I will be kind of all over the map today so lets get to it.
* Dan Weber in Sunday's Riverside P-E has a neat story about USC's returning seniors wanting to complete some unfinished business.
Only they didn't want to leave.
"We had some unfinished business," said Chino's Sedrick Ellis, the 310-pound nose tackle on most preseason All-America first teams and the Pac-10's top defensive lineman a year ago.
"We didn't end last s eason the way we wanted to," Ellis said of the 13-9 upset loss to UCLA that kept the Trojans out of the BCS title game, sending them to the Rose Bowl for a 35-18 win over Michigan.
"We want to see if we can win the national championship."
Last years loss to ucla has been called many things. But regardless what its called our season wasn't defined by it. These guys are hungry for a ring and their staying to finish the job, their attitude only shows that they are more than focused on that goal. It's great hearing that winning attitude when compared to other teams players making comments about not winning them all etc.
- As I noted in the diaries on Friday ESPN has a new daily college football show which debuted today. "College Football Live" will address a number of angles in the world of college football and I'm sure USC 2007 will be just one of their topics, I hope its not like the mess from 2005. The rebroadcast will be tonight at 7:30 EDT. From what I've heard they have Les Miles on today and Pete Carroll on tomorrow. Wonder what they are going to talk about...hmmmmmm.
- Speaking of ESPN. Kyle has a great piece on the WWL and their role within the Blogoshere. Its no secret that Kyle does some great writing but he hits this one right out of the park, as this is a great piece that references a lot of great anecdotes. Yes, it's a bit of a read but I can find no person that I would rather read when addressing this sort of topic. To Kyle: Well Played Sir!!
- If you haven't checked them out yet, WeAreSC has moved on from Scout.com and affiliated themselves with ESPN. Garry Paskwietz and his staff have done some great work in the past so I won't be surprised if their affiliation with ESPN provides them with a broader audience and broader range of content. Congrats Garry!
- Speaking of WeAreSC, there is a great piece by columnist by Michael J. Davidson about his thoughts about SC since the Rose Bowl and the upcoming season. It's a lengthy piece but well worth the read.
...Will the log jam at running back work itself out and if so, where will all the guys end up?
[...]One of the topics that have appeared over and over again on the various internet sites is the congestion USC has at running back, ie tailback. Truth is told, the number of tailbacks on scholarship supports that line of questioning. It is well known that there are more backs than can possibly play meaningful minutes. It is one thing to talk about competition and quite another to realistically satisfy the egos and demands of so many highly recruited tailbacks. Ironically, even with all the guys who will be competing for minutes in just a few short weeks, little, if anything was absolutely settled this spring.
It is a very concise article with a lot of detail.
* Breaking...Jody Adewale is back on the team! Looks like Coach Carroll gets his man...again. Wolf has the details.
Finally...
* A lot has been made on the around the web today about the recent article about Brynn Cameron and Matt Leinart. I am not interested in current students or former players private lives. The clowns from across town have made a big issue out something that I consider a personal matter, but I'm not surprised. If it were one their players you would hear cries of not to prejudge and we don't know all the facts...Blah Blah Blah. Again, complete hypocrisy.
I am a little confused with Cameron's airing of her personal dirty laundry in regards to Leinart's involvement as a father to his son Cole, he's hardly a deadbeat dad. There are three sides to every story, his, hers and the truth. My only hope is that they both work together in raising their son.