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News Archive for USC

It Is Time For USC To Face Allegations

Friday, February 19th, 2010

USC AD Mike Garrett faces the NCAA committee on allegations of illegal benefits.

Hearings have begun in regard to USC’s allegations on infractions of benefits to both the football and basketball programs. The hearings will last for three days and will involve meetings with the NCAA’s committee on infractions. The investigation spans back four years and focuses on benefits to star football player Reggie Bush and star basketball player O.J. Mayo. USC has declined to comment, and it will be interesting to see what impact these will have on the programs. Another question that arises is; Are the rules to strict for these college programs?…

Athletic Director Mike Garrett is backed by a team of lawyers in hopes of restoring dignity back to the football program. Former football coach Pete Carroll had previously met with the committee and his departure has also left questions on what he knew and why he would leave one of the best jobs in sports to go to the Seattle Seahawks. What did Carroll really know?

While the extent of the infractions will be known sooner than later, USC will have to take responsibility for the wrongs ,and I hope somebody steps up and takes responsibility. Everybody cries wolf in these situations and deny knowing what was going on. I personally think that the NCAA committee is too strict when it comes to some of the benefits that these players get. They make a enormous amount of money for their universities . I also think that they should put a plan in place to giver these kids a little extra in benefits and examine special situations that would require a little help to them. I hope these allegations are something USC deserves to be punished for and are not penny atty infringements found by the Committee.

Tags: Mike Garrett, NCAA, OJ Mayo, Pete Carroll, reggie bush, USC
Posted in Southern Cal University, college football | No Comments »

Kiffin (And Others) Are Dirty Liars

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Over the last 24hrs, it had been reported and confirmed that Lane Kiffin has left the University of Tennessee for greener pastures in SoCal at USC. Talk about the level of disappointment UT fans must feel. For Lane Kiffin to feed all that BS down the player’s, student’s, fan’s, administrator’s, and community’s throats about building a program, and then bolt back to USC at the blink of an eye is disgraceful. How could you ever again believe a man that looked you right in the eye and told you one thing with conviction and trust, and then pull something like this?

The same thing happened to the Falcons when Bobby Petrino left Atlanta for the Arkansas Razorback position only one year in. Miami too were victim tot he same act when Nick Saban left for the Alabama head coaching job in 2007, after aggressively denying all possibility of leaving the Dolphins for the Crimson Tide.

Call me old school, but I like to think that there is still a sense of comradeship or loyalty to a college program. I know it doesn’t exist in the corporate world anymore, where an employee would come in at an entry level position and remain there for their entire life before retiring – committing everything toward the advancement of the company, but I’d like to think it does exist somewhere. In many respects I think football and other team-based sports, especially in the collegiate ranks, still has some of that loyalty left. This act by Kiffin shows me that those deep relationships don’t stand in the way of “business”.

And if you have any question as to what I’m talking about, think about what Tom Landry, Joe Paterno, Hank Stram, Bobby Bowden, Paul “Bear” Bryant, or Knute Rockne would say to these “men” given the situation they were in and the course of action they chose. The mantra ‘They don’t make em like they used to’ apparently applies to head coaches too.

Tags: alabama, Arkansas, Bobby Petrino, joe paterno, lane kiffin, Nick Saban, southern cal, Tennessee, Trojans, USC, Volunteers
Posted in Southern Cal University, Tennessee University, college football | 2 Comments »

Lane Kiffin Bolts Rocky Top for USC

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Its tough to surprise the average sports fan these days when it comes to Lane Kiffin. From getting fired for cause by the Oakland Raiders to being accused of sending pretty girls in to lead his recruiting efforts, ESPN is reporting that Kiffin has resigned as head coach for the Tennessee Volunteers to take the same position at USC. Kiffin’s hiring comes quickly after the announcement that Pete Carroll had stepped down to take the head coach position with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.

Kiffin Leaves USC After One Season

Kiffin’s only season at Tennessee was a tumultuous one. During his stay, he publically accused Florida coach Urban Meyer of NCAA recruiting violations, was officially reprimanded by the SEC, accused Georgia of cheating on a radio show and told a South Carolina recruit that he would be pumping gas after his playing days were over. Additionally, Kiffin’s involvement with an on-campus girl booster’s club was questioned and he caused the university to be probed for an NCAA secondary violation for bringing a former student of St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) along on a recruiting trip to his former high school alma mater.

You wonder who is more happier about the new job, USC or Tennessee?

Kiffin takes over a program that is on life support due constant NCAA probes, a departing coach and a handful of early departures by underclassmen. Kiffin will have his hands full with a program that looks to be heading towards probation as a result of the latest NCAA violation drama surrounding star running back Joe McKnight.

Given all the problems at USC, Kiffin seems like a poor choice given his penchant for being a loose cannon. While he may understand the university and its approach to fielding a top-notch squad, Kiffin has failed to show the leadership skills in his two overnight stays as a head coach.

Next question is, will his Daddy be joining him sunny Southern California to keep him grounded?

Tags: lane kiffin, Pete Carroll, southern cal, Tennessee, Urban Meyer, USC
Posted in Southern Cal University, Tennessee University, college football | No Comments »

Pete Carroll Should Of Stayed At USC

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Pete Carroll has just taken the job as had coach for the Seattle Seahawks. I think that he should of stayed at USC for more than a couple of reasons…

Pete Carroll is a college coach plain and simple.His high energy motivational techniques works in sync with the college football athlete. Young and impressional student athletes embrace a great college coach like Carroll ,and his success speaks for itself. I love college football and coaches like him bring a tradition unmatched in any sport today.USC will sorely miss Pete ,and I think Pete will sorely miss SC when he gets a taste of the pro athlete. Coaching pro athletes is tough because are more individualistic in nature and tend to get inflated egos due to the the money they are making. Coaching college football is more about unity, team and tradition. He had a dream job to me and leaving the school is a big mistake.

I don't think Pete Carroll will be smiling after his stint in Seattle.

Carroll not only was a great motivator of young college minds but was very successful as well.He won two National Championships in his 9 year tenor as coach.He turned out countless All-Americans and NFL draft picks.He also coached three Heisman Trophy winners and had a astounding 97-18 record at SC. His teams finished seven consecutive seasons in the AP top four. You cannot do any better than Carroll in a nine year time frame as head coach. He thrived in the College game, The game needs him and SC needs him. His lost will be felt by all college football fans.

As I have stated previously this article, I think it is a big mistake for Pete Carrol to jump ship to the NFL. He will never get the satisfaction, pride and success that he enjoyed at USC in Seattle. I think he also did his recruits a dishonor by leaving them high and dry. Lets face it, Players come to school for the coaches. I wonder how Carroll feels about that. I would not want to try to coach and motivate the modern spoiled athlete. Carroll left possibly one the best jobs in the world to coach these types of players. And by the way, it is not like The Seahawks have tasted to much success lately. Case rested, you should of stayed in Southern California, Petey.

Tags: nfl, Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahwaks, USC
Posted in Seattle Seahawks, Southern Cal University, college football, nfl | 3 Comments »

College Bowl Game Predictions

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

The college bowl schedule kicks off today with two opening games on the schedule as Wyoming meets Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl and Central Florida hooks up with Rutgers in the St. Petersburg Bowl. College football fans will be treated to 34 games over 20 days culminating with Alabama and Texas deciding this year’s national champions.

This year’s matchups pair what appear to be some with three teams favored by double-digit spreads and twelve team favored by a touchdown or more. While Vegas is seeing a lot of mismatches, there appears to be some great upsets brewing. I am projecting right now seven underdogs achieving outright victories and sixteen underdogs covering the spread.

My biggest underdog covers include SMU, Boston College, Northwestern, East Carolina and Boise State. My biggest underdog outright victories are Texas A&M and Stanford.

Bowl	Matchup	Spread	Winner	Cover
New Mexico Bowl	Wyoming vs. Fresno State	Fresno State by 11	Fresno State	Fresno State
St. Petersburg Bowl	Central Florida vs. Rutgers	EVEN	Central Florida	Central Florida
New Orleans Bowl	Middle Tenn St vs.Southern Miss	Southern Miss by 4	Southern Miss	Middle Tenn St
Las Vegas Bowl	BYU vs. Oregon State	Oregon State by 3	BYU	BYU
Poinsettia Bowl	Utah vs. California	EVEN	Utah	Utah
Hawaii Bowl	SMU vs. Nevada	Nevada by 15	Nevada	SMU
Little Caesars Bowl	Ohio vs. Marshall	Ohio by 3	Ohio	Ohio
Meineke Care Bowl	North Carolina vs. Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh by 3	Pitt	North Carolina
Emerald Bowl	Boston College vs. USC	USC by 9	USC	BC
Music City Bowl	Kentucky vs. Clemson	Clemson by 7½	Clemson	Clemson
Independence Bowl	Texas A&M vs. Georgia	Georgia by 7	Texas A&M	Texas A&M
Eagle Bank Bowl	UCLA vs. Temple	EVEN	Temple	Temple
Champs Sports Bowl	Wisconsin vs. Miami	Miami by 3	Miami	Miami
Humanitarian Bowl	Bowling Green vs. Idaho	Bowling Green by 2	Bowling Green	Bowling Green
Holiday Bowl	Nebraska vs. Arizona	Arizona by 1½	Nebraska	Nebraska
Armed Forces Bowl	Air Force vs. Houston	Houston by 4½	Air Force	Air Force
Sun Bowl	Stanford vs. Oklahoma	Oklahoma by 8	Stanford	Stanford
Texas Bowl	Navy vs. Missouri	EVEN	Navy	Navy
Insight Bowl	Iowa State vs. Minnesota	Minnesota by 3	Minnesota	Minnesota
Chick Fil-A Bowl	Tennessee vs. Virginia Tech	Virginia Tech by 4½	Virginia Tech	Tennessee
Outback Bowl	Northwestern vs. Auburn	Auburn by 7½	Auburn	Northwestern
Capital One Bowl	LSU vs. Penn St.	Penn St. by 3	Penn State	Penn State
Gator Bowl	Florida State vs. West Virginia	West Virginia by 3	West Virginia	West Virginia
Rose Bowl	Ohio State vs. Oregon	Oregon by 3½	Oregon	Oregon
Sugar Bowl	Cincinnati vs. Florida	Florida by 11	Florida	Florida
International Bowl	Northern Illinois vs. South Florida	South Florida by 7	South Florida	South Florida
Papa John’s Bowl	Connecticut vs. South Carolina	South Carolina by 4½	Connecticut	Connecticut
Cotton Bowl	Mississippi vs. Oklahoma State	Mississippi by 3	Oklahoma State	Oklahoma State
Liberty Bowl	Arkansas vs. East Carolina	Arkansas by 8	Arkansas	East Carolina
Alamo Bowl	Michigan State vs. Texas Tech	Texas Tech by 8	Texas Tech	Texas Tech
Fiesta Bowl	Boise State vs. TCU	TCU by 7	TCU	Boise State
Orange Bowl	Iowa vs. Georgia Tech	Georgia Tech by 4	Georgia Tech	Iowa
Gmac Bowl	Troy vs. Central Michigan	Central Michigan by 3	Central Michigan	Central Michigan
BCS Championship	Texas vs. Alabama	Alabama by 5	Alabama	Alabama

Looking at conference performance, here’s how I see it playing out:

Bowl	Matchup
Atlantic Coast	4-3
Big East	4-2
Big Ten	2-4
Big 12	4-4
C-USA	2-4
Mountain West	4-1
Pac-10	3-4
Southeastern	4-6
Western Athletic	2-2

The SEC might be the power conference, but they got some unfavorable matchup. I think the Big 12 and Big East are going to surprise some opponents. The Mountain West is going to do some damage and really stoke the argument that they deserve an automatic BCS invite.

As for the National Championship game, I am seeing a major blowout. Given Texas’ performance against ranked opponents and closing out its season on some very poor play, this just seems like a mismatch of grand proportion. TCU and Cincinnati were much more deserving of a spot in the Championship Game and Alabama is going to apply a major smackdown that will likely drop Colt McCoy’s NFL stock drop tremendously when he loses the game single-handedly.

Overall, this bowl season looks to be exciting. We have a lot of underdogs with solid shots at upsets which should make the next 20 days enjoyable for all to watch.

Tags: Air Force, alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Auburn, BCS, boise st, Boston College, Bowling Green, BYU, California, Central Florida, Central Michigan, cincinnati, Clemson, college bowl games, college football, Connecticut, East Carolina, Florida, florida state, Fresno State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Houston, Idaho, Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky, LSU, Marshall, Miami, Michigan State, Middle Tenn St, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Navy, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, oregon, Oregon State, Penn St., Pittsburgh, Rutgers, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, tcu, Temple, Tennessee, texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Troy, UCLA, USC, Utah, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Posted in Alabama University, Arizona University, Arkansas University, Auburn University, Boise State University, Boston College, Brigham Young University, California University, Cincinnati University, Clemson University, Connecticut University, East Carolina University, Florida State University, Florida University, Fresno State University, Georgia Tech University, Georgia University, Houston University, Idaho University, Iowa State University, Iowa University, Kentucky University, Lousiana State University, Marshall University, Michigan State University, Minnesota University, Missouri University, Navy, Nebraska University, Nevada University, North Carolina University, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma University, Ole Miss University, Oregon State University, Oregon University, Penn State University, Pittsburgh University, Rutgers University, South Carolina University, Southern Cal University, Southern Methodist University, Southern Miss University, Stanford University, Tennessee University, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University, Texas University, UCLA University, University Central Florida, University Miami Florida, University South Florida, Utah University, Virginia Tech University, West Virginia University, Wisconsin University, Wyoming University, college football | 1 Comment »

Irish to Irish

Friday, December 11th, 2009

Notre Dame hired a new coach this week and his name is Brian Kelly. I think that they hired the right guy in their hopes of bringing a winning tradition back to the school. Kelly lead Cincinnati to a perfect 12-0 record this season and a impressive 34-6 over the last three years. Cincinnati is headed to the Sugar bowl against Florida. While I agree that he is the right man for the job, I am not happy that he will not be coaching his team in the game. This is his decision and whether it is not a sound moral decision, it does not take away from the fact that he is a solid coach that has what it takes to turn around things in South Bend.

Will Brian Kelly bring back winning to the Irish?

Kelly will inspire passion and purpose from his players and will get the most from them when the game is on the line. Cincinnati pulled out close victories against the likes of Connecticut 2, West Virginia 3, and the last minute victory by 1 over Pittsburgh to give them the Big East Championship and a perfect regular season. In contrast, Notre Dame lost a bunch of close games under Charlie Weis. They were defeated by 4 by Michigan, 7 by USC, 2 by Navy, 5 by Pitt and 7 by Stanford. All these games could have been wins.

Kelly will bring that toughness and will to win those close games when the victory is on the line.

Notre Dame is a dismal 16-21 over the last three seasons. Kelly will be looking to improve on that. He does have the cards stacked against him a bit, because Notre Dame loses its QB Jimmy Clausen and his top receiver Golden Tate. He rebuilt Cincinnati. I think he will do the same for the Irish and restore pride and winning back to the school with the golden dome.

Tags: Brian Kelly, Charlie Weis, cincinnati, Connecticut, Florida, Golden Tate, Jimmy Clausen, Michigan, Navy, Notre Dame, pitt, Pittsburgh, Stanford, USC, West Virginia
Posted in Cincinnati University, Connecticut University, Florida University, Michigan University, Notre Dame University, Pittsburgh University, Southern Cal University, Stanford University, West Virginia University, college football | No Comments »