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Lane Kiffin wants USC to win style...but he also wants some "Showtime".
Winning is not enough, according to Lane Kiffin.
Because of the city their campus is located in, the Trojans can't just beat teams and get on with it. They must win with flair, with a sense of style all their own, the USC coach explained.
"L.A.’s a town that isn’t real fired up about winning games, 14-10, and showing up," Kiffin said Wednesday. "It is what it is. You’ve got a lot to compete with."
The last part of his comment is certainly true: The L.A. area has numerous sports interests, with six or seven other successful teams competing, including the Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers, Angels, Kings and UCLA basketball all in the news regularly.
But if USC were to win every game this season by a score of 14-10 -- every game -- would Trojan fans really be upset?
Kiffin seems to think so, citing the Lakers' exciting style of basketball under Pat Riley in the 1980s as evidence Angelenos require excitement from their sports teams.
"There is a Showtime element," Kiffin said. "There is a style factor to it.
Nothing would make any of us happier than to carpet bomb every team we play this year while acting like we have been there before.
That might be difficult to expect from young men who are constantly hyped and splashed on ESPN, Fox or whatever.
But if any team can do it it would be this team.
We have discussed the NCAA sanctions until we are blue in the face. We have also discussed the fundamental change that Lane Kiffin and Pat Haden have instilled...getting rid of malcontents and me first players, players holding each other accountable, etc.
Like I indicated in my 1-2 Punch piece below, the atmosphere that Kiffin has cultivated goes a long way in building this teams maturity. Selfishness will not a problem here. I would also suspect that showboating will be minimal. The lack of a circus sideline that the NCAA took away from USC will also temper the craziness that we saw in the past.
Well, I can tell you. I really don't care about style, as everyone's interpretation is different...but I do care about Showtime!!!