Last Look Back on 'Zona

I'm blogging from a train in Gary, Indiana. The South Shore Line (from Chicago to South Bend) has "indefinite delays" due to a problem on the tracks. Perfect time to catch up on the best (and worst) in this week's punditry, reporting and YouTube videos.

UPDATE: They've scratched the train and are bringing in buses. But at least they're giving me a free ticket for a future ride because of the hour+ delay.

Let's Frame the Discussion

• In case you missed the Plaschke perspective, it's a good one.
• Hope springs eternal at the Daily Trojan. #1? Peter Simones sees a way.
• Not all Peters think alike. Fox Sport's Peter Schrager tapped the Trojans as his biggest disappointment of the season. At least they're #1 at something.
• Dan Weber at the Riverside Press-Enterprise has another jinx for us to consider.
• SC Playbook had 20 Questions for Fred Davis.

Was Anybody Wild for USC's Win Over The 'Cats?

• Arizona Coach Mike Stoops on his loss to USC.
• The ESPN video recap of USC-Arizona made it onto YouTube. TOS violation in 3 ... 2 ...
• Apparently Joe McKnight's efforts were nominated for the Pontiac Game-Changing Performance, but I'm having trouble finding the exact link (lousy Internet connection out here).
• AOL FanHouse found a cool video and nailed the headline: Joe McKnight Saves USC's Bacon
• Trojan Wire gives us the Girls of the Rewind.
• One blogger went on a blistering USC-bashing rant, but his most interesting observation was almost an afterthought. Check out the state-by-state map for ESPN's survey on "Which conference had the best Saturday?" (This poll is old, but still interesting -- see more updates in the comments below.)

Let's Go Polling

USC is out of the AP top 10 for the first time in 62 weeks. While they sit at #13, not everybody sees it that way. Our AP Eccentrics of the Week are ...

• Mike Prater (Idaho Statesman), who voted USC #5.
• Stewart Mandel (SI.com), who voted USC #19.
• The BCS computers, who ranked USC #24.
• An honorable mention to Neal McCready (Mobile Press-Register), who thinks Arizona State is the best team in America. The Arizona Republic asked him why.

Elsewhere

• Kentucky was fined $50,000 by the SEC because their fans stormed the field again.
• A Baylor assistant coach was axed for urinating on a bar. Anybody surprised he's originally from The U?
• Too much information can cause all sorts of headaches. I'm looking at you, Coach Franchione.
• Here's an interesting site about coaches on the hot seat -- complete with their salaries.
• You'll have to watch for a bit, you can can catch a glimpse of Jeff Tedford's temper tantrum on YouTube.

Comments

[Mike]

Adam, isn't that blog about the ESPN poll (who had the best game Saturday) a year and a week old? In fairness, no doubt the blogger has the same opinion this year too. The SEC Superiority Complex runs deep!

[GOP and College]

Mike I posted that chart in 2006. And yes, I have the same opinion this year as last.

Here are some posts to go along with the "USC-blistering" rant.

http://gopandcollege.blogspot.com/2007/10/usc-over-rated-as-always.html

http://gopandcollege.blogspot.com/2007/10/open-reply.html

Thanks for the link, and the traffic.

[Kim]

It's Peter Simones with an E. Great sports editor of the Daily Trojan. Fight on!

[Adam Rose]

Good catches, Mike and Kim. This is what I get for blogging on a train (something tells me a Samuel L. Jackson movie is NOT in the works)!

I just corrected Peter's name (my typo) and referred the "GOP and College" bullet point to the comments.