athletes, ruling that the college’s basketball players are employees of the school, no different from window washers or librarians, thus entitled to unionize to negotiate salaries and benefits, including workers’ compensation for time missed due to injuries.

    All pretense of college sports having anything to do with college — educating basketball players, for example — has been removed from Div. I schools as irrelevant. It’s a sickness that will soon render college sports destroyed beneath an avalanche of debt.

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    2. Can the colleges use the value of free tuition, room and board as a credit against wages? Why do these bureaucrats try to fix things that don’t need fixing and ignore the things that do. A 5 year athletic scholarship at USC is worth in excess of $400,000 and yet all you hear is how the athletes are being exploited.

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  8. Don’t think so. NIL seems to have enhanced interest in college football and the fact that kids can unionize I predict will have nil effect

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    2. I think NIL has not enhanced interest in college football, I’d say the opposite has happened and if you think for one minute that a certain segment of this society isn’t going to capitalize on rulings like these to extract money from ” the man ” then you’re a fool. If ONE team of players unionizes, many will follow.

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  9. I loved Bob’s Big Boy growing up, and recently tried one of their current burgers that I felt was not the same, something different about the relish I believe

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      2. Kelly is a good college coach. Whoever they bring in will be a downgrade…… Games are won on the field, nothing leads me to believe UCLA will be a threat next season.

        Will Chip improve offense production at Ohio St, on paper yes, but in reality, we will have to wait and see.

        Liked by 2 people

      1. I just love the crying lady, SO much…. the way she tries …but isn’t quite able …..to hold back “doing the teary face thing”…..
        #LookslikeShe’sLettingOutAGreat”SobSound”Too….

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yup! Exactly the way the Village Idiot tries so hard sometimes to appear sane, but can never go more than about 24 hours without showing her true colors, i.e. total depravity!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. if fucking with you sounds insane, then label me insane…….but it feels so right!

        For the 1000th time, I don’t care what people say about me on this blog, but you think holding it against me is a way to shame me……you’re naive

        let your hair down(I know you’re follically challenged no pun intended). You’re constantly on edge and too serious!…..

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      6. are you saying the voice in your head is calling you incompetent…….seems to be the case…..

        instead of all the name-calling on your part……let’s meet up and see who is tougher

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    1. Just in: UCLA has hired Alex Grinch as Head Coach…
      #ClayHeltonAsOffensiveCoordinator?
      #Grinch:”I’dSayUSC’sMonopolyIsOver…ButThatAlreadyHappened”

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  14. A Bruin friend just forwarded this to me:

    “Bruins,

    Earlier this morning, Coach Chip Kelly informed me of his decision to depart UCLA. I want to sincerely thank Chip for his service to UCLA Football and our student-athletes across the past six seasons and wish the best to him and Jill moving forward.

    A national search for the next head coach of UCLA Football has already begun. As we continue preparation for our move to the Big Ten Conference later this year, it is imperative that we have the right leader in place to position the program to compete at the highest level for our student-athletes, fans and university. We are confident we will find a leader who develops young men on and off the field and embodies our True Bruin Values.

    We understand the importance of the timing of this search and will heed the advice of Coach Wooden, to be quick but not to hurry.

    We appreciate the tremendous support we receive from our fans and alumni. Now more than ever, we need our Bruin Family to step up and support our student-athletes by coming to the Rose Bowl for our games and providing NIL opportunities through our official marketplace or collective.

    We are excited about the future of UCLA Football.

    Go Bruins!

    Martin Jarmond
    Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics”

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. no one cares about what you have to say…..go service your outhouse ……the neighbors claim it’s long overdue…….run along and it quit being a pest……

        I heard a teenage girl just moved into the trailer park……you should investigate

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  15. PRETTY GOOD POST WOLFIE… I remember watching swims meets when Peter Daland was the coach in the ‘dungeon’.
    ROD SHERMAN DIED 2/2/24…every trojan fan remembers that catch that beat ND IN ’64 WITH A FEW SECONDS LEFT 20-17.

    Liked by 3 people

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