‘Arrogant’ USC blog provides perspective


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I have this very annoying habit when I wake up each morning of anticipating things to come — a tendency to glance at a calendar, eager for some distant event to occur. My initial idea behind this was pure: I wanted the good news to come faster. Fortunately, I’m not unique in this regard. At […]

Cream of the crop in USC’s athletic program


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The other day, my buddy and I got into a pretty intense argument. It started out with him saying he was glad spring football had started, because “now there’s something worth talking about in USC athletics.” I shot back that, although it was okay for him to be excited about spring ball, he had no […]

NCAA air balls UConn situation


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As I watched the NCAA championship game, I could only shake my head in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The entire Butler team could not put the ball in the basket, and, as hard as it is to believe, UConn wasn’t much better. But besides the lack of offensive efficiency both teams, […]

USC’s nonconference schedule the right call


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In every level of athletic competition, there is one core tenet coaches use when looking toward the future: To be the best, you have to beat the best. The USC men’s basketball team turned a corner in that regard with wins over non-conference foes like Texas and Tennessee in 2010, though the challenge of taking […]

March still trumps the BCS chaos every time


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Every college football season for the past 10 years has featured a thunderstorm of complaints about everybody’s favorite whipping boy, the Bowl Championship Series. When fans, coaches and sports writers complain about the lack of a playoff system in college football, they immediately point to March Madness as the gold standard for determining a true […]

New USC challenged to survive 2011 climate


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Last June, after a four-year NCAA investigation, then-USC Athletic Director Mike Garrett echoed a commonly held sentiment: The NCAA had it in for USC. At a hotel ballroom in San Francisco, filled with 180 university boosters, Garrett responded to the Committee on Infractions’ 67-page report by accusing college athletics’ governing body of jealousy. “As I […]

Pro Day indicative of healthy USC program


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The campus was abuzz. A hoard of agents, reporters, photographers, NFL scouts and coaches formed a ring around the field. Friends and family gathered in the stands. Hundreds of students, teachers and passersby stopped to watch. Former USC football players showcased their skills to NFL personnel Wednesday, hoping to increase their chances of getting drafted […]

Predraft workouts do not predict success


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Predraft workouts can make or break a player’s draft status, and a player’s stock can rise or fall in the months leading up to the big day. For those looking to eliminate any questions and cement their status as legitimate pro talent, a good showing can really create some buzz among the media and scouts, […]

Uncertain future for Trojans’ athletics


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For all you underclassmen Trojans fans, a word from the wise: brace yourselves. I know basketball season just ended and spring football practice is just beginning, but recent action in both sports are bad omens for next season. The most recent bad basketball news came over the weekend when junior forward Nikola Vucevic decided to […]

Vucevic’s decision to leave is logical after all


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Nobody fantasizes about playing basketball for USC.  They don’t long for the Galen Center, or Kevin O’Neill, or the “Trojan Fever” fanatics or being frontcourt mates with Alex Stepheson. What college basketball players fantasize about is being selected by one of 30 NBA teams in the annual June draft, which subsequently ushers in multi-million dollar […]