I Can't Complain (but sometimes I still do)

During Cal's big win over Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl, the announcers made numerous references to the Pac10's decision to name both Cal and USC Conference Co-Champions, even though the conference went to a full, round-robin, 9-game conference schedule this year that definitively crowns a champion. Why do I say "definitively"? Because no conference teams are skipped and there was a rule change a decade ago eliminating the possibility of a tie in college football. Therefore, you either win the conference, or you don't. There cannot be a two-way tie (although you could have a highly improbable 3-way tie).

Certainly, the school presidents who approved the 12 game season and 9 game conference schedule were more concerned about other issues. Namely, because numerous schools wanted to make sure they played in Southern California (at USC or at Ucla) at least once a year, to take advantage of the most fertile recruiting ground in the conference. Also, Stanford flat out refused to approve the 12 game season unless all the other member schools agreed on the 9 game conference slate.

Regardless of the motives behind the change, the Pac10 received many kudos around the college football world, including sportswriters and fans, for having a clear cut system to crown a conference champion. One particular proponent that I most remember is ESPN's Ivan Maisel during radio interviews and preseason articles. However, the conference leadership chose to take all this goodwill and flush it down the toilet by screwing up the easiest and most clear cut way to determine a conference champion.

Do I have a problem with sharing? Maybe. Am I being a hypocrite because USC was named co-champs in 2002 with Wazzu, even though Wazzu won head to head? Possibly. It should be noted that prior to 2006 there was good reason to name co-champs since one conference school was left off the schedule each year, thereby creating some doubt.

In this humble fan's opinion, naming co-champs this year speaks volumes about the gross incompetence of the leadership of the Pac10. Tom Hansen should be fired. The Pac10 has arguably the worst bowl tie-ins, the worst television contract, and an absolute lack of self promotion (see the Southeastern Conference if you want a definition of self-promotion). In addition, the Pac10 has bent over and taken the humiliation of USC (2003), Oregon (2001) and Washington (2000) being left out of the BCS National Championship Game, as well as Oregon (2005) and Cal (2004) being left out of the BCS all together. And don't get me started on how little backbone Tom Hansen showed during the Oklahoma/Oregon mess this year (telling OU to stop yer whinin', and threatening to sue if they tried to back out of their series contract with Washington would have been a good start).

Oregon St QB Matt Moore throws for 356 yards, 4 TD's and 1 INT in the 2006 Sun Bowl to beat Missouri by a score of 39-38.

After the trio of dogmeat Pac10 teams (Oregon, Arizona St, Ucla) embarrassed the conference in their respective lower-tier, crappy bowl games, the Pac10's image has gotten a lift from Cal's dominating win in the Holiday Bowl and OSU's nail-biting victory in the Sun Bowl.

Now that the conference's better teams have won their upper-tier bowl games, and the conference's mediocre to barely-bowl-eligible teams have lost their crappy, lower-tier bowl games - what does this say about USC's chances in the Rose Bowl?

Absolutely nothing.

As Cal's Daddy, USC is proud of their little boy's win over Texas A&M (or ATM to you football message board members) in the Holiday Bowl.



It's nice to know that USC was too physical for Cal, and Cal was too physical for Texas A&M.

So what else is new?

Let's review Ucla's stellar bowl record under Radio ... uh, I mean Head Coach Karl Dorrell:

2006 Emerald Bowl: Florida St 44 - Ucla 27
2005 Sun Bowl: Ucla 50 - Northwestern 38
2004 Las Vegas Bowl: Wyoming 24 - Ucla 21
2003 Silicon Valley Classic: Fresno St 17 - Ucla 9

(Note that bowl wins are in bold - I wanted to highlight Ucla's losses, but that would be too much bolding to do)

Two things to note about this data, (1) All of these games are crappy lower tier bowl games, and (2) None of the opposing teams in these games were any good that year.

Yet we still hear from Radio and Ucla homers that this program has turned the proverbial corner. Actually, Ucla has turned 3 corners and is right back where they started.



That's right Bruce Davis, hang your head in shame. You've earned it.

The Wife is now 7 months pregnant with My Boy!!! At the end of October he was photographed with the family jewels on full display. Of course I was proud of this shot. The first thought that came into my mind was "He must be having a really good dream". Unfortunately, this ultrasound revealed a possible problem of placenta previa, which would require a Cesarean Section. I kept referring to it as "Placenta Primavera" - which must be one nasty pasta dish.

Well, a week ago we had a second ultrasound. And although we have not gotten the official word from the Doctor, it looks like there will be no complications. Thank God. The Wife can have a natural childbirth and My Boy!!! will get to show what he is made of when he gets his chance to push his way out.

Pictures from the second ultrasound possibly show My Boy!!!'s confidence in being a complication-free pregnancy, considering that he seems to be giving the hand gesture that every thing is "Okay".

However, on closer inspection, it seems that he is a little pissed that we keep intruding on his privacy to capture shots of his dinky.

Not even born yet and he's already giving the finger. I am sooooooo proud (wiping a tear from my eye). They just grow up so fast these days.

People say that things happen in three's. They say that all the time at my wife's workplace when it comes to pregnancies. They also say it when it comes to high profile deaths.

On Christmas Day, the legendary Godfather of Soul, James Brown, passed away. Not to be outdone, former President Gerald R. Ford died the next day. So the only question now is, who is the next famous person to kick the bucket? Until recently when an appellate court upheld his death sentence, it looked like Saddam Hussein might be next. What a strange trio that would have been.










UPDATE December 29, 2006

Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein executed

Possible Notre Dame Recruiting Poster:

Send your son to Notre Dame. Our Head Coach will be his best friend, and so much more!


Seriously, can you believe the look on Charlie Weis' face?

"Sorry Brady, I didn't hear anything you said. I got lost in your eyes again."

And I thought no one could top the intimacy of Vince Young and Mack Brown.

Some believe, including yours truly, that the key to beating Michigan (or any other team for that matter) is to stop the run and make that team one-dimensional. This means that Mike Hart must be held to under 100 yards rushing for the game. Over 100 yards rushing for Hart could spell doom for USC. The majority of USC's losses or close games over the last 5 years included an opposing running back rushing for more than 100 yards.

Mike Hart is currently #8 on the NCAA Division I-A Rushing Leaders list, per ESPN, with 1,515 rushing yards. The following is a breakdown of how USC has fared against other national rushing leaders:

Darren McFadden (Ark) - 1,558 rushing yards (season)
... 42 yards against USC

Marshawn Lynch (Cal) - 1,245 rushing yards (season)
... 88 yards against USC

Darius Walker (ND) - 1,139 rushing yards (season)
... 56 yards against USC

Ryan Torain (ASU) - 1,069 rushing yards (season)
... 57 yards against USC

Felix Jones (Ark) - 1,018 rushing yards (season)
... 48 yards against USC

Chris Markey (Ucla) - 963 rushing yards (season)
... 51 yards against USC

Jonathan Stewart (Ore) - 960 rushing yards (season)
... 42 yards against USC

Brandon Jackson (Neb) - 951 rushing yards (season)
... 1 yard against USC

The huge national story of James Kim and his family lost in the wilderness of Grant's Pass, Oregon has brought about many a sensitive and thoughtful response about how tragic his death was. But not from me. My first thoughts on the subject, before his body was even found, was how much better it would be for him to just die in that forest. Inevitably, if he was found alive, he and his wife would argue over who's fault it was that they came to be stuck in the snow on that desolate mountain road. This would be followed by a vicious divorce where his wife would get the kids, the house, the car stuck in the snow, as well as all his money, and his life would be over anyways. So he was better off dying in the woods. Alone. Frozen. Hungry. But with Honor. That and a generous life insurance policy payout for his wife and kids to better remember him by.

Why did God give us fingerprints? Fingerprints have always been an indentifier of every human being on this planet. During the time that billions of human beings have come and gone on this earth, no set of fingerprints have been duplicated. Maybe you think we have them so God can identify us. Well He made us, so I think He can tell the difference. I don't need to look at my daughter's fingerprints to know that she is mine.

I think that God gave us fingerprints so that we cannot act anonymously, so that we have to take responsibility for our actions.

(Even though I believe we all need to take responsibility for actions, that doesn't mean I am going to use my real name on this blog or the WeAreSC forums that I post on)

Great news out of Heritage Hall this morning, star Defensive End Lawrence Jackson of Inglewood, CA ("Inglewoood, Inglewood always up to no good" - Tupac) is returning for his senior season. Great news for Trojans fans, bad news for the nation. LoJack had a very slow start to the season, largely due to Pete Carroll's decision to swtich to a 3-4 defense this year. Of course that is just this fan's humble opinion.

The decision to swtich to the 3-4 probably resulted from the lack of development of sophomore DE Kyle Moore, the food poisoning suffered by junior DE Jeff Schwieger causing him to drop 30 pounds right before fall practice, and the emergence of Brian Cushing as an outstanding football player while replacing two-time team captain Dallas Sartz last year at strong-side linebacker (the SAM position). This year Sartz returned as a starter at the SAM position, so Pete Carroll decided to get Brian Cushing on the field as a starting DE (although it was officially called the Elephant position) due to the lack of a quality DE to start opposite LoJack.

OUCH!

Mr. Rey Maualuga, or "Rey Rey" as he's known among friends, is seen here laying the wood to Ucla QB Patrick Cowan. To his credit, Cowan bounced right back up again and headed to the Ucla huddle. He did however need the help of his teammates to put his helmet and shoulder pads straight again.

(This is something I felt like posting after the Oregon St. loss, but is more appropriate now.)

Any fool can criticize. It takes no effort at all to say this person sucks or that person sucks. Some people believe they have all the answers, and everyone else must be incredible morons not to see it. Well, I have news for you: You don't have all the answers. You're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

Little good ever comes from demanding a coach's head after a loss. Remember when people wanted John Robinson gone? Guess who his replacement was: He Who Shall Remain Nameless. Remember when people wanted OC Mike Reilly gone? His replacement was Hue Jackson.

No good ever comes from throwing a player under the bus. It is completely shameful and the mark of substandard fanbases.

Internet petitions are a joke.

Starting a website called "FireKiffin.com" is stupid.

Predicting a blowout loss in the next game is traitorous.

But back to my original point, no special talent is needed to criticize. Anybody can be a critic, while only few are truly successful. You think you can do a better job than Pete Carroll? Post your resume. You think you can do a better job than Lane Kiffin? Post your resume. Otherwise, please be respectful of our 2-Time National Champion Head Coach and whomever he decides to have on HIS staff.

Analysis may come later, if I can bring myself to watch it from the Tivo.

I attended the game, and I was shocked. Still am. Shock is the only way to describe what happened Saturday. On paper, there was no way the Trojans could lose. But that is why they play the games.

Truthful, non-delusional Bruins were just as shocked. Many Ucla fans hoped a blowout Trojan win would mean the end of Karl Dorrell. Now they are stuck with him for at least 2 more years.

There are many issues I have with Ucla, the least of which are the above photos.

Ucla stole their colors, name, mascot and fight song from Cal. Cal actually sued over it.

I write "Ucla" because some moron decided to steal the script used in the "Cal" logo and apply it to Ucla. The problem with it is that they capitalize the first letter of an acronym to make it seem like "Ucla" is an actual word that should be pronounced either "uck-la" or "ook-la".

They have a 60-year-old male virgin leading their cheers.

They have a juggler on their sideline. I kid you not.

Their main cheer is the "8 Clap", which I hear can be cleared up with a healthy dose of penicillin.

Their home stadium is in another city.

They have a both a male and a female teddy bear on the sidelines.

What's next, the Bearded Lady? Well several of their ugly public school cheerleaders can fill that role.

This is my favorite version of the Ucla acronym. Other good ones:

University of
Champion
Lesbian
Athletics

U
Clowns
Lose
Again

U
Can't
Learn
Anything

University of
Caucasians
Lost among
Asians

University of
Chumps
Losers and
Anklebiters

Is this:

A. Rare Passion exhibited by Ucla Coach Karl Dorrell
B. Constipation
C. A Paper Cut in the worst of places?