Monday Hot Links

Football (Alumni)

• Pat Yasinskas says Sedrick Ellis and Keith Rivers may be the biggest impact rookies in the NFL. [ESPN]
• LenDale White says it'll be a new version of Thunder & Lightning for the Titans. [Tennessean]
• Mike Williams is trying to take advantage of his "last chance" with the Titans, says missing a year hurt his chances. [Nashville City Paper]
• The 49ers release a fun interview with Chilo Rachal. [SF 49ers]
• Willie McGinest is retiring after the 2008 season. [Sports Illustrated]
• Ronnie Lott is in the news, and not just because his dealership is tied to the O.J. Mayo controversy. He's actually quite the humanitarian. [SJ Mercury News]
• Petros Papadakis held an online chat. [WeAreSC]
• Some guy claims that O.J. Simpson confessed to him. [Associated Press]

Hoops

• Jeff Goodman ranked the top 20 college basketball assistants, and USC's Bob Cantu made the list at No. 18. [Fox Sports]
• Check out the LA Times story on the O.J. Mayo controversy, which includes an early denial from back when he was just a youngin'. [LA Times]
• If you have ESPN Insider, Chad Ford says Mayo's stock has been on the rise because of what he did on the court and because of his character off of it. Hmmmm. [ESPN Insider]
• Just before the allegations surfaced, Mayo did a radio interview with Joe McDonnell. [Audio from AM570 KLAC]

Elsewhere

• There was only one team No. 3 USC couldn't beat this year in women's water polo. After upsetting No. 2 Stanford for the second tournament semifinal in a row, the Trojans suffered their fourth loss to UCLA this season. This one was in the national championship game.
• Rutgers football coach explains why he told Notre Dame to take a hike. [NYT Quad Blog]

Comments

[Bonnie Lee]

In all fairness, Chad Ford posted that story last week.

[Bill Baldwin, Jr.]

As the years progress in the NFL careers of seniors like Sedrick Ellis, Keith Rivers and Sam Baker, and Steve Smith before them, the impact of staying for their senior years at USC will have grown in importance and not just because of the financial impact staying has had on all of them. The esteem with which they are held by classmates, alumni and fans alike will mean so much more than these young men can fathom right now. But as a guideline, they might ask Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott what it means to them.

The same thing holds true for all Trojan athletes who, no matter where they might be from, proudly compete for USC. When senior water polo driver Veronika Bartunkova returns to the Czech Republic and is at the Beijing Olympics representing her country, I'll root for her because she is a Trojan. She has earned that respect.

There are so many worthy of my support that to spend any time being concerned for the brief tenures on campus of others merely using the university is a waste of my time.

However, since the conduct of a small minority of USC athletes has an impact on how the university is perceived, let me say this: one is innocent until proven guilty. I don't know whether the allegations regarding O.J. Mayo are true, but if they are, then Coach Tim Floyd should be fired immediately. To do anything else would be about as smart as closing the German Department.....Oh, yeah, we did that, but at least we can thank a UCLA grad for that brain cramp.

[pk-in-the-mesa]

Bill if someone knew whay was going on they should be let go, but Garrett dealt with Gullory before and should have told the coach to forget about it. The fact is this didn't really help the program,he injured our best returning PG before the season started which totally change the team.

[Regis]

Wow. Somebody has a boner complex about Notre Dame.