I'm proud of our team, and very proud of the way our defense played at the end of the year. But don't forget how our defense played the first part of the year. Monte's defensive scheme is HIGHLY player-dependent - the players better be physically gifted and extremely facile with the scheme. Monte's defensive scheme by itself is a very weak scheme, no matter which team uses it.

In 2009 Coach Carroll used a scheme extremely similar to Monte's scheme, and our defense stunk. We didn't have the players. The same Monte-Pete defensive scheme in 2008 turned in an awesome performance because we had the players. Lovie Smith of the Bears uses a Monte-type scheme in the NFL, and it frequently turns into easy points for opponents - except during seasons when the Bears have the exceptional players needed to pull off Monte's scheme successfully. PC uses his Monte-type scheme with the Seahawks. Although they had a good defense overall, when injuries forced the Seahawks to use inexperienced backups, a lot more points were suddenly given up. It's too heavily player-dependent.

I put forth that Monte's scheme is flawed, because if most of our defensive players are not superb athletes with high intelligence who grasp the scheme to perfection, the defense gets ripped for big yards and points. IF the players are great athletes, smart persons, and they master the scheme, then the defense is excellent. Monte's scheme itself is at a competitive disadvantage compared to the schemes of most other teams. Depending almost entirely on the players is always risky. A scheme that can cover up individual player weaknesses would provide a systematic built-in dependability.

Bruin Nation's "Q & A with Southern Cal:  Trogan-to-English Version", written by gbruin, is really, truly odd, in an unintentionally enjoyable way.  The post is rather lengthy and it purports to be an interview with Knox Kiffin via a baby talk translator named ucla7477.  

Knox is purportedly the "most knowledgeable playcaller in the Kiffin family."  The theme is the ancient threadbare commentary about how we pay our players big salaries, everything we do is illegal yet we somehow get away with it, no one goes to classes, and that the general level of intelligence at USC is low.  I thought it would be the usual weak UCLA insults that they've been tickling their funny bones with since John McKay was our coach.  

Then zang, out of nowhere, some great new insults are invented. Props to gbruin!  Presenting 3 new anti-Trojan classics, as fictionally attributed to Knox Kiffin:

"And we sell the "university" experience: owning the police, Aryan website, demeaning women"

Finally, some fresh ammo for BN.  The predominant Gerald Ford-era "humor" was losing some luster.  gbruin has truly joined the long list of notable Bruin authors with this post. 

Truth is, gbruin has created a post so weird that it is unexpectedly fun to read.  It is truly avant garde, somewhat existentialist performance art.   It creates a new high water mark for BN "USC obsession humor." I highly recommend spending the 3 minutes on the read!

Good to see Sark is willing to forage a living off anything that might unintentionally drop off Coach Kiffin's table - just  like the good Labradoodle he is. Come on - bark little Sarkie, bark! Sit up! Beg! From the 3/17/11 Seattle Times Husky FB Blog:

"Well, this slipped a little under the radar, as Steve Dillon -- a defensive end from Paraclete High School in southern California and long committed to USC but who didn't sign until Wednesday --- said he would have signed with Washington had it not worked out with the Trojans." 

What's that Sarkie? You wish you'd waited it out just one more year at USC? Well, no regrets now, you enjoy the next five years full of 7 win seasons, rain, and hoping to keep within range of Phil Knight's butt emissions in the Pac 12 North - though luckily, Dawgies do love to sniff butts. Ruff ruff!

Seattle Seahawks 41, New Orleans Saints 36!

This is why Coach Wins Forever:

"One of the greatest lessons for us in sports is that it's about how you finish, and ain't about how you start," Carroll said. "As you look at our season, we're in the finish, now. This is finish time. And how are we doing?"

And Matt Hasselbeck on Pete:

"We were down 10-0 against the world champs, my third pass of the game was intercepted. It was not how you want to start a game. But that is one of Pete's messages. You can't win or lose the game in the first quarter. You have to win the fourth and a lot of the stuff he brought up this year has kind of come true."

The past two weeks, and Saturday in particular, have brought validation for what Carroll is selling. 
"I know guys have bought in, because if you didn't buy in, you were gone," Hasselbeck said. "I think what makes it easy to buy in is it's legit. It's not just some rah-rah thing. In a crazy way, the way he (Carroll) explains stuff, it just seems to happen."

And this is called karma:

"Reggie Bush finished with five carries for 12 yards, caught five passes and did not play in the fourth quarter."

I'm In!

Fight On Seahawks!

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/31129/victory-defining-for-hasselbeck-seahawks

Jay Berwanger - University of Chicago

Gary Beban - UCLA

Which school will break the tie? The Chicago Maroons are a legit NCAA Division III team, with 3 conference championships (University Athletic Association) since 1998. Among other accomplishments the past decade, Chicago Football has produced the Division III interceptions leader, kickoff return leader, 4th-best receptions leader, 11th-best receiving yards leader, the nation's 10th-best passing attack, and the nation's 24th-best total offense. Chicago is not yet a Division I team, but I pick the 1924 Big Ten Champions to get Heisman # 2 before the Bruins do. Go Maroons!

It's great to see fellow members of the Trojan Lawyers Club representing on CC. (USC '88, DePaul Law '96.) Re: the hypothetical case of McNair v. NCAA, I offer this up. Disclaimer - I'm not a First Amendment attorney. Props on this to www.citmedialaw.org.

In a defamation action, Coach McNair might well be considered a "limited-purpose public figure":

A limited-purpose public figure is either:

- One who voluntarily becomes a key figure in a particular controversy, or

- One who has gained prominence in a particular, limited field, but whose celebrity has not reached an all-encompassing level.

The applicability of actual malice to a limited-purpose public figure:

- The actual malice standard applies only to subject matter related to the controversy in question or to the field in which the individual is prominent, not to the person's entire life.

- Passage of time does not affect an individual who has achieved fame through participation in a controversy as long as the public maintains an "independent" interest in the underlying controversy.

Where the University of Georgia athletic director sued a magazine for defamation (the defamatory article concerned a phone call to Bear Bryant), Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts (351 F.2d 702), the U.S. Supreme Court held, inter alia:

3. A "public figure" who is not a public official may recover damages for defamatory falsehood substantially endangering his reputation on a showing of highly unreasonable conduct constituting an extreme departure from the standards of investigation and reporting ordinarily adhered to by responsible publishers. ( P. 155)

Trying to create a pleasant diversion! We all have ideas, dreams, wishes, hopes, nightmares about who will lead the Dynasty that is USC Football into the next decade. This list can't be infinite, and it's already really long, so I hope there's someone here that you can vote for. Putting down candidates here is like trying to fill out the NCAA Tournament Bracket, there are so many possibilities if you let yourself go a little nuts. Enjoy!

According to ESPN (and some excited Seattle talk radio folks) Pete Carroll is moving to Seattle. What happened? I mean the whole Matt Barkley project, the awesome 2010 recruiting class, wants to stay at USC forever . . . why would he leave us? Pete Carroll IS the USC Trojans! The world is turning upside down. Did anyone here have a clue? Paragon?  This is a nightmare scenario. What possible upside is there for Trojan Football?

ESPN: Carroll to Leave USC

Preface: yeah yeah I know it doesn't matter that Stanford went for 2 when they ended up putting 55 on us blah blah blah. I understand football. So preemptively, shut up. This is for we Trojans looking for some insight into Pac 10 coaching psychology or who just think it's fun to see pissed off and very tense Pete and cocky high school prom king Harbaugh jab at each other. Here's an accurate translation of the audible portion of the Carroll-Harbaugh exchange, thanks to RaiderFerny @ WeAreSC:

JH: Good luck.

PC: What's the deal with you, are you alright?

JH: Yeah, I'm great. What's your deal?

PC: Nice game, nice game.

PC's "Nice game" was obviously dripping with sarcasm. Look right in his eyes as he says it. Harbaugh better bolt for ND or NFL soon, because the next time we play them with our shyt together, there will be no putting in the second and third string if we're up by 40. As of today, PC officially hates Jim Harbaugh. He will show no future mercy to any Harbaugh-coached team. Watch the clip if ya don't believe me. Our BN brethren has it posted. Paragon, can you post the vid? I don't want to tag BN with my browser hits. :)

Bumped...P

I submit this for discussion: In behind-the-scenes reality, it’s possible that all year long, Mike Riley and his coaches mostly design plays and run practices for only 1 game every year – USC. He will claim of course to be practicing for whoever is next up on the schedule. But truthfully, maybe all his practices, no matter who they are really playing, are in reality focused on USC. It paid off last year against us and almost paid off this year.

Practicing plays designed to beat USC makes OSU good enough to beat or at least be competitive against most teams, though it makes them a bit more vulnerable against teams with running, mobile QBs – i.e. as they were vulnerable against Oregon last year.

Just throwing this out as a possibility.

Bumped...P

Football coaches will always take crap from both their opponents and their own fans. Smack talk and heated conversation is part of the game. But sometimes when it goes beyond the football-related issues, it goes too far. And many fans have gone over the line with Charlie Weis, taking the low road with cheap personal attacks about his weight or his looks. Some have even gone to the disturbingly sick level of insulting Weis' disabled daughter.

I'm a proud and devoted Trojan. But I'm embarrassed by and angry as hell at the USC fan who sent Weis a USC hat back in 2005 accompanied by remarks that disparaged Weis' daughter Hannah. Hannah Weis is mentally and physically disabled. I am the father of an autistic child. To this day, the a** whole that sent that note and hat to Weis has never apologized. I wish I could meet him and simply pound the s*** out of him. This anonymous coward does not deserve to be a part of the Trojan Nation. I hope he reads my FanPost and looks in the mirror.

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Updated and Bumped - P

Check out this Awesome Pic from USC RipsIt.com of Stafon in the hospital!

From Ben Malcomson, USC Rips It Blog:

"In his hospital room this morning, Stafon Johnson smiles and flashes "fight on" alongside (from left to right) quarterback Matt Barkley, offensive lineman Alex Parsons and offensive lineman Jeff Byers. Johnson, who underwent throat surgery on Sept. 28, has been welcoming teammates and coaches more and more by the day as his condition continues to steadily improve." (Photo courtesy of Kim Mallory, Johnson's mother)

UPDATE HERE...

Stafon Johnson is going home tomorrow...

USC tailback Stafon Johnson is expected to be discharged from a Los Angeles hospital Wednesday morning, the school announced.

Johnson has been hospitalized since Sept. 28, when he suffered severe damage to his throat and voice box in a weightlifting accident.

Johnson, his mother and his surgeon briefly will address the media, although Johnson is restricted from talking, per doctor’s orders.

Check out the sticker that players will have on their Helmets this weekend also over at RipsIt.

FIGHT ON STAFON!!

On the brutal afternoon of September 14th,1996 in Husky Stadium, when the star Cougars quarterback picked himself up off the turf after the Huskies bashed him for his 8th - yes 8th - sack of the day, Steve Sarkisian was en route to the 29-17 defeat that would eventually deny his 14-1 BYU Cougars the 1996 National Championship. Did young Steve Sarkisian ever dream he would one day return to this scene of slaughter as a veritable Husky Hero? Ah, the unforseeable irony.

The defeat only made young Sark stronger. Yes, that very season would see the future Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback and USC Offensive Coordinator win the Sammy Baugh Trophy, grace the December 1996 cover of TV Guide, and win the Cotton Bowl.

Now the Washington Head Coach, Sarkisian has inspired the hottest shirt in Seattle. Half the fans in Husky Stadium were wearing these shirts today, or one of the 3 other "Bark for Sark" designs available. Steve Sarkisian, the man, the myth, the Husky Hero. He's just living the dream.

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Matt Hayes likes USC for the BCS Title game - using some of the most curious and interesting reasoning I've heard. Never thought that the Trojans' flaws could be turned into tools to use for a successful title run; likewise never thought that being so darn great in the past few years was a reason for our failure to reach the championship. In any case, let's hope that Mr. Hayes' theory proves to be correct. If so, he is the mass media's ultimate USC genius!

Bumped...P

The detail, insight and overall quality of discussion that's occurred since the UW game has been enjoyable and educational. I'm not a football genius. I played HS football and was a pretty good WR on a mediocre team. I am a USC alum who went to every home game from 1984-1987. I live in Seattle and try to go to every SC game at WSU, UW, UO or OSU. I usually get seats between the 35-50 yd. line in row 7-11.

I have a really good view of everything including the players' and coaches' sideline actions and demeanor. Those are my only qualifications or lack thereof. Here's my view as someone who attended the UW game and it's kind of simple. For this game I was on the 40, row G, USC sideline. This is totally subjective. Especially my sideline notes - but I think that watching the sidelines gives insight at times.

The sky is not falling.

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Nice Barkley story in Tuesday's Seattle Times. Some nice quotes from Sark about Barkley. Living up here for 14 years now, I can say there's less open hostility to me and my TROJANS license plates and USC clothing than I have ever experienced. I get obscenities regularly thrown at me during game week, but not this year. Is it because Sark is trying to turn UW into USC North? Several people have thanked me for Sark and Holt. Weird vibe this year in Seattle. But who cares - let's kick their Husky asses! I hope to see many fellow Trojans up here at the game as the quest for our 8th straight Pac-10 Championship begins! Fight On!

I haven't been a member here for long, so you may have read this long ago., if so sorry. But I found this story from Rivals.com to be fascinating in the amount of detail it gives on the officials' not one but two fundamentally key blown calls in Texas' favor in the 2006 Rose Bowl. This isn't interesting because of sour grapes (though I did find this article to shut up a Texas Sigma Chi who still beats his chest over the so-called victory) but because of the fascinating detail it goes into regarding what the officials were doing as they decided the fate of the game on two separate calls - we all know about the Vince Young knee touched down before the pitch, but also it highlights the lesser-known Reggie Bush "fumble" that was actually a forward lateral.

This article really sheds light. The officials are revealed to be confused and befuddled over how to use the replay technology, specifically how to simply view a play from different angles. It is amazing how incompetent the officials were in a National Championship game!

Link

The story also highlights how officials misused the instant replay technology and blew a key call in the Oregon-Oklahoma game earlier that same season, giving Oregon recovery of an onsides kick when it should have gone to Oklahoma. It was so blatant that the Pac-10 suspended the entire officiating crew for one game and the head replay official had to take a leave of absence for the rest of the season.

The Three-Peat shoulda been.

ESPN did something interesting, picking their choice of the country's top 40 college FB teams and breaking them into 4 conferences. They developed a playoff system, and a relegation process each year where the two worst teams in the conference are rotated out and the two best who weren't in are then rotated in. We are in the "John McKay Conference." What shocked me is it mentions that the Florida Gators - in the "Bear Bryant Conference" - have not played a nonconference game outside of the state of Florida in 18 years! In 1991 they traveled to Syracuse and lost, 38-21. That's it. No more since. Can you imagine how USC would be slammed by the media if we refused to leave California for a nonconference game? The Florida Gators get away with it for 18 years and counting and the media barely mentions it.

Here's the ESPN conference stuff: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=schlabach_mark&id=4378659