Not Fonda this not-so-Great Depression:  The Bruins can’t GET A GRIP, on several catchable passes, or on the Kansas State Running Backs, whose dust they eat in a 31-22 Road loss

When usc gave up 588 yards on Thursday night, they had a good excuse for their bad tackling:  Due to Sanctions and limited bodies, they weren’t ALLOWED to practice tackling during training camp.  But what is UCLA’s excuse?

Kansas State ran all over the Bruins – with Daniel Thomas’s 234 yards and 2 TD’s leading the way – in the Wildcats’ 31-22 Home Opening victory over UCLA.  The porous run defense was a group effort:  The Defensive Line got moved aside, while the Linebackers and D-Backs consistently took the wrong routes to the ball.  But the most glaring problem was that when a Bruin defender DID make contact with a Wildcat ballcarier, the ballcarrier usually kept going.  Forward. Continue Reading »

Ex-trojan Fili Moala gets busted for endangering kids of all ages, by allegedly putting the pedal to the metal while intoxicated

Fili-busted?  Say it ain’t Mo!

Yet another ex-trojan got caught allegedly breaking the law yesterday, when Police nabbed Indianapolis Colt Defensive Tackle Fili Moala for Driving While Intoxicated.  Apparently, you can take the Fili out of the troy, but you can’t take the troy out of the Fili.  Just two years removed from being a proud member of the Carroll Collective that brought disgrace and sanctions to usc, Moala was supposedly Speeding through town in his Toyota Tundra.  Toyota??  Hey — Maybe the accelerator got stuck!  Paging Carmen Trutanich!  Seems like an easy case to win.

But the Cops wouldn’t have bought that excuse at the scene, because they said Moala’s eyes were all glassy and bloodshot.  In fact, they cited him not just for Speeding and the DWI, but also for Public Intoxication.  He admitted to them that he had drunk about 5 or 6 drinks.  That may seem like a lot for a normal person, but for a freak of nature like Moala — or any other NFL Lineman — drinking a six-pack probably wouldn’t be enough to make him a menace on the road.  But based on the Police description, Continue Reading »

Ma-halo Victory:  Favored by 21 in Hawaii, usc spears the Warriors by only 13, giving up 36 points and 588 yards despite knocking out Hawaii’s QB with a savage blow to the head

The trOJans are still getting away with Murder.  Like an old re-run, some things never change.

In Honolulu on Thursday night, the University of Sanctioned Cheaters, aka usc, was flagged for 11 penalties for 100 yards… but the most egregious violation went unpunished.  In the 3rd Quarter, with the game still very much within reach, Hawaii QB Bryant Moniz took a forearm strike directly to the head that knocked him out of the game.  The Referees MISSED IT, thinking that that actual hit was to Moniz’ CHEST.  But Replays (and the ESPN Commentator) confirmed that the “tackle”by Michael Morgan was nothing more than a VICIOUS attempt to remove Moniz’ head from his body.

The Warriors went on to score right after that, and the THIRD-STRING Quarterback almost rescued Hawaii, so the dirty hit is NOT the REASON why the trojans won.  The trojans won because Continue Reading »

The Cardinals want to say “Adios” to the alienated ex-trojan QB, but all they’re hearing from other teams so far is “No way, Jose”

At least no one is asking him to give back his Heisman.

It’s been a tough month for former trojan hero and Ballroom Dance Student Matt Leinart.  This season he was supposed to take over for retired Kurt Warner, but his poor play led instead to his demotion.  Last week, Derek Anderson started ahead of Leinart, and after analysis of the game film, Anderson was designated to start their next game as well.

This upset Leinart so much, that he blew up to the Press, and accused his Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt of having a personal vendetta against him that goes beyond the football field.  Leinart THEN scheduled a meeting to clear the air with Whisenhunt, but only after making the low-class move of whining to the Media first.  And if you are wondering, YES, Whisenhunt thought that Matt’s complaining to the Press was Bush League. Continue Reading »

Write On!  Football Writers right a wrong by erasing from History usc’s ’04 Grantland Rice Trophy, and Matt Leinart may BE History, after getting written off as the Starter in Arizona (for this week, at least)

Call it “Writer’s Block.”

The Football Writers Association of America is blocking usc from keeping the Grantland Rice Trophy for the 2004 National Championship.  The trojans are being deleted from the Records, and Pat Haden says that they will indeed return the actual trophy itself.

The FWAA has decided to NOT give the trophy to another team.  Apparently, they felt that it wasn’t fair for a vote six years later to decide the Championship between Auburn, Oklahoma, and Utah.  So, thanks to sc’s Lack of Institutional Control, the Grantland Rice Trophy goes “unawarded,” for the first time in its 56-year History.

And speaking of unawarded, Arizona Cardinal Quarterback Matt Leinart Continue Reading »

There’s No One Like U.S.C.:  Trojans Can’t Get Enough of ’Cane reject WR, despite his alleged SERIES of rule violations, including repeatedly blowing off classes, and Pat Haden Can’t Explain what happened to the Winds of Change at his Zoo

Where do you go when you are too squirrely for the University of Miami?  I’ll give you one guess.

When you have hit rock bottom, and even the Hurricanes think you are not worth the trouble, you call Lane Kiffin.  Even TWO Punt Returns for Touchdowns last year — a feat not accomplished at UM since Devin Hester did it — could make Coach Randy Shannon overlook the sins of Thearon Collier.  After an intense meeting, Shannon threw Collier off the team, releasing him to any team who would take him.

But who would take a guy with multiple violations, Continue Reading »

SOME RISE, SOME SIT:  Despite Prince and Fauria being out injured and Kai Maiava breaking his ankle on the third play, the Bruins catch 4 Touchdown Passes and the attention of 5,500, as a new Tradition of Big Plays is about to raise the Roof at UCLA

Playmakers.  It takes Playmakers to put points on the board consistently;  To Step Up in Clutch Situations, and come down with the ball and six points, or the crucial First Down, or the game-saving Interception.  Most would say that the Bruins have LACKED Playmakers during the Post Jones-Drew Era.  There were a few, but never enough,

But based on Fall Practice and “confirmed” by the Fall Scrimmage at Drake Stadium on Saturday Evening, the Bruins are now STOCKED with game-breaking Playmakers, on all “3 sides” of the ball.

Most of the Scrimmages over the past several years have been pretty much devoid of explosive, highlight-reel plays, but this one started with a bang:  A Kickoff Drill that saw Josh Smith go the length of the field for a Touchdown. Continue Reading »

The NFL crushes Brian Cushing’s Appeal, Lane Kiffin puts Dillon Baxter on the No-Fly List for Hawaii, and Pete Carroll stuns Lawrence Jackson by shipping him off… to Detroit

De-NIED… x 3.

This week, three different football trojans got bad news, like three slaps in the face:  Two because of allegedly using drugs to try to fit in, and the third, because he didn’t fit in.

According to the NFL and its extensive panel of medical experts, Brian Cushing is full of crap.  And Steroids.  The NFL has officially upheld Cushing’s 4-game suspension from the Houston Texans, throwing out his Appeal.  Cushing had claimed that the abnormally raised hCG levels in his body were caused by a rare and never-before-diagnosed medical condition.  But the NFL, after consulting with the Nation’s leading authorities on the subject, obviously believe that Cushing’s levels were like that of Manny Ramirez for the exact same reason – They both ingested the female fertility drug to come down from a Steroid cycle.  Apparently, Cushing’s Weird Science has been debunked, and it didn’t take Penn & Teller, or Mythbusters to do it.  Just a Real Genius.

So now that the experts have exposed Cushing’s lies, will he finally step up and tearfully admit — ala Mark McGwire –that he’s been juicing since high school?  Or will he follow the example of  Reggie Bush and Pete Carroll, and DENY the evidence, all the way to his grave?

And speaking of juice, Continue Reading »

Heel! — Disgraced ex-trojan Asst. Coach Todd McNair, who once got busted for dog-fighting, refuses to roll over and play dead, as he appeals the NCAA ruling against him

The NCAA should reconsider the TV Ban for usc, just because the trojans are showing absolutely NO REMORSE.

Yesterday, yet another trojan refused to accept the reality of the NCAA’s detailed findings.  The latest trojan-in-denial is one of the main targets/victims of the investigation, Running Backs Coach Todd McNair.  Just like McNair’s protege, the equally-disgraced Reggie Bush, McNair is denying everything, and even taking it a step further, by accusing the NCAA of misconduct.  At least he didn’t accuse them of “envy,” like the also equally-disgraced Mike Garrett did. Continue Reading »

Attention Reggie:  YOU CAN!!  Just call a Press Conference, admit that you are Guilty, and lateral the trophy to Vince Young

According to Pat Haden, a “contrite” Reggie Bush called Haden and said that he feels bad, he wishes he could turn the clock back, and he’d give the Heisman back if he could.

Despite false reports from ESPN via USA Today, Haden says emphatically that Bush did NOT apologize, or admit to his well-publicized wrongdoings.  Apparently, Bush is still too full of himself to confess like a Man and take responsibility for Continue Reading »

Put ‘em on a calendar, but not on your Fantasy Football team:  The experts agree — While Bruin Jones-Drew is a Universal Top 3 pick, ex-trojans Sanchez, Leinart, Bush and the rest are hardly worth drafting

Quantity, yes.  Quality, no.  usc has a ton of players in the NFL right now, but not one of them is expected to be a top-tier Fantasy Football player this season.

For many of you, your first thought is:  Who cares about Fantasy Football?  All that matters is the real thing.  Well, last year about 27 million people played.  Besides, a player’s Fantasy Football success is tightly correlated to their real Football success.  Sure, stats don’t always tell the whole story, but for the most part, the guy who scores the most Touchdowns and gains the most yards is going to be the most successful player in Fantasy Leagues AND in the NFL.

So when virtually every expert Ranking has UCLA’s Maurice Jones-Drew at #1, #2, or #3 overall, Continue Reading »

Tangled up in green:  DILLON Baxter gets Suspended by usc Football, allegedly for getting stoned, while another suspected Stoner, Taylor King, gets revived from Suspended Animation by usc Basketball

The times, they aren’t a-changin’ — usc still stands for University of Substances, Controlled.  And this whole SCandal may be gone like dust blowin’ in the wind if the trojans have their way.

Officially, usc Star (-to-be) Freshman Running Back Dillon Baxter has been suspended for the trojans’ first game, for violation of team rules.  The first report, from Lane Kiffin, was that Baxter and fellow Freshman Markeith Ambles were late for something.  Then a story appeared saying that Baxter missed a bed check, and Ambles let him in the dorm after curfew.

Then a major media source claimed that Baxter was busted by Campus Security for being under the influence of a controlled substance, at 2:47am, and that the crime scene smelled like marijuana.  Continue Reading »