FOOTBALL

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

There was a nice moment last weekend before the USC-Ohio State game. I went to a friend’s tailgate and by complete coincidence, former Trojan quarterback John Fox stopped by.

I had not seen him since 1999, when he started the final four games of the season. But even though 27 years passed, we immediately started swapping stories from his era and it was like we had kept in touch all this time.

That’s the great thing about the Trojan Family. You can bond with people at any moment because of all the shared experiences.

“I always remembered you because I was Fox and you were Wolf,” Fox said.

I told him that the last time I saw him, he proposed to his girl friend on the football field after the Louisiana Tech game. They never married.

It was a different time when Fox played. The atmosphere was casual and friendly, which was what USC was known for in those days. The media today gets no chance to establish a repoire with the players thanks to the rigid policies of Lincoln Riley. Twenty years from now, they won’t even have much to talk about.

  • USC women’s volleyball coach Brad Keller, who has been on an indefinite personal leave since Oct. 5, has been seen on campus recently. USC has not said if Keller will return next season.
  • USC swimming will host a four-way meet today that also features UCLA and the Arizona schools. The first session starts at 12 p.m. and the second session is at 5 p.m.
  • Frank Sanchez, an assistant coach on USC’s 1995 College World Series finalist baseball team, has died. He was also the head coach at Pepperdine from 1997-2003.
  • And now for some history:
Damon Bame returns an interception in the 1963 Rose Bow, where No. 1 USC defeated No. 2 Wisconsin.
  • Here’s a story on All-American linebacker/offensive lineman Damon Bame, who was just inducted into the USC Hall of Fame on Thursday.

In 1962, Bame was named a United Press International All-American. When he made the team, a USC official told him at football practice.

“Did I make honorable mention?” Bame asked.

“No,” the official replied.

“Third team?” Bame said.

“No,” the official replied.

“Second team?” Bame said.

“No,” the official said.

“First team?” Bame said.

“Yes,” the official said.

Bame immediately began to cry. He then called his mother and high school coach at Glendale High School. It’s a shame USC did not induct him before he died in 2020.

  • Another underappreciated Trojan who made the Hall of Fame is long-jumper Randy Williams, who won the gold medal at the 1972 Olympics in Munich at age 19. He won two NCAA titles at USC.

In 1976, he won the silver medal in the long jump at the Montreal Olympics. In 2009, he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. The track nuts still remember the 1970 CIF California State Track and Field Championship, Lynn Swann (representing San Mateo Serra High School) famously defeated Williams (of Fresno Edison High School) to win the long jump title.

  • Another long overdue selection is hammer thrower Balazs Kiss, a four-time NCAA champion. He never lost a hammer competition in his four years as a Trojan. He won the 1996 NCAA title by 36 feet, the largest margin for any field event at an NCAA meet.

He won the gold medal in the hammer at the 1996 Olympics competing for Hungary.

When Kiss graduated from USC, his landlord called the school to say he had left an NCAA championship trophy behind when he moved back to Europe. Kiss won so many trophies he didn’t even notice.

  • Dennis Thurman intercepted 13 passes in his career at USC, including eight in 1976. Can you imagine how people would treat a defensive back today with those numbers?

He also grew up in an era when athletes played multiple sports. He was third-team All-CIF in basketball his senior year at Santa Monica High School. He also played baseball and was named Southern California Athlete of the Year.

“I still remember getting the award at Dodger Stadium before a game with the Houston Astros,” Thurman said.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Britt Ekland

Pier Angeli

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

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

  1. Just when you think Wolf can’t top what he did last week…he does.

    Thanks Scott!

    Fabulous story about Fox and the way it was back in the day. We all miss those and you are the only one who keeps those memories alive.

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  2. Sanchez had a benign brain tumor that required multiple surgeries over the decades, remember seeing him with an eye patch when he was the pitching coach at USC

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  4. Branning earned a Master’s degree from USC. He went on to have a highly successful corporate career in commercial real estate and currently serves as the Executive Managing Director at JLL in Silicon Valley, managing major technology and corporate accounts.

    Branning was a key component of Digger Phelps 1977–78 Fighting Irish squad. Alongside teammates like Bill Laimbeer and Kelly Tripucka, he helped lead Notre Dame to its only NCAA Final Four appearance in program history.

    He was inducted into the Southern California Basketball Hall of Fame for his high school success at Marina High School

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  8. I remember Fox starting the season against FSU in a “close” loss on a Monday night Labor Day game if I recall. Pretty lame season until he led them to victory over the Gutties and the embarrassing field storming that ensued – maybe friendly and casual but deficient rosters and a much worse product than the darkest hours under CLR.

    In other news CFB columnist Jon Wilner, a mild USC hater , picked our boys to win out and make the playoff.

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    1. I also loved this story – can only have incredible admiration for what Coach Cignetti has accomplished with the Hoosiers … but just a little late to the party if just getting that ESPN and the SEC have been in bed since the decision was made to attack USC and Pete … the Big 10 just now waking up to the fact that their having escaped being CFB’s preferred punching bag status was only temporarily removed due to Urban’s arrival and then Saban losing interest in continuing at Bama … but at least he, as the current face of what remains of integrity in college football, is saying it out loud …

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  10. hi john,know taht them lybrull repukelikins wun tha erections tihs weak,dos u thinck tha crazey angrey retardid ladey iz gunna be aybull tu git awf hir medications,thanx alot

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  11. Thanks Scott, great memories. 1962 was still the era of single platoon football; so as I recall Damon Bame also played center on the offensive line. John McKay in his third year of being our head coach utilized the “I” formation with Willie Brown as the tailback. Other schools were still using the “T” formation or the old Tennessee single wing like UCLA with Red Sanders. He also used three complete teams; his first team went both ways, his second team was defense and his third team was offense. Teams were allowed one substitution per position per quarter; so Coach would put in a whole new team if they were on defense, then a whole new team for offense, and would leave his first team in if needed for both offense and defense. I really think that his innovative approach hastened the change to two platoon football. Your thoughts? Fight on, Dan, Class of 1962

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