Panel OKs Plan for Housing Near USC - LA Times
Hoping to relieve a student housing and parking shortage near USC, the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency on Thursday approved a $135-million project at Figueroa Street and Jefferson Boulevard.

The University Gateway Project, proposed by Los Angeles developers Urban Partners, would include a student bookstore, a restaurant and fitness center as well as housing for more than 1,600 students and a 770-space parking structure shared by students and retail customers...

...area residents were divided on the project, with some fearing additional traffic congestion and others welcoming the prospect of new development — and nearly 700...jobs...

[Dodd] A decade of greatness packed into six years - CBS Sportsline
...Here is the All-Decade Team:

Quarterback
Matt Leinart, USC: An easy choice...10,693 yards and 99 touchdowns...two national titles...a Heisman...a 37-2 record as a starter...

Running backs
Reggie Bush, USC: Some people consider Bush the most exciting player in college history...

...Wide receivers...
...Mike Williams, USC: He only played two seasons...would have been the best receiver...

...Coach
Pete Carroll, USC: This really doesn't need any explanation...

Austin hitches a ride - Pasadena Star-News
The wait is over for Pasadena High School star forward Kyle Austin, who signed a scholarship agreement Thursday to play basketball at USC.

"I felt good; I felt relieved," Austin said after USC offered him a full scholarship. "All I wanted to do was play in the Pac-10."...

...Austin, 6-foot-7, was the Pacific League's MVP for the past two seasons and helped the Bulldogs reach the CIF-Southern Section finals two seasons ago...

Mayo not committed - Cincy Enquirer
North College Hill star O.J. Mayo has not committed to play basketball at Southern California, as some reports indicated this week. But Mayo said Thursday that USC is first on his list of potential colleges...

..."Me and Bill are still looking at Florida and K-State," Mayo told the Herald News (West Paterson, N.J.). "But USC is first on my list, and then K-State and Florida."...

Also, ABCD Camp Mayo leaning toward Southern Cal. - West Paterson Herald News
Mayo holds court, tongue - NY Daily News
[Weiss] He just wants to be No. 1 - NY Daily News
Heralded Hoop Star Doesn't Reveal Plans - Washington Post
Dunbar's Pogue linked with O.J. Mayo at USC - Dayton Daily News
Prep star Mayo not committed yet - USA Today

Sidelined - LA Daily News
The self-proclaimed "greatest marching band in the history of the universe" has lost its prime seats at the Coliseum so the University of Southern California can accommodate more ticket-buying fans for football games.

USC's marching band, which spent at least 30 years stationed behind the Trojans' bench for home games, will sit behind the end zone in a temporary section of bleachers known as the Sun Deck.

USC officials claim that with sellout crowds of more than 90,000 a regular occurrence, the band needs to move for "acoustic" purposes to reach the entire Coliseum.

Band director Arthur Bartner said athletic director Mike Garrett suggested the idea...

Best-selling author to read in Rhinebeck - Poughkeepsie Journal
..."Talk, Talk," like much of Boyle's work, treads the line between humor and drama, as it details the struggle of a deaf victim of identity theft and her quest to find and confront the thief, including a cross-country journey from California to the Hudson Valley.

The thief, Peck Wilson, is a native son of Peterskill, N.Y., the imaginary town in much of Boyle's writing that is based on Peekskill, where he was born and raised. Despite his permanent relocation to California to teach at the University of Southern California, Boyle said the Hudson Valley will always feel like home..

..."I will always feel that I am an outsider here," Boyle said of California, noting that his experiences living in New York allow him to appreciate the landscape and weather of his adopted home...

Superfish splashes in LA - Daily Telegraph
FROM Superfish to superstar - Olympic champion Ian Thorpe isn't wasting any time making a splash in his new Hollywood surrounds.

Just two weeks since relocating to Los Angeles, the Thorpedo has received a red carpet welcome into Aussiewood by filmstar buddies Heath Ledger and Joel Edgerton...

...The Thorpedo reportedly paid a million dollars for his new two bedroom home in the Hollywood Hills, located half an hour from his temporary training base at the University of Southern California.

Despite its hefty price tag, Flaskis described the Superfish's latest holding tank as "modest"...

L.A. Jail Bars N.Y. Times Reporter Who Was Let In to Speak With Pellicano - LA Times
The Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles has barred a New York Times reporter from the facility for allegedly misrepresenting herself in an effort to interview Anthony Pellicano...

...Allison Hope Weiner, who has written about the Pellicano case, got into the jail last month after presenting a State Bar of California card and asking to speak with the investigator. Weiner, who earned a degree 20 years ago from the USC law school, is registered with the California bar but has never done legal work for Pellicano or the New York Times...

[Katz] Sources: O.J. Mayo told USC staff he was committing - ESPN
O.J. Mayo, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2007, told the USC coaching staff and players last week that he would commit to the Trojans, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

The 6-foot-4 Mayo, as recognizable a high school recruiting name as LeBron James and Greg Oden, made the statement while on his unofficial recruiting visit last week in Los Angeles. He still needs to make that sentiment public, though...

..."[Mayo] could change a program and give it instant credibility," said one source. "He sees the big market and knows that he's not too far away from being marketed. [Going to USC] would only help him and he's confident enough to win a national championship."...

Also, Mayo to remain a Trojan - Cincy Enquirer
Trojans add Mayo - LA Daily News
[Modesti] Welcome to new class: Cynicism 101 - LA Daily News
Huggins loses top recruit - Topeka Capital-Journal

USC toughest, deepest at linebacker - Athlon Sports
...1. USC
USC welcomes back all three starting linebackers from one of the top units in the nation. Middle backer Oscar Lua led the Trojans in tackles in 2005...Rey Maualuga will be a star at middle linebacker...Weak-side linebacker Keith Rivers was an unsung hero of the Notre Dame game...Thomas Williams started on the strong side in six games before a knee injury curtailed his season...Brian Cushing started the last four games...as a true freshman. Dallas Sartz, a starter in 2003 and ’04...is also back, and two of the nation’s most heralded freshmen — Allen Bradford and Michael Morgan — will enroll in the fall...

Colton star takes his game to USC - San Bernardino Sun
...Bradford said USC coach Pete Carroll addressed the freshmen recently and delivered the message that his recruits were no longer big fish in a small pond.

"It was nice to get the Ken Hubbs Award (for his prep career) and to make All-American, but everybody here is All-American," Bradford said. "Everyone is good."...

..."It's cool," Bradford said. "You can feel the tradition here, and you want to be a part of it. It makes you work hard to get things done on the field and in the classroom."...

[DeShazier] Bush already deserves to be Rookie of Year - New Orleans Times-Picayune
...Think of any player who has done more BEFORE he got paid?

Now, there's a benefit to this for Bush, and that's the windfall of positive publicity he receives for his benevolence...

...The cynic in you says he can give away that amount, times 20, because the money doesn't belong to him. Well, that probably isn't as true as you'd like to believe...

...Instead of urging his sponsors (adidas and Hummer, so far) to make donations he could have fattened his own wallet, and no one would have been the wiser...

Also, Fans Put Faith in a New Saint - Washington Post
Saints a welcome sight to New Orleans' natives - USA Today

Wimbley has a mentor in McGinest - Official Cleveland Browns Website
...Now a 13-year veteran, McGinest will undoubtedly play a crucial part in the development of Wimbley, as well as the entire linebacking corps. Not only is McGinest a prototypical 3-4 outside linebacker with deep familiarity with the scheme, but he's by far the most experienced player on the unit.

He has 171 games of NFL experience with 146 starts. He's got 18 games of playoff experience (16 starts) with three Super Bowl rings and a pair of Pro Bowl appearances. He has 700 career tackles and 78 career sacks.

Wimbley said McGinest, who sat out the team's full-squad minicamp while recovering from elbow surgery, already has been serving as a knowledgeable adviser...

Seau's career appears over - North County Times
This has to be the strangest month Junior Seau has experienced.

For the first time in his adult life, Seau enters July without being part of a football team.

It's beginning to look more and more as though Seau's distinguished NFL career is coming to an end. The only person who has not come to grips with that fact is Seau.

When we talked recently, Seau cautioned me, "There is no story with me. I know you are champing at the bit, but there is no story."

I disagree.

It's news when a 16-year veteran, a 12-time Pro Bowl selection and one of the most popular players to ever step on the field is unemployed on the eve of training camps...

Trojans awfully strong upfront - Athlon Sports
1. USC
It might be surprising to find USC atop the offensive line list, considering the departures since the 2005 season. But the Trojans are the only team that can boast two returning players who earned All-America mention last fall. Junior Sam Baker has started every game at left tackle for two consecutive years...Center Ryan Kalil also enters his third year as a starter...Jeff Byers returns to the guard position he had nailed down as a true freshman...Coach Pete Carroll can fill in the blanks with tackles Kyle Williams and Charlie Brown, and guards Matt Spanos and Chilo Rachal...

Trojans boast top receiving corps - Athlon Sports
1. USC
For the second year in a row, USC is the recipient of the Athlon Award for pass-catchers. Headlining the group is big, athletic Dwayne Jarrett, who last year caught 91 passes for 1,274 yards and a school-record-tying 16 touchdowns after breaking onto the national scene with a 55-catch, 13-touchdown freshman campaign in 2004...Lining up on the other end of the formation from Jarrett is senior Steve Smith, who averaged 16 yards per catch on 60 pass receptions and carries a career average of 16.3 yards with 13 touchdowns. Patrick Turner, like Jarrett, is 6'5" and freakishly good...Tight end Fred Davis is primed for a breakout...

Hire Education ... 1-25 - College Football News
Ranking the Head Coaches You'd Want for the Next Few Years...

...1. Pete Carroll, USC – Critics point to USC’s deep pool of local prep talent and assume any coach can be plugged into the job, and 10-win seasons will churn out. Those critics are sorely misguided. Carroll did not take over a well-oiled machine when he arrived in 2001. In fact, the once proud Trojans were mired in mediocrity and the last 10-win season had happened in 1988. After losing six games by a combined 29 points in his debut season, Carroll has led USC to a 48-4 record, four straight Pac-10 titles, three BCS bowl wins and at least a share of two national championships. His high energy, low stress coaching style has been a smashing success with the players, and his ability to make in-game adjustments and attract blue-chip talent from all over the country is second to none...

A fresh start - OC Register
...when the Trojans' training camp opens in one month, quarterbacks John David Booty and Mark Sanchez must prove to their coaches, their teammates and themselves that there are no lingering effects from the back injury and arrest, respectively, that leveled them.

"Now guys are looking to me, and I want to show them what kind of leader I'll be and what I'm capable of doing," said Booty, who is first on USC's depth chart and the likely starter for the Trojans' opener at Arkansas since his recovery from surgery has gone better than expected. "That's what this offseason and summer are all about.

"I want them to get a feel for me. It's not something that can just happen when we play Arkansas."...

Happy? Let's Sum It Up - LA Times
Midway into his career as a professor, USC's Richard Easterlin deduced something that seemed astonishing, at least for an economist: Money doesn't buy happiness...

...Things are looking up these days for Easterlin, 80, and the small but increasingly visible network of researchers relying on the so-called dismal science of economics to find the keys to happiness.

If earning more money generally does surprisingly little or even nothing to make societies happier, they wonder, what works better? Good health? Marriage? Sex? By one reckoning, boosting the frequency of sex in a marriage from once a month to once a week brings as much happiness as an extra $50,000 a year...

USC football team has tough foe in its image - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
It unquestionably was a budding dynasty, a team that went from uncharacteristic mediocrity to unparalleled success. Now, after months of being embroiled in one player controversy after another, USC's football program is at a critical juncture.

When players return to the field one month from today, the biggest challenge will be proving they can recover from the turmoil that threatened to derail their reign. A number of college football observers say USC can move on with relatively little damage if the Trojans go about their business...