Yes, this is another politics post. Agree with it? Go vote about it. Disagree with it? Go vote about it. But only after you vote in our own poll below!

There are many reasons to hate the USC Trojans. Most of them have to do with some combination of the Reggie Bush scandal and outright jealousy. But you can’t hate them for Pete Carroll, not if you have even one sensical bone in your body.

(Pete Carroll, demonstrating the enormous importance of this election. Or hugging Invisible Grimace. Whatever.)

The ever-excited coach rebuilt the Trojans into one of the three best programs in the country right now (Florida, Texas) and has done so with class, honor, and humor. And now, with this momentous election on top of us, he’s got his players thinking about politics.

“It’s just an extraordinary election in our lifetimes,” Carroll said. “I tried to make it topical for the last month or so, to have fun with it, so when we get to this date we can talk about the importance of voting.”

[…] 

“It’s life outside of football so I think it’s a good thing,” junior running back Stafon Johnson said.

Said senior defensive lineman Fili Moala: “This is the election that really matters. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world. If you don’t make a push now, you might as well crawl under a rock.”

As the LOS ANGELES TIMES article said, Carroll’s message to his team was nonpartisan, and it seems like he’d be the last person to demand his players vote a certain way. But if Carroll’s so gung ho about voting, well, who’s he voting for?

As for Carroll, he said he was voting for Barack Obama.“It’s time,” Carroll said. “I’m excited for it, for everybody. Most of all, I’m excited to be represented by him around the world.”

Sure, Mr. Carroll. It’s all about the excitement. It has nothing at all to do with USC being a highly-ranked, 1-loss team without a clear path to the title without the playoff Obama just called for in his interview with MNF, right? I think we all see what’s really going on here. Time for one more attack ad for the road.

Pete Carroll: Crass political opportunist. Not a coach we can believe in. Wrong for USC, wrong for America.

(We kid, we kid. Please don’t unfriend us on Facebook.)