Rainiers slugger Clement looks like answer for Mariners - Tacoma News-Tribune
Three years ago, after the Mariners made Jeff Clement the No. 3 overall selection of the most precociously gifted class in the history of the amateur draft, a Baseball America scouting report on the University of Southern California catcher touted his “light-tower power,” his “short, compact left-handed swing,” and his “outstanding makeup.”

The magazine also noted Clement’s improved “set up, mechanics, blocking and arm speed.”

Former general manager Pat Gillick, then working as a Mariners consultant, wasn’t as sold on Clement’s defense...

...The ambitious overhaul of Clement’s mechanics has produced the top all-around catching prospect in baseball...

Also, Former USC star Clement waiting for his chance - LA Times
Clement improving behind the plate - Seattle P-I

Shattered Dreams - Arizona Republic
Serving up pizza and iced tea to hungry folks at her parents' restaurant in Prescott is not where Kalyn Keller pictured herself...

...Kalyn, a graduate of Arcadia High School, and student at the University of Southern California, competed in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece...

..."The last thing you're thinking of going into a big competition is I wonder what the bad bacteria count in this water is. You expect that all these things have been discussed and taken care of before."

Kalyn was diagnosed with Crohn's, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease of the intestines...

USC is one of the top suppliers of NFL talent - OC Register
...This year's Pro Day was like a Middle Eastern bazaar. Teams could find almost anything they wanted, from a strong-armed quarterback (John David Booty) to a menacing nose tackle (Sedrick Ellis).

Saturday's draft will have a heavy USC flavor: Three Trojans are viewed as likely first-rounders; six are projected to go among the first 60 picks. USC sent more players to this year's Senior Bowl (nine) and to the NFL scouting combine (12) than any other school...

...The fact that you can debate which USC class will have the biggest NFL impact is pleasant news for Carroll. He inherited a program that averaged three drafted players a year and now gets an average of nearly seven players taken...

[Myers] AFL boss pushes son for NFL draft - NY Daily News
...The NFL draft is always full of family affairs and this year's story is about one commissioner waiting to hear another call out his son's name.

"Commissioner (Roger) Goodell has been a long-time friend," said David Baker, the commissioner of the Arena Football League. "I always told him, 'I sure hope you can handle Sammy's name.' Sam Baker is pretty easy."

Although Sam Baker's stock dropped after a senior year at USC that was marred by rib and hamstring injuries, the 6-5, 309-pound left tackle is still projected to be drafted in the second round Saturday. One GM said Baker could be moved inside to play guard.

David Baker would love to hear Goodell announcing his son's selection because that means he's a first-round pick...

It's a 'tankless' job - Cincy Enquirer
Pro Football Weekly's 2008 NFL Draft Guide describes Southern Cal defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis as being "built like a tank with broad shoulders and a powerful base."

Ellis, one of the top two tackles in the draft and a player many mock drafts say will end up with the Bengals with the ninth overall pick, enthusiastically concurs with the "tank" assessment.

He carries 309 pounds on a frame that is just a shade taller than 6 feet.

"A lot of people like taller tackles, but I think my height is just great," Ellis said at the NFL Scouting Combine in February. "You get these big 6-5 (offensive) linemen, and I can get up underneath them and uproot them out of what they're trying to do. Great (foot) work, great hands and the leverage I think works to my advantage a lot."...

Also, INTERIOR DECIMATOR - New Orleans Times-Picayune
USC DT Ellis on Ravens' draft radar - Baltimore Sun
USC tackle prominent on wish list for defense - Columbus Dispatch
Ellis feels he already belongs - Inland Empire Press Enterprise

Elite Trojan - St Louis Post-Dispatch
At the end of last season, Southern California coach Pete Carroll referred to Keith Rivers as the "model Trojan." More precisely, Rivers proved to be the model Trojans linebacker.

Only the best USC linebackers get to wear jersey No. 55. Rivers joined the ranks of Willie McGinest, Junior Seau and Chris Claiborne in wearing that number for the Trojans.

"That's a big tradition," Rivers said. "Great linebackers have worn it and made it proud. I was honored to have it, and tried to do my best to live up to it."....

Also, Rivers is ready to join club - Boston Globe
Linebacker Rivers does No. 55 proud - Cincy Enquirer
Bengals could land USC's Rivers - Dayton Daily News
USC linebacker Keith Rivers - Detroit Free Press
USC has top linebacker - Deseret News
Rivers rising - Arizona Republic

'Bionic eye' offers grandmother the chance to enjoy a view of the future - The Scotsman
..."I can shoot baskets with my grandson. And I can see my granddaughter dancing across the stage. It's wonderful."

The technology is being developed by Dr Mark Humayun, professor of ophthalmology and biomedical engineering at the Doheny Eye Institute in Los Angeles, California.

He said developments in improving the sight of people with blindness were now moving fast.

His team have now developed a camera so small and powerful that it could be put inside the patient's eye, rather than worn on a pair of glasses...

Also, World's First True Bionic Eye - Sky News

Youth served at USC Huddle - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
...Despite the score, the Huddle's emerging star had to be redshirt freshman Chris Galippo...All the 235-pound middle linebacker from Corona (Anaheim Servite High School) did was make a game-high nine tackles, with six for losses including three sacks, and two fumble recoveries...

...Galippo wasn't the lone redshirt freshman to shine. Quarterback Aaron Corp had a spectacular day, showing far more than simply the final, game-winning scoring pass he threw from 25 yards out to Travon Patterson. On the day, Corp completed 13 of 16 for 158 yards and two touchdowns.

Again, he wasn't alone...

Also, Patton: Search for Next USC Heisman Winner Begins - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
USC's Sanchez strengthens his grip on starting job - LA Times
USC quarterback Corp impressive in final spring scrimmage - LA Daily News
Sanchez has 3 touchdowns in final scrimmage of spring - OC Register
Williams Excels In USC Intrasquad Game - Springdale Morning News

Booty proves his ability - Shreveport Times
As one of the most recruited prep quarterbacks in the nation, John David Booty was thrust into the fervor of college football recruiting. Booty's early enrollment at Southern California became the topic du jour on sports talk shows, TV and radio, across the country.

But, it's nothing like the process he's faced leading up to next weekend's NFL Draft. His future isn't in his hands, deciding which school is best suited for him. It's all up to NFL coaches, scouts and general managers, who analyze a variety of numbers — height, weight, 40 time, bench press, Wonderlic scores.

"You almost feel hopeless, and that's the weirdest thing about it," Booty said...

[Streeter] USC's Carroll reaches out to the streets - LA Times
...Few know that about twice a month Carroll leaves his comfy digs at USC, hops in the back of a beaten Camry driven by a former gang member and heads to South L.A. neighborhoods where the snap of gunfire and the anguish of death occur with the steady regularity of a metronome.

These are not recruiting visits. He's trying to save lives.

Most often, he arrives near midnight and walks shadowy streets with that familiar, electric strut, surrounded by little boys, grandparents, crack heads and gang toughs. He empathizes, listens, encourages, laughs. He talks about jobs and kids and marriage, about perspective and courage, about how difficult it must be to be caught in the madness of the streets.

He realizes that some might think he's a fool...

Exhibition celebrates centennial of Gamble House - Pasadena Star-News
The year was 1908. Henry Ford introduced his Model T. Admiral Peary set sail for the North Pole. William Howard Taft won the White House, and in Pasadena architects Charles and Henry Greene broke ground for what would become the masterpiece of the Arts and Crafts Movement in America, the Gamble House.

Commissioned by Mary and David Gamble of Cincinnati, heir to the Procter & Gamble fortune, the mansion became the winter residence for two generations of Gambles. At one time, the family contemplated selling the house, but soon reneged when the potential buyers mentioned painting the magnificent hand-rubbed woodwork white "to brighten it up." Knowing its architectural significance, the family retained the property until 1966 when they deeded it to the city of Pasadena in a joint agreement with the USC School of Architecture. It was designated a National Historical Landmark in 1977 and underwent a major restoration in 2004...

USC coaching continuity keys strong spring camp - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
It was one of those moments scripted as if by a comedy writer with an equal sense of timing -- and irony.

The day UCLA's football players went "over the wall" and skipped out the gate to blow off practice while coaches fumed, USC may have had its best practice of the Pete Carroll era.

CBS' Craig James said he'd never seen a team hit, especially one not in full pads, and compete the way the Trojans did. Ditto for Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel, who's been coming to see USC work out for four or five years.

Maybe there is something to having a coaching staff that for the first time in Carroll's seven seasons hasn't turned over, not a single spot...

SC’s Keith Rivers hopes to follow long line of Trojan greats in the NFL - KC Star
The jersey number at the University of Southern California is handed down from one player to the next as if it were a family heirloom.

No. 55.

It went from Junior Seau to Willie McGinest to Chris Claiborne to … Keith Rivers.

Seau, Claiborne and Rivers were All-American linebackers. And Seau, Claiborne and McGinest were first-round picks in the NFL draft, a legacy Rivers hopes to continue.

“That’s a big tradition,” Rivers acknowledged at the NFL scouting combine. “Great linebackers have worn it and made it proud. I was honored to have it and tried to do my best to live up to it.”...

Also, Rivers proves he can drive 55 - Detroit News
Keith's Journals - Yardslice.com

[Mandel] Sanchez expected to continue USC's long line of excellence at QB - CNNSI
...Carroll and Sarkisian decreed that fourth-year junior Mark Sanchez had performed impressively enough in that environment to officially earn the Trojans' starting job, and on this day, Sanchez clearly looks like a No. 1 guy both in performance and demeanor. With the pocket collapsing around him on one play, Sanchez laces a throw to Vidal Hazelton across the middle, eliciting a roar from coaches and teammates behind him and causing the ever-excitable Carroll to start racing down the field while marking a first-down signal. (Everyone runs at USC practices, even the guys holding the down-and-distance chains).

When it's time for one of his fellow quarterbacks, Mitch Mustain or Aaron Corp, to take their reps, the 6-foot-3, 225-pound Sanchez is the most vocal cheerleader on the sideline. "C'mon Garrett, let's see what you got,"...All the while, he sports a mile-wide smile, high-fiving and joking with teammates...

USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis is a beast who’s a beauty - KC Star
Of all the awards and trophies handed out in college football, this may be the most obscure.

But to USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, it was the most cherished.

Ellis was a two-time winner of the Morris Trophy, which goes to the best lineman in the Pacific-10. It’s not the Heisman Trophy or the Outland Trophy or the Lombardi Award, nor is it determined by a vote of the media or the coaches.

What makes the Morris Trophy so special to Ellis is that it is voted on by the league’s starting offensive linemen.

“I hold it in high regard as one of the best awards because it’s voted on by your peers, by the people you play against,” Ellis said...

Lockwood candidate for BHS grid job - Boulder Daily Camera
...the job of Boulder High head football coach apparently is still a pretty coveted one.

Coveted enough anyway to attract the interest of one of the biggest prep football names the city has produced.

The Camera has learned that former Fairview High running back Scott Lockwood has applied to become BHS' next coach.

Lockwood was a Parade All-American for the Knights in the mid-1980s before playing collegiately at USC and spending three seasons in the NFL...

Pro Day Risers and Sliders - CNNSI
...Risers
Chauncey Washington, RB, USC...
...the star of USC's pro-day...Washington's performance solidified him as a top-75 pick and there's a good chance he could break into the second round.

Keith Rivers, OLB, USC
...every bit the part of being a top 10 choice...looked terrific in position drills...

...Sliders...
...Sam Baker, OL, USC
...looked slow and sluggish during pro-day...he has little opportunity to play tackle in the NFL...

...Chilo Rachal, G, USC
...looked stiff, unathletic and out of shape...

Laurinaitis, Maualuga highlight candidates for Lombardi Award - Lindy's Sports
The preseason Rotary Lombardi Award list is out and 54 players are among those on the watch list...

...The Rotary Lombardi Award goes annually to the college football lineman -- offense or defense -- who...best exemplifies the discipline of Vince Lombardi.

Eligibility for the Rotary Lombardi Award is limited to down linemen and those defensive players who line up within five yards of the football. The candidates earned a place on the preliminary watch list by earning All-American honors or by being named to their respective all-conference first team as selected by the conference's head coaches.

The preliminary watch list for the upcoming 2008 season are as follows:...Rey Maualuga, LB, Southern California...

Agent Guy McElwaine dies at 71 - Variety
Guy McElwaine, long one of Hollywood's top agents and studio execs, died Wednesday in Los Angeles...He was 71.

McElwaine was a founding partner of International Creative Management and served as a VP of production at Warner Bros., president of Columbia Pictures and, most recently, as prexy of Morgan Creek Productions...

...McElwaine was an L.A. native who attended USC and played baseball professionally out of college. He began his showbiz career as a manager and publicist, working with clients such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Warren Beatty, The Righteous Brothers and The Mamas and the Papas...

OBITUARY: Tennis player ranked among best in world - Sarasota Herald-Tribune
There was no mistaking Roger Knapp's tennis prowess. By the age of 6, he had already claimed victory in the 10-and-under division of a city championship while growing up in Des Moines, Iowa.

Knapp, 48, who suffered a fatal heart attack Sunday, was a high school and college tennis standout who went on to become one of the top 150 players worldwide by 1985. That same year he beat one of the top 10 players, Henri Leconte, at a tournament in Bristol, England.

After leaving the pro tour the following year, Knapp coached at his alma mater, the University of Southern California, and later at Drake University in Des Moines, where he helped the tennis team reach the NCAA tournament in 1992 for the first time in the school's history.

"That was a monumental achievement," said a friend...