BUMPED...P

via cdn1.sbnation.com

After weeks and weeks of speculation and analysis and incessant tongue baths of praise towards Andrew Luck from Mel Kiper Jr., the biggest crapshoot in all of sports has finally arrived. As every Trojan fan worth his plastic helmet and sword knows -- as well as every hater that can't stand this bragging right -- last year USC passed Notre Dame as the school with the most players ever selected in the NFL Draft with 472, 75 of them being first round picks. This year, seven Trojans hope to get a phone call from one of the NFL coaches at some point this weekend. Here are those seven players and the general projections the draftniks have for them.

Matt Kalil, OT: USC's biggest star in this draft class. An All-American with a brother playing for the Panthers, he's been projected for months to be selected by the Minnesota Vikings as the #3 pick overall. However, this past week his stock has dropped a bit, as the Vikings are now considering picking LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne to improve their pass defense after it was annihilated by their NFC North rivals last season. It would be a shock to see Kalil drop out of the top ten if the Vikings pass on him, though it's hard to tell where exactly he will end up. The Buffalo Bills have been rumored to be considering trading up for Kalil, while the Rams and Jaguars have considered taking him with the No.6 and 7 pick, respectively.

Nick Perry, DE: The out-of-state import from Detroit has had quite a rough few months leading up to the draft. His nephew was shot at a party in January and has been in the hospital ever since. Thankfully, in an article by the Detroit Free-Press, Perry revealed he recently had a phone call with Derrick, and with the support of his family, he has been able to focus on his training and give a great performance on Pro Day and the Scouting Combine. Perry has been invited to New York for the draft, and has been linked to the Patriots, Jaguars, and Browns. Of all the top prospects, Perry's stock is the hardest to pin down. Most projections have him picked somewhere late in the first round, but some have him as a second round pick or even as high as the seventh pick overall. It all comes down to whether or not a team needs to fill in a hole on the D-Line for a 4-3 defense or wants to pick up Perry as an outside LB for a 3-4 defense.

More after the jump...

Continue reading this post »

USC Pep rally at South Coast Plaza
An anonymous report from a USC fan
USC virtually took over the former Crystal Court section of Orange County's premier shopping center, South Coast Plaza. Orange County is well known as an area where USC alumni are present in high numbers. USC's Bookstore has had a satellite store located at South Coast Plaza for many years. In fact, USC also has an educational facility in Irvine which helps businesses in the OC to network with USC's MBA programs. But, today, the show was the Athletic Department's appearance with three USC football players and head coach Lane Kiffin.
The rally was scheduled to start at 11 AM. By 10:45 AM fans were stacked 3 to 4 deep from the center of the mall past the USC Collections bookstore and down the concourse. At least 500 people were in line for autographs. The organizers had large high-definition TV's, a microphone and PA system, a stage, and multiple chairs for the student athletes.
Coach Kiffin arrived at 11 AM and after a slight delay, some song girls and yell leaders appeared at the front of the stage. Coach Kiffin got on stage and said a few remarks and then turned the microphone over to the student athletes.
The student athletes and Coach Kiffin then took two hours of out of their busy academic and administrative schedules to sign autographs for the USC fans present. I saw many children with USC souvenirs there. There were young and old present with many Trojan alumni. The event appeared to be a tremendous success for both South Coast Plaza and the University.

Interesting article today in ESPN the Magazine on the University of Oregon's football program and their alleged Pot use.

Nowhere is Oregon's laissez-faire approach to marijuana more apparent than Eugene, the state's counterculture and cannabis capital. "Business here is almost overwhelming," says a student-dealer who lives on -- no joke -- High Street. "Here, everybody smokes." Not surprisingly, The Princeton Review and High Times both have ranked the University of Oregon among the most pot-friendly schools. Another telltale, anecdotal sign: Into the 1990s, the Grateful Dead made Autzen Stadium a regular tour stop. "It's the weed capital of the world," says former Duck Reuben Droughns. "Long dreads. Girls with hairy armpits. Where there's hippies, there's weed."

The school's football program reflects those realities. In interviews with The Magazine, 19 current or former Oregon players and officials revealed widespread marijuana use by football players for at least the past 15 years. Former Ducks, including current pros, estimate between 40 percent and 60 percent of their teammates puffed; current Ducks say that range remains accurate.

I really don't care what goes on at UO, but if the numbers are correct that the UO usage is higher than the NCAA average then UO is going to take their fair share of criticism...it doesn't matter, they are now a target. Not just by the media or rival fanbases but rival coaches will use this as well.

I chuckled more at some of the comments that I have read on some of the Ducks boards. There seems to be an attitude that the media is out to get UO because of their meteoric rise of late. I get that, some USC fans thought the same thing during the last decade. I really don't have a problem with that line of thinking.

I howled more that this will be great for UO's recruiting. Right, UO is going to be negatively recruited like they have never seen.

Look, I did my fair share of weed before I joined the Navy and I never went back. It would be a bit hypocritical to say smoking dope is wrong after all the bowls I lit up...I would just say that I could have made better choices. But in today's era of social networking, once there is a record of it, legal or otherwise, the die tends to be cast in a negative light.

It could be hard to shake...

Oregon as an institution can't be happy with how this story makes the program look.

I get it, kids smoke dope, some will say it is a right of passage, especially in college.

But that will be a flimsy defense in the Recruiting Wars...

WE SMOKED IT ALL!!

Spring Football summary from Los Angeles Times

Good summary by Gary Klein on the Spring Huddle results/play

Fans rushed onto the Coliseum field after USC's end-of-spring scrimmage Saturday, lining up about 50 yards deep for quarterback Matt Barkley's signature during an autograph session.
Neither Barkley nor the Trojans had been particularly scintillating during the 91-play, no-tackling exhibition. But that didn't deter USC faithful from wanting to share a few moments with Barkley, Coach Lane Kiffin and the rest of the players.
USC's spring, marked more by injuries than revelations, is not expected to deter media outlets from ranking the Trojans among the contenders for a national title when training camp opens in August.

Bumped - P

via media.247sports.com

With a crowd of 15,515 filling the south seats of the Coliseum, the 2012 "Unfinished Business" football team took the field for USC's annual spring game. The thunderstorm that passed through SoCal last night left a windy but beautiful day for backups and underclassmen to prove their worth before a passionate crowd. Fans were allowed to watch the first half from behind the east goal posts, allowing the kids to catch some practice FG kicks from Andre Heidari and get some autographs from the team afterwards.

When Coach Kiffin blew the horn at the end of the game between the Cardinal Offense and the White Defense, it was the defense, a.k.a. "Team T.J." that came out on top. The USC secondary looked excellent, knocking down several passes and even giving Marqise Lee a hard time. Matt Barkley, after going 23/39 for 212 yards, and one TD and INT, told ESPNLA's Pedro Moura that the Trojans still have not reached their full potential as national contenders:

"Not yet," Barkley said. "Not anywhere close to that yet. We still have a lot of work to do to get there. Based off talent, you might say that, but there's a lot more that goes into that than talent."

May cause worry for some fans, but some encouragement for others. Kiffin has been stressing all spring to the players to focus on preparation and never dwell on their own hype, and I think that many players are sharing Barkley's feelings right now.

Details and notes on the game after the jump:

Continue reading this post »

Today USC had another preffered walk-on in Elijah Steen commits to USC as preferred walk-on this kid is know as a hard hitting 6-1 205 DB along with a 4.1 GPA at Beckman HS a California Distinguished School, not only is he good he is smart. The first perffered walk-on is San Clemente all-county DB and Kick returner Christain Tober while 5-9 175 has 4.58 speed, it is nice that we get some great back-up walk-on like this.

Elijah Steen #7 2011 (via elijahsteen7)

Christian Tober Highlights (via 247SportsStudio)

Bruins for 3 years have been down, but as a result of the Mayo debacle USC actually went down even further. Consider that USC has the best arena in LA and UCLA has been in a run-down arena which now just got remodled, the Trojans still trail. After the success of coach Tim Floyd in which he was going to have one of the best recruiting classes in USC history since the Fab 4, the Trojans have been obscure in the last 3 seasons. So should have USC not made Tim resign ( he was looking at coaching opps two years in a row) would this program would have taken over LA, I say yes. Bringing in KO and keeping him past one year was a mistake made buy the current AD, yes he didn't pick Kevin but that is an argument in it self. Really what else does a AD have to do but run the department and find ways to improve and control the teams and coaches.

The reason I am bringing this all up is that because of seeing a former Trojans son Shabazz Muhammad ( #2 player in the nation) pick its rival school in sports, even though both recruited him. He said today that he wanted to go to Ucla to help put them back on top in college basketball--wow how the heck does this really happen ucla falters and we couldn't move on that. Sorry KO lovers but if Pat Haden would have made one his priority's to get a more appealing coach it might have been different. I say appealing because coach O'Neill doesn't seem to be involved with AAU coaches which is important in getting coaches to know of your system, to promote you to the players. So really I can't blame KO he is only doing what he is capable of and recruiting has never been that, he is a great defensive assistant period. So I ask did we miss the window?

via www.avca.org

Last week, the men's volleyball team faced their toughest test so far this season against #2 UC Irvine, and they prevailed in a four-set battle to retain their #1 ranking in the AVCA poll. With that win and a win against #11 UCSD, the Trojans have extended their winning streak to 15 games, the longest winning streak for the program since the school-record 30-win run in 1990-91 en route to an appearance in the national title game. The victory also gives them the lead in the MPSF standings, and USC is now two wins away from securing the top seed in the conference tournament.

The game against UC Irvine was back and forth in the first set. After exchanging leads, the Trojans notched three straight points in the closing moments, giving them the gap needed to take the first set. In the second, USC went on another run, this one a 4-0 streak to give themselves a comfortable 20-15 lead that they would not let go. But in the third set, the Anteaters came out guns blazing, building a lead that got as large as six points. USC came back from a 24-21 deficit to force the set to extra points, but UC Irvine came away with the third set. Finally, in the fourth set, the Trojans woke up and put the game away, winning 25-22, 25-19, 27-29, 25-18 to improve their record to 20-4 (16-4).

Tony Ciarelli, who played in his final regular season home game as a Trojan, had a college career defining game, hitting .390 with 20 kills and 3 aces. Those aces brought his career total to 146, a new USC record.

The Trojans close out the regular season with road games against #8 Long Beach St. and #11 CSUN. The MPSF Tournament begins April 21.

The Women Beat a shorthanded ASU team 6-1 after ASU had to forfiet #3 doubles and #5&#6 singles, due to injuries. The only Trojan to lose was #1 freshman Zoë Scandalis which was a close match going either way, this took place after the Lady Trojans had already won the match and reminding matches up to Zoe's. Now the #4 women take off to the bay area Friday against Stanford and Saturday with Cal, both are ranked in the top ten 6th and 9th respectively. Then the following week they end Pac-12 play with a match at Westwood against the #1 ranked Bruins.

#4 USC 6, #29 Arizona State 1

April 7, 2012 -- Marks Stadium

DOUBLES

(1) #2 Christian/Santamaria (USC) def. Brycki/Smith (ASU) -- 7-8 ret.

(2) Pulido/Scandalis (USC) def. James/Sahagun (ASU) -- 8-2

(3) Lao/Ramos (USC) win by ASU default

USC wins doubles point.

SINGLES

(1) Michelle Brycki (ASU) def. #15 Zoë Scandalis (USC) -- 7-6 (2), 6-4

(2) #22 Danielle Lao (USC) vs. Joanna Smith (ASU) -- 6-0, 6-1*

(3) #36 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) vs. Hannah James (ASU) -- 6-1, 6-2

(4) #76 Kaitlyn Christian (USC) vs. Leighann Sahagun (ASU) -- 0-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5)

(5) Gabriella DeSimone (USC) win by ASU default

(6) Valeria Pulido (USC) win by ASU default

Order of finish: 2*, 3, 4, 1

Continue reading this post »

via www.collegebaseballdaily.com

USC baseball fans were treated to a pitcher's duel last night, as the Trojans defeated Cal 2-1 thanks to a walk-off RBI by sophomore infielder James Roberts. Having lost the first game of the series thanks to a ninth-inning rally by Cal, USC got revenge with a some late-game heroics of their own, improving their record to 18-10 (4-6).

More after the jump...

Continue reading this post »