Q and A with Deuce Lutui - Official Cardinals Website
...What do you feel is the most valuable lesson you learned during your rookie campaign?

“I’ve taken in a lot of things. Being a rookie I was a big sponge...

...Do you think that will make you be easier or harder on incoming rookies this year?

“All I know is that I’m going to eat very well when the new rookies come in. I’m going to have the cleanest locker. I’m going to have all of my cleats cleaned and it is going to be nice. There is a possibility we could take a lineman in the first round this year so they’ll be able to afford to get me some things and I definitely already have a few requests. I have to fix up the landscaping at my house a little bit and that kind of stuff.”...

Polk makes an early decision - Redlands Daily Facts
When the college you've grown up rooting for asks you to join them, how can you turn them down?

Just 19 days after after USC offered a football scholarship to Redlands East Valley's Chris Polk, the junior wide receiver didn't turn his dream down, making an oral commitment to play for the Trojans this past Saturday.

"I've been following USC my whole life," Polk said Wednesday...

...Bruich says the Trojans envision Polk as a "Z-back" type, which means Polk could be expected to play in the backfield and do some receiving. But overall, the impression is that Polk will likely be best suited at wide receiver...

USC agrees to name RIAA illegal downloaders - Daily Trojan
Housing. Meals. Books. Classes. Lawsuits?

In addition to the typical expenses USC students incur, a Recording Industry of America Association notice - which will be passed along by USC to students - threatens to sue students who illegally download songs for between $750 and $150,000 per file.

The USC general counsel's office said it would work with Information Technology Services to help the RIAA identify 20 USC network users targeted in the RIAA's settlement letters...

...Legal experts at USC questioned the RIAA's tactics in issuing the letters...

Administration, SGA discuss school’s prestige - Pepperdine Graphic
Addressing concerns about the academic growth and reputation of Pepperdine University, Provost Darryl Tippens and Seaver Dean David Baird spoke to SGA in their general meeting on Wednesday.

After being with Pepperdine for six years, Tippens assured members of SGA that the reputation of Pepperdine is becoming increasingly prestigious and will continue to grow...

...Tippens said the Christian mission is one of the reasons more students are choosing school like Pepperdine over other Ivy Leagues and prestigious universities.

“If you look at most of the Ivy League schools, they were at one time religious,” Tippens said. “But now schools like Yale, Harvard, Stanford and USC sacrificed that affiliation due to their lust of reputation.”...

[Both Stanford and USC were founded as nonsectarian universities. Darryl Tippens email address is darryl.tippens@pepperdine.edu and phone is 310-506-4261. - Æ]

Saints sign all but one free-agent starter - Biloxi Sun-Herald
New Orleans Saints tight end Billy Miller was cut as training camp ended in Jackson last summer. Saints coach Sean Payton told him if the team needed a tight end sometime during the season, he would get the call.

Miller had heard it all before from other coaches, but had never heard the phone ring...Payton lived up to his word.

"I've been cut four times and I've heard that every single time," Miller said in October when the Saints re-signed him. "And this is the first time that I've been called back...

...The team continued to show loyalty to Miller as the Saints re-signed him to a one-year deal Wednesday...

[Fiutak] 2007 Spring Preview - Analyzing the Pac 10 - College Football News
USC - Spring Practice Begins: March 20 Game: April 14
The early spring buzz ... The Trojans will be just about everyone's preseason number one team...

The big spring question is ... Will all of the off-the-field rumors and allegations be the program's undoing?...

The most important position to watch is ... Running back. Everyone will be talking about the receivers...The real key to the team is the running game that fell off the map last year after losing Ryan Powdrell and Emmanuel Moody to injury...

Spring attitude... Stay the course....this is the most well-stocked and talented team in America, and this spring will be a big one to sort out the elite prospects from the merely great ones...

Movers and shakers at the NFL combine - MSNBC
...Risers

...Steve Smith, USC WR - Smith played in the shadow of Dwayne Jarrett, but showed that he is faster than originally believed. His route running and 4.44 speed could push him into the second round...

...Sliding

Dwayne Jarrett, USC - He didn't run amidst reports that he was stuck in the 4.7 range in workouts before the Combine. Meanwhile, the rest of the tier of receivers behind Johnson enjoyed big days, including Tennessee's Robert Meachem, Ohio State's Gonzalez, South Carolina's Sidney Rice, and Jarrett's unheralded teammate Smith...

[Hayes] Inside Dish - Sporting News
...Don't assume WRs Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton--two former top recruits--will slide into starting roles this spring at Southern California. The staff is excited about redshirt freshman David Ausberry (6-4, 220). He's not particularly fast, but he's physical and has the frame to shield defenders. Mike Williams and Dwayne Jarrett parlayed that style into All-American careers, and the Trojans have built their offense around physical receivers. Turner and Hazelton have dynamic ability but have yet to prove they can be productive over the middle...

Hervey sounds the alarm - Edmonton Sun
Ed Hervey does so much talking during a Canadian Football League season that a quiet winter from him sounds suspiciously like discontent.

The loquacious Eskimo receiver hadn't offered a single football-related opinion in a newspaper or on TV or radio for the three solid months following the Eskimos' pathetic 7-11 showing. So what gives, Ed? Mime school? Monkhood? Witness protection program?...Or something more sinister? "I'm not in hiding," he said earlier this week, speaking over his cellphone from an undisclosed location. "I've just kind of been flying under the radar. I took this off-season to rest, relax, spend time with family. I shied away from having to answer all those questions." Are you ready to retire? Do you think the Eskimos are going to release you? Have you been asked to take a pay cut? Will you take a pay cut if they ask? How do you think global warming will affect the kicking game? Those questions...

A look ahead to the Pac-10 - Lindy's Sports
...Southern Cal: ...the Trojans enter 2007 without their top two receivers. Add the additional loss of senior receiver Chris McFoy, and three of the top five Trojan pass-catchers from a year ago are gone...Their loss means sophomore receiver Patrick Turner and tight end Fred Davis will have to carry the passing game next season...The somewhat surprising announcements that junior defensive end Lawrence Jackson and junior weakside linebacker Keith Rivers would return for 2007, means the defense loses exactly one (and a half) starter. Few teams will move the ball against the Trojans next season, which will buy some time for the offense to find its personality against Idaho in the season opener before facing its first road test against Nebraska in Week Two...Interestingly, Cushing was listed as a back-up to Sartz and could be asked to make the move to the SAM position this offseason to put his play-making abilities to better use and allow the end spot to be taken over by Kyle Moore or perhaps Rivals.com and Scout.com's Player of the Year in 2006, Everson Griffen...

Neighborhoods chief named - LA Times
Reaching into academia to try to increase citizen involvement in local government, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday appointed Carol Baker Tharp as the new chief of the city agency that oversees the city's neighborhood council system.

Tharp is deputy director of the Civic Engagement Initiative at USC...

...Tharp would become the fourth general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment in the past seven years. The agency...has overseen the neighborhood council system since it was created...partially in response to threats of secession in the San Fernando Valley...

[Pauline] For the defense - CNNSI
As the NFL Combine enters it's final day...There was plenty of buzz about some exciting performances while others were not as fortunate.

Risers...

Steve Smith/WR/USC: While everyone was abuzz with Calvin Johnson's performance Sunday, when all is said and done, Smith probably helped himself more than any other wide out. Known more as a slow possession receiver, Smith scorched the RCA Dome turf by running a pair of 40s at 4.40-seconds. He then displayed his signature hands of glue in practice. Smith solidified himself as a first day choice and could jump into the initial 75-selections...

USC's Kalil stands out at NFL combine - LA Times
Forward and backward. Side to side. Ryan Kalil can move very quickly in those directions.

Because of that, the USC center is heading upward as fast as anyone.

Kalil, with his eye-opening performance at the NFL combine, has vastly improved his stock in this draft...

...a top team scout said Kalil "should develop into a starter in a short period of time and will play for a long time in the NFL." The scout added that Kalil is a "low-ego guy" who is technically sound, has quick feet, and understands offensive schemes...

[Dodd] The sounds of spring: Helmets, pads and a coach's whistle - CBS Sportsline
...Teflon Trojans: Their coach might or might not have a wandering eye. The NCAA is looming on two fronts. There was the tragic death of its kicker.

But nothing fazes Southern California except maybe coeds on the quad on warm spring days. Pete Carroll is staying put for now. Half the NFL doesn't have USC's quarterback depth, especially if Arkansas' Mitch Mustain transfers to Troy.

The spring will be spent sifting through the young running backs before recruit Joe McKnight arrives in the fall...

Jarrett can't be shaken - Newark Star Ledger
...Jarrett's body of work: a school-record 216 catches for 3,138 yards and a Pac-10 record 41 touchdowns. Plenty good enough for him to leave school after his junior season.

But Jarrett must overcome one stigma: The recent trend of USC receivers who have put up big numbers in college but struggle in the NFL, especially Mike Williams -- the 10th overall pick in 2005 who had only eight catches for the Lions last season.

"The only thing we have in common is we went to the same school," Jarrett said. "Mike, he did great while he was at USC. But I think we're two opposite players, totally different personalities."...

Also, Jarrett distances himself from former USC receiver Williams - LA Times
[Banks] NFL Combine Snap Judgments - CNNSI
[Harper] JARRETT HAS CONFIDENCE - CBS Sportsline

TAILGATER GETS IDEA - Atlanta Journal-Constitution
...an idea started to sprout. Crout, a geographic information systems specialist who works in project management, knew there had to be a better way.

Last March, he launched mapgameday.com, a Web site for fans to pinpoint exactly where they're going to be before the game. The site also includes several other unique features, including maps of which states produce the most NFL players and which recruits signed with Division I-A colleges...

...Click on Southern Cal and the site will tell you 19 players signed from an average distance of 497 miles away, six states were represented in Pete Carroll's latest class and 11 USC players went in last year's NFL draft...

[Kinahan] Moon changes Trojan into idiot - Salt Lake Tribune
A crack down the middle of good judgment has turned into a buttload of trouble for Mickey Meyer.

Bare with us for a few minutes as the story is exposed.

One week ago Saturday, Meyer was split between the pipes as the goalie for the University of Southern California hockey team during the West Regional tournament at the Eccles Ice Center in North Logan. The Trojans were playing Brigham Young in the club sport, when Meyer decided to get cheeky with it.

Midway through the third period, the junior from New York dropped his drawers right there on frozen pond. For several seconds, before blushing Cougars and an estimated 100 fans, a full moon was rising...

Also, USC hockey mooning sparks an investigation - Daily Trojan
Utah hockey fans exposed to Slap Shot - Edmonton Journal