Cougars fail to cross midfield in 69-0 Trojans Whipping

People will read the score and automatically draw references to the Trojans offense, but this game was a tribute to the USC defensive unit. Southern Cal has now recorded consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1971, and now has held their opponents scoreless for 10 consecutive quarters. It has been 11 quarters since they’ve surrendered an opposing touchdown, and that came assisted by a roughing the kicker penalty on a field goal attempt that extended an Oregon drive.

The Victory equaled the largest shutout victory for USC since 1931. It was the worst defeat for Washington State in the program’s long history that stretches more than 100 years. The victory also snapped Washington State’s streak of scoring in 280 consecutive games, which was second only to Michigan. The crippled Cougars managed just 28 passing yards and 88 on the ground, while managing just 4 first downs and punting 9 times. Even with the starters sitting in the second half, the shutout was preserved by bench players and walk-ons, with the Cougars playing 60 minutes of football without ever running an offensive play in Trojans territory.

Mark Sanchez equaled a school record with 5 touchdown passes, and three Trojan running backs eclipsed the 100 yard mark. Redshirt freshman, Broderick Green, who had been very vocal in the prior weeks for being buried on the depth chart and not getting much playing time, led the stable with 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. Though the Trojans tried repeatedly to keep the clock moving, the Cougars failed to stop simple running plays up the middle, which Green broke for large gains.

Even with the Trojans’ roster thinned by injuries and a stomach virus that has been circulating the SC campus for the past two weeks, the Men of Troy could have easily scored 100 points against their opponents, and damn near scored 70 without trying. I’ve said for weeks that Washington State, with all their problems, is by far the worst team of all in BCS conferences. And with every week that passes, they continue to prove me right.

Fight On!

B-Y-WHO?

As the final seconds ticked from the clock, no smiles were wider than those belonging to members of the BCS committee. The 8th ranked BYU Cougars had fallen 32-7 to the TCU Horned Frogs. For the moment, the intentions of the BCS are preserved, and they could now pull their eyes away from the Mormon school in Provo Utah, and focus more on their upstart neighbors, the 14th ranked Utah Utes. What began as a mid-major scare tactic, with the two Mountain West programs surging upwards in national polls, and perhaps headed towards an undefeated collision to end the regular season, ended with a good old fashion Texas ass kicking, and a quick sigh of relief. TCU had saved the day. Well, at least for now.

Unlike the unbeaten WAC champions of previous years, it would have been difficult to truly justify an undefeated Mountain West champion not qualifying for the BCS Championship game. Reason appears, if we finish with 2 undefeated programs from BCS conferences, but that doesn't seem likely. If you are voters and computer geeks, how could you justify rewarding points to Penn State for a victory over Oregon State, but see Utah's victory over those same Beavers as a lesser accomplishment? How would you ignore BYU's victories over UCLA and Washington, but credit Oklahoma for the blowout in Seattle? How could you possibly explain either BYU or Utah being stripped of championship opportunities, when one would have finished their unblemished season run with a victory over the other, which would have been a top 10 opponent?

The effort of the Horned Frogs enabled a system built with closed doors to deny entry to mid-major programs to hide the key and enforce their wishes. Utah can win out, but just as the WAC Champions, they won't have that final regular season opponent to lift them into discussions. As competitive as the Mountain West conference has been in 2008, TCU's victory was great for the home team on Thursday, but it also put a hurt on the conference that won't be felt until season's end.

The financial obligation of gridiron success

Football recruiting is busy work and the most essential process of a team's success or failure. USC is always among the national leaders in the category, and it doesn't come cheap. Although the University of Southern California sits in one of the nation's hottest recruiting beds, the Trojans spent $8,712,687 on recruiting alone. In all, the football program generated $28,595,881, seeing a profit of $8 million. In contrast, the Trojans basketball team drew a negative of $300,000.

Typical of all fiscal reports in college sports, coaching salaries appear more mythical than factual. USC lists the head coaching position at $642,254, yet Pete Carroll earns $4.1 million for his efforts. Assistant coaches are listed at just over $100,000. Steve Sarkisian will make $700,000 this year.

As for that other sport that was once dominated by USC, the Trojans of the baseball diamond spent just over $2 million in recruiting expenses.

40 years ago in Mexico City

It’s been 40 years now since Tommy Smith and John Carlos stood atop an Olympic Medal podium in Mexico City. The two American track athletes claimed the gold and bronze medals in the 200-meter event, with Smith doing it in world record time. They approached the podium shoeless, wearing only black socks to represent the poverty faced by African Americans of the 60s. They stood tall in their podium positions, received their medals, and as the American flag is raised and the National anthem did sound, Smith and Carlos raised a gloved fist above their lowered heads, a non-violent protest of America’s inequalities.

Their actions prompted the removal of the pair from the Olympic Games, as ordered by the IOC. Back home, they received death threats, and were blacklisted, having difficulties finding employment and housing. America revealed their hate for two individuals symbolizing America’s freedom of expression. 40 years later, we look back and realize how much courage it took during a time of racial tension for anyone to even take it upon themselves to express their frustrations on the world’s biggest stage. These weren’t politicians. These were average men. They were you and I, as well as our neighbors. We sit in our homes today, each with political views, and each with fair amount of dissent in various areas of American politics, and our thoughts an opinions go unheard, and are cast aside as a silent vote. But how many of us, knowing that our expressed freedom would result in unemployment, public resentment, and threats against our lives, would still speak those words or perform those acts of protest. Few, if any, would have the courage to accept the punishment.

The Mexico City protest hits home for me. Not because it affected my life in 1968, but because it marked the first heated disagreement I ever had with my girlfriend. Her stance, the protest was an embarrassment to America, and the athletes deserved to be removed. My stance, America suffered greater embarrassment before the games, with human rights issues. She viewed it as unnecessary, and the use of an improper forum. I viewed it as courageous, with the only alternate forum being the same as we all share now, our homes, where not a single ear or eye of power will give us a glance or listen.

It finally came down to education. She repeated words as taught to her in her Washington school district. The district teachings continued to blackball the athletes for their act, without ever reflecting on issues that brought about cause. This prompted the “Little Giant”, as friends tend to call her, standing only 5’1, but appearing as an enormous presence for community related issues, to approach her district and the board. She demanded to know why she was cheated of an education. She demanded to know why more than 30 years later, the district was still clinging to curriculums from the early 70s. She wanted to know why the teachings at her school resulted in her speaking without knowing. Ironically, a member of that board, and a good friend of her family, was a civil rights activist of the 1960s, and marched with Martin Luther King. In the end, the little giant forced change, assisting in the betterment of education in the State of Washington.

You can see how far we’ve come, since those fists were raised in the air. This is a nation that imposed sanctions on South Africa, for human rights violations that mirrored our own. Look at the recent Summer Games, and the outrage of media censorship and the Chinese government disallowing any content that displays political protest. Carlos and Smith were tagged as “radicals” of their time, for a non-violent act. 4 years later, the world got a glimpse of true radicals in Munich, as innocence became victim to a cowardly act of terrorism, expression in the violent form.

To bring about change, there must first be recognition of a problem. Many men and women throughout history have made sacrifices to bring awareness before we could act on solution. 40 years ago, two of those men raised a fist in the thin air of Mexico City. And 40 years later, I give them their honor and remembrance.