Tag Archive for: Grinding Gears

COLUMN: Chargers’ move to LA won’t solve problems


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Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Last August, I ended a column about the St. Louis Rams moving to Los Angeles with this precaution: “Ninety-one thousand people may pack the Coliseum for a preseason NFL game just to check out the shiny new toy, but how many will actually show up […]

Rose Bowl appearance solidifies USC’s resurgence


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The first football practice I covered as a staff writer at the Daily Trojan was the one after head coach Steve Sarkisian showed up to a booster event inebriated, went on a drunken, profanity-laced tirade and later apologized for in front of a horde of cameras. This, I learned as a wide-eyed freshman, was just […]

USC can start a new era with win


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The last time USC faced Washington, it was the final game before all hell broke loose and a new era of the football program emerged, for better or for worse. You probably recall it — the No. 17 Trojans entering as double-digit favorites against the unranked Huskies at the Coliseum on a Thursday night in […]

Browne deserved a better experience


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There are times when sports are amazing, like when a team that hasn’t won a championship in 108 years finally breaks the drought and the viral video of an 81-year-old Cubs fan jumping for joy makes you feel all warm and fuzzy. Then, there are times when sports are sad and unfortunate and make you […]

USC wins big, though more is on the horizon


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On USC’s first play from scrimmage, sophomore running back Ronald Jones II took a handoff at his own 12-yard line, ran right by four Cal defenders who parted like the Red Sea, sprinted past two more, broke the tackle of another and then ran untouched for about 45 more yards before being caught.  Three minutes […]

All it took to raise questions was a knee


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On Sunday, Colin Kaepernick will make his second start of the season when the San Francisco 49ers play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When the national anthem plays before the game, he will likely take a knee. The cameras will flash, social media will explode and criticism will keep flowing. Indeed, the saga surrounding one of […]

USC’s season isn’t lost: There’s still room to be hopeful


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If USC somehow makes it back to the Pac-12 Championship this season, it should thank redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Darnold, but a special shout-out should go to the unimaginable craziness that is the Pac-12. There is a reason why the hashtag #Pac12AfterDark trends on Twitter during every Pac-12 night game. Whether it’s officials blowing calls, […]

Darnold must keep dazzling


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Want to know one play that epitomizes USC’s season thus far? Wind back the tape to about 40 seconds left in the first quarter of last week’s game against Arizona State and watch a trick play almost turn into a catastrophe, yet somehow work out. Redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Darnold handed the ball off to […]

USC needs to lower its goals for this season


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I’m not a fan of making comparisons in sports, whether it’s between players, coaches or teams. It’s absurd to compare players (LeBron James vs. Michael Jordan) or teams (the 72-win Chicago Bulls vs. the 73-win Golden State Warriors) who played in completely different time periods. But here’s one similarity that’s fair to point out across […]

Does the football team have a plan?


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We are just four weeks into the season, and yet, after plenty of hair-pulling frustration, lackluster primetime losses and inexplicable coaching decisions, it might be time to beg the question: Does the USC football program have a plan? It’s one thing to lose games as the underdog to top-ranked Alabama and seventh-ranked Stanford, but it’s […]