FOOTBALL

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

We are now in Week 3 of this slog where USC plays simply dreadful opponents.

Is anyone enjoying it? Is this why USC plays football? What’s the point?

The excuse makers will point to the Big Ten schedule to balance the monotony of these games can’t USC do a little better? UCLA play Cal. Can’t USC play Cal or Stanford? There have been discussions but how hard did USC try?

It seems like the athletic dept., which for some reason listens to Lincoln Riley, could not close a deal with the Bay Area schools. Just like it couldn’t close with Texas Tech.

And where is the respect for fans who go to games? The first three kickoffs were Saturday at 12 p.m., a Friday night game and Saturday night at 8 p.m. You think Michigan would put up with that?

  • Whatever happened to het Big Ten considering having USC and UCLA play some games in Chicago for non-revenue sports to cut down on travel?
  • Former USC hurdler Dalilah Muhammad, who won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 Olympics, will retire following the conclusion of the women’s 400m hurdles at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships this weekend.
  • If Lane Kiffin had a quarterback and the quarterback’s father came down to talk to his son during the game, Kiffin would hate it. But he played stage dad last night at his son Knox’s high school game.
  • And now for some history:
  • Maybe players should go back to wearing pith helmets for protection on the sideline like Notre Dame did against USC in 1953. It was 84 degrees but that was a big adjustment for the Irish in November.
  • Interceptions seem to be harder to come by in the 21st Century.

USC safety Artimus Parker had 20 career interceptions, the most in USC history. He was a consensus All-American in 1973. Safety Charles Phillips was an All-American in 1974. He had 13 career interceptions. He intercepted three passes in the 1974 USC-Notre Dame game. Phillips was a second round pick of the Oakland Raiders.

Can you imagine the hype a USC safety would receive today if they had those numbers? The sad part is where the media fanboys try to list USC’s all-time safeties, they rarely even mention Parker or Young.

  • Whittier College has brought back football. In the 1950’s, the Poets had George Allen and Don Coryell as head coaches.

Coryell left Whittier to become an assistant in 1960 at USC.

Coryell lasted only one season with John McKay at USC. He left because he used to get frustrated with McKay’s constant changing of the game plan during the week.

“Coryell was misunderstood,” fellow USC assistant coach Dave Levy said. “On TV, he always looked upset and had a scowl on his face but in the seven-and-a-half years I worked for him I never heard him say a harsh word to be assistant.”

Levy and Coryell were both on the 1960 USC staff and then Levy eventually joined Coryell with the San Diego Chargers.

  • Controversies used to be simpler. In 1959, the administration decreed it would not allow female song leaders.

“The total administration does not feel that songleaders contribute to the dignity of the university nor do they lend themselves to better signing on the part of the rooting sections at our athletic contests,” said a statement from dean of students Robert J. Downey.

“It is the desire of the administration, always, to have our students, especially our young ladies, presented in the best possible light.”

  • Female song leaders, or song girls, made their debut in 1967 when USC coach Bob Boyd convinced the administration to let him have the cheerleaders at basketball games. The rest is history.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Sharon Tate

Diana Rigg

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

I hadn’t heard this song in years but then I stumbled upon recently so it’s time to share a popular duet with Suzi Quatro and Chris Nornan in 1978.

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

  1. Yes, the interception has become a lost art as QBs are so much better than in the day of Artimu Parker.

    Nice post of Suzi Quatro.

    And I am enjoying the games, even though the opposition are a bunch of dented tomato cans (though SJSU might be better than we thought).

    USC 42, Ragin Cajuns 10

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    1. KAM: Mamdani and AOC are facing backlash after appearing to share a lighthearted moment during the solemn reading of victims’ names at the 9/11 Memorial.

      DON: The television feed cut from a young man sobbing at Ground Zero to Mayor Mamdani and Rep. Ocasio-Cortez appearing to smile and laugh as they spoke, though their conversation could not be heard.

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  4. KAM: SC cannot just walk into the ‘Big-10 and expect immediate respect the equal to Ohio St, Michigan, Penn St and now Indiana

    DON: They could have during Carrot’s reign, but a different story today. Now you take any time crumbs the tv authorities dictate

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    1. KAM: Arizona’s leading rusher last season, Ismail Mahdi, and third-leading tackler Max Harris are set to play Saturday against No. 15 BYU after gaining eligibility through a court hearing, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel on Friday. Mahdi and Harris, along with transfer kicker/punter Sullivan Moon, were granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday from a Pima County Superior Court judge for a fifth season of college eligibility.

      DON: They had rejoined the Wildcats following the federal ruling for eligibility that was later overturned Aug. 21.

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  6. DON: Interceptions are down. That’s not surprising because wideouts are better than ever and hence get the most pay outside of the quarterbacks

    KAM: How do you put it– the wideouts know where they are going and tbe pass defenders have the more difficult task of keeping up and reacting to the wideouts’ moves

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    1. KAM: But aren’t cornerbacks and safeties better now, Cowardly Sparrow Gabby? Then there should be equal or more interceptions, not less with much more passing now than in the 70’s era.

      DON: Talk about Pretzel Logic.

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  7. wolfman, a usual you hit the nail on the head!! SC’s schedule is atrocious! between muscle man, Lil’ Stanky and Riley, the trOXans are now known to be goldbrickers when it co,mes to scheduling patsies to open seasons, in the hope that at end of season, no one remembers how they padded schedule with doormats.

    word on the street is the upcoming game has an actual Veteran QB by name of Lunch Winfield, (son of Jules Winfield) who is 6-3, 240lbs and runs like the wind! he went for 85 yds last game avg 10 yds per rush!! he’ll be taking off quite a bit Sat so it could be interesting for a change.

    #BadMoFo

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  8. KAM: SC Assistant Coach Dave Levy was John McKay’s favorite, in part because he listened more than he talked

    DON: Coach Coryell and McKay both liked to do it their way; that relationship never had a chance

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    1. KAM: A U.S. Department of Justice investigation determined this week that the University of California Berkeley School of Law is “deliberately” discriminating against white and Asian student applicants. 

      DON: On Wednesday, the department announced its findings against the public university, citing the 2023 Supreme Court decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which determined that university race-based admissions practices violate students’ civil rights.

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  10. KAM: This quarterback SC is going up against is aptly named ‘Lunch’

    DON: As in ‘We’re going to hand you your lunch?

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    1. KAM: Zohran Mamdani claims that he was the real victim on 9/11. REMINDER: 25 years ago today, nearly 3,000 people were murdered.

      DON: Zohran Mamdani’s memory of that morning? A teacher pulled him and another Muslim student out of class and said they might get bullied

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  12. KAM: Shane Lowry finally had a great day with the putter and made the most of it Friday by setting the course record with an 8-under 62 at T r u m p International Ireland to build a three-shot lead going into the weekend at the Irish Open.

    DON: Defending champion Rory McIlroy was nine shots out of the lead and bracing for more rough weather over the weekend, when I am due for a visit.

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    1. KAM: UCLA marks 9/11 by hosting 9/11 attack mastermind’s activist lawyer and lefties who claim counterterrorism is ‘racist’!

      DON: They are not our countrymen.

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  16. Wolf asks, “And where is the respect for fans who go to games?”

    The Athletic Department, Parking Enforcement & Ticket Office have zero respect for season ticket holders. ZERO.

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  17. TIREBITER WRITES THAT “SHARON TATE MUST BE WOLF’S FAVORITE PIN UP GIRL!!!” –BEAUTY IS SO SUBJECTIVE BUT MOST MEN WOULD SAY SHE WAS A SLIM AND VERY PRETTY GIRL, SEEMINGLY A SHY LADY FILLED WITH SWEETNESS

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  19. KAM: LA vs LA is no Ohio St vs Texas, I’m telling you, that Manning family breeds quarterbacks, now with Arch. Is there such a thing as quarterback genes?

    DON: For those who are under-estimating Louisiana, they have a good quarterback who is built like Superman. This might even be the best team SC has seen this year, which is not much

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  20. KAM: Playing four second-rate football schools in a row is no way to drum up any excitement

    DON: Yet with so many freshmen being integrated into playing time, maybe they needed 4 games to start getting it right for Oregon

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  21. KAM: When we divert our talk from sports to politics, up pops the friendly Censor. But let’s give it a go, I liked how you talked about Irish Reunification, as slim as that hope is of ever happening

    DON: It’s like our country’s Civil War, some people just never forget and so it goes on-and-on

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  22. KAM: SC did lose 2 of their last 3 games last year, so they undoubtedly wanted to start up a winning streak

    DON:– Albeit against 4 pansies

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  23. KAM: What worries me is how our entire offensive line returned although one guy got hurt, and that same line is the one that could not run on good teams like ND and Oregon

    DON: So you’re asking, ‘What’s changed?’

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    1. Best O lineman, Elijah Page, missed most of the season, including the domers, Oregon, Illinois, and Kilian O’Connor missed several games.

      O’Connor is out this season, but Page is healthy and getting high grades from the NFL draft consultants.

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  24. KAM: The critics really piled on the Michigan quarterback this past week

    DON: And he answered with a nearly 40-yard pass and then a 40 yard run for a touchdown

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  25. KAM: Heavy underdog Oklahoma St is ahead of Oregon 3-0 and driving when a Duck intercepts a pass and goes 90 yards for a td

    DON: Talk about taking the air out of a crowd

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  26. KAM: I like OSU’s defensive scheme versus the Quacks thus far.

    DON: Dante Moore is a pocket passer and his accuracy is poor against OSU’s pass rush.

    6 attempts, 1 completion for 8 yards at end of first quarter.

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