As Valentine’s Day approaches, I thought I would get an early start on my day-long celebration of commercialism and over-the-top flattery. This year, though, times were tough, so instead of going to the grocery store and spending my dimes on a glittery Hallmark card, I decided there was no better way to honor those who [...]
Read the rest of this article »Columns
NFL can’t change L.A. sports landscape
Sunday, like the rest of America, I arrived at a Super Bowl party. As I mingled with the other guests and wolfed down my second chili dog, the inevitable question arrived: Which team are you rooting for? I did what I do whenever I’m asked that question regarding an NFL game — I waffled. Yeah, [...]
Read the rest of this article »In my world, I would have been a recruit
In middle school, I came home one evening in the midst of a chronic shoe phase, when, for strange, stupid reasons, most adolescent boys become enamored with $150 Nike sneakers. It was wintertime, and an EastBay catalogue had been delivered in that day’s mail, packaged between utility bills and awkward postcards from relatives whose names [...]
Read the rest of this article »Free throws remain Achilles’ heel for USC
If you start reading this column expecting something about the holy day of signing, when 18-year-olds finally put years of doodling their signatures in the margin of their Algebra notebooks into practice (or not, in the case of Texas A&M recruit Floyd Raven, whose mom forged his signature on a letter of intent to Ole [...]
Read the rest of this article »Trojans still have a stronghold on L.A.
It was supposed to be a down year for USC football. After the program dominated the college football world for quite some time, the NCAA finally brought the Trojans down to earth. Former USC running back Reggie Bush was found to have received improper benefits. So, the NCAA decided to ram it down USC’s throat [...]
Read the rest of this article »Intent of comments ignored by fans, media
We live in an age in which people are easily offended. The most recent case of this modern day form of the blame game came from the visiting locker room of the McKale Memorial Center on Saturday night. After an embarrassing 82-73 loss to the Arizona Wildcats, USC’s star junior forward Nikola Vucevic was rather [...]
Read the rest of this article »Recruiting stars don’t always align right
Recruiting is the lifeblood of every college football program. With national signing day coming up Wednesday, prepare to hear the recruiting news spewing across every sports media platform. You’ll hear which team has the best incoming class, which teams missed out, which teams did the best at what positions and so on. Your appetite for [...]
Read the rest of this article »Recruiting monopoly alive and well in L.A.
Will UCLA catch up to USC? We’ve been asking this for years now, and even as both programs inch closer to national signing day Wednesday, nothing indicates that such a scenario is on the horizon. So the question has become, “Okay, will anything, even sanctions, derail the Trojans’ run of success? That’s where we are [...]
Read the rest of this article »If I were Pat Haden, if I were USC’s AD
Earlier this week, a buddy of mine alerted me to the fact that seven of the eight Pac-10 softball teams are in the preseason top 25. My first reaction was not one of admiration, but of disappointment that there are eight softball teams in the Pac-10. Then, I realized that if USC did have a [...]
Read the rest of this article »Eric Strangis’ walk-on reality provides lesson
With just two minutes remaining in USC’s 65-42 drubbing of Stanford on Thursday night, junior walk-on guard Eric Strangis stepped on to the Galen Center court for the first time in his collegiate career. The entrance lacked the typical Hollywood-esque feel you’d assume would accompany a young man’s final fulfillment of an improbable dream. There [...]
Read the rest of this article »
Loading ...
Recent Comments