FOOTBALL

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

USC pitcher Ben Cushnie has entered the transfer portal. He pitched 22 innings last season and had a 1.64 ERA with 13 strikeouts. Another pitcher, Garren Rizzo, who pitched only nine innings before getting injured, entered the portal. Freshman pitcher Jake Sekany, who redshirted, entered the portal this morning.

  • Geoffrey Garrett, the dean of USC’s Marshall School of Business, was ousted by a faculty coup on Wednesday, according to LAMaterial.com. And in a delicious irony, the popular former dean, Jim Ellis, who was forced out and replaced by Garrett, is going to be advisor to the interim dean.

Garrett had been hired with a lot of fanfare by Carol Folt.

The faculty had been upset over declining enrollment and cuts to graduate programs.

  • When is the last time a USC game at the Coliseum had this energy?
  • And now for some history:
  • There was intense speculation in May, 1975, that John McKay might leave USC for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That was about six months before McKay was hired.

It was probably crazy he remained the coach at USC after taking the job. But the Trojans were 7–0 and ranked No. 3 in the nation when Tampa Bay hired him. USC then lost four straight games.

Some players felt McKay lost interest. He fell asleep in his office during a bowl practice and student managers had to wake him up and get him out to the field.

  • When USC played Michigan in the 1977 Rose Bowl, USC president John Hubbard made a $10 bet with President Gerald Ford, who played for the Wolverines.
  • There are so many great stories of past USC figures that don’t get spotlighted enough.

Virgil Lubberden was the student editor of the USC yearbook in 1949. Under his editorship, the largest number of female staffers worked for the yearbook.

Lubberden eventually returned to USC to become business manager of the athletic dept. and then associate athletic director for more than 25 years. He was also the first permanent game manager of the Rose Bowl, serving from 1972-85 and he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2008.

Virgil and his twin brother, Verle, were drafted during World War II and placed in the same military unit. On Nov. 14, 1944, the twins were part of a drive to Strasbourg, France, when a mortar exploded and injured Verle’s leg and arm. Virgil tended his brother, who was then taken to the hospital.

The next day, Virgil, no longer with his injured brother, was struck by a mortar round that injured his arm and leg. The brothers ended up in beds next to each in the hospital. After multiple surgeries and a long recovery process, the brothers, who grew up in Iowa, decided to return to California where they went to army training.

They enrolled at USC in the fall of 1945 and were devout Trojan fans for the rest of their lives. The brothers still lived together well into their late 80’s.

Virgil Lubberden
  • When Virgil worked in the athletic dept., he was famous for always being the first one in the office. One morning in 1971, he saw two caretakers approach what they thought was a drunk student laying in the baseball infield at Bovard Field.

Lubberden went to see what was going on and the trio discovered it was former USC pitcher Bruce Gardner.

“He was sprawled out, face down,” Lubberden told Inside Sports. “I didn’t realize at first it was Bruce. It was just unbelievable when I found out who it was.”

Gardner had walked out to the infield and shot himself in the head. He had three plaques with him when he died: A baseball All-American certificate, his USC diploma and a suicide note.

Gardner had a 40-5 record at USC from 1958-60 with a 2.72 ERA. His 40 career victories was a USC record for nearly 40 years. He won a school-record 18 games in 1960 and was named national player of the year. He was even 10-0 on the USC freshmen team.

But he never got over the fact his mother refused to let him sign with the Chicago White Sox after his freshman year at USC for $66,500. By the time he signed a pro contract in 1960 after playing at USC, his stock had dropped and it was for a $12,000 bonus. He then had arm problems and was out of baseball after three years in the minors.

Bruce Gardner

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Victoria Principal

Beverly Adams

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

You might have seen everything but you have you seen Johnny Bench on Hee Haw?

Bench sang the Jim Croce classic, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” in January, 1973 (the video incorrectly says 1969). This was just a couple months after he won his second National League MVP award after he hit ,270 with 40 home runs and 125 RBI.

Can you imagine an MVP doing this today? But then they couldn’t sing like Bench.

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

  1. KAM:: So a lot of the SC pitchers are bailing

    DON: : A pitcher in baseball commands the most NIL, similar to football quarterbacks only at a lesser amount

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  2. Tragic about Gardner. People forget that irrespective of outward appearances, you may never really know what a person is dealing with.

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    1. I remember that morning early June ….I was a jr. housed in Touton – on the 4th floor. From our window one could see the left hand side of the baseball diamond with that huge tree overhanging the field. When the report was heard we headed over and ghoulishly peered in from the left field corner and were quickly ‘shooed’ away by team officials.

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    1. I thought Bench sung really well. Hate to admit this but I am kind of a Hee Haw fan. Some very talented singers, musicians, jokesters and plenty of pretty girls.

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  5. Bruce Gardner turned down a small fortune of nearly $70,000 in 1960 when a good salary was $10,000. It appears he knew he’d never make that kind of money again outside baseball, and so he couldn’t take it

    SC’s twins, Virgil and Verle remind us that even the men that return home alive from wars can be physically battered

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  6. DON: I always believed that Americans have not universally embraced soccer because there is too little scoring in the game

    KAM: Maybe that is part of soccer’s charm– because goals are so hard to come by, each one is worthy of independent celebration

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    1. Kids sometimes use the indoor basketball court to play soccer. Much smaller than a regulation field and fewer players. The result is many more shots on goal. I find it more entertaining. The problem with traditional soccer is there are relatively few one on one match-ups between the kicker and one defender or the kicker and the goalie. The shots on goal are the most exciting part of the game.

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  7. DON: But it is frustrating when a team has a nice march down the field and still ends up with nothing.

    KAM: Perhaps they could instill something akin to the ‘field goal in football, where a team that is goal-thwarted still gets some point credit

    DON: –Like having 3-points for a goal and 1-point for a free kick. But soccer fans are traditionalists and will never agree to that

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  8. wow, bench looks appropriately awkward…i wonder how in the world they got him to do this?? you whipper-snappers weren’t around back in the 70’s when they tried to turn everyone of some notable fame into singers: i am reminded of the painfully stiff Mark Spitz who was forced onto variety shows to do comedy and singing. he even had a short-lived show at one of the local theme parks! ugh.

    #OnlyWolfCouldPullThatOff

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    1. That is so unfair! Marlon Brando watched a Spitz’ milk commercial at Joe’s Bar in Century City and told the bartender, “That is what acting is all about!” [I remember Spitz, who lived in Marina Del Rey when I lived there, being asked by a barmaid at Gulliver’s Steakhouse if he was embarrassed being associated with drinking milk —Spitz cleverly retorted “Well, have you ever seen me order a small?”]….

      #WhatAComeBack!

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      1. Spitz, MickeyG and Brando carousing in Marina Del Rey…the broads dint stand a chance!!

        #UnlessYourInterestsConflictWithMine
        #TheMousePack

        Liked by 3 people

  9. If USC has declining enrollment, why is it so difficult to get in. I hear horror stories from alumni who can’t get their kids or grandkids in even though they have 3.75 gpa and high SAT scores.

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      2. This is turning into Old Home week. Morgan Fairchild was going with a great guy, Chuck Dennault, who played football on my 1961 CYO team. Sadly, he was stopped for impaired driving years later and “killed himself” with his own handgun while the officer was checking registration.

        The whole situation seemed hard to believe. I’d love to know what really happened.

        Liked by 2 people

  11. Scott this is a telling report –
    =================
    Geoffrey Garrett, the dean of USC’s Marshall School of Business, was ousted by a faculty coup on Wednesday, according to LAMaterial.com. And in a delicious irony, the popular former dean, Jim Ellis, who was forced out and replaced by Garrett, is going to be advisor to the interim dean.

    Garrett had been hired with a lot of fanfare by Carol Folt.

    The faculty had been upset over declining enrollment and cuts to graduate programs.
    ==================
    From what I see on his curriculum vitae – he has no degree none in accounting, economics, mathematics – nearly all ‘poli sci’ that’s a red flag for a ‘bull fertilizing’ leftist – the capper is ‘Folt’ brought him on-board i.e. sounds like John F. Kerry or Al Gore skill set.

    Good he got fired – good riddance

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  14. DON: SC’s Coach McKay left the Trojans in 1975, still in the prime of his career, although the successor Coach Robo had a remarkable 5-year run with some of McKay’s players

    KAM: And just how does a team go from 7-0, hears the news of McKay’s departure, and then loses 4 in a row. Although it is said that Coach had a special touch with a team

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      1. KAM: I will never understand how we lost to UCLA 25-22 that season after we recovered 9 of 11 Bruin fumbles!

        DON: What a miraculous turnaround for those bumbling Bruins defeating #1 Ohio State 23-10 in the Rose Bowl.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. The thing the Trojans lacked after McKay said “bye” — killer instinct.

        #WeCouldaEasilyTiedThemAtEndButMcKayWentForWin

        Liked by 1 person

      4. No doubt about it: James was amazing [and he got himself some phucking great QB’s to lead the way]…..

        #RememberWhenOneOfHisQB’sFlippedTheBall..

        #…InTheEndZone….

        #…AndTheCorruptRefsTookTheWinningT.D.OffTheBoard?

        Liked by 1 person

      5. KAM: What game was that?

        DON: I remember a Don James UW team losing to Arizona when the Wildcat RB bounced in the end zone from the 3 yard line and the Pac 10 official signaled it was a TD!

        Liked by 1 person

      6. I can’t remember which game it was — but I’m sure it happened…

        #[IfIWeren’tSoDamnLazyI’dResearchThis]…

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  15. DON: I follow the old saying, “One sword keeps another in the sheath”

    KAM: Maybe so, but when hearing the details of victory it is hard to distinguish it from defeat

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    1. KAM: When one side loses their leader and their army and navy…

      DON: ..only a D e m o c r a t loon would not recognize it as defeat for their allies the M u r d e r o u s M u s l i m s.

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    1. Even if you love Donald to death you have a hard time explaining why he didn’t wait until after the midterms to wage this fight…. he’s endangering his party …and himself….when all he’s up to could have waited till next year….

      Liked by 1 person

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  17. KAM: This talk is too heavy, let’s get back to sports

    DON: With the New York-San Antonio basketball series, which team will show up tonight, the San Antonio in the 1st half of the last game, or the New York in the 2nd half?

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  18. KAM: –Of all the sports crowds can any excel a passionate soccer crowd? Between its coordinated cheering, singing songs, and a collective excitement with goals, there might not be another like it

    DON: Players talk about how a home crowd “energizes” them while negatively influencing visiting players

    KAM: Another reason for the excitement is because of the low scoring nalture of the game, a team is almost always in the game

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