Spring Ball Links for 4/10/11

Here are some links from spring ball and a couple of other items at the end...

This passing attack could be real special!

Matt Barkley, Robert Woods becoming foundation of USC's offense...

Not surprising that Barkley and Woods are become simpatico on the offense. With Barkley in his third year I expect this combo to be even better than the Barkley/RoJo hook up of last season. Woods becomes the "senior" receiver on offense this season. He will be the example setter for George Farmer, Kyle Prater, Brandon Carswell and Markeith Ambles. The offense should be fun to watch this season provided the Offensive Line provides the protection Barkley needs.

Speaking of Ambles...

One receiver stars for USC; another is a no-show

I am not sure what the story is here and I am not willing to throw the kid under the bus but Ambles being a no show yesterday has to raise some eyebrows. Ambles is on a short leash with Coach Lane Kiffin. If he screwed up and is gone then fine...we have plenty of depth at WR and we don't need the distraction but like I said until we know exactly what happened I will refrain from speculating. Kiffin's words on the subject show he doesn't know much either which could signal something is up.

We'll see...

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Not that it is too terribly important but here are the offensive stat leaders so far this spring...

Here are some of the statistical standouts from USC’s scrimmage Saturday at the Coliseum. The stats include goal-line drills (GL = goal-line TDs).

PASSING

• Matt Barkley 22-33-152-7 (4 GL)
• Cody Kessler 4-5-21
• Jesse Scroggins 3-3-21
• Max Wittek 3-4-(minus-6)

RUSHING

• D.J. Morgan 16-51
• Curtis McNeal 8-42

RECEIVING

• Robert Woods 10-65-3 (1 GL)
• Brandon Carswell 5-49-1 (1 GL)
• Soma Vainuku 4-11-2 (1 GL)

The rushing attack will be interesting to see develop...

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Scrimmage wrap...

Here are Lane Kiffin's post scrimmage comments...(H/T: WeAreSC)

Spring Practice #9: Notes - RipsIt

Practice No. 9 tidbits + video - ESPN Los Angeles

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The Prodigal Son returns!

Mark Sanchez addresses Trojans before spring practice

Hard not to be excited to see Sanchez back at USC to give a pep talk to the team. He has represented USC well in his time with the Jets. I mean how could not be happy in seeing him play in two straight AFC Title games in his first to seasons in the league. Mark is not one of those players that had a sense of entitlement that we saw at USC. He waited his turn and made the most of it and he has parlayed that into a pretty good NFL career up to this point!

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A mish-mash of things...

NCAA cracks down on ... Rivals.com?

Uhm Yeah...once again the NCAA is lokking under the wrong rock to identify the problem.

Notre Dame, USC and UCLA last holdouts from college football's cupcake feast

This has been well documented here in the past. This si nice and all but the problem isn't a cupcake schedule its the continued 9-game conference schedule that will continue to hurt the Pac-12. USC will always be a big draw so why not take advantage of that name recognition to play some real great games like USC vs. tOSU etc....

Athletes as salesmen?
NCAA to consider proposal to allow colleges more freedom to let sponsors use athletes for commercial purposes.

But we can't pay them right? What a joke...and that is putting it nicely.

Get The Picture puts it perfectly...

Well, to this eye, it doesn’t seem like a very close call at all. Telling someone that he or she isn’t allowed to profit by trading on his or her name while raking in the bucks doing the same thing is the essence of exploitation. And, no, a scholarship doesn’t justify that. After all, there are plenty of low profile student athletes who receive the same benefits from their schools that the kids who are prized by sponsors do.

Dead on!

The NCAA continues to miss the boat and be an embarrassment.

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Finally...

As I am sure you have noticed, our content has been down of late. Joey and Julio are packing monster class schedules while DC and I are busy with work and raising families.

I am not a real big fan of spring ball because there is so little that can be gleaned from these practices. Baseball continues to struggle and I am not paying USC $99 a year to watch it on my computer late at night on the east coast.

Over the next two weeks I will be at training (with very limited internet access) and then heading out on vacation where I will not have any internet access at all (don't really want any either).

The blog will see some changes in the future but it will continue on. I am not prepared to say more than that right now.

And its not a big deal really, once basketball season ends its gets pretty dead until fall ball so this will be a good time to recharge and regroup.

I am not into doing team previews or position breakdowns because we don't have all the info until the 2011 squad is in place and have a fews of practice under their belts.

We will of course keep tabs on the various spring sports such as V-ball, Baseball, Track and Golf.

There is also the appeal that has yet to be ruled upon...just my luck it will be released while I am away!

So apologies for the drop-off of late, but it will stay light in the content area over the next couple of weeks as I take a much needed break and as we determine our direction going forward.

If you have any questions or suggestions feel free to shoot me an email.