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It’s come to this for Tim Floyd: Out of coaching, Herm’s Perm and SBNation tells us that Floyd was recently seen hanging out at a crappy (Morongo) casino foodcourt on a lonely stretch of highway hours outside of Los Angeles. And then this happened:
There’s got to be an explanation for this. Perhaps he was there by design, getting primed for a cameo as Ron Artest’s personal coach?
Video after the jump. Read more…
Oh, sports and politics. You mix together like champagne and sh*t. The latest incident of a politician addressing sports for no discernible reason comes from the House Judiciary Committee, which is addressing the rising evidence of destructive brain trauma in football. That much is okay. Calling out a specific football player, though, come on.
That’s USC All-Universe safety Taylor Mays, whose speed (4.35) and heft (230+ lbs.) make him one of the most violent hitters in recent college football memory. He makes Bob Sanders look like Summer Sanders. He also has a reputation for unclean hits of the helmet-to-helmet variety, one that’s not entirely undeserved. But he’s not exceptionally dirty, so why would a House Representative - from California, of all states - call Mays out as a “headhunter”?
Oh, did we mention the Congressman in question, Dan Lungren (R-Gold River) is a Notre Dame alumnus? Would that help?
Another nice find by Jay Christensen at WIZ OF ODDS, as the DAILY BRUIN has this delightful moment involving UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel as he sat in front of the media following Cal’s 45-26 throttling of the Bruins last Saturday:
At that moment UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel walked into the room, sunburned and exasperated after his team’s 45-26 defeat to rival Cal.
Almost no one moved. Necks remained craned toward the USC game until a frustrated Neuheisel spoke sharply.
“Would everyone like to watch the end of that ball game?” Neuheisel asked. “I am more than willing to wait.”
There was a hint of bitterness in Neuheisel’s voice, a slight sign of the wounded pride of UCLA football.
Get used to it Coach. Read more…
Scene: Notre Dame Stadium. Two Irish fans ask if they can get onto the field before Notre Dame’s battle with USC - one that would prove to be a heroic seven-point loss. The usher obliges, because sometimes this is a civil society after all. The two take their picture, but there appears to be a third party, uninvited but more than willing to add his own mark to the photo.
The result?
(Via NBCLOSANGELES.COM)
Two scoops of middle-finger, courtesy of USC tight end Blake Ayles, coming right up!
We don’t much care for those who think the middle finger is a big deal anymore - it’s commonplace among, like, second-graders - but we understand that there are those who abhor it, thus the Tiny Teddy Bears Of Good Taste And Restraint. To view the photo sans Teddy Bears, please drive through.
Read more…
Remember that old joke in Hollywood with the punchline of “if you can fake sincerity,” you’ve got it made? We seem to have found the culprit of that joke, and damned if it isn’t Southern California’s prolific coach, Pete Carroll. He has to be faking, right? Nobody, but nobody can match his passion and calmed admiration for his own team, right?
(Only at USC is this a good idea in the middle of the football season.)
Well, yes and no. It turns out that some can match it - they just so happen to be his subordinates. Thus, with USC preparing for Notre Dame in - arguably - the Trojans’ most critical matchup of the year (and certainly Notre Dame’s most important), Carroll and the USC coaches marked the occasion by, errr, slip-and-sliding on the wet Los Angeles turf. Damn your self-assured person, sir. Damn it. At the very least, we have video after the break.
Here’s the first photo I’ve seen of Stafon Johnson as he makes his recovery from a serious weightlifting accident.
(The barbell on Stafon’s shirt? Noted.)
David Wharton of the L.A. TIMES updates:
Johnson is up and moving around and no longer requires a feeding tube, Carroll said. However, he is limited to a liquid diet and has not spoken.
“They don’t even let him make a peep right now,” the coach said.
“They were beside themselves with the wonderful results they got, to see how everything they worked on is looking great at this point,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “His throat really is responding well, enough that the doctor couldn’t wait to get out here and talk about it.”
Sounds great, eh?
Now for a stiff dose of reality from the two surgeons who operated on Johnson. An itemized assessment of the injury and recovery - after the jump:
I think we’ve found Matt Leinart’s new life coach, Mark Sanchez. Leinart you remember stayed in school at USC through his senior year because he wanted to (apparently) continue to enjoy college life. (Had nothing todo with a stealth shoulder injury, mind you.)
(Sanchez proves Leinart could’ve co-oped coeds despite leaving SC)
Leinart was rewarded by losing the national title game to Vince Young (amid an SC defense Chock Full o’ Walk-ons.) Not to mention falling off the NFL Draft cliff, which cost him countless millions in guaranteed money.
(Mark to Matt: YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG)
Sanchez was faced with the same dilemma last Spring and took a different path, much to the delight of USC Coach Pete Carroll.
(Mark Sanchez’s girlfriend, Jennifer Mueller)
The NEW YORK POST this morning reports that Sanchez, in addition to leading the New York Jets to their best start since Wesley Walker was making rats miss in the Shea Stadium commissary, has snagged a scholarship sprinter at USC named Jennifer Mueller.
Twitter has been a thorn in the side of many college football coaches this season, but in one case, it has potential to truly do some good.
(Carroll asks everyone to send Stafon Johnson well-wishes via Twitter)
USC coach Pete Carroll today Tweeted that injured Trojan running back Stafon Johnson is now on Twitter, and he encouraged his 45,000+ followers to send Johnson get-well wishes. Read more…
All of us want Stafon Johnson to fully recover from his tragic weightlifting accident suffered on Monday morning. 99 percent of the media coverage of his ordeal has trumpeted that he’ll eventually make a complete recovery and be back playing football at USC soon enough.
But there is a tiny minority that isn’t so sure about Johnson’s total recovery and return to football. That minority includes Jim Wyzard, a doctor (per AOL’s Brian Grummell) who runs SBNation.com’s USC blog.
In a Tuesday post, Wyzard notes that “after talking to a few MD’s I work with here in NYC“, he doesn’t “hold out much hope” that Johnson will ever play football again. Read more…
Since this was Stafon Johnson’s last year of eligibility at USC, and we’ve now heard there’s a good chance he’ll make “full recovery”, the question is, will he be able to play for the Trojans next year?
(Johnson has exhausted eligibility, will NCAA grant him another year?)
Ben Malcolmson of USC’s official football blog has potentially good news on that front tonight, reporting that the school’s compliance office determined today that Johnson indeed has the “potential of getting an extra year of eligibility because of a medical hardship.”
Since Johnson played in at least 30 percent of the team’s games this season and then suffered a season-ending injury, he meets the official criteria to apply for an extra year of NCAA eligibility. Read more…
