Sports in Stilettos

USC Starts the Season in Hawaii TOMORROW!! »

I’m way excited. I can’t even imagine how glad the actual team must be to finally get this season underway.

My USC-Hawaii preview is live NOW on isportsweb.com!

Game time tomorrow night, 11pm EST on ESPN! Who else is staying up to watch?

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Wait. That doesn’t even make sense. First of all, he’s not on the team, and second of all, it’s not THEIR fault.

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My non-football-watching friend after I tried to explain that USC isn’t allowed to play in bowl games for the next two seasons because of Reggie Bush (known in this conversation as the dude who used to date Kim Kardashian).

Even to totally objective outsiders, the punishment does not seem to fit the crime.

USC Football Loses Two in 2011 »

We’re only two weeks into 2011 but already the USC Trojans’ football program is down two players.

Senior tight end Blake Ayles announced this week that he plans to take advantage of an exception to the NCAA transfer rules that will allow him to play in Miami this season for new head coach Al Golden and former USC assistant Brennan Carroll, who drew Ayles to the Sunshine State.

Wide receiver Thearon Collier, who transferred to USC from Miami in August 2010 after being dismissed from the Hurricanes’ football program, is no longer with the Trojans.

For more details, and to find out who might fill their roster spots, keep reading {here}

USC Trojans To Appeal NCAA Sanctions This Weekend »

Several members of USC’s athletic department are in Indianapolis this weekend, preparing to make their case for reduced sanctions before the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee.

In June, the NCAA hit the Southern Cal football program with heavy sanctions for a “lack of institutional control,” mainly stemming from former Trojan Reggie Bush’s improper dealings with an agent, considered a major infraction. The penalties included 14 vacated wins, a two-year ban on postseason bowls, four years of probation, and a reduction of 30 scholarships over three years.

USC will seek to have the postseason ban reduced by one year, with a loss of only 15 scholarships over three years….[Keep reading for more about USC’s appeal and what it means at isportsweb.com]

Out with the Old, In with the New

Spring practices for the USC Trojans football team are less than a month away (March 22) and Lane Kiffin recently took some time off from battling NCAA investigations to work towards finalizing his coaching staff.

Former wide receivers coach John Morton went to the NFL with my least-favorite Harbaugh, Jim, and the San Francisco 49ers.

Morton’s logical replacement, former Trojans WR and 2011 grad asst. Keary Colbert took his name out of the running for the opening by throwing it back into the NFL ring and announcing he’ll attempt a comeback on the playing field.

Read my full story on Colbert’s decision at isportsweb.com

Instead of Colbert, the Trojans’ wide receivers coach will be former Nebraska assistant Ted Gilmore.

Read my full story on Gilmore’s hiring at isportsweb.com

*Most of my USC football blogging happens over at isportsweb. No worries, I included links to my most recent posts above, so go check them out!

Forget college basketball and last night’s lame-o college basketball championship game devoid of shining moments.

We are one step closer to football season.

IT’S (almost) GAME DAY.

That is all.

Are you kidding me with this?

Who does Mark Sanchez think he is, with that outfit and that face?

Aye-yi-yi.

(via Mark Sanchez delivers passes, message to Trojans - USC - The Orange County Register)

I Am Against Trojan Uniforms in Black >> Lost Angeles Blog »

Supposedly, at least according to the LA Daily News, USC is considering wearing black uniforms (or at least helmets) against UCLA in 2011.

I assumed it was a ridiculous joke and planned to pretend the entire suggestion had never been raised. USC in anything other than cardinal and gold? No thank you. We’ll pass. (Did you hear that?? I said No.)

Zack, the mastermind behind Lost Angeles Blog and Arrogant Nation, wrote yet another brilliant blog post about the horror that would be USC in trendy uniforms. USC football is a tradition, not a trend, so let’s all just forget this alternate black helmet business once and for all.

USC fans, make your voices heard and speak out against what would be an absolute football fashion faux pas on the USC Athletics Facebook page and on Twitter (#noUSCblackout). And if you need some talking points other than “This is a horrible idea and you’ve lost your collective mind if you think otherwise,” go check out Zack’s blog.

USC Trojans NCAA Appeal Denied »

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, or even if you haven’t, you’ll notice that it’s my policy to keep it clean, and free of profanity and anything inappropriate (shirtless guys are totally appropriate).

As a result, I’m being very careful to keep everything that immediately came to mind when I got the above news inside (and lemme tell ya, it ain’t easy), but I will say that this ruling is BS.

Just how much of sham/scam the NCAA really is these days is still up in the air, pending its rulings on Ohio State, UNC, Auburn, etc.

But I’m pretty sure I’m still going to think it’s BS. Bold, in all caps, fully spelled out.

If you’re a USC fan and you need to take the edge off between now and whenever these stupid sanctions are lifted, go join Arrogant Nation over at Lost Angeles Blog this season. Our fearless bear-hunting leader is always clutch in providing a little perspective and a shot in the arm of arrogance.

As for me, I’ll be steering as clear as I can of any and all details and updates about the NCAA and their most recent arbitrary ruling. It’s bad for my blood pressure.

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You telling me Adrian Peterson didn’t get money handshakes when Auburn kids did? You telling me Michigan kids didn’t sell gear when Ohio State kids did? Let’s face it, we need to find a way to compensate players so this shit ends before the game is ruined by an idiotic governing body who will poke holes in itself until it bleeds out like a steak you forgot to rest before slicing.

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Lost Angeles Blog: BCS Strips USC of Title and I Decide What to Eat Tonight

I recommend clicking over and reading the entire piece.

Zack’s been comparing the NCAA sanctions epidemic to the baseball steroids era for awhile now (and with the allegations against Ohio State and maybe even Texas now) it’s only going to get worse.

As far as the ‘04 title goes, USC still has the AP title. And I don’t know, but I don’t expect Sooners fans to forget that 55-19 debacle, even if it has been scrubbed from the record books.

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