Given that I’m a Bruin and dislike darn near everything SC (with the exception of a few reasonable Trojan friends and other things), it’s pretty hard to say that I have a favorite Trojan. So I guess if I had a Trojan who I disliked the least, it would probably be Carson Palmer. It’s pretty tough when you have a guy beat on your school like a drum (while you’re a student no less) and pretty much hate him, and then see your favorite NFL team take him with the first pick in the draft and make him the face of their franchise. So no, I don’t like Carson, but I dislike him the least. Keep in mind that in addition to performing like one of the top five QBs in the NFL the last three years, Carson has also done pretty much everything right (with the exception of a few ill-advised hot dog ads) and stuck to saying all the right things from day one. Rather than complain about going to the Bengals, he embraced the opportunity and vowed to turn them around. Rather than rip on Chad for being Ocho Cinco or his teammates for getting arrested, Carson’s pretty much avoided the fray. In addition to maintaining a good image, Carson has a lot of school and Pac-10 pride, both of which I appreciate. So it was pretty cool when Carson Palmer ripped on Ohio State when he joined PMS on KLAC recently:

I cannot stand the Buckeyes and having to live in Ohio and hear those people talk about their team, it drives me absolutely nuts. We got Keith Rivers out there and we got Frostee Rucker, we finally got a couple other ‘SC guys. It’s amazing to hear what those guys think about that university and what they think about that football program and Tressel and all the crap I got to put up with being back there.

“I just can’t wait for two years from now when ‘SC comes to the ‘Shoe and I get to, hopefully have a home game that weekend and I can go out there and watch us pound on them on their own turf and kind of put all the talk to rest, because I’m really getting sick of it. I just can’t wait for this game to get here so they can come to the Coliseum and experience L.A. and get an old fashioned, Pac 10 butt-whooping and go back to the Big Ten.”

Now that I can stand for! Carson’s very much a fan like us who listens to sports radio and watches local sports on TV and gets fired up about his team. Does it get much better than that? And this is the same Carson who ripped Nebraska on The Jim Rome Show before USC ran through them last year. Like I said, always appreciate a guy with a lot of school and Pac-10 pride. Unfortunately just as Carson was racking up all the cool points, he had to go out and issue a statement.

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I’m sure this crossed my mind last year when the news about Spygate first came out. It got us all wondering how legitimate the Patriots’ success was. It made me wonder how good their defense, offense, and coaches really were if they had the advantage of knowing opponents’ plays ahead of time. Which brings us to Charlie Weis. I didn’t think it was all that special what Weis did with New England for two reasons — one, the Pats’ defense was the real stalwart, and two, it’s pretty easy to be successful when Tom Brady’s your quarterback. Well it’s comforting to know that Steve Young is skeptical as well. As he told Dan Patrick:

“I remember thinking to myself during some of the runs, ‘Charlie Weis is a genius,’” Young said. “I mean, I remember saying that to people: ‘This guy is uncanny, how he’s able to make these adjustments and just come out and dominate in the second half.’ What it’s left me to do is, well, I don’t know. Did it matter? I could see how it could matter if you put it all together. So it’s a tough one. I think that people earn it on the field, and I think you’ve got to move on and move forward and just recognize that it’s not a good thing at the time.”

Much unlike Mangenius, Weis is staying tight-lipped about Spygate. Man, would I love to chat with that guy off the record about some of their antics. But how about it? Without the aid of video assistance, Tom Brady, and to a lesser extent, Brady Quinn, Charlie Weis doesn’t look so hot. Maybe he’s just one of the many products of the cheating Patriots. Imagine the sham, not to mention shame, on Notre Dame.

(via SbB)

San Diego State football took a major hit on Tuesday, and they didn’t even step on the field. In case you missed it, the Academic Progress Rates were released by the NCAA on Tuesday. San Diego State football was ranked 5th worst of all 119 D-I teams. Wasting no time, the NCAA has already penalized SDSU, stripping them of six scholarships over the next two years. Tony Gwynn’s baseball team was not one to be left out. They were put on notice too, though they were only docked something like .03 of a scholarship. I didn’t even know that was possible. But I do know that when you’re ranked only one slot above Ned’s Florida International football program in ANY category, it can’t be good. Worst part is, that wasn’t even the glaring news coming from San Diego’s finest university on Tuesday.

Those of you who spend your time outside of LBS looking at news that actually matters to the real world probably saw that there was a major drug bust at State. 75 students were arrested as part of a 96 person raid. In “Operation Sudden Fall,” authorities confiscated “two kilograms of cocaine, about 350 ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamines and illicit prescription drugs, as well as several guns and at least $60,000 in cash.” That’s probably enough for a few hours of partying right there. Many of the students were members of either the Theta Chi fraternity or Phi Kappa Psi. Man, sure glad I never joined either of those. One of the 96 arrested even had connections to a Mexican drug cartel. That’s pretty serious. So if you’re a fan of a crappy team, just remember it can be worse: you could be a fan of San Diego State.

The Wiz has an interesting piece on a story not many people are giving much mind (with the exception of everyone in the SEC). Not long ago the NCAA introduced what is known as The Saban Rule. The rule limits coaches from making off-campus visits between April 15 and May 31st. Saban is understandably pissed about the rule because it keeps him from doing what he does best — hitting the streets and making the rounds. How else was he able to pull such an elite recruiting class in so little time as coach at Bama? Well, one consequence of this rule is what the Wiz pointed out — Rivals and Scout now become the center of potential scandal. How so? He explains from Ron Zook:

Because operator/writers for Internet sites, such as Rivals.com and Scout.com, are the only ones who have unregulated access to recruits when coaches can’t talk to them, it’s an area that’s ripe for corruption.

“Some programs have secretly allied themselves with the Web sites that report on their school as another way to communicate with recruits.

“In return, the Web sites get better information, more traffic and make more money.

It’s the bottom line here — rules are broken and people are always looking for a way to bend the rules and create shortcuts. They’ll figure out ways to get in contact with players if they really want to, and it’s crazy to think that Rivals and Scout all of a sudden become the primary vehicle of communication between coaches and recruits for that six-week span.

Apparently there’s a tradition with the football program that they ditch a Spring practice every year. Though I was at school there four years and have followed the team for much longer, I hadn’t heard of it til now. Perhaps it’s because the team never had much hype or expectations. Or perhaps it’s because of this very tradition that the team sucks, and the two go hand-in-hand. Though it’s old news by now as it happened on Tuesday, I never really got my chance to take a stab at this. What kind of team has a tradition where they skip practice? What kind of loser rebels came up with this? Worse yet, what kind of losers let the tradition continue under their watch? How hasn’t someone put a stop to this?

I remember seeing and reading recently that some of the new coaches were working the players harder. Like guys were bragging about being up and working out/training around 8am or something. I sat there laughing to myself — if they’re bragging about being at the track or in the weight room at like 8am and that’s early, then WTF were they doing before? No wonder the team stunk. I would have thought it was a given that all D-I football teams — especially those aspiring to win their BCS conferences — would be up everyday bright and early, running, lifting, and training on a daily basis. But no, not at UCLA — their traditions aren’t to have weight lifting contests or 40-yard dash contests. Nope. Their tradition is to skip practice. Yup, that’s the attitude — that’s the ticket. No wonder they’ve been so disappointing all this time. And now I think about guys on the team who were winners recently — the Maurice Drews, the Brandon Chillars — and I wonder how these guys let this tradition continue.

How can a team tradition possibly involve not working hard? Is there any wonder why the program has sucked so much recently? I think we just answered the question.

Last year around this time, I was astounded and almost insulted, that over 92,000 people showed up to watch the Alabama Spring football game know as A-Day. Honestly, 92,000 people to watch a sporting event of absolutely ZERO consequence. Like don’t you have any grass to mow or laundry to wash or something? Saturday baseball isn’t enough? You’d rather watch a game that doesn’t count for anything? Apparently so, because the buzz surrounding Bama football is almost as great as it was last year when Bama was fresh off of hiring Nick Satan Saban.

This Spring, over 78,000 fans showed up to watch A-Day at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. That was the second highest turnout at A-Day, only second to last year’s Saban-a-palooza. I don’t get it. I really don’t. I guess it’s just the same crowd that defends Bobby Petrino like he’s the patron saint, and Saban like he’s the savior. And you wonder why these money-grabbing unscrupulous coaches will leave any situation for the kesef? It’s because these 78,000 fans will show up to watch any signs of life from their football team and celebrate their head man like he’s a god. Goodness, I wish fewer would have shown up, but Bama football is apparently king.

Now when regular season games come around, Bama fans will be wise to purchase their tickets using Ticket Solutions. That’s one of the site sponsors and they have excellent Alabama football tickets, Arkansas Razorbacks football tickets, Florida Gators football tickets, and they can also provide all your SEC Championship Game Tickets. Now those are the games worth showing up for.