Trojan course - LA Daily News
...next to a window that looked out over the majestic first tee, Tom Kelly could have told stories all day...

...asked how he responds to fans who come up to him nowadays and ask why he hasn't done any more telecasts of USC - the school that coaxed him from the Midwest in 1961 to be Chick Hearn's colorman on football games and gave him the platform to be one of the most recognizable voices in L.A. sports history for more than five decades - the 79-year-old Kelly took a piece of toast that he'd been using to help finish off a mushroom omelet and started to tap it against his plate.

"My answer is, I have no idea," he said...

Coliseum named main field in Olympic bid - Daily Trojan
Los Angeles moved one step closer to playing host of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games Thursday, unveiling the architectural plans that proponents say would make the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum the competition's "crown jewel" and main event field.

The Coliseum, just two blocks from USC, is currently home to USC football. Both the 1932 and 1984 Olympic games took place there and the stadium is a state and national landmark.

The goal of the projected $112 million project...is to leave as much of the traditional structure intact...

Also, Olympic plan won't fix aging L.A. Coliseum - Daily Trojan
Coliseum preps for face-lift - LA Daily news
Plan to upgrade Coliseum unveiled as part of effort to land 2016 Olympics - LA Times
[Elliott] Playing Olympic dress-up is far from the right path - LA Times
Coliseum focus of new L.A. plan - OC Register
L.A. unveils Coliseum makeover - Chicago Sun-Times
Los Angeles envisages building spree to boost Olympic bid - China Peoples' Daily
LA 2016 GAMES BIDDERS UNVEIL VENUE PLANS - Sports Business

2007 Recruiting class No. 3: USC - Athlon Sports
Quality not quantity was the theme for the 2007 USC recruiting class and the Trojans made the best of the 18 available scholarships.

USC upgraded the RB position with three special backs. Joe McKnight headlines the group with Marc Tyler and Broderick Green drawing strong comparisong to their '03 group of Reggie Bush and Lendale White. The Men of Troy also added much needed depth in their front seven. Everson Griffen and Chris Galippo head up a star studded class of DL and LBs...

...Impact Player: Joe McKnight, RB, River Ridge, La.

As soon as he steps off the plane at LAX, Joe McKnight will have a chance to compete for the starting RB position. He has a blend of speed, size, quickness, vision and football IQ that is off the charts...

Museum Trip Makes a Big Detour at USC - Santa Clarita Valley Signal
When 7-year-old Jacob DeLong left his Canyon Country home for a January trip to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, he was excited to say the least. But after a slight detour to the University of Southern California bookstore, Jacob would soon be hailing the day as the "best in his life."

Diagnosed with leukemia in June, the last six months have been filled with chemotherapy sessions and a series of hospital visits for Jacob...

...As a side effect of his treatment Jacob became nauseous and vomited inside the car - dirtying his clothes in the process...

...the pair quickly stripped Jacob of his soiled clothes, wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in a stroller before asking a passing student how to get to the bookstore...

Moon over Utah: USC goalie cited - LA Daily News
..."It's coming off with a weird spin now," teammate Tyler McLinn said. "But the crowd was giving him a standing ovation when he did it.

"It lightened the mood of the game. It was a pretty tense time with the referees. We had like six guys in the penalty box. The game was getting out of hand."

According to North Park police Sgt. John Italasano, lewdness is a Class B misdemeanor which carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and a sentence of 180 days in jail...

...Italasano said. "I guess he acted before he thought of the consequences. ... They were playing BYU, so yeah, people were offended."...

Also, He wants to put episode behind him - LA Times
To the moon, malice - Philly Daily News
Moon Over Mormon Country - DeadSpin

USC honors Lear with chair - Variety
The University of Southern California has established the Norman Lear Chair in Entertainment, Media and Society, in honor of the film and TV producer.

Martin Kaplan, founding director of the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School will serve in the post.

Launched in 2000, the Center studies the impact of entertainment on society. Kaplan, a research professor, has been associate dean of the Annenberg School since 1997.

Other than the Annenberg family, Lear is the largest donor to the school, having recently pledged $6 million to bring his philanthropic total to $11 million. The Center has received an additional $9 million...

Morton is welcomed to the family - LA Times
With the start of spring practice one month away, USC players met the newest member of the coaching staff on Tuesday as John Morton began his tenure as passing game coordinator and receivers coach.

Morton, 37, was an offensive assistant and passing game coach for the New Orleans Saints last season. He also worked for the Oakland Raiders for seven years and spent one season working with new Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh at the University of San Diego.

Morton was on the Raiders' staff in 2004 when USC assistant head coach Steve Sarkisian was the NFL team's quarterbacks coach...

Mustain should think it over - Daily Trojan
...While the main battle would be between Sanchez and Mustain, also competing would be speedy freshman Aaron Corp, who led Orange Lutheran High School to California's Division II championship, and possibly sophomore Garrett Green, who may compete at quarterback after moving over to safety last season.

There is no doubt Mustain's arrival would be welcomed by the talent vacuum that is USC football, and there is no question that USC coaches think that only good could come from heating up a position battle with the addition of another top athlete, but should Mustain even have to duke it out at USC?

The answer is no...

Best recruits by school - Orlando Sentinel
...Quarterback...4. USC (Ryan [sic] Corp, 6-3/185): Good athlete with size and arm strength; he looks like a college quarterback already...

...Running back: 1. USC...(Broderick Green...Joe McKnight...Marc Tyler): McKnight and Tyler...are among the nation's top five backs...

...Receiver...3. USC...

...Offensive line...7. USC...

...Defensive line...4. USC...

...Linebacker: 1. USC (Jordan Campbell...Chris Galippo...Malcolm Smith...): Galippo is consensus choice as nation's best at the position...

USC hockey player ejected, cited after allegedly ‘mooning’ crowd - Logan Herald-Journal
A University of Southern California hockey player was ejected from a game and cited for lewdness Saturday after allegedly “mooning” the crowd at a North Logan rink.

Mickey Meyer, the Trojan’s starting goalie, pulled his hockey pants down and exposed his buttocks during the final period of an afternoon game against BYU...

...“To be honest with you, I really don’t know (why I did it),” he said. “I had my fill of these refs...

...“Mickey Meyer just mooned the crowd,” Foley said during the call. “The Oregon players are loving it. They’re going nuts. That was absolutely hilarious.”...

USC's Webcast of the Event

[Dienhart] Where have we seen these new recruits before? - Sporting News
Southern California DE Everson Griffen (Avondale, Ariz.) is like Louisville DE Peanut Whitehead. Griffin will goose the Trojans' pass rush--and it needs goosing. A quick first step is what makes Whitehead dangerous. Griffen has it, too. He's the ultimate speedy rusher off the edge.

Southern California LB Chris Galippo (Anaheim) is like LSU LB Jacob Cutrera. Galippo and Cutrera are classic, never-leave-the-field linebackers. Galippo will inject speed, athletic ability and nastiness into an already frightening linebacking unit.

Southern California RB Joe McKnight (River Ridge, La.) is like Florida RB Percy Harvin. McKnight will be dispatched as a pass catcher and runner on the perimeter, where he can work unfettered and go one-on-one with defenders.

[Maisel] Pac-10 beginning to respond to USC's dominance - CNNSI
...If there's a conference that is the answer to what's next, it is the Pac-10...The supposition here is not that the Pac-10 will replace the SEC as the best conference...

...There has been USC and, nationally speaking, not much else. The Trojans' credentials on the field since the 2002 season have been beyond reproach...

...The Trojans will begin next fall at No. 1, as they did in 2004 and 2005. They will begin next fall at No. 1 because they return 18 starters, including 10 on defense, from a team that finished last season 11-2 and No. 4 in the nation.

The two losses? Conference losses...

Bush torn over Carroll - North County Times
..."I'm kind of between a rock and a hard place," Bush said Wednesday during an appearance at the San Diego Hall of Champions. "I love USC; I went there. But this is my hometown, and we've been wanting a championship out here for a while."

Bush believes that Carroll, who is 65-12 with two Associated Press national titles in six seasons at USC, would be just the man for the job. But Carroll isn't among the six coaches initially targeted by the Chargers to succeed the fired Marty Schottenheimer, and he has given no indication that he would be interested anyway...

[Dubois] Before, after versions like McKnight and day - Baton Rouge Advocate
...Let me share with you every word McKnight said about Bush — once he first spoke about him — without paraphrasing or polishing his language. You decide if the spin since then doesn’t pass the smell test.

Curtis coach J.T. Curtis, speaking on behalf of McKnight, told the Los Angeles Times his star football player misspoke Wednesday.

“At the press conference,” Curtis told the Times, “it seemed like he got 1,000 questions in five minutes. If you saw what was going on, it would be easier to understand.”

Here’s what happened...

Also, USC probes alleged recruiting violation - Daily Trojan

USC lobs calls to Miner, hoping that one connects - LA Times
USC would love to honor Harold Miner, its all-time scoring leader in men's basketball. The Trojans would love to post Miner's considerable accomplishments on the Galen Center scoreboard — All-American, 23.5-point scoring average, Sports Illustrated national player of the year, 4-2 record against UCLA — and trot him out to center court so a capacity crowd could shower him with applause.

If only they could find him.

TNT would have loved to interview Miner last season for a television special documenting the most spectacular dunks in the history of the NBA's annual slam dunk competition, won twice by the gravity-defying Miner.

If only he'd returned calls...

THE CHAT - Washington Post
Actor David James Elliott is a Toronto native, but he doesn't follow the Blue Jays or Maple Leafs. The ups and downs of following team sports turn him off, except when it comes to Southern Cal football. The Los Angeles resident loves the Trojans. Elliott plays Assistant District Attorney James Conlon on the CBS series "Close to Home," which airs Fridays at 9 p.m.

Is there a good atmosphere at USC football games?

Oh yeah. USC fans are diehard fans. It's just a great atmosphere, man. I love hanging out there. I swim at the pool there. I work out at the gym occasionally. I'm a member of the health club there. Just hanging out is great because it's such a positive atmosphere...

Ronald Muldrow, 57; jazz guitarist recorded with saxophonist Eddie Harris - LA Times
Ronald Muldrow, a guitarist who had been a fixture on the Los Angeles jazz scene for more than three decades, has died. He was 57...

...As an emerging jazz guitarist in the early 1970s, Muldrow connected with soul-jazz saxophonist Eddie Harris and was best known for his work with him, according to the website All About Jazz.

"Eddie was my musical father," Muldrow told The Times in 1998. "He taught me to make it in music."...

...A Chicago native, Muldrow was born Feb. 2, 1949, and began forming bands in high school. He earned a bachelor's in jazz studies from Roosevelt University in Illinois and a master's in studio and jazz guitar from USC.

His first big-time gig was with the Staple Singers, a gospel group...

Carroll: Recruit's words got 'twisted' - LA Daily News
USC coach Pete Carroll said Friday he is "not fazed" by a university investigation into whether NCAA rules were broken in the recruitment of star tailback Joe McKnight because "nothing happened so we won't get penalized."

McKnight caused a controversy during his news conference to announce he signed with USC on Wednesday, when he suggested he picked the Trojans after he listened to a conversation between Carroll and former tailback Reggie Bush.

Before he signed, McKnight was concerned about possible NCAA penalties against USC involving allegations Bush received improper benefits from agents.

Carroll said Friday he was looking for a tape of McKnight's...conference...

Also, Lawyer: Bush had no contact with recruits - LA Times
Trojans enter SEC recruiting wars - Memphis Commercial-Appeal via Knoxville News
[Farrell] Don't believe the rumors: Pete Carroll isn't cheating - Sporting News

[Waldner] Danelo story is tragic, but must be done - Daily Breeze
...Unfortunately, it's human nature that the Danelo story will not go away.

Not when it is about a young man who grew up locally in San Pedro and went on to USC to become a celebrity as a record-breaking kicker for extremely high-profile Trojan football teams that won the 2005 national championship and the Rose Bowl following the 2006 season.

Unfortunately, in this sad case, with celebrity comes news coverage.

Also unfortunately, news coverage is not always pretty.

There are too many loose ends for this to be a one-day story...

Virtual war, real healing - LA Times
...the experience is almost overwhelming in "virtual Iraq."

The Humvee plows along a desert road. The engine rumbles underfoot and Blackhawk choppers whirl overhead. A sandstorm blows in...Is that the smell of burning rubber?

Those sensations of war are being fed into a special helmet, goggles and earphones. They are conjured by a computerized virtual reality developed in part by gaming engineers and psychologists at USC and being tested, among other places, at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego. The goal is to treat post-traumatic stress disorder...