FOOTBALL

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

It looks like USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn will also be coaching the safeties.

That’s a change from at UCLA last season, where he didn’t have a position to coach and just supervised the entire defense.

  • The Pac-12 is 4-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

Without Andy Enfield around to drop an opening game, the conference is off to a good start.

  • USC reports its average attendance for men’s basketball games this season (6,608) was the highest since the 2007-08 season. Thanks, Bronny!
  • By the way, USC shot 69 percent on free throws this season, which was the third-worst mark in the Pac-12. Remember, Enfield is supposed to be a shot doctor and made 93 percent of his free throws at Johns Hopkins.
  • Does any other school have three former athletic directors (Pat Haden, Lynn Swann, Mike Bohn) who seem to be in a Witness Protection Program? Has anyone seen Bohn since he was let go?
  • Former Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson was at spring practice Thursday. So let’s roll out his graduation photo from USC.
  • And now for some history:
  • When Sam Darnold was at USC, it was widely known his grandfather played basketball for the Trojans. But I didn’t know until this week he also threw the javelin for the track team. It was just a given in those days people played two sports.
  • Do you recognize the tailbacks in this 1994 photo? Answer at bottom of column.
  • Look at the 1980 Kodak All-America team. You’ve got Lawrence Taylor (North Carolina); Hugh Green (Pittsburgh); Herschel Walker (Georgia); Ronnie Lott (USC); Mike Singletary (Baylor); Kenny Easley (UCLA); George Rogers (South Carolina); Jarvis Redwine (Nebraska); Bob Crable (Notre Dame); E.J. Junior (Alabama); Ron Simmons (Florida State); Leonard Mitchell (Houston); Mark Hermann (Purdue); Jim McMahon (BYU); Ken Margerum (Stanford); Mark May (Pittsburgh); Dave Young (Purdue); Scott Woerner (Georgia); John Simmons (SMU); John Scully (Notre Dame); Bill Dugan (Penn State); Louis Oubre (Oklahoma) and Nick Eyre (BYU).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL WAS YUGE

  • For the people who think women’s basketball has just become a big sport at USC, look at the coverage from the Daily Trojan in 1984, when the Trojans hosted a four-team opening round of NCAA Tournament games just like this weekend.

Do you think anyone is doing four stories on each team this week like in 1984? It was big news back then with luncheons, press conferences and a lot of buzz.

HURRAY FOR HOLLYWOOD

  • The stars came out at USC in 1956. This is a party of the USC Intercultural Club at the Student Union.

You may have heard of the star in the middle of the photo below, Natalie Wood, who was 18 at the time. This was two years after she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for “Rebel Without a Cause,” so it’s not like she was in need of publicity. This was the year she was in the Western classic, “The Searchers” with John Wayne.

About four years after this picture was taken, she got the plum role of Maria in “West Side Story.” In case you ever wondered if Natalie Wood ever visited USC, the answer (of course) is yes!

Natalie Wood, center, with (from left) USC Intercultural Club vice president Jorge Estrada, Nasrin Farrouk, Mary Fung and Kurt Stakke.
  • About a month after Wood visited campus, actor Vincent Price delivered a lecture to the 265 medical students titled, “The Meaning of Art to the Individual.”
  • Here’s a USC fraternity party attended by actress Autumn Russell a few days before Price’s lecture. Next to her in the USC letterman’s jacket is tailback Ernie Zampese. He later became the offensive coordinator of the Chargers, Rams and Cowboys from 1986-97. The big guy on the far right is USC track star Rink Babka, who won a silver medal in the discus at the 1960 Summer Olympics.

You might never have heard of Russell, but a year later featured her most famous movie scene, from the 1957 classic, “The Sweet Smell of Success.”

A wider view of the scene reveals Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster. By the way, Russell is still alive at age 94.

  • Speaking of 1956, a quarterback on the USC freshman team that season was Bill Brodie, the younger brother of famous Stanford/San Francisco 49ers QB John Brodie. He also played baseball.
  • Former USC football star Mike Henry had a long acting career after his playing days were over. Few ever talk about his role on the popular series, M*A*S*H. Henry played Lt. Colonel Donald Penobscott, who marries Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan.
  • Maybe long-time New York sports radio host Mike Francesa was thinking of Henry when he made this blunder.
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PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Even though I was a big Rams fan growing up, I always liked Vikings tailback Chuck Foreman, who was a five-time Pro Bowl selection (1973-77).

BYGONE ERA

There was a time when you could go to the Village Inn hotel in Long Beach and the bartenders were Johnny Olszewski and Jim Contratto.

Olszewski was an All-American fullback at Cal who played at St. Anthony High School. Remember, USC coach Jeff Cravath claimed when he retired that a USC alumnus offered Olszewski a new car, $150 a month during his college career, expenses through law school and a junior partnership in the alumnus’ law firm after graduation.

Contratto was a quarterback at USC and started in the 1955 Rose Bowl. He played at Compton High School. Contratto’s family owned the Apple Valley Steak House in Long Beach.

TRIVIA ANSWER

The picture from 1994 features running backs Terry Barnum (21) and Rodney Sermons (25). USC has offered a scholarship to Sermon’s son, Rodney Jr., a defensive back at Rancho Cucamonga High School.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Let’s watch Barbara Steele “steal” this dance scene from 8½ (1963).

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

  2. I could ‘Fall’ for Autumn Russell, and the end of Natalie Wood drowning when she was morbidly afraid of water just never added up, right, Wagner?

    Liked by 1 person

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      1. Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young loves Senile Joe’s illegitimate regime’s invasion of America and persecution of grandmas as a threat to the Regime.

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    2. Whoever you are….keep it coming…..You’re trolling these MAGats and I enjoy it…..The sad part, I think you might be scott wolf posting clickbait….

      Liked by 1 person

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      2. Gee, who could all these sock puppets be, Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young? Now we know why you disappeared for 2 days, to create all these new sock puppets to spam the site. You are as evil and demented as Senile Joe.

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      3. “Whoever you are.” ROTFLMAO

        As if we don’t all know. Only one person on this board possessing that level of stupidity. But she’ll lie about it, as always.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. that person is trolling your ass…….looks like you’re the stupid one for taking the bait….sorry to disappoint you that It was’t me…..

        lets meet up, pussy boy

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    3. Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young is back to spam the site for another day. She is as evil as Senile Joe who mhas let 10 million illegal aliens invade America.

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      2. Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young counsiders this her life’s work- over 20 years wasted here spamming away with various sock puppets. She is as dumb as Kamala:

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      3. You call it ‘mental illness’ So Cal, but he strikes me as just another L.A. jerk who gets off being a donkey’s behind

        Liked by 1 person

      5. She’s been doing this stalking of Scott Wolf’s site and spamming it for over 20 years, every day , 365 a year. That is mental illness.

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      6. says the freak who has been trolling the blog for 25 years, 365, 24/7 with over 50 sock puppets. I am jealous (not)

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      8. At least a half dozen posters have referred to it as such and I agree. No sane person would get the enjoyment out of it that she does.

        Liked by 1 person

      9. stop the crying you sound like a cry-baby….wipe the drool and have the shar pei help you with a fresh Depend

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      10. Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young needs treatment for her paranoid schizophrenia condition. It is a fairly common (and can be severe) mental illness: about 0.32% of the population suffers from it. [Let’s see. There were 331 million Americans in the 2020 Census. I don’t believe they diagnose it (for sure) until one’s late teenage years, so let’s apply it to those Americans and Traitors like Cowardly Gabby 18 and over. Google says that 258 million Americans are 18 years old & older: 258 million x 0.0032 = 825,600 people adults who suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, just like Cowardly Gabby.

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    2. And because it is a fellow libtard named Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young doing the attacks on the site, you play dumb and pretend to not know who exactly the culprit is.

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      Reply

      2. Yes Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young is a complete water of food.

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  5. Swann was only guilty of being a poor employee but he’s still a Trojan whereas Bohn was never a true Trojan, and Haden never recovered from his charity scandal

    Wolf does have a peculiar and sometimes off-putting negative-oriented style, but give him credit for his treasure trove of SC history

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Swann was what he was, a minority hire who was in over his head.

      Haden was a box check hire, we just didn’t know he was a drunk bone smuggler at the time.

      McKay and PC were never Trojans either, how did they work out ?

      Liked by 4 people

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      3. According to the blog Dunce……only alumni of USC can be considered a “true Trojan”…..in his own words, everyone else is a wannabe.

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      4. Board Skunk Cowardly Gabby aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the Bruin Fan aka The Guy who posts as So Cal’s Wife & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young is bitter that a 6th grade drop out like herself get “wanna be” status. Luckily for us, this cretin who spams this site daily for 20+ years is a UCLA Fan.

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  6. usctrojanforce.com is a great site that has the marks for every athlete that ever competed at USC in Track & Field. Darnold’s grandfather Dick Hammer threw the Javelin 184 feet on 03/22/1952 while at USC, but it notes he has a PR of 195’10”. One of the more interesting names on the Javelin list is Willie Hall who threw 221 while at USC in 1970 with a PR of 230. I assume this is the Oakland Raiders Willie Hall.

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. Did you know that Bonanza’s Michael Landon threw the javelin over 193 feet in high school which earned him an SC track scholarship?

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      1. Yeah, but he could he throw a football over them mountains, the way Uncle Rico can?

        P.S. Jen Landon is so great as Teeter on Yellowstone!!

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Yes, I was aware of the scholarship. I believe he never competed at USC due to injury. His actual name was Eugene Orowitz.

        Liked by 2 people

  7. The story according to Landon was that he got his name out of a phone book and that the footballers thought he was weird with all that hair and one day they held him down and shaved it off, to which he never was the same again throwing the spear, quit SC and headed down the street to Hollywood

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. “They don’t like you, they don’t dislike you. They’re afraid of you. You’re different. Sooner or later, different scares people.” - The Accountant

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    2. He blew his shoulder out, that’s why he quit track.

      ” Well, the news shocked the hell out of me. Nothing was further from my mind, since I’m only 54 and, with rare exceptions, I’d been healthy my whole life. I don’t want people to think that everybody is a likely candidate for cancer of this type. I think I have it because for most of my life, though I was never a drunk, I drank too much. I also smoked too many cigarettes and ate a lot of wrong things. And if you do that, even if you think you’re too strong to get anything, somehow you’re going to pay. “

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