FOOTBALL

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

Michigan football will hold its first-ever “Stripe Out” vs. USC this season.

The even-numbered sections will wear blue while the odd-numbered sections will wear maize. And don’t you know they will all do it too.

  • There is already a lot of buzz over Sydney Douglas, a 6-foot-6 incoming freshman at Etiwanda High School in Rancho Cucamonga. She is one of the best freshmen girls’ basketball players in the country.

Her father is former USC offensive lineman Rome Douglas. Her mother is former UCLA All-American basketball star Maylana Martin.

  • Brentwood incoming freshman basketball player Ethan Hill is the grandson of former USC defensive lineman Willard “Bubba” Scott of “Wild Bunch” fame.
  • And now for some history:
  • USC sports information director Don Richman organized the first annual All-American Football Clinic on campus in 1958. What coaches did he get to appear?

Bear Bryant (Alabama), Frank Broyles (Arkansas), Terry Brennan (Notre Dame), Dan Devine (Missouri), Jack Curtice (Stanford), Phil Dickens (Indiana), Ray Graves (Georgia Tech) and Don Clark (USC).

No word on how sober Bryant was at the clinic. Remember this story when Bryant attended a football clinic at Pepperdine.

  • This is the story of Barney Best and really offers a glimpse into the sense of community that existed at USC many years ago.

In 1924, Best moved to Los Angeles from Oklahoma and took over as manager of a three-chair barber shop right across from Bovard Auditorium. The shop is right in front of where the landmark Doheny Library is now located.

Doheny Library

A barber shop in the heart of the campus? Remember, USC was much different 100 years ago and Doheny Library would not be built for eight more years. There were real businesses right in the heart of campus.

USC All-American football player Orv Mohler came to get his hair cut and would stop by weekly. After a year, Barney bought his own shop that was still on campus but a little further down University Ave.

Jess Hill, a star football, track and baseball player at USC, started showing up for a haircut. Soon, the lengendary USC football coach, Howard Jones, became a loyal customer after moving from Duke in 1925.

USC president Rufus von KleinSmid also started making regular visits. Roy French, a highly popular figure who was director of the school of journalism, also was a regular.

One day, Barney asked Jones who the best player he ever saw was?

“Jones sat in the chair not saying a word,” Barney said. “All you could hear was the snipping of the scissors and after a few minutes I figured Jones was ignoring the remark. Then as soft as he can be, he whispers to me above the noise of the scissors, ` Well, Barney, for an all-around player I’d say Orv Mohler is the greatest I have ever seen.’ ”

As the USC campus expanded, Barney moved his shop to Jefferson Blvd. in 1948. By 1953, he hung every USC team football photo on his wall since his arrival nearly 30 years earlier.

“I feel the same way about the Trojans as I did 30 years ago, I’m all for them, win, lose or draw,” Barney said.

His son, Gordon, eventually took over the shop. It’s the kind of thing you can’t imagine happening today and showed the tight sense of community that existed many years ago.

  • Do younger USC fans realize how good the Trojans used to be in the secondary? This All-American team features Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith.
  • Imagine the thrill in 1957 when Rams kicker Paige Cothren showed up at the home of Bobby Mendoza with a free football and then played in the front yard.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Francoise Hardy, the French musician, sometimes actress and 1960’s icon, died last week.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

In memory of French musician Francoise Hardy, here is a performance with Petula Clark and Sylvie Vartan. Although this is from 1963, Hardy looks timeless in this video, like she could walk right into 2024 and not be out of place.

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

    1. …maybe they should be getting jacked up for Texas [who they play before us] or Washington [who they play after us]…..

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      1. No MG: Gabby was never a regular at Barneys. He walked in there one day and asked for a butt wax and Barney threw him out.

        Liked by 2 people

  3. I guess Ms. Hardy decided a 1960s picture of her looked better than a current one. Some comic wag once said that when he dies his obituary will have a picture of him as a sperm

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      2. Which one was that, So Cal? [Scott has provided us with photos of so many pretty faces]…

        #PleaseDon’tSayCarol….

        #NotEvenAsAJoke

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      6. And that Audrey Tautou?! Ooh, Baby! Not into too many Frenchies, but she’s another.

        Watched Sweeney Todd again recently. That Helena Bonham Carter isn’t bad for a Brit.

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  4. Good to see Wolf with an obvious soft heart for the ladies. Or in paraphrasing Mark Twain, “Wolf is nice in spots, just not all over”

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  5. Great story about Barney Best, particularly the reference to Orv Mohler. Thanks once again, Scott!

    btw, I’m not crazy about the lackadaisical way Paige Cothren is handing off to that kid. But, then again, Paige never handed off before.

    Jane Birkin and Francoise Hardy in the same year. wtf?!

    #HardYearForFrance

    Jill Biden asking dems to lie & say ‘Joe seems fine in private —he only acts demented in public”….

    #HardYearForDems

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    1. CONVICTED 34 TIMES…….TRUMP FOR PRISON…..His poll numbers are dropping like an anchor

      #HardYearForMagats

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      2. when are you going to meet up with gabby…stop the hiding…. you look just like your old man….a midget cowrd

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      4. Convicted 34 times of ‘something’….. in New York.

        Found liable for sexual assault…..in New York.

        Liable for overvaluing worth on loan application……in New York.

        #AlmostLikeNewYorkIsAsCorruptAsResidentsSayItIs…

        Liked by 2 people

      5. stop the pouting…..have sola service the mushroom…..if she can find it

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      6. Gabby’s million dollar comebacks:

        —-I beat you up

        —-I make up sick story about you

        #SomethingTellsMeGabbyHasNoBoardroomExperience

        Liked by 1 person

      9. Only conference/board room she’s ever been in was after hours, to vacuum and empty the waste cans. Not there’s anything wrong with an honest day’s work. Just sayin’.

        Liked by 1 person

      10. slo cal met his wife in a super market parking lot. He yelled out “how much” , her response was “25 if you have a mushroom cap, it takes time to find it”

        Not there’s anything wrong with an honest day’s work. Just sayin’.

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      11. Not one thing wrong with it. Admirable work. But that wasn’t exactly what Gabb was doing in his last conference room. He was strapped to a chair waiting for medical panel to arrive.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. “Joe seems fine in private.”

      The guy says “Uncle Bosie was eaten by cannibals” and is serious.

      He brings index cards to every meeting with his talking points. Can’t remember what to say to national or world leaders. Fewest interviews and press conferences of any modern President. Wanders off at the G7 conference and has to be retrieved by the Italian PM, same thing during the Calif. fundraiser and retrieved by Obama. Freezes up during Juneteenth celebration. Can’t find his way off a stage or into Air Force One. Are you going to believe Jill or your own lying eyes.

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      1. Many dems are complaining about being asked by Jill to out & out lie about Joe’s mental state ….

        #SoManyReputationsBeingRuined…

        #SoMuchCredibilityLost…

        #…InALosingCause

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      2. make sure sola is sitting on your nose when posting on this blog…….

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      3. you’re forgetting the best part…….he hasn’t been convicted of 34 felonies…..OUCH!

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      4. Gabby: If Cohen wrote one invoice for the entire $130,000 extortion payment/NDA and settlement, and the book keeper presented it to Trump for payment under the category of “legal expense”, and he paid it, would Trump be guilty of only one felony? Is it one felony 34 times or 34 distinct felonies? Please justify your answer. 34 felonies sounds so much better on the TV ads. Kind of like saying 18 million unvetted illegals entered the country under Biden due to his withdrawal from the Trump border policies with likely tens of thousands of military Chinese and Islamic terrorists among this group along with hundreds of thousands of criminal gang members will sound good on Republican TV ads. I am more concerned with terrorists than alleged accounting errors.

        Liked by 3 people

      5. you sound like a babbling buffoon AGAIN……GIVE IT A REST…….stick to calling out Scott, you’re good at it…

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  7. I don’t know about LSU but it would stand that SC probably would have more fans rooting for them than the Tigers, and then later is Michigan which is 2-6 or 1-6 recently so the Wolverines are really looking forward to that contest, but hopefully SC will resemble the old SC teams of equal balance and give Mich a game

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  8. PlaSChke writes that new Laker coach JJ doesn’t stand for ‘Just Joking,’ that Redick really is the new coach who is smart and knows basketball strategy but let’s see him strategize his way out of the Denver roadblock while nurse-maiding Lebron’s final 2 years (and with Brawny?) of probably mediocre basketball

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    1. LeBron approved of JJ Redick. JJ has no coaching experience at any level. Why would the Lakers make such a hire? Because LeBron is the coach and he likes it that way.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. Meanwhile I was wondering what Miller Moss was doing this summer in preparing for September’s LSU and Michigan games, he probably should be working on his foot speed

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      1. And praying that the line he has now will not get injured. Because the back-ups are not ready and it seems that even the coaches acknowledge that.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Numerous republican judges are calling Aileen Cannon a dumba$$. I agree 100%

    The appeals court already slapped her around once…… People are tired of her kicking the can down the road.

    $hit or get off the pot…….

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    2. Gabby: Biden was found by the DOJ to be too mentally incompetent to prosecute for his illegal retention of classified documents over a 40 year career. He had classified documents in his garage and at the Biden/Chinese Center for Diplomacy at Penn. (Big Guy collected 900K from the CCP on that deal.) He had no right to de-classify the documents during this time because he was not President. Hur concluded that Biden was guilty yet a sympathetic old man with a poor memory and therefore recommended against prosecution. The Democratic think tanks have still not figured out how to respond to the Hur finding. It appears by the acceptance of this finding they are acknowledging that their Presidential candidate is mentally incompetent. The Leftists Dems are even resisting disclosure of a recording of the Hur/Biden interview that was subpoenaed by the House. (It must really be bad.) That ought to trouble every American but not most Leftists Democrats. And even the Leftists Democrats acknowledge that Trump is mentally competent to stand trial on the same charges that Biden was deemed too incompetent to withstand. Too bad that Trump is not braindead like China Joe so that the DOJ could not pursue the case. But he is still sharp so now you have to deal with a real Judge like Aileen Cannon.

      Remember the Leftist motto, if you can’t win on the merits, cheat.

      dOJand you would not have to deal with Judge Aileen Cannon.

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      1. plow…….you lost my attention after the first senstance……debunking you again is not worth my time…… quit being a cry babby…..it’a bad look for an 80 year old hunckback.

        It’s real simple…..here’s the reality you keep avoiding, trump is running from the law and Biden is running the country. trump is desepetate and knows if he doesn’t win he’s looking at dying in prison….

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      2. Gabby says “you lost my attention after the first senstance.”

        Maybe that is why he didn’t do very well in school.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. more like “the same old $hit just a different pile”

        I am sure you understand, being the expert on “dung”

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      4. BREAKING: The Hur/Biden interview was leaked today and some say it could prove embarrassing due to “historical confusion” on the part of the prez —-[e.g., in the recording Biden asks Hur if he’s Ben Hur…… Hur says “that was a different Hur, Sir”….about 20 seconds later Biden tells Hur he was at the “Big Race”….but didn’t see the outcome cuz he was was arrested, along with Nelson Mandela, by Emperor Tiberius].

        #Jill: “LooksLIkeThatStutteringProblemIsPoppingUpAgain

        Liked by 2 people

      5. Sola said when you typed that buffoonary your nose went to a place no man has gone before……icicles hanging off the chin….gross!

        that is worth a chest pump……don’t twist the nut again…..

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      6. Plow might have something–

        Maximilian Schell to feeble Montgomery Clift in “Judgement at Nuremberg”: “Were you a bright student?”

        #JudgeMerchanWillEndUpTheImprisonedBurtLancasterNaziJudge

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      8. Gabby to Plow: I object to your argument 100%!

        Plow to Gabby: How far did you get?

        Gabby: The first part of the first sentence.

        Liked by 2 people

  11. According to an inside source, Aileen Cannon is on trump’s payroll……when confronted, trump said he has never hear of her…….senile sack of $hit

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      1. ….or how about trump claiming he was hung like a horse and stormy told the jury she kept having to ask him ” is it in yet”

        the problem is similar to your issues……o’ wait……you’re a limp-dic member….my bad

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    1. Finebaum called Riley a “total fraud who has no path going forward.” He made that statement after the UCLA game. I was fine with the statement at the time but not now. Since that time, Riley has hired great defensive coaches and brought in defensive transfers that will likely start. He has put a lot of energy into recruiting with some success despite the recent decommitments. We have a chance to win 9 or 10 games next year and if that happens we will have a tremendous recruiting class and be right back into being one of the premiere programs of college football.

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      2. Well said…. Riley knew he had to clean house, build a staff and defense with the ability to keep the team in the game especially if scoring is down with the turnover at key offensive positions. Staying fresh along the D-line has me a little worried. Bear needs to play an All-American

        We have to be competitive against LSU. A strong showing will build on the confidence from the bowl win. A one possession game deep into the 4th quarter would feel good. A blow-out will bring out the haters with more mud slinging.

        Lets made Finebaum eat his words.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. What would really feel good is to physically beat them up…but….since that is not gonna happen ….. going into the 4th with a chance to pull out a victory will definitely do…..

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  13. Listening to Don McClean admiration for JJ Reddick in stark contrast to Bill Plaschke’s column in today’s LAT. Reddick has a reputation as being overly confident and ‘…the smartest guy in the room…; – rather reminds one of a certain former head coach that was finally fired for the LA Chargers….even look an awfully lot alike.

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  14. Jonathan Turley: Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy previously added Bill DeBlasio to the faculty and will now add Lori Lightfoot despite their controversial terms as mayors. Despite the criticism, faculties continue to maintain a spectrum of thought that runs from the left to the far left.

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    1. Unbelievable. The Ford Foundation is one of the many reasons why Warren Buffett will not leave a trust fund for his kids. And if your talking de Blassio and Lightfoot it is not left. It’s communist and insane. They helped destroy two of America’s great cities and get rewarded for it.

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      1. STFU……MORE WHINING AND CRYING ….IT’S CONSTANT…….MORE TO RUSSIA …THE COUNTRY WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR MOVE.

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      3. Your right Gabby. Lori Lightfoot and Bill De Blassio did a fine job as Mayors of their respective cities. Do people feel safe in these cities? No. Has it gotten so bad that millions have fled the cities? Yes. How are the economic opportunities in these cities. Dismal. Retail and office vacancies abound. Businesses are leaving. Chain stores are closing. Gabby, think a bite before you comment. “I should move to Russia if I don’t like the policies of these Democratic Mayors.” C”mon, you can do better than that crap.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Brick and mortor are closing because of internet commerce….dumba$$

         plow , think a bite before you comment…” C”mon, you can do better than that crap.

        FYI…….murder and crime rates are higher per capita in republican run cities…. do your homework dumba$$……… laughing my a$$ off

        dude, you’re too easy to debunk…..I see why you failed practicing law

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      5. Plow Horse, I’ve been onto the Ford Foundation for awhile … I’ll never buy a Ford because of it (hadn’t prior to that either). I think Turley was being charitable in his comments.

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      7. Gabby DOES think before posting: “What would George Soros say?”

        #IfSorosEverReadStuffGabbPutsUpHe’d[Almost]GetErection

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Without exception, Democrat-run cities basically overrun Fort Apache vis-à-vis crime and lack of law enforcement (because of soft-on-crime prosecutors and dwindling police force numbers).

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      7. Charles:

        Elect a Soros funded Mayor and DA. Defund the police. Hire social workers instead. De-criminalize drug crimes, prostitution, trespassing, burglary, minor theft, public intoxication, loitering, toll fare jumping, ect. Stop responding to reports of crime. Stop investigating crime. Stop reporting on crime. Stop prosecuting crime. This is the Soros/Gascon policy. Then claim statistics show crime is down. Nobody who lives in Los Angeles County believes it but say it anyway because truth in not a virtue to the left.

        Liked by 4 people

      9. CR, the Blog Dunce/Village Idiot will never admit defeat. No matter how much she’s been shown to be a complete fool AGAIN, she’ll claim victory. They don’t come any stupider. EVERYONE on this blog knows it.

        Liked by 1 person

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