I'm a big fan of Stephen Colbert, and was catching up on my DVR shows. This episode, originally aired October 26th, has Pulitzer prize author Taylor Branch talking about "The Cartel."

This is worth nothing, and seeing the interview, I'd like to check out the book as well. Video as follows:

 

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch describes the NCAA as a cartel that hoards the billions of dollars generated by unpaid college athletes.

 

Don't get sacked by Shamu!

December Dementia.

Bumped. Wear Red! - JK

Just a quick reminder to those that will be traveling down to the Coliseum this coming Saturday against the highly anticipated game against Oregon.

If you have been following any tweets or trends lately, USC loyalist are attempting to red out the Coliseum in preparation for College GameDay. Word around the campfire is that Oregon will be traveling in numbers along with their green.

So please...

no gold

no white

definitely no green

RED OUT THE COLISEUM IN YOUR CARDINAL CLOTHES.

Oh, and tell a friend. 

I've tried searching  online for it with no luck, but what's Green Bay's record against the Jets? My girlfriend is pretty hyped about the upcoming game as she is, sadly, a Jets fan. I wanted to know if there are any additional highlights in the history of this match up that I can bring up to her.

Yes yes, I know, but she's a good gal and I like her. Besides, we're both tied to the USC Trojans by nature so our alumns are playing for both teams.

 

via www3.jsonline.com

The University of South Carolina that is. The Gamecocks won their first national championship in the College World Series tonight, outlasting the bruins 11 innings to take it 2-1.

You guys fought it through and through, and deserve their first championship.  So to the USC Gamecocks, from the USC Trojans, we say CONGRATULATIONS!!

For those that watched it, you have to agree it was a pretty tough game, but a great game nonetheless. FIGHT ON 'SC!

Link here.

Kiffin Cuts Presser Short Amidst Angry Students

Lane Kiffin’s farewell press conference in Knoxville was a bizarre scene, starting 30 minutes late and lasting barely 60 seconds. He thanked no UT-related personnel by name and took no questions.

(”Go Home Traitor! It’s Time.”)

 

The KNOXVILLE NEWS-SENTINEL reports:

Dozens of students and fans marched into the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex on Tuesday night chanting obscenities at Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, who was informing his players about his departure to Southern California.

The crowd then moved to an office area where an impromptu press conference was being held for Kiffin.

Police were called to quell the crowd, which calmed down once officers arrived.

The crowd eventually became rowdy and were asked to disperse without incident.

 

 

UPDATE: A source tells me tonight that Ed Orgeron is already contacting Tennessee commits about coming to USC.

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I hope he leaves under the cover of darkness, and not have idiot bitter fans come after him or his family.

Just a few blurbs, link here.

Sources familiar with the investigation have told Yahoo! Sports that the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions will meet Feb. 19-21 to address what investigators uncovered at USC. According to typical NCAA procedures, if sanctions are necessary, they will be determined and then made public via a news conference within six to eight weeks of the February hearing.

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn declined comment. The NCAA’s website indicates the next meeting of the Committee on Infractions will occur Feb. 19-21 in Tempe, Ariz.

Of particular interest... (emphasis added)

Recent developments at USC, including its decision to self-sanction its basketball program, appear to have occurred after the Trojans received the NCAA’s letter of allegations. News of the hearing also indicates that former Trojans football coach Pete Carroll has been aware for weeks of the specific violations the NCAA may be alleging against his program.

I don't know what to say about it other than we'll have to see mid-spring.

 

This is just a thought. I'm going to over simplify it and not bring in all the players, stats, highlights and lowlights. I'm not an NCAA CFB expert or anything.

I'm just doing a simple side by side comparison of UCLA's most recent 2 coaches.

We all realize that they want to become a solid football program. In the general sense "we" all would like that too, with close games, great games, and true rivalry. However, the little trojan inside all of us still wants to see the destroyed.

Nevertheless, I'm going to speak about "CRN" as they like to call him. Let's not worry about his time at Colorado or UW. First off though, let's bring up good ol' Karl Dorrell. He was a nice guy, a conservative fellow, and a bit on the quiet side; unlike his predecessor Bob Toledo or Pete Carroll for that matter, it seemed that his humble demeanor wasn't angry enough.

Now Toledo seemed like a solid coach, with a 3-4 record against USC and 4 bowl appearances. Like Toledo, KD had his highlighted opportunity midway. Through KD's 5 year stint, he too managed 4 bowl appearances. However he was only 1-4 against USC. But that one was sure lasting, wasn't it kids?

As you can see, pressure came on beating USC, not necessarily having a winning record or going for the MNC. Nope. They just wanted to duplicate Donahue's solid record of maintaining that nice little streak in our beloved rivalry; well maybe a rose bowl game.

Enter the prodigal son. I mean he has everything KD doesn't. The charm, the fire, the talk. How about the walk? Eh, somewhat, but keeping it inside D1, this is where it gets funky.

You see, KD's record at UCLA stands like this. Just keep in mind the 3rd year:

 

Year	Team	Overall	Conference		Bowl

 

2003	UCLA	6–7	4–4		L Silicon Valley
2004	UCLA	6–6	4–4		L Las Vegas
2005	UCLA	10–2	6–2		W Sun
2006	UCLA	7–6	5–4		L Emerald

 

I put up the fourth year because he broke USC's streak. Now if we step a little bit back in time, we'll see BT's record for:

 

1996	UCLA	5-6	4-4			—	—
1997	UCLA	10–2	7-1		W Cotton Bowl Classic
1998	UCLA	10–2	8-0		L Rose Bowl

Now for shits 'n giggles, let's even bring up TD's record:

 

1976	UCLA	9-2-1	6-1		L 6-36 Liberty Bowl
1977	UCLA	0-11	0-8
1978	UCLA	8-3-1	6-2		T 10-10 Fiesta Bowl

Okay I digress, I meant to only to talk about KD and RN. How is RN holding up?

 

2008	UCLA	4–8	3–6
2009	UCLA	6–6	3–6

 

What, no bowl yet?

 

Just kidding. So off to a wishy-washy start. It's okay, it happened to Donahue. The point I'm trying to make is that all coaches seem to follow a similar pattern: Working with what you got and not expect miracles. With the exception of BT, for the most part, year 3 has proven to be a crucial point. I can understand that RN wants to be the fire back in UCLA's eyes that hasn't been seen in well over a decade. But that doesn't happen overnight. What does happen is having a decent season record that does make you (at least) bowl eligible as given by his predecessors.

I believe that it will RN can give UCLA a solid record consistency, and even some bowl appearances, perhaps after his "rebuilding year(s)" is over. he's a far cry away from any of UCLA's predecessors though; and by no means is he the messiah some fan bases make him off to be. Short of duplicating the Y3 tradition, I would believe that 2010 will illustrate that "CRN" is more show than go.

While I'm thankful that he gave us back the home jerseys tradition, outside of that, it's just hot air. I can't help but wonder if the loyalist Bruins will turn on him as well. I'll end it on this note, a nice little letter demand found online years ago about "dumping dorrell:"

1. 1-3 against Southern Cal.
2. No Pac-10 championships.
3. No BCS bowl games.
4. 1-10 on the road against teams with a winning record.
5. Worst starting 3- AND 4-year record of any UCLA football coach since WW2, including Bob Toledo who was fired.
6. Worse winning percentage than Bob Toledo, who was fired.
7. 3-11 against ranked teams.
8. 2-7 against top 10 teams.
9. Only 6 conference wins against teams over .500.
10. 19-14 in the Pac-10.
11. 8-17 against teams with a winning record.
12. 10 losses to unranked teams.
13.  He has a losing record after October, 6-12.
14.  Embarrassing losses to Wyoming, Fresno State, Arizona, Washington State at home and Southern Cal.
15.  Only 1 big game win.
16.  Revolving door for assistant coaches.
17.  80% of Bruins fans polled on Bruinsnation.com disapprove of the job Karl Dorrell is doing.

 

Funny how those highlighted items strike a resemblance to what RN is doing now. So again, we'll just have to see what "CRN" does in Y3 (and maybe Y4). A MNC, hell even P10, championship doesn't matter. Just beat the Trojans, right? That's what you were really hired to do, what KD couldn't.

 

Between you and me, I wouldn't be surprised if BN (or whomever) ask for his head after 2010. Then again, he could just become Los Angeles' very own Charlie Weis.

This has been a hot topic lately, I'll link the blog site, but it's true.

 

Blah.  You can see it for yourself at this Nike link.

 

Unless I am being punked this is absurd.  Unless I went spontaneously colorblind, this is utterly insane.  Nike spends more money on their products and ads and R&D than almost anyone out there.  I know sometimes spicing up a team’s clothing designs sparks sales.  Sometimes, we like a Dodger hat in brown with a key lime LA on it.  We like to get extra funky sometimes.

But honestly Nike, what the hell is this?

 

 

USC gear in UCLA colors.  Unless you come from a “mixed marriage” of a Bruin and Trojan, who the hell is wearing these things?  This is honestly like wearing a t-shirt with a picture of another guy having sex with your girlfriend on it.  It’s brutal.  It’s a bastardization of all that is right with the university.

Is there no intern at Nike that spoke up and said “yo, these are UCLA colors, dude”?   No one?

 

I honestly think I’m being deceived here.  There’s no way this can be real.  Is this the best hoax ever or the worst planning ever?  You tell me.

I am sure Bruins will buy this though.  They can finally wear the logo of a winning team to their football games without being pointed at in a crowd.

All right, all right.  I’m having a little fun at UCLA’s expense.  That said, I am sure they don’t like this anymore than the Trojans do.  Brutus Buckeye dressed in Maize and Blue?  The Sooner Schooner draped in Burnt Orange?  The Yale Bulldog in a crimson sweater?  What on earth was Nike thinking?

Oh.  They weren’t.

 

Taken from the Trojan blog found here. The comments are funny.

Link

USC's Sanchez passes on N.Y. invite for draft The player's brother says Trojan QB has turned down an offer to join other prospects at Radio City Music Hall in favor of remaining in Southland with family and friends.

 

Nine pro prospects will be heading to New York for the NFL draft, but USC quarterback Mark Sanchez will not be among them.

Sanchez was invited to attend, his brother said today, but decided against it because he wants to be with family and friends for the April 25-26 draft. He is expected to be among the first 10 players selected; The Times' latest mock draft has him going eighth to Jacksonville.

Taken from the LAT blogs:

Tommy Trojan feeling blue -- victim of classic prank

While the cat's away the mice will play.

With thousands of USC students on their annual Bay Area pilgrimage (the football team is playing Stanford this weekend), pranksters doused the school's iconic Tommy Trojan in blue paint.

Formally known as the Trojan Shrine, the lifesize bronze statue has previously fallen victim to paint (and worse) during the week prior to the football game against crosstown rival UCLA. In response, Tommy is traditionally wrapped in duct tape several days prior to that game and an organization called Trojan Knights stands vigil.

There was no 24-hour guard this weekend. Tommy was pretty lonely, but he wasn't blue util he had an unexpected visitor.

Few details are known at this time. It appears the incident occurred late Friday night or early Saturday morning. Considering the colors, suspicion will immediately point to Westwood. USC plays UCLA in the Rose Bowl on December 6.

School officials rushed to have Tommy cleaned up on Saturday morning. They can't be too pleased, but a good prank can always help keep the rivalry spirited. At least once in a blue moon.

-- Adam Rose
Photo by Lauren

 

On the webcam, from 4:00 to 4:03 am you can see someone run up and douse Tommy.

Bumped...this is what I meant about the rivalry being fun again. - Paragon

Coaches Neuheisel and Carroll have agreed to have each team wear home uniforms when the two rivals meet on Dec. 6 at the Rose Bowl.

Prowling around on the interwebs, I come across this.

If this is the real deal, THIS IS GOING TO BE GREAT!

We'll be going back to the good old days of fierce rivalries and great games, like so:

According to Yahoo! Sports, Neuheisel and Trojan coach Pete Carroll have agreed to have each team wear home uniforms when the two rivals meet on Dec. 6 at the Rose Bowl.

Before 1982, the teams had a tradition: Both teams would wear their home uniforms. UCLA would don its home blue jerseys and USC would wear its home red. But in that year, the NCAA ruled that the visiting team must wear away uniforms. Since then, the visiting team has worn white to avoid a penalty and a forfeited time-out in the first half.

Neuheisel and Carroll have reportedly agreed that the home team will take a time-out to offset the one the visitors must forfeit. The penalty will be declined. The agreement is said to be set to last as long as Neuheisel and Carroll remain coaches of the respective schools.

link here

USC over Gators in the NC? It could happen if the playoffs existed.

Continue reading this post »

Bumped...We will obviously be interested in who ucla picks as their next head coach. In the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter as SC needs to stay on message and focus on their own thing. I may have some thoughts in a few days as I already have a post in the can ready to go but I will more interested in some of the fall out. Dorrell is only part of the story, recruits other coaches and the like will all be in play as things progress. It will be fun to watch. - Paragon

UCLA told head coach Karl Dorrell on Monday that he has been fired, a source close to the coach told ESPN's Joe Schad. Dorrell's buyout will pay just over $2 million.

This taken from the LA times with a statement from athletics director Dan Guerrero:

Dorrell out as UCLA coach

By Chris Foster, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
11:41 AM PST, December 3, 2007

Karl Dorrell's tenure as UCLA's football coach came to an end today with the announcement that ended weeks of speculation about the coach's future.

"This was a very difficult decision for me," UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said in a statement. "Karl has represented this program with dignity and class. He is a true Bruin and I respect what he has accomplished in his five years as our head coach, particularly off the field. But, at the end of the day, the focus has to be on results and I felt that a change was in the best interest for the future of our program."

A news conference at UCLA was called for early this afternoon.

Boise State's Chris Petersen, Texas Tech's Mike Leach and former NFL coach Steve Mariucci have already been contacted by representatives on behalf of the athletic department. DeWayne Walker will be the Bruins' interim coach for the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22.

Petersen, sources said, is Guerrero's top choice, but Mariucci and Leach are equally strong candidates. Mariucci also comes with less red tape, as both Petersen and Leach are under hefty, multiyear contracts that would have to be bought out. Walker, whom Washington State has contacted for its head coach opening, will also get some consideration. A source familiar with the athletic department said that Bruins officials will try to retain Walker, the lynchpin in recruiting efforts, no matter who is hired as head coach.

Edited for length.

UPDATE: From Dohn’s Blog

Let the games begin…

(Emphasis mine)

Head coaching experience a must?

Karl Dorrell didn't have any head coaching experience when UCLA hired him five years ago. Defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker would be a candidate, but he doesn't have head coaching experience either. In Dan Guerrero's press conference today, he said head coaching experience was ''pretty important''.

But he also said: ``You never say never.'' Certainly doesn't sound good for Walker, who's a candidate for the Washington State opening.

What do you think? Does UCLA need a coach with head coaching experience?

By the way, Boise State's Chris Petersen said today that he's not interested in the UCLA opening.

He’s interested, don’t be fooled.

Update II: here is a link to Peterson saying he is not interested in the ucla job. Reading a transcript is one thing seeing him say it is quite another. We’ll see…

Poll

Who do you think will be the next coach for UCLA?

34%

Chris Petersen, Boise State

11 votes

15%

Mike Leach, Texas Tech

5 votes

31%

Steve Mariucci, former NFL coach

10 votes

9%

DeWayne Walker

3 votes

9%

Who Cares!!

3 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed