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| September 2007 »
 Legions of USC alumni are in for a shock when they come to campus on Saturday for the opening game.
Don't worry, it won't be caused by 45-point underdog Idaho.
The 901 Bar and Grill, formerly the 901 Club and best known as the Nine-Oh, has undergone jaw-dropping renovations. For years, it was considered a bad dive bar -- the type that violated all five of your senses.
But patrons were fiercely loyal, and like it or not, the 9-0 remained an icon of USC student life. With limited hours at university-run Traditions, a beer-and-wine-only liquor license at 29th Street Cafe, and the closure of Julie's Trojan Barrel many years ago, the 9-0 has been the only legitimate bar at USC for at least a decade.
All that "dedication" is now being paid back. It's still the kind of place where you can rub elbows with (potential) Heisman winners, but now you don't need to hit the showers afterwards. Recent alumni are guaranteed to be impressed.
Besides the physical improvements, the 9-0 has opened up its kitchen and extended its hours. People can come in for lunch at 11:30 a.m. and can stay until they get kicked out after last call (around 1:30 a.m.). The kitchen currently closes at 10 p.m., but owners are planning on extending hours until 2 a.m.
The changes are a dream-come-true for Leo Amari, Johnny Liska, Alex Manos and Roger Toussaint. The four recently became business partners with the existing owners (who also own the Trocadero and Cabo Cantina). They had worked at the 9-0 since shortly after the place was purchased in 1996.
Toussaint was the man behind the new design and is responsible for a long list of improvements.
Continue reading Nine Whoa! »
 The Women of Troy had an easy tune-up against Weber State on Friday afternoon thanks to strong performances from their newest additions. "I was really impressed with our freshmen today," raved one of those new faces -- recently hired Coach Ali Khosroshahin. He started five of them in the match.
USC had their way with Weber, firing 22 shots compared with just five for the Wildcats. With little doubt about the outcome, the laid-back crowd had some fun in the hot afternoon sun. A rowdy contingent from USC's swimming team even got the referee to laugh. "I love it," chuckled junior Amy Rodriguez. "The SC atmosphere and the SC attitude is to come together and be one as a family. Having those people support us on the sides is awesome. It gives me a great adrenaline rush."
Freshman Megan Ohai, known as a scorer during her high school days in Utah, netted the first two goals of the match. "In that position, that's what she's supposed to do. She's our finisher," Khosroshahin said.
Rodriguez, a former Gatorade High School Player of the Year, came in as a substitute and was clearly a step quicker than the players marking her. In response, Weber was very physical on defense. When asked about the rough play, Rodriguez shrugged it off. "I don't pay attention to it that much."
Asked if she might have any distractions this season (like last year when she missed several games while playing for the national team), Rodriguez indicated that it was smooth sailing ahead. "In early January this past year I was invited to camp, but I told Greg Ryans (the national team coach) that I was going to take the semester off to focus on school and focus on a little bit of me time. Throughout the summer and the fall, my focus has been 'SC soccer and trying to take us to a championship."
School started this week, and USC sports are ramping up this weekend with a full slate of games. If you want your fill of all things Trojan, head down to campus, set your Tivo, or pony up for a subscription to Trojan All Access.
Friday:
- Women's Volleyball hosts Duke in the USC Classic (7 p.m.).
- Women's Soccer hosts Weber State (3 p.m.).
Saturday:
- Football hosts Idaho (7 p.m.). Need I say more?
- Men's Basketball plays Lobos Grises de Durango in a tournament in Culiacan, Mexico (location changed due to hurricane damage).
- Women's Volleyball hosts Mercer in the USC Classic (1 p.m.).
- Men's Water Polo participates in Long Beach State/UC Irvine scrimmages (10:45 a.m.).
- Women's Cross Country participates in the Fullerton Season Opener meet (8:45 a.m.).
- Former USC pitcher Ian Kennedy makes his big league debut for the New York Yankees against Tampa Bay (10 a.m.).
Sunday:
- Men's Basketball plays Caballeros de Sinaloa in a tournament in Mazatlan or Culiacan, Mexico.
- Women's Soccer at Santa Barbara (6 p.m.).
News surfaced this week that a high school student in Ohio was suspended because he coordinated the card stunt in the video shown above. While fooling rival fans into spelling out "We Suck" may not be the pinnacle of sportsmanship, at least the kid showed some ingenuity. USC fans pulled a similar stunt back in 1971, spelling out "Westwood Sucks" -- on national television.
Of course, card stunts can be more administration-friendly. A USC website states that the practice was invented in Troy in 1922, though a rival claim from Berkeley dates the start to 1910. Unlike USC, the Bears are still putting on a pretty good show (at least they did two years ago).
The USC site also claims the Guinness World Record for largest stunt at 8,000, but even fans with a short memory know that isn't true. In 2004, Trojan fans participated in a visually stunning display at the Rose Bowl that formed an American flag and appeared to involve the entire stadium.
In recent years, a few card stunts have been attempted in the Coliseum but they weren't very successful. Heading into the 2007 football season, there doesn't seem to be any formal interest in reviving the tradition in Troy.
Does anybody reading know more about the history of card stunts at USC?
It's not like USC has a trademark on "Fight On," but it just seems strange to see the phrase surface in any other context. Penn State's official fight song is called Fight On, State and is commemorated in this year's schedule poster for the Nittany Lions.
Fight on, JoePa!
For those of you looking to procrastinate at work (or any other time), here's some reading material for Trojan fans in the know:
- It's just come to light that USC running backs coach Todd McNair has a rap sheet for cruelty to dogs. Good news for McNair: UCLA's wide receivers coach recently had a questionable past revealed, and got to keep his job. Bad news for McNair: Michael Vick put this issue in the hot seat, and this might not blow over very well in the court of public opinion.
- Todd Marinovich pulled a Todd Marinovich over the weekend. The former USC football star was allegedly carrying a gram of meth, a metal spoon and a hypodermic needle. It's certainly not the first time he's been arrested for drugs. What might be a first for Marinovich ... he was caught because he was skateboarding in a no-skateboarding zone by Newport Pier.
- Trojans should have an advantage in next year's Olympics after training in the Los Angeles smog.
- In case of emergency, check your cellphone. USC has a new system to send alerts to people on campus during a major emergency situation. Even if you're not a student, staff or faculty member, you may want to sign up if you spend lots of time watching the football team practice. You know who you are.
- PSU is using PS3 to teach their quarterbacks the playbook. It wasn't JoePa's idea, but we know some players at USC like video games, too.
- A forum member on WeAreSC.com posed the question, "What's better than a Song Girl?" His own answer ... "Wet Song Girls."
- Another poster noticed that Sports Illustrated had some trouble with basic math. Apparently, Pac 10 football teams should have a record of 41-49 against other Pac 10 football teams this season. Huh?
- USC students received a nice little e-mail from the administration explaining the ins-and-outs of copyright infringement. About 1,370 words of not-so-light reading are after the jump, if you're so inclined.
Continue reading Water Cooler Fodder »
Tim Floyd and his players had almost as many questions as the media during a press conference on Tuesday. They knew that they were headed to Mazatlan, Mexico, this weekend for two exhibitions against professional basketball teams. Floyd wasn't sure what the level of competition would be, pointing out that some of the best players in Mexico were with the national squad that is trying to qualify for the Olympics. He also wasn't sure which rulebook they would be following, as both opponents play in the Liga Nacional de Basquetbol Profesional (which may vary from NCAA rules).
How much could the Trojans know about their opponents? Both teams are practically unknown in Los Angeles. If you Google one of them, Caballeros de Sinaloa, you'll find a mere six listings in English -- all of which are basically the same news story about USC's trip to Mazatlan. Lobo Grises de Durango produce just three unique results on the popular search engine. In comparison, freshman O.J. Mayo has about 151,000 listings in Google, and he has yet to play one second at the college level.
Another Trojan with some international questions was guard Daniel Hackett. A potential member of the Italian Olympic squad, he said he was still waiting to find out if he would join the team at the European Championships for two weeks in September.
Even Mayo was uncertain about the future, leaving room for the possibility that he may return next season. He's anticipated to be a lottery pick in the NBA draft, be it this year or next.
 It's the Tuesday before a football game, and that means a Pete Carroll lunchtime press conference. Heading into the opener against Idaho, it was hard to say much about the opponent. The Vandals' Robb Akey, participating by speakerphone, pointed out that they're considered the 113th best team in the nation -- out of 119 teams. After there were just a few questions from the press, he joked, "Any of you guys wanna play in the game?"
Carroll tried to keep it positive and said the game should be fun for both teams. He was quickly badgered by L.A. Times columnist T.J. Simers, who couldn't figure out how that was possible for the 45-point underdog. When asked if he had ever been in that position, Carroll quipped, "Maybe with the Jets." T.J. will probably have some funny stuff in his next column, since his pointed questions solicited responses such as, "That's kind of like the question, 'Do you still beat your wife?' "
After T.J. cooled off, the next reporter (Dave Denholm) brought the house down.
"How do you like handling the media here in L.A.?"
As far as on-field news, Carroll announced that C.J. Gable will start at tailback because Chauncey Washington won't be back from injury. Stafon Johnson will also play, and it's unclear if Joe McKnight will be ready. Carroll was asked about Everson Griffin, who is listed as a starter despite never having played a snap of college ball. He was positive about all of his freshmen, but pointed out, "There was a game early on when Mike Williams was just starting, he musta' had seven drops."
And yes, that was Petros Papadakis rocking a pink Hello Kitty backpack.
USC is moving further into the modern era of ticketing. Starting this season all tickets will include a bar code to scan people as they enter the Coliseum. The system was in place at the Galen Center last year, and according to USC Director of Ticketing Debra Duncan, "it really facilitated security at the gate." USC also has the capability of scanning at Dedeaux Field and used it on student IDs in the spring.
USC also launched a new online ticket transfer system today. Season ticket holders can log in through the website and send their tickets to friends and family, who can print them from their computer. This will eliminate the need for people coming from separate locations to use will call or meet prior to the game.
In the coming weeks, fans purchasing tickets to individual games online should be able to print from their computer instead of having them sent by mail or held at the gate. The system was successfully tested on basketball last year but was not made available for this weekend's Idaho game.
Season football tickets are no longer for sale. Individual tickets are available for the opener this Saturday, though USC Sports Information Director Tim Tessalone said that he is expecting a sellout by game time. The Washington State (Sept. 22) and Stanford (Oct. 6) games also have seats available. The price online, including all fees, is $51. If you're thinking about rolling the dice and showing up without tickets, USC has partnered with StubHub to provide an alternative to dealing with the shady guys on Trousdale. Resale value of a seat for the Idaho game ranges from $20 to $2,499. That wasn't a typo. The pricey ones are "high enough to see over the players, but close enough to say hi."
StubHub and USC have a marketing partnership that allows people to sell their tickets online for a fee. Sellers can print a FedEx label from their own computer once tickets are sold from the site, or can drop them off beforehand. Though not endorsed by the school, in theory people could sell their tickets, collect their money via a service such as Paypal and send them through the new Trojan Transfer -- eliminating the need to physically send or deliver the tickets.
Students will get into games by scanning the bar code on their school ID (the Spirit Activity Card has been discontinued). Football season packages were sold to currently enrolled students for $135. All other sports are free for students who show their USCard. Student seating for non-football events is on a first-come-first-served basis. The ticket office hasn't finalized plans for high-demand basketball games, so students may want to check on that before showing up against UCLA and other marquee hoops matchups.
 USC's former football captain is barking at the mic on KLAC and getting more listeners than the Trojan's flagship station.
ESPN is looking to turn things around by giving away a sweet prize package and has encouraged listeners to hold up signs at their competition's remote.
Steve Mason and John Ireland host The Big Show on ESPN 710AM from 3 to 6 p.m., a time slot that overlaps with Petros Papadakis and Matt "Money" Smith, who host PMS from 4 to 7 p.m. on KLAC 570AM. Both shows compete for valuable listeners in PM drive time, when many Angelenos are stuck in their cars while driving home from work.
Papadakis was USC's football team captain in 2000. Besides hosting PMS, he also covers Pac 10 games on TV. In the Spring radio ratings from Arbitron (slightly less controversial than the BCS is to college football), PMS had a 3.1 share of men 25-54 while The Big Show had 1.3. A share is basically the percentage of people in a city listening to the radio at that time.
The contest (or "movement," as one of the hosts might have you believe) will award a pair of tickets to a USC football game every week, access to the ESPN VIP tailgate party and chauffeured transportation to and from the game. Packages are awarded weekly, but only for home games. That means the show will give away three packages for the USC games against both Washington State and UCLA. It's unclear whether the contest will extend into bowl season.
Based on what they've "not" suggested on the show and Mason's blog, we could have the makings of some radio rivalry hijinks.
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