Today is Black Friday and that means a lot of spending and a lot of sales ... but don't forget that you can use some of your purchasing power to make life better for somebody else.
A toy drive is being held during the USC-Notre Dame game tomorrow with a collection point at the Coliseum's Peristyle (east end). Bring donations (new, unwrapped toys or USC gear) and look for the big statues or for the ESPN volunteers. The effort is being undertaken by A Better LA, Pete Carroll's charity, and gifts will go to inner city children and teens.
The clock is ticking ... only about eight hours left. Remember that employers are required by law to give you time off to vote. If you've got enough time to read this blog, you've got enough time to vote -- and they have to give it to you. Even if you live in a state where the presidential race is all but determined, the local races and propositions may actually have a greater influence on your day-to-day life.
Sports and politics go together really well. Just ask George Will and Keith Olbermann. And did everybody see Barack Obama and John McCain yesterday on "Monday Night Football"? Seemed funny that a Democrat endorsed a college football playoff system. I guess the BCS is almost as convoluted as the electoral college.
If you really need any more motivation, think of all the people in USC ROTC who are willing to put themselves in harm's way to protect your right to something that many people around the world will never get to enjoy.
Ryan Davidson has stats you would never expect in USC's locker room.
Two series of radiation treatments for 12 weeks.
Two experimental treatments for 24 weeks.
Four tumors removed in the last nine years.
And he's only 15.
But two numbers define Ryan much better -- $30,000 in three years. That's how much he's raised to help others in his situation.
After finding out his cancer returned for a fourth time this summer, he told his dad, "We've got to raise the most money ever. I don't want any other kid to go through what I've been through." Ryan plans on padding his stats with another fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, dubbing his efforts "Team Trojan."
USC men's basketball is holding two charitable events this month and is looking for your support.
On Oct. 21, the team will host Tip Off With the Men of Troy, allowing fans to watch the Trojans practice, participate in a silent auction, meet the players and Tim Floyd, and attend a reception. Tickets start at $15 and benefit the Ryan Francis Endowed Scholarship Fund. Francis would have been a senior this year but was killed during a random shooting in 2006 while visiting his mom in Louisiana.
On Oct. 26, USC will host its third annual Dribble for the Cure, in which participants collect pledges and join the team in dribbling basketballs across campus. A number of prizes will be given to people who raise money for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Afterwards, fans will be able to attend the Cardinal and Gold intrasquad scrimmage to see what the team will look like this season.
Like a couple of the players, last year's Midnight Madness event was a one-and-done. This is your only chance to see the Trojans before actual game play in 2008-09. There's an exhibition against Azuza Pacific on Nov. 3 and the regular season tip-off against UC Irvine on Nov. 15.
Players write all sorts of things on their eyeblack. Reggie Bush famously wore "619" in honor of his hometown (it's San Diego's area code) and Rey Maualuga puts "Dad" under each eye. Last year, Joe McKnight wrote "I Need $$," echoing a sentiment shared by many of his fellow college students.
On Saturday night against the Buckeyes, many people noticed that USC quarterback Mark Sanchez wrote "Garenn Figueroa," the name of a 15-year-old-boy from Palmdale who has bone cancer. It's the second game in a row that Sanchez has honored Figueroa. According to Ben Malcolmson's blog on USCRipsIt.com, "Coach Carroll knows Figueroa’s story and made the recommendation to Sanchez to write the boy’s name."
Eric Scoggins was my roommate, my teammate and now my business partner. He's a big man, played big on the field and helped us win a national championship in 1978. Growing up in Inglewood, CA his dream was to play at USC and in the NFL. He accomplished both. In January 2007, Eric was diagnosed with ALS ...
What can you do? Buy a raffle ticket for a 2008 Mercedes CLS 550. They're selling 1,000 tickets for $150 ... and believe me, that car is worth a lot more than $150. Worst case, you'll be helping a very worthy cause. Ronnie owns a dealership and is donating the Benz. Of the money raised, $140,000 will go towards the fight against ALS. The remaining $10,000 will go to a charity selected by the winner of the raffle.
Only California residents can participate. The raffle will be held Nov. 2.
The Summa Children's Foundation honored Pete Carroll last April for his work with A Better LA. USC alum Will Ferrell did this tribute video for the presentation ... but he might have misheard "Summa."
Like he does at every home game, Pete Carroll led a procession down the Coliseum tunnel on Saturday.
This time, the click-clack of cleats was exchanged for the playful thump of drums.
USC's chilling chant of "war time" was replaced by children calling for "peace, unity, family and love."
As the crowd emerged into the sun-splashed stadium, a spotlight was cast on Carroll's crusade to stop the violence in urban Los Angeles. For the last four years, USC's football coach has built relationships with community leaders and ventured into gang-infested areas where most people would never expect to see a famous face. For the most part, Carroll hasn't let the press come with him. He's been joined by an adventurous feature writer here and there, but never invited a throng of camera crews. That changed for this event.
At Pac-10 media day, Pete Carroll had an obvious plant in the audience. One of his former players-turned-broadcaster asked him to talk about an upcoming charity event. "Yeah!" exclaimed USC's coach, "thanks for asking!"
After a very pregnant pause (and a few chuckles from the crowd), Carroll launched into his spiel.
As you might have noticed on this blog, we have a soft spot for good causes (we even have a "do gooding" category) -- and we'll happily give a pass on the plant. Carroll and Co. used the media spotlight to bring attention to LA Live Peace, a rally organized through his A Better LA charity. Several members of the media were handed glossy fliers advertising the event at the Coliseum on Aug. 2 (10 a.m.).
After describing the march and rally, Carroll upped the ante. "It happens to be the gathering of all the people that do the work in the streets -- the intervention workers, all the community-based organizations and the churches that do such great stuff. I realized what an extraordinary opportunity it would be for our presidential candidates to join hands with our kids that are our future. We tell you that we're having this event -- shoot! We're inviting them too! Maybe they want to come in and connect with their future and make a statement that they do understand the work that's done on our city streets and with our communities is so critical. We need all the help we can get. It's an enormous job and we ain't got much time. Maybe they might want to join in."
L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke was next in line. "You're inviting the President ... so you going to invite Neuheisel and Chow as well?"
"I'm sure they're busy," joked Carroll. "Actually, everybody's invited ... one big happy family."
Sure, maybe it was a little goofy -- but it's nice to see somebody in Carroll's position use his spotlight for a good cause.
ESPN Radio is hosting auctions to benefit The V Foundation on Wednesday. Different packages will be put up for bid every hour from 3 a.m. until 8 p.m., and several people will get an unforgettable Trojan experience. Most fans won't even be able to find tickets to the Ohio State game -- but you could get the VIP treatment and meet Pete Carroll. Check out the four USC lots below.
In order to bid, tune in tomorrow to ESPN-AM (710). More items are being auctioned on its website, and the ESPN Zone in Anaheim will also host an additional silent auction during the on-site broadcasts.
Last year, more than $800,000 was raised for this great cause.
USC Football Package - 9 a.m. An Opportunity of a Lifetime! Winner and one (1) guest will be invited to observe a team meeting, help set up for practice, meet the coaches, and have dinner with the team. Also included: two (2) tickets to a USC football game. (Winner can choose between Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, or Washington.) Note: NCAA rules prohibit family members from bidding on this experience. Winners must be 21 years of age or older. This experience is non-transferable. Dates and details are subject to change.
The Herd Experience - 3 p.m. Hang with Colin during USC vs. OSU week! Winner and two guests will golf with Colin Cowherd at Pacific Palms Resort the week of 09/08/08 (Tuesday or Wednesday). Winner and 1 guest get front-row seats to see The Herd live broadcast on 9/12/08 with breakfast. Winner also will get access to the 710 ESPN VIP Tailgate Party prior to the USC vs. OSU Football game on 9/13/08 and will receive two (2) tickets to the USC vs. OSU Football Game. Tickets will picked up at the VIP Tailgate party on game day.
I hope everybody's having a great holiday weekend. I had limited battery life while camping at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but I'm back inside a real building now and am putting some posts together (Hot Links will be postponed until Tuesday).
Remember that noon (12 p.m. Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern) is the official national moment of remembrance. It's a great time to kick off the summer, but sometimes it feels like we might forget why this is "a day off." I got to spend the weekend with a close friend who is serving in the Navy, and he said one of the best things you can do to support our troops is to give blood. Bases frequently hold blood drives, and the Air Force has a base near LAX (USC also has a donation program). That will help ensure that more of our young men and women get to be honored on Veterans Day instead of Memorial Day.
Thanks, peace, and respect to those we have lost at war and to those who continue to serve (including USC ROTC programs).
Photo (via Flickr) by Jim Hinnant, 401st Army Field Support Brigade Public Affairs, taken this morning in Kuwait.
Traveler is taking up permanent residence inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
A 14-foot-by-14-foot mural is being installed at the edge of the stadium's tunnel and will be visible to most of the crowd during football games. Dubbed "Tradition," the artwork features USC's mascot being ridden back from another championship at the Rose Bowl (symbolized by a bed of roses on the horse's back) and the Roman numerals for 1888 -- the year of USC's first football game.
This is the third large-scale sports mural done by local artist Mike Sullivan. Trojan faithful are sure to remember the Mario Danelo tribute he created last year at San Pedro High School. Posters of that mural can be seen hanging in a number of restaurants and other local venues, and proceeds from their sale have gone to the Mario Danelo Endowed Football Scholarship Fund.
For a second straight year, Swim With Mike set a fundraising record. Saturday's event easily cleared $1.2 million, with proceeds going to scholarships for athletes who have become physically challenged. Temperature hovered around 90 degrees, so it was no wonder they set an attendance record. Scholarship recipients from as far away as Texas, Stanford and Syracuse were on hand.
The organization was founded in 1981 when USC swimmer Mike Nyeholt broke his neck in an accident. What started as a fundraiser for one man turned into a program that is funding 27 scholarships this year alone. The latest recipient is an LAPD officer who was shot in the line of duty.
Saturday's festivities were highlighted by relay races with the USC football team pushing Song Girls across the pool. In case you were wondering why Pete Carroll can recruit anybody he wants, temperatures in the Midwest dipped into the 30s while his players were doing this to cool off from practice:
More pictures and an interview with Mike himself are after the jump. Remember that you can donate to the cause year-round at SwimWithMike.org.
The Trojan Club of the Desert tees off for its annual Marv Goux Memorial Golf Tournament today in Palm Desert. The event will raise money for scholarships and honor Goux, a former USC football captain and assistant coach who became known as Mr. Trojan.
A silent auction will be held after the tournament, and one of the items is a 17-inch statue of Goux created by Pat and Lyn Reagan. Pat played right guard for USC from 1956 to '57. "Marv is portrayed here in a 'come at me' posture and when you did he would tear your head off. I know -- I saw it first-hand," he recalled.
Pat and Lyn now live on a farm outside of Salem, Ore. The best part of this story?
Pat claims that he's the most avid Trojan in the state and has won the Autzen Stadium (U of O) Most Obnoxious Fan Award ... twice.
If you know anything about Autzen, that's quite a feat!
Every year, Troy Camp takes more than 200 third-, fourth- and fifth-graders from schools in the USC area for a week of camping in the San Jacinto Mountains. They also have year-round events to provide a big brother/big sister type of environment and positive role models for the kids. While recognized by the university, the organization is entirely self-funded and run by USC student volunteers.
Most people in the USC community are familiar with the camp's "Pass The Can" fundraisers at homecoming but don't know how else to support the cause. In honor of its 60th anniversary, Troy Camp is holding a special "no show" dinner. The official invite is after the jump. All you need is your checkbook (and maybe an envelope and stamp).
I was going to post this yesterday but didn't want anybody to think it was for April Fools!
The final buzzer sounded on the Trojan's basketball game against UC Riverside Saturday night and it was over -- not just the game, but just the entire Fall sports schedule.
Spring will start quickly (using the new year as a line in the sand) with the Rose Bowl and some hoops games, so this is a logical time for top ten lists. While considering the top ten USC sports stories of Fall 2007, it was obvious that certain words kept coming up.
To give things a new twist, here are the top ten words of the Fall. These aren't here because they are the "best," but they are the most significant, dominating both headlines and public discourse.
Injury. They happen all the time in sports and nobody is immune, but this semester had an inordinate number of setbacks for Trojan athletes. Men's basketball got thumped by Mercer without Davon Jefferson (knee) and Daniel Hackett (jaw), and still hadn't completely gelled by the time the faced their first real challenges. Women's hoops lost two of their top players before the season even began. The soccer team's defense was thinned out. Cross country couldn't field their lone NCAA championship competitor due to illness. Volleyball learned to adjust for awhile without Diana Copenhagen. What's missing? Oh yeah -- football. Early in the season, somebody inside Heritage Hall said the mounting injuries weren't unusual. A couple weeks later, newspapers were dedicating a mind-numbing number of column inches to injury reports. A healthy John David Booty or fewer chinks in the offensive line, and the Trojans might only be practicing on New Years Day.
Streak. While a couple big ones ended (top-10 rankings and home victories), the football program maintained their most sacred one: Pac-10 crowns. As Pete Carroll's pre-season goal, winning the league (or a share of it) for six straight years has also resulted in six straight BCS appearances.
If you're already bleeding cardinal and gold, you may as well share with somebody who needs it. Since it's Troy Week (a/k/a Rivalry Week, a/k/a Hate Week), the Lexus Gauntlet and Red Cross are having a blood drive so USC and UCLA can compete in something for a good cause. Here's the info on where to give near USC:
Supporters of USC can give blood at the Heritage Hall Lounge on Monday (Nov. 26) as well as Wednesday through Friday (Nov. 28-30). On Tuesday (Nov. 27), a Red Cross station will be set up at Tommy’s Place. Both Project Umbilical Cord Stem Cell and the ROTC are coordinating the blood drive efforts at USC. The L.A.T.I.N.A.S. Group is sponsoring Wednesday’s blood drive. To sign up and make an appointment in advance on the USC campus, contact either Katherine Prendergrast (projectucsc@gmail.com) or Mitchell Chavarria (mrchavar@usc.edu).
Three different sports are on a philanthropic roll this month ...
Women's soccer is making efforts to provided clean drinking water and save lives in Africa. Spearheaded by recent transfer Amy Massey, the program will collect water bottles and donate the proceeds from recycling to Water Wells for Africa. Bins are at all soccer home games and in the lobby of Heritage Hall. If you can support the effort in other ways (ex: large donations of recyclables), e-mail Massey at aemassey@usc.edu.
Women's volleyball is having a canned-food drive to support victims of the Southern California wildfires. This Friday when USC hosts UCLA at the Galen Center, each person who donates at least one can of food will receive $3 off of general admission. It should be a good crowd, as this is the first time USC has hosted the Bruins in the new facility, combined with homecoming weekend and Alumni Night.
Last Sunday, the men's basketball team held Dribble For The Cure. The event, involving basketball-related games and activities, awarded prizes to participants who raised the most money for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
As you can see in this classic photo, the LA Sports Council Foundation has been
giving kids an opportunity to experience USC football games for many years. A few weeks ago we told you about their efforts with this season's Touchdown For Youth, but now we're happy to announce that they'll be doing a second game and donations are still being accepted. The official press release follows ...
Thanks to a generous donor, a second “Touchdown For Youth” game has been added to this year’s USC home football schedule.
The
decision to add an additional game was prompted by a $50,000
contribution from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous. As a
result, more than 1,000 disadvantaged area youngsters will attend the
game on October 6 against Stanford at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
An additional 1,350 were in attendance at the game versus Idaho on Sept. 1 as originally scheduled.
The
“Touchdown For Youth” program, conducted jointly by USC and the L.A.
Sports Council Foundation, raises money to send disadvantaged kids to a
Trojans football game each season.
For each $30
tax-deductible contribution from an individual or corporation, one
youngster is provided with a ticket to the game plus refreshments. USC
distributes the tickets to youth charities affiliated with the
university’s athletic department.
“Touchdown For Youth” was
inaugurated at the 1993 Super Bowl, played at the Rose Bowl. Since its
inception, the program has allowed more than 32,000 youngsters to enjoy
Los Angeles-area college and professional football games.
Anyone interested in supporting “Touchdown For Youth” can call (213) 482-6333.
Once you get past the idea that a 24-year-old kid has a foundation named after him, you can try and wrap your mind around the fact that he's offering four tickets to an Arizona Cardinals game for $20,000.
Of course, all the proceeds will go to the Matt Leinart Foundation. Yes, the website is flashy. Yes, it's mostly glamor shots of Matt wearing USC gear. Yes, it not-so-modestly refers to Leinart as "a shining beacon of sportsmanship." Yes, Nick Lachey and Alyssa Milano are on the Board of Directors.
But at least it's for the kids.
According to Ryan Leinart, the foundation's Executive Director, one of the programs that stands to benefit is Banner Children's Hospital. And just to show that Matt's a nice guy, the former Trojan star will throw in four round-trip tickets from LAX, a couple of nights at a hotel, stadium food, drinks, and a some face-to-stubble time with him after the game. Packages are available for seven home games. More deets after the jump.
USC and the LA Sports Council Foundation are teaming up to provide a special opportunity for disadvantaged youth in the Los Angeles area.
Donations are being accepted for Touchdown For Youth, a program that gives kids a chance to experience a USC football game from the stands. Every $30 raised will provide one youngster with transportation, admission, a hot dog and a beverage (considering the cost of food and parking at most stadiums, that isn't a bad deal!). This year the program hopes to provide 2,000 to 3,000 youths an opportunity to enjoy the USC opener against Idaho at the Coliseum on Sept. 1.
The concept started at the 1993 Super Bowl, when several hundred kids participated in the halftime show at the Rose Bowl. Touchdown For Youth made an annual tradition out of Raider games until it began partnering with the Trojans just over a decade ago. In recent years, more than 24,000 kids have participated.
Tax-deductible donations are best made by check to Los Angeles Sports Council Foundation (indicate "Touchdown For Youth" in the memo line). The address is 350 South Bixel Street, Suite 250, Los Angeles, CA 90017. For credit card donations or other inquiries, call the foundation at 213-482-6333.
Adam Rose learned about the highs and lows of USC athletics while going to school. As a freshman, he watched the football team crash to the bottom of the Pac 10. By the time he was a senior, he was in the stands for a National Championship. In between, he liked to argue points as a member of the Trojan Debate Squad. Nowadays, he's just looking to tell a good story. He is currently Sports Editor for LAist, where he covers a wide range of local action. He can also be seen weekly on KNBC 4's News Raw. Adam manages special events in the sports community when he isn't participating himself (he staggered through the LA Marathon and can often be found on local soccer fields). If you have a question about the Trojans or just want to give him a piece of your mind, email: adam@laist.com.
At Pac-10 media day, Pete Carroll had an obvious plant in the audience. One of his former players-turned-broadcaster asked him to talk about an upcoming charity event. "Yeah!" exclaimed USC's coach, "thanks for asking!"
ESPN Radio is hosting auctions to benefit 
Once you get past the idea that a 24-year-old kid has a foundation named after him, you can try and wrap your mind around the fact that he's offering four tickets to an Arizona Cardinals game for $20,000.
