[Bumped - seems to capture a lot of the frustration about the state of the program - DC Trojan]

Dan Weber of USCFootball.com drops a nuke on Kevin O'Neill's apologists.

LINK TO ARTICLE

They say this season doesn't matter. And that may be true. If it did, would so many of USC's basketball scholarship athletes be transfers standing around on the court in street clothes before every game unable to play?

Has a day gone by this season when someone around the USC basketball program hasn't lamented how the Trojans "lost one whole recruiting class" in the NCAA mess when Derrick Williams & Co. were released? But if that were true, how in the world does a program go out and sign players who can't come in and play right away?

What if Kentucky's John Calipari reported in to Wildcat fans that there was no way they could expect him to compete this season because his last two classes were all gone -- off to the NBA after a year each in Lexington? You think that'd fly?

Then why does it fly here? Three years is two lifetimes in the one-and-out world of college basketball these days. Williams has come and gone at Arizona. And yet a not-very-talented Wildcat team still beat USC at Galen.

Who would do what USC has done here? Who would complain about losing a class and then bring in a class that was already lost to this year? And then say you don't have any players? What sense, other than excuse-providing, does that make?

We can argue all day about KO's coaching ability, but his incompetent recruiting strategy is the elephant in the room. What if LFK had screwed things up like this, would we be so willing to write off a football season?

Enough said, read the article.

Today Steve Johnson got revenge on Daniel Nguyen with a 6-2, 6-2 victory some 4 years later after losing to Dan in their freshman years. But Dan came back with a 9-7 win in the doubles final with partner Ray Sarmiento against Steve and freshman Yannick Hanfmann in another all Trojan final. Also our women's players were taking care of business with Freshman Zoe Scandelis beating the #1 player in college tennis Stanfords Mallory Burdette 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, at Las Vegas. Danielle Lao took the final in Palm Springs against #29 ranked Emily Fraser 7-6, 6-0, Danielle is ranked #42 so it will move her up in the rankings as it will Zoe at #19.

Zoe playing the first Tie Breaker

Zoe SCANDALIS vs Mallory BURDETTE (via fantic7)

Danielle Lao

Danielle Lao (via uscwomenstennis)

Bumped - P

Well as we saw yesterday five Trojans advanced to the final 8 players at the Sherwood Cup in Westlake Village, California. Today 4 of the 5 advanced into the semi-finals for an all TROJAN playoff, if Daniel Nguyen and Steven Johnson win they could be playing in the finals tomorrow. This is really a rematch of their Freshman year at USC when 4 years and 2 weeks ago they faced offed for the 2008 Costa Mesa Intercollegiates, with Dan winning in straight sets. Plus all 3 doubles teams have advanced to the semi-finals also, the trojan men look very very strong already in the start of the season.

It looks as if one of the tougher matches was Steve Johnson match against plan B player Nick Meister, both are from the same area in Orange County and have been playing each other for at least 10 years. Steve hung in there for a 6-7, 7-6, 7-5 win, Nick showed he has come back from injuries in his early tears for a strong showing from last years NCAA champion.

[1] Steve Johnson (USC) def. [5] Nick Meister (UCLA) -6-7, 7-6 (5), 7-5
[8] #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. #20 Mate Zsiga (BAY) - 7-5, 6-3
[3] #16 Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. #37 Ryan Thacher (STAN) - 6-4, 6-3
[2] #12 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. [7] #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) - 6-3, 6-4

Also on the Women's side of things Zoe Scandelis will be playing in the final at Las Vegas after deposing of Plan Bs #1 tennis player Robin Anderson in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 and will face Stanford #1 Mallory Burdette. Plus Trojan women Kaitlyn Christian and Sabrina Santamaria are in the semi-finals in doubles.

via dailytrojan.com

While the men's hoops team has struggled greatly and has most likely lost their chance at an NCAA tournament spot outside of winning the Pac-12 Tournament, the women's team, lead by Coach Michael Cooper, has gone on a recent hot streak to start off conference play. Today, the Women of Troy earned their fourth consecutive victory with a 47-43 win over UCLA, improving their record to 9-6 overall and 4-1 in the conference. USC is currently placed second in the conference, one game behind the current leader Stanford.

Despite losing their top player, Jacki Gemelos, to an ACL injury last month, USC has not lost its confidence and remains a conference contender. A great deal of credit for this belongs to seniors Ashley Corral and Briana Gilbreath, whose skill and leadership have helped SC come back from a losing record entering conference play. Corral has just passed Cheryl Miller for fourth on the USC career assists list, and Gilbreath is approaching the 1,500 career point mark.

USC was ranked #23 in the AP poll at the start of the season, but fell out after the second week. But despite their early season struggles, they are still ranked #18 in the latest RPI thanks to their extremely difficult schedule. Five of USC's six losses so far have come against teams that are currently ranked or receiving votes in the national polls, and three of those losses were against top-10 teams. If USC can maintain the recent hot streak they have created through the second half of the season, they should easily find a spot in the Big Dance, and a strong performance in the Pac-12 tournament could help them find a higher seeding.

The Women of Troy will return to the Galen Center on Thursday to play the 10-8 Oregon Ducks.

This is great news because the the other teams involved are Stanford, Ucla and Baylor, which are all good teams. One thing I like is how USCs players dismissed plan B players and two of the best were Steve Johnson over Micheal Hui 6-0,6-0 and the Freshman square off of Eric Johnson against #86 Marcus Giron. Giron has always been ranked ahead of Eric but it looks as if the tide has changed. With five in the round of eight Two trojan with play each other in Freshman Yannick Hanfmann vs. Soph Ray Sarmiento this like a team challenge match for position.

Funny thing is as I have looked at this team these five are the ones I thought would be there, with # 6 player being between Vives, E Johnson, Quiroz, Wang and Smith.

SHERWOOD COLLEGIATE CUP (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
SINGLES
Round of 32 - Jan. 13
[1] Steve Johnson (USC) def. Michael Hui (UCLA) -- 6-0, 6-0
Denis Lin (STAN) def. Jordi Vives (USC) -- 7-5, 6-4
[5] Nick Meister (UCLA) def. Jonny Wang (USC) -- 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
[8] #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Robert Stineman (STAN) -- 6-1, 6-2
Eric Johnson (USC) def. #86 Marcus Giron (UCLA) -- 6-3, 6-1
[3] #16 Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. Daniel Ho (STAN) -- 6-4, 6-4
Max Ta Ba Truong (UCLA) def. Corey Smith (USC) -- 7-6 (2), 6-0
Roberto Quiroz (USC) def. Dennis Mkrtchian (UCLA) -- 6-1, 6-3
[7] #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. Jamin Bell (STAN) -- 6-4, 6-2
[2] #12 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. Walker Kehrer (STAN) -- 6-4, 6-2

Round of 16 - Jan. 13
[1] Steve Johnson (USC) def. #52 Lars Behlen (BAY) -- 6-4, 6-2
[8] #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) def. Marko Krickovic (BAY) -- 6-3, 6-2
#20 Mate Zsiga (BAY) def. Eric Johnson (USC) -- 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
[3] #16 Daniel Nguyen (USC) def. Max Ta Ba Truong (UCLA) -- 7-6 (4), 6-4
#37 Ryan Thacher (STAN) def. Roberto Quiroz (USC) -- 6-0, 6-1
[7] #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) def. #54 Roberto Maytin (BAY) -- 6-4, 6-1
[2] #12 Ray Sarmiento (USC) def. #72 Clay Thompson (UCLA) -- 6-3, 6-2

Quarterfinals - Jan. 14
[1] Steve Johnson (USC) vs. [5] Nick Meister (UCLA) -- 11:30 a.m.
[8] #48 Emilio Gomez (USC) vs. #20 Mate Zsiga (BAY) -- 11:30 a.m.
[3] #16 Daniel Nguyen (USC) vs. #37 Ryan Thacher (STAN) -- 11:30 a.m.
[2] #12 Ray Sarmiento (USC) vs. [7] #33 Yannick Hanfmann (USC) -- 11:30 a.m.

USC women are playing in Las Vegas and Palm Springs, Freshmen Zoe Scandelis and Sabrina Santamaria reach round of eight while Christain and Pulido lose early. The palm springs tourney doesn't start till today with Alison Ramos, Danielle Lao and Gabriella DeSimone playing in it.

Round of 16 - Jan. 13
[2] #8 Robin Anderson (UCLA) def. #99 Kaitlyn Christian (USC) -- 6-2, 6-3
[4] #18 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. #62 McCall Jones (UCLA) -- 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
[5] #19 Zoë Scandalis (USC) def. #66 Mary Clayton (DUKE) -- 2-6, 6-2, 6-2

Quarterfinals - Jan. 14
[4] #18 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) vs. [6] #38 Hanna Mar (DUKE) -- 11 a.m.
[5] #19 Zoë Scandalis (USC) vs. Lucia Batta (UNLV) -- 11 a.m

I was doing some research and I found these awesome renderings and models found here and here by Joseph Sandy of what Memorial Coliseum could look like with some USC money thrown in there. These are some exciting times in Troy!

I am beginning to think that USC is modeling itself after University of Pennsylvania - of course with a So Cal twist. Expo Park could be the West Coast version of the new Penn Park.

What do you all think?

Reference: TERM SHEET FOR AMENDED AND RESTATED SUBLEASE BETWEEN THE COLISEUM COMMISSION AND UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Oversigning is a clear-cut competitive advantage that drastically tips the playing field in favor of the, for lack of a better word, Cheater. (I realize that there are glaring loopholes in this rule, so cheating is not the legally correct word.)

The results of oversigning on competitive balance are clearly shown by analyzing the results of this year’s bowl games. Teams offering more scholarships than their opponents went 16-4 in this year’s bowls. Almost all of these bowl winners are oversigning cheaters.

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All Not Well at Southern Cal: Add Prater to the Transfer

Here we go this guy has no clue thinking that the USC program is in trouble and he is a FB coach at Muir HS in Pasadena. Wonder what Seymour said to him about going to ucla, maybe the kid said why should I go to Plan B. It is pretty bad when highly regarded recruits think of your program as a last resort to play college FB. I like how Frak went in and put these Yo-hoes in their place and explain the circumstances in why certain players are transferring out to make room for younger players that don't need immediate playing time.

USC mens tennis team starting out Ranked #1 and the women at #15, mens team right where they should be and nice to see ladies moving up. The mens team added 6 freshman this year and all were highly ranked very fine player, this should set up USC for years to come. Two of the players are ranked in the top 900 in the world (ATP) Yannick Hanfmann andRoberto Quiroz , the rest are ranked high in their respected countries Jonny Wang, Jordi Vives, Eric Johnson and John Meadows. The men are off to the Sherwood Collegiate Cup in Westlake, Calif. this Fri-Sun and last year USC dominated the draws.

USC women's team is starting out with basically the same ranking as last year but are better with the addition of three highly ranked freshman Zoë Scandalis (#762 WTA), Sabrina Santamaria #1 in southern cal and Gabriella DeSimone in the top 8. These 3 players along with transfer Jackie Owens should push the returning players on the team and there will be some shuffling around, USC losing the great Maria Shanchez (ranked only ten spots ahead of Zoe) to the Pros. The women head to two destinations this weekend the Las Vegas Invitational and the Palm Springs invitational and then on Friday the 20th you can come out to Marks Stadium at 1:30 to see them against UC Irvine, usually there is free pizza.

Here is a look at Zoe Scandalis practicing serve motion--this something men and women teams do at USC it will surprise you all.

Throwing spirals (via uscwomenstennis)

And yes here is last years last point

2011 USC Tennis Daniel Nguyen Championship Point (via USCAthletics)

CFB fans voted with their remote controls to make this the lowest rated NC Game ever.

From CBS Sports:

The overnight ratings for the BCS National Championship Game show that last night's rematch between Alabama and LSU was the lowest-rated title game in the 14-year history of the BCS, bringing in a 13.8 overnight rating, a 14% drop from last year's game between Auburn and Oregon. The previous low had been set in 2002 when Miami played Nebraska for the title and the game brought a 14.3 rating.

And this is a surprise? The people in SEC land certainly didn't foresee a problem, but they also don't have a problem marrying their siblings.