The Jealous "nation" Attacks

As we’ve said here before, it’s funny when fools make fools of themselves, but perhaps it’s even funnier when they simmer in their own jealousy for everyone on the internets to see.

Apparently, it wasn’t enough last week for the “nation” to criticize its own amateur student “journalists.” They had to attack a sports writer from USC, as well. The difference being Arash Markazi is a professional journalist for SI.com, and he was writing about the emergence of USC “basketball.”

As usual, whenever anything threatens to expose its blind paranoia, the "nation" takes offense.

Never mind that Markazi is one of many, many journalists to notice the “Trojan Uprising” in hoops, the ever articulate “Tydides” decided to jump all over Markazi, accusing him of writing a biased piece.

There's another trOJan apologist on the loose, and he needs to be set straight.

As some of us are aware, SI.com's Arash Markaz is a trOJan alumnus, so it should come as no surprise that he is doing his best to turn lemons into lemonade, doing what he and his school does best: spin. […]

It's embarrassing that these writers try to devalue the only aspect of the game that truly matters: the final score.

As we all know, everyone is entitled to an opinion … but for the ugla “nation” this only applies when the opinion is in line with Nestor’s internal reality. But, I digress …

Actually, the most embarrassing part of the post by "Tydides" is classic “nation” stuff -- you know, the fool making a fool of himself sort of thing -- the kind of moronic humor that can only be delivered through the ironic hypocrisy that occurs at the “nation” on a daily basis. Quoting Markazi, our buddy “Tydides” writes:

Seriously, our conference is full of morons, from Marcus the Mouth, all the way to these two trOJan jackass (to borrow a term from N) "surrender monkeys".

"That's having more of a winning mentality," says Aaron [sic] Afflalo. "We know we have to do what we need to do to win a game."

The name's ARRON, Jackass [sic] Markaz. He's a Wooden award finalist, and probable favorite for Pac 10 POY. But his words are the bottom line. We know how to win a game. SUC does not. Spin that.

The funny part? While “Tydides” is attacking “Markaz” for spelling Arron Afflalo’s name incorrectly -- although one could argue that Afflalo misspells his first name every time he writes it – "Tydides" is also showing himself to be the fool he is by misspelling Markazi’s name … all this in a single five-word sentence.

Really, you can’t make this stuff up. It’s almost unbelievable, and yet it’s right there in the blogosphere for all to see. Sure, “Tydides” might tell us that misspelling Markazi’s name was intentional, but we know he’s not that smart. He even misuses a parenthetical “sic” in an apparent attempt to add sarcasm to his tired name calling. Pathetic.

Why all the hate for Markazi? Pure bruin jealousy is the guess here. Not only is Markazi free to write articles about his alma mater for a major publication and get paid for it, he also leads the kind of life the “nation” can only dream about.

We know this because the “nation” continually attempts to convince itself that ugla is “cool” by posting photos suggesting that bruins (even a sorry juggler) get “mad action,” as Nestor puts it. An example is a picture of Lorenzo “Pretty Boy” Mata sitting poolside among women with a certain “don’t-touch-me” body language

Again, we’ll let the “nation” speak for itself:

Yes this is our Mata. The Dude is so money. And look at him. He knows it:
Such is the life of a Ben Ball warrior.

Look at Mata, indeed. The “nation” gives a hat tip to Insomniac’s Lounge, which has a slightly different take on the poolside Mata. Regardless, if this is Nestor’s idea of “action” … well, who knows what kind of life the “nation” leads?

USC on the other hand has a full photo spread of the Trojan Marching Band with SI swimsuit models who aren’t afraid to touch them, in the most popular magazine issue of the year, no less.

And it wasn’t just a band geek thing. Back in August, when the Swimsuit photos were shot at USC, Markazi chronicled his “action,” as Nestor calls it, for SI.com. AOL’s Fanhouse over the weekend reminded us of Markazi’s account of the shoot.

Having graduated from USC two years ago and being the lone Trojan in the group of about a dozen photographers, assistants, make-up artists and editors, I lead the crew down from The Standard to campus, still somewhat surprised that there will be an SI Swimsuit shoot a few feet away from Chano's Drive Inn and the 901 Club as I drove down Figueroa Street. […]

There are probably a laundry list of reasons why hanging out with models is good way of passing the time (I highly recommend it if you have the means).

Obviously, Markazi has the means … or rather the luck. Either way, the point here is that if hanging out and taking photos with hot women is the measure of cool, USC has ugla beat, hands down. We know this criteria is trivial, but we’re not the ones overcompensating for shortcomings. We know it’s all fun and games.

Nevertheless, “such is the life,” as Nestor phrased it, of USC Band geeks and a graduate of the USC journalism program. Of course this, combined with the national attention of the “Trojan Uprising” in hoops, doesn’t sit well with the “nation,” which explains its attack on Markazi. (Note the correct spelling).

We know thy enemy … and they’re just so jealous.

Fight On!
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