Ohio State Week: Transferring Hate

Like everyone else, I can’t wait for this Saturday’s game. I can’t wait to see USC on college football’s center stage in prime time, once again. I can’t wait to see how well our man Pete Carroll has prepared the Trojans for a classic match-up against an iconic program.

Still, I also can’t help but feel like something is missing this week. Maybe it’s the feeling that Ohio State won’t be bringing its best without a fully healthy Beanie Wells (above). Maybe it’s the Buckeyes’ lackluster win over Ohio last Saturday, and their slide in the rankings to No. 5. Maybe it’s the 10-point spread that tells us the magically accurate experts in Vegas feel the same way.

The thought crosses my mind that perhaps this isn’t the supreme challenge we all thought it would be … and that scares me. USC can’t afford to think Ohio State isn’t anything but “the” Ohio State.

Then again, what the hell do I know? According to Paul Peszko of the Bleacher Report, any hint of complacency among the Trojan Family was erased when Slick Rick and Trader Chow out-coached Rocky Top's Phil Fulmer – I know, that’s not saying much – in Pasadena last Saturday night. Here’s Peszko’s take:

Last week, Ohio State lost any psychological advantage they could possibly muster when UCLA came back in the second half to knock off Tennessee in OT, 27-24.

Even though USC was named No. 1 in both polls, they were no longer the media darlings of L.A. football. All week long, it has been a continuous procession of UCLA Bruins before the media.

The usual hype over USC’s 52-7 pasting of Virginia and the rise to No. 1 has been eclipsed by the media’s fascination with a team given up for dead pulling off the upset of Week One. …

For the Trojans, the game with Ohio State is not a springboard to a National Championship. It is not even to maintain their ranking at the top of the polls. It is not to show that the Pac-10 is better than the Big Ten. It is not even to prove that Trojans are better than Ohio State.

For the Trojans, the game with Ohio State is much, much bigger than all that. This game is for one thing and one thing only: to take back the City of Angels.

Hmmm. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think Peszko is on to something. As I watched Slick Rick’s “relentless optimism” – a.k.a., the classless behavior that will no doubt lead to his third set of violations sometime during this, his third head coaching job – I began to feel the proper hate that fuels the motivation it will take to beat the Buckeyes.

If allowing ucla and its Slick Rick to get under our skin a little bit gives us an edge this Saturday, that’s fine with me. I’m in.

Fight On!

Ohio State Week: It's a Matter of Class

I love it when people talk trash. It's part of what makes sports in this country so great. Anyone can say anything they want, but it all comes down to performance on the field. And more times than most, when someone talks trash to the USC Trojans, we make them pay.

Just ask DeShaun Jackson, a Displaced favorite whose considerable athletic gifts on the field were surpassed by the speed of his mouth ... until we shut him up on the field, twice.

So, while much of the hype-makers were quick to jump on Ray Small (above) for his words of "wisdom" following "the" Ohio State's "dismantling" of the Ohio Bobcats last Saturday, it's all old news to us.

To review, in case you haven't seen Small's words on the bulletin board inside Heritage Hall:

As I took my visit to USC, I'm like, 'How are they successful? They're not even serious about the game.' Before the game, they're all going crazy. Me and [Buckeyes defensive end] Rob Rose was on the visit and I'm looking like, 'Wow.' And then the coach said, 'You better get out of here. It's 'bout to get hectic.'

And then I come [to Ohio State] on the visit and before the game, it's all quiet, everybody getting taped, coaches talking. It's the total opposite. ...

It's more of a class thing ... Here at Ohio State, they teach you to be a better man. There, it's just all about football.

How is USC successful? This is how we do it, Ray. We read books about tennis! Of course, this can be a bit puzzling to those who mistake conventional wisdom and sweater vests for "class."

Still, I suppose Small is right about one thing: USC is certainly a different kind of football program. Small will find this out first hand on Saturday afternoon.

We are SC!

Once Again ... We're No. 1!

And now for our second "displaced" act ...

Back to No. 1 where we belong?! As any true, 21st century Trojan Football fan knows, the only polls that matter, during the only week that matters, are the ones at the end of the season that get us into the BCS Championship Game. But the fact remains that it is indeed more fun when we're No. 1.

It's even more fun when USC Football takes over the top spot after thoroughly dominating a team from a BCS conference on its home field, while the Ohio State university -- that's "thuh," not "thee" -- and Georgia beat up on 1-AA teams.

Perhaps it will be all-time fun in a few weeks, if/when we take over the No. 1 spot for being No. 1 more than any other program in the land. Certainly, being No. 1 was easy fun this past Saturday, as we enjoyed an extra week to prepare for the Buckeyes.

That said, we here have a particularly good feeling about being No. 1 this season. The last time USC opened the year on the east coast against a team from Virginia, the Trojans won a national championship in Miami adjacent. We'll see what happens this coming Saturday and in the weeks to come, but we'll go ahead and say it now ... I'm feelin' some No. 1 fun come January in south Florida.

If it happens, I can link back to this post and say, "I told you so!" And, if not, I can always erase the link like our revisionist friend Murshed "Nestor" Zaheed. It's gonna be a fun ride, regardless.

Fight On!

Slick Rick Gets Tricked

So, Matt Barkley - the No. 1 recruit for the class of 2009 and the first junior ever to be named National Gatorade Player of the Year - announced his commitment to USC last night. I suppose this latest recruiting coup by our man Pete Carroll sets our world straight after all the angst Traitor Chow seemed to be causing this week.

But the take here is that Barkley's commitment sheds new light on a few quotes sprinkled throughout the Traitor Chow coverage - quotes from "experts" that were like flies on Traveler's ass, until Barkley made his commitment public.

The best example is Bill Plaschke's over-reaction to Slick Rick's moves since becoming head PR guy at ucla. With Murshed "Nestor" Zaheed and the "nation" of idiots masturbating over our used goods, Plaschke (who has been among Murshed's enemy journalists at the Times) waxed unpoetically about how Slick Rick is more than just a liar executing "cheap parlor tricks."

Plaschke quoted sources to provide insight into how college football recruiting works, and to suggest that perhaps the Three Stooges (aka Slick Rick, Trader Chow and Dwayne "One Trick" Walker) would now be the "it" thing for five-star high school players.

"Norm Chow has just looked USC in the eye and said, 'Here we come,' " said Steve Clarkson, local quarterback guru. ...

"A kid like that is looking for the best opportunity to get him to the NFL," Clarkson said. "Norm Chow gives him that." ...

"Kids no longer go to the school that they rooted for as a kid, they look at it like a business," said Clarkson, whose celebrated quarterback academy has helped spawn three current NFL starters. "And to say that Norm Chow won't make a difference is to make a serious error in judgment."

If you don't know Steve Clarkson, he is the private quarterback instructor who worked with Matt Leinart. He also tutored Jimmy Clausen, and some "experts" thought he steered Clausen away from USC and toward Notre Dame, following an argument with Pete Carroll at USC's "Pro Day" in 2006. Clarkson has been working with Barkley, so reading the quotes above, you could see how the "nation" of idiots might begin to think that Slick Rick's tricks have already won six straight Pac-10 titles, three Heisman Trophies, five BCS bowls, and two MNCs.

Add to that this quote in Plaschke's piece from Bruce Rollinson, Barkley's head coach at Mater Dei:

"We tell our athletes, marry yourself to your future position coach, that's the guy you'll live with. And now, if you're a quarterback going to UCLA, you're getting the real deal."

Hmmm. If Barkley's personal QB coach and the head coach of his high school are saying things like that, you'd think Traitor Chow would be a lock to put the kid in powder blue. But it turns out that Clarkson and Rollins were pulling a fast one to protect a secret.

Said Clarkson in today's Times: "(Barkley has) had a silent commitment (to USC) since last October. It was a decision he felt good about but never announced until now."

I love it. While Barkley was touring ucla during an unofficial visit with Slick Rick over the weekend, Clarkson and Rollins were getting slick with Slick Rick, with the "nation" of idiots following along.

Now, when Barkley recruits his 2009 classmates to come to USC he can tell them that he's heard Slick Rick's lies and b.s. up close and in person. He can tell them that he could hardly stop himself from throwing up (or laughing out loud) while in enemy territory, knowing that he was, is and will forever be a member of the Trojan Family.

And if you don't think Pete Carroll wasn't having a little chuckle about all this - and a little "this is how we do it" high-five with Ken Norton and Steve Sarkisian - then you don't think like a true Trojan ... and, apparently, you don't think like Matt Barkley.

Congratulations, Matt! Fight On!

UCLA’s “100” Championships

I thought I could make it to August without a single Displaced post. I was content to slumber through March and April without a care during Florida’s run to another basketball championship, not to mention USC’s Sweet 16 showing. I was thinking I could let USC Spring Football and the NFL Draft slide by as I continued my rest until the Trojans begin another season atop the college football world. But, I was wrong …

Instead, the “nation” and its fearless (read shameless) leader Mr. Zaheed … I mean, “Nestor” … thought they could make a big deal out of ugla supposedly winning its 100th national collegiate championship in a team sport.

At least two things struck me about this.

First, ugla won its “100th” championship in women’s water polo. That’s right, women’s water polo. Like many of its other championships -- 22 in men’s and women’s volleyball, 16 in men’s tennis -- the “nation” stakes claim to a “national” title in a secondary sport that no one really cares about.

However, since we here know enough to give credit where credit is due, a “national championship” as recognized by the NCAA is, in fact, a national championship. So, we’ll give the Lady Bruins water polo team as much as they deserve.

That said, what also struck me about all this was how -- in typically hypocritical and convenient ignorance -- “Nestor” and his “nation” forgot the fact that this win by the ugla women’s water polo team was actually the 101st time an ugla team had raised a “national” championship trophy.

As “Nestor” continues to post disparaging, biased remarks about the integrity of USC Football, he somehow forgets that ugla’s softball team was actually stripped of the national title it “won” in 1995. This for enrolling a ringer -- named Tanya Harding (above), of all scandalous monikers -- for one half season and one academic quarter, which she never finished. “A lack of institutional control” was how the NCAA officially described it.

Not only was the ugla softball team stripped of its title, it was also stripped of scholarships, placed on probation for three years and disallowed from playing in the 1997 post-season.

We’re not talking about alleged violations, about which the coaching staff or the school knew nothing. These are violations proven as fact, which resulted in near-death penalty punishment of a celebrated ugla sports team.

Typically, all this happened in 1995, while “Nestor” was a student at ugla. Just another example of the master of selective memory and hypocrisy at work. Speaking of work, what does “Nestor” do for a living? Does anybody know?

Anyway, I wouldn’t have had to write this post had anyone else remembered in any significant way that the 1995 UCLA softball team was, in fact, a fraud and a lousy bunch of cheaters.

But, perhaps this Displaced Trojan was never meant to sleep through three straight months. Maybe it’s time to get ready for the 2007 USC Football season. So much for the summer slumber …
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Song Girl Natalie Says: Farewell

WeAreSC.com does a nice job conducting what it calls “exit interviews” with outgoing senior football players. I like reading them because they help fill time between Signing Day and Spring Football, while also confirming that current student-athletes are learning what it means to be part of the Trojan Family.

However ... WeAreSC took a detour yesterday to interview (so to speak) Natalie Nelson about her thoughts (so to speak) regarding her career as a USC Song Girl. It was titled: “Exit Interview: Natalie.”

Of course, Beano read the article and cried. Me? I just about fell asleep.

No disrespect to the interviewer David Chung, but this is the fluffiest fluff piece that has ever been fluffed. In fact, the piece is so fluffy that Chung never mentions Nelson’s last name, as if she’s some sort of character in a reality TV show.

Not that we should expect much in the way of hard hitting issues here, but Chung could have asked Nelson at least a few questions that incorporate the words "bad timing” or “wedgy” ... just to keep things interesting.

After all, Nelson has been the quintessential (if not stereotypical) USC Song Girl for the last couple of years. She’s been a co-captain of the squad. She dated a captain of the football team, linebacker Dallas Sartz. She’s the daughter of Song Girl coach Lori Nelson. She's performed through injuries. She was on the cover of Los Angeles Magazine (left), and she’s posed toward the center of most Song Girl group photos, because -- let’s be honest -- she’s a strikingly beautiful blond who looks great in a Song Girl sweater and skirt.

However ... she is also responsible for this, ...


... and she is the inspiration for this ...


... and this, ...


... which subsequently led to these, ...



... the production of this, ...

... and the over-exposure (so to speak) of this ...


Not to mention her attendance in Senora Ross’s “Spanish III” class.

Yes, we know Nelson isn’t directly responsible for the “wedgy,” but she certainly set the precedent for the college football blogger geek frenzy that resulted from it.

Of course, we’re not complaining about this stuff. We always laugh with the Song Girls, not at them. So, again, you’d think Chung could ask at least one question that doesn’t read like a double pompom over the head waving thing (so to speak).

Instead, to her credit, Nelson mentioned her “bad timing” in response to Chung’s 31st fluffy question. This created the only part of the Q&A worth reading:

WEARESC: What are the toughest parts of being a Song Girl and what will you take out of it after you leave USC?

NN: One of the toughest things was definitely the Photoshopping. It was hard to see myself that way because none of the referees hands are up and I’m just there trying to get the crowd pumped up because everyone in the stands was nervous we were going to lose because they were right in front of us. What’s disappointing for me is that I really know football, maybe even more than anyone on the squad. I’ve grown up around football and I know the sport. It was hard because I know the sport and the picture was just taken at the wrong place, wrong time, and then Photoshopped.

“Photoshopped.” It almost makes you feel sorry for Nelson, if not for her other answers about focusing on a modeling career, doing charity work -- and anything else she might have said before I fell asleep -- all of which tells us that she’ll never have to hold down a real job … ever.

“Such is the life” (as Nestor puts it) of a infamous USC Song Girl. Just another thing to make the jealous “nation” more jealous … and bring Beano to tears.

Fight On!
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USC Hockey: It's All Fun and Games ...

Part of the fun of writing a blog is pointing out stupid stuff. Of course, it's funny when that stuff is perpetrated by the domers or the bruins. But, we’re by no means above (or below) mentioning any funny/stupid stuff that happens within the Trojan Family.

Take the curious case of USC hockey goalie Mickey Meyer. I say “curious” not because “USC” and “hockey” seem to form an oxymoron, but because Meyer, apparently playing out some sort of Slap Shot fantasy, decided it would be funny, if not appropriate, to show his bare ass to everyone during a 6-4 loss to BYU.

Now, if you’re in shock upon hearing this, you’re not alone … I too had no idea that USC had a hockey team. Turns out the “Ice Trojans” have their own Web site, play in the hockey Pac-8, and have won the league championship two years running. In fact, USC Hockey has won seven Pac-8 Championships, including four in a row, 2000-2003. But, I digress …

For an account of Meyer’s behavior there is a second-hand report from the AP or Utah’s Herald-Journal:

Mickey Meyer, the Trojan’s starting goalie, pulled his hockey pants down and exposed his buttocks during the final period of an afternoon game against BYU, according to reports.

Meyer, a junior from Clinton, N.Y., was ejected from the regional tournament game and cited by police. North Park Police Sgt. John Italasano said the County Attorney’s Office will now decide whether to criminally prosecute Meyer.

“To be honest with you, I really don’t know (why I did it),” he said. “I had my fill of these refs. ... I thought I’d take a little more control on our side.”

Of course, this stupid stuff is tailor-made for a site like Deadspin, which came through with a nice take.

Meyer is also the goalie who stopped a puck with his head in a 5-3 win over UCLA on Jan. 19. The Trojans play in the Pac-8 Conference, which they won this year, and from what we understand each player is required to put up more than $1,000 of his own money to participate. So we think Mickey earned his little moment.

Surprisingly (or not), ugla “nation” regular “Menelaus” chimed in, jumping at the chance to make some hay. But he, like Deadspin, missed the opportunity to point out the truly funny and/or disgustingly embarrassing element of Meyer’s stunt.

Thanks to the Sports Column blog, which took the time to read through comments left on the Herald-Journal post, we get this:

While the antics might have played well in Socal […] the folks in Utah are upset over the incident. Here is the last reader comment from the article:

“I've read a few of the comments since I explained that my little girls were shocked by what he did. When he "mooned" us, he showed us more than his behind (every one who was there knows what I mean). We're going to make sure that he is prosecuted and that he pays for what he did.”

Yikes. On everyone's parts.

Now, that’s offensive, inappropriate and something to be embarrassed about. Leave it up to us to point this out to the likes of “Menelaus” … but what the hell? We’re talking about freakin’ hockey … club-sport hockey … at USC.

As Allen Iverson says, “We talkin’ about [USC Hockey], man. I mean, how silly is that? … We talkin’ about [hockey], man. What are we talkin’ about, [USC Hockey]?

Fight On!

UPDATE: Ramona Shelburne of the L.A. Daily News adds this: "After Meyer skated off, he was replaced by - no joke - Matt Buttweiler."
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