FOOTBALL

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

How puzzling does this sound? The USC Alumni Assn. is only going to have a membership tent for three home games this season: San Jose State, Washington and Ohio State.

Shouldn’t an alumni assn. have a tent at every home game? They used to in years past. And why San Jose State over Oregon? Which game will draw more fans? Alums have complained about the association for several years. No surprise.

  • The Pasadena Quarterbacks Club is back this fall but will be called The Rose Bowl Quarterbacks Club and take place in the South End Zone Field Club at the Rose Bowl.

The lunches have moved to Thursdays from its traditional Friday time. The first one is Sept. 17th and will have Linda Cohn and Neil Everett, former ESPN hosts and anchors, as guest speakers.

  • Let’s hope this gets fixed in Exposition Park before USC’s season-opener vs. San Jose State. This is an extremely crowded route from campus to the Coliseum on game days.
  • USC is eyeing a bid to operate NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, according to LA Material. The lab is famously run by Caltech.
  • And now for some history:

CELEBRITY FILES

  • Now here is a scene that would be nice to find on video or a picture.

In the late 1950’s, Yankees legend Joe DiMaggio attended a USC game with his former wife, world-famous actress Marilyn Monroe. The pair sat in a VIP section of the Coliseum. At halftime, ABC-TV wanted to interview DiMaggio so he came into the pressbox and went to the broadcast booth. He was not joined by Monroe, who stayed in the stands.

  • There was a celebrity near-miss in 1938, where actors Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor missed the 1938 USC-Notre Dame game because she had to shoot scenes on a Saturday for the film, “Union Pacific.” No. 8-ranked USC upset No. 1-ranked Notre Dame, 13-0, at the Coliseum.
  • One of the first USC organizations to start supporting athletics was “the Trojan club,” which started in 1923 and created the “Monday Morning Quarterback” lunches where the football coach would review the previous game.

The Trojan club was also a star-studded group in the late 1940’s. Actors Clark Gable, Robert Taylor and Edward Arnold were members in “good standing.” Los Angeles mayor Fletcher Bowron was also a member.

Gable and Taylor were huge movie stars during this time.

  • Everyone remembers USC beat Notre Dame, 55-24, in 1974.

But no one remembers some of the post-game spin from the Irish.

  • Notre Dame defensive back Reggie Barrett said after the game that Michigan State was better than USC. Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 19-14.
  • Irish coach Ara Parseghian said it was too cold in South Bend to prepare for the game and then too warm in Los Angeles.

“We had a week of preparation and it was very difficult for us.” said Parseghian. “We had to work indoors under limited conditions. It snowed. There was ice outside. We wound up working out in 20- and 30-degree temperatures. The blood thickens.

“We have never played a good second half out here. Look what happened to Minnesota here last week against the Rams. It looked like Minnesota was dominating the football game and in the fourth period the same damn thing happened.”

If Parseghian were Lincoln Riley, he would have dropped the rivalry right then and there.

GREAT NEAR-MISSES FOR USC BASEBALL

  • Darrell Evans, who hit 414 home runs in the major leagues, had a locker with his name plate at USC but didn’t have the grades to enter school. So he went to Pasadena City College for a year to get his grades up.

Evans played on the PCC basketball team, coached by Jerry Tarkanian. PCC won the state championship and then Evans led the baseball team to the state title. None of that helped his grades, however, and he never went to USC.

  • George Brett was close to going to USC but signed with the Kansas City Royals for $75,000 after being taken in the second round. Brett was a late signee, which made USC think it might get him.
  • Ken Brett was considered by some to be a better prospect (as an outfielder) than his brother, George, and was headed to USC before he signed with the Boston Red Sox as the No. 4 overall pick in the 1966 Major League Baseball draft. The Red Sox made Ken Brett a pitcher instead.
  • Tim Foli was also headed to USC but became the No. 1 overall pick in the 1968 baseball draft.
  • Bobby Valentine and Bill Buckner were friends and supposed to go to USC but the Dodgers signed both. Valentine was selected No. 5 in the first round in 1968 and Buckner was picked in the second round. They actually attended classes at USC.
  • Robin Yount thought about going to USC but told the coaches he didn’t like the uniforms. He ended being the No. 3 pick overall in the 1973 draft.
  • Lloyd Allen was a pitcher expected to go to USC but then was the No. 12 overall pick in the draft and went pro.
  • Ozzie Smith went to Locke High School, seven miles from USC, but the Trojans’ coaches didn’t even know who he was and Smith went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on an academic scholarship.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Alexandra Bastedo

Peggy Dow

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

  1. DON: Back in the day there were no luxury suites for the rich, if you went to a ballgame you sat in the bleachers with the masses

    KAM: Can you imagine looking over and seeing Marilyn Monroe sitting right next to you?

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    1. KAM: The story that will be spun by the Fake News about Jason Arday will be that his death lies at the feet of the people who called out his serial fabulations for being what they so transparently were, but the real story is of an elite academic world that was so excited by a compelling narrative that they rushed a clearly mentally unbalanced man with no real qualifications to the heights of academia because he ticked so many useful boxes.

      DON: If anybody in the lazy stupid visionless incompetent Fake News or academia had stopped to drill into his story BEFORE we got to the point that he was a leading authority figure none of this would have happened.

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  2. KAM: “We have never played a good second half out here,” says ND’s coach Ara P

    DON: Too bad he didn’t catch the 2024 game when the Irish in the second half got two 100-yard interceptions

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    1. This week it seems to be moving along better than last week…..

      #ThankYou,Scott….IfThisTurnsOutToBeMyLast”IfIt’sFriday”…

      #…YouMadeItMemorable

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  4. KAM: Since 1923 SC has had the Monday Morning Quarterback club

    DON: That’s when the public gets a chance to tell the coach that in last Saturday’s game everything he did wrong i

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  5. Scott, another fact filled Friday historical walk through USC history. I did notice that you couldn’t resist a snarky ND comment at the end of your commentary about the 1974 game. But, i am glad that you pointed out the the Princess School makes lots of excuses for their losses. Now that colleges have become the A league for major league baseball. less and less players are drafted right out of high school. Too bad that schools can’t affiliate with major league teams so that when they draft high school players, they could go to the affiliated college for their first three minor league years and go to the Big Show when ready. USC and Cal State Long Beach could be the Dodger school and UCLA and Cal State Fullerton, the Angels’ affiliated school. Just a thought. Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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    1. Ara was absolutely shell shocked by the final whistle…. he tripped walking away from his handshake with McKay….. and then be babbled in his post game interviews like a little crack baby…..

      #SometimesIt’sBetterToSay”GreatGame”AndMoveOn….

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  6. DON: That is Anthony Davis doing his knee dance after scoring another run-back touchdown against Notre Dame

    KAM: That dancing would drive the Irish crazy

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    1. KAM: As the “vibe shift” takes hold, D e m o c r a t s who enthusiastically partook in the most extreme “Woke 1” rhetoric find themselves in a bind. Their old statements now seem unhinged. They can admit they were wrong, perhaps with a nod and a wink to how crazy we all went during lockdown. Or they can dig in their heels and stand by their old positions.

      DON: Neither option is particularly attractive.

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      2. KAM: With 3:48 left in the 4th quarter tied 10-10 with the ball on the Ohio State 43 yard line, Terry Donahue angrily ordered his potent offense led by running backs Wendell Tyler and Theotis Brown and flanker Wally Henry off the field and had Frank Corral punt into the end zone!

        DON: That moment of cowardice marked Terry Donahue’s 20 year career of blowing close games and never coming near to a national title.

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  8. I recall Parseghian blamed the 74′ defeat because of the smog….either way it was his own classless teardown of USC in 1966 that earned him the contempt and true animus of John McKay.

    As electrifying as Anthony Davis was in 1974, the complete wrecking of Joe Theismann’s campaign to sway Heisman voters by claiming his last name rhymed with ‘Heisman’ in the 1970 was the greatest upset even greater than 1964….last game….’the princess’ boasting a 9 – 0 record…ranked # 2 against an unranked pathetic 5 – 4 – 1 USC squad

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  9. Mike I remember years later, early 90s I think, Theismann trying to get under Roger Staubach’s skin by coyly speaking of his (Theismann) winning NFL MVP Trophy in 83 to which Staubach returned fire “….can’t say much about that ‘Joe’ but I do know about winning the Heisman….”

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      3. KAM: Would Matt Leinart trade winning the Heisman for a NFL MVP Award.?

        DON: Leinart, a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL Bust, was supposed to take over for Kurt Warner when the veteran QB was finished in Arizona. That remained the plan until 2010, when Leinart lost the job to Derek Anderson and was released. Leinart did start 17 games throughout his Cardinals tenure but managed just seven wins and 10 losses.

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  10. DON: SC fans still talk about that 1974 SC-ND game when the game turned from 24-0 Irish to 55-24 Trojans. 55 straight points

    KAM: Some SC fans were actually laughing as SC kept scoring so fast in just one quarter, like a pinball machine

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    1. KAM: Starting with the Mainstream Moderate Democrats like Cowardly Gabby embracing socialism, you already know you’re dealing mostly with low intelligence, low historical or geopolitical literacy, and basically bumper sticker levels of logic and reasoning. So there’s that.

      DON: At the higher levels, simple manipulative deception, but that tends to blither and blunder less.

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  11. KAM: What SC fans forget is that the 55-24 victory in 1974 led to a Rose Bowl game with Ohio St for the National Championship, and that 18-17 comeback by SC was far more thrilling

    DON: I can still see it–down 17-10 late in the game, it is Haden-to-McKay for 17-16, and then Diggs digs out the 2-pointer

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  12. KAM: Matt Leinart’s name was mentioned. He came close to winning 3 national titles in a row

    DON: Those 2003-2005 years produced great teammates surrounding Leinart. He didn’t have that kind of team in the NFL

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    1. KAM: Search Assist

      The Arizona Cardinals reached Super Bowl XLIII in the 2008 season after Kurt Warner replaced Matt Leinart as the starting quarterback… So much for “not having great teammates in the NFL.”

      DON: More proof Cowardly Gabby is impersonating Sparrow after Sparrow left in a huff after Kamala lost in 2024. Cowardly Gabby has zero Football IQ.

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      2. KAM: You stuck your foot in your big mouth once again and can’t admit you were wrong, you pompous windbag.

        DON: BWWWWWWWWWWWAAHAHAAAAAA!!!

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  13. KAM: It’s nice to reflect back on the glory days because they probably won’t be repeating themselves. These days it is just too hard to consistently win

    DON: Parity has arrived, at least partially. But any Top-25 team is capable of upsetting a higher rated team.

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  14. KAM: So the Lakers owner sells the team after about one year for $12.5 billion, a profit of $2.5 billion

    DON: This reminds me of a line by Steve McQueen after conducting a business deal he says while walking out, “You overpaid”

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    1. KAM: Poor Rory wilted in the heat and is in 59th place behind the leader Scottie Scheffler in the tournament in steamy Memphis.

      DON: Why they scheduled the PGA Fed Ex playoffs in the Deep South in August is a mystery. Who goofed?

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  15. KAM: So now it is official. A Notre Dame coach said the only reason his team loses half its games played at the coliseum is because of the weather– it’s usually too hot

    DON: And SC loses 2 out of 3 at their place because of the weather– it’s usually too cold

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  16. Good news for MG– the hurricane posed to strike Hawaii island has been apparently downgraded to a tropical storm, and its effects will later hit the higher areas of Maui

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    1. Yeah! [Here’s a fun story: I went on Google A. I. and asked if the max winds had been downgraded –I was told no. I asked why the weather channel contradicted the A. I. answer –A. I. apologized and said it was programmed to give out the worst possible “threat levels” —but it would take note of the fact I wanted fact-based answers].

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  18. KAM: I still find it amazing how grown men can write such insulting things about other men they don’t even know except for their ideas

    DON: I don’t have to write things down, I just tell them to their face what I think of them

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