1975 – Volume I: The University of Hawaii Rainbows

It is possible, you haven’t noticed that during this year’s off season, the USC’s football team got a new head coach. Maybe you were too preoccupied with the ending of “Lost,” saving loads of people in Haiti or like the poor Chilean miners, you were stuck in a mine for the better part of the last six months, any or all of which prevented you from noticing the untimely departure of Pete Carroll and the unlikely arrival of new head coach Lane Kiffin.

So now that you are up to speed, the horror of watching Lane Kiffin coach the Trojans won’t seem as jarring tonight in their first game against the Hawaii Rainbows (as an aside, I wish there was a legitmate way to include a reference to the double rainbow guy). That being said, I would like to forever refer to Lane Kiffin as the Captain of the Titanic whose real name was Edward John Smith but as no one would ever get that reference, the Captain of the Titanic will suffice. And if you can’t figure out why the Captain of the Titanic is a fitting nick name for Lane Kiffin, well than my weekly blog poking fun of him corresponding with each USC game, probably won’t be that interesting to you anyways.

There are lots of reasons why hiring the Captain of the Titanic was an ill-fated plan – his losing record as a head coach in both the Pros and most recently at the University of Tennessee, pending law suit(s) against him, a season’s worth of vacated wins or his brash and arrogant demeanor – to name a few, but I would like to focus on the Captain of the Titanic’s age. When the Captain of the Titanic took the head coach job at the Tennessee, he was 33 years old making him at the time the youngest active head coach in Division I Football. Now at a mature 35, he is no longer the youngest, Portland State’s 34 year-old Nigel Burton holds that distinction – but his youthfulness remains another category where he is close to the bottom.

This year, instead of writing about things I own that are actually older than USC’s quarterback, Matt Barkley, I will write about notable events that occurred in 1975 – the year the Captain of the Titanic was born. Most of the events I share (and I don’t have a very developed list, so if you have suggestions, I am all ears) will have relevance to USC and/or LA Sports but not necessarily. How could I not at some point talk about the end of the Vietnam War **spoiler alert**?

And as this is just an introduction, there will be no 1975 event to share this go around as I have already written way too much for my three readers to trudge through. One final thought about tonight’s game – Thursday night USC games make me nervous, we all remember the last Thursday night game that ended in a hot mess: September 25, 2008 – need I say more?

The Fall of Troy

On the eve of the first of the sanction years, Trojans fans are forced to come to terms with the witch-hunt like process, I like to refer to as the “Fall of Troy.” Yes, friends, while although I have not taken the bait these last few absolutely dreadful months, I can no longer be silent on this entire matter for our team.

Item I – The Disassociated One

Never again, will #5’s jersey hang in the periscope end of the Coliseum (unfortunately #32 is still there). In fact, some where along the way in this process not nice men came in and stripped every memory of #5 from Heritage Hall. #5 also had to painfully surrender his Heisman – at least they can’t take away his Super Bowl ring, right? Knowing the NCAA, they might even find a basis to do that six years from now. Lets remember, at the center of this whole thing was the stepfather of a then teenager.

Item II – Vacated Losses

I remember spending a good portion of January 4th, 2005 huddled around a small TV set in a Point Loma University conference room watching my beloved USC Trojans beat the tar out of the Oklahoma Sooners becoming undisputed BCS Champions. Having split the National Title the year before, their very decisive win was the culmination of their apt 2004 theme – “leave no room for doubt.”

However, it seems as now, years later, the BCS and the NCAA have found room for doubt and in what is perhaps the most painful sting of the sanctions is the forced vacation of several wins, most notably the 2005 BCS Championship. There is talk that to add further insult to injury, it is possible, the BCS will crown the Oklahoma Sooners as their 2004 champs. Either way, vacated game or new champ, I will remember USC winning that is until the NCAA finds a way in another five years to wash every single USC fan’s memory of the win.

Item III – The Captain of the Titanic

I will focus more on the Captain of the Titanic on game day, but the unfortunate arrival of new head coach, Lane Kiffin really hurts. Or I should say, the flight of Pete Carroll (no one anywhere has forgotten how poorly Pete has done previously in the NFL) on the eve of the awful unfolding of layer upon layer of absurdity of sanctions might be the hardest to cope with. Never again, will Pete run out of the tunnel in Cardinal and Gold and to think, less than a week before the announcement, he was at the BCS Championship reliving memories of USC BCS games. Hold onto those, Pete as I think the NCAA is working to subpoena them right now.

Have I made my point? There are only so many synonyms for ridiculous and witch-hunt I can find, but that is what all of these sanctions are. The lost scholarships and the free ride for current players transfers are nails in the coffin. R.I.P. Troy, I look forward to your resurrection.

Child of Divorce

My parents have been married for 47 years and while I suppose it is possible they could get divorced, I think it is highly unlikely. So why have I been feeling lately like a child whose parents are getting divorced?

This morning the most expensive divorce trial in California’s history began and its outcome will forever shape the landscape of the Dodger Organization. To date, Frank and Jamie McCourt have spent an estimated $20 Million dollars fighting over their most prized “shared” asset – ownership of the beloved Los Angeles Dodgers. If Mr. McCourt wins, he will remain the sole custodian of the team leaving Mrs. McCourt with only tens of millions of dollars instead of hundreds. On the flipside, if Mrs. McCourt wins, the team will be sold and she will walk away with half of the cash.

Since the McCourts bought the team in 2004, the organization has seen three different managers (we all like Joe, BTW), a revolving door of players (good luck in Chicago Manny), steady increases in ticket prices, crazy and unimaginable parking lot changes, all sorts of stadium renovations bringing much needed new seats and huge loses to the Dodgers’ foul territory, but still no World Series ring. Heck, I’d be happy with an NL Pennant. They have won their division two years in an a row, but in a city used to teams that are champions multiple years in a row often, division champs from one of the most storied franchises in baseball history, just isn’t good enough.

Reading...

Last year, I read many books. In fact, for the three of you who know me in real life, you have probably caught me whiling away on a nice afternoon with book in one hand and a modest glass of pinot in the other. Or maybe you and I have talked about contemporary literature, Pulitzer winners and best sellers.

But lately, it seems like I have fallen out of love with reading – the truth is I have started more books this year than I have finished. Amazing books, books that have come highly recommended, books that won awards and been on the top of the best seller list forever but books I can’t seem to finish. I know who have I become – what happened to the voracious reader you fell in love with? Where is that lady?

There is a good chance my demise is directly related to TIVO, which, like the Minnesota Vikings, I have a love/hate dynamic with. Okay, I really hate the Vikings but love #4. But back to TIVO – I think it causing me to watch nine million times more TV than I used to and is singly responsible for my brain turning to mush. I hardly even do the crossword anymore – I know, who have I become? And of course, good writers are readers, so TIVO is also affecting (or is it effecting?) my blog. Perhaps more than the adage, you are what you I eat, I believe you are what you read.

So, to bring shame upon my household, here goes, my list of books I started reading this year but never finished.

The Sparrow


Vin Scully: Pull Up a Chair


The Idiot
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Idiot

Desmond Tutu: Rabble Rouser for Peace


How to be your Dog’s Best Friend


Ordering your Private World


We Drink From Our Own Wells



Up this week – I know I am jinxing my self – being a child of divorce, the fall of troy and 1975.

This Time

I know, you have been expecting this. It always comes to these sorts of inevitable posts where I beg for forgiveness – pleading that this time will be different.

This time I will keep my promise and blog on a more normal schedule. This time it won’t be weeks (or in some cases months) between posts. This time I won’t string you along saying things like more to come on (insert failed theme attempt here: ‘wring in Wednesday,’ ‘my trip to Peru,’ ‘my new dog Fisher,’ etc)… This time I won’t offer up some lame excuse like world travel, computer troubles or my personal favorite – GOOD OLD FASHION BUSY-NESS!! This time there won’t be a pathetic side bar on how much I despise being perpetually busy maybe adding something over the top in terms of harrowing-ness about how that being busy robs my soul. This time I won’t say something about how much I have missed blogging hoping you will ‘buy’ it and take me back.
Perhaps I am the Rodney Dangerfield of bloggers, but to my three readers out there (you know who you are), I am back.

Peru!

So it turns out that I was blessed enough to spend the past two weeks in Peru. I will try to post more specifics on our time in country, but thought a quick picture would whet “your” appetites!!

Fisher

About a month ago the beautiful Pug pictured above was found roaming the streets of the high desert. Victorville for those of you familiar with the high dessert. We will never know for how long, why or what his origins are. Perhaps he was a run away. Perhaps he was a cast off in a foreclosure. A Good Samaritan picked him up and delivered him to a friend he knew who had a sister who was very involved in rescuing dogs. The Good Samaritan and her sister, a woman named Donna, began their rescue magic. He was “fostered” in the sister’s house who got him micro chipped, neutered, cleaned up and checked out. One vet thought he was two years old, another said he was one year old.

Three weeks ago or so, they showcased the mysterious dog they called “Taz” at one of those parking lot adopt-a-pet shin digs in Orange County where my brother, who has a soft spot for pugs, found him. My brother was very taken in by the whole story and immediately called me saying this was my dog. I wasn’t sure, but went ahead with all of the paperwork. OK, somewhere along the line I got excited. The “foster” mom assured me he was good natured and didn’t cause any problems.

I officially adopted him the night after the LA Lakers won the finals and decided to name him Fisher, after Derek Fisher. While I am not a huge Laker fan, from what I know of Derek Fisher, he like my dog, has overcome amazing odds and time and time again has proven himself a resilient and admirable man. When he jumps or even acts surly in the least (which he doesn’t do often), I like to chide him that he isn’t named Kobe. He divides his time between rooting around in the back yard, napping or following me around.