FOOTBALL

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

USC has announced the guidelines to be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year.

1. Have earned one or more varsity letters in a sport at USC

2. Have gained national distinction through exceptional athletic performance — for example, earning First Team All-America honors, winning an individual national championship, receiving a national award, achieving All-Conference recognition or holding USC and/or NCAA records, or…

3. Have achieved notable success in a professional athletic career or participated in the Olympic Games or World Championships

4. Have established a personal reputation for integrity, leadership and civic responsibility that brings honor to the University

5. Be at least 20 years removed from graduation or the exhaustion of collegiate eligibility

Note: A student-athlete who earns a degree from USC but later transfers remains eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. However, those who transfer before completing a bachelor’s degree at USC are not eligible for induction.

Each new Hall of Fame class will see the eligibility window reduced by two years, eventually standardizing at 10 years after graduation or the completion of collegiate eligibility.

I didn’t think that 20-year removed from graduation rule would last because in the past, USC held a big Hall of Fame dinner and liked to have some recent big names in order to sell dinner tickets.

  • Some have wondered why the USC-Iowa game is on the Big Ten Network instead of, say, CBS.

The reason is each Big Ten school must appear on Big Ten Network twice during the football season, with at least one of those being against a conference opponent. USC and Iowa have appeared only once this season.

  • And now for some history:
  • The Carpenters performed at Trojan Night at Disneyland on Dec. 19, 1974. Trojan Night celebrated the football team making it to the Rose Bowl game. Nelson Riddle and his orchestra also performed. Tickets cost $7.50.
  • Iowa visited the Coliseum in 1974. USC won, 41-3. USC safety Charles Phillips intercepted three passes. That looks like All-American Gary Jeter below.

NOW THIS WAS A PERFORMANCE VS. NOTRE DAME

When USC defeated Notre Dame in South Bend in 1967, linebacker Adrian Young intercepted four passes.

“Adrian Young, their linebacker, was fantastic. He was in the right place at the right time all day,” Notre Dame coach Ara Parseghian said.

The USC defense had seven interceptions overall and it was the Trojans first win in South Bend since 1939.

A notable feature of this game was the kickoff being delayed about six minutes.
“I was not going to take my team onto the field first,” John McKay said. “Two years ago, Notre Dame kept our boys waiting on the field in the rain for about 15 minutes before they made their appearance.

“Then they walloped us, 28-7. This time if Notre Dame had not gone out there first,
there just wouldn’t have been a game.”

Adrian Young (50) vs. Notre Dame
  • It’s Homecoming weekend so let’s remember some great moments from the past. Vampira, who hosted a TV show in Los Angeles at the time on KABC-TV (Channel 7), is driven in the Alpha Tau Omega car at the USC homecoming parade in 1954.
  • Look at the head-spinning number of events for Homecoming week in 1951. Note the variety shows Wednesday and Thursday at the Shrine Auditorium; the big parade down the Miracle Mile on Friday; the dinner-dance at the Biltmore Hotel on Friday and the Homecoming Dance at the Deauville club in Santa Monica on Saturday.
  • Dorothy Dandridge performed at the 1951 USC Homecoming variety show, which is listed as “Trolios” above. Four years later, she was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for her role in Carmen Jones.

Dandridge attended William McKinley Junior High School (now known as George Washington Carver Junior High School) in Los Angeles. The school is just 2 miles from USC.

  • Singer Jo Stafford with George Tirebiter at 1947 USC Homecoming show. Stafford performed her NBC radio show live from the Shrine Auditorium as part of the festivities. Prior to the show, Stafford was named top female artist played on juke boxes by the trade publication Coinbox. By 1953, she signed a four-year $1 million deal with CBS-TV and by 1954 became the second artist behind Bing Crosby to sell 25 million records.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Ballerina/model/actress Ingrid Boulting

Linda Ronstadt performed the national anthem at the 1977 World Series at Dodger Stadium.

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

    1. Karen had one of the all time great voices. What a treat to see her at Disneyland along with Nelson Riddle for a very affordable $7.50. Disney now wants $40 to park with another $175 just to enter the park. They have priced out 80% of the population. Walt Disney built the park so that parents and grandparents had a fun and wholesome place to take their kids. That is no longer the case.

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      1. Let’s just say Bob Iger’s ‘pretend-woke’ philosophy [which actually discriminates against poor families] would make Walt throw up…..

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    1. A shame we weren’t able to schedule a softer opponent for Homecoming. Always nice for alumni to celebrate a win that day.

      Since there’s no longer a Homecoming parade, Iowa will only be able to rain on our parade in a figurative sense. Mother Nature, on the other hand, will be handling the literal sense of that phrase.

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      1. Maybe the rain will fall over the rest of Los Angeles…. but not the Coliseum. [I like the idea of bringing the team out 40 minutes after Iowa takes the field if it does rain]….

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  3. That $7.50 ticket to see the Carpenters would be about $35 or so today, adjusted for inflation, way below what a headline concert would go for today.

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      2. KAM: Brain dead vile antisemitic and racist Board Pest Board Cancer Cowardly Gabby aka Sparrow Calypso aka TebowObama aka Charlie Bucket the UCLA Fan aka The Guy who posts as Buddhakarma & So Cal’s Wife & Michael Guarino & Trojan RJJ & LawyerJohn & Pudly & Plow Horse and TrojanFan 1-3 & steveg49 & DOJ & Scott Wolf and Frank Young and KATHY and Foreskin Thoughts and SCOTTLOVESTHEROOOOOTTÞ and Manureman and eric  and Smacky is a sick stalker and doxxer.

        DON: I hope MG is armed and ready.

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      7. 100% —-hollow points are so tight.

        [Our community would spot her as soon as soon as she climbed the gates —–from there: target practice]….

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  5. “He was in the right place at the right time all day.” 

    How do you throw four interceptions to a linebacker in one game. That ought to be some type of record. C’mon Ara. Stop trying to force the play into the same area. But I do like the strategy of making the other team wait 15 minutes in the rain. Is that a violation of the “unfair tactics” rule? I think switching jersey numbers is classier than making the opponent wait in the rain.

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      1. Point of Order: “The Spirit of the Rules” is like Lawrence Tribe saying Trump is violating “The Penumbra of the 9th Amendment by asking for Letitia James’ mortgage applications.”

        #The”Penumbra”OfThe9thAmendment?….

        #WhoPhuckingTalksThatWay?

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      2. QB play has evolved so much that I doubt that most starting D1 QBs in the mid-1960s could have started on a decent high school team today.

        Even 35 years ago it was so different. NFL QBs had a distance throwing competition. Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman threw for 66 yards. Our redshirt frosh Husan Longstreet heaved it 77 yards as a 17-year old, using throwing techniques that weren’t prevalent in Aikman’s time. Aikman was using a lot of pure arm strength, today there is more emphasis on the core and ground reaction forces to generate rotational power.

        Video below of Aikman heaving it 66 yards.

        https://www.facebook.com/CBSSports/videos/1997-pro-bowl-quarterback-challenge-brett-favre-troy-aikman-drew-bledsoe-nfllega/1144488893946267/

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      5. Ya gotta love Brett. Remember that multi -touchdown performance right after his Dad died? What a fitting memorial to a beloved parent!

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      6. The only other guy I can think of that captured his persona was McMahon.

        And like McMahon, Favre is now having cognitive issues. Poor fella also has Parkinsons. He was a very heavy drinker back in the day, so it is perhaps hard to know how much was concussions/football versus alcohol abuse.

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      7. I’m reminded of Sean Connery’s acceptance speech at the AFI Life Achievement Awards: “It’s been a great life…too bad the last act has been such sh*t.”

        #AlwaysTheOptimistHeAdded,”ButNotTonight!”

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      8. #The”Penumbra”OfThe9thAmendment?…. #WhoPhuckingTalksThatWay?

        A person who lives in the classroom, not a court room. Never heard Lawrence Tribe say anything useful.

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  6. I wonder what Scott would say if Lincoln made a team wait before coming out of the tunnel. My guess is that he would hate it and go on a diatribe about it. And yes I know Lincoln is no John McKay, but still.

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      1. that’s an option, but not that serious, I just won’t wear jerseys. Can’t bring myself to wear one with name, no offense to anyone that does

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  8. KAM: -Would love to have been with the Carpenters and Trojans in late 1974 after SC had beaten Notre Dame in the famous 55-24 game. What a celebration that would have been!

    DON: And then after the ’55-24′ game that 1974 team beat Ohio St in the Rose Bowl for the National Championship. ’55-24′ became a laugher in the second half, whereas the Trojans Rose Bowl victory was dramatic to the end–And for the Title. There is nothing more exciting than being at a game like that

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  9. DON: So at SC if you don’t graduate you are not eligible for the Hall of Fame. In these days of ‘the Transfer’ few will be graduating. When their eligibility is up it’s time to find another job

    KAM: But give the footballers credit because they Have to be an SC student, whether for a year or longer

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