The success you point to is part of the problem. If this was an average or just above mediocre team then what happened yesterday would mean nothing. But this is USC, and we got to where we are right now by having high standards. If you're okay with going 6-6 or dropping a humiliating game here and there then maybe that's the problem. There's only one way a team this good loses to a team this bad: incompetence bred from arrogance.

It isn't like we lost a game to Cal, Oregon, et. al. We've been losing to teams that have caught us looking past them. How can anyone stick up for that? Also, the fact that we've lost by such small margins and through turnovers points to the fact that we could have taken those games over. Instead, we became complacent.

I figured that after UCLA and Oregon State last year that we would have learned our lesson; all opponents deserve respect... Wrong. This shows how stubborn we've gotten on top of our pedestals.

I'm in favor of bringing this team back down to earth, and that requires letting them know there are no free passes. I don't care about how well we've done in the past: my only concern is with the present and the future. If you focus on how good you once were you lose sight of what it takes to be a perennial titan. And that's what USC has been doing.

I understand your sentiments Defender, and I really admire all the cool heads (like frak, paragon, and DC) around here who can take what happened in stride. But I can't blame others who, like myself, feel like our team needs a kick in the ass, not some acquiescence or unmitigated support.

To keep cheering would just breed the same type of hubris that got us here in the first place.

In re: would I boo my own brother, I guess my answer would be yes. I played soccer for a very long time as a youth, and made my high school football team as a freshman. My parents saw most of my practices and games, and when I messed up they chewed me out. Growing up I never got pats on the back for trying my hardest; when I brought trophies and straight A's home my parents just expected that of me. Maybe that's why I'm such an a**hole? :-/

I think everyone is missing the point I'm trying to make here. It's not like I'm advocating booing because a team lost. In the past, when USC would lose game I immediately would huddle up with my classmates and express how lucky we are to be students in this era. I didn't boo at the rose bowl when we lost to UCLA and I certainly wouldn't have booed the Oregon State loss. The reason I feel differently about the Stanford game is because I feel as though the coaching staff and the players let the fans down by not giving a complete effort. I don't care how many championships you've won, if you play half-assed you deserve to be admonished.

The reason why those kids on the practice field tore their ACL's or dislocated their knees is because they were giving it their best shot. In contrast, their coaches and teammates paid them back by trying not to break a sweat.

That's shameful, and deserves to be booed.

I still get the feeling that people are looking to our past and thinking, "Wow, how could anyone be so obtuse as to demean the success of this team? What type of imbecile could be that spoiled?"

I completely understand what you're saying. And like I said, I may be wrong about this. But, all I'm trying to say is that success doesn't let mediocrity off the hook. The reason we got to this spoiled position in the first place is because guys didn't take plays off and the coaches gave 110% on any given Saturday. That's not the case anymore, and that doesn't deserve our respect.

If I wanted to dwell on the fruits of yesteryear and stop holding my team accountable for mistakes I would have gone to Miami. But I didn't. I graduated from USC.

My parents and I paid that school 40k a year for a piece of paper and an experience. I woke up at 2am just to march to the corner of Fig and MLK and decapitate a paper-mache bruin live on ESPN. I spent all the money I earned working in the fine arts library just to get a hotel room for a weekender. I've canceled dates, gotten into fights, and sacrificed my GPA for Trojan football.

I am not a bandwagoner.

I'm just scared of falling into mediocrity by giving our program a long leash. That's really all I'm saying. Unfortunately, I can't have any effect on the game on the field. And there's very little chance that the coaching staff would take any of my grumblings seriously. All I can do is announce my distaste. It worked for the Schalke fans :-/

I don't blame anyone for shi--ing on me. That's fine. I'm just a young Trojan, I don't know what it was like to not go to a BCS game every year. I just know what my father (and coaches) always told me: that the only way to stay the best is to hold yourself to a higher standard.

I didn't boo the basketball team for losing to ASU when they clearly mailed in the game; I also wouldn't boo if our team lost a hard-fought game. I just feel like this team is expected to play hard and play smart. Why else would they win so much?

In the end we all want the same thing here. SC has to pull itself up by the bootstraps and win this season out. Things were low after the Oregon State game last season, maybe we'll see the same thing this year.

I'll get back to ducking for cover now.

"You're young and dumb. You don't know how bad things used to be here. Just shut up and move on. This team deserves your respect."

First, the standard I'm holding this team to isn't unreasonable. If they had lost to Cal or Oregon we wouldn't be in this situation. Like I said, losing a tough game where your opponent outplays you (vis-a-vis ucla) is certainly acceptable. I never said SC should win every game, but that they shouldn't take games off. You want to tell me that they didn't take this game off? Fine, you're entitled to that argument. But I think you're wrong. I've never questioned whether the coaches and players have played hard until Saturday. If USC was 2-10 and at the bottom of the Pac-10 I would have booed on Saturday. The success issue is not salient to this specific argument.

I am implying that the coaches and players didn't try their best to win. Are you going to tell me that our team was outplayed? Seriously, make that argument, I'm very interested. Those turnovers and improbable 4th downs didn't convert themselves.

If it makes you feel better to continue to attack my reasonableness then go ahead.

Also, please don't tell me what I do and don't "deserve." I'm an alum. I chose to USC over other "prestigious" colleges because I've always wanted to be a Trojan, even when they weren't winning BCS games. I'm just as entitled to their success as you are.

Don't give me homilies from your high horse and think that you're a better alumnus because of your unwavering support. It doesn't make you seem reasonable and steadfast. It just make you look bitter.

In any case, it's clear that my opinions aren't getting any respect here. that's okay with me, I didn't write this treatise for the purpose of converting people into boo birds. I was just trying to defend myself. Apparently that makes me daft and shallow. Whatever. At least I've served as a locus for unity, even if it was because I was getting shot down.

All I want is for this team to succeed. I spend all day thinking about the program. It's been that way for me since high school. Being called a fair-weather-fan really seems unjust to me. In my mind I'm just being die-hard... I expect my team to win every game. Sorry for being such a horrible person.

You've all taken my feelings for a particular game and extrapolated from that that I must be hopping off the bandwagon. That's patently false, and is totally inconsistent with what I've been arguing. You'd think I was Scott Wolf or something.

In any case, I'm done arguing with my own kind. It's the last thing I want at this point.

If anyone wants to throw some more rocks at me I'm at ainjijia@usc.edu

(and as a side note to Defender: sorry, but I'm a bit of a stickler for stuff like this. "Prescient" refers to the ability the see into the future, or foresight. I'm not sure if that's the word you were looking for.)

I undertand that people feel passionatly about the booing issue, but we need to put it into context. If you do not love USC and are just at the Coli to eat bad hot dogs and see an event then you have no business booing. If you are an alum, and die hard fan you have earned the right to express yourself as you see fit. Don't jump on 2007 for hinting that he had given up. I have given up on USC Football many times. Often after a performance like last week. Yet there I am the next week in my Chris Claibourne jersey screaming myself hoarse. It does not matter if its Frank Strong fumbling after every touch, Mike Van Raaphorst rolling around like a Brazilian Soccer Player after a sack, or JDB blithly tossing pick after pick, bad play hurts. I have seen 2 responces to this, Blind Faith and Anger. Neither is wrong, and both have thier costs. The "fans" who are wrong are those who will not show up for Arizona. We cannot turn on each other, that's what Bruins do.

1. "blind faith" is a redundant statement, as all "faith" is blind. now "blind loyalty"- that's syntactically correct, despite the historical use of blind faith as an idiomatic expression.
   
2. blind loyalty and anger are not mutually exclusive in responding to the stress of USC's loss to Stanford

I don't have any faith or loyalty to John David Booty's ability to lead this team. Not in the next game, next month, nor barely-within-our-grasp National Championship game.

I am pretty angry at the loss to Stanford, but not completely because it didn't come against Notre Dame or UCLA.

As a fan, I want many things to happen. All of which stem from the same stress that's involved in losing to Stanford. Not putting the hammer down on Idaho and barely escaping against Washington??? I can go on with my anger over some called plays, dropped balls, and lack of effort- but . . . see my JDB response. It rests on his shoulders. He's the QB/Heisman-hope. He has to suffer our anger when they lose because he rode our happiness and took the bulk of the credit when they won.

Boo? Yeah, go ahead.
Give up on the team? Sure, whatever blows your skirt up.
Anyone can be hyper-critical or be immature in their response to the loss.
But here on CC, you'll have to suffer through a whole host of highly opinionated replies.
Ain't no one hatin'. But you gotta "back it" up, because people will "smack your sh_t" up.

(btw: ilium- i agree with you on letting people respond with how they respond. it's neither here nor there, we're all filled-up with Trojan pride. some more so than others. it's just that no one's above or below reproach)